STATE Stories

Andi Fouberg

Hey there, Jackrabbits! Welcome to another episode of STATE Stories podcast, stories from legendary SDSU alumni. This podcast is dedicated to celebrating our exceptional SDSU community and its esteemed alumni, bringing you inspiring stories, laughter, and lots of Jackrabbit pride.

Travis Jensen
Today's episode is a special one, not just because of who we're talking to, but because of the moment we're in. I'm joined by two SDSU leaders and two proud Jackrabbits who are helping shape the future of our alumni and donor community. First, of course, my co-host Andi Fouberg, who you know well as the president and CEO of the SDSU Alumni Association. Also joining us is Steve Erpenbach, president and CEO of the SDSU Foundation. Steve, Andi, welcome.

Steve Erpenbach
Thanks for having me.

Andi Fouberg
It feels weird to say thanks for having me. I’m here every time.

Travis Jensen
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's your show, but welcome back, Andi. Welcome back. Let’s start with a little personal history. You're both obviously as indicated, alumni at SDSU. Tell us a little bit about your time on campus. What was your experience like at State, and how did SDSU help shape your early path?

Andi Fouberg
Well, I think listeners have gotten to hear a fair amount about my time on campus. And so I'll if keep it brief, I came to campus as someone who was in 4-H and had been on campus several times. My best friend was here before I got here, and so it just kind of seemed like a natural fit. Then I had a spectacular experience on campus. I just really got involved in things that I maybe never thought of as part of college and had an opportunity to do and be around things that just weren't part of either my upbringing or imagination up until that point. And so, we just had a stellar career on campus.

Travis Jensen
One of the things that you were involved in, if I recall correctly, was The Pride. Correct? And you never had an opportunity in high school to be in the marching band.

Andi Fouberg
Well, I mean, I was in a marching band.

Travis Jensen
Were you the band?

Andi Fouberg
I was not the sole member of the band, but one of my memories is that we didn't have enough people. I went to Artesian-Letcher High School, and we didn't have really enough people to have what you would call a normal set and look long enough in a parade. And so, the band director one year, who I loved, Don Bowman, I loved him, but he decided that we were going to do a point structure. And so I was literally in a row by myself, which might be because maybe I wasn't good at keeping in line, so he's like, well, let's solve this problem. We won't have other people in her row. But it went one, and then the next row had two people in, the next row had three people in the next row. So I had no idea what was going on behind me. That does not prepare you for the Pride of the Dakotas where you might have, like, let's say, eight people across in a line and several rows of that. So, yeah, it was a very different experience, and our trips, quote unquote, trips, for Artesian-Letcher would have been a trip to march in the Blue and White Days parade for Dakota Wesleyan in Mitchell. That was as far as the band took folks. Then you compare that to while I was in college. We marched in Clinton's second inaugural. We marched at the Green Bay Packers game. Right? So, a completely different experience. Those are the kinds of opportunities that SDSU brought into my life. And really shaped who I am because of the people that I met and the things that I got to experience.

Travis Jensen
How about you, Steve? What about your experience at State? How did it help shape your path?

Steve Erpenbach
Well, first of all, that's your idea of a short response?

Andi Fouberg
It was until Travis asked me a question!

Travis Jensen
How dare I?

Andi Fouberg
What do you think this is a podcast?

Steve Erpenbach
Well, I grew up in, and was born and raised in Mitchell, South Dakota. I had two older brothers that came to South Dakota State, geography majors. I'm the youngest of five, so by the time I really had no idea of going anywhere else but South Dakota State. It just felt like the right place. They also had a great journalism program, and that was my interest. It just felt like a perfect fit. My brother, Dean, was here. He was finishing up his time at State at the time I got here. I had a little bit of somebody on campus, or at least in Brookings at the time. It was a remarkable experience. I mean, I was here for five years, graduated in 1985. And really the opportunity that I had that certainly served me well throughout my life was working for The Collegian. As I started out, I was a sportswriter, sports editor, and was an editor my last year. I actually met my wife, Michelle, who was the managing editor that last year. We just celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary. The people I met there, the experiences I had there, in addition to the classroom, obviously, but The Collegian was really transformational in terms of relationships and experiences. The whole idea of just the communication skills, the writing skills, the leadership opportunities I had served well, even though I only worked in newspapers for about four years after graduating. I moved on to some other things. I moved on to politics, and worked for some really great people, including Senator Tom Daschle, and an opportunity to come back to South Dakota State. Those times at State, the experiences I had there, really served me well in every profession that I've had, including the one I've got right now.

Travis Jensen
One thing that we hear quite often from our guests on, particularly in season two, is that they have found their community here, and that's kind of what you're talking about as you started to develop your professional network, right, as you were working with the Collegian. I mean, you found your wife, added bonus, right? But then that helped kind of jumpstart what would be your career. And so now fast forward, you're each leading cornerstone organizations that support South Dakota State University in powerful ways. Can you give us a snapshot of your role and what your team focuses on on a day-to-day basis?

