{"id":9389,"date":"2022-01-31T06:45:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-31T11:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/?p=9389"},"modified":"2022-02-10T10:36:07","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T15:36:07","slug":"episode-29-one-run-one-beer-small-steps-make-big-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/episode-29-one-run-one-beer-small-steps-make-big-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 29: One Run, One Beer: Small Steps Make Big Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Nearly 10 years ago, Nina Baltierra founded the Bull City Beer Runners in Durham. Now her group is one of Meetup\u2019s largest running communities, with more than 1600 members. Not a pure running lover by heart, Nina\u2019s group has been a huge source of personal motivation and accountability. Over time, Beer Runners has evolved into a \u201chome base\u201d for friends who support each other in all kinds of ways, like weeding poison ivy from a member\u2019s backyard! Learn from a real grassroots organizer what it takes to establish, expand, and enhance your own home base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Spotify Embed: One Run, One Beer: Small Steps Make Big Changes\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/5e6AaFaLBMm0TW2qC0q3hn?si=cf4bd37fe56d4b23&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Ranked as one of the top <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.feedspot.com\/ceo_podcasts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">25 CEO podcasts on Feedspot<\/a>, Keep Connected with Meetup CEO David Siegel is a podcast about the power of community. For more details on other episodes, visit Keep Connected on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/category\/keep-connected-podcast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Meetup Community Matters blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope you\u2019ll keep connected with us. Drop us a line at podcast@meetup.com. If you like the podcast, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/podcast\/id1545712240\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>. Learn more about Keep Connected host David Siegel\u2019s experience as a leader and decision maker in his book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.decideandconquerbook.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Decide &amp; Conquer<\/em><\/a>. Pre-order your copy today!<\/p>\n\n\n<h2>One Run, One Beer: Small Steps Make Big Changes<\/h2>\n<p><strong><b>Before we get into this episode, I have something important to share. Check out my new book, <\/b><\/strong><strong><em><b><i>Decide and Conquer,<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><strong><b>\u00a0to get to know my story at <\/b><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u><b>Meetup<\/b><\/u><\/strong><\/a><strong><b>. The hardest thing about community leadership is making tough decisions when the stakes are high and I will tell you, they were never higher than when Meetup was owned and sold by <\/b><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u><b>WeWork<\/b><\/u><\/strong><\/a><strong><b>.<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><b>In my new book, <\/b><\/strong><strong><em><b><i>Decide and Conquer<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><strong><b>, I will walk you through a counterintuitive framework for decision-making and the epic journey of Meetup, surprising, survival, good leaders deliberate, and great leaders decide. <\/b><\/strong><strong><em><b><i>Decide and Conquer<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><strong><b>\u00a0by pre-ordering my book now by going to <\/b><\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.DecideAndConquerBook.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u><b>DecideAndConquerBook.com<\/b><\/u><\/strong><\/a><strong><b>\u00a0or anywhere books are sold. Thank you. In this episode, we are talking to Nina Baltierra, Organizer of the Meetup Group, <\/b><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/Bull-City-Beer-Runners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u><b>Bull City Beer Runners<\/b><\/u><\/strong><\/a><strong><b>. They drink beer, run and do it in the Bull City. Where is the Bull City? Durham, of course. I will tell you that is no bull. Let&#8217;s go. <\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8212;<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>Welcome, <\/b><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/Bull-City-Beer-Runners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u><b>Nina<\/b><\/u><\/strong><\/a><strong><b>.<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thanks for having me.<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>You came off a run. Is that right? <\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I went for a lunch break. I run 4 miles. No beer, though.<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>I&#8217;m guessing that is not so uncommon for someone who is the Founder of <\/b><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/Bull-City-Beer-Runners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u><b>Bull City Runners<\/b><\/u><\/strong><\/a><strong><b>\u00a0in Durham, one of the largest Meetup running groups with over 1,600 members. You have been a Meetup organizer for several years. Nina, have you always been into running and tell us why do you run? <\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I would say I&#8217;m still not into running. It is the worst but it is also the best. Most runners out there would probably agree. I have not been into running my whole life. I started running as an adult when I moved to Durham from Philadelphia in 2011. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done.<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>Why did you start?<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9489\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9489\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9489\" src=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/29KCMCaption1.jpg\" alt=\"KCM 29 Nina Baltierra | Bull City Beer Runners\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/29KCMCaption1.