53. Marketing Catholic Schools with Kristin Moore & Alicia Sullivan

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I’m Tara Clay.

Aubrey: And I’m Aubrey Burch. Today we’re joined by Kristen Moore and Alicia Sullivan. Kristen Moore is the director of marketing and enrollment for the 72 Catholic schools in Western Washington in the Archdiocese of Seattle. Her dynamic strategy and practical resources have been shared with schools across the country and inspire a more contemporary approach to expanding the mission of Catholic schools.

Alicia Sullivan is a director of marketing and a mission at St. Luke’s School in Shoreline, Washington, which is a suburb. Of Seattle, St. Luke is the very first IB Catholic school for primary and middle years programs on the west coast. And Alicia, her 10 years, has been instrumental in the growth of this unique community.

Welcome, Alicia and Kristen. Thank

Kristin: you so much for having us. We’re

Tara: really excited for this conversation today. Um, can you just tell us a little bit more about each of your.

Kristin: Sure, I’ll, I’ll start off. Um, you know, I’m actually, well of course. Welcome everyone who’s tuning in. Um, we are, I am in downtown Seattle right now, and actually I am an east coaster.

So I grew up on the East coast in upstate New York. Um, I went to Catholic schools from kindergarten through eighth, took a little pause, went to a public high school because there wasn’t a Catholic high school in my area, and then finished up my. Undergrad and graduate work in a Catholic Jesuit institution.

So I do have, um, Catholic school, uh, blood actually. Um, I’m also the mom of three kids who have been products of Catholic education. And, and truly I feel now in my role as director of marketing and enrollment for our 72 schools, I feel like I, I can live my passion for access to education. Um, Every day. So I’m just, just so happy to be here and very excited to introduce one of my colleagues, Alicia Sullivan.

Alicia: Thank you so much Kristen. And uh, thank you for everybody who is tuning in. Uh, a little bit about me. My background actually was in technology, so I was in high tech sales managing, um, 11 states and, you know, running all around the country, um, prior to becoming a mom. Um, and then our children started school here at St.

Luke. Um, I didn’t grow up Catholic, but my husband did. And I fell in love with the parish and the school. And so, um, as an adult I became, um, Catholic and I find that I can provide testimony so many times over to parents that are looking at the school. Often there’s one parent who had an experience in Catholic schools and they want that for their children.

And then the other one has no idea what they’re talking about because they came from public schools. Um, and so it’s, um, It’s just such a wonderful journey to take with families and, uh, just seeing them love their kids so much and, you know, wanting what’s best for them.

Aubrey: Thank you so much for sharing. I loved hearing about your journeys, you know, from the beginning and where you are now.

Um, having worked in Catholic schools for six years, I truly have really enjoyed that community and I’m excited to dive more into that conversation today. Um, I’m curious, like, so let’s talk about our audience that is maybe not involved or not familiar with Catholic schools. Can you talk a little bit about, like, about how Catholic schools may be different than traditional independent schools?

Um, and a little bit more so we can, um, familiarize our audience.

Kristin: Yeah, I’ll, I’ll kick off with this one. Um, mm-hmm. , just to give just a really brief overview, the very first Catholic school started in Philadelphia in 1783. So already we have this very rich history and it was Catholic schools were established to serve, uh, Mostly poor immigrant communities, and that’s really just where this, this whole movement got its start.

Um, of course they’re faith-based formed in the Catholic tradition. Um, most of our elementary schools, and I say most, um, are affiliated with a parish. So they’re, they really work together and they’re not only financially supported, but there’s also, um, just a, a community there of Paris and school families.

Um, but there are also schools that are Catholic schools as well, that are affiliated with a religious order. So you might have a Jesuit high school, or you might have a a, a school supported by the Sisters of the Holy Means. Um, That really makes us very unique. We have urban schools, we have suburban schools, we have single sex schools, stem schools, IB schools, we have classical schools, we have, um, large schools and small schools.

So I think the variety of our system is very, very unique. Um, and historically, the outcomes, student outcomes in Catholic schools are except. They’ve been, there’s, there’s a secret sauce to Catholic schools that independent schools and charter schools have researched to try to figure out how can they, how can they duplicate that in some way?

Um, maybe with a twist, you know, their own personal twist on it. Um, it’s also a beautiful thing that we’re a part of an international community. You know, it’s, I, I actually looked up online and according to the International Office of Catholic Education, there are 62.2 million students across the globe being educated in Catholic institutions.