Steve Erpenbach
From our standpoint, at the Foundation, the university has a strong need for everything from scholarships to support for building projects. Pretty much any of those private dollars that they need really are the margin of excellence at South Dakota State. Our role is to raise money for South Dakota State. We prioritize it. We work with the deans of the university, with the university president and provost, and figure out what their ask them what are their top needs and top priorities. Then we try to find donors who align with that, who have a real strong passion for wanting to give back, but also to give back to those specific areas, whether it's a scholarship or whether it's for a building project or program. Every day we've got about 15 people who work with donors on a daily basis, as fundraisers, that are building relationships and trying to find out what their passion is at South Dakota State and whether they're willing to start investing back in South Dakota State. It's a remarkable opportunity, really a privilege, for us to be able to work with donors, and work with alumni and friends and find ways for them to make a difference on this campus.

Travis Jensen
Steve, I have to imagine with the responsibilities that you and your team have in bringing those donations of funds on campus, you have to be quite popular with the individual, you know, with the leaders on campus. I have to imagine you have a lot of friends at the university.

Steve Erpenbach
Yeah, it is. I mean, it's the partnership that we have between the Foundation and the Alumni Association with our university is I don't think a lot of places have such a great working rapport as we do. And that's what makes it great. I mean, the deans, the department heads, and faculty are really all involved in that relationship building process. They will travel with our staff. They will go out to meet with certain donors because their presence is really important to tell the story about the impact a gift would make in their college or their department. We're really very fortunate starting with President Miller and then President Chicoine and now President Dunn. I've had the opportunity to work with all three of them, and their commitment to the Foundation and what we do, has just been exceptional. That's the reason, I think, that we've had great success here, because that partnership has just been unbelievable throughout that time.

Travis Jensen
Andi, as the co-host of this podcast, listeners have had an opportunity to get somewhat of a glimpse into your role and the responsibilities of the Alumni Association, but I don't know that they know day to day of what that looks like. Maybe describe that for them.

Andi Fouberg
So you're saying by now I should know what a day to day looks like 11 years in?

Travis Jensen
Yeah, good luck trying to answer that.

Andi Fouberg
Yeah. I think one of the beauties of this job, and I think Steve would probably agree in his role, is the amount of variety that we get. Certainly, as he reflected, right, the people we get to encounter and have relationships with, I mean, it's just really great. And I don't know that that's unique to this field, but it certainly is a cornerstone of being in Foundation and alumni work. Our job at the Alumni Association, I feel, is to keep SDSU graduates connected to the university and connected to one another. And that kind of guides the work that we do, whether that's through communications, things like STATE magazine, this. Right? Whether that is through events, we spend the summer on the road because a lot of alumni come to campus when the school year is happening, but during the summer they're in their communities. So we get to go see them in their communities and see what Jackrabbit Pride looks like around the region, if you will. And so, day to day, we're making plans for all of those things. The joke is we don't have pop up events because no one would be there and no one would come to them, Right? We're constantly planning. Right. I think a lot of that is making sure that we're on course to offer the kinds of things that will attract alumni and also to kind of deepen and strengthen those connections. Steve and I both have journalism degrees. We both have politics in our backgrounds. I was new coming into this industry when I took the job. He talked early on about, you know, there's this old adage of an Alumni Association being the friend raisers and a Foundation being the fundraisers. That's not really fair to either of those entities in the work that they do. Right? I would be kidding myself if the hope wasn't if you build a relationship with someone and you show them all the great things that are happening on campus, they wouldn't have the desire to be part of that. They wouldn't have a desire to invest in that at whatever level they can and that's appropriate for them. I think that, you know, day to day we're finding more ways to just make connections.

Travis Jensen
So let's talk about the big news. The SDSU Foundation and Alumni Association are planning to consolidate into a single unified organization in 2026. What brought us to this moment? Why now?

Andi Fouberg
I think, you know, for folks, this is the moment, but for Steve and me we've been having this conversation for many years. Not necessarily that now is the time, but that there would come a time when that would make sense. I think that right now is the time for us to be looking at this in a little bit of a kind of perfect storm, if you will. The Foundation just ended a very successful campaign. If we are going to do this, you do this before you would start another campaign. I'm not saying, and don't know, when that will happen, but you want to have something like this that's going to cause a lot of internal change to happen when you're not doing it in those kinds of ways. I think the other thing is that there is going to come a time when President Dunn retires, and we don't know when that is. If you look at just the support that he has given to the two organizations and the role that he plays, this allows us to do this at a time when kind of everyone's on board. One of our volunteer leaders indicated as we were talking about the early stages of this, said, “we're not breaking any ground here,” and we're not. This is in the region and in the State. Universities our size are a combined organization, and sometimes that comes from turmoil. It doesn't come in terms of both leaders coming to the table and saying we think we can be better together. It comes from a new university president saying, “you should do this.” It comes from a leader of one of the organizations leaving, and they're becoming almost a takeover, if you will. Doing it now with two leaders who believe in this, with a university president that agrees with us, allows us to control our own destiny in a way that I think a lot of places wish that they had if they were making this decision.

