Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living magazine. Today I have Michelle Reinert with me. Hello, Michelle.
Michelle Reinert: Hello, Toni. Thank you for having me.
Toni: Well, you’re quite welcome. Welcome to the Project. Take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Michelle: Okay. I grew up in Berks County. I’m what people refer to as a 13th Street Kid, which I’m very proud of. I went to elementary school through college all on 13th Street.
Toni: No way!
Michelle: Yep, 13th and Union Street through Albright. The city of Reading, Berks County, very near and dear to my heart. I still live in Reading. I’m in the Schuylkill Valley District. My son is now down in Brookhaven and engaged, and I am with my husband and our five furry kids.
Toni: Ooh, five furry kids!
Michelle: Yes.
Toni: So of what variety?
Michelle: We have three labs. A yellow, a chocolate, and a black, and I have my mother’s dogs, which are two rescues. They’re half lab, half pit.
Toni: Oh my gosh! There’s a lot of furry activity going on.
Michelle: There is. Very much so.
Toni: Okay. You also work at South Mountain?
Michelle: I do. I’m the Director of Development for South Mountain YMCA camps. A fabulous place. Six hundred acres of the most fun you will ever have in Berks County.
Toni: Yes. It’s absolutely a beautiful, beautiful spot. So, let’s get into the Project, okay? All right. What does inspiration mean to you?
Michelle: Inspiration to me, it can be a person, a place, or a thing. It’s something that it grabs you at the core of your being, and suddenly you are enthusiastic, you are engaged, and you are ready to act. It can be a person that is a mentor, or someone special to you, or the lyrics of a song. This Project is inspiring. I was born and raised in Berks County. You hear the bad things about the city of Reading. This is the great stuff. This is what it’s all about, so this is inspiring to me.
Toni: Oh, well thank you for that. We are inspired by every single one of you who come in to do these interviews. So, do you remember the last time you were inspired?
Michelle: The last time I was inspired? I will have to go to one of the first experiences I had at camp, which was with a child from the city of Reading. First time at camp. First time he had ever seen a butterfly.
Toni: Oh, no.
Michelle: And to watch a child in amazement and wonder for something like that that we take for granted that they don’t see when they grow up in the city, it’s just fabulous and amazing. Then, to hear him talk about what it meant to him to spend that day and that week there and meet new friends, and the memories that he made, that’s really what it’s all about. We can be inspired all the time, and most of them are family members, but it’s those little things, the differences that you see in someone else’s day that make it special.
Toni: How did that feel to you when you saw him in such joy?
Michelle: So many different emotions, because at first you’re kind of shocked. You don’t realize. Then, you feel kind of sad. It touches your heart. But then at the end you’re like, “Look at the smile on this kid’s face. That is fabulous.” And then it just melts your heart.
Toni: Then does it move you to do something?
Michelle: I think for me, that’s the kind of reminder that you need in everyday life. Why do you do what you do? What motivates you? What keeps you engaged? What keeps you focused? In my line of work, you hear a lot of nos. But that’s no for now, not no for forever. But it’s those little moments that you take for granted that mean the world to you, and that’s really all I need to get reengaged and reinspired to keep doing what I do.
Toni: So how you do take that joy, sadness, movement that you feel when you’re inspired and put that, whether it’s all together or separately, into action here in Berks County?
Michelle: I think in everything that you do, whether you’re mentoring someone who’s up and coming...I was lucky to be mentored by some fabulous people very early on in my professional career. I’ve never forgotten those people. I’ll give a shout out to Karen Kramer while I’m sitting here. If it wasn’t for her helping to mold me very early on, I might not be sitting here today. For me, it’s in everything that you see, everything that you do, everything that you touch, because you don’t know if it’s your words, if it’s a smile, or just an action in that moment that changes that person’s day or their perspective on something. It’s all about paying it forward.
Toni: Do you do that on a conscious level?
Michelle: I think when you’re really in it for those reasons and you work in the nonprofit sector, it just comes naturally. I think it’s just an ingrained…I don’t want to say skill or ability, because it’s not. It’s just your passion and your motivation, and in everything that you do, you want to leave that person maybe feeling a little bit happier or a little more grounded, or a little more informed before you walk away from a conversation.
Toni: Is that a 360-degree situation then?
Michelle: I think absolutely. I think because I want to take away from a conversation something I didn’t know before, and if there’s a way that we can partner or collaborate and do something great for two people instead of one, I’m all about that.
Toni: Oh, I love that. So, who in Berks County inspires you?