So we are, we are a significant player, I think, in the educational world, and we are the n largest non-government school system in the world. So, mm-hmm. , I think those are just interesting facts that really make us, um, a very unique choice, I think, and, and, and, um, really just puts kind of a larger perspective on the impact of Catholic schools, Catholic educat.

Typically, a lot of our schools have been less expensive than, uh, our non parochial counterparts. Um, oftentimes even in downtown Seattle, you know, some of our schools, our tuition still is significantly less than some of our non parochial counterparts. So I think, you know, our, because we’re so mission based, we wanna make sure that we can, we can draw families that we’re not just pulling from an elite economic.

Strata for our students. And so affordability is a huge priority for us in Catholic schools and we work very hard, um, to achieve that. Um, and when I refer to the secret sauce of Catholic schools, This is, this is what I’m talking about. We have these three pillars and I would say you could walk really into any Catholic school in the world and you would hear the same.

Um, the first is faith, of course. I think there’s something to develop in the spiritual side, the spiritual, um, part of a human person. Excellence in education. I mean, that’s why we’re here. That is our, you know, goal. We wanna not just meet standards, we wanna exceed standards. And lastly, which I think is, is a component that is, is really beautiful and really puts our faith into action, is we have a service element.

And that is cultivated and reinforced in all of our schools. And so I think it’s really that dynamic there that has really kept our schools viable for all, all these years in all these different countries and cultures. This is something that we all share.

Alicia: Yeah. In my experience, to piggyback on particularly the last part of her comment, um, reading student reflections, uh, from middle schoolers who have.

Completed a service project. Um, we’ve done several with, um, veterans homes in the area, um, over the last several years, and their reflections are like, oh, you know, they just. They’re incredibly strong. Um, and you would never know that this is all going inside, you know, on, in inside of the heart of a a 14 year old, 13 year old.

Um, it’s crazy. But yes, I think that the community is something that’s always at the top of all of our family surveys. Um, in addition to academic excellence. So it, it used to be for St. Luke, that community was first. Now it’s second only to academic, um, preferences. So, um, that’s a good place to be. But the community is something that everyone really notes and feels, um, on their tours and our schools and walking through the buildings, going to our events, um, and being part of the community and they say later, You know, you, you were so right.

I remember when you said that , it sounds so cliche, but once they feel it, they, they underst.

Tara: Yeah. Well you guys are very good spokespeople, for Catholic education. I can see why you’re in your job, why you do well there also, um, relationship to Catholic education myself, so, um, I can attest to some of the things that you’re talking about as well and the benefits, um, that lie in, in the, uh, Catholic approach to education.

Mm-hmm. . Um, let’s kinda flip this a little

Alicia: bit and let’s talk about the unique

Tara: challenge. That you might face and that other religious schools, quite frankly might face standing out in a market and attracting your, those mission aligned families. Um, what do you think are some of the key marketing challenges that Catholic schools

Kristin: specifically face right now?

You know, I think we have a couple, we definitely have our, our share of challenges, um, and that keeps us busy, um, in our work for sure. I think for us specifically in the Pacific Northwest, we’re, and I can see this as an east coaster by birth, that we’re in a very unchurched part of the country. You know, here in the Pacific Northwest, you know, the mountains are your church and the, the water.

And so we’re not in a particularly religious part of the country. So for us, that’s a unique challenge, right. To the Pacific Northwest. On the flip side of that, we’re a very service oriented part of the country. You know, giving back, um, you know, community element I think so that, that. Helps support us a little bit there.

Um, but I do think the religious message, you know, that we’re Catholic. I think the challenge of, we, you don’t have to be Catholic to attend one of our Catholic schools. You know, that’s been a conversation for, gosh, my entire career. And it’s, it’s still, I think people outside of Catholic schools. There’s still some confusion about, oh, you don’t, do I have to be Catholic or do I not have to be Catholic to go to a Catholic school?

So I think that is always a marketing challenge for us too, for us. And it’s balancing that you don’t have to be Catholic, but we are, we are going to practice and we are gonna. You know, be, um, working within the Catholic TRA tradition. So I think sometimes there’s a little bit of a challenge there. Um, also because we are so, such an old school system, we do have buildings that are aging, right?

