NAJAC's Lasting Legacy: Jan Griffin Koehler and Audrae Erickson

[Uncle Marv]
Hello friends, Uncle Marv here with another episode of My Unfamous Podcast, and today we are continuing our dive into the lasting impact of the National Junior Achievement Conference, the reunion that we had back in early August, and today we are joined by two remarkable alumni, Jan Griffin Kohler and Audrae Erickson, who share their unique experiences and insights from their time at the conference. So Jan is a NAJAC veteran with 20 years of staff experience from 74 to 93, and her interview will highlight some unparalleled friendships formed at the conferences, and the big emphasis from her chat is that these relationships have stood the test of time, with the NAJAC friends remaining some of her closest confidants even years later, something that is more of a recurring theme as we talk to people. And Audrae Erickson attended NAJAC from 77 to 80 but focuses on the transformative power of the conference for young achievers, and she describes how coaching the students and witnessing their growth, actually witnessing their growth and confidence became a driving force behind her continued involvement with junior achievement long after her conference. So as we listen to their stories today, we'll uncover that enduring spirit of NAJAC, its profound influence on personal and professional development, and reveal the timeless value of its unique experience.

Enjoy. Hello friends, Uncle Marv back here at Bloomington for our NAJAC reunion and I'm joined by another friend of the conference, Jan Griffin Kohler. Jan, how are you?

Doing great, Uncle Marv. Thanks for having me. Well, thanks for coming out and braving my interview questions.

But of course, you know, we're trying to document as much as we can the people that seem to be coming back and remembering our days at NAJAC. And for those that don't know, I'd like to ask your origin story. What got you to NAJAC in the first place?

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
I was an Achiever in Battle Creek, Michigan, and won a contest in 1970, was my sophomore year in high school, and came that year and then was lucky enough to come back the next two years. And as an Achiever, my claim to fame was that in 1972, the President of the Year interviews in Battle Creek, I beat out Jim Tompert, who that year became the National Conference President, and Bruce Leslie, who won Vice President of Manufacturing the year before. So they all said it was fixed.

And it was because I wore a skirt back then. I prefer to think that it was my expertise and being a president of the J.A. Bank.

[Uncle Marv]
Yeah. So sometimes I ask this and sometimes I don't. But the fact that you remember two names of people you beat out, why do you think that is?

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
Just because they are, unfortunately, Jim's passed away, but Bruce is still a dear friend and someone that I've stayed in touch with. Because to me, that's the essence of what this is all about. And it started with our high school J.A. experiences and getting to NAJAC as Achievers and just how important it was that we would get invited back. I was absolutely crushed when I applied in 1973 then to be a counselor and wasn't invited back because the new Executive Director in my city didn't like me and said I was an inappropriate person to come to NAJAC. But by 1974, he had been replaced. And the new person met me in July and I was here in August.

[Uncle Marv]
Wow. I think I've heard a version of that story, but it's interesting to hear that the local Executive Director tried to derail.

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
Yes. And they could. I mean, because they were the ones that had the final say about what happened and who represented their cities, because I would still be representing Battle Creek.

So he had to give the stamp of approval. And Jim Sweeney, who was Conference Director and became a dear friend and mentor, tried to override it. And he was told by the President of National Junior Achievement, no, what our Executives say is what goes.

So I had to wait a year before I could come back.

[Uncle Marv]
All right. So you got the green light to come back. I imagine from the tone in your voice that you were excited to come back.

I was very excited. Let me ask, you know, when you did get to come back, you had missed a year. What was it like to walk back on campus?

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
It was just the excitement and to be back here and be on that other side instead of being the Achiever that came in, to come in early, even though I didn't get to come in as early as I'd like, because one of my Achiever friends was getting married that Saturday and the conference started on Sunday. So Bruce Leslie and I drove down after the wedding to come down and be staff. But yeah, it's just what we did to this campus was electric.

And it didn't, and coming back now even for the reunion, it still just brings back so many memories and so many friendships and it was exciting.

[Uncle Marv]
All right. Well, because you talked about that, I'm going to skip the middle part and let's go to the end. Let's talk about coming back.

We've spent two days here, I've spent two days, you may have come in a day early. What do you think of this weekend compared to all the years past?

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
It's been a really good weekend. I think we are a little bit smaller group this year, so there's the opportunity to spend more time talking to different people. But every reunion we've had has been unique in what there is.