Michelle: Oh, there are so many people, and I hate to just name names. My boss, Nathan, inspires me every day. I didn’t grow up as a camp kid. I wasn’t sure. When I drove up to the top of that mountain I was like, “Wow. This is something else!” But to hear someone who is so engaging and passionate about what they do, it’s so hard to not go, “I want to jump on this train. I want to be part of this.” Even in the community itself, and it’s not just about dollars…the time, the talent, the experience. Everybody’s involved in something, and it’s wonderful to be part of such a giving community in those different ways.
Toni: Anybody else?
Michelle: I would say for me, my mom. I lost her on Easter morning after a battle with cancer, and she was a trooper to the end. She had me very young. I watched her while I was in elementary school go back to college, get her degree and become a partner at a local advertising agency and a CFO. She ingrained in me, “It’s never too late. You can always do anything that you set out to do, so spread your wings and fly.” And that’s what I’m doing.
Toni: Isn't that amazing? Oh, I’m sorry for your loss.
Michelle: Thank you.
Toni: Wow. That sounds very inspiring. You said you had a list. I’ll give you one more shot if you want to.
Michelle: We know the people that are involved. Craig Poole is another one that comes to mind when you think of downtown and changing things around. I can remember running around Penn Street as a child, so when I hear people talk about, “Oh, I’m afraid to go down to the Santander Arena or go down to the Symphony, I’m thinking, “Come on! I was 12 when I ran around Penn Square.” Times change, but with the people that we have here and what we have to offer, I think we’ve made great strides in the last couple of years in saying, “Hey, come see what we’ve got, because we have a lot to show off.”
Toni: Wow. That’s fantastic. So, what do you want your legacy to be?
Michelle: I think I want my legacy to be just that I was involved. I did care. I didn’t take anything for granted. I took all my experiences with me, and my goal is to share them with anybody else who’s interested. I want to make sure I pay forward in a mentoring capacity what was offered to me very early on. I make it a point to try to do that. Not only work in the nonprofit sector, but mentor other people coming up through philanthropy. I mean, if someone would have told me 10 years ago this is a career, I would have been like, “What?” I just happened to be volunteering in the right place at the right time, and an opportunity presented itself. It really is all about the people. I’ve met some amazing people and learned some amazing things.
Toni: I believe there is no such thing as a coincidence.
Michelle: Not at all.
Toni: So you were probably meant to do this kind of work, and you’re living your legacy, which is what a lot of us hopefully get to do.
Michelle: Right.
Toni: So thank you for a very inspiring interview on the Get Inspired! Project.
Michelle: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Toni: You’re welcome.
Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living magazine. Today I have Michelle Reinert with me. Hello, Michelle.
Michelle Reinert: Hello, Toni. Thank you for having me.
Toni: Well, you’re quite welcome. Welcome to the Project. Take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Michelle: Okay. I grew up in Berks County. I’m what people refer to as a 13th Street Kid, which I’m very proud of. I went to elementary school through college all on 13th Street.
Toni: No way!
Michelle: Yep, 13th and Union Street through Albright. The city of Reading, Berks County, very near and dear to my heart. I still live in Reading. I’m in the Schuylkill Valley District. My son is now down in Brookhaven and engaged, and I am with my husband and our five furry kids.
Toni: Ooh, five furry kids!
Michelle: Yes.
Toni: So of what variety?
Michelle: We have three labs. A yellow, a chocolate, and a black, and I have my mother’s dogs, which are two rescues. They’re half lab, half pit.
Toni: Oh my gosh! There’s a lot of furry activity going on.
Michelle: There is. Very much so.
Toni: Okay. You also work at South Mountain?
Michelle: I do. I’m the Director of Development for South Mountain YMCA camps. A fabulous place. Six hundred acres of the most fun you will ever have in Berks County.
Toni: Yes. It’s absolutely a beautiful, beautiful spot. So, let’s get into the Project, okay? All right. What does inspiration mean to you?
Michelle: Inspiration to me, it can be a person, a place, or a thing. It’s something that it grabs you at the core of your being, and suddenly you are enthusiastic, you are engaged, and you are ready to act. It can be a person that is a mentor, or someone special to you, or the lyrics of a song. This Project is inspiring. I was born and raised in Berks County. You hear the bad things about the city of Reading. This is the great stuff. This is what it’s all about, so this is inspiring to me.
Toni: Oh, well thank you for that. We are inspired by every single one of you who come in to do these interviews. So, do you remember the last time you were inspired?
Michelle: The last time I was inspired? I will have to go to one of the first experiences I had at camp, which was with a child from the city of Reading. First time at camp. First time he had ever seen a butterfly.
Toni: Oh, no.
Michelle: And to watch a child in amazement and wonder for something like that that we take for granted that they don’t see when they grow up in the city, it’s just fabulous and amazing. Then, to hear him talk about what it meant to him to spend that day and that week there and meet new friends, and the memories that he made, that’s really what it’s all about. We can be inspired all the time, and most of them are family members, but it’s those little things, the differences that you see in someone else’s day that make it special.