So we have. Beautiful property, you know, tons of beautiful properties and, and many of them were built. There’s different waves of development, you know, around here. There was a huge burst in the 1960s. Well, you know, those buildings are getting old. Those facilities aren’t necessarily, those classrooms.

Maybe were built for 45 kids, you know, we’re not gonna put 45 kids in a classroom anymore. So, but what we need are more classrooms. But that building is, you know, sometimes there’s limitations in terms of expansion and, um, You know, our hands are tied a little bit there, or, um, campus, you know, things around the campus, other buildings.

So, and the cost to retrofit these buildings is, is extraordinary. And so I think those are, those are just some, I think some of the challenges that we have just in terms of our school houses, you know, in different locations. Um, I could also let Alicia jump in there.

Alicia: Yeah, I was going to say, I think, um, the thing that I can speak to is that each individual school really has a lot of work to do in branding.

Um, So, you know, we are, um, as educational institutions trying to keep up with all of the programs that, um, private schools offer so that we can also be competitive in our product. Um, and you know, gone are the days when it’s just pencil and paper and um, a teacher in the classroom. It just takes so much more Yeah.

To provide an education for, for students. So, , um, the cost of educating a student, um, isn’t what it used to be. Um, and, and so it’s designing all of those peripheral, um, uh, necessities and really kind of positioning your school in a unique way. Um, our history here at St. Luke, um, it was, uh, established in 1955.

Um, and initially it was, School that was really a magnet for kids with a dyslexia. So they had, um, they became experts in kids with learning differences and you know, how to bring them along in their education. And, um, when I came here, it was after kind of the downturn of the economy and our enrollment really was declining and we were kind of looking at our product.

Um, in a way it was like, well, we’re not really a school that focuses. On dyslexic, helping dyslexic kids. We’re a neighborhood school and there just, there wasn’t a lot of, um, uh, knowledge about our school. So we, um, continued to build our programs. We continued to get involved in a lot of community events and really get our name out there.

Um, everything from, you know, Painting and putting lipstick on the building and bright colors and to designing programs, um, and just really being involved in the community so that they see us and, um, and giving back as well. But, um, branding is something that all of the Catholic schools, um, are having to, you know, kind of come up with in their niche.

Yeah, and I wanna

Kristin: just say one more thing about that too, and I’m, thank you so much for bringing that up, Alicia, because you know, our Catholic schools in years past were really filled up by parish families and so there’s, you know, there’s a ship there. There’s less, maybe less people in the parish that are involved there, less.

We don’t just have a feeder system. Mm-hmm. with our parishes. Not to mention we have some competition, we’ve. Independent schools we have, you know, are popping up too. So, and it’s funny, Catholic schools, you know, we just, we haven’t really stepped up in terms of our marketing and branding for that reason, because in the past we haven’t really had to do much of that.

Now we do. And it’s, it’s starting at looking at the logo, looking at your website, looking at every single layer of your marketing assets. Um, a lot of schools didn’t have. You know, and no one’s really updating their website and, you know, so it’s a lot of, I think there’s a lot of, um, really development that needs to happen in the area of marketing and.

And that of course impacts, you know, your enrollment, your fundraising, you know, and the growth of your community if you’re not dialed in there. So that’s, that’s a .

Alicia: If I could, if I could add on to Kristen that, uh, Kristen previously was in a role like mine, um, before she worked for the Archdiocese. So she really lived it and breath it, and she understands what all of us in our key roles need.

And so she’s provided a network of, um, training for all of the schools. Most, most of it’s done in Zoom. . So we get to tune in every week and, um, there’s specialists that come in and give presentations on social media and, you know, all different angles. So she’s really brought us along, um, in so many ways, given us so many examples, so many templates to work off of.

Um, so many recipes, um, to, you know, implement. Uh, so she’s, uh, she’s done a great deal of framework, which has been really helpful across the diocese.

Aubrey: I’m curious, so as kind of a follow up, because there’s so many things I, I’m curious about. So when we’re looking at this like history of Catholic schools and then we’re talking about marketing challenges, um, a few things that come to my mind are like niche, like a niche within a Catholic school.

Like a Catholic school is a niche, but then. A niche within a Catholic school. And the secondary piece that I immediately thought of was you mentioned, you know, a lot of times you’d have that feeder from the parishes and from like, it used to be like, oh, we have. This group coming to us with, with the absence of this, there probably, there probably is more of a need for a marketing position or marketing in general.

