On this episode of the Western Wayne News podcast, Kate talks with Nathan Hogg, a sophomore at Indiana University East. Nathan reflects on being in the workforce from a young age, being held up and supported by various members of the community who have become his mentors, and growing a culture of inclusivity on the IU East campus. Nathan also talks about his experience as a member of Gen Z and where he and his peers get their news in the 21st century. Enjoy the conversation!
Transcript
Nathan Hogg: I’m Nathan Hogg, and I’m the president of the Multicultural Affairs Club at Indiana University East.
Kate Jetmore: From Civic Spark Media and the Western Wayne News in Wayne County Indiana, I’m Kate Jetmore. As a native of Richmond, Indiana, I’m excited to be sitting down with some of our neighbors and listening to the stories that define our community. My guest today is Nathan Hogg. Born and raised in Richmond, Indiana, Nathan is a sophomore at Indiana University East, studying communications.
He’s a 21st century scholar and a group scholar. He works at Reid Health in the Community Benefit and Engagement department and serves on several local boards. Nathan is a certified community health worker, and his goal is to make sure that locals are aware of available resources. He serves as a guide to his peers, an inspiring young leader, and a man of service. Welcome, Nathan. Thanks so much for joining me on this show today.
Nathan Hogg: Thanks for having me, Kate.
Kate Jetmore: This is our very first time meeting here on this Zoom call, and I’m really excited to learn more about your story. What can you share about growing up in Richmond?
Nathan Hogg: As a young man, I have seven siblings.
Kate Jetmore: Wow.
Nathan Hogg: My mother is Amy Hogg and my dad is Sean Hogg. I come from a very big family here in Richmond, the Hogg and Walker family. We just recently celebrated our 59th family reunion, and I became the president of the reunion. So I’m the youngest president in the Hogg-Walker history. Our reunion lasts three days, so it’s a good turnout and people come from all over the country to join us, so an amazing time. I’m originally from Richmond, born and raised in Richmond, and I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur. That has always been my dream is to be an entrepreneur.
So I remember being four or five years old, selling lemonade on the corner, having my mom help me make cakes and brownies. And I had a shoe cleaning business, I had a T-shirt business, I sold anything until I was able to get a job at 14 years old because my dad was like… I needed to have pool money, and that’s all I wanted was money for the pool. So I was like, “I’m going to get me a job. I need to have my own money.” So that was always important to me, was to have my own money. And I’ve worked since I’ve been 14 years old and I worked at a nursing home from the age of 14 to 16. And then after that at 16 years old, I got a job at Reid working in the Food and Nutrition department.
Kate Jetmore: Oh, wow.
Nathan Hogg: So I’ve been at Reid since I was 16, so this will be year number four.
Kate Jetmore: Okay. And now you, as we said, are a student at IU East. I believe you’re a sophomore. How did you end up there?
Nathan Hogg: I’m a 21st century scholar. At first, I didn’t want to go to college. My mother didn’t go to college, so I was just like, “You know what, I’m not going to go.” And then I met a mentor, and as I started becoming more deeply rooted into the community, it was more of a, “Oh, you’re going.” So I just felt I didn’t have that push. I always knew I was book smart, but my junior and senior year of high school, I went through really bad burnout and it was hard for me, really, really hard for me, and I was just done with school.
And then, like I said, when I started getting more deeply rooted into the community, it was, “Oh, you’re going to school. You’re going to college.” And I think when I kept telling myself, “You’re going to college because this is going to make you,” then I decided, “You know what? I am smart enough to go to college.” I kept telling myself, “I’m smart enough to go to college.” I’m a 21st century scholar, and I’m a group scholar at Indiana University East. The first group scholar cohort we had. I was in the first group’s cohort.
Kate Jetmore: Wow. It’s so interesting to touch on the fact that you did come into contact with a figure who would become your mentor and then the voice of your mentor, voices from the community, and then you started saying, “I was saying to myself, I was hearing my own voice say.” So did that inspiration of, “You are going to college,” start with other voices and then become your own voice?