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/29KCMCaption1-473x315.jpg 473w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9489\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bull City Beer Runners: The most important thing for growing a Meetup group to 1600 members is consistency.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I felt like I should. My husband is a runner and he made it look so easy. It was like, \u201cThis will be great.\u201d It is an easy way to stay in shape, clear my head and be in nature. I started in 2011 and haven&#8217;t looked back.<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>Let&#8217;s turn back the clock a little bit. Several years ago, you started Bull City Beer Runners. The beer is very instrumental. We are going to hit on that shortly. Tell us why you decided to start it? It sounds like you hadn&#8217;t even been a runner for a long time prior. To become an organizer or a group when you are not even this expert marathon runner is a little intimidating. <\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My husband and I started together. We had selfish motivations. One was to meet new people. We were still pretty new to town. We had only lived in Durham for a short time. We had some friends but we were looking to expand our network and also it helped motivate me to run. I don&#8217;t like running by myself. I won&#8217;t do it if I&#8217;m by myself usually. It was great to create a group situation where I would be motivated and held accountable for going running.<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>It is a forcing mechanism. It was like a force to you to do it but you could have joined a group. Why don&#8217;t you find a group as opposed to becoming get another runner and be accountable with them? Why found it? <\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are lots of run clubs in Durham. All of them had a little something that was not quite right for us as the meeting day, the meeting time or the fact that they only had a beer after the run and we wanted beer in the middle of the run. That made us unique. It is you would run 2 miles to a bar, have a beer, and then run 2 miles to another bar for your celebratory after-run beer.<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>Is the beer jumbling around after you had that first beer? How do you make sure you relinquish the beer after you start running? <\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It is surprisingly easy after you try it. A lot of people are nervous about running after having a beer but once you get that first burp out, you are usually fine. I find that you are lighter on your toes for the rest of the run, which is a nice motivational tool, too.<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>It could have been Bull City Beer and Burp Runners. You could have thrown that in there. Speaking of the beer piece before we get back to the Meetup group. I&#8217;m a bit of a runner as well, not much more than that. When I say a bit, I&#8217;m not trying to be modest. I always wanted to do triathlons. I was fairly strong at swimming and bike riding but I was never strong in running. Several years ago, I couldn&#8217;t even run a mile straight. I did my first half marathon not so long ago. I enjoyed it but I have been told that it is good for you to have a beer at the end of a run because of the carbohydrates. Is this a fact or fiction? What is the story there? <\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It is a fact. Carbohydrates are one of them, sodium is the other and there is a certain antioxidant in beer that is supposed to be a great recovery drink but it has to be low ABV. Once you have too much beer, all bets are off and you probably have more risks than benefits.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Create a group situation that motivates you and holds you accountable.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong><b>You started the group and you now are at 1,600 people. How did you grow the group? Did it go slowly? Did you tell a friend first? What was it like right at the beginning? <\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We told friends first to try and just get a baseline group. We started small. For many years, we would get maybe anywhere between 6 to 12 people out on our weekly run. The most important thing for growing a Meetup group to be 1,600 members is to be consistent. We try hard not to change our route and not to change the stops that we make, so you know that on Thursday, you meet at this time at this place, and this is what you are going to do. I know that variety is the spice of life and we have had some complaints over the years about like, \u201cI always do the same thing.\u201d That is because people like what to expect. We get a lot of people who don&#8217;t check the Meetup event informaiton every week. They know that they can go and we will be there.<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>You have also participated in a number of other events than the standard runs that you do, I believe. Tell me a little bit about some of those events that you may have participated in as well. <\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>How we add the variety piece to our repertoire is we love to volunteer as a group. We are all members of the community. We love Durham. We would like to give back as much as possible. We did a river cleanup, which is a trash cleanup on a trail along with one of the local rivers.<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>You are not running while you are picking up trash. <\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We could have because it turns out that the Eno River in Durham is clean. That was great. We didn&#8217;t have a lot to do. We had a great time. It was also cold. We probably would have rather been running to warm up a bit. We also march in the Pride parade every year. That is something that is important to us. We try to be inclusive as a group in all ways and Pride is a nice way to show our support for the community, plus it is fun to get dressed up, wave our banner, all that through everybody. That has been great. We did a book drive for a local nonprofit that provides books for kids. All kinds of things that we feel like we will give back to the community.