Northwest now is supported in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.

It was voted the best feel good reality TV show of the year.

And you can watch two seasons of it through the PBS app.

Opportunity knocks is the name of the program.

And the brain trust behind this production is based right here in Western Washington.

We're talking to the creator and executive producers of Opportunity Knocks.

Next on northwest.

Now, Music reality shows don't have great reputations.

They're cheap to produce and are frequently criticized for the dumbing down of the public dialog.

But what if the power of reality television could be harnessed to pull people out of poverty and educate them about one of the things that is most missing from the nation's educational system?

Money management.

That's the idea behind Opportunity Knocks, showing people how to put old money habits behind.

Find opportunity and find a way out of living paycheck to paycheck.

day, millions of Americans must make the choice between paying rent.

Where?

Behind on rent?

You got to pay the mortgage or buying groceries.

I live paycheck to paycheck and sometimes that doesn't even cut it.

So we got spaghetti with no meat.

Are you serious?

The Opportunity Knocks is back with our three esteemed coaches and six new underestimated families to create a personalized journey.

Are you going to do what I ask you to do?

That everyone watching can benefit from?

I'm just hopeful that I won't always be struggling through these family's experiences.

This is an emergency.

You will see that a better life is possible with the tools that they are providing.

We're going to turn your life around like you have no idea the obstacles that these families are facing.

Too much.

Your mom is sick too.

Alone that I obtained online interest rates like 600 something.

What I'm seeing is almost 700%.

You're looking at bankruptcy.

Or will their coaches help them open the door when opportunity knocks?

Joining us now are Opportunity Knocks creator and executive producer Jamie Strayer and executive producer Jen George.

Hunter.

Jamie.

Jen, thanks so much for coming to northwest now.

Great to have a conversation about opportunity knocks and some financial literacy, which I think is one of the great missing pieces of education in this country.

I professionally have spent a lot of time doing financial education on as a journalist in the personal finance piece.

So it's great to have you here to talk about your program and your efforts in this area.

Jamie, give us a little insight into your background and how this idea came about, and talk about not just the TV show, but some of the other pieces that you've built that goes together.

It's it's a little complicated.

Help straight me out.

Thank you for asking.

And it's wonderful to be here at KBC.

It's where I started my career in public television.

And it feels full circle to be here with you right now.

So my background is 25 years ago in public television, I realized that the mandate of public television is to be a service to community.

And right now, our nonprofits are struggling with shoestring budgets at a time when federal grants are perhaps diminishing and people are struggling in their lives just to get by.

And financial literacy isn't enough.

People need real solutions.

Our television series Opportunity Knocks isn't just about financial literacy.

It goes further than that, demonstrating to people that are suffering and shame and silence that there is hope by giving that first person point of view and a reality format that they're comfortable with.

My background came from beyond here at Kttc, the social services environment.

My mom managed an employment office where it was more than paper pushing in Appalachia.

She connected people to different nonprofits.

And while those nonprofits deal with emergency situations once off, when a family can get wraparound support from all of them at the same time, they can lift up and out of poverty and then there reduce the burden on those nonprofits themselves.

So you really have this sort of intersection of media, social services, financial services, you know, things happen for a reason.

And it does.

Yeah.

So the project overall is called the Opportunity Initiative.

The television series is the outreach and engagement.

42% of people in the country are living on survival budgets.

That's not one penny left from a dollar fully spent just to survive.

They believe that the system is rigged.

And academically, if we're looking at it the way that we drove down inflation, the stated reason by academics was to decrease wage gains by increasing interest rates to those that had their wages driven down further, that are barely surviving the system is rigged or just eliminate jobs.

Raise that limit.

Right?

So with all of those people experiencing that and feeling like it's about only them to have an unscripted television series, show them it's not just you.

You don't need to be ashamed.

And there are solutions out there and follow along with these families.

The Opportunity Initiative then uses technology that's also designed by saying, I need help with making more money, keeping more of my money, solving a crisis.

And it connects to 20,000 nonprofits.

Great.

Jen, how did you get involved with this?

Reality television has a terrible reputation.

And and yet here you are, doing something that, has been recognized as being a real positive.

How did you find your way into this?

Sure.

So my background is in corporate event production and independent filmmaking.

And then about 17 years ago, I met Jamie Strayer.

And as we started getting to know each other, we realized that we had, so many things in common.

We had so many.

We compliment each other in so many ways.

So it was only natural that we would start supporting each other on our projects.

Passion projects like Opportunity Knocks, which it certainly was when it started.

And as it has grown.

Yeah.

So that's how I got involved with all of that.

Yeah.

You it's really.

You guys have just so many key pieces that you listen to your backgrounds and you saying, well, of course they're doing this.

Yes.

You know, it makes complete sense.

The tough question always is funding.

How do you guys scrape together a budget?

Who funds this?