Nathan Hogg: Absolutely. I think because of my bad burnout that I was going through, I was going through a really rough period in my life, so you start to be consumed by your own self-thoughts. So then when other people that are practically strangers or not in your close family or friends, when other people start to look at you and tell you, “Hey, you’re worthy, you’re blessed, go to college, it’s going to change your life.”
So as I’m getting deeply rooted into the community, I start looking at all these different people pour into me, tell me what my worth is, and that changed my perspective. That made me say, “Okay, you know what? I am book smart. I am worthy.” When I had people in my life tell me that they were going to pour into me, give me the resources that I needed to be successful in my life, I think that got me out of that mental depression and that really skyrocketed and launch me as a person. Those people know who they are, and I’m so thankful for those people who are in my corner.
Kate Jetmore: Have you turned the tables at all, Nathan? You’re still quite young, but have you become one of those voices for other people who inspires other people to reach their full potential?
Nathan Hogg: Good question, Kate, and yes, I try to be an inspiring person around anybody I’m with, whoever it is. I always try to drop little nuggets because those people were there for me. I’ve had people drop nuggets of wealth on me, so I want to do the same thing to other people no matter where I’m at. That’s why I do a lot of community service, volunteer work.
So no matter who I’m with, where I’m at, I always try to make sure that I’m dropping nuggets, quote-unquote, nuggets of information to people or just advice to let them know, “Hey, you’re not alone because I was once where you’re at.” So my true friends know what I struggled with as a child. They know how hard it was for me to get into this space. And like I said, they know. So I think they root for me in the same way I root for them.
Kate Jetmore: Well, as we said, you’re now at IU East and you serve as the president of the Multicultural Affairs Club at your school. It’s actually a club that existed before you got there, but that you helped to revitalize. What are some of the club’s objectives and what does the group mean to you on a personal level?
Nathan Hogg: So before I answer those questions, you might have to ask me again, but I just wanted to rewind and say how the Multicultural Affairs Club began. And I think it’s important that I tell that story. So when I got to IU East, as a group scholar, we had the whole summer on campus. I was excited for other people to get there. And then when classes began, I noticed that there wasn’t really a whole lot for people of color, minority students on campus. And my honest opinion was, “Hey, I’m a 21st century scholar, I can go anywhere in the state of Indiana, what can I do to change this?”
I gathered about 10 other students and they felt the same way that I felt like, “Hey, we’re here, but there’s no sense of belonging for us.” So I got a student worker job in the Office of the Chancellor, working for Yemi Mahoney, and she’s the chief diversity officer and another big one of my mentors. So I got with Yemi. And my professor, Dr. Cal Simpson, he was the original starter of the club. So I talked to him about revitalizing it. So Yemi, Professor Cal, and me got together to create this club, or to revitalize it. And we started doing events on campus. We got the community involved. So with my community background, one of the things that I wanted to do was tie in community and the campus. So our mission is promoting community and unity on campus.
We do that by having outreach events. So one of our first events that we held on campus was we had Melty the Moose from Richmond Meltdown come to the game. And we had Melty and Rufus out on the court having a good time. We had shirts to throw out, we had candy to toss, and that got people hyped up. We had a 90s/2000s party, and that was another good one where we had people hyped up and ready to go.
Kate Jetmore: When you mention the word community, Nathan, are you talking about a general sense of community or are you talking about the community of Richmond where IU East is located?
Nathan Hogg: So when I say community, I mean both. I mean the community on the IU East campus. So creating that sense of community on the campus and then not only tie in just our community, but to say, “Okay, let’s tie in the Richmond community,” and say, “Okay, these are the different things that we’re doing here at IU East.” I think with IU East, and it is a commuter school, but I think that a big misconception of IU East is you just take your classes and go home.