<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>Have you read <\/b><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chrismcdougall.com\/born-to-run\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em><u><b><i>Born to Run<\/i><\/b><\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><b>\u00a0or you haven&#8217;t read that? <\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I have not yet. It is on my list.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What are these famous running books that apparently talk about how ideally one should run barefoot? One of my kids read the book and got into running. He runs barely for the bottom of his feet is terrible but sometimes he would take this a little bit too seriously. It is a very special book that is influenced many runners. Whenever I hear about it, I think of the Forrest Gump running across the country. Have you had any funny or surprising on all those events that you have had stories or experiences that our readers always love hearing unique experiences?<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9490\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9490\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9490\" src=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/29KCMCaption2-210x315.jpg\" alt=\"KCM 29 Nina Baltierra | Bull City Beer Runners\" width=\"210\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/29KCMCaption2-210x315.jpg 210w, https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/29KCMCaption2-420x630.jpg 420w, https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/29KCMCaption2.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 210px) 100vw, 210px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9490\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We have been around for over several years now and a couple of stick out. One, I won&#8217;t tell you what bar we were going to during this season of Beer Runners but one of our members was bragging about having a pygmy marmoset and we were like, \u201cThat can&#8217;t be true.\u201d He called his wife after the run and she brought the pygmy marmoset to the bar after the run. It is this teeny tiny thing and they brought it in. The owner of the bar said, \u201cYou can&#8217;t have that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>That is not something health regulators would be very happy about. That is too early bacon. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>They took the marmoset out. I think they snuck it back in because it is tiny. It is hard to see but that was a strange event that everybody remembers. It was like old-school beer runners who are like, \u201cAre you pre-marmoset days or post-marmoset days?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>These experiences where people remember that time when someone took a pygmy into a bar and got kicked out of the bar, all those things are very bonding for groups. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is not at a run but something funny that I like to share about the Beer Runners. I don&#8217;t know how it works but it is magic. We have this unofficial beer runner signal like a bat signal. I cannot tell you how many times a beer runner has been in some distress like a car accident or GI distress, for example, and another beer runner unplanned stumbles upon them and is able to help. It happened many times and we have an ongoing Facebook Messenger chat. It&#8217;s like, \u201cI was in a car accident now but a beer owner came by and I was able to borrow his phone. I call my insurance company and all of that.\u201d It&#8217;s just these things happen all the time randomly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It is mysterious but it is also about community and how the community helps each other out, regardless of whether it is within the traditional ways in which communities help each other. I give you a PTA community that could be the typical parenting things that people do but it could be community helping each other, having nothing to do with parenting and that is one of the beauties.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>In terms of the group, you have mentioned a couple of things about why the group is special and has been successful. Consistency is one. Inclusiveness is another. Is there a 3rd, 4th, or 5th that you would call out in terms of giving advice to organizers, whether it is running groups or nonrunning groups but things that they should in particular focus on?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I bet this speaks to the inclusive newness is that it is true, what they say about first impressions. When somebody shows up at an event for the first time, getting there is the hardest part. People RSVP and they don&#8217;t show up all the time. I have done it before too but to go and show up to a group of strangers who probably already know each other and you are the new person is hard.<\/p>\n<p>I always make it a point to introduce myself right away. If I see someone I don&#8217;t recognize, I introduce myself right away. I ask them if it&#8217;s their first run. A lot of times they are new to Durham. They sometimes have moved to Durham the week before. They are putting themselves out there or they are going through a breakup. You learn what brought them to the group and you tell them what to expect. It is a nice thing to do.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s sweet to see a tight community that supports each other.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>We always do rules of the run at the beginning anyway even if we have no newbies. If there are no newbies at the run, we still do the rules of the run to set agreements before we go. If somebody is new, I always go out of my way to make them feel welcome as soon as I can. I have been to other Meetup events, other events, not necessarily on Meetup but where I have walked in and said like, \u201cHi, I&#8217;m Nina.\u201d It&#8217;s almost like the record scratches, everybody looks at you and then they go back to their business. I won&#8217;t go back to those. I don&#8217;t want anybody else to have that experience at Bull City Beer Runners.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Welcoming new people, saying what to expect from the experience, and following up afterward is great advice. When I travel because I enjoy running and it&#8217;s a great way to meet people, the thing that I most often do is I will go on my Meetup app and I will check if there are any running Meetup events happening in the city that I&#8217;m in. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I was on vacation with my wife in Venice. She had a long day. She wanted to take a little bit of a break and I&#8217;m like, \u201cI feel like going for a run but I want to go by myself.\u201d I turned my Meetup app on and I&#8217;m like, \u201cThere&#8217;s a run happening in 30 minutes from now.\u201d It was meeting half a mile or so from where I was. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I went there and spontaneously, I started running with 40 or so Venetians and tourists probably around Venice. It was so special because you get to hang out afterward and you talk to people. One of the best ways I would say you use Meetup is once on vacation and meeting people. It is a fun way to do it. If you are a runner, it is a great thing to do. Do you ever have people that are visiting Durham temporarily?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We get people who are here for work all the time that want to get a run and they don&#8217;t know where they are going. If you join a group that exists, they are going to take you into run-friendly neighborhoods, show you some cool places, and tell you where to go while you are running or what to do tomorrow. That is a great idea to do while you are traveling and I love to go for runs on traveling, too. It is a great way to see a place up close and not too quickly but quickly enough.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Running is that perfect combination of you getting coverage, meeting people and talking. I read somewhere that you also have chapters in other cities or people leave Durham and they continue, what&#8217;s that about?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>first I need to back up and say that we were inspired by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fishtownbeerrunners.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Fishtown Beer Runners<\/u><\/a>\u00a0in Philadelphia. That is important to say that they pioneered the beer run experience. We were inspired by them when we moved to Durham. We moved to Durham from Philadelphia. We wanted to share that with Durhamites. As we have had members come and drink the alcoholic Kool-Aid, they move away. Durham is a pretty transient place.<\/p>\n<p>They have started Beer Runner chapters where they live. We have one of our early Bull City Beer Runner members, who is now the Founder of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/Brooklyn-Beer-Runners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Brooklyn Beer Runners<\/u><\/a>. We had Palo Alto Beer Runners. I don&#8217;t know if they are still going on. It may have been a couple of others but we have a lot of folks who go to Brooklyn fairly regularly for work or whatever. They will join their Meetup group with Brooklyn Beer Runners.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9491\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9491\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9491\" src=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/29KCMCaption3.jpg\" alt=\"KCM 29 Nina Baltierra | Bull City Beer Runners\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/29KCMCaption3.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/29KCMCaption3-473x315.jpg 473w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9491\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bull City Beer Runners: Going for a run while traveling is a great way to see a place up-close.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve got the baton passed to you in terms of the idea and you pass it on to other cities as well. It&#8217;s a different experience clearly to have the beer during it because of the bonding that occurs from it and the social aspect of it. When everyone leaves, and then it goes off in their own way, it is a different experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I also understand that because you are so well known in the community, which is a huge testament to you and your husband. You have some partnerships with some local places, which were always encouraging me as organizers to do and it is not done enough. Walk us through, how did it happen? Was it luck? Did you put effort towards it? Who are your partners with? What can other organizers do around partnerships? One time I talked to a group of organizers, I mentioned this and they are like, \u201cWe could have sponsors, we could have partners.\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cYes you can.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My husband and I used to pay the Meetup fees out of pocket. We are happy to do it but when we started a second weekly beer run out of a brewery, it turns out that the owner of the brewery is our neighbor. That one was a pretty low effort ask where we asked, \u201cWould you be willing to pay our Meetup fees in exchange we were going to do it anyway for going to your brewery every week?\u201d I\u2019ve got to tell you, they agreed immediately. We should have asked for more because we bring them so much business.<\/p>\n<p>I mentioned Instagram before, we will post their events even if they are not the beer runs. They post what we post. It is a little friendship there. We also have a local running store, <a href=\"https:\/\/bullcityrunning.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Bull City Running Company<\/u><\/a>. In Durham, everything is Bull City something like, \u201cDo you want a lawyer? Bull City Lawyer. Do you want a dentist? Bull City Dentists.