How do you go about getting it paid for?

That is the tough part.

And we were were speaking earlier about how the the series was just awarded the best Feel-Good show of the year by the Academy of Reality Television, and here was the Backstreet Boys and, queer Eye from The straight Guy and the one two cast members of Big Brother giving us this award that we didn't expect to win against Shark Tank and American Ninja Warrior.

And the reason being, we spend in one episode what they spend and an entire season strike that reverse it is Willy Wonka.

Yes.

Right.

That in their first.

Yeah.

Thankfully we have Jen good on the this where we make a good team but you spend it for an entire season.

What they spend in an episode.

Yeah, yeah.

And it was the first time that a public media program had ever won an award from the Academy of Reality Television.

So we feel honored to bring that back to American Public television on PBS.

And we are grant funded and our coalition is very broad because they believe in our outcomes or even measuring the results of families saving money, reducing their stress, increasing their earnings.

In the series itself, of the families, 100% of the families across the past two seasons have remained financially stable.

Wow, 92% of those families have achieved their goals of home ownership of increase, doubling their income.

It's just absolutely remarkable.

Jen, talk a little bit about the story arc here.

You find the family first, talk about how you vet them.

And these families are helped by financial planners and analysts, people who are experts.

First thing you got to do, I'm sure, is make sure that these people aren't, you know, wanted in Idaho for financial crime.

Sure.

Before you end up putting them on the shelves.

Absolutely.

We do.

You go through a very thorough vetting process with everybody also taking a look at all of their financials and seeing how we can help them.

Of course, we meet a lot of people in the casting process.

So as we meet people, we can also direct them to resources.

Even if they're not a good fit for the show.

We can always get them connected with resources.

And then on the show itself, we're able to use the opportunity finder that Jamie was mentioning, where they're very authentically able to then get connected with resources.

Yeah.

And and it's not rags to riches, but it's financial distress to more stable footing.

In reality, it sounds like.

Absolutely.

And people are at different places on their financial journey too.

Right?

So that's one of the things that's so neat about the show.

It doesn't matter where you're at, there's going to be some family that you're going to be able to align with, learn from and then use the tools yourself.

I'm going to date myself here.

One of my favorite Saturday Night Live sketches, Steve Martin did it, and it was how do how do, have $1 million and never pay taxes?

And he goes, first, get $1 million second.

And it's like he skips right over the get $1 million part.

I really appreciate that about your approach, though.

This isn't just, hey, wake up, earn more and save, you know, spend less.

Okay, great.

Good luck to you.

You are really meeting people where they're at.

And people have people do have revenue problems, not just all about spending.

Talk a little bit more about that philosophy.

Jamie, when it comes to actually helping people, because anybody can go in there and slap somebody upside the head and shoulders and say, hey, make more or stop spending money.

Not possible.

You know, we've got life.

The way that you phrase that is essentially the way that we as a society could really improve our communication.

We hit everything with budgeting, which puts the onus on the individual.

When the largest issue in the country is, income and revenue, problems.

And so here are people experiencing what I consider toxic financial stress.

If you're having difficulty paying your bills and it's causing you extreme distress, how can you focus on the future?

And that's one of the big lessons that we're seeing in this program in in other in the nonprofits in the banking world, they're talking about budgeting, budgeting, budgeting.

Well, if you are a person that's living on a survival budget, which 42% of people are in your everyone's telling you, take a budgeting class, the reaction really is, I'm the best budget are in the world.

I'm putting food on my table and gas in my tank.

What the heck do you know about me?

Why should I even engage with you?

Yeah, and so that's where in a way, even the language, financial literacy is doing more harm than good.

It's pushing people away that need help.

Counterpoint to this, I'll put on my devil's advocate piece here.

Jen, what about personal responsibility?

And I would say, too, I think your points well-taken.

You do need to run a budget.

You need to know where your money's going.

I mean, there are there is some blocking and tackling that does need to take place from a personal finance perspective.

But do you ever get pushback from people?

What do you say?

People just need to buckle down and pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

How do you how do you deal with that and talk about that?

Well, I would say that the system is against them, right.

Like that's one of the things that people have.

Whether it's distrust in the system, an institution, banking system.

Right.

So people have run up against these obstacles.

So I would say that a part of what we're doing is trying to give them access to resources and teach them skills that they can use so that they can move forward in their financial journey.

I would love to add to that as well.

We have a fundamental belief that everyone deserves access to opportunities, and that the human condition is wired for creation and that people are doing their best, not their worst.

Right.

And if you go in, every family that we've interviewed to be on the show, they don't want to be taking advantage of subsidies.

They desperately want to get off of that.

But there's a benefits cliff, and they don't know how to avoid that or put their children or themselves at harm of losing houses and other subsidies.

In a way, we are saying yes on the personal responsibility, but it's in the notion of teach someone to fish.

Yes, if they don't know how to fish.

It's not that they are lazy, it's that they need help learning getting that right.

But caring education.

And that's a very different message than here.

Learn how to budget because the disconnect is you really don't understand where I'm at.

And that's causing a greater burden on taxpayers, right?

Because we're off base with what they really need.

And it's also creating a greater burden on individual nonprofit.

So if we think about someone that is going to, let's say, Catholic Charities for utility assistance, if they aren't lifted up, then they need to go back to them or another service provider over and over.

But if that's taken care of and they use the opportunity finder to then find career counseling because they don't have that stress that's now paid and they were able to keep their car, now we're leaving the burden on that nonprofit and all of those that are dealing with crisis and reduce the tax burden on other programs, and they can look forward so they've they're stable, got a base from which to work.

Now I can start looking for the right.

And you asked about meeting people where they are.

Reality television and a program on public television.

That doesn't seem like it necessarily go together.

Right.

But we do know that public media and our individual affiliates and caring PBS and American public television content want to reach younger and sustainable generations.

And this perhaps is not only exactly what they need, because it is meeting the viewers in the content they want, but it's also fulfilling that mission of the Corporate Corporation for Public Broadcasting for serving the community.

Yeah, Jen, obviously you're you're looking at guests and you're as a as one of the executive producers on this, looking at guests looking at financially as well.

How do you handle how do you handle a family that does have bad habits or toxic behavior?

Or you're like, man, we've got to get the substance abuse taken care.

I mean, you really can't.

You're producing a television show.

It's not like you can fix their lives.

How do you manage that and how do you deal with it?

Meghan and Wes.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking of.

So, for example, in season two, right when we started shooting, one of the families, her mother died.

You can only imagine the impact that had on their family.

She provided childcare, the level of stress the family was under.

So while this isn't something that we taped, they were able to use the opportunity Finder to get access to mental health resources so they could get the grief counseling that they so desperately needed.

So same thing.

If there was somebody with substance abuse, we would find a resource in the opportunity finder for them and take care of that, because it's really treating them as a whole person.

Yeah, it's not just about you just have this issue with your finances or this issue with your utilities or whatever it is.

It's it's everything.

I think you make a great point, though, and I'm so focused on it being a television show because, I mean, look at my life.

But yes, just by coming into contact with you, they may not be on the television show, but they have these other portals, these other entry ways that they can tap through everything else you're doing.

Absolutely leaning into that.

One of our show values, we have values and a mission statement.

How dare you, right.

Oh my gosh.

If you think about it, Sesame Street in the legacy of public media, of having driving for real impact and Mister Rogers, one of our values is it's not for show.

Yeah, it's for show, but it's not for show.

Yes, for real people's lives and the personal responsibility they're taking, even on the show, we're not taking any of those actions.

They're doing it for themselves.

And whether there's a lot of different perspectives on whether people want to help themselves or not, where they can.

But ultimately it is their choice to leverage these tools.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Jamie, you sent me straight on this.

I'm a little fuzzy on I think you worked in we were talking about the banking industry.

You worked in the credit union industry.

And I will tell you, one of the things I have, I am a broken record on my ask my kids, ask anybody I've ever talked to about financial matters is when it comes to credit unions.

I will say this.

You don't have to.

I really don't understand why anybody is a customer of a commercial bank.

I swear to God I don't.

I hate the sorry, but but talk a little bit about credit unions and the role they can play in, in people's lives.

And what you think and how did you get involved, first of all?

And then how does it express itself in the program?

You've actually asked me about something that brings me great joy.

I am perhaps, and had to write to the leaders in public media that I may be one of the largest fans of credit unions in the history of America.

I've even led a goodwill mission, on behalf of the World Trade Center, to visit credit unions and Molly, West Africa and demonstrating how they stopped, human trafficking and even increased national security.

Credit unions are not for profit.

First and foremost, that inherently creates competition in the marketplace.

There are also cooperatives, and that just confuses the heck out.

Yes, what that really looks like in action is they do not compete with one another.

They share product policies, they were the first organizations that developed loans for women in our own names.

We didn't need to get our husband or brothers to sign a loan for us.

Then that spread all across the nation because they share those model policies.

Why would they do that?

Because their boards are volunteers and they listen to the members and what's needed in each community and just the nature of the business.

They're trying to charge you the least interest and pay you the most interest.

That is 180 degrees completely turned on its head from the the business model.

That's not for profits, too.

And I will say that it is amazing.

So that we're not labeling one and good and one bad.

I do believe that commercial banks have value and that credit needs to have a very different value.

And I love that I'm the big credit union fan, right?

Our biggest funder, our biggest corporate funder is the Wells Fargo Foundation.

I see your eyes right there.

Head of Financial health is truly committed to making a difference with their corporate philanthropy.

And it's not about CRA.

