MQ 10 | June 2023

MOWGLI QUARTERLY

mix tape content

side A

sd 01 BELLA CIAO \ GORAN BREGOVIC

sd 02 MINIMUM WAGE \ THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS

ap 03 9 TO 5 \ DOLLY PARTON

db 04 LIVING IN AMERICA \ BLACK 47

lbk 05 BLOOMSDAY \ SAMANTHA CRAIN

hc 06 RIGHT TO BE WRONG \ JOSS STONE

hh 07 TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING \ KOKO TAYLOR

hc 08 HOPE THE HIGH ROAD \ JASON ISBELL + THE 400

gm 09 WELCOME TO THE WORKING WEEK \ ELVIS COSTELLO + THE ATTRACTIONS

sd 10 AS TURBINAS ESTAO LIGADAS \ ELY

hh 11 MORNING TRAIN \ SHEENA EASTON

gm 12 MERCHANDISE \ FUGAZI

hh 13 WORKER’S SONG \ DROPKICK MURPHYS

ap 14 THIS JOY \ RESISTANCE REVIVAL CHORUS

gm 15 SHIPS IN THE HARBOR \ TOMMY PRINE

db 16 WORKING MAN \ RUSH

Side B

hc 01 PORCH SONG \ WIDESPREAD PANIC

hh 02 THE TEMPEST \ THE REAL MCKENZIES

rms 03 IF I HAD $1, 000, 000 \ BARENAKED LADIES

gm 04 MAGGIE’S FARM \ BOB DYLAN

lbk 05 WHEN YOU SAY \ FACS

ap 06 SIXTEEN TONS \ TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD

lbk 07 LONESOME LA COWBOY \ MAPACHE

db 08 SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY \ DONNA SUMMER

rms 09 SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW \ RENEE DOMINIQUE

lbk 10 MR. UNTITLED \ UNION CARBIDE PRODUCTIONS

rms 11 WE ARE ON TIME \ NAHKO + MEDICINE FOR THE PEOPLE

hc 12 KID \ THE REVIVALISTS

sd 13 TANKO BUSHI \ MINYO CRUSADERS

sd 14 TAKIN’ CARE OF BUSINESS \ BTO

rms 15 ALL LIFE \ IYA TERRA + MIKE LOVE

letter from me

Before I understood what I was listening to—I was drawn to work songs, field hollers, and prison songs. How can one not be mesmerized by the marching rhythm alone? Since real history isn't taught in schools, I was probably introduced to it first in The Color Purple and quickly learned this was where jazz and blues were born. Work songs were more than a way to regulate the speed and timing of work—they eased burdens, helped to pass down information of enslaved people to their communities and families, and were used for worship and entertainment. If you're interested in learning more, please check out Black Music Scholars for a handful of articles. Alan Lomax also has a massive archive of the world's folk music, including Negro Prison Songs from the Mississippi State Penitentiary. I would also recommend this playlist by Bryson Whitney, a photographer in New Orleans.

Why am I talking about chain gang music? Well, this issue is about work... jobs... careers. Considering the success of this country was built by slaves on stolen native land and, today, is still reliant on immigrants, prison work, and child labor—I would be remiss to not acknowledge this truth before we discuss our personal experiences. I recognize my desire to be less connected to capitalism could appear vapid in comparison (maybe it is), ... but I believe humans can be complex beings who hold multiple levels of understandings on a topic, have a desire to want to learn more perspectives, while also yearning for more for themselves.

With that, please hit play on that mix tape and dive into some modern day workscapes with us!

ANNI POPPEN Owner/Artivist of Mowgli Studio Pitbull Mama to Gertie & Vinnie Vegan at Keep On Vegan On

client love

Pioneer Center is celebrating their 65th year in human services this year! Pioneer provides support for developmental disabilities, behavioral health, and those experiencing homelessness. Today, I will focus on just one facet within those pillars: Community Employment Services (CES).

I'm excited to share this program with you all, because it provides independence to those with disabilities and integration for the individual, the business, and those who frequent that business. Services that bring us together make our community whole—it's what makes them so pivotal! I reached out to Tip Hale, the manager of CES at Pioneer, with a handful of questions. Thank you for sharing your precious time with me, Tip!

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR ROLE AT PIONEER?