Steve Erpenbach
I think to Andi's point, the time felt right. I think just because of, again, we have worked so closely together. We moved into the same building seven years ago, almost eight years ago in 2017. Even though the Tompkins Alumni Center was only about a block and a half away from the Lohr building where the Foundation's at, sometimes that can feel like a mile and a half versus a block and a half. I think that was the. And we also collaborated on the fundraising and design of this building. Our two organizations worked so closely on this project. I think it was kind of a unifying project. Again, to the point of sort of the fundraising and friend raising, Andi was part of the fundraising effort on that and certainly that was important for us. I think that was really an important kind of proof of concept about how good we could and how much better we could be together. Not just physically together, but in terms of having the same project that we were both focused on, both organizations were focused on. It's just felt right ever since. I mean, ever since moving into this expanded Lohr Building with the Alumni Center in 2017, we have just continued to find ways to collaborate more. This was just the final step. We probably have been there, from a practical standpoint, organization all that time. This is really just kind of a legal step that we're going to take in combining boards. Everything else, I think is, is not going to change too much, but we're going to be so much stronger when we're just one legal organization.

Travis Jensen
I want to touch on the point that both of you made. You indicated that both organizations have been collaborating for quite a while. There's a strong relationship with both organizations. How do you see or how will this merger enhance the experience of our alumni, the students, and the SDSU community as a whole?

Steve Erpenbach
Our goal is that the people we serve and that's the university, the alumni, friends, that they're not going to see. If anything different in terms of their interaction with us is going to be enhanced. All the things that we currently do in terms of working with chapters, whether it's welcoming people back to campus, all those things that we do, kind of independently, the Alumni Association and the Foundation. I think they're going to see even a better experience about it. I think we will collaborate even better, even though we're in the same building there are certain times in the throes of busy schedules, that you're sometimes not completely in sync in terms of who's doing what. I also think it allows us to really dream a little bit bigger in terms of things that we want to take on for new initiatives is that we do have a bigger staff. I think the expertise of the two staffs coming together is going to allow us to do some things that right now may not be quite as easy to do. I hope if people look at this they'll say that the SDSU Alumni and Foundation is frankly just does everything it did before and more. We need to do more because the university is counting on us to do more. The alumni expects us to do more. And frankly, we like that challenge of wanting to do even more and get even better.

Travis Jensen
Andi, one of the things that we hear often is how proud alumni are of being connected or feeling connected to stay even years after graduating. Will that Jackrabbit spirit still be front and center in this new model?

Andi Fouberg
Yeah, so to follow on Steve's point just a little bit, there are twice as many living alums as there were when I was in college. You just think about the ability to serve that population and connect that population. Certainly, there's a lot of energy around Jackrabbit nation right now around the Jackrabbit brand, if you will. There's just so many good things happening on campus, and people want to be a part of it, whether it's new programs finally being able to offer, elementary education, accounting. All of those kinds of things create just continued energy for people. We want to do what we can to capture that energy, to fuel that energy. I think about our two organizations. One of the things I said is we use a consultant as we worked through this process. One of the things I said to her early on is there's really only a screen door left between the two organizations. We really have, to Steve's point, when we moved in together, the world changed in a way that we didn't know that it was going to or kind of that we needed it to. I think there's just been so much good that's come out of that. Hopefully, whether people knew why, certain things were getting better or kind of what the Nexus was. There just seemed to be this kind of new era, happening. This is another opportunity for us to really make that even bigger and better. And I think that people will see that, in a very short period of time.

Steve Erpenbach
And I would just add, when you think of sort of jackrabbit spirit and sort of the response that we have gotten as this has been shared with more people about what is going to take place with the alumni association and the foundation consolidating, two of the very first people that we talked to were V.J. Smith and Keith Jensen. They’ve had tremendous service to the alumni association. There's probably not many people who don't know either of those gentlemen. We had conversations with them because again, Keith Jensen was the one that he raised the money for Tompkins Alumni Center. V.J. Smith really kind of took the alumni association to the next level. And, so they have a really a strong, strong feelings about that organization. We wanted to make sure, in a sense, kind of did we have their blessing? We didn't want them to hear it from somebody else. We wanted to be able to articulate why this was important for the alumni association that they helped grow, was going to consolidate with the foundation and tremendous support for them. They have been great advocates for us, very enthusiastic about this. So, I think when you think of the jackrabbit spirit, those two individuals who, frankly, they get it. They see the big picture. And they, knowing the alumni association as well as they do, they know that this is a, this is a win for the university, and we're only going to be a stronger organization as one.

Travis Jensen 
Yeah. Both individuals are incredibly passionate about the SDSU community. And in fact, the Alumni Association Foundation had the pleasure of hearing VJ recently and the amount of excitement that he had with the news of these two organizations coming together. Goodness, you could just feel how, thrilled he was for both parties. And that excitement is pretty common for everyone that is aware of what is happening. Let me ask you, what excites each of you most about this next chapter?

Steve Erpenbach
I think one of the exciting things that that, for me is we come at this in a position of strength in as Andi and I have looked at this, we've talked with regional peers, other universities that have gone through this process. More often than not, a lot of them did it because they had to, because there was, as Andi talked about, there were maybe a change in leadership or one of the organizations was struggling, or maybe both were struggling. And so they really had no choice. And they were told that you need to merge. You need to consolidate. We're coming at this from a position of strength. We have never been individually, have never been stronger as organizations. I think people should be excited about that, that we're doing this for the right reason. And frankly, the reason we're in this position of strength is because we've had tremendous buy in from alumni friends, donors, the university that have gotten us to where we're at. And we're certainly people like Keith Jensen and V.J. Smith and David Marquart, my predecessor, are certainly people that were very instrumental in terms of getting us to where we're at. But people should I'm excited because frankly, we are both really strong organizations, and we're only going to get better as a result of this consolidation.

Andi Fouberg 
So when I think about the the times when we've had to make a decision at the Alumni Association about whether we're going to do something or not, it has almost always been about there are five full time team members at the alumni Association, and can we execute it at a level that we think is necessary or appropriate? Kind of if you're going to do it, do it right, and if you aren't, then if you can't do it right, don't do it. And I think this gives us an opportunity to, look at those things and in a whole different scale. And I think the foundation too, right. There are probably times at the foundation where, well, that would be an alumni function, and we don't want to step on their toes. That’s real. And this removes all of those kind of concerns or barriers, if you will, to opportunity. And I think the thing that excites me about this, the most is opportunity. Whether it's opportunity to serve the university, opportunity to serve alumni, opportunity to grow, our relationships with folks. I think that's what has me most excited about this.

Steve Erpenbach
I would also just add that it's so much about the future. Certainly we are two organizations that care deeply about the traditions and the loyalty that we've had over this, over this time. But you look at everything at this university that has, whether it's first where you think of Frost Arena and how we love that. That was such a big part of my years in college, and now we have first Bank and Trust Arena. And then you think of the great experiences at Coughlin Alumni Stadium, and now you have the Dana J Dykhouse Stadium. You look at new buildings on campus, you look at programs that are stronger now than when I was here or when past alums have been here, and when we always were concerned that when people would come back to the university, they would see some of the physical changes on campus. They would feel like this isn't even my university. I recognize the campanile, but so many other things have changed. But I think that instead, what we have found is the people have such a pride of what the university has become. You know, the wellness center wasn't here for most of, most of the people. And now they see what a tremendous, you know, asset that is for the university and how that serves the student body in the community or the or the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center. Again, what that allows us to do. So I hope people kind of take that same thing, is that look at how all these things have been improved over time because of people have been willing to invest, because there's been a vision for it. And then they will look at our two organizations coming together and hopefully by that same measure, they look at it as we're a stronger organization now because we made the decision to become one, and still hold on to that loyalty in the tradition of our organizations. But we're kind of starting this new chapter.

Travis Jensen
You mentioned the pride that the community has for SDSU, and it's certainly evident that you both possess that pride about SDSU as well. And so I want to bring it back to your own jackrabbit stories. One thing that we do often on the podcast is we like to share advice for our listeners, particularly if we have any students that happen to listen. So let me ask you both, what advice would you give to today's SDSU students who are just beginning to understand the power of the jackrabbit community?

Andi Fouberg 
I don't know anyone who wouldn't go back to college if they could.

Travis Jensen 
Oh. Amen.

Andi Fouberg 
Right. So, I would my advice would be, is to take advantage of all of the opportunity. And I thought there was a lot of opportunity around when I was in college, and I took advantage of a lot of that. There's even more of that today. And so my advice is, find your community right by doing some of those things, getting out there and taking advantage of whether that's, you know, something that happens weekly, whether that's a study abroad, whether that's, you know, the list is almost endless of the number of, student organizations that you can get involved in, and you can start one if they if you somehow don't find the one. Right. But really, take the time to, really appreciate and invest in yourself during this time, because it will be what you remember and how you talk