Heidi Otway: Welcome to the Fluent in Floridian podcast featuring the Sunshine State's brightest leaders talking about the issues most important to the people of Florida and its millions of weekly visitors. I'm Heidi Otway, President of SalterMitchell PR.

In this episode, I’m talking with Robin Hassler Thompson, the co-founder and executive director of the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center. Also known as STAC. This nonprofit organization supports sex and labor trafficking survivors across North Florida. We are releasing this episode during Sexual Assault Awareness Month and we encourage our listeners to share this podcast episode to help increase awareness of human trafficking, a crime that impacts thousands of Floridians every year. 

Heidi Otway: Okay. Hi, I'm Heidi Otway, the president of Salter Mitchell Public Relations, and your host for this Fluent in Floridian Podcast. Today, I'm interviewing Robin Hassler Thompson, the founder and executive director of the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center.

Robin, I am so happy to have you on the show. You and I go way back on a lot of things, and now I get to share your awesomeness with Floridians and people who listen to our podcast beyond the state of Florida.

Robin Hassler Thompson: You are so kind. Thank you for inviting me. It's just so great to be here. I can't believe it. I'm just thrilled, I really am.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: This is an honor.

Heidi Otway: We've been trying to get you on the show for a while. The stars lined up-

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yes.

Heidi Otway: And here we are today.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yes, thank you.

Heidi Otway: Let's talk about you.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Oh. Okay, all right. I'll give it a go. Let's have fun.

Heidi Otway: Earlier today, we were talking and learned that both of us are from South Florida.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yes.

Heidi Otway: You are from Hialeah, Florida.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yes, Hialeah General Hospital, born in there. Yes.

Heidi Otway: That's where I was born!

Robin Hassler Thompson: Oh my gosh, I can't believe it.

Heidi Otway: Stop it.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I know. Really.

Heidi Otway: Really.

Robin Hassler Thompson: How could that be? Here we are, in Tallahassee.

Heidi Otway: Here we are in Tallahassee.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Isn't that so wild?

Heidi Otway: I know. Amazing. I enjoyed my life growing up in South Florida. Tell us about your life when you were growing up in South Florida.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Sure, sure. Well, I was born in Hialeah, but then moved to Fort Lauderdale when my family was just starting out with me. So I really grew up in Fort Lauderdale. All my education through high school was there. It was wonderful. I loved everything about it, to be honest with you. I loved being outside, I loved school, I loved ... When I think about it, I look back and I think gosh, it was so, I don't know, just fantastic to know that you could go to the beach every weekend.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: You could play tennis.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Anyway, I loved our backyard. It was just a beautiful ... It was really fun.

Heidi Otway: Yeah. Now, are you the only child or do you have siblings? Tell me about your family.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I'm a Yours, Mine and Ours family, if you ever hear of that movie. My mom married my stepdad when I was two. He had three kids, she had me, and together they had my baby brother, Bobby.

Heidi Otway:

Aw.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Who's just turned 60, so not a baby. I grew up in a large, chaotic, I would say, blended family is what we call it today. That was another experience. It was a lot of siblings coming and going, and all the rest.

Heidi Otway: Were you the oldest?

Robin Hassler Thompson: I was the oldest in part two, in a way, but really I have three older step-siblings and one younger brother, so I'm middle-bottom.

Heidi Otway: In the middle-

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yeah. Yeah, that's that.

Heidi Otway: That's awesome.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yeah.

Heidi Otway: Well, tell me about what was your journey like from high school into college? You have this storied career in the legal profession. Tell me, how did that become? What started your interest in law and led you to where you are today?

Robin Hassler Thompson: Well, I would say that my mother is the greatest influence in my life, which a lot of people say, and it's true I'm sure as well. But just reflecting on it, I have to say that. I remember being age four and listening to the Democratic National Convention on TV. I was at her knee as she was ironing and I remember that. Politics has been a thing for me.