And we've had some new people that show up that haven't been here before. And we've got people that unfortunately aren't with us this time. The best part was actually getting into the second floor of Briscoe and back into the main office.

For most of my time, even when I wasn't running the main office, I did that for maybe, I think maybe five years, I don't really remember. But in the time I was doing that, it was truly my home. But even as I switched jobs, they still seemed to be based out of the conference office.

So for me, that was my conference experience. So many more memories came flooding back once I could actually stand in the spot where that main office desk was and think about the people that came in and all the adventures and people, the crises at the time, but were always so easily averted. And I think this one that stands out is we work so well as a team, that you could just, the people you were with knew how you worked.

And even though we only spent maybe eight days, nine days, most of us came in on Wednesday or Thursday before setting up the conference office. But we knew how each other thought and could solve things so quickly.

[Uncle Marv]
I've tried to ask this question a few different ways. And it seems as though I get a different answer based on the way I ask it. So I'm going to ask you the difference in the friendships and the relationships and the way that we worked here at the conference.

How did that differ for you out in civilian life when you weren't here?

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
As far as the relationships with those people or just my life in general?

[Uncle Marv]
Life in general. Let's go there.

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
You just really don't, you can't explain the friendships and the relationships that we had. I mean, people think we're nuts, that you can actually spend, you know, just 10 days, a week or so out of every year and feel so close to the people. And I have no other friends as close as my NAJAC friends.

And a lot of my close friends stay being my NAJAC friends. So I think it did affect how I even think about friendship. And when you come back to the reunion, it's been five years now since we've all seen each other.

And we picked up right where we left off. It's special. That's all I can say.

It's special. And so many people here have an impact on my life. We've talked about that today and the impact that Junior Achievement's having, but it still does.

You know, I'm 70 years old, and it still impacts me as I meet new people that I didn't really know at the conference and learn new things. We learn new things about each other. It's a remarkable and something, it's just not describable.

[Uncle Marv]
I keep trying to ask, and everybody says almost the exact same thing. It's hard to explain unless you've been here.

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
Right. You have to have experienced it. And I really, there's no one I've met in my outside life that has ever experienced anything like it.

Maybe some of the closest might be sports teams, I don't know, that work together a lot. Maybe the astronauts that go to the space station might get close, but then they're there for six months to a year.

[Uncle Marv]
Yeah. Well, it is interesting. I mean, I did play sports, you know, all through school.

And there is a bond, but I think it only happens in sports if you win a championship. You know, you've got something that you can all point to physically in terms of a trophy and say, we did that. Whereas here at NAJAC, yeah, there were some physical things.

There was the mop, the broom, the rake, a couple of awards, you know, if you competed and stuff. But every year we could look back and say, look at what we did. And the impact on 3,000 students, three to 400 volunteers and workers, the way that we could roll in to IU.

And in 8, 9, 10 days, put together a city. Very much so. And have it working where on the outside, it looks like a seamless machine.

Right. But we know it's all crazy.

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
It was the best times.

[Uncle Marv]
Yeah.

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
It was, I miss it. I wouldn't want to do it now. Not today.

Not today. But just the fact that all of us put the delegates first. And I think people don't realize, so many often there's somebody working to get that next spot.

But most of us were here to make the delegates have the best experience of their lives. Now, the years I worked travel, my job was to make sure the delegates all got home safely and we didn't find any running around on Friday evening. And fortunately, as far as I know, there's no delegates still at the conference.

[Uncle Marv]
So now let's go ahead and go back to what you did when you were here, because you mentioned a couple of different areas that you worked in. I'll go ahead and ask the rude question first; is how many years did you actually work on staff?

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
From 1974 until I think 1993. I think that was the last conference that I did. All right.

So 20 years. 20 years.

[Uncle Marv]
Yeah. Is there anything that stands out to you in terms of what you did that is more memorable?

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
The experience when I took the main office and I was just looking, the first year I did program department. I'm not really sure what we did there. Gloria Yee was my boss.

And I think we put together packets for the, we might have done what became conference services.

[Uncle Marv]
Okay.

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
Which was okay. But then the next year I was actually a staff member for Junior Achievement and not really even a volunteer. And Jim Sweeney asked me if I would take over the main office.

And they had a little book, a notebook that kind of told you what to do, but not everything. And I made notes in it all through the week. And then during the year I recreated it.