And I’m curious like how that’s all playing out in the Catholic schools that you’re working with in the Catholic school you work in Alicia. Like is uh, do you feel like the tides are turning a little bit more and we’re embracing more marketing? Or are we looking to find that niche that’s gonna help our Catholic school stand out?

Um, if you could just talk a little bit about that, I’d be very

Kristin: interested. .

Alicia: Yeah. Right now there is a surge of, um, parish families that are enrolling in our preschools and in our lower grades. Um, That was definitely not the case in my first couple of years here at the school. In fact, there were times when enrollment was down and we offered huge discounts, you know, even like one year free tuition to start here in our schools.

We were doing everything we could to try to attract parish families to, um, and, you know, come be part of the largest ministry of the church, of our parish. Um, and as schools, we are the largest ministry of each of our parishes. So, It is really rewarding now to see, um, a lot of these young families coming back and wanting, um, their children to grow up in a parish school where they, um, can go through sacraments and, um, uh, feel, feel and grow up really at home in their own parish.

Across the

Kristin: board from I, I am at the 30,000 foot level now, so I get to see all the different schools with our 72 schools, yes, it is becoming a priority for school leaders to say we need to have someone in this position. And now we’re at the point where we’ve got several, several, you know, many schools, I don’t know how many specifically actually, but I would say the majority have a marketing or an enrollment person, um, that’s working on these efforts.

I think now the next step is to. And I’m gonna be presenting to our principals about this in the next, in April actually, is how do we invite our advancement staff, which would include enrollment, marketing, communication, and fundraisers. Whatever they’re doing. Catholic schools have all different kinds of job combos.

Um, how do we invite them to partner with the school leader? Because right now I think some of our schools wanna manage, like those school leaders are trying to manage those marketing folks, but that’s not their expertise. And those marketing folks need to be at those leadership conversations so they know, where’s this school going?

What’s, what’s the vision? Because when I sit down with a donor or prospective student, you know, I need to be able to know where we’re going. And so we’re, we’re kind of on that, on the spectrum. I would say we’re, we’re on board with needing a marketing person, marketing, enrollment, advancement, I’ll just say advancement that kind of incorporates all of those other, mm-hmm.

other groups. Um, now how do we leverage that? You know, so that we’re all on the same page. And, and this is, you know, we’re, we have a growth mindset here in Seattle. Lemme just tell you, we are on a growth pattern, right? We’re can, we’re, we know where we need to go, we’re not there yet, and we’re just gonna start kind of chipping away.

Um, it’s people like Alicia and her community that’s, you know, tuning in that’s learning more, that’s challenging ourself to build, to build. You know, St. Luke’s and in so many different ways. And so we are, we’re there, we’re, we have not arrived in the era of marketing, let me tell you. But we are, we are on the journey with a growth mindset.

Absolutely. I love that. Um,

Tara: growth mindset moving forward. Mm-hmm. , I wanna. Take that in the direction cuz you, you’ve mentioned, um, one of the challenges is attracting people who are not Catholic. Um, so do you have a strategy, um, for attracting those families and then especially retaining them? What does that, what does that look like?

Kristin: Alicia, do you wanna talk about the local, your local

Alicia: experience? Yeah. And then I’ll, so we, we, um, we have absolutely no problem attracting, uh, non-Catholics that are very interested in our school. Um, right now our school is about 85% Catholic. Um, and the other 15% is, um, of, of various religions. Um, we have, uh, Arian, you know, people from Ethiopia.

We have, um, uh, some Jewish families, Christian families, um, and even some non-faith families, believe it or not. Um, so it’s, it’s, um, Our success has really been in our word of mouth, um, advertising. And I created, um, a share our success campaign early on that really, um, it didn’t cost. Very much at all, and it was extremely effective.

Um, we also have a referral, um, reward that we give to families. It’s called a referral program. They get a free one, one month’s tuition for referring families. Uh, they have to enroll and, and sign contracts and all of that. Um, so those kinds of programs have been the most fruitful, um, in attracting, uh, new families.

But, uh, yeah, we. Families from all walks of life that are interested in our school. Some are transferring from some of the local, uh, private schools, non-Catholic schools. Um, they just love what we’re doing here. They love our, uh, Our faith-based global, um, attitude towards, you know, um, educating the whole child, um, being in, being inclusive of all the ideas and all the faiths around the world, um, and really preparing our kids to.