I started here in 2008 as a job developer and became manager earlier this year. As manager, I not only carry a case load as a job developer but also supervise two other job developers and two job coaches. I am responsible for soliciting referrals from the Illinois Department of Rehabilitation and assigning them to the job developers for placement and then to the job coaches to assist the customer in achieving independence at their job.

HOW DOES THE EMPLOYEE/EMPLOYER PROCESS START? Most of the individuals that come to CES are referrals from the Department of Rehabilitation (DRS). We also are available to Pioneer Day Program clients, group home residents and PADS customers as well as any Illinois resident with a documented disability (intellectual, physical, behavioral, or developmental). These past couple of years, we have had several businesses call us with employment needs and have done our best to find individuals who are good candidates for them.

I KNOW PRIVACY IS IMPORTANT IN THIS PROGRAM. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW PIONEER PROTECTS PRIVACY FOR AN INDIVIDUAL AND WHY THAT’S IMPORTANT? Privacy and confidentiality are a concern Pioneer protects. If a client wants CES to work anonymously, we honor that. In all cases we do not divulge disabilities, we only talk about abilities

I IMAGINE THERE ARE MANY MOMENTS OF SUCCESS THAT KEEP YOU FUELED FOR THIS JOB — COULD YOU SHARE A SUCCESS STORY? Several years ago, we placed a young man as a bagger in a local supermarket. A few months ago, I went to the same market to drop off a resume for an applicant and speak with the supervisor. When the supervisor was introduced, he said "Don’t you remember me? You helped me find a job here as a bagger several years ago and now I am the boss.”

IF A BUSINESS WANTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CES PROGRAM, WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO DO? For a business to participate in the CES program, they only need to contact me. Then our team will go to the place of employment and discuss our services and supports. As this program is funded by DRS, there is no charge to either the participant or the employer.

HOW CAN THE COMMUNITY SUPPORT CES? Due to the nature of our business and the funding by the State of Illinois, we cannot accept donations to our program; however, donations to Pioneer are always welcomed and needed.

WHAT MOWGLI STUDIO DOES: videography

meet my friend

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been one for the desire of an engaged presence. My mind may have been filled with a countless number of thoughts at any one time, possibly creating this machine of perpetual motion. At 13, I was excited to start working at my mother’s woodshop after school. I worked every day after school for many years and 40-hour weeks throughout the summer months. After the dismantling of Creative Woodworks (due to the divorce of my mother and step-father while I was in college), my time of employment was with Fellow Mortals Wildlife Hospital, sometimes up to 80 hours weekly to support ailing and orphaned wildlife. This is the situation that changed my course of direction. What shall I do, where I can have summers off to care for wildlife, yet still make a livable wage? After Fellow Mortals (still in college), I was employed by a veterinary practice, and finally a pet supply chain as a lead. During this time, I graduated from college with my bachelor’s in biology. Realizing quickly I did not want to work retail for a living, I worked as a personal assistant, still with the lingering feeling that I needed to find a way to care for wildlife and still get paid. And then it occurred to me… why not teach? Teachers have summers to do with as they wish! And that was that. Back to school I went, this time to get my master’s in teaching, as well as teaching certification.

Student teaching was both rewarding and dreadful. I wasn’t fond of working with freshmen, but thoroughly enjoyed the juniors and seniors. The first high school I taught ecology, integrated science, and biology. It was awful. I applied to another high school and got hired as their new biology and physical science teacher. It was a dream compared to first school, but still not nearly as easy as I thought teaching might be.

For the following four years I was miserable. I didn’t think I could continue teaching anymore. Then a student trip to Costa Rica changed my life. I set the trip up once I realized I could experience this beautiful country free of charge if I encouraged six students to sign up. Sixteen students and chaperones signed up, and we flew down to the most fascinating and significant place of my life. When I came back, I was a different person! Altered. Perhaps some would say, unhinged, but that is discussion for another story. This led to a high point in my teaching career. I continued to set up student trips for many years… the Galapagos Islands, Belize twice, Baja, Nicaragua, Ecuador and back to Costa Rica.

