Showing Up with Rachel Moses

Show Notes

Join Kosta and his guest: Rachel Moses, Legal Aid Society Attorney, Former President of the Tennessee Bar Association's Young Lawyers, and active member of Cookeville Evening Lions Club and Cookeville Breakfast Rotary assisting in the placement and oversight of hundreds of foreign exchange students and host families.

In this episode: What inspired both Rachel and her brother Adam to becoming practicing attorneys, Legal Aid Society, Rachel's outreach and long standing philanthropic work as a Rotarian, Lions Club Member and mentor to lawyers across the world, and how to get involved in the Upper Cumberland. 

Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev is a product of Morgan Franklin Media and recorded in Cookeville, TN.

More About Rachel Moses and Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands:
https://las.org/

Cookeville Breakfast Rotary:
https://www.facebook.com/CookevilleBreakfastRotary

Cookeville Evening Lions Club:
https://e-clubhouse.org/sites/cookeville/index.php

What is Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev?

Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev is a podcast about business, parenting and living life intentionally. We're here every week to bring you intentional conversations on making your own path to success, challenging the status quo, and finding all the ways we're better. Recorded in Cookeville, TN, Kosta joins guests from all walks of life to bring fresh perspective and start your week with purpose. We're better together.

Rachel Moses: I honestly I would
do very similarly what I did

even now I would just show up to
organizations to meetings. You

know, I of course back then we
didn't have Facebook even, you

know, now you have so many
opportunities to learn about

what's going on in the
community, just show up, do it.

Morgan Franklin: Welcome to
Better Together with Kosta

Yepifantsev, a podcast on
parenting business and living

life intentionally. We're here
every week to bring you

thoughtful conversation, making
your own path to

success,challenging the status
quo, and finding all the ways

we're better together. Here's
your host, Kosta Yepifantsev.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Hey, y'all,
it's Kosta. Today, I'm here with

my guest, Rachel Moses, Legal
Aid Society attorney, former

president of the Tennessee Bar
Association's young lawyers and

active member of Cookeville
evening Lions Club and

Cookeville breakfast rotary
assisting in the placement and

oversight of hundreds of foreign
exchange students and host

families. So Rachel, before we
get into it, I want to talk

about something that really
caught my eye when I was reading

your story and biography. Both
you and your brother Adam are

practicing attorneys. So two
questions, how did this happen?

And should I get my kids in LSAT
practice workbook for Christmas?

Rachel Moses: Very good
questions. So it is really odd

actually, that Adam and I both
became attorneys. My father was

a nuclear engineer. My mother
was a chemist, who later got

into the business sides of
things with Oak Ridge National

Laboratory, and I got a an MBA,
and so was on more of the

contracting side of that. But we
were a very analytical family

and a very argumentative family,
and we pushed each other and a

lot of different ways. You know,
it wasn't just a situation where

I went to my dad, I'm like, Hey,
can you help me with my

homework, he's like, you know,
I'll help you do your homework.

And you know, and there was a
lot of like, you need to look it

up, you need to look it up, and
just a lot of research. And so I

knew from the get go, that I
wanted to use research to then

argue on behalf of others,
because I saw a lot of just

situations in my school and, and
working with, you know, just my

peers and things that were
unfair. And I was always the one

that was not afraid to speak up.

But I think it's because I had
parents that always pushed me to

speak up. And you know, for
myself and for others. So I'm

the older siblings. So I'm five
years older than Adam. And so

from the get go, I wanted to be
a lawyer. And so I went into

that area. And then I, you know,
I always wondered when my

brother went into it, as well.

But I talked to him recently
about that. And he did say that

he was inspired by me going to
law school. And we both have,

we're very fortunate to have
international experiences

growing up. And so he went into
the immigration field. And so

that's what he practices. And
then I practice with legal aid

and have my whole career. And so
it's just kind of weird that we

both ended up being lawyers. But
I think, you know, being a

professional was was always on
the table, you know, because our

parents were so professional.

And you know, there was not a
question that we were going to

go to college and there really
wasn't a question, we were gonna

go to graduate school. But law
school is just something an

early dream of mine. And then it
became a dream of my brothers.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Where did you
go to law school?

Rachel Moses: I went to
University of Tennessee,

Kosta Yepifantsev: I love it.

And you work for a nonprofit in
the legal field, which is, you

know, we're going to talk a lot
about legal aid and how it

functions. Yeah. And that's a
divergence from what a lot of

people consider to be when it
comes to lawyers, because I

always assume, based on how
many, you know, my the size of

the bills that I pay that all
lawyers are millionaires, right,

Rachel Moses: right. That's,
yeah, that's a stereotype. Yeah,

not all lawyers are
millionaires. Some are and I'm

envious of some of those
sometimes, but no, actually,

it's a really hard business. You
know, I have been fortunate to

be in the nonprofit world. And I
obviously have a lot of friends

that are lawyers, and they work
very, very hard, a lot of hours.

But if you are in the private
sector, you know, it can pay off

ultimately, hopefully.

Kosta Yepifantsev: So I do want
to ask one other thing. Your dad

worked as a nuclear physicist,
right. So is that why at the y

12? Plant,

Rachel Moses: he was at x 10.

But

Kosta Yepifantsev: yeah, yes,
sir. Yeah. So did he help create

the nuclear bomb?

Rachel Moses: He did not he
Oppenheimer, he did not and it

was not that old. Okay. But I'm
excited about that movie. Oh, my

gosh. Yeah. I cannot wait to see
yes. I think it can be a lot of

focused on Los Alamos, New
Mexico, but Oak Ridge, you know,

of course, it was very
instrumental. My father was born

after World War Two. Okay. And
he, yes. And he was in the army.

And then he was a math and
physics major at UT actually

University of Chattanooga,
before it was UTC. It was just

You see, but then went into the
Army and then ultimately knew he

wanted to go into nuclear
engineering and so went to

Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh,
but Tennessee was home and so

came to Oak Ridge National
Laboratory in 1981. You know

that that time it was Union
Carbide was the government

contractor. So he did not work
on the bomb. His most of his

work was actually in his later
years doing plutonium

disposition, you know, thinking
about how to use plutonium in

non bomb making ways and to
control the your enriched

uranium and the plutonium that's
around the world, especially in

countries like Russia. And so he
went to Russia about 26 times.

Oh, wow.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Yeah, that's
amazing. Yeah. So how'd you make

it to Cookeville when I

Rachel Moses: was in law school
at UT, I started interning with

the legal aid program that was
in Oak Ridge, my hometown, and

loved Legal Aid. That was my
passion. That was where I would

love to work. You know, jobs are
few and far between just because

a lot of people stay at Legal
Aid for a long time. And there's

not a whole lot of funding. So
there's not a whole lot of new

jobs every year. So there were
no jobs in Oakridge when I was

graduating. But there was a job
in Cookeville. And I had met the

two attorneys that were in
Cookeville, at the time that are

still here with us, Bill bush
and Marla Williams. And they

interviewed me and selected me
to come to Cookeville in 2002.

Wow. So

Kosta Yepifantsev: you've been
here a minute, yes, 21 years

this summer. I love it. I love
it. So tell us a bit more about

the Legal Aid Society, what the
organization does, and how it

helps protect and enforce the
legal rights of low income and

vulnerable members of our
community.

Rachel Moses: So Legal Aid
Society is a nonprofit

organization. There's four legal
aid programs in Tennessee, I

work for the Legal Aid Society
of Middle Tennessee and the

Cumberland is kind of a long
name. But there are 46 counties

that we cover in the Middle
Tennessee area. But the

Cookeville office is one of
eight offices in Cookeville,

handles 10 counties. So still,
that's almost a fourth of the

whole firm. So we get a lot of
funding from government

contracts, even though we're not
government employees. But we

also get contributions from
private firms and attorneys and

just individuals who want to
contribute. And we provide free

legal services. So our clients
do not pay us anything for a

variety of civil problems. So no
criminal

Kosta Yepifantsev: I see. And so
like, for example, how many

people do you typically see a
month?

Rachel Moses: I have a caseload
of usually between 75 and 85

Kosta Yepifantsev: new cases
each month? No, no,

Rachel Moses: those are not
always new. That's my like, but

But it kind of depends on the
level of service. Okay,

typically, I will probably take
in about 20 new cases a month.

So a lot it is. And as some of
those clients, they just need

legal advice. They don't know if
their landlord's doing the right

thing, or they don't know, you
know, if they're getting the

right amount of food stamps, and
they just want us to double

check things or give them
advice. And so that might be

what we call a quick close kind
of case where we just give

counsel and advice, follow up
with a letter, that then other

folks need ongoing
representation because of a

court case or for victims of
domestic violence. We need to

represent them in court with
orders of protection and

divorces. That's not criminal.

It's not sometimes there may be
a criminal component, like there

may have been a criminal charge
of domestic violence or domestic

assault, like aggravated
assault, sometimes it can be

aggravated sometimes it's just
called domestic assault.

criminal charge. Yeah, that's a
criminal. That's where the state

the prosecutor's office, the DHS
office, they're handling that.

But if they have children with
that person, or if they have,

you know, sometimes the criminal
case, you know, it's a higher

burden, they have to prove
beyond a reasonable doubt, you

know, they're in sometimes that
might be a little harder,

depending on the circumstances,
there could still be a right to

a civil action for what's called
an order of protection. But

that's a civil case where it's
not the state versus the abuser,

but it's the the victim versus
the abuser to try to get that

protection. And then sometimes
in an order, or a divorce might

be necessary if they have
children, or if they want to be

divorced from the abuser if
they're married.

Kosta Yepifantsev: And so just
so everybody understands, that's

listening. If you're being tried
for a criminal case, you are

appointed an attorney, right,
like a public defender.

Rachel Moses: Yes. If you cannot
afford one, then you can ask the

court to be appointed either a
public defender or just a court

appointed attorney. You guys
handled divorces, too, we do for

just the victims of domestic
violence. Okay. Okay. But it

doesn't have to be that there
has to be a criminal case

connected to that. I mean, it
could be have been past abuse,

and they've escaped from that
abuse, and they're ready to make

that full separation of divorce.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Obviously, to
hire an attorney is really

expensive. It's like $200 an
hour. Usually, there's a lot of

people that can't afford that.

So what happens to people who
don't seek out the services of

legal aid, because maybe you
guys are maxed out, you know,

it's probably a thing and they
have to represent themselves in

like a custody battle or
something to do with Children's

Services. That's not considered
criminal. What's the success

rate of someone representing
themselves?

Rachel Moses: I will say the
success rate is not very good.

People need attorneys, and
that's why Legal Aid exists to

try to fill the gap as much as
we can, but but there's still a

gap.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Is it a
pretty big gap?

Rachel Moses: It's a pretty big
gap, unfortunately. I mean, we

do what we can sure Um, we do
also sometimes that we have a

contract attorney program where
we can contract with private

attorneys to do additional cases
that maybe we can't handle in

house because we are swamped.

But we have some private
attorneys in this area who we

can contract with and pay to
provide the free service to the

client. We also have attorneys
that do pro bono, some of them

do formal pro bono that meaning
they take the case from us

directly, but a lot of attorneys
do pro bono services or or low

Bono, we call you know, where
they don't charge as much. But

there's still that gap. The
Supreme Court of Tennessee has

developed some forms for a lot
of different areas to try to

make the courts more accessible
to people. For instance, they

developed divorce forms for
agreed divorces, so not

necessarily domestic violence
situations, but where two

parties agree they want some
saleable differences. Yes,

exactly. Yeah. irreconcilable
differences. And

Kosta Yepifantsev: they in the
2000s, a lot of celebrities.

Differences. Yeah, yeah.

Rachel Moses: I'm glad you know
what, though, yes. And so if

they don't have any property,
like real estate in it, but they

can have kids, but just not real
property. And if they don't have

a lot of complicated property
issues, like maybe 401, K's or

things like that, if it's a
pretty simple divorce, where

they just want to separate their
personal property, their debts,

and even come up with an agreed
parenting plan for their

children, the divorce court does
have some forms available to try

to make it more accessible for
people to represent themselves

pro se without an attorney,

Kosta Yepifantsev: we're going
to talk a lot about like foreign

exchange and host families. And
I know that you said you've had

a lot of experience and
traveling internationally. So I

want to ask, like, do other
countries face the same problem?

Like do they also have this gap
of people who need legal

representation but can't find
it?

Rachel Moses: They do? I mean,
from my experience? Yes. Yes.

Rotary International has what's
called fellowships. And so if

you are a Rotarian that, you
know, likes riding motorcycles,

there's a rotary motorcycle
fellowship, and there's a wine

tasting fellowship. Well,
there's a lawyer fellowship for

Rotarians that are lawyers. And
so I've attended a couple of the

Rotary International conventions
and got to attend the rotary

lawyer fellowship events, like
in Canada, and we did one and

are in Montreal, New Orleans.

And so I talked to Rotarians
from around the world and about

that issue. Yeah. And so yeah,
civil legal, especially in the

civil legal side. You know, I
think that most countries have

the right to criminal defense
attorneys, but in the civil kind

of areas, it's it's
unfortunately a problem

internationally. Yeah.

Kosta Yepifantsev: So I do want
to say I went to the Rotary Club

one time, I was invited by a
friend and gave a presentation

on long term care. It wasn't
during the breakfast one is

during the day one right, but I
haven't been invited back since.

Rachel Moses: Breakfast. Okay.

Yeah. Every Tuesday, Sunday may

Kosta Yepifantsev: have scared
them, though. Because I had a

lot of like, really like hard
hitting facts, and, you know,

nursing homes, warehousing old
people, and I think they were

like, Yeah, might be a little
bit too divisive for rotaries.

Rachel Moses: Sorry, no, no. I
mean, I mean, that's just a

serious issue.

Kosta Yepifantsev: For sure. So
how do people get in touch with

legal aid?

Rachel Moses: So our Cookeville
office is located in the old

historic arcade building on the
square. We've been there since

early September of 1980. So for
43 years, we've been in the same

location. And so our local
number is 931-528-7436. But

people can also stop by we are
not taking cases for the next

week and a half because we're
changing case management

systems. But in general, I'm not
sure when this is airing, just

give us a call. And they can
also check out our website

www.las.org. So l a s stands for
Legal Aid Society and ask

Kosta Yepifantsev: for Rachel
Yeah.

Rachel Moses: I'll get them to
the right person.

Kosta Yepifantsev: For sure. So
last thing, on the legal side,

before we move on, what do you
think about open AI passing the

bar exam is scoring in the top
90th percentile? I mean, how's

that going to change the
industry?

Rachel Moses: I think that it
will actually improve the

industry. The legal business is
a serious business. And we want

qualified people who are
representing our clients all

across the board. And so I think
that we need to have some

stronger requirements, possibly
to make sure that folks are

qualified. I am on the board of
professional responsibilities,

hearing panels, and sometimes
you know, there's there's issues

that come up with people that
maybe weren't qualified to

practice law.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Well, and I
think one of the things we need

to mention about open AI is if
you have say for example, like a

rental contract, you know, this
this software, you can load this

contract in and essentially ask
it questions like you would not

not replacing an attorney, and
real legal advice, but it'll be

able to read the contract and
give you the minutia. The

summary of it.

Rachel Moses: Yes. I still think
that it needs to be regulated.

Yes, yes. By, by the bar
associations of the different

states and I, there needs to be
oversight. You know, just like

the Tennessee Supreme Court has
adopt, you know, created forms

that have been approved for
divorces. You know, that's

because there were people that
were just kind of trying to

create their own and so forth.

And so if the software is going
to be even easier to do their

own, but they're not going to
understand how it matches

together and why. I mean, there
are certain phrases that are in

our legal documents that are
there for a purpose because of

cases and case law that have has
sometimes been in existence for

hundreds of years. And there's
reasons behind that. I don't

know if I'm necessarily No,

Kosta Yepifantsev: no, it's
perfect. No, it makes a lot of

sense. We've we've essentially
established that not all lawyers

are millionaires, that if you
are going to use open AI, make

sure that you consult an
attorney. Yes. And if you can't

find an attorney, then try to
push your court date until you

can find one. Yes, absolutely.

Rachel Moses: I love but I do
think you should get your son an

LSAT. Okay. Yeah,

Kosta Yepifantsev: absolutely. I
will. I will. Yeah. Well, I

mean, you know, he loves to read
he reads every night. So my

oldest son and I have four kids,
my oldest son and my youngest

son, they share a bed. So they
sleep in saying that they wanted

it that way. And I was like,
Alright, whatever. Yeah. So he

reads to him every single night.

And so like, he's got this
curiosity about himself. So I

think if I just give him and I
give them math workbooks all the

time, and he does them, you
know, for fun. And so I thought

maybe like, you know, LSAT, like
what is in LSAT? Anyway? Like,

is it just a summary of
constitutional law? Or is it

just like a critical thinking
application? What is L slot? So

Rachel Moses: there's all these
logic games, okay. And yes, it

is very interesting. I mean, I
take I took an LSAT prep course,

back in 98, I guess. Yeah. Yeah.

They're all these interesting
logic games. It's been a while

since I've taken the LSAT. And
so I'm having flashbacks here.

And there, I think they added a
writing component to it. I could

be wrong about that. I think
you're right. Yeah. And then

there's, there are aspects kind
of like the GRE, but it's not as

broad, but the Logic Games is
what what gets most people

Kosta Yepifantsev: I toward
Columbia University, and they

have a dual MBA JD program. It's
like a two year three year

program. And obviously, I was
strongly considering taking the

LSAT and the GRE, right. So you
have to have both to be able to

get into the program. And I was
talking to my friend, Kevin

Christopher. And he's like, you
want to practice law? And I was

like, not really. But I want to
understand it. Yeah. And I

understand the dynamics and the
semantics behind it. Because

like I said, like, every time I
get a bill from one of my

attorneys for some type of
proceeding, I'm like, gosh, this

is expensive. Yes. Yeah. Well,
man,

Rachel Moses: I'm kind of going
back to what I mentioned with my

parents, you know, even though
they were both science

background, and people, you
know, my dad had when dealing

with the Russians adding could
dig into the Atomic Energy Act

and the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, and he was always he

was always reading laws and
analyzing them as a non lawyer,

but he had lawyers that worked
with him because sometimes he

was going down one path but then
it just the I think lawyers we

see things from from because of
our training in a different

angle, and we know the
consequences. And so that's why

it's important.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Do Russians
follow laws?

Rachel Moses: That's a big
question right now. Oh, my

goodness. I know they did. Well,
and the thing is, I know and

it's so sad because I we have a
lot of family friends that are

from Russia. I was born in
Russia. Yes. It's just sad.

What's going on

Kosta Yepifantsev: where per
Goshen took the end, not the

embassy, but like the military
base for the southern

operations. Rostov on Don, I
was. That's where I was born.

And that's where I grew up
before we move to the United

States. So like, I'm talking to
my dad on the phone as this is

all unfolding last week. And I
was like, you know where this

is, right. And he's like, Yeah,
I mean, I grew up there, right.

He was born in 66. And he didn't
live anywhere else. He talked to

some of his friends who he went
to school with that are still

living in Rostov. And one of the
things that were rather profound

that they said, I know, we're
getting a little off topic. Now.

I think it's important. They
said that he was so my dad was

so fortunate for leaving the
former Soviet Union when Russia

was still in its transition
period. And they kicked

themselves all the time for not
leaving. But during that period,

there was a glimmer when Boris
Yeltsin was the president before

Putin, right after Gorbachev. So
in the 90s, when there was

turmoil, there was this glimmer
of hope that Russia would make

the pivot to capitalism, and to
a true democracy. And so they

didn't leave. But my dad, I
guess, you know, he had the

foresight to leave anyway. And
so obviously, everybody that

stayed looking back now and
given the dynamics that they're

living under, especially,
they're really upset that they

didn't leave.

Rachel Moses: Yeah. And then
that makes me Fat because, you

know, they shouldn't have had to
have left. But yes, I get it

Kosta Yepifantsev: crazy. For
our listeners who don't know you

I want to reiterate the true
insanity of all the

philanthropic and legal
organizations you've been a part

of not limited to serving as
past president of the Putnam

County Bar Association,
president of the upper

Cumberland Trial Lawyers
Association, past president of

the Cookeville evening Lions
Club, past president of the

Cookeville breakfast, Rotary
Club, Chairman for inbound

Rotary Youth Exchange Program
and 50. Other titles, I don't

have time to list off. Rotary
and international exchanges is

such a huge part of your
philanthropic efforts day to

day. What does this look like?

Rachel Moses: I mean, the
ultimate vision of of Rotary

Youth Exchange is to allow young
people between the ages of 15

and 19, the opportunity to
experience literally a whole new

world, a whole new country and a
way of life, culturally, learn

different language, and then
just get an experience of not

living with their parents and
living with complete strangers.

But as far as for us that work
with the students, I mean, it's

it's, it's fun, it's chaotic.

It's, you know, stressful at
times. And, yes, sometimes

talking, there are some Yes,
shocking cultural differences

that we have to then explain to
students why they can't just,

you know, unclothed, when they
come out of a pool isn't here,

you know, we're a little more
shy in the United States and

other countries. That's when

Kosta Yepifantsev: I tell
everybody that comes over to our

house, you know, when
everybody's naked, borderline

newness.

Rachel Moses: There you go. But
no, it's just really wonderful.

We didn't get to do exchange for
two years because of the

pandemic. And so this past
school year, the 2020, to 23,

school year was the first year
we got to do it after a couple

of years. And those of us that
volunteer with the program, and

we we are responsible for these
young adults, which means we

have to find host families make
sure that they are screened, you

know, both background checks,
reference checks, you know, home

visits, we have to do follow
ups, and then you know, even if

you can find the perfect family,
or what you think is gonna be

the perfect family, then there's
personalities and teenage

hormones, you know, we're
teenagers, you know, just

behaviors that come into play.

Kosta Yepifantsev: I mean, I
grew up playing hockey, and I've

told this story so many times on
this podcast, so if you've heard

it, you can just skip. So I
played hockey growing up, and I

lived with host families. From
the time I was 15, you know,

moved away from home, my dad
said, you know, fly, fly. And it

was such an amazing experience.

I mean, there was positive and
negative connotations to the

experience of like, for example,
the host family that I lived

with in Brentwood, Tennessee.

There, Louise, godparents we
just went to a wedding for their

oldest son. I mean, they're such
an integral part of my life.

They taught me so many valuable
lessons. That, you know, my dad

and being a single dad, for that
matter. He just didn't have the

time to teach me like morality.

My love for Barack Obama. Just
like so many things, yes. But

then added other experiences of
host families who were just they

were just strange, folks, right?

We're so strange.

Rachel Moses: Being with the
strange folks or being you know

that sometimes you think, Oh,
how am I going to get through

this but you do you know, you've
learned to adapt. You learn how

to deal with people that are
completely opposite. Have

Kosta Yepifantsev: you have you
ever read Greenlight by Matthew

McConaughey?

Rachel Moses: So I have not I've
been wanting to I know he

mentioned because he was a
Rotary Youth Exchange Student,

he went to

Kosta Yepifantsev: Australia.

And it's a big part of the book.

And yes, the amount of adversity
that he had to overcome with

this family was eerily similar
to some of my experiences and

I'm sure to other people who are
foreign exchange. And I mean,

who doesn't love Matthew
McConaughey? Exactly amazing.

Well, and

Rachel Moses: another kind of
famous Rotary Youth Exchange

Student is Rebel Wilson Oh yeah,
she Wow. She was from Australia

but she went to South Africa as
her rotary exchange student year

and the current Mrs. Canada you
know of Mrs. America the pageant

the current Mrs. Canada was also
a Rotary Youth Exchange Student

at the same year in South
Africa. So new rebel or guest

still knows Rebel Wilson and so
it's just kind of cool. I went

to a presentation in DC where
Mrs. Canada spoke because she's

now doing a lot of peace and
International Building

Kosta Yepifantsev: Nice. What
what countries do people

typically come from to be a part
of the the exchange program?

Yeah,

Rachel Moses: we exchange our
rotary club as part of a rotary

district and the rotary district
is part of a rotary multi

District, which includes
Rotarians from Ohio, Kentucky,

West Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Florida. So all of

our kids go outbound and then we
accept kids that come in noun

and we exchanged with about 20
countries and so most of the

well known countries in Europe
such as France, Spain, Germany,

Russia, we have had Russian
students in Cookeville. We have

not in recent years, but it was
not so long ago, maybe about

eight years ago. Um, she was
from I don't know, I always

mispronounce flattest? Yes, like
from that side of Russia. Yeah,

but we have exchanged with
Russia. But we also have a lot

of Eastern European countries.