When I was in high school, I actually got a little bored. I went to St. Thomas Equinus High School, which was a great high school, don't get me wrong, but I wanted to do more. As a senior, I started working on Jimmy Carter's campaign in 1976.

Heidi Otway: Wow.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I loved it. That was when Carter was running, there were nine people in the field. In fact, kind oh when we're recording now was the Florida primary, March 9th in 1976. I just remember it like it was yesterday. I remember getting so involved in that campaign, and I ended up being a volunteer coordinator for Carter for Broward County. After that, I just had the bug. I started to get more interested and involved in politics. Of course, we know how that campaign ended, he gets elected.

Heidi Otway: Yes.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I went to the inauguration. Still remember the dress, by the way.

Heidi Otway: Wait a minute. This was all in high school?

Robin Hassler Thompson: High school. High school, I was a senior in high school.

Heidi Otway: You are an overachiever.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Oh, totally. But it was so much fun. That's when I went to DC and saw Washington for the first time and said, "I want to go to school here." I applied to a bunch of schools, and then American University accepted me, and I got a scholarship, various ways, work study, to be able to go to school there. I spent four years in DC as a student.

Heidi Otway: Wow.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Which if anybody is listening and has a second thought or are thinking where to go, I just loved everything about Washington. To be a student there, it was so much free stuff, great transportation. You learn so much. It's just a cultural mecca. I adored it. That was great. That's that evolution.

Heidi Otway: Well, what did you study?

Robin Hassler Thompson: I studied, well I started poly sci. Of course, political science. Of course.

Heidi Otway: Right, right.

Robin Hassler Thompson:

Then I thought, "I want to do something else," so I studied English literature as well. I learned French. Really, it was a smorgasbord to me. The opportunities were just so, so good. AU is a great school, the campus is very accessible.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I had a really positive experience there.

Heidi Otway: Okay. Then what happened when you graduated?

Robin Hassler Thompson: Well, I didn't know what ... I always see life as not wanting to close any doors behind me. What would I do in graduate school to keep the most doors open?

Heidi Otway:

Right.

Robin Hassler Thompson: The law was that answer for me. I had a mentor when I was in school, and I remember talking to her because I was also thinking about doing something in the State Department, or just in international relations. There's a school called the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and I was thinking that would be a great place to go. Then my friend who was a lawyer, my friend mentor, she said, "Robin." She said, "There are people with their Master's in law and diplomacy in this area, selling books at the DuPont Circle Book Store. Go to law school. Go to law school, young woman."

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I took her advice to heart and I applied to a lot of law schools. Then I got in here, at FSU. It was great because I could still be in a capital city.

Heidi Otway: Exactly.

Robin Hassler Thompson: During the time in law school, I did take advantage, I interned at the legislature for a couple of sessions, more than a year. Which broke some rules, but they needed somebody and they called me back. I was a clerk at the Supreme Court for a semester as well, so I was able to get a sense of that sector of our government. Then, I got a Master's at the same time. I got my Master's in ... I ended up getting-

Heidi Otway: Wait a minute. You got a JD-

Robin Hassler Thompson: And an MA.

Heidi Otway: And an MA, at the same time?

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yeah.

Heidi Otway: Okay. Overachiever. I love it.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Well, you know what? It was another thing, now that I'm thinking of it, I think I got bored at law school. Not bored as in there's not enough to do.

Heidi Otway: Right.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Because there was plenty.

Heidi Otway:

Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: It wasn't floating my boat. I was able to do this joint degree program.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: That's when I got my Master's in international affairs from FSU.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: It's not Tufts.

Heidi Otway: Right, right.

Robin Hassler Thompson: But I was able to take courses on religion, and economics, and diplomatic history, as well as law. That was great. That was great.

Heidi Otway: That sounds amazing because you touched on so many things that really shape for the work that you do now, advocacy.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yes, yes.

Heidi Otway: I think all of that shaped you. How did you transition from law school into your career as an advocate? Because as long as I've known you, I've known you to be a champion for those who are either vulnerable or at-risk, or women, and marginalized communities. Tell us about how that became who you are known for today?