When we’re saying, “Okay, we want to do other things to show the community of Richmond, ‘Hey, you can be anything that you want to be out here.'” We’re doing different things to tie in the community. For example, we had a voter registration event and the club worked with Ivy Tech, we worked with the Black Legacy Project, which is another board that I serve on. IU East donated some gift baskets. We had nice little cookies made. And some elected officials came to the IU East campus to mix and mingle with students so students can get to know them as people and students because we’re going to be old enough to vote this year.
Kate Jetmore: Yeah, that’s exciting.
Nathan Hogg: Yeah. And then I had a discussion led by Pastor Jefferson from Bethel A.M.E. He came and gave a nice discussion to the students. So we worked with the NAACP, they were on site registering people to vote. Then we got 35 people registered to vote, I believe. And to see how it inspired other people on our campus to move, so example, Ms. Alisa Clapp-Itnyre decided she wanted to do a voter registration drive all week.
So she pulled in volunteer staff, students, faculty, and in all four buildings of the IU East campus, we had tables and they were asking people to register to vote. So there were more people being registered to vote. So just to see how my idea transpired into the campus community, and then we achieved our mission through the Multicultural Affairs Club because people from the community came. So that’s what it’s all about.
Kate Jetmore: Yeah, for sure. What have you learned through the process of reinvigorating the Multicultural Affairs Club?
Nathan Hogg: I can definitely say it wasn’t an easy project. It’s still not an easy project because, like I said, it is a misconception at IU East that people go to class and then go home. And in some cases, it is true, people do go to class and they go home, but that’s not all we’re capable of doing. So one of the things that I really had to hone in and do is start doing activities, start asking people that didn’t have a voice to start helping out and doing things.
I think that really worked for me once I started saying, “Okay, I’ve got these 10 people that are involved with the club. Let me delegate some of these activities so that way I don’t have to do everything and give them a sense of voice so that way they can do things.” And that created a hype for people to want to be a part of the MAC Club. We call it MAC Club for short, but that really helped us.
Kate Jetmore: Yeah, that’s actually a powerful picture that you’re painting because I know I’ve struggled with that in my own life, I guess it’s about control, wanting to do everything myself and do everything my own way. But once you relax and you become more generous with allowing other people to have a voice, as you said, or to participate in a project, to bring their own sense of how things should be done, you can do so much more.
Nathan Hogg: Yeah. I want to be the voice that I was given. So in my own professional and personal life, it feels so good when you’re at a meeting or you’re at a function or you’re at wherever, and people ask you, “What do you think? What should we do?” And I think by me being asked that and my voice being valued and my voice being heard, it empowered me to do the same to others because my way of thinking what I think is okay may not be okay, or it may not be right.
So I want to make sure, “Hey, what is your thoughts on this?” An example of that is we, for Black History Month, the MAC Club, had potato chips because an African American man invented the potato chips. So I came up with some silly name that I thought was catchy, and then everybody looked at me and was like, “Nah, that’s not it. I don’t like that name.” And then the club ended deciding it to be called Snacks with MAC. And I thought that was so much better than what I had, and I went along with it. So that was an example of giving people a power and their own voice.
Kate Jetmore: For sure. And actually, my next question for you, Nathan, actually has to do with this podcast and with the Western Way News newspaper. This is a newspaper podcast, and as a younger person, I would love to pick your brain about where you and your peers get your news because people who are my age and older, we are all trying to figure out how to reach your generation because when I was your age, people read the newspaper and it seems like that’s not really happening anymore. So how do you get your news?
Nathan Hogg: So before I answer, I want to tell a funny joke about the Western Way News and my connection with them. So Western Way News, we’ve been following each other for quite some time. I think the first time I ended up in a paper I was 15 years old. When the COVID pandemic came out, I worked with Primex to have these plastic shield masks made and Primex ended up donating cases and cases of them. So I went to the hospital, I went to all the nursing homes, I went to Meyer, I went to Greenwood Apartments, and I gave these masks out just to do it.
So then Millie ended up calling me, and then that was my first appearance in the paper. And ever since then, anytime I achieve something, Millie and the team always make sure that they highlight what I do in the paper. So in turn, whenever I’m out in the community or wherever I’m out somewhere, I always get told, “Hey, aren’t you the little boy from the paper?” So I start laughing because people that don’t know me, but they know me as the little boy from the paper. So I always like to joke about that.
Kate Jetmore: That’s great.
Nathan Hogg: But as far as news, me personally, I like to read the Western Way News. I have an online subscription, so I always like to read the Western Way News just to see because it’s local and I’m getting to know everything that’s going on now. People my age might not be interested in knowing what’s going on locally, so another way that we get our news is through Facebook and through TikTok. I know TikTok, sometimes it can’t be credible, but I always look at TikTok to get the news to see what’s going on when I want to know what’s going on nationally, either through the CNN because I don’t have cable.
So either through CNN or whatever other news sources that I look at, I always get on TikTok to look at it. And as far as local, definitely the Western Way. And what I tried to do was when I was awarded the MLK Building Bridges Award, I bought a whole bunch of Western Way copies and then I gave them to the different club members, and then I gave them to the advisors, and then I gave one to the chancellor. And I think by them seeing me in the paper, some people are like, “What is the Western Way News?” So then I was able to explain what it was and then show them all the different stuff because I ain’t going to lie, the Western Way News can get pretty juicy sometimes. So I like to see what’s going on.
Kate Jetmore: Yeah, for sure.
Nathan Hogg: So then I’ll fill my friends in and tell them what’s going on as well.
Kate Jetmore: Why do you think it’s important to be aware of what’s going on in our community?
Nathan Hogg: I think it’s important because if you don’t like something or if you do like something, because I’ve read it in this paper or because I’ve heard about it, I can now take part in owning and helping to shape the future of the community. I think if I don’t like something, I can see where it’s from, who’s doing it, and then I can voice my opinion to them. And I think that’s what every business leader would want is, like I said, for me, what I think is right may not always be right. So then if I get feedback from other community members or other people, especially people that I’ve never heard from, I think that’s important. And then if I do like it, then I’m able to say, “Okay, where can I volunteer? How can I join in to help make this better?” And I think that makes all the importance.
Kate Jetmore: Yeah, for sure. It gives you sort of a factual jumping off point. It gives you sort of the who, what, when, where, why, how, and then you can go from there, whether you want to contribute to it or whether you want to contribute to change. Now, I wanted to touch on the award that you won, which you just mentioned, the Building Bridges Award, which promotes equality, diversity, inclusion, and respect. So congratulations on that honor.
Nathan Hogg: Thank you so much.
Kate Jetmore: Honorees like you stand out for demonstrating a passion for empowering others. How do you go about doing that?
Nathan Hogg: Well, I first want to touch on how I won the award. So the reason why I won the award was because I revitalized the Multicultural Affairs Club. When I came to IU East, like I said, there was no club, it had been dead for a couple of years. And then just to work with the administration. Another thing that we’ve done is we’ve done different trainings with the first-year students. So then we can go in and talk to the different classes about what it means to be an engaged person on your campus.
And I think that was important, just to work with all those staff, faculty, the chancellor, executives of IU East. And they’ve seen my passion. They’ve seen what I wanted to do. And not only did they see my passion, but then they were able to watch me execute it. They’ve seen me gather people up, all these different things. And then they’ve seen me be involved with other people’s groups on campus as well. So I’m on the Student Government Association and I’m the only person of color that represents on SGA, so that was important.
Kate Jetmore: I’d love to ask you what you’re feeling excited about when it comes to your own future and the future of young people in Wayne County.
Nathan Hogg: I’m mostly excited about my own future because of all the different things and all these different mentors and these people who have placed me in position, I should say, placed me in a spot where my voice is being heard. I’m only 20 years old and to see all the different things and projects that I’ve completed and the support system that I have in this community is just nothing short of amazing. Just to roll down the street by Kroger and see my picture on a billboard. I nominated my mentor, Sharrie, for the Athena Award, and I think I’m the youngest person that ever stepped foot on that stage to talk about how somebody has impacted my life.
So I’m really excited for Gen Z. I think people my age are very empowering. They’re very moving. We don’t wait around for people to tell us when to lead and when to step up. I think we take initiative and we take part in building our own journey. And I think that makes all the importance. So to give you a back story of why I say that about Gen Z is because when I first started doing community work, my mentor, Carl, had asked me to be part of what was called Wayne County Cares, and it was through Purdue University, and they had all these different groups. So they had child care, workforce development, they had hunger, all these social determinants of health, pretty much. And I was on the Workforce Development Committee and the adults were taking too long for me, and I was ready to get the ball started.
We were meeting, and it was a very slow process and I said, “You know what…” Because people my age had already been asking me about how to get a job, how to prepare for an interview, because they’ve seen me working since I was 14. My friends have seen me do stuff for so long. So out of that, Wayne County Cares, the Workforce Development Committee, I was empowered by adults that I had never even met and never even knew, but I was so empowered what they dropped me. So I was taking notes the whole day, and then I think three or four days later, I had Hogg Helps. It rolled out. And I didn’t think it was going to go anywhere. I really didn’t. And to see how I moved and how that really shaped me, people poured into that. It was a very powerful movement and we’re not done with it. I’m still working on some stuff.
Kate Jetmore: And what is that, Nathan? What is Hogg Helps?
Nathan Hogg: Hogg Helps was created by me, and it was a way to empower younger people to get jobs. I had a website where you can look on to see all the jobs that were hiring, places that were hiring youth. You could get on there and apply to those jobs. We had workforce development trainings called WIN, and I partnered with Future Achievers and the Boys and Girls Club, and I taught class for a year and teaching people how to be successful on their resume. I had career services from IU East come. I had the Natco Empowerment Center come and they talked about financial literacy, and they were able to set up bank accounts and just all these different things to help people become successful in the job. And it really targeted people from 14 to 19.
Kate Jetmore: Oh, that’s amazing. I wish we had another couple of hours and you could tell me about all the organizations you’re involved with and all the projects that you’ve brought across the finish line because, honestly, your voice is inspiring and it is so important in the community. Thank you so much, Nathan, for bringing your voice to the show today. I loved learning more about you, and I want to wish you all the best in the future.
Nathan Hogg: Well, thank you, Kate. I really appreciate it. But before I end this podcast, I want to make sure that I touch on a couple of different people who have impacted my life-
Kate Jetmore: Please.
Nathan Hogg: … who has made my life better. And first, I want to just give honor to God. I think that God has really helped me. He knows, like I said, that space that I was in, how I had to pray myself out of that space, so he knows. Carl Rhinehart was another person who helped me get to college. Sharrie, my second mother, my friend. I love her so much, and I’m so thankful for her and the impact that she’s had on my life. Anytime I need her, she’s there for me. My siblings, Lindsay, Mariah, Jeremiah. They have been very key in my success. My deceased cousin, Tyra, my aunts, my uncles, and then my father and my mother. There are so many people who have poured into me. My boss at the hospital, Jess Przybysz, she’s another one that has poured so much into me, and I’m just thankful for all the different things that I get to do in this community, and I’m thankful for it. Like I said, everybody who has poured into me.
Kate Jetmore: I can hear that, Nathan. I can hear your gratitude, and I want to encourage you to keep shining your light, and all those people you just named to keep shining their light because, obviously, they helped you get where you are. Thank you so much for joining me today.
Nathan Hogg: Well, thank you, Kate, for having me. I really appreciate you and Western Way News for hosting me and allowing me to tell my story for other people in the community to hear.