We've had Czech Republic,
Slovakia, Croatia, lots of

different countries, and then
lots of south of South American

countries, and then several
Asian countries,

Kosta Yepifantsev: what's the
kind of age that you have to be

to qualify for this program?

Rachel Moses: So you have to be
at least 15 years old? And this

and

Kosta Yepifantsev: Louie next
year, and he's gonna be 10?

Rachel Moses: Not yet. Not quite
yet. But be thinking about it.

Yeah,

Kosta Yepifantsev: I was gonna
have them learn the cobalt

mining trade in the Congo. I
hear that that's a very

profitable business here in the
next few years. So there you go.

Just kidding. So there's rotary
clubs all across the world? Yes.

And they all partner together to
kind of create these networks.

Yes. And so when you turn 15, if
you want to be a foreign

exchange student, and live with
the host family abroad, you

reach out to your little rotary
club. Yeah,

Rachel Moses: absolutely. And,
and then, and that's what's

wonderful about rotary exchange,
specifically, is because there's

lots of exchange programs. But
with Rotary when we have boots

on the ground, in all those
places, you know, it's not just

we're sending you to someone
where there's maybe a paid

representative somewhere. I
mean, these are all volunteers.

But then they're also local. I
mean, so we are, we're hosting a

student from Ecuador right now.

And then his club in Ecuador is
hosting a student from Belgium.

And it's just really cool.

Kosta Yepifantsev: I do have a
question about kind of the

prerequisites. I know, you
mentioned a little bit about

what you need to have like a
background check, and a home

study and stuff like that to
become a host family. But what a

lot of people don't know. And
what I've picked up being a host

child is that, especially if you
have younger kids, to have the

example of an older person, an
older kid in your home,

especially somebody that's 15 to
18, it really sets a good

example in a controlled
environment. So that, I mean,

you can't be like a wild cat, if
you're a foreign exchange

student, I mean, you're at hand,
but it's probably a dangerous

proposition. So you have like a
very, somebody that's, that's

very thirsty for knowledge and
learning, and, you know,

obviously, is trying to embrace
this American culture,

Otherwise, they wouldn't come
here. So it's a great example,

for younger kids.

Rachel Moses: It is it is it's,
it's great. And it goes both

ways when you do have families
with small children, because the

student that comes over, you
know, English is their second

language, typically, and their
skill level is sometimes very

similar to the skill level as
the younger children in the

family. And so I find, I have
actually found that sometimes

the families where there may be
a teenager in the family, but

actually, the exchange unit gets
along better with the younger

children, just because, you
know, their language skills are

similar, but then also the
younger kids are a little bit in

awe, the exchange student,

Kosta Yepifantsev: and I mean,
think about it like this. So for

example, if you're bringing
somebody in, I don't mean to

stereotype here, you know, it's
not like football is life

policy. But like, if you're
having somebody from, say,

Mexico or Ecuador, or someone
South America, I mean, they

probably play soccer, you know,
and if you have young kids that

play soccer, and you want to
essentially, you know, kill two

birds with one stone, you can
have this cultural immersion

experience, and you can have
somebody that's probably a

phenomenal soccer player,
absolutely another country in

your home. Yes, yes, that

Rachel Moses: is definitely an
advantage.

Kosta Yepifantsev: For anyone
that's listening to this episode

that's interested in joining a
service organization like rotary

or Lions Club, three questions,
what's your advice? What should

they expect? And who is it for?

Rachel Moses: So my advice for
somebody who wants or is

interested in joining a service
organization is to go several

times to to the organization?

Because sometimes, you know,
your first visit, I don't know,

like, it could be off a little
bit, you know, maybe the

President's missing that day, or
they didn't have a speaker show

up or, you know, the food ran
out, you know, and so,

sometimes, you know, the first
the first visit may not always

be the best visit and then also
because, you know, you get to

know your fellow club members,
you know, you get to know each

other sometimes it can it can
maybe feel a little cliquish

sometimes when you first go but
if you go a couple of times, you

should hopefully, you know, feel
a little bit better get to know

what they do that you know,
learn about their weekly or

monthly operations, but also
their service projects and their

passions, because that's not
always openly said at every

meeting, you know, because the
internal people already know

what they do and they don't
always advertise it as well. I

mean, I think that's the problem
with sometimes the civic

organizations, they don't
advertise what they do. And, you

know, so that people aren't
aware of the service that they

do. Well, I

Kosta Yepifantsev: mean, don't
you also have to be invited? So

Rachel Moses: historically, that
has been the case, you know,

historically an open door. It's
not but if somebody shows up to

one of my civic organizations,
like for a breakfast rotary

meeting or an evening Lions Club
meeting, if they show up, we're

excited, you know, yes. They
didn't need to be formally

nominated. You know, by somebody
in historically asked, but if

somebody is expressing interest,
then we we embrace that. So

don't be afraid just because it
historically has been like, oh,

I need to be asked and and I
think it was, it used to be a

men's club situation was like

Kosta Yepifantsev: the
Flintstones like Fred Flintstone

with the with the hat. Yeah,
horns. And what's it? What's

that?