Robin Hassler Thompson: How did that happen?

Heidi Otway: How did it start?

Robin Hassler Thompson: Well again, I go back to my mom. I can't explain what motivates you. I feel like there's the zen saying, "You just polish your path when you go from one to the other." For me, it was always about some kind of service. I feel like if you go to law school, it's about you have a special gift or special permission to do good in society, to do something that's going to improve the lives of others. That's just how I always ... This is, I will confess, total naivety when I went to law school, and was talking to some friends and said, "Why did you go to law school?" I'm thinking, "Oh, I wanted to be a ..."

"I just wanted to make a lot of money." I thought, "What? What?" It just felt like ... Then I realized I was maybe more in the minority on that. But it was always about public service to me, in some form or another. The first firm I went to work for was one that billed itself as an international law firm. I was thinking law of the sea. It wasn't, it was just buying and selling banks to people in South America. That was not international law. It was, but it wasn't.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: That didn't get me going. I was in Miami doing that for a couple of years, cut my teeth on everything from trial practice, to writing contracts and leases, to litigation and all this stuff. I learned a lot about the practice of law and I realized I didn't want to be in that kind of a legal environment.

Heidi Otway: Right.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I came back to Tallahassee then and worked in the legislature.

Heidi Otway: Okay. Tell me about that.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I started out in the majority office, was a legal counsel there.

Heidi Otway: Who was the Governor at that time?

Robin Hassler Thompson: The Governor was Bob Graham. Could that be? Yeah.

Heidi Otway: Was it in the '80s?

Robin Hassler Thompson: No. Who was the Governor? I came back, it would have been ... Yeah, it would have been in the '80s. It would have been '89, I came back in '89. Yeah, so I think it was Graham. I think it was his last year or something.

Heidi Otway: I think you're right because when I was in high school, he would come and teach our civics class at [inaudible 00:11:53]-

Robin Hassler Thompson: Oh, maybe.

Heidi Otway: High School.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Because they were from Miami Lakes.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yeah.

Heidi Otway: Then I would come up here for when they would bring the students up to experience the legislature, so we would get the Florida ties.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yes.

Heidi Otway: Remember, that was a thing?

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yes.

Heidi Otway: The Florida ties.

Robin Hassler Thompson: The Florida ties. Cool.

Heidi Otway: Somewhere in my attic, I still have my Florida tie from high school from when I came up.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Oh, Heidi, that's so cool! That's so great.

Heidi Otway: [inaudible 00:12:15] and wear it.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yeah, yeah. Then you could also walk around with your little notepad. Remember, you used to take notes and take everybody's name down?

Heidi Otway: Yes, that's what we did.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yeah. That was then.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Then after a few years of that, I went to the Criminal Justice Committee, and I was staff director in the House Criminal Justice. From there, it was right around that time that Lawton Chiles was going to run, was running for Governor. I worked on that campaign. I think it was the first campaign after Jimmy Carter that I really jumped in wholeheartedly. I still worked, but did that on the side. Then I went to work for Governor Chiles.

Heidi Otway: You did.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I was invited to be part of his staff when he started out, so that was a huge honor.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: And wonderful.

Heidi Otway: How long were you with Lawton Chiles, the Governor?

Robin Hassler Thompson: The whole time, eight years.

Heidi Otway: The whole time.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I'm one of the few, I think there are a number of us. But from the outset, from the very beginning to his passing, unfortunately, and then that last few weeks with Buddy McKay as Governor.

Heidi Otway: Wow.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yes, I was there for the entire eight years.

Heidi Otway: Wow. I was a young reporter-

Robin Hassler Thompson: Oh.

Heidi Otway: Covering that story when he passed away, I'll never forget it.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I know.

Heidi Otway: Yeah, it was heartbreaking.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Heartbreaking.

Heidi Otway: I could believe it when I got the call. I was like, "You're kidding. No, this isn't true."

Robin Hassler Thompson: "It can't be."