\u201d That is how we do it.<\/p>\n<p>The Bull City Running Company provides discounts. If you are part of Bull City Beer Runners, you get a discount when you go to the store. We had another bar that reach out to us and they said that they wanted to start their own running club but they know we are already established. Would we like to do another night of running at their place? We are starting to get more well-known and it has been several years. It takes a while and I don&#8217;t do this full-time. I wait for these things to come to us but if I had worked at it, it would have been easy to do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It is not like you are going to make hundreds of thousands of dollars through getting partners and sponsors but it does take time. There are many Meetup organizers that make a profit through their Meetup groups. You are not looking to do that per se but people can. I&#8217;m glad to hear that your costs are more than potentially fully covered. It is a good thing and in fact, you get discounts in other places, it is awesome but what is the biggest benefit in your mind?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Connecting with people is a huge benefit. My friend network is robust because of the runners. We can rely on each other for all kinds of different things. Not like, \u201cI need a running buddy or a drinking buddy.\u201d It&#8217;s, \u201cI need work done on my house. Maybe somebody does that or know somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>That is a good friend. You call a friend, \u201cCan you add a floor to my house?\u201d \u201cSure, you are a Bull City Runner. Let&#8217;s do it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We have had folks post and say like, \u201cMy backyard is completely overrun with poison ivy. I need to clean it up. Would anybody be willing to come by?\u201d A whole group of Beer Runners come by, gloves on, we clean up the backyard. We help each other out. The biggest benefit is that we have created this community and it&#8217;s a hub or home base for people to jump off from there, whether it&#8217;s socially. One thing that we joke about a lot is beer runners found success in taking a chance on a Meetup event that is Bull City Beer Runners but once they find their people within Beer Runners, they want to stay there.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>We level the playing field so everybody can live a healthy, happy, successful life, regardless of where they came from.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Whenever they want to try something new, instead of joining another group like Bull City Rock Climbers, they will start with Bull City Beer Runners Rock Climbers or Bull City Beer Runners Kayakers. We are a trivia team within it. They get very comfortable in it, which is both great and also, \u201cTry another Meetup group guys. It&#8217;s okay.\u201d It&#8217;s sweet to see that everyone is woven together and supportive of each other. That is the best thing to watch happen. Sometimes they are like, \u201cI don&#8217;t get invited to everything.\u201d It&#8217;s like, \u201cI brought you together. Why are you leaving me out?\u201d That is the hardest part. It&#8217;s also heartwarming and rewarding to see it happen, connect, go up and grow up.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I love how you describe it as a home base. The story of people coming and helping with weeding and other places with someone&#8217;s home, that\u2019s what community is. It is about unselfishness. Too much selfishness exists in the world and the ability to help to have a platform for people to be unselfish and help each other. It&#8217;s awesome. We have talked about you in the context of Meetup but we haven&#8217;t touched on Nina as a whole full person. You have done a lot of amazing things in nonprofits and helped many people. Tell us a little more about what you do.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thanks for asking. Sometimes people forget that Meetup organizers are people, too. My background is in public health specifically, how you can leverage technology to reach certain public health goals. That&#8217;s my background working for universities, nonprofits and things like that. Now, I work for a software company that provides student support services like tutoring, advising mental health resources to college students and specifically non-traditional ones. First-generation working students, student parents, and it&#8217;s called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.upswing.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Upswing<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I work with the schools that purchase those services so that they are free for the students. In all of my career, I have been focused on making sure that we level the playing field. That everybody can live a healthy, happy, successful life, regardless of where they came from, their background and without qualification, they should be able to have that opportunity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Your parents collegiate something or someone did something because you are focused on inclusiveness and how we should do everything we can to help and support others during this time of COVID. In particular with mental health challenges, emotional challenges around college students. Especially, people that don&#8217;t have the support that many people who are born affluent have is terrifying in many ways. The pandemic affected many people in many ways. We don&#8217;t even have conceptions of now. It&#8217;s wonderful that you do that. You are a special person. I want to jump into some rapid-fire questions. Nina, what was the first time you saw yourself as a leader?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When I was in third grade, I wanted to make up a rap about Peter Rabbit or something like that, so I recruited my friends and we all did a rap for my classroom. I wrote and choreographed it. I feel like that was my first time stepping up. I don&#8217;t know where I pulled that memory for us but that is a true story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you have a time machine and you can go anywhere in the world at any point in time, where are you going?