Introducing ElevatePolk: A Community Podcast

Oct 27, 2021

Helping You to Help(Her)

On this episode of Elevate Polk, Chrissanne and Nate talk with the founder of Help(Her), Teresa O’Brien, and enjoy listening to her incredible story. Teresa is a mother of three adopted children, all the same age. She wanted to find the middle-ground between being a stay-at-home mother for her family but wanting to feel fulfilled and impact others. After making the decision to quit her dream job to happily raise her three children, Teresa felt that she needed to dream in a different way! So, she took to creating opportunities for women like her: women who want to stay home still with their kids but have the college degree and skillset to gain some money and help other people. Thus, Help(Her) was born. When you fall in love with the city of Lakeland, the city will fall in love with you right back. Through the support of the community of women like her and connection after connection, Help(Her) has given many opportunities for both the clients and the help(hers)! After listening to this episode, they hope to remind you that you are valued, what you do matters, and it's always okay to ask for help. You are going to LOVE this episode!

Read Full Show Notes →

Check out all the ElevatePolk Episodes here

For us, Polk is more than just a county in Central Florida. It’s the place where we live, work and play. In celebrating our uniqueness among the hustle and bustle of neighboring communities, the ElevatePolk Podcast was born.
The ElevatePolk Podcast is the brainchild of experienced local podcaster Rob Arturi, founder of Viden Media. Rob and BRIDGE Local founder Chrissanne Long met after months of Facebook stalking one another, ultimately culminating in Chrissanne asking Rob if he’d like to join in on the conversation that was the Lakeland Business Leaders (now BRIDGE Local). He accepted the invitation and began to learn more about the plates Chrissanne spins to build up our local entrepreneurs and business community.
After meeting for the first time, the two established an instant rapport, with Rob introducing the idea that Chrissanne should start podcasting. Amid laughs and lighthearted chuckles, she disregarded the idea as out of reach and impossible. “What would we talk about, and who would listen?”
Yet, Rob persisted, insisting that the conversations they had would serve as great fodder for a podcast. He assured Chrissanne that he would “take care of everything.”
“He basically took every excuse I threw at him away,” Chrissanne shared. “The number one comment I get about the podcast is how well we interact on the show. I thought it would be awkward, but Rob has made it easy for me to overcome every single fear I had about the idea, and now, I am having a blast! I am grateful to him for seeing my potential and encouraging me to go for it!”
“Podcast listeners want to laugh, they want to learn and they want to be exposed to new ideas that make them think,” Rob explained. “Chrissanne and I were already doing some of these things in our daily lives. After talking for hours about our passion for Polk, I knew we needed to share it and bring others into the conversation as well.”
The focus of the Podcast is fluid. Their goal is to explore topics that are relevant and interesting to the general listener, but to also expose the audience to the “roads less travelled” in the Polk County area. Bringing attention to and telling the story of the things that are going on in and around the community that might not be on everyone’s radar.

How do we “Elevate Polk”?

ElevatePolk covers real issues affecting our community and shares the awesome things that are happening throughout the county. Hosts Rob and Chrissanne speak with the people that dedicate themselves to making the community stronger. Every community has its challenges, but as two people who love where they live, the hosts of ElevatePolk commit themselves to bettering our state of affairs, one conversation at a time.
If you’re not currently an avid podcast listener, you can tune in to the show via ElevatePolk.com but if you ARE someone who listens to Podcasts, you can find the show on all of the regular podcast platforms – links – Stitcher, I Heart Radio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts.