Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today my guest is Becca Gregg Sansom. Welcome.
Becca Gregg Sansom: Thank you so much for having me.
Toni: You are quite welcome. Becca, take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Becca: I do communications for Berks Nature. It’ll be two years actually this month, in May, that I’ve been there, which time flies. Prior to that, I was a reporter at The Reading Eagle for just under five years. Most of my experience has been in newspaper reporting, but I’m loving this change now, and I’m loving working for Berks Nature, and working for such a great organization with such a wonderful mission.
Toni: Oh, that’s fantastic. That is quite a change, isn't it?
Becca: It is. It’s been a big learning curve, but a wonderful one.
Toni: Oh, fantastic. So, let’s go into the Project, okay?
Becca: Great.
Toni: What does inspiration mean to you?
Becca: I think inspiration for me is what you look at to be a better person. To be the best version of yourself, to help you get through life’s hurdles, and also to have the courage to go out and live the most interesting and exciting and colorful life that you can, if that’s what you want.
Toni: Inspiration equates to courage?
Becca: I think that for me, in some senses. I mean, it can mean so many different things, but in a lot of ways, you can be inspired and it will give you that courage to go out and do something, whether that’s traveling somewhere more off the grid, or anything like that.
Toni: Do you know when you’re inspired? Do you feel it? Is it a feeling? Is it in the gut? Is it like, “Oh, that’s really cool?”
Becca: I think so, yeah. I feel like you just feel confident enough to be your true self and put yourself out there. That’s when I feel inspired.
Toni: I like that. I’ve done this interview so many times, and I don’t think anybody’s ever answered it that when you’re inspired, it’s when something happens to inspire you to be your best self. I really like that.
Becca: Yeah. I find a lot of inspiration in the Humans of New York blog. If you’re having a stressful day, or if you’re having a little first world problem or anything, I find my inspiration in there, knowing that there’s people that are going through the same things as you, and also people that are doing super neat things that maybe can inspire you to do things like that, too.
Toni: So, it’s other people’s stories and their experiences that encourage you or motivate you to do whatever you need to do.
Becca: I think so, especially whenever it’s people on your level; not necessarily a celebrity, but just a normal, regular, everyday person like yourself. I find the most inspiration in people like that.
Toni: So, how do you take those inspired moments to be the best that you can be into practice here in Berks County?
Becca: I think that I’m known for being pretty adventurous and spontaneous amongst people who know me well. I’d rather collect experiences than material things. I want to have great stories at the end of my life to tell my grandchildren. There’s nothing for me that’s more fulfilling than talking to somebody that I don’t know, and learning their story and hearing more about them, especially if it’s something that’s just totally foreign or different to me. I think that makes you a better person, and I try to do that every opportunity that I can, both in my professional life and my personal life here in Berks.
Toni: How does it translate when you’re listening to other people’s stories into a possible work situation? Can you give us an example of that? You said you work for Berks Nature. Have you been inspired by a story there that has made you go, “Wow, I never knew that,” or, “Oh, I need to do that differently?”
Becca: I think there’s just so many little things that I had no idea about prior to coming to Berks Nature. All of the work that we do on farms, for example. We work with a lot of farmers to clean up their water. Those are some big, hefty projects, but there’s so many little things that we can do in our own lives as well to make a difference, whether that’s making sure that you’re always cleaning up after your dog whenever you’re out walking, because that goes into the water. Just so many little things like that. I found a lot of inspiration in the people that I work with.
Toni: That’s kind of cool that you’re learning in this new role, and in a communication role you can communicate that new learning to others, so we all can learn from that.
Becca: Yeah. Absolutely. Especially people like myself who don’t come from a scientific background. I come from more of an arts background, and a lot of the people that I work with in the circles that I run in for work are very scientific minds, and so I’m the middle person to break that down and make it more understandable in English.
Toni: You’re the translator.
Becca: For people that are more on my level.
Toni: Did you ever think of yourself as a translator before?
Becca: I have not, no.
Toni: There you go. Okay. So, who in Berks County inspires you?
Becca: Well, I’d say that I’m very inspired by all of the women that I work with at Berks Nature, for sure. They’re all wonderful and so intelligent, and also so kind. But, I have a really close friend who I thought of in particular that inspires me. She was a reporter at The Reading Eagle with me for a few years, and then she just abruptly left and decided to go teach English in Turkey.
Toni: Oh, my goodness!
Becca: Yeah. Now she is actually teaching down in South America. Her bravery and her courage to just go and immerse herself in a completely different place all by herself like that, and leave something that’s such a steady, comfortable job I think is just so inspirational and admirable. Aside from that, she’s also the kindest person that I’ve ever met in my life to everybody that she meets. She actually just sent me a message this morning asking how a party went a few weeks ago that I had held.
Toni: What is her name?
Becca: Her name is Beth Anne Heesen.
Toni: We want to give her the shout-out.
Becca: Yes. People might recognize her from her byline a few years ago. That’s the kind of life that I’d like to lead and the kind of person that I would like to be like.
Toni: So, what would you like your legacy to be?
Becca: I think that — and this is easier said than done a lot of the time — but I think that I’d like to be a light for people. I want people to have a meeting with me or a conversation and leave feeling better than when they came in. It’s so easy to get caught up in that little bubble of your day-to-day life, and not really think about other people, and to think more about everything that you have going on. I’ve myself really been trying to catch myself and to be more of a positive force and be a good friend to anybody who needs it, and simply to live an interesting and colorful life.
Toni: Well, you definitely, for those that inspire you, you are definitely following that model, because you’ve left one career and gone into a completely different one. That takes courage and inspiration. You’re helping us all learn from that. You’ve given a wonderful interview. Thank you for living your legacy.
Becca: Thank you so much for having me.
Toni: You’re welcome.