Rachel Moses: Yeah, that's what
I know. I know exactly what you

mean. And I feel like it was
that way, a lot of times. And

even though the, they were still
doing good service projects, and

they were still enjoying each
other's company, it was a little

closed off. Yeah, it's not like
that anymore. I mean, just like

with our society, in general, we
have become more open in a lot

of different ways. You know, and
every club has its own

atmosphere. And you know, and
even if you go to one Rotary

Club, and it's not for you,
maybe try another one,

Kosta Yepifantsev: what's the
difference between lions and

Rotary?

Rachel Moses: So rotary was
founded in 1905, by a lawyer in

Chicago, Paul Harris. But the
idea originally with Rotary was

we don't want all lawyers, we
don't want all love the same

profession. They rotated around
to their different offices. It

was a, I think a lawyer, an
architect and engineer, a

businessman, a banker, you know,
and they just started learning

about each other's vocations and
professions, and then realizing,

okay, we can use our combined
experience and expertise to do a

service project because all of
these skills are needed. And so

that's kind of how it became a
networking club. But while doing

service, and so that was kind of
the original idea of rotary

Lions Club was also founded in
Chicago, Chicago was very

popular for social welfare and
and, and service and charitable

organizations, especially in the
early 1900s. But 1917, Chicago

was founded by a businessman
named Melvin Jones. And it was

really just trying to get more
of the average businessman to

think beyond their day to day
business life and to think about

other people and to serve other
people. And just like, Let's get

together and just really do
service. I think for a long

time, Lions Club was a little
bit better about hands on

service with their members.

Whereas rotary was a little bit
more of a check writing club,

like let's get all these
professionals together that have

some money, and then let's write
a check. It's changed a lot.

Rotary is much more hands on,
Lions is still very much hands

on. I mean, let lions as the kid
sight screenings that every

every elementary school every
year, we screen, every kid

that's a kindergartener, or pre
K kid with their eyes. In 1925,

Helen Keller gave us an address
to the lions at their

international convention. And
Helen Keller, you know, told

them that in charge the lions to
be the Knights of the blind. And

so then vision assistance became
a primary goal for lions. And

similarly, Rotary with their
international connections, they

started seeing, you know, in the
third world countries, how

diseases like polio were still
not eradicated in the 70s and

80s. And so many of these
countries, and it was mainly

because there were not enough
volunteers getting out into the

communities, you know, to give
vaccines to people. And so they

started partnering Rotarians
started partnering in the mid

80s, with the World Health
Organization and UNICEF to say

like, Okay, we need to pull our
resources and pull our volunteer

hours and eradicate polio. And
now we're down to two countries,

Afghanistan and Pakistan, and
have only had six cases this

year of polio. It's not fully
eradicated. We're almost there,

though.

Kosta Yepifantsev: It's always
Afghanistan. Okay, so two quick

questions. How do you find out
about Rotary Club? When do they

meet like, dates and times? And
then also, how do you find out

about Lions Club and when do
they meet? Yes, both

Rachel Moses: have excellent
websites. rotary.org and then

lions clubs.org. Make sure
there's the SS lions clubs.org.

But they both have club locators
where you can just kind of

search in where you're going or
where you live, where you're

going. And then it'll show your
rotary club or rotary or Lions

Clubs and when they meet and
where they meet

Kosta Yepifantsev: you guys meet
at Lesley Town Center Rotary

Club does noon Club does that
you visited

Rachel Moses: the breakfast
rotary club that I'm a part of

meets at the Tennessee Tech
Golden Eagle golf club every

Tuesday morning at 7am. Yeah,
and then there's a sunset club

in town and Cookeville evening
or Cookeville sunset Rotary Club

and then they meet at the big
foundry every Tuesday evening. I

Kosta Yepifantsev: love it.

Well, I'll tell you when I went
to the noon club, one of the

many skills that I learned but
the one that I still do today is

there was a guy who works for
PTAC I don't know his name, but

I've seen him before and he
always closed out the meeting

and he always told us you joke
at the end Well, a few jokes

actually. And so I've applied
that application to their, you

know, chamber when I'm on the
chamber board, I always finish

with a joke. Usually I try to
encourage them to listen to rap

music during their day to
motivate themselves. But you

know, it's stuff like that, you
know that you learn on how to

essentially command an audience.

And there's the people that are
up there that are talking to you

are professionals, they have
experience, it's an environment

where you can really not just
help people, but also Hone some

of your own internal skills
about how to be a better

speaker, how to understand how
to run a business, obviously get

legal advice on the side. Ryan
Dunn was the DA, he's there.

tolerated him.

Rachel Moses: It is I mean, we
you can learn so much from being

around all these different
folks. And so it's good.

Kosta Yepifantsev: We talk about
mentorships and professional

development a lot on this
podcast, and unintentionally or

not. So many of these programs
and classes seem to be so much

of that talk. How do you provide
real experiences and actionable

guidance to the next generation?

And what makes a good mentor?