It's not.

It's it's truly the entire they've gotten us more serious about measuring our impact outcomes to corporate banks.

If we look at large commercial loans, what would we have in Tacoma, in Seattle with our economic development if we didn't have that?

Sure.

Right.

On the big stuff.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Diversity in the marketplace also drives innovation, right?

Credit unions could just be mom and pop shops with little tin boxes, and they're not pesky.

Few is the fourth largest credit union in the world.

And as a result it can help more people.

I, I just am a huge fan of credit unions.

They are not for profit and we're honored to feature them in our series.

Yeah, they're not all George Bailey.

You've got VCU and I'm a rescue member and, and and some of those things, you know, so many people are underemployed and life is so expensive.

Do you really think, Jen, ultimately, does this experience leave you optimistic or pessimistic that a corner can really be turned in American life?

Well, we always have a struggling underclass.

Or do you think?

No.

With the right tools and resources, all boats can rise.

There doesn't have to be a permanent, under an under or unemployed class in order for the economy to work.

How do you view that?

I know that's a big question.

It is a big question.

And I'm sure Jamie will want to weigh in on it a little bit as well.

I definitely think I want to believe that everybody deserves access to opportunity and that we're here to give them resources so that they can change and so that they can get what they need.

So I do want to believe that I think that larger systems will need to change for us to really see that on a big scale, of course, but it takes people like us.

You have to start somewhere, or somebody has to believe that somebody has to take action on it.

And that's what we're doing.

So we're putting we're putting our money where our mouths are and doing our part to change that.

And, and the stories, the that you've seen, the turnarounds you've seen lead you to believe.

Oh, how possible it is.

Absolutely.

So Jamie was mentioning over 92% of our families are really thriving.

So one of the things that's great is, as one of the examples, people that used to be chronically in debt, now an emergency happens, they can just take care of it.

They're not dipping into credit cards as an emergency because, oh my gosh, the appliances.

You know, the appliance needs to be replaced.

Now we can just go ahead and buy it.

We can invest in starting a small business.

We're building our retirement.

We're buying a house.

We can expand our family, all of these huge goals.

So we see the proof in the work that we're doing and hopefully being steered away to from some of the predatory tools out there.

You know, be it payday loans, be it, exorbitant rates on, on credit cards.

Jamie, I mean, this group of people is also a profit center, I'm sorry to say, for the financial predatory complex of this nation to do this.

And predators will always find a new way to prey.

Right.

And that that's a reality.

So when we talk about I have, I have less concern of society shifting.

And we know right now that there are more technical skills jobs available than there are retail jobs.

And we look at the shift from people owning their own storefronts to the industrial revolution.

We're in that same sort of shift and change now with AI and we see those changes happening, but we still need technical skills jobs and they pay more, but people can't access them unless they're looking at things like what we're offering them.

My bigger concern is the new way that predators will prey on people, and that's why it's so important to address that systemically and to have innovators in technology and media there, and staying up to pace with that with our series and connecting Lynnette and Omar in Seattle to a number of different nonprofits, including BSU, eliminated, payday loans with 700% interest rate right here in Washington, right here in Seattle.

And it saved them $1,200 a month.

Yep.

They didn't have meat for their spaghetti.

It was featured in the series.

She was having migraine headaches.

And immediately that immediate relief allowed them to move forward.

Last 60s shameless plug time.

Jen is one of the EP's.

You can address this.

How do people get involved?

How do they find you?

How do they watch you lay it on us?

Yeah, absolutely.

So good opportunity docs dot net.

You can use the Opportunity Finder and the opportunity coach, which we really didn't get to get into.

I'm going to let Jamie plug that in just a minute.

But absolutely go use our resources and our tools.

You can also watch us of course, on the PBS app and on YouTube.

30s.

Jamie, the Opportunity coach provides free plans.

Everyone deserves access to opportunity.

It's the way for viewers to live the show.

If you know a family member or a friend that is really struggling, they should immediately sign up for the free opportunity coach.

So they have a guide and a way to get you all on that one more time.

Opportunity knocks dot net perfect.

All right Jamie Jen, thanks so much for coming in northwest now.

Great conversation.

Thank you.

Thank you Underdogs can provide a TV show with powerful emotional hooks.

And most people know the emotion that goes along with trying to stretch a dollar.

The bottom line financial encouragement and education are at the heart of Opportunity Knocks, and it addresses one of the world's greatest missing pieces when it comes to life skills.

And that's financial literacy.

You can watch Opportunity Knocks through the PBS app and selecting KBTC as your local station.

Download the app at kbtc-dot-org.

As always, I hope this program got you thinking and talking.

You can also find this program on the web at kbtc-dot-org.

Stream it through the PBS app or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

That's going to do it for this edition of northwest.

Now until next time, I'm Tom Layson.

Thanks for watching.

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