Toni Reece: Hi there. I’m Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today I have one Franki Aitken with me. Welcome. Franki, you’ve been around this town for a while, haven't you? I would like you to take a moment and just tell us a little bit about yourself.
Franki Aitken: I moved here probably about 23 years ago. I spent most of my first part of my professional career down in Philadelphia. I worked as a public accountant. I was in the audit department at KPMG, specializing in nonprofits. Then I married into the community, trying to find something to do after commuting two years back down to Philadelphia from Reading. What I did was, because my specialty was in nonprofit accounting, I started taking on some clients that were nonprofit, didn’t need a full-time chief financial officer, so I went in on a contract basis. The Foundation was one of my clients, and that’s where it started. Twenty-two years ago, I started full-time with the Community Foundation as their Chief Financial Officer.
Toni: And you’ve just recently become what for the Community Foundation?
Franki: Chief Operating Officer. I still actually do all the financial work. One of the things that just brought everything together, because people might — my last title was Senior Vice President for Finance and Operations, so I always did the finance and operations, but I didn’t do all the development work that I’ve been doing for 22 years and just also all our donor relations.
Toni: Congratulations.
Franki: Thank you.
Toni: It’s wonderful to see people recognized for good work.
Franki: Thank you.
Toni: So, let’s jump into the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Franki: Inspiration means to me what gets you excited? What sets you off? What sets you off into a path saying, “I want to do that,” or, “I want to be like that person.” That person inspires me. That project inspires me. Something that gets you excited.
Toni: Do you know when it’s happening?
Franki: I do. I personally do. I think when I meet somebody or I hear them talking I go, “Wow, that’s inspirational. I want to inspire to be like that person or to do the things that that person does.” To me, I feel like a little flutter.
Toni: Can you remember the last time you felt that way?
Franki: To me, one of the things that I get inspired by are people who are kind. People who are genuinely kind. I think what I do is when I meet someone like that or I see someone on TV, I just go, “Wow. That’s what I want to inspire to be. Kind like that.”
Toni: You are excited and inspired by kindness. I think we need more of that.
Franki: I do.
Toni: I love that answer, and I don’t think I’ve heard that answer before, so that’s pretty cool. All right, so how do you take all of that, when that happens, and put it into practice here in Berks County?
Franki: One of the things that I think for me is important is making sure when I’m talking to somebody that they know that I’m in that conversation and that they are the most important thing to me at that time. I’m not one that will multitask when I’m talking to somebody, and I think to me, that’s what I get out of somebody. When I’m talking to somebody and I know I have their undivided attention, I go, “That’s really neat. It’s being kind.” It’s being kind to listen to them and making them feel really important.
Toni: That’s a lost art sometimes.
Franki: We all multitask.
Toni: Mm-hmm. That’s fantastic. Who in Berks County inspires you?
Franki: I can't say that there’s one person in Berks County that inspires me. I have come in contact with quite a few people, and I can't even begin to name their names. What I find is the people that I think are inspiring are ones at first make me feel important, listen to me, ask how I’m doing. When I’m talking, I know that they’re listening. It wasn’t just a superficial, “How are you doing?” They really care. There are quite a few people on our board that have been mentors to me. I see them and when they ask me, they care. They listen. It’s not just a personal thing, how am I doing at work or all that kind of stuff. I have been fortunate to be surrounded just both with people I work with and people I work for that show that same kindness.
Toni: When you witness that kindness, whether it is kindness or giving as the example you’ve given or you’re receiving, can you literally see people get excited or almost feel like, “Okay, they calm down a little bit. They’re not as scared?”
Franki: I have just recently had a situation with actually my pastor. I inspire to be as calm and cool and collect as him in a situation, which is challenging. I think, “Wow, that’s something I can learn from. Watching people, because they deescalate a situation.” It’s an art.
Toni: It really is. Listening is a very, very tough skill to manage, and if you can open up a space to listen to someone so they really feel like they’re being heard, that’s a gift you’re giving that person. If that’s what inspires you and that’s what you do to others, that’s an amazing gift to keep giving.
Franki: I’m trying.
Toni: That’s awesome. Okay. So, what would you like your legacy to be?
Franki: I think just that. The one thing I am is I’m grateful. I’m grateful for everybody that’s in my life, everything that people have done for me and just to know that how I reciprocate on that, how I show I’m grateful, is to be kind to others.
Toni: And let them know that you appreciate that.
Franki: Mm-hmm.
Toni: That’s what I say in this Project interview all the time. People believe that legacy is what people recognize of you when you’re gone. However, we live our legacy every single day, and we need to recognize that. If you’re working that muscle, that kindness muscle every day, listening to people every day, that’s amazing; so what a legacy you’re living right now. Thank you for that.
Franki: Thank you.