Rachel Moses: I mean, the number
one thing is just being there

and being present. With your
mentee, I don't think although

you can do it by zoom, and by
email, I mean, you need to meet

with the folks and you need to
be face to face, get to know the

mentee mentor, and then we have
interns all the time that come

into legal aid, and I love
interns, you know, and I love to

just bring them along, and they
may be high school interns,

college interns, law school
interns, you know, and I just

get them very involved in my
cases. And, you know, they sit

with me, and then we talk about
it afterwards. You know, if I

take them to court, I say, What
did you think? And I really want

them to just be open and feel
like there's an open

conversation and talking about
what they think and it just

exposing them to different
opportunities that maybe they

just didn't have before. And I
think just being present and

being real. And

Kosta Yepifantsev: is it
gratifying? Oh, absolutely.

Yeah. I mean, when you when you
start working with someone that,

you know, because I mean, they
obviously study like, you know,

law or some components of law in
school, but when you're actually

working in shadowing you and
your environment, like they

really understand whether or not
they want to do this for a

living,

Rachel Moses: right? Yes. You
know, there was a Tennessee Tech

student that, you know, still
lived at home, didn't have a

driver's license, kind of lived
in the country. And his grandma

was raised him and brought him
to the interning at our job

brought him to school at
Tennessee Tech. So I make a lot

of home visits with my job, you
know, and go into a lot of

trailer parks, housing
authorities, you know, very

rural areas, just all sorts of
places I go. And so took my

intern to a client's home, and
it was an elderly client. And we

were talking about the housing
issue, and the elderly person

struck up a conversation with
the intern. And so I wasn't

really sure he's kind of a quiet
guy. But then he ended up taking

the LSAT go into UT Law School.

And then I was at a reunion at
my law school. And I ran into

one of the Career Services guys
and our maybe admissions guy,

and he said, Hey, do you know so
and so? And I was like, yeah, he

interned with us? Yeah, he
talked about how you changed his

life. And I was like, how are
you doing this live? And he's

like, Well, you took into a
client's home. And like, I mean,

I kind of remembered it. But
then he started talking about

it, I remembered it more. But it
was just, I mean, it's something

I didn't even think about, it
was just my day to day

activities, but just bringing
him along, because, you know, I

think sometimes bosses or
supervisors, you know, they're

like, they don't know what to do
with interns, and they give them

like research assignments, and
like, stick a month behind a

computer. That's not what you
need to do them, bring them to,

you know, like, get them
involved in phone calls

conversation, you,

Kosta Yepifantsev: you connected
the dots for him, he wants to be

an attorney. But you know, he
doesn't really understand what

he can do to impact his passion.

And you connected the dots for
him. And I think that you said

it perfectly. Like that's what
an intern is for is to connect

the dots to set them on the
right path to have the potential

to change their life. So in
terms of being a mentor, like

that, checks all the boxes.

Rachel Moses: So Well, thank
you. i Yeah, it's, I just do it.

I'd like

Kosta Yepifantsev: to end this
episode with a message about

finding your community in this
community. It isn't always easy

to fit in and I get messages
almost every week from people

that I think felt a lot like I
did when I moved here almost

like someone looking in on
everybody else. If you had to

start over completely today, and
you didn't know a single person

in Cookeville, what would you
do?

Rachel Moses: You know, I relate
to that so much because moving

here in 2002 I only knew two
people, the two people who hired

me and honestly I would do very
similarly what I did which even

now I would just show up to
organizations to meetings to you

know, I of course back then we
didn't have Facebook even you

know now You have so many
opportunities to learn about

what's going on in the community
just show up do it you know art

prowl the chamber events you
know the anything at Tennessee

Tech. I didn't go to Tennessee
Tech but so many people think I

went to Tech because I'm always
like supporting tech because

it's in my local community hours
and just showing up and then

also because I see the newer
generations using their GPS a

little too much take off the GPS
and just drive around like I

think that is huge. It's a
beautiful basket Cumberland is

beautiful, you know, get to know
where Hill ham and Allard and

birds town are you know in in
rent a pontoon boat and go down

the Dale hollow or center Hill
and explore, explore and just

don't say at home, don't say on
your phone, don't stay in front

of a screen. Get out there, talk
to people meet people show up to

things. And then this is gonna
be your home.

Kosta Yepifantsev: Are you
meeting a lot of new people in

the last couple years? I am.

That's good. Yes. So we always
like to end the show on a high

note. Who is someone that makes
you better when you're together?

Rachel Moses: My brother, Adam,
Moses. Yes, he does. Because he,

he knows everything about me.

And he challenges me he also
raises me up when I forget who I

am or or what I've done or what
have accomplished, you know, he

keeps me humble. When the
Moses's siblings are together.

We're we're a force I will say
and I hope I do that the same

for him. You know, my both my
parents have passed away now and

so it's even more powerful when
we get together and then he and

his girlfriend are expecting a
baby so I'm gonna be an aunt any

day now. And so I'm very

Morgan Franklin: Thank you for
joining us on this episode of

excited.

Better Together with Kosta
Yepifantsev. If you've enjoyed

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Kosta Yepifantsev
Production.Today's episode was

written and produced by Morgan
Franklin post production mixing

and editing by Mike Franklin.

Want to know more about Kosta
visit us at kostayepifantsev.com

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