Unfortunately, I started to become spiritless, depressed, and desperate for change—with no end in sight. A few years ago, my husband and I moved an hour away to start a bird sanctuary. The commute and lack of time seemed to drain my very soul. Last year, I finished up the school year and quit with no job lined up. Since we got paid through summer, I had time to find employment, or so I told myself. That time progressed with a rapid sweep. August came and I panicked. I applied to a new teaching position closer to home. I was called for an interview that same week, where I was hired for a traveling chemistry, forensics, and astronomy instructor between two schools. The workload created by teaching three subjects I had never taught before at two different schools was overwhelming, to say the least.

While already heavily contemplating the desire to leave (versus the desire to have an annual salary and summers off), a forensic science guest speaker finalized this thought when he stated, “find a job that you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” That did it. I realized

“Find a job that you love, have to work a day in your

vegan noms

I didn’t love teaching; I never did. I enjoyed aspects of it, but it was always work. Some kids will never leave my heart, some I could have pleasantly done without.

The following week, I visited my uncle in England, as he was being consumed by cancer’s end of life stages. On my way home from the airport, I experienced a general malaise. Covid-19 had been brewing inside, and the malaise turned to wretched torment. A 10-day quarantine takes yet another week of school from me, much to my relief. Doing work for school was inevitable, but I also had time to read a book. Reading books hasn’t been part of my livelihood for what seemed like decades. This book, Darwin’s Journal, has inspired me not only to continue reading and exploring, but also to write and to do what unburdens my affliction of anxiety.

So now what? Where shall I take this incipient stage of my life after teaching for 15 years? Career-wise? Who knows. But for now, and hopefully for future endeavors, my goals include reading, exploring nature, traveling, creating crafts of anything I desire, learning new things, writing stories—possibly even books, learning more about art, loving on my animal companions, creating a new life style, and forever sharing this new found life-enjoyment with my husband Joe.

REHANA MOHAMMED-SMITH IS ALSO THE CO-FOUNDER OF GEORGIA'S PLACE BIRD SANCTUARY, WHICH IS A FULL-TIME JOB IN AND OF ITSELF. THE REALITY OF SANCTUARY LIFE AND MANY NON-PROFITS IS THEY CAN'T PAY THEIR STAFF—ONE OF THE MANY BROKEN PARTS (IN MY OPINION) OF A SYSTEM THAT SHOULD BE SUPPORTING BETTERMENT AND NOT CAUSING EXHAUSTION AND DESPAIR.

MEALPREPPINGWITHRAINBOWPLANTLIFE

Whether you're working from home, in an office, running a local shop, or moving from one job site to the next—you're usually thinking about eating at some point during your shift! I don't know about you, but if I don't plan ahead I will eat unhealthily on a good day... don't get me started on a stressful day. I'm usually too busy to even do meal prepping, but when I do make it a priority I really enjoy how my week flows and how I feel in general. When I don't have time for meal prepping, thank you Trader Joe's for healthy, affordable, vegan, to-go options. If you're someone who is lucky enough to have a food co-op nearby, I recommend visiting them as well.

Anyhoo! I have followed so many vegan food bloggers over the years, but only one is still my ride or die today: Rainbow Plant Life. I started with Nisha's vegan instant pot cookbook, which is amazing. More often these days, I'm looking up her YouTube videos or getting excited about trying a recipe she emails out to subscribers. Full disclosure, I have avoided a recipe because she leans on the side of having more ingredients than I have energy for, but when she focuses on an ingredient or something like meal prepping where you do it all ahead of time and then have easier cooking through the week—sign me up!

Meal Prepping » Video Series

Meal Prepping Blog » Posts

What I can't wait to try » Preserved Lemons

Follow her on » Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE VEGAN RECIPE YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE?

EMAIL US AT ANNI@MOWGLISTUDIO.COM!

cover story

Lisa Bralts-Kelly (or Lisa BK, to many of us) moved to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois the same year I did in 1996, and I imagine we met pretty quickly. Our lives overlapped thanks to Geoff Merrit (who joins us in this issue's The 4Cast). Lisa worked for him at Parasol Records, and I worked for him at That's Rentertainment. From a distance she was (and still very much is) a magical woman who looked cool, played cool, consumed cool, worked cool, mom'ed cool, and knew no other way but cool.

Getting to know her more and more over the years, her cool was not a facade nor faded. It only radiated brighter. She is genuinely curious about people and how to connect with them. I find speaking with her to be one of the most comfortable conversations to engage in (every time). She learns your thing and then wants to share all the things she knows about said thing. Her brain is always building, networking, creating... tinkering. She sees the vibrant community she lives in and wants to support it. She wants to add to it.