Um, not just sit in the classroom and listen, but to think about their content, um, and really be able to apply it to familiar and unfamiliar settings. So, you know, they’re, they’re really learning to, they’re collaborating, they’re talking in the classroom. And so we naturally have really good students who are really good speakers.

Um, and it. it is, provides so much more of a fruitful education than, you know, a traditional setting. Um, and that just when you have happy students who like to go to school, that is, that’s advertising in itself. Um, lots of students come here and parents are looking for them to get more social, social-emotional support.

and to be in an environment that’s, um, in their eyes, you know, a healthier environment and just see hearing from the parents that their kids are turning around and coming home happy and, you know, engaging in school and, um, and all of that, you know, that, that love and attention and um, that, you know, surge of faith and just all the things that go with our service and how we treat one another, I think really makes an impact.

Kristin: And I would say from my vantage point, cuz I’ll engage with the families at different schools or people will call me and say, Hey, you know, I’m looking for a school and I can help direct them. You know, oftentimes I think the good news, and I think even after Covid, it gave us a little bit of a bump.

because parents were finally looking for options. So maybe they had a herd of Catholic schools and then, but then Covid put it like on their radar. So we are on the radar and that was, you know, we experienced a 6% jump in in our enrollment overall, and we have maintained that and continued to grow an additional 1.5% this year.

But, so I think parents, We had new parents that were now considering Catholic schools. And I think what appeals to them, of course they’re coming for the academics initially, right? I think that’s mm-hmm. , you know, if they know that their school, their child is gonna get a better education in some capacity, whatever that that is for them.

Um, They’re, they’re open to the fact that we’re a faith-based community. You know, they, they’re like, well, it’s probably good for them to have, you know, some morals and some values and have that element included. But I think sometimes what catches their eye is our academics, you know? Mm-hmm. , and that’s really where we can shine.

And then as Alicia really articulated, you know, once they joined the community and they. Wow, this is, this is a fun group. You know, I, my child’s thriving. I feel, I feel a sense of belonging here. Um, they feel, you know, comfortable that they can be who they are and, um, they can continue to practice their traditions as well.

I think that’s, that become, then we, then we keep them, you know, then they realize, wow, I, I belong here. And,

Alicia: um, I think it’s important to note also that many of the Catholic schools are one classroom per grade. The larger schools are the ones that have two classes per grade. Mm-hmm. , um, I don’t know if any in the Seattle area, have three classes per grade.

Mm-hmm. , um, so. We have, um, we are now two classes per grade from preschool or three year program all the way through eighth grade. And that really is, um, in my opinion, ideal for students, um, to be able to mix up friend groups and, um, change classroom settings. Um, From year to year. Uh, but it, it is a journey to get there.

And as I tell, uh, parents who are looking at our school, even from other Catholic schools and um, now I explained to them, gosh, it it, in order to get the resources that we have now that we didn’t have 10 years ago, it takes. It’s a journey to get there and it takes a lot of money to fund those people, to provide those specialists and, um, those programs.

It doesn’t happen overnight and it definitely takes, uh, a community of very dedicated and hardworking professionals, um, with amazing leadership at the top to keep everyone energized and on the same page to get there. And we’re blessed to have that for sure.

Aubrey: That’s amazing. Thank you all so much for.

Really appreciate it. Um, especially, I, I, I think the point about, um, COVID opening up so many educational opportunities for parents where it, they were like, oh wait, there’s Catholic school. There’s a Catholic school right down the street. Exactly. I’m, you know, oh,

Kristin: and they’re open and they’re open right now.

I mean, I think that they wouldn’t have considered that prior.

Aubrey: Yeah, absolutely. And the academics leading is, I mean, um, we were just at, I can’t remember what sort of workshop we were at where someone mentioned. Parents are now looking at, you know, they’re looking, it doesn’t matter. They don’t care where it comes from.

And as long as they’re like, oh, academics, great. My child will have a great education. And this fits for our family, so it doesn’t matter, you know, where it is. They’re, they’re more open-minded about what’s the right fit for my child. So, Very, very interesting and thank you. I appreciate you bringing that up.

Um, now I’m excited to say that we are now shifting into the second part of our program, . Woohoo. We have some questions that we ask all our guests and we’d like to ask you. So, um, here are rapid fire questions. I’m gonna kick us off with the first one. If you could put one book as mandatory reading in the high school curriculum, what would

Kristin: it be?