Heidi Otway: "It can't be," and it was true. We covered it, we were here in Tallahassee at the TV station and everything we did went out across the world.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yeah.

Heidi Otway: He made such an impact.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I will tell you, I feel like I was spoiled by Lawton Chiles and Buddy McKay because, the same thing in my tenure in the legislature, we worked so hard to do what was right. I know a lot of people can debate was is "right," but he and Buddy, at the time too, they were at a time in their careers when they were not looking at the latest poll. I remember sitting in meetings and them saying, "Well, what's the right thing to do?"

Heidi Otway: Wow.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Then just being able to say, "Well, this is what I think is right. These are people that are lined up to do it and this is what we need to do." And, "Go for it," that was the message that I always got.

When you have someone who has that wisdom and experience, and really at their core, such good people, again, what an honor and what a great opportunity. That public service also, I think defined me a lot.

Heidi Otway: Yeah, yeah. Would you consider Governor Chiles and Lieutenant Governor McKay as people that you admired or who really shaped you, who you are today?

Robin Hassler Thompson: Gosh, there are so many people along the way. Absolutely, from more of a thing. But there are people that I worked with, Linda Shelly is one of them, who was the chief of staff there for a while. Ron Silver, who ended his career as a Senator, but when I worked for him he was a Representative. Ron was just always so good. Then throughout, there are just these people that pop up in your life, I think at times when you need that guidance, and then they're there, and then you move on.

Heidi Otway: Yeah, yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yeah.

Heidi Otway: That's awesome. Tell us about, you worked in the legislature, your worked on campaigns. You're now the co-founder of the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center, where you're working to help end this horrible practice of human and sex trafficking in the state of Florida, which we have seen a rise-

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yes.

Heidi Otway: In the last few years. Tell us about that role and how it came about?

Robin Hassler Thompson: Well first of all, I just really have to acknowledge you because you've been so incredibly supportive of this issue here locally and beyond. Really, to you and to Salter Mitchell PR-

Heidi Otway: Thank you.

Robin Hassler Thompson:

Because you all have just been monumental in helping our organization-

Heidi Otway: It's a great cause.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Get out there and grow, so thank you to you all.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: For me though, it started really as an outgrowth of my work for Governor Chiles, because there I was working on domestic and sexual violence issues. That's how I ended up the last several years of working for Chiles, was working on that issue. Then we had a statewide taskforce, we had legislative initiatives and programs, and did a ton of stuff, just did a lot. Throughout all that, I started to learn about trafficking. I was invited by the US State Department to do some training on domestic violence in Bangladesh. When I was there, that's where I learned about trafficking. I saw children who were labor trafficked as camel jockeys in the shelter that I will never, ever forget the faces of those young boys.

By the way, it's a show on ... Bryant Gumball did this incredible show about it.

Heidi Otway: Really?

Robin Hassler Thompson: If you ever have a chance.

Heidi Otway: No, I'll watch.

Robin Hassler Thompson: It is amazing to see how ... Especially because of your history in the media, to have that show highlight this evil of what was going on.

Heidi Otway: Right.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Then the shame it brought upon the perpetrators of that, which were these wealthy people who raised camels like we raise horses here.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Brought the shame upon them for essentially kidnapping, or convincing parents to give them their children, and paying them to be camel ...

Heidi Otway: Oh my goodness.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Anyway, I saw those kids after they had been brought back from that enslavement.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Then just said, "When I get back to the US, I have to do something. I don't know what but I have to do something."

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Literally, within a couple months, Terry Kunin at the Human Rights Center called and said, "Hey, we're doing some work on human trafficking. Would you like to help us?" Out of the blue.

Heidi Otway: Really?

Robin Hassler Thompson: I remember being in that hotel in Bangladesh when I went back to my room saying, "I have to do something." That call came in, so that opened the door. What I did essentially was do some work to also help people who were working on violence against women issues understand, and work on this issue of sex and labor trafficking.