Her career is proof of that—starting out in marketing for different record labels—including the one we met at, Parasol Records; moving on to food-centric missions like Common Ground Food Coop, Eastern Illinois Foodbank, and Urbana's Market at the Square—one of Illinois' largest farmers markets; finding a bit of overlap of all her interests at WILL Public Radio which gets her more on the University of Illinois track that took her to Siebel Center for Design and where she is now at the College of Applied Health Sciences ("the punkest college in the University"). The through line is marketing, but the intentions and results are so much more.

Let's have her tell you about it, though. It will be way more... cool »»»

Curiosity is something that has driven me my whole life. I want to know more about people— why they do what they do, why they like what they like. What can we do together?

reviews Let My People Go Surfing

BY YVON CHOUINARD | REVIEW BY ANNI POPPEN

I read Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman almost two decades ago, and it has stuck with me ever since. How could the founder of Patagonia relate at all to what it's like to be working the 40+-hour work week? His earlier years, perhaps. But years ago work was different, the disparity between income and cost of living wasn't so massive, and dreams seemed more attainable. Hell, I worked full-time to put myself through college— twenty years later, I know for a fact that wouldn't be an option.

Still, looking back, I realize reading that book planted a seed which helped me build the life I have today. I own a business (check) whose primary focus is to uplift nonprofits so this world is a better place (check), and—for the most part—I do it all from the comfort of my home (I'll say check, because it was less of a traditional work space than it is now).

This business lesson meets philosophical reflection meets autobiography is like watching #vanlife videos where 20-somethings are living the dream and making money while they do it. Meaning, there is a deep connection to the environment and lightening the impact we all have on it, along with a desperate

need to live a fulfilling life—an examined life. When I originally read his book (and now when I watch van life videos), there is a sense of "I can do that!" mixed with "Must be nice." For me, it weighs more on the I can do it side, and that's where I find its value.

Traditional systems working for a very small group and being broken for the rest of us (and even more broken for some) repeatedly feel draining and hopeless. We can vote to try and get people to fix those systems or build new ones, but when it comes to our personal lives, maybe changing our perspective on the purpose of work and finding its loopholes is an attainable optimism, in my book at least... and in this book. If you're searching for new perspective or validation on why you don't seem to fit in wherever you work, then I recommend this book and the ones listed below as well.

IF THIS THEN

»Dare to Lead (book)

»4-Day Work Week (book)

»Work Won't Love You Back (book)

»PBS' Craft in America (tv series)

NOTE: I just started watching Craft in America and I'm really enjoying it. I would give it its own review, but I discovered it too late in the editing process for this issue.

EPISODE 002: "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Bookshop connects readers with independent booksellers all over the world. Check out our list of recommendations on »BOOKSHOP.ORG

In this episode, Anni (freelancer), Scott (government employee), Geoff (running multiple businesses with employees since the 80s), and Heather (runs a newer restaurant with employees) compare notes on "quiet quitting," sick leave legislation, and more.

fork these shorts

BY DAVID BRADBURN, FORK THE MAN

Working

NETFLIX 4-PART SERIES HOSTED BY FORMER PRESIDENT BARAK OBAMA | REVIEW

BY SCOTT DURFOR

Gentle readers, do you ever worry or wonder about the future of the workplace? Then you should watch Working: What We Do All Day. Former President Obama interviews and follows several people from three different types of work: hospitality, home care, and technology. Three of the fastest growing and most impacted sectors of work currently.

It starts with how it came about, referencing the legendary historian, writer, actor, and broadcaster Studs Terkel as the impetus—specifically, his 1974 book called Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do. Terkel was always at his best when he worked to preserve the American oral history by actually going out into the world, chronicling and listening to people about their experiences and what concerned them. Whether it was going through a World War, the Depression, or living in a growing metropolis; Terkel had an everyman knack for capturing people’s spirit, which would later garner him a Pulitzer Prize.

The series tries to capture some of this and succeeds. The first episode begins at the first rung of each work type and with each successive episode travels up their socioeconomic ladders, culminating in the fourth episode with the bosses.