You wanna go first? Kristen, go ahead Alicia, if you’ve got, I’ve got one in the back of my mind here. You go ahead.

Alicia: Okay. So mine was all I really need to know. I learned in kindergarten, , uh, just love all this very simple life lessons. Um, Of course, one of the first things I thought about was, well naturally write the Bible, but, um, really all the, you know, all the things that you learned in that book that they point out really are, you know, all those basic, um, uh, life lessons that we’re supposed to remember, um, to make us good, um, loving, hardworking, open-minded people.

And, um, uh, I don’t know. That was my reason for that. Coming to top of,

Kristin: You know, for me, I had, um, one of Maya Angelou’s works. Um, I know why the Cage burg sings. I love that it’s kind of her story of resilience and, um, brilliance. And I just feel like that’s, um, you know, sometimes we think we have as, as teenagers, there’s so many.

Crises in our life, or we think it is the end of the world. And I just think that that journey, um, of Maya’s was just so inspirational to me. And I feel like that it’s good timing for high school.

Tara: Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. I’m gonna step back for one second and ask you about mindfulness. Susan. A rapid fire question.

I’m throwing a loop in here. Um, but we like. We like to ask our guests about what mindfulness means to them, and if you want to throw in how that applies to marketing your Catholic school, um, audience or your

Kristin: Catholic schools in your area,

Tara: um, go ahead and add that too. But how do you see mindfulness?

Kristin: This is a really good question.

I love this question actually, so thank you for asking it. You know, one of the things from my vantage point and just I think probably how I’m wired is. . I think quality is a, something that comes from mindfulness. You know, when you’re, when you’re really mindful about your, the work that you have in front of you, I think there’s, you want to deliver.

A certain level of quality, you know, whether it be a relationship, you know, or a professional situation. I, I think what comes to mind is, is really prioritizing quality that, that expresses and, and really shows that mindfulness, not quantity, but quality. Yeah. And I also feel like, you know, reflection and analysis and impact.

Those are such important components to mindfulness too, and particularly now I’m coming from a marketing perspective, you know, that if we’re really mindfully cultivating, you know, our growth and, and we’re really mindful about our marketing, all of these components need to be a part of those. Those initiatives.

So the quality reflection analysis, you know, looking back, what worked, what didn’t. I always tell my schools, I’m like, do not, you know, try it. You know, if you’ve got a good idea, it’s well thought out. It, you’re putting a good professional spin on it. It’s, it’s clean, it’s slick, it’s easy to access, give it a whirl.

But, you know, a lot of marketing is kind of trial and error. Mm-hmm. and so there’s no, you. Silver bullet I’m gonna be able to deliver on this will guarantee 50 students in September. I mean, it doesn’t work that way. And so I feel like that then that second part of it, of just having that reflection analysis, measure your impact.

Did this work, was it worth it? Could we tweak this a little bit? Um, and let’s set up a new target . You know, maybe we wanna rework this a little bit or maybe we wanna just throw it out and try something else. I think that is so, so key to being mindful. Marketing.

Alicia: For me, the, the first thing that came to mind is really knowing, um, where you are in this place and time.

Um, not only where do you want to go, um, but you obviously have a journey to get there. So, um, being mindful of the parents that you already have in your Catholic school, taking awesome care of them, hearing what their needs are, hearing what their suggestions are. Um, and, and never forgetting about them as your first priority, um, was the first thing that came to mind for me with mindfulness in Catholic schools.

Aubrey: Thank you so much for sharing. That was really great and I really appreciate it. Um, I know our audience will too, because it will resonate with many of them. Um, I am going to switch us back to more of a rapid fire question. Um, what is one app you couldn’t live without?

Kristin: I cannot live without the Chase Bank app.

I just cannot. I, now I have teenagers and they’re all over the country right now, and it’s mom, I need, you know, $20 for this. I mean, I thought when they left for college, that I, you know, cuz they would just empty my wallet. Right. You know, I’d go and think I had $20 in there. I’d get to the store and I’m like, where is that?

Um, but now I, you know, I get the, And things like that. Um, and sometimes I need to just peek in and see where that little, that money’s going. Mm-hmm. so I can, so I, the Chase app right now, chase Bank app is my number one go-to.

Alicia: It’s funny, Kristen, I’m just learning that, um, with teenagers myself only, it’s P E C U, but um, yes, they all have their own debit cards now, and you get to peek in and see, uh, where is that money going.