Heidi Otway: Yeah, yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson:

I started with that. Excuse me. At FSU, we had a working group that basically was telling everybody in the state how to get onboard with addressing this issue and helping survivors. Then some of us looked around and said, "We're telling everybody else to do something and we're not doing it here."

Heidi Otway: Oh.

Robin Hassler Thompson: That then came into some of us saying, "Well, how can we be a service provider? What would it take in our community to start that?" With the help of Pamela Marsh, who was US Attorney then, and her office, really helped stand up the STAC. Really said, "We need to have an entity who's only job it is to focus on labor and sex trafficking, and to work in partnership in the community."

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: It really was a grassroots, from our local trafficking coalition, identifying the need that she led, and then just again, that confluence of support and a flow that said, "Okay, now what do we need to do?" Then we've moved forward. We just turned eight years old.

Heidi Otway: Yeah. Congratulations. I'll never forget that when we first started having conversations, and you give me the data, you told me about what was happening in the Tallahassee area. One of the things that stuck with me is that once you know, you can't unknow what's happening in your community. That's why I was just so compelled to support you because I do not want this happening in my community.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yes, yes.

Heidi Otway: I would see things and I'm like, "Okay, this is what Robin taught us in the class that we should be looking out for." I'm paying attention now, and I tell me friends and they're paying attention now because like I said, once you know, you can't unknow.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Well, your voice ... If anybody listening here wants to know what to do-

Heidi Otway:

Yeah, let's talk about that.

Robin Hassler Thompson: No matter where you sit. I use that quote that you just said, "once you know it, you can't unknow it." I use it all the time because I said, "This is what Heidi Otway said, -"

Heidi Otway: Yes.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Because that is the truth.

Heidi Otway: Yes.

Robin Hassler Thompson: When people get that-

Heidi Otway: Once you get it.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Also, what was so great about you is that you saw it in reality.

Heidi Otway: I did.

Robin Hassler Thompson: A lot of people look at a movie or the latest SVU, or something that sensationalizes this issue.

Heidi Otway: Right.

Robin Hassler Thompson: And does a huge disservice to the people who are being groomed, and recruited, and exploited because it's not reality. We've assisted over 200 survivors since our inception.

Heidi Otway: That's amazing.

Robin Hassler Thompson: None of that Hollywood stuff is what happens to these folks.

Heidi Otway: Right.

Robin Hassler Thompson: It's the everyday oppression.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Through any kind of work, whether it's any kind of work or through any kind of commercial sex act. That's what was so great, I remember. You just telling everybody, "Wake up!"

Heidi Otway: Wake up!

Robin Hassler Thompson: "You business community people, you have to do more."

Heidi Otway: Like I say, once you know, you can't unknow. Yeah. Thank you for this.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Oh, thank you.

Heidi Otway: I'm not wrapping up this conversation, but I just want to tell you thank you for all that you're doing because it's making an impact on people.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Oh, thank you.

Heidi Otway: I've seen the stories and I've seen the videos of folks who you've helped overcome this heinous crime. They said, "Yeah, I didn't know who to turn to," and you all stepped up.

Robin Hassler Thompson:

I got a call just today where someone said, "I didn't know you were here until someone just told me."

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: She was with a survivor who needs help. It's that incremental information, word of mouth, or things like this, or our website.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Yeah.

Heidi Otway: Tell the folks who are listening, since we're on this subject, where do they need to go to learn the signs and also how to support this cause?

Robin Hassler Thompson: Right. Our website is surviveandthriveadvocacy.org. It's long, but once you get it, you get it.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: We have a podcast, it's called Imagine Freedom. We have a page called Educational Resources.

Heidi Otway: Yes.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Every month, on every third Friday, we do a webinar on the topic. This month, it's going to be on human trafficking in the schools because I don't do a training ever where someone doesn't say, "What are we doing in the schools?" So we're having some experts.

You can go to our website. You can also know that there's a National Human Trafficking Hotline number, because I know this podcast goes-

Heidi Otway: Everywhere.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Everywhere.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: 888-373-7888, or just Google National Human Trafficking Hotline, 24/7, multilingual. We're a referral source so if you're here locally in Tallahassee, we'll get that call.

