We recently connected with Ryan Higgins and have shared our conversation below.
Ryan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
In April, 2019, I walked away from a great job in retail management to pursue a role at Dallas CASA. I had been a volunteer there with my wife since before we got married. In 2019 we had two children and the schedule and life of being in retail was no longer a good fit for the needs of my family. I really did not know what I wanted to do but I knew that I wanted it to be rewarding and give me the type of schedule that would allow me to be home and present for my family. When a job position opened up at Dallas CASA, a non-profit that helps advocate and give a voice to children in the foster care system, I applied and hoped for the best. My background is in communications and marketing. Since 2009 I had been in roles in retail management. Besides the volunteer experience at CASA I did not have any type of background in child welfare. When I got an offer for the position at CASA, my wife and I said our prayers and took a leap of faith. Not a day goes by that either one of us regrets the decision. It has made such an amazing impact on our lives and was a much needed change for our family. It was a win win win situation!
Ryan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Ryan Higgins. I wear a lot of hats. I am Dallas CASA Supervisor. I am Dad. I am Husband. I am a board member for a local non-profit and for my youngest daughter’s school. I love comedy (have done some stand up and am getting ready to take an Improv class :)). I am currently training for a half marathon and hope to cross the finish line on my own two feet and not the back of an ambulance. I love my family, my children, and my life. Blessed is an understatement.
I met the love of my life in 2009. We got married in 2012 and have since expanded in to a family of 5. I have three amazing children who always keep life interesting.
In 2011, my wife called me and asked if I wanted to volunteer with her at an organization that helps advocate for abused and neglected children who are in the foster care system. She said it was called CASA which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. I instantly said sign me up! The rest is history.
From 2009 to 2019 I was in different roles in retail management. Throughout that entire time, my wife and I continued to volunteer as CASA advocates. In 2019, I had decided that the schedule and demands of retail management were no longer conducive to being the husband and father that I wanted and needed to be. I threw my hat in the ring in 2019 for a Supervisor position at Dallas CASA, where I have been happily working now for almost 5 years.
I am so proud of the work I get to do on a daily basis. Dallas CASA is an incredible organization to work for. The leadership and the staff make it such an amazing place to be. The work that we have the privilege of doing is not always easy but it is so fulfilling to wake up everyday and get to help children who really need and deserve it. The most amazing part is that I work with volunteers who sign up to advocate for these children. I believe that our volunteer advocates are truly angels and the fact that they do this out of the goodness of their hearts is something that continues to amaze me.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
I think Cynt Marshall, CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, has one of the best philosophies for managing a team and maintaining high morale. She leads with what she refers to as the 3 L’s which are listen to the people, learn from the people, and then love the people. I love this philosophy and it is something I definitely try to emulate. You have to be able to really understand who someone is in order to help them be effective at what you need. This is not just knowing what their strengths are or their weaknesses. It is a relationship. Who are they? What excites them? What do they do when they are not working? What is their family life? Do they have kids? What is going on in their life that affects them positive or negatively. You really have to be able to meet people where they are and then guide them. I really try to listen to what people are saying and when they are needing something from me, I think it is important to be accountable and reliable. One thing that I also think is really important is to be able to say “I’m sorry” when I make a mistake or be ok with saying “my bad.” Treating people with kindness goes along way and I think that if everyone woke up with just a little more love in their heart instead of hate/anger/frustration, we could get a lot more accomplished together.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
In my field, child welfare, there are policy changes that occur daily. There are so many ins and outs to the foster care system that it is hard to keep up for even the professionals who do the work. What I do know is that if your heart is in the right place and you care about treating everyone you meet with kindness, there is no limit to what can be accomplished. Advocating for children who need a voice is a role that truly requires a lot of resilience and perseverance. Every day, the staff I work with and the volunteers, go out and work on making sure that children who came in to the foster care system for abuse or neglect don’t end up being abused or neglected again. It is not an easy task but it is one that can not be overlooked. Part of working in this field is the ability to be able to work well with others. When you are advocating for a child you are on a team of other people with that child. Their may be things that come up along the way that you do not agree with someone else on who is on the child’s team. That is ok as long as it is communicated with respect. The really amazing thing about the role of a CASA advocate is that everyone comes from a different background. There are all ages, colors, religions. It doesn’t matter because everyone is working towards the same cause and that is an amazing thing.
Contact Info:
- Facebook: Ryan “Dallas” Higgins