Mm-hmm. . Mine is my favorite app that I couldn’t live without is Pinterest. Um, I love being able to, um, be creative and I, I might have been someone who clipped things out of a magazine in the past and put it into a binder and has little folders with, you know, different ideas in it. Um, but I love having a digital collection of, you know, things that resonate with me.

When I get those little spurts of creativity, I can kind of catalog them and go back and, and be inspired when, um, I need to be love Pinterest.

Tara: Interesting. Yeah, we were just talking about Pinterest the other day. I haven’t really, I, I used to use it. I feel like I forgot about it. So thanks for mentioning that.

What are you each reading right

Kristin: now? ,

Alicia: my daughter pretty much eats book, eats books for lunch. So she is reading all the time. And, um, she turned me onto a book that’s, um, called Anatomy A Love Story. And um, it’s a period, um, book said in the 18 hundreds. And it’s about a young woman who, um, Wants to be a surgeon.

And this is during a time when, um, being a doctor was very popular about only for men. And, um, uh, being a surgeon was not as common and not as popular. And so, um, I’m just getting into it, but, um, it’s the story of her. Absolute fascination with learning about anatomy and what makes the body work. Um, so it’s, it’s, it’s interesting to read, um, having a 15 year old daughter , kind of in the back of your mind,

Kristin: So mine, I just finished a book that I loved, but I am ju on my nightstand. I have before we were yours by Lisa Wink. So I have mm-hmm. , I, I’m not, it’s been recommended to me, so I, I can’t comment on it yet. Um, and. I’m realizing now, when I read that question, I was thinking, gosh, you know what? I gotta prioritize that read time now because mm-hmm.

it’s been sitting on my nightstand for like three weeks. So anyway, that is, that is what I will be delving into here this weekend and setting, setting a goal. Good

Aubrey: job. That’s great. We’ll, we’ll be sure to add these to our Good Reads list, which is fantastic. I was just looking at it the other day, by the way, cuz all our guests kind of give us books and it’s pretty fantastic.

So I can’t wait to add your selections to that. Yeah, by me, I mean, Tara, add some I wanna give credit words to. Thank you Tara. I’ll have to check it out. Oh yes, you’ll definitely wanna do that. But great reads. I can’t wait to, um, add ’em to our list. What is one great piece of advice you’d like to leave us with?

Kristin: Hmm, Alicia, you wanna go

Alicia: and is this like a life piece of advice or a piece of advice for Catholic schools or, I wasn’t sure. It can be

Aubrey: anything. It can be if it is how, how you, what you wish you like. I always think of it like what is one great piece of advice you’d wanna pass on to someone else, whether it’s be life, parenting,

Kristin: anything.

Alicia: Yeah, the thing that I wrote down is that happiness is a choice and everything else is a matter of perspective. Um, I find myself at, that’s something I’ve written down next to my desk, and oftentimes when I’m having a difficult time, Um, the things that I pray for often are wisdom and perspective, cuz it seems like, um, sometimes if you can get out of your own skin or your own head, your your own perspective and see, see some something suddenly from a different point of view, it can just totally change everything for you.

Um, so, um, that would be. .

Kristin: And for me, I think this is just . It’s my own personal mantra, but it’s also, I think what I also share with my schools, um, be courageous, you know? Yeah. I feel like life is too short. We have a set amount of time that we have no idea what that length is, and, you know, take chances, be bold and make good use of your time.

Mm-hmm. . Christ, thank you. Yes,

Tara: thank you both so much. I’m so glad that you joined us today. I really enjoyed the conversation. You guys have a wealth of knowledge and passion for what you do and um, thanks so much for sharing with us. Where can people find you online?

Kristin: Well, if you’re looking for me at, um, the Office for Catholic Schools, you wanna visit my catholic school.org and you can find, um, my team, you can get my contact information there.

I am a collaborative person, so I welcome anyone to text, call, email. I love to collaborate with, um, with schools. So that’s how you get me my Catholic school dot.

Alicia: and, uh, my, uh, our website is St. Luke, so s t l u k e shoreline.org. Um, and um, or you can type in St. Luke Shoreline. It’ll come right up. Thank you

Tara: both for

Aubrey: joining us.

Thank you. We love this conversation. We’re so glad you were here and shared so much with our

Alicia: audience. Thank you very much for having us. It was a lot of fun.

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Tara: Thanks for joining us on the Mindful School Marketing

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