Toni: How did that feel to you when you saw him in such joy?
Michelle: So many different emotions, because at first you’re kind of shocked. You don’t realize. Then, you feel kind of sad. It touches your heart. But then at the end you’re like, “Look at the smile on this kid’s face. That is fabulous.” And then it just melts your heart.
Toni: Then does it move you to do something?
Michelle: I think for me, that’s the kind of reminder that you need in everyday life. Why do you do what you do? What motivates you? What keeps you engaged? What keeps you focused? In my line of work, you hear a lot of nos. But that’s no for now, not no for forever. But it’s those little moments that you take for granted that mean the world to you, and that’s really all I need to get reengaged and reinspired to keep doing what I do.
Toni: So how you do take that joy, sadness, movement that you feel when you’re inspired and put that, whether it’s all together or separately, into action here in Berks County?
Michelle: I think in everything that you do, whether you’re mentoring someone who’s up and coming...I was lucky to be mentored by some fabulous people very early on in my professional career. I’ve never forgotten those people. I’ll give a shout out to Karen Kramer while I’m sitting here. If it wasn’t for her helping to mold me very early on, I might not be sitting here today. For me, it’s in everything that you see, everything that you do, everything that you touch, because you don’t know if it’s your words, if it’s a smile, or just an action in that moment that changes that person’s day or their perspective on something. It’s all about paying it forward.
Toni: Do you do that on a conscious level?
Michelle: I think when you’re really in it for those reasons and you work in the nonprofit sector, it just comes naturally. I think it’s just an ingrained…I don’t want to say skill or ability, because it’s not. It’s just your passion and your motivation, and in everything that you do, you want to leave that person maybe feeling a little bit happier or a little more grounded, or a little more informed before you walk away from a conversation.
Toni: Is that a 360-degree situation then?
Michelle: I think absolutely. I think because I want to take away from a conversation something I didn’t know before, and if there’s a way that we can partner or collaborate and do something great for two people instead of one, I’m all about that.
Toni: Oh, I love that. So, who in Berks County inspires you?
Michelle: Oh, there are so many people, and I hate to just name names. My boss, Nathan, inspires me every day. I didn’t grow up as a camp kid. I wasn’t sure. When I drove up to the top of that mountain I was like, “Wow. This is something else!” But to hear someone who is so engaging and passionate about what they do, it’s so hard to not go, “I want to jump on this train. I want to be part of this.” Even in the community itself, and it’s not just about dollars…the time, the talent, the experience. Everybody’s involved in something, and it’s wonderful to be part of such a giving community in those different ways.
Toni: Anybody else?
Michelle: I would say for me, my mom. I lost her on Easter morning after a battle with cancer, and she was a trooper to the end. She had me very young. I watched her while I was in elementary school go back to college, get her degree and become a partner at a local advertising agency and a CFO. She ingrained in me, “It’s never too late. You can always do anything that you set out to do, so spread your wings and fly.” And that’s what I’m doing.
Toni: Isn't that amazing? Oh, I’m sorry for your loss.
Michelle: Thank you.
Toni: Wow. That sounds very inspiring. You said you had a list. I’ll give you one more shot if you want to.
Michelle: We know the people that are involved. Craig Poole is another one that comes to mind when you think of downtown and changing things around. I can remember running around Penn Street as a child, so when I hear people talk about, “Oh, I’m afraid to go down to the Santander Arena or go down to the Symphony, I’m thinking, “Come on! I was 12 when I ran around Penn Square.” Times change, but with the people that we have here and what we have to offer, I think we’ve made great strides in the last couple of years in saying, “Hey, come see what we’ve got, because we have a lot to show off.”
Toni: Wow. That’s fantastic. So, what do you want your legacy to be?
Michelle: I think I want my legacy to be just that I was involved. I did care. I didn’t take anything for granted. I took all my experiences with me, and my goal is to share them with anybody else who’s interested. I want to make sure I pay forward in a mentoring capacity what was offered to me very early on. I make it a point to try to do that. Not only work in the nonprofit sector, but mentor other people coming up through philanthropy. I mean, if someone would have told me 10 years ago this is a career, I would have been like, “What?” I just happened to be volunteering in the right place at the right time, and an opportunity presented itself. It really is all about the people. I’ve met some amazing people and learned some amazing things.
Toni: I believe there is no such thing as a coincidence.
Michelle: Not at all.
Toni: So you were probably meant to do this kind of work, and you’re living your legacy, which is what a lot of us hopefully get to do.
Michelle: Right.
Toni: So thank you for a very inspiring interview on the Get Inspired! Project.
Michelle: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Toni: You’re welcome.