And for probably the next 15 years, that book kind of became the Bible. As computers became a little bit more prevalent and things like that, you kind of had to update sections. But it was probably my biggest accomplishment that I might've given to the national conference.

The biggest effect on me as a person was just all the people that I met. And most of them don't know how much they influenced my growth and where it went. I value every friendship I've made in those 20 years and in our reunion since.

It's special times.

[Uncle Marv]
Now, if I have my notes in my head correct, you worked for one of the JA offices, correct?

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
Right. Greater Lafayette, Indiana for 35 years. Well, 33 years there and two years in Youngstown, Ohio.

[Uncle Marv]
Okay. So you didn't have to make that civilian transition that a lot of us did. No, I did not.

I mean, I worked for JA, but only for two years. And since then, not much involvement, but you were still in the heart of it. So you probably have a multi-dimensional view of not only the conference, but Junior Achievement as a whole.

So what stands out to you, the Junior Achievement, back when you started the conference to Junior Achievement now?

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
The changes in the organization and what I see and all of us remember NAJAC so fondly. And unfortunately, I was part of the task force that ended up dismantling the NAJAC we know. But it came from, and I know everyone wants to blame the national office, but it really wasn't.

It was the fact that kids weren't interested anymore. This wasn't. And it got harder to find the students that wanted to come.

And it got expensive. And as an area director, it was harder and harder to justify that portion of my budget.

[Uncle Marv]
Right.

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
As things here got more expensive to send the children, you know, the students down here. Do I think the value of the experience changed? Absolutely not.

But we were just trying as we made changes to see if we could find a way to appeal to the new high school student. Because high school students now are nothing like we were in the 70s. I was in the early 70s and even the 80s.

But by the 90s, you started to see a change in commitment of I spent hours at my J.A. center every week helping out and doing things and coming back and helping the executive director when I was in high school. And you weren't seeing that happen.

[Uncle Marv]
No, there was a lot more fighting for their attention. Right. As things started to creep in more after school activities.

One of the things that I saw the two years that I worked for J.A. is we were having we were having I don't want to say outside forces, but, you know, we changed directors and it was somebody who did not have an association with Junior Achievement as we know it. Right. The company program, a much more of a development mindset, you know, how much of an impact can we make with X amount of dollars versus X number of students?

And to see that transition of where we can affect, you know, 500 students with this amount of money as opposed to 15 students and that appeal to the corporations.

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
And that's also exactly what you got was you had limited dollars and you had to please your donors to continue. And was the company program more impactful to the students? Absolutely.

But you weren't reaching out and touching as many lives. And unfortunately, our world is all about numbers. Yes.

And not just in Junior Achievement. Everybody needs more of everything. And the way to do that was to change the way we were doing the program.

And it's not that the company program has totally disappeared, but I made the decision to close it in our area when advisors came to me and said, it's time to end this. The students aren't interested anymore, that it became a chore for them. They no longer enjoy doing it.

Makes it tough to find volunteers if that's the attitude they have. There's so many different things that impacted that I saw as a JA executive that the other staff people for NAJAC that came as volunteers and truly out of the love of their hearts in the conference didn't get to see. Times change.

They do. And some for the better, some for the worse. And tomorrow will be a new day.

[Uncle Marv]
Yeah. So now as we start to close out this weekend, is there anything different this time around that stands out to you as opposed to previous?

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
No, I really don't. I mean, I feel like we've got well, it's not the same thing in a bad way. The same thing in that our friendships are still as close as they've been.

And some of us stay in even more contact because of the reunions. And I've got more information. I'm finding people now that I've had when I've left others.

We seem to be more into exchanging cards or being friends on Facebook. So no, I think it's better. It's the same, but in a better way.

And I can't wait till we do another one.

[Uncle Marv]
And it shall happen again.

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
It shall happen again.

[Uncle Marv]
Jan, thank you very much for finally sitting down with me.

[Jan Griffin Koehler]
Thank you for doing this. I think having things recorded and our memories, as mine starts to fade, it'll be nice to be able to hear what I liked.

[Uncle Marv]
Yeah, it'll be good. Thank you again. And thank you for your commitment and coming back and sharing and keeping the memories alive.

Happy to do it. All right, take care. Hello, everyone.

Uncle Marv here, joined by Audrae Erickson. And Audrae, it's, it's been quite a ride. You and I did not do the National Conference at the same time, but I feel like we did.