Heidi Otway: Okay. Right.

Robin Hassler Thompson: That's our place to look. On our podcast, we also do something a little different. I talk with survivors.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: It's not to ... I feel sometimes there's a re-exploitation of survivors when people make them talk about the worst things that have ever happened to them, which isn't helpful.

Heidi Otway: No.

Robin Hassler Thompson: The women and men that we've spoken with talk about, really, they get real for sure, but they also say, "This is what you need to pay attention to now."

Heidi Otway: Those signs.

Robin Hassler Thompson: These are ways to help you.

Heidi Otway: To help you, right, right. Because once you know-

Robin Hassler Thompson: You know you can't unknow it. I swear, we need that on one of these mugs right here. That's what I need, a STAC mug that says that.

Heidi Otway: Yeah. Robin, you have a storied career and you've done so much. Out of all of your accomplishments, what are you most proud of?

Robin Hassler Thompson: Oh, oh. You've said you were going to ask me that.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I'm just bursting the bubble from everybody. I got that question in advance and still don't know what to say. I am really proud of STAC, I will tell you that. That is something I'm really proud of.

Heidi Otway: I can tell.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I'm very proud of the work I did with Governor Chiles as well. I think that, in terms of career, there's absolutely no ... I can't imagine a more exciting and more meaningful journey there. I love the work I do locally now. Starting a non-profit at age 56, I thought I was nuts. What am I doing? There was just no choice, it just felt like I needed to do that. Very proud of that.

It's really hard to point to one thing.

Heidi Otway: Yeah. When you're not advocating, where can we find you? What are your favorite activities?

Robin Hassler Thompson: Well, I like to make jewelry, I think you know that. That's kind of right brain activity, to counter that. I've had fun with that over the years. I just planted tomatoes and all kinds of things in my garden.

Heidi Otway:

Nice.

Robin Hassler Thompson: You got to get your hands in the dirt sometimes, and that to me is literally grounding.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: You have to do that. I love to be with friends.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I love to just be with good girlfriends, do whatever. Travel, or cook, or eat, or just have a drink.

Heidi Otway: Yeah.

Robin Hassler Thompson: It's just fun to connect with people. Yeah, that's there. And family is wonderful as well, I really get a lot of love and support. That's all there.

Heidi Otway: Yeah. Well, I love you.

Robin Hassler Thompson: I love you!

Heidi Otway: I love everything you do.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Thank you.

Heidi Otway: I just want to thank you so much for being our guest-

Robin Hassler Thompson: Ah, thank you.

Heidi Otway: On this Fluent in Floridian Podcast.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Thank you.

Heidi Otway: Please, go visit STAC's website, because not only this there information about all the wonderful things that Robin's doing to help the community, but it also can help you learn the signs because once you know, you can't unknow it.

Robin Hassler Thompson: You can't unknow it, right. You know, my board would be very upset if I didn't say you can donate as well, if you want to support our work, because that's how we keep the lights on.

Heidi Otway: Very important.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Some people don't know what they can do. If you want to do that, we'd love it.

Heidi Otway: Okay.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Thank you.

Heidi Otway: Do it. Thank you.

Robin Hassler Thompson: Thank you. All right.

Done. Okay, all right.

Heidi Otway: Thanks for listening to this episode of the Fluent in Floridian podcast brought to you by SalterMithelll PR. Our firm is focused on helping good causes and our clients win by providing strategic communications, issue management, crisis communications, creative services, media relations, and marketing. 

Our clients include Fortune 500 corporations, small businesses and nonprofits in Florida and across the U.S. As we celebrate our 25th year in business, we want to thank our clients, employees, and friends who’ve helped us reach this milestone. If you need help telling your Florida story, SalterMitchell PR has you covered. You can learn more about us at smprflorida.com where you can also listen to all of our podcast episodes or tune in on your favorite podcast app.