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not going to the past but I want to go to the future. Probably my favorite place I have ever been on vacation with is in San Sebastian. I might want to go there tomorrow. How&#8217;s that?<\/p>\n<p><strong>I can understand that being how chilly it is and many parts of the United States. That&#8217;s awesome. What is on the bucket list that we haven&#8217;t talked about yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t have a bucket list.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why make a list? Just do it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I feel like there are so many things that I don&#8217;t know I want to do yet. Somebody might say something like, \u201cI would like to go to Venice and run with a group of runners now.\u201d I&#8217;m like, \u201cNow it is on the list.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Find the Venice Running Meetup Group. I&#8217;m sure there are a bunch out there. The last question is, you are doing so much in your personal, professional life, etc. Is there one thing that you most want to be remembered by?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My personal mantra is to leave it better than you found it. I would like to be remembered as someone who brought light to things and made things better by being part of them.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9492\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9492\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9492\" src=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/29KCMCaption4.jpg\" alt=\"KCM 29 Nina Baltierra | Bull City Beer Runners\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/29KCMCaption4.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/29KCMCaption4-473x315.jpg 473w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9492\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bull City Beer Runners: Leave it better than you found it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>How do I have my kids grow up to be like you? Seriously, it is wonderful. You are focused on something bigger than yourself. You are finding ways of changing the world, one person at a time, one runner at a time, one beer at a time, and one underprivileged person in college at a time.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Meetup is great. It is a great tool to make those changes. Amplify the changes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I think so, too. We\u2019ve got to end with that. Thank you much. It is great having you on.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thank you for having me. This is great.<\/p>\n<p><strong><b>Thanks for reading. As you can see running a Meetup group, especially a running Meetup group is more of a marathon than a sprint. Fun intended and eye-roll. Nine years in 2021 and 1,600 members. What an amazing individual. I particularly like her focus on sharing with people, what to expect before the run, the inclusiveness, and the importance of a first impression. I will tell you, she made an amazing first impression on me and I could see why she is such a special organizer. <\/b><\/strong><strong>If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review. Feel free to also check out my book, <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.DecideAndConquerBook.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em><u>Decide &amp; Conquer<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong>, and remember let&#8217;s keep connected because life is better together.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Important Links:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.DecideAndConquerBook.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em><u><i>Decide &amp; Conquer<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Meetup<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>WeWork<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/Bull-City-Beer-Runners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Bull City Beer Runners<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chrismcdougall.com\/born-to-run\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em><u><i>Born to Run<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fishtownbeerrunners.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Fishtown Beer Runners<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/Brooklyn-Beer-Runners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Brooklyn Beer Runners<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bullcityrunning.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Bull City Running Company<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.upswing.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Upswing<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>About Nina Baltierra<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-9493 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Baltierra_headshot-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"KCM 29 Nina Baltierra | Bull City Beer Runners\" width=\"172\" height=\"172\" \/>Nina joined Counter Tools as a Project Director in 2014 and has since taken on roles with increasing responsibility, including Director of Programs and Director of Operations. She has been serving as Interim Executive Director since September 2017.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"post-excerpt\"><p>Learn from Nina Baltierra, a real grassroots organizer, about what it takes to establish, expand, and enhance your own home base in this episode of the Keep Connected podcast.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":9499,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Episode 29: One Run, One Beer: Small Steps Make Big Changes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nina Baltierra, founder of the Bull City Beer Runners, talks with David Siegel about how small steps make big changes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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