Ruthie Hauge, an award-winning photographer joins us today to give us a snapshot of what it’s like living in Madison! Ruthie’s roots are in photojournalism and art. After graduating from Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, where she majored in photography and minored in drawing, she launched her photography business and in 2006, and was hired as a Staff Photographer by Sun-Times Media. She has an impressive resume of places she has traveled and famous people she has photographed, including Paul McCartney! Listen to this outstanding interview to hear her journey from Chicago to Madison, and why she fell in love with this great city! This is a community of artists After moving to Madison, Ruthie wanted to re-launch her photography business, so she started networking. She was a little nervous about the competition, as Madison is home to some amazing talent, but after attending network groups like the Madison Chamber of Commerce, The Rising Tides Society, and the Minona Business Alliance, she found the that the other artists and entrepreneurs welcomed her with open arms, and supported her and her business. In fact, she said she just had a record year, and her family has only lived here six months! Keeping up with the Joneses Neil asked Ruthie to describe the major differences between Madison and Chicago, besides just the number of people. Ruthie said in Chicago, people always seemed to be competing for status. She said “keeping up with the Joneses” was a very real way of life...bigger houses, fancier clothes, expensive cars...In Madison, she noticed that everyone is very friendly and genuine, and go out of there way to help each other. She also noticed the focus on locally produced products and the intentional way that people focus on family. Her favorite thing about Madison? The fact that she can be herself. “From here, we can paddle all the way to the ocean…” Ruthie said her family tries to live simply. Her family enjoys outdoor recreation, especially canoeing and kayaking. After they moved here, she said her husband pulled out a map and showed their son all the lakes near their house, to which he responded: “from here, we can paddle all the way to the ocean!” Madison offers endless biking trails and lakes to explore, plus several parks and free places to visit, like the Zoo and the art museum. It’s the perfect place to raise young adventurers, pursue entrepreneurial dreams and goals and connect to a supportive community! Like Ruthie and her family, you may just find a million reasons to say “I Love Madison!” Outline of This Episode [2:30] Ruthie Hauge joins Neil Mathweg in the studio! [6:30] Hit the reset button: Chicago to Madison [10:00] What makes Madison different? [11:00] “I just had my best year in business here” [16:00] Keeping up with the Joneses [20:30] “From here, we can paddle all the way to the ocean” [23:00] Ruthie explains what she means by “Madison is less complacent” Resources & People Mentioned www.ruthiehauge.com Madison Chamber of Commerce Rising Tide Society Minona Business Alliance Rutabaga Paddlesports Text the word “ILoveMadison” to 44222 and get all the updates from I Love Madison! This Episode’s Sponsors: Chris Reese of American Family Insurance Abbey Wentland of Fairway MortgageCopyright 2017 Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation. NMLS#2289. 4750 S. Biltmore Lane, Madison, WI 53718, 1-877-699-0353. Other restrictions and limitations may apply. All rights reserved. Kelly Roettger of UniKern Studio Connect With Neil facebook.com/ilovemadisonshow.com instagram.com/ilovemadisonshow twitter.com/neilmathweg linkedin.com/in/neilmathweg