It was the same era. So for the listeners who may not know and for, you know, NAJACers and all of that, your time at the conference was when?

[Audrae Erickson]
1977 to 1980.

[Uncle Marv]
Okay, so just before I got there. And what did you do?

[Audrae Erickson]
So I was living in Portland, Oregon. And we had a Junior Achievement Association, the Columbia Empire, it was called. And in 1979, our association of achievers won the national contest.

But it was in 1980, actually, that I came back my senior year, and competed in the sales competition. And when I joined the sales competition, I thought, what am I supposed to do exactly? And then I practiced and practiced, and I ended up winning the national contest that year.

And really, as I think back on it, throughout my life, what I did in junior achievement, and in particular, the sales, I've been selling myself and selling ideas and use that today in my job, I did not go into sales. But I'm in government relations, and you're really selling a concept and advocating for issues.

[Uncle Marv]
Nice.

[Audrae Erickson]
So it was a great experience.

[Uncle Marv]
So one of the things we've been talking with the people that have returned this year, is what keeps you in touch with everybody? And what keeps you connected to junior achievement and NAJAC?

[Audrae Erickson]
Well, really, for many of us, it was a highlight of the year, you know, one of the highlights, and one that was so impactful when we were students. But turning around and giving that back and helping other students achieve their best potential, and recognize what they could become, was, for me, one of the reasons why I stayed in touch. At various times, throughout those, I don't know, 22 years or so that I volunteered, I coached high school students from our local area to compete in competitions, some actually won.

But it was very exciting to see each one think about themselves in a different way and get something out of the conference, just watching the kids come to the national conference and their excitement and their enthusiasm. And then, of course, at the end, they would cry because they wouldn't want to go home. They had made so many friends and they became a new identity and a new self, really, one with greater confidence.

And for me, that is what kept me coming back all those years and being a part of that magical moment for them. But as the years wore on, one thing is that it became a magical moment for all of us. And that was through the friendships and how we have stayed in such close touch all these years later.

[Uncle Marv]
One of the themes that we've talked about this weekend is us as the staff staying in touch. The fact that you, you know, coached students, have you stayed in touch with any of them?

[Audrae Erickson]
Yes, some of them I have. In fact, I was thinking of one student today, Matt Okamoto was his name and from California. And I remember coaching him for the VP of Finance, which he went on to win, actually.

And as we were practicing, he used to between his answers say, um, a lot. And part of our practice was every time he said, um, I would beep. And it was just getting him to be more concise with his answers and more poignant, if you will.

And he went on to win. And we keep in very close touch today, many of the students and many of the staff, because a lot of those students became staff through the years. Yes, but I do.

In fact, one of my closest friends in high school just came through DC and he and I were in junior achievement together. We did not go to the same high schools. We were actually in the local program together.

But yes, I keep in very close touch with a lot of friends.

[Uncle Marv]
So if we were to be talking to somebody who is listening to this, who has not been to one of these reunions that we've had, what is one thing that you would say to them to get them to come to the next one?

[Audrae Erickson]
I would say it's good for your soul. It's good to connect with people. It's good to remember how we used to be and that magic that was NAJAC and that a part of that lives on in all of us through these years.

And honestly, as we look back at our time at NAJAC, both as students and as staff, it was the best that we could ever be at that point in time. And each year we would get better, but it helped us believe in ourselves. And when we come together as a community of friends, we reinforce that believing in ourselves and staying connected to one another.

[Uncle Marv]
All right. Well, Audrae, as one of the youngsters of the group, I've been trying to make it a point to say thank you to those of you that went before and kept the dream alive in a sense that, you know, not only did it help us during those years attending the conference, whether as a delegate or a young staff person, but to keep in touch after the fact.

[Audrae Erickson]
Yes.

[Uncle Marv]
That has just been something that I hope will continue. I know that Junior Achievement is kind of having a rebirth and remembering what, you know, we remember as the golden years. And hopefully it'll reignite for the youngsters today so that they could enjoy what we're enjoying right now.

[Audrae Erickson]
Yes, indeed. You never know what it might bring, but you got to give it a try.

[Uncle Marv]
All right. Well, Audrae, I'll let you get back to the festivities. We're missing a video.

[Audrae Erickson]
Thank you so much. And thanks for all you do.

[Uncle Marv]
All right. Thank you.