The journey is amazing to watch. A smart and tactful balancing act by Director Caroline Suh—just enough of Mr. Obama interacting with the people of the docuseries to not make it about Mr. Obama, the people sharing just enough of their life to not make it a reality show, and voice-overed history flashbacks to teach and illustrate how we all came to be where we are.

A few of my favorite excerpts from the series is a voice over of Mr. Obama saying, “We’re all part of something larger than any one of us. Work is one of the forces that connects us…When everyone feels respected and valued, it creates a better community.” This Gestalt/Lion King observation rang true with me. We are all part of something larger than any one of us. We have to be to survive in this life; relationships with each other are what makes us human. A better community translates to a better society translates to a better world translates to a better universe.

IF THIS THEN »

» Working (book)

»Dirty Jobs (tv series)

»The Light We Carry (documentary)

»Saving Capitalism (documentary) but also read this review of it

VLADA GOES TO LONDON

BY ARTI SAVCHENKO

As much as I keep wishing for it, I don’t think I’m going to be a trust fund baby. Therefore, I work. Mostly to pay the bills, to keep my basic needs met, and occasionally to enjoy some of life. This is usually palatable for many of us when we keep our dreams within our means. And at times that sentence is about as depressing as it sounds, for what do we do without dreams or a goal or a vision, but perish.

In Arti Savchenko’s Vlada Goes to London, the hope of dreams and lack of funds meet in compelling stand off. Vlada delivers pizzas on a scooter while dreaming of leaving Haifa to be a famous DJ in London. But dreams take money, and Vlada has none. Even more, she lacks good options to realize what she believes is her full potential.

What do we do when we face intolerable choices? What corners do we cut? What compromises do we make? What bitternesses do we harbor? In what ways do we take it out on the individuals around us when it is the system that is what ultimately stand in the way of the individual? Vlada’s options are often bleak, and her choices are as short-sighted as her list of alternatives are limited.

Come along as she rides through her shift and tries to chase a dream... that the harder she chases the further away it feels.

“

A good life is half what you want, and the rest what you need.

design » on the inside

IF THIS THEN: Hood Midcentury on IG | Mark

COMPRESSION+EXPANSION

To not feature Frank Lloyd Wright at some point in this series would make me a horrible midwesterner, a horrible designer, and let's just say it... a horrible person. Whew! Thank goodness I dodged that perfectly symmetric, sleek, and sophisticated bullet.

I find no matter how many times I try to change my aesthetics in personal interior design, there's always a hint of midcentury modern in what I do. My attempts at boho are more bomo. It's the organizer in me. The need for clean lines to feel peace. Don't mind me, just casually trying to control chaos over here—a coping mechanism I learned early on in age.

When I think back to midcentury modern in my childhood, I immediately find myself coloring or reading on the floor of my grandparents' living room. The couch at the back of the room— midcentury modern. The fireplace—a beautiful and strong horizontal line anchoring the whole room. It was the farm house my grandmother was born in long before prairie style was a thing, but the aesthetics were updated here and there to reflect their adult history. Not to mention, making chaos pretty was a specialty of my grandmother, as well.

Now, here I am sharing an example of making work pretty. Isn't work just another form of chaos? As someone whose whole career is to make stuff pretty, you would think I would be fawning all over the place on this building. And I am, I really am. I want dendriform columns in my workspace. I want compression and expansion. Yet (there it is, the dreaded yet), I also know I'm a sucker for pretty. I know I'm being duped into buying or buying into something. I'm being manipulated.

Maybe Frank Lloyd Wright was intentionally being ironic when he put in those lily pad columns. He knew all these people were going to feel like they were in over their heads... drowning in work. No matter how pretty he made it. Maybe that's why the chairs fell over, as if to say "get out of here!"

But isn't it pretty?

Mark Hertzberg | Accidentally Wes Anderson

roll credits

MIX TAPE CONTRIBUTORS (arranged by SD)

AP (anni poppen)

DB (david bradburn)

GM (geoff merritt)

HH (hannah howell)

HC (heather cummings)

LB (lisa bralts-kelly)

RM (rehana mohammed-smith)

SD (scott durfor )

PHOTOGRAPHY + VIDEOGRAPHY

cover/spotify (mowgli studio)

letter from me (selfie at work)

client love (pexels/ali sanaa) meet my friend (pexels/gina schlote) roll credits (pexels/amina filkins)

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