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The AmeriCorps Connections Podcast is a space where alumni, members, and partners share how national service shapes careers, communities, and lives. Hosted by AmeriCorps alum Nicki Fiocco, each episode highlights stories of resilience, leadership, and purpose—showing that while service terms may end, the impact and connections continue.
Tune in each week on your favorite podcast platform to listen, follow, subscribe, and share. Check it out and be part of the ongoing story of service.
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Michaela Barnett
Nicki: [00:00:00] All right. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another AmeriCorps Connections podcast, where we lift up the stories of alumni who were moved by service and really never stopped moving. They just keep getting things done. Uh, today I'm here with Michaela Barnett, um, who is a scientist, small business owner, an AmeriCorps VISTA alum.
Is that right, VISTA? That's
Michaela Barnett: right. That's right, AmeriCorps VISTA.
Nicki: All right. Awesome. And Congressional candidate running in Tennessee's 2nd District.
Michaela Barnett: You got it.
Nicki: This is wild. I, I, it, I didn't know this podcast was gonna turn into a political podcast. But it's not. It's not. We're not. Uh, we're talking about, uh, national service stories.
But, uh, Michaela served in CAC, which stands for Community Action Committee, AmeriCorps in Knoxville back in 20- 2017, 2018. And that year really set in motion, um... She went on to earn her PhD and launch Knoxville, a [00:01:00] sustainability-focused, , refillery, which we're all gonna learn about refilleries today, and we're all gonna get super obsessed-
and very excited about the sustainability of that. , And you also became a real community, which the re- refillery became a real staple in, East Tennessee is, is what the Googles told me.
Background/Ambient: That's, that's, that's true. That's true.
Nicki: Yay. Um, but then you spent a year working inside the House of Representatives as a science policy fellow, and now you're running for Congress.
And I'm excited to have you on this podcast to reflect on your AmeriCorps journey, and really to talk about how it brought you to this, where you are now. So take us back to your AmeriCorps year. Um, what were you doing, and what's one moment- Mm ... from your service that just still kind of sticks with you?
Michaela Barnett: So before I did AmeriCorps, I had moved to Knoxville a few years earlier, and I think saw [00:02:00] so many areas of opportunity in the city, but didn't really know how to immediately plug my expertise and excitement into that. You know- Mm-hmm ... I remember thinking, "Oh, we need to improve recycling, and we need to have it at more of the apartment complexes.
We need to do all of these different things." I had so many different ideas, but I think what AmeriCorps did was really help connect me into a pathway to use that skill and expertise and excitement in really positive ways. Um, I think you said, or, um, in a previous conversation, that you were just applying for a job when you did AmeriCorps, right?
So the same thing happened to me, actually. I was just on the job- Okay.
Nicki: I'm so glad I'm not alone.
Michaela Barnett: You're not alone. And I saw this posting for something related to a community garden- And that posting was already filled, but that led me to AmeriCorps. And I was kind of [00:03:00] late to the application cycle for my service year, and I think there were two or three postings left.
And I went and talked to the recycling manager of the University of Tennessee, Jay Price, who was... who would be the supervisor for my position, and it was just a kindred spirit immediately, right? We immediately started nerding out about waste and trash and sustainability and all of these different things, and I got so excited to start that year and really use my degree and really feel connected into the community.
What was really special about my year was that I was the first AmeriCorps VISTA at UT Recycling and at, and at UT Sustainability. Mm-hmm. And they gave me an incredible amount of freedom to solve problems. So essentially, they brought me on- Love that ...
Background/Ambient: and said- Right ... "
Michaela Barnett: We want you to expand food recovery and food [00:04:00] donations on campus."
UT is a massive campus, right? With so many eateries and, and an amazing athletics program. And then they said, "You know, and, um, there's been different garden efforts throughout the years, student garden efforts. N- none have really ever gotten off the ground. If you could start, uh, maybe a community garden that's also a laboratory for students, an experiential laboratory, great."
And then Jay and I were talking, and we were talking about all of the, the waste that happens on campus. I mean, they have a robust program for move-out. Have you ever seen move-out on a college campus?
Nicki: I have. I have, I... two... well, four, uh, kids, uh, young adults, and so they move in, move out. Yeah. It's wild.
Michaela Barnett: Right.
Where you are
Nicki: just- You just throw things out the window ...
Michaela Barnett: people just throw out things that have been used for a year. It is, it is insane- Yeah ... from a waste and sustainability perspective. From a frugality, I'm... I don't understand how [00:05:00] you can just do that. But they had a really good system with donations, but still so much got thrown away.
And throughout the year, we talked about, what if we had-
Nicki: Mm-hmm ...
Michaela Barnett: a free store? And so in my time at UT, I was basically told, "Hey, here's three problems that you can run down. Let me know if you need help." And I had a year, and I was able to do all three of those in that year. And I think that really helped me gain the skills that I would use later, you know, getting my PhD, starting a small business, now running for Congress, which was, "Here's a problem.
Try and solve it, and get help from the people around you to solve it." And the other thing was that Well, really quick example of the garden. The reason it hadn't worked in the past, and why all of facility services said, "We're never gonna do [00:06:00] anything like this again"- Yes ... was, you know, students are there for four years maximum.
Maybe you get a sophomore that's interested in the garden, they do something with it part of that year, whatever, then they leave.
Nicki: Yep.
Michaela Barnett: And you don't have that continuity, and it falls into disrepair. And so all of the facilities management folks were like, "We're not... This is, this is a non-starter for us." But what that meant was that I actually just got to sit down and talk to all of them about the reasons these projects had failed in the past, and what a successful project could look like in the future, and kind of co-design it with them.
And by the end of my service year, I got $100,000 for UT's what's now the Grow Lab, and all of the facilities folks on board. So that was a really special learning experience to not just say, "Well, we're gonna do this even though you think it's a bad idea," but to say-
Nicki: Yeah ... "
Michaela Barnett: What things failed previously?
Let's co-design this [00:07:00] together and make something that's gonna outlast, you know, one four-year college cycle."
Nicki: There's so many things in what you just said that parallel my service year. 'Cause I was d- I was doing service in a park, a regional park, and operations were just like, "No, we don't want volunteers in here."
Like, "No, they come in here, they make a garden." Yeah. "They plant a bunch of stuff in, like, April, and then it's all dead by June or July, and no more gardens. No more things. No." And, and, and this is probably one of the strengths for you running for Congress, is like, "Okay, so we're seeing things completely differently, and I have a solution of these people that want to, like, support the park, and you don't want them anywhere near your park, so let's figure out how..."
Like, w- I always like to lead with, uh, what would be... How could you... What would be the most successful event or project? Mm-hmm. What would that look like? Yeah. And I'll [00:08:00] just go off on one tangent, personal tangent real fast. When I was serving, um, Six Flags wanted a day of service for their employees. So these are engineers, woodworkers, you know, folks that, like, know how to pull up a deck and then put it back together in, like, an hour, right?
And m- the operations guy was like, "Absolutely not. Like, we are not having them come into our park." Right? And 'cause we were talking about rebuilding a, a dock, and, like, painting a pavilion, and, like, fixing chains on, on a park, uh, on a, what are they called? Play sets? Swing
Background/Ambient: sets? Yeah.
Nicki: Yeah, yeah. And they were like, "No."
And they came in, and it was so f- it's so funny, Michaela. Um, I was on my bike, and the park is, like, I don't know, three to six miles, if you go around the perimeter, and I rode that bike the entire day checking on the volunteers. "Are we good? Are we good? Are we good?" Ultimately, the operations person at the end of the year was like, "Can we give Six Flags, the Best Volunteers Ever of the [00:09:00] Year, Award?
Can we recognize them?" And we were like, "Yeah, of course." Uh, so I, I love that you started with that, um, because I think it's such a representation of what, what you can do in an AmeriCorps year, where you're t- you, you come into this problem, and you're just this person in between. And you're like, "I think I have a solution.
I don't have all the baggage of being in this organization." So yeah, so I love that.
Michaela Barnett: Yeah. And I'm gonna go from there. So energy, energy and optimism and, um- Yes ... and can be someone that can help us- Break free of what we know into something that we've imagined, and make that reality.
Nicki: I love that. Um, what else stick, sticks out for you of, with your AmeriCorps year?
What sparked your ... you said that you didn't intentionally apply for the AmeriCorps service, but when did you realize, "Oh, wow, I'm part of something other than [00:10:00] just this part-time sort of thing that I'm doing?"
Michaela Barnett: I think, so in Knoxville, Knoxville's one of those, I mean, we're a small city that really feels like it.
Nicki: Mm-hmm.
Michaela Barnett: And you cannot throw a stone without hitting an AmeriCorps alum doing really cool things. Any, any neat thing that's happening in Knoxville- I love that ... there's an AmeriCorps member that is part of it, either because they left their service year and they got hired on by either the nonprofit organization they were working for or the, you know, wherever their site placement was, or because they started something new after, or
It is, that, I think, is what's really special about AmeriCorps in East Tennessee, is that so many people here have this service background because of it. Mm. And it, what makes it so special is that really anytime any fun, new thing happens in the city, [00:11:00] if you start, like, peeling away, it's the six layers of Kevin Bacon, but here it's probably, like, two layers- Yeah
of AmeriCorps that someone is involved in it. And- That is, that's a really special network and legacy for what the power of service has done in my community and the way it's equipped a lot of people who aren't from here who come here to do an AmeriCorps year. They fall in love with Knoxville and East Tennessee, and they start seeing problems as something that's solvable, and they wanna be part of that.
And I think that's what a service year does for a lot of people, is it makes problem-solvers. Mm-hmm. You know? And that is something that's really cool to be part of.
Nicki: Yeah. Um, I'm gonna go, I'm, I'm gonna go a little left.
Michaela Barnett: Yeah.
Nicki: So I was just listening to an astrologer who was talking about the comet of [00:12:00] Chiron, which is the wounded healer.
I can go into it, whatever. It's half man, half horse, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, all this stuff. Is going into Taurus. And the last time it was in Taurus was when Roosevelt started all of the civilian services.
Michaela Barnett: Mm.
Nicki: And I just thought, "Oh my God. Oh my gosh." Right. Mm-hmm. "Is this like a re-ignition of like national service and all of these things that help build, uh, leaders?"
But anyways, that's whole thing that- We need- Now I have to go down that
Michaela Barnett: rabbit hole ... we need to expand national service is a big belief of mine, and I think it's a really good thing for young people, especially as we have so much AI jobs displacement, as we have so much uncertainty. I think it's a great way for young people to get really connected to their community and learn new skills.
And- Yeah ... um, again, we, we are facing a lot of really big problems as a society and as a country, and we need problem-solvers, I'm not gonna say more than ever, because every era has needed its problem-solvers- Right ... and we [00:13:00] need this era's, we need this generation's problem-solvers to be, to be stepping up.
Nicki: And I think to that point, and now I'm going off script, We need folks to know these opportunities are available, right?
And viable, and it's not a gap year, and it's it's not not, it's not not going to college. But it's also just exploring, what you might want to do and making connections.
Michaela Barnett: I, you know, when I was in, in my undergrad, I knew that Peace Corps was an option.
Nicki: Right.
Michaela Barnett: Um, but I don't think I knew that AmeriCorps was an option. I think I knew maybe a few people that did Teach For America, but it definitely wasn't presented to me as a post-school pathway- Right ... that I knew about. And it's so funny, when I'm talking to young people, especially young people that want to work in sustainability or in nonprofits or in really the kind of work where you're trying to solve big problems for your community, I'm always [00:14:00] like, "Have you looked at AmeriCorps?"
Because, you know- Yeah ... everyone's experience can be different, and a lot of it depends on your placement and all of these different, different variables, as with everything in life. But the opportunity to be in a cohort of other folks that are also placed in organizations focused on serving community is something that we don't have in a lot of other aspects of our, of our society.
Nicki: Yeah. Yeah, full stop on that one. I won't add to that. That's perfect. Um, so you did say, we found some, an article, and you'd said that you wanted more tools in your tool be- your tool belt after, um, your AmeriCorps year, which eventually led you towards the science and entrepreneurship and policy. Can you walk through that arc?
How, how just basically the, the one year, you know, the crescendo of all the years, set off everything that came next? [00:15:00]
Michaela Barnett: So, um, that would probably reference that I... So my undergraduate degree is in sustainability science, and then my, um, I also majored in Spanish language and literature. But when it came to solving problems at UT and UT Recycling, I think that something I'm trained in, and then was, you know, became more specialized and even through my PhD, was thinking really in systems.
Mm. And you think in positive and negative feedback loops, but it's really important to be able to contextualize problems within the systems they are occurring. And the gap for me was I know a lot of the things that need to change for us to have a more sustainable planet and society, but so much of that hinges on human behavior and decision-making.
And even though I'm a person that behaves and makes decisions- ... I don't know [00:16:00] that I have great insight into what drives that. And so when I left- Oh, yeah ... UT for grad school, when I finished my service year, I really wanted to study behavioral science, because I wanted to understand how and why people make the decisions they do, and how that drives human behavior.
So even though my PhD is in civil engineering, the program that I went to really sat at the intersection of behavioral science, engineering, and design. And I think, um, you know, we could spend a lot of time talking about the PhD, and with, with other folks that want to go into a PhD, we always have that long conversation because it can be wonderful, it can be not wonderful, as- Yeah
a lot of other things in life. Um, but I think that really honing my problem-solving skills through AmeriCorps, and th- [00:17:00] realizing, okay, I want to better understand what is making all of us tick in these complex, interconnected web of systems, is what led me to my, my PhD. And then in my PhD, it was a next level of awareness, which was that- I wanted to use science to solve society's biggest problems, and I realized pretty quickly that I didn't wanna be in academia because the theory of change, which is not for all academics, right?
But I just remember being like, "All right. So we're gonna spend all of this time researching this problem, and then what?" Right? And the, the, the then what is, of course- Yeah ... you spend a few years researching. You spend, you know, months to years writing. You submit it to a journal. You go through the revision process.
You finally get your work published, and then it's published. [00:18:00] And then the best you could hope for is that, that the popular media would pick it up and write about it.
Background/Ambient: Mm. And
Michaela Barnett: then that happening might then get it to someone who can use it, right?
Background/Ambient: Oh, interesting. And
Michaela Barnett: I remember thinking, "Wait, I think I wanna be the person that, that uses my science."
Background/Ambient: Right. Right.
Michaela Barnett: So I don't, I don't wanna just study the problem. I then wanna take all of those insights, and I wanna apply it. Yeah. Um, which of course a lot of people also do applied research and a- and applied science. And it was that process that led me to start my business, which, you know, the... A lot of my doctoral work was focused on problems with our waste and recycling system.
We'll notice a trash thr- theme throughout, throughout life. Yes. Right? I did recycling at UT in, in college. I, you know, started a composting program in high school. I started recycling programs. It's been a, it's been a lifelong thing. But that's what made me start my business, was studying problems with our waste and recycling [00:19:00] system as a PhD student.
So I started my company, Knox Fill, while I was still doing my PhD. Um, up until running for Congress, I thought starting a business while getting your doctorate would be the hardest thing I'd done, but pales in comparison.
Speaker: Wow.
Michaela Barnett: Knox Fill is now, um, five. We had our five-year anniversary a couple months ago.
Nice. I've got a big team. Wonderful. But the way that that connects into what came after is, you know, at that point I had experience- creating change as a scientist, as an entrepreneur, and I realized the scale of the problems that we need to solve and that I really care about, all of that happens at the level of policy.
You know, earlier- Mm-hmm ... in the beginning you said, "This isn't a politics podcast," and I was thinking to myself, it is in the sense that all AmeriCorps exists as a result of policy, [00:20:00] right? That's- And policymakers. Anyway, back, back in circles. Good
Speaker: facts, yes. Um,
Michaela Barnett: and anyway, so I just realized, you know, for me to solve the problems at scale that I care about, I need to understand more about how policymaking works, especially at the scale of our federal government, which is why I went to DC for a science policy fellowship and worked in Congress.
And that experience is what made me realize, all right, well, the next level of change I need to make is probably still here. So I think every layer of the onion from AmeriCorps and, and before was how do we solve society's biggest problems? Which sounds so grandiose, but for me, I'm really thinking about how do we solve problems that affect our neighbors and are hurting people?
Mm-hmm. And how do we make systems better? And it just is continuing to peel back the layers of how I can have more tools to do that.
Nicki: Oh my gosh, you said so many things, and you already addressed so many of my questions. Um, oh, shoot. [00:21:00] There was a, there was a thread there that I wanted to go down, and it... I think it was when you were thinking through the s- the systems.
Background/Ambient: Mm-hmm.
Nicki: Um, because I do, I also, I have an environmental, uh, systems background. And thank you so much for the validation of I'm always like, "Well, hold on. Everybody wants to jump into the do. Do, do, do." And I'm like, "Hold on. We gotta, we gotta start back here to make sure that-"
Michaela Barnett: Yes ... "
Nicki: everything that we're gonna do, do, do..."
Michaela Barnett: . Right? I get it. But what are the trade-offs, right? Yeah. And how does this choice impact this thing over here positively or negatively?
Nicki: Yeah.
Michaela Barnett: And what are the cascading ripple effects there? And honestly, a lot of the problems we have right now are because people are not thinking in systems, and they're not thinking-
Nicki: Yeah
Michaela Barnett: even-
Nicki: Long term ...
Michaela Barnett: a few months in advance. They are- Yeah ... only thinking about right now. Yeah. And that means that, you know, the decisions that a lot of our leaders are making are causing [00:22:00] problems that my nieces and nephews and their kids and their grandkids are gonna have to solve unless we, um, also make a few changes.
Nicki: I wanna go there, and I wanna say two things. Number one, the, I... There's this, indigenous belief of, of seven generations, like, making decisions now that are gonna affect seven generations down. And I, I truly believe we're in a moment where that way of thinking has stopped so long ago, and that we need to get back into that.
What do we need to do now to make sure that our systems are sustainable seven year, seven generations down? And the other thing I was thinking about, and I wanted to ask you of how you decided to just throw your hat in. That's so brave, right? I was hired by a governor, and I was in the governor's office, and I was supporting campaigns. And, I've seen behind the curtain, and it's- Behind the curtain. We'll just say that. Yeah. So w- when you decided that, [00:23:00] the systems were the problem and the policies were impacting the systems, where did that, feeling inside of you, where did it...
How do you, how are you so brave?
Michaela Barnett: I'll just say that I really believe that I'm, I'm on this planet to serve.
Background/Ambient: Yes.
Michaela Barnett: And, um, there's a lot of sacrifices that I have made and will continue to make, and there are high personal costs. But I honestly, I feel a very deep sense of calling to serve my community, and I really can't imagine spending my time any other way right now.
Um, if I weren't running, I would be engaged in service in some other way. You know, my husband would probably tell the anecdote of when I told him I wanted to start my business, you know- over five years ago. He was like, "Yeah, great, sounds good." And then two days later, a semi-truck pulled up to the back of our house.
What? And started, yeah, like I,
Nicki: I was- I need to, I need to circle back with you- Yeah ... because [00:24:00] I've got a bunch of businesses I want to start- Yes ... and I'm just like, "Gee-"
Michaela Barnett: So I am just very much a, like, s- executive decision maker. That doesn't mean I don't, you know, analyze it all these different ways. But he was so funny, he was like, "I thought you meant, you know, when you finish the PhD or in the future, but oh wow, you're starting this."
Nicki: I was like, "Yeah, I told you. I told you I was gonna start a business. We talked about this." And he said, "Oh, yeah." Oh, my
gosh.
Michaela Barnett: Now, you know, five years later, we, we've, uh, we're gonna celebrate our seven-year anniversary, um, in like a week and a half. And at this point, uh, our wedding anniversary, at this point he would not be surprised at all.
He's like, "Yes." And same thing with running for office, where I, um... You know, my district has been red since the Civil War, or since Reconstruction, essentially.
Nicki: Whoa.
Michaela Barnett: And, um, I was coming home almost every weekend from DC. My husband was still, um, working here, and you know, our home, this is home. And I, you know, [00:25:00] I told him, I, I, "I'm thinking about running."
And he said, "Okay. All right." And then I, I talked to a few friends and said, "I, I know there's a lot of hubris." There's a lot of people that run for office and start with Congress, and I don't think that should be the pathway for most people. Most people that want to run for office, I really do encourage, I think, starting at the city council, the county commission, the school board.
I think that is the appropriate pathway. And so I recognize there is so much hubris as a first-time candidate, saying, "I'm gonna run for the US House of Representatives."
Nicki: Yeah.
Michaela Barnett: But because I was working there, and it's because I was-
Nicki: Yeah ...
Michaela Barnett: every day and seeing the level of, of failure, honestly, from our leaders.
And I remember talking to one of my friends that's involved with one of the, with the local party, and he said, "Micaela, if you decide to run, I'll campaign for you like I've never campaigned for anyone in my life."
Nicki: Whoa.
Michaela Barnett: And then he was like, "I'm gonna set you up to talk with some of our local party leaders." [00:26:00] And I thought, "Okay, that'll probably be me pitching myself," right? You know, I'm a small business owner. I've done plenty of pitch competitions. I've done plenty of job interviews.
Background/Ambient: Yeah.
Michaela Barnett: And what happened instead at that Zoom call that I took, um, was several different people that said- "We're not gonna pressure you, but if you wanted to do this, we're 100% behind you, and we really think you should do this."
And I think they saw what it took me a little bit longer to see, which is that, um, I think I'm, I think I'm the candidate to be able to flip this seat in this moment because of my experience in DC, because of all of these other, all of these other things, because of a lot of the, the science communication work I've done, but because of my deep ties in my, in my community.
Background/Ambient: Mm-hmm.
Michaela Barnett: And that really changed. When, when that happened, I said, "Oh, Max," like, I didn't have to convince anyone [00:27:00] t- that I should do this. Everyone said, "Please, will you do this?" And that-
Speaker: Wow ...
Michaela Barnett: that, that really made me say, "All right, what would this look like?" And I got back from my fellowship last August, and I started my campaign last September
Nicki: That's wild.
Sometimes when people put their, their trust in you as far as "I believe you can do this," I don't know if this is similar for you, but for me, it's a driver where I'm like, "Well, if they think I can do it, then I need to figure out how to do this." And then suddenly you become the thing, right?
Background/Ambient: Mm-hmm.
Nicki: One of the things I wanna do is I wanna connect your business to your community ties. So can you talk a little bit about, Knox Fill? It's Knox
Michaela Barnett: Fill. People
Nicki: always- You know, it's so funny because I've- Go ahead ... I've written that so many times.
I know. And I was like, and when you said it, I'm like, "Oh, oh, I get it [00:28:00] now."
Michaela Barnett: That's right. It's so funny because, uh, for a long time people would introduce me as, um, "This is Michaela. She runs Knox Fill." And sometimes people would hear -ville, Knoxville, and they'd go-
Background/Ambient: Yeah ... "I think
Michaela Barnett: you're the mayor." I'm like, "No, no, no."
Um, so Knox Fill, I mean, it's something that I think so many people in our community were really hungry for.
Background/Ambient: Yeah.
Michaela Barnett: Um, so it's a place that you can fill anything from, you know, we've got hundreds of bulk refillable products, from laundry detergent to shampoo, sunscreen, teas, spices, um, face wash, deodorant, kind of you name it, and we've got a zero or low waste version of it.
And the really neat thing is when I started this, I mean, eliminating or reducing plastic pollution is just one small part of what it means to try and make things a little bit more sustainable. And so, um, when you look at the three pillars of sustainability, [00:29:00] it is economic, social, and environmental.
Background/Ambient: Mm-hmm.
Michaela Barnett: And for me, it was really important that this business was really also giving back economically to my community. And so at any given point, we have, like, 50 Tennessee-based businesses on our shelves. Um, we source local- Oh,
Background/Ambient: gotcha ...
Michaela Barnett: um, from Knoxville and Knox County and Blount and East Tennessee whenever we can or regionally.
You know, like our refillable de- deodorant comes from Lebanon, Tennessee, two and a half hours away. We've got an amazing local soap maker that supplies our, um, our soap bars, and that has been really, really cool to know that especially even when markets are low or all of these other Etsy sales are down, for some of these makers, the, the check that they get from Knoxville is the biggest check their business gets every month,
Nicki: right?
Wow.
Michaela Barnett: Wow.
Nicki: And then...
Michaela Barnett: Yes, and [00:30:00] we also, I have an amazing team. You know, my team ran things last year while I was in Congress. They're running things this year while I'm running for Congress. Um, and so we also, you know, I know what it's like to, to make payroll and be checking your bank account and wondering.
But my business has changed a lot over the years. So when we started, I started basically as a milkman delivery style service. So I would always tell folks, instead of, you know, the 1950s, it's modern day. Instead of milk, it's personal care and household goods. Instead of a man, it's a woman. And I would deliver pre-filled containers to people's homes and pick up their empties and bring them home and sanitize and refill and then do it all.
It was so l- incredibly labor intensive. I had one employee at the time, um, and I was doing my PhD. And then we started doing markets in addition to delivery, where we would bring like one gallon jugs that people could [00:31:00] fill up out of. And then we got a mobile refillery, and then we got our first brick and mortar.
And then we moved to a much larger location where we now have a classroom, and we have, um, a creative reuse section, which is like a thrift store for craft supplies. Um, I'm working with my team. I want us to have a tool library there as well and recurring fix-it fairs. Um, and we're actually in the process of transitioning to a non-for-profit, um, either s- at the end of this year or early next year also because I don't want any, any conflicts of interest as I, as I- Yeah
do public office.
Nicki: Yeah.
Michaela Barnett: Um, and because this really is something that's for and by the community. So there's a phenomenal team of women running, running the shop, and it is so... It's, it's just, it's really special. And we have, we've got thousands of [00:32:00] households and businesses that refill with us. I'd have to, I'd have to check.
I think last time I looked, we had, 8,000 households that use, that use Knoxville. Um, and that's really, really exciting and really special.
Nicki: There's so... I wanna visit. I wanna visit.
Michaela Barnett: What?
Nicki: To see- Come. Come Yeah ... come
Michaela Barnett: anytime.
Nicki: I had a podcast up in New York, and they're like, "Come visit." And then now I'm gonna go to Tennessee.
That's great. I need to get a little van, a little podcast van. Exactly. Um, that makes so much sense and, and, like, pouring into the community, it, it just, it just seems like a natural fit. And I don't know, I don't know about you, but listening to how you came upon, uh, came, came about your service year and all of the opportunities that you got to do during that time, and then now thinking through and building this business and employing local folks, right?
Like, this is all, like-
Michaela Barnett: Yeah ...
Nicki: you're the real deal.
Michaela Barnett: Thank you. It's really fun [00:33:00] because I, I meet young people sometimes, and they know that I'm running for Congress, and they know about KnoxVille, but they don't know that I'm the one that started it, and that I own it, and that I'm still, you know, doing bookkeeping every once in a while on the weekends, right?
And then they'll say, "Oh my gosh." "You did Knoxville?" And then every once in a while, one of them will realize, we'll be talking about UT, and they'll say something, and I'll go, "Yeah, and you know, I, I started the Free Store there." And their brains will just explode in the best way. And I am very clear, like, I started it, but the people that came after me, they grew it, they built it into what it is today, and they, they maintained it and, and really just took that small first concept and made it something really, um, sustainable over the long term.
But it feels really special to have all of these little markers of, of change in our community and service through, through [00:34:00] my time that I have been working and engaged here. And I'm really just excited to continue to see what, what we're able to build, and I think about that in terms of infrastructure with the, with my campaign.
So a lot of congressional campaigns, the first thing they'll do is they'll, they'll hire a consultant, and the consultant is usually in DC or- Hmm ... New York or Chicago or, like, one of the big cities, um, 'cause there's a lot of political knowledge there. But what that means is that you're sending people's hard-earned donations outside of your community-
Nicki: Oh, wow
Michaela Barnett: and you're not building capacity locally, and you're not building skills. And so as of this point, I have 10 people paid on my campaign, which is crazy. Um, we have 800 folks signed up to volunteer with the campaign. We are really [00:35:00] creating a politics of joy and community and service, and I, I don't think it's something that folks have really seen here before, at least I haven't, and it's really exciting to be building this with my team and with the community, um, to be a longstanding civic engagement infrastructure for the future.
Nicki: That's so exciting. I'm gonna ask you two more questions as we kind of close out. Um, I'm gonna ask you something about your service here, and then I'm gonna ask you about what happens if you win. Um, or should we say when you win? I don't know. Should we say- I,
Michaela Barnett: I, I say win. Okay. It's important for me that, I...
And it's a shift I made a couple months ago. My team was like, "You have to start saying win, Michaela."
Nicki: Yeah.
Michaela Barnett: And I'm very much, you know, I'm a scientist, so I'm, like, looking at the data. I'm like, "Well, we gotta prepare," whatever. And-
Nicki: Yeah ... and
Michaela Barnett: I think there's, there is a path to victory here, 100%. And so I've, I've started saying win.
I've started-
Nicki: Yeah. And, uh, I'm a big believer in talking what you, talking in terms of w- [00:36:00] what you want, not necessarily what is, right? Yeah. I am somebody that runs two miles every day.
Michaela Barnett: Mm.
Nicki: And then I will
Michaela Barnett: Identity. Identity. That's a good... Hey, that's a good behavioral science practice there.
Nicki: Well, it was funny when you were talking about all of the different studies.
I was like, "Oh my God." W- I, I did environmental studies in, in higher education, but I was, like, tor- I took one soc- two sociology classes, and I was like, "Wait, we could have studied people? " 'Cause sitting at the airport and watching people is, like, my favorite time.
Michaela Barnett: Yeah.
Nicki: Like- Yeah ... what are they thinking?
Michaela Barnett: Yeah, getting to observe.
Nicki: If there's anything from your service years specifically that's still popping up, and it sounds like you've already touched on this a little bit, like day to day, or now, or whether it's a skill or a habit, And I know we don't think... It's, it's not like we go through the day and we're like, "Oh, that reminds me of my AmeriCorps year." But is there anything that, does ground you into your [00:37:00] AmeriCorps year? And then on that, I want to add, if somebody's going through their AmeriCorps year or thinking about doing AmeriCorps, what's the message that you want them to hear from-
Michaela Barnett: Yeah
Speaker: where you were to where you are now?
Michaela Barnett: So actually,
Nicki: um- Sorry, didn't prep you for that.
Michaela Barnett: No, that's a good question. Oh, I, I... You're good. Um-
The, the question about the grounding, you know, the, the three people that took my role after me, um, at UT Recycling as an AmeriCorps VISTA, um, one of them I ended up hiring for Knoxville, and now that person works part-time with me on my campaign.
Background/Ambient: Oh, so-
Michaela Barnett: Um, another one helped me with Knoxville deliveries in the c- in the county, the neighboring county, that she works at a nonprofit. She would take our customer deliveries once a week there. The other person, you know, we, we touched base recently, and I think the really cool thing is if someone's done AmeriCorps, it's kind of a [00:38:00] proxy for this is good, hardworking people.
Yes. This is good people. And that, that's really special. I'm actually gonna go see, see one of them tonight. We're gonna do part work, um, part pleasure, and, um, do some campaign stuff, and also catch up, which will be great. And the advice that I would give to young people that are going through AmeriCorps is that they're already doing the work.
They're already- Mm ... you know, there's this, um, theologian from, I, I don't remember exactly when, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and he talks about vocation as the place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need, and that's where you can think about your place in this world. And I think just keep looking for the world's deep need and the problems that you can't stop thinking about as you fall asleep at night, and which ones really light you up, and, and work on [00:39:00] those.
And trust that there's other wonderful people on this beautiful planet of ours being lit up by other problems working on those, 'cause we can't all do it all. But together, we can. We can maybe do it all.
Nicki: That was beautiful. Mm-hmm. I almost wanna, like, stop the podcast right there.
That was so good. But I do want to say, when you win, um, what's one thing that you want from your service year that you'd carry with you into the office, and something that shapes how you'd actually show up for your district? And it sounds like, you
Michaela Barnett: know, you're a- I'm gonna fight, I'm gonna fight to expand and fund national service programs.
That's what I'm gonna do, because they have been so critical for East Tennessee, and they are such an important program that, you know, even my opponent likes, and he, um, lamented privately when AmeriCorps was cut, and did nothing about it [00:40:00] publicly. And that was another thing for me where I'm like, "You don't j- we don't just get to be upset about things.
We have to do things even when there is a personal and political cost." And for me, um, what I am gonna carry is the importance of this program and how we're gonna fund it, because I think money that goes into AmeriCorps yields huge benefits for the communities that it's invested in that is the, the thing that I will carry from my AmeriCorps year, is the value that these programs have on their communities, and that this is not something that we need to be cutting.
Sure, if we need to do an audit, we can do an audit, but this is something that we need to invest in. We need to expand, because the money that we are putting into AmeriCorps, it has multiplying benefits in the communities that folks are in, not just in service members' lives, but in every organization they're [00:41:00] placed in and, and the communities they serve.
So I'm excited to use my experience as a, as an AmeriCorps alum to, to fight for the value of our national service programs.
Nicki: It's so true. Having these opportunities for folks like we had talked about g- halfway through this, about young folks or people that are pivoting, or even AmeriCorps seniors that are in their, like, 50s and 60s that are like, "Yeah, I'm retired, but, I still have worth and I still wanna give back to my community."
Senior Corps was one of the biggest volunteer hours during the pandemic, right? Mm-hmm. Like, they were the most vulnerable population during the p- during the pandemic, but they were the ones that were learning Zoom. They were the ones that were, th- they're reading books to folks on, on, uh, on Zoom to, to the classroom.
So- I'm, I'm down. I'm down with you
Michaela Barnett: People, people need an outlet. What I have experienced- Yeah ... through AmeriCorps, [00:42:00] my business, my, my time as a science policy fellow, now through my congressional campaign, is that people want to step up and do good in their- Yeah ... communities, and sometimes they just need the channel through which to do it, and service years provide that channel.
Nicki: Love that. Okay, we're finishing up. What are the last words, what are the last things that you want folks to know about you, your service year, your campaign? Anything, do you need support? What do you need?
Michaela Barnett: Always-
Nicki: We are, we are
Michaela Barnett: just- I always need support ... owned
Nicki: by Nicki, so
Michaela Barnett: I al- It's all up
Nicki: to you ...
Michaela Barnett: I always need support.
So my website is MB4TN.com. And really, we need to get the word out about this campaign. Like I said, we've got, you know, over 800 volunteers. We're creating a really exciting movement here in East Tennessee, and to flip the seat and run [00:43:00] a campaign that can do it, we're gonna need to, you know, quintuple the size of our movement over the next four and a half months.
And so, whether folks can share about the movement that we're building, whether they can, volunteer if they're in East Tennessee or remotely, or whether they can donate, those are really big ways to help. Um, there's two kind of slogans I use on the campaign that I think folks with service backgrounds would really resonate with.
One of them is, "Put hope to work" Mm-hmm ... which is that we can hope, but man, we've gotta work for it. And the other one is that, "We are the cavalry," right? Mm. No one's gonna save us except us. And so, um, yeah, any ways that people can elevate the work that we're doing is absolutely wonderful. And also, I'm sure there's a lot of local candidates in each of your backyards that could use some help, too.
Nicki: That is so great. Mm-hmm. Well, thank you so much for, um, joining us on the [00:44:00] podcast, and folks, we'll be back with another AmeriCorps alums, um, on the AmeriCorps Connections podcast, learning about what folks are up to, highlighting their service story, and then also just supporting their future. So we'll make sure we have all those links in the show notes, and excited to see when is, when is voting campaign and all that happening?
Michaela Barnett: So my... I'm uncontested in my primary. Um, so my primary and our local elections are August 6th, but the, the big one is November 3rd, midterms.
Nicki: Oh, my gosh ...
Michaela Barnett: um, we're gonna try and get a lot of good down ballot participation August 6th.
Nicki: When you get into be- when you get into DC for your first day, I swear I'm gonna come meet you at your office, and I'm gonna give you a big hug.
Michaela Barnett: Come, come, come to the inauguration.
Nicki: That's so cool. All right. Thank you, Michaela, and thank you all for ... And if you've made it this far, you may, may as well subscribe because that will just, uh, add to your algorithms to have good stuff in your feed.
So thank you so much.
Michaela Barnett: All right.
Nicki: Thank you, [00:45:00] Michaela.
Michaela Barnett: Thanks, Nicki. Have a good rest of your evening.