Has that surprised you? Did you know who was coming beforehand? Did you know what lineups were?

Yeah, look, I get a bit of an insight as to who's coming probably before a lot of the people because we see the registration forms.

We do like to keep people on the down low.

Look, we've been very blessed that even from the start, we've had some big names all the way through.

But more and more, everyone wants to get involved.

And especially now, you know, with the next-gen league for the women, we're seeing a lot more of them coming and wanting this.

And, you know, this is their off-season.

Anyone particularly stood out for you, whether that's team, player?

Well, if you don't mind sharing with us, uh, a story perhaps that brings your inclusion mission to life for us, uh, to, a sort of concrete way to, to understand how that played out.

Sure.

I think one of the most powerful things of this mission that we're, that we've embarked on is just seeing how much it impacts students who don't have disabilities, um, and families.

And I think there's certainly at the, at the forefront of the work we do, it's about getting our kids with disabilities into our Catholic schools and allowing them to be served in a way that, um, that's meaningful and, and helpful.

Um, but, uh, r- one of the real benefits of inclusive education is not just for those students in particular, but for everybody around them.

And we've seen that play out in every school that we've, um, donated money to, in every, every position that we've helped create, every piece of curriculum or technology that we've helped insert into the classroom, the teachers that we've sent for trainings.

We see it in the culture and, and in the community, and, and not just even in the school, but in our parish community, this larger net of welcoming and understanding that all of our children are God's children, and everyone deserves to be supported and served.

What stands out, um, as, uh, the most, uh, impactful of, uh, this outreach?

Well, if you don't mind sharing with us a, a story perhaps that brings your inclusion mission to life for us, uh, t- a sort of concrete way to, to understand how that played out.

Sure.

I think one of the most powerful things of this mission that we're-- that we've embarked on is just seeing how much it impacts students who don't have disabilities, um, and families.

And I think there's...

Certainly at the, at the forefront of the work we do, it's about getting our kids with disabilities into our Catholic schools and allowing them to be served in a way that, um, that's meaningful and, and helpful.

Um, but, uh, r- one of the real benefits of inclusive education is not just for those students in particular, but for everybody around them, and we've seen that play out in every school that we've, um, donated money to and every, every position that we've helped create, every piece of curriculum or technology that we've helped insert into the classroom, the teachers that we've sent for trainings.

We see it in the culture and, and in the community, and, and not just even in the school, but in our parish community, this larger net of welcoming and understanding that all of our children are God's children, and everyone deserves to be supported and served.

What stands out, um, as, uh, the most, uh, impactful of, uh, this outreach?

but

now you guys are in charge.

Well, we've been around long enough that we can help them out with the little details, keep things going, figure out what needs to be done here and there.

You know, it started 20 years ago.

30-some years ago, we lost our grandfather.

A couple years ago, we lost our aunt.

So for our family, Karen and Tim Haugen, the Olsen family that grew up, were born and raised in the middle of their Lisbon area, this means a lot.

When you think of it, what do you think of?

Curious as far as what, what was maybe the, the catalyst for starting the business and what that process was like.

Yeah.

So like I said, I wrapped up my time at Carowinds in fall of 2025, uh, ready to like kind of, uh, stretch my wings a little bit, uh, pun intended with Little Birdie Consulting.

Uh, and help take these 20-plus years of crazy and help make people's lives better, right? Help make workplaces better for folks because we spend so much time in our workplaces that we need to think about, we need to think about how we interact in them.

So I've gotten the chance to, like I said earlier, work with some chambers of commerce who have been really lovely and some economic development partners who are taking care of communities differently than we have, right, in a, in a theme park world.

So I had the chance to work, uh, ironically, Kings Dominion's, uh, home county of Hanover County, uh, where you, uh, have Hanover tomatoes if you are a tomato eater.

That is where they come from.

... just in, in your mind.