TAKE FIVE!

February 23, 2021

Amanda Langseder:
Hi, I’m Amanda. And welcome to Sullivan 180 Presents Take Five!. Our guest today is Dawn Ciorciari, general manager for Bold Gold New York. Welcome Dawn, and thank you so much for being here.

Dawn Ciorciari:
Thanks for having me.

Amanda Langseder:
Absolutely. You mind telling us a little bit about yourself and your role at Bold Gold?

Dawn Ciorciari:
Sure. My name is Dawn Ciorciari. I’m the general manager here at Bold Gold Media in New York. We have in my office, three of the local Sullivan County radio stations, 98.3 WSUL 95.9, VOSFM and Thunder 102 and 104.5. Our company as a whole has 14 full power radio stations throughout New York and Pennsylvania, and we also have a digital division.

Amanda Langseder:
Fantastic. Thank you. I was so excited when you approached us with the Be Bold, Choose Health radio campaign. What inspired you to come up with that?

Dawn Ciorciari:
Well, for a long time, we were doing an initiative called Sullivan Catskills Proud, and it was a phenomenal program and we ran it for several years and that kind of highlighted all of the things in the County and the people in the County that we’re really proud of this area. And I felt like we needed to pivot that program slightly and being born and raised here and living here and my kids going to school here, I really sort of got the idea actually when the pandemic started and I was home and I was sitting there realizing, okay, my kids are now home. They’re not really leaving the house. I’m barely going in and out of work. And when I am, I’m not really very active. And I felt like I wanted to do something just for my family. And at that time Sullivan one 80 was, was starting Coach to 5k. And I thought, you know what? I think I’m going to do that. And I decided to be a coach. I’m not an athletic person by any stretch of the imagination, but I said, I can be a coach. I can organize things, right. So I started a Bold Gold team and we all started walking and I got the kids involved and it sort of hit me after being involved in that, that if we could do this on a broad scale and involve the radio stations, we can really make a big change. I think in this community, which we all know is needed. So we decided, Hey, let’s just pivot this program and really focus on health and wellness.

Amanda Langseder:
We’re so grateful that you approached us and made that pivot. So let me ask you, what does it mean to you to be a Health Hero?

Dawn Ciorciari:
Well, I don’t actually consider myself much of a Health Hero, but you are well, thank you. I mean, I, I think that anybody could make a small change that can have such a big impact. You know, for example, this was years ago, I decided I’m not buying juice and soda anymore. I’m just not going to buy it. I’m not going to have it in my house. And if I don’t have it in my house, they’re not going to drink it as much. So that’s an example of like a small household change. That’s making a big difference in my house. And then if my house is healthier, it can just springboard from there. And so I really think anybody can be a Hero in that aspect. Like, do you take a walk at lunch? You know, when I started with the Coach to 5k every night, I’d get home from work and I would take my walk and after three or four times, it almost, it became a habit. And I actually, if I didn’t get my walk in, I felt it. I felt like I was missing something. So if we could tell people how easy it is to do those little things, they can easily become a hero, a Health Hero.

Amanda Langseder:
Absolutely. I love it. And if they can inspire somebody around them, their neighbor or their coworker, or their friend to be a little healthier that’s even better for all of us. So I think that’s a great example of what it means to be a Health Hero. How can others get involved in the Be Bold, Choose Health campaign?

Dawn Ciorciari:
Well, there’s a lot of ways to get involved. Number one, they can nominate a Health Hero and they can do that. But I go into either your website, Sullivan180.org or to our website, boldgoldnewyork.com. That’s a great way to help us get the word out about these stories and then hopefully inspire others. You know, we’re also always looking for sponsors who want to jump on board and help us expand this program. I really want to see this program grow. We are so excited that you all are sort of our, Sullivan 180 is sort of like our messaging behind this. And we want to look for other partners that can talk about youth mental health. We want to talk about the trails. We want to talk about any thing that’s going on and around this County that could make a difference for somebody else hearing it. And so I would say, we need information from people if they know of programs that we want to highlight. I was talking to a client the other day and I said, maybe something as simple as start a walking group with a bunch of people that meet in the morning and get other people interested and get other people involved. So I think anybody could reach out to either one of us and we can try to find a fit for them to get involved.

Amanda Langseder:
Absolutely. Anything else you’d like to share about Be Bold, Choose Health?

Dawn Ciorciari:
You know, this County is so unhealthy and it makes me sad because people actually are known for coming here for fresh air and health and wellness. And so I think our stats should match our reputation, right? I think we have an opportunity to spread the word and it really starts with, I’m going to steal this from full celebrity, but it really starts with a word, which is awareness. And if we can make people aware of little things and they might say, Oh, I should do that. It’s so simple. I think we could really make a big impact on our numbers and help the whole community.

Amanda Langseder:
We are tremendously grateful for this great opportunity to work together. And I want to thank you for joining us today. Dawn, thank you for helping us inspire this culture of health here in Sullivan. And should we say it together? Should we, should we say be bold?

Dawn Ciorciari:
Thank you.