Carlene Gilliam’s podcast highlights FFA members’ stories to inspire those within and interested in the National FFA Organization.
Carlene Gilliam joined the Liberty Bedford High School FFA Chapter during her freshman year. Although she found her family within FFA, she struggled with finding a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) that suited her personality and goals. She tried both showing goats and growing loofas; however, she realized that she wanted to share her and others’ stories through FFA to inspire and connect to others, so “Living in the Jacket” was born.
“Living in the Jacket” is a podcast Gilliam runs, which centers around sharing the testimonies and experiences of FFA members to encourage others to feel the sense of community and join the organization, which she says “is one big family.”
Even though she tried out YouTube last year, a local company, Media Squatch, offered to give her a platform to start the podcast. Each episode is around 25 minutes long, and Gilliam posts an episode a month. She features a guest who will share their story in FFA, answering questions like “Why did you join FFA?” or “What was the most important part of your FFA career?”
Gilliam stated, “My goal is to bring light.” She reflected on all that FFA has done for her, from her first jacket to how rewarding it is to “live to serve,” and the overall knowledge that she has gained and connections made through the blue jacket, which she wants to share with others — hence the name of her podcast.
“To me, ‘Living to Serve’ really means just wanting to be involved, showcase your love for something and acting upon what you and your organization stand for,” Gilliam says. “The podcast embodies what it means to live to serve by being involved — involved in the organization, and involved in the lives of FFA members across the Commonwealth — by sharing their stories to make them feel seen in others’ stories, and heard by showcasing their own stories.”
After graduation, Gilliam hopes to be an agriculture teacher to carry on what her own agriculture teacher, Mr. Wimmer, inspired within her, and she hopes to pass the podcast on to an FFA member in her chapter who is passionate about agricultural communications.
The advice she’d give to anyone struggling with finding an SAE that fits them is to “follow what your heart is telling you,” she says. “I initially held back because I didn’t think that it was going to do well or amount to anything, but getting recognition and feeling rewarded shows me that I should have followed my heart in the first place. If you feel like it’s your calling, it’s your calling.”
