Welcome back to the I Love Madison show! If you are new to Madison, this show will help you connect to all the cool places and people around the city. If you are a long-time resident of Madison, you know it’s an amazing place to live! This episode is loaded with information on local meetups, restaurant suggestions, and community events! Neil Mathweg also interviews Leah Roe to talk about how she is impacting military spouses and professionals with her new startup! Connecting the “trailing spouses” in Madison The I Love Madison show is all about connecting people in the community, especially the “trailing spouses.” If you moved to Madison because your spouse took a new job, it can be very hard to make new friends or find people who share similar interests. Neil Mathweg hopes the show will help people build community, and highlight all of the amazing places around the city that Madison residents enjoy. Every week, the hosts will highlight a new meetup for you to explore, interview a Madison resident about their recent move, and feature a local influencer from the city. Chris Sorenson hosts the “Meetup of the Week” segment Chris Sorensen is the master at finding cool meetups in Madison. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to play vintage baseball like the old-school hall of fame legends, look no further than the Capital City Vintage Baseball Club. In 1865, the Capitol City Baseball Club became Madison’s official team. Today, you can don the vintage uniform, ditch the leather gloves and hit the dirt field for some old-school fun. The vintage league started this year and currently has around 50 active members. For more information, find the Capital City Vintage Baseball Club on meetup.com Chris Reese hosts the “My Move” segment with guest Sarah Reese Each week, Chris Reese talks to a local resident about their experience moving to Madison. This week, Sarah Reese, Chris’s wife joins the show. Chris and his wife moved to Madison from Tomah, Wisconsin, after Chris received a job promotion. Sarah said she was a little uneasy about moving to such a large city but quickly fell in love with the sense of community and endless places to explore with her family. Although she says she misses her parents back in Tomah, she cannot see herself living anywhere else. Sarah and her family connected to the community through their local church, as well as the local school. Sarah’s favorite places include the farmer’s market, Buck & Honey’s restaurant, and the Takumi Master Japanese Restaurant. Leah Roe is impacting military spouses and professionals through MAVAN Neil Mathweg invited Leah Roe to the I Love Madison Show to talk about her new startup, MAVAN or Military Affiliate Virtual Assistant Network. Leah said she had no intention of starting a business when she asked her sister to be her virtual assistant. Leah wanted to have a greater impact in her community through her work but realized she would need someone to help her handle all of the little details that seemed to take up all of her time each day. Leah’s sister, Anna is a Marine-Corps wife who was looking for an opportunity to advance her career and generate an additional income. The challenge of being a military spouse means moving your family every few years, often with no control over the destination. Corporations are hesitant to hire military spouses, due to the long onboarding processes and a high turnover rate. MAVAN hires military spouses with professional degrees and training to be virtual assistants for impact-driven professionals who are too busy to manage the details of daily operations. To hear more about how MAVAN is impacting families and businesses, listen to this episode of the I Love Madison Show! Outline of This Episode [1:15] Neil shares the importance of connecting the “trailing spouses” in the community [4:45] “Meetup of the Week” - the capital city vintage baseball club [7:15] “My Move” Segment with guest Sarah Reese [13:45] Sponsor spotlight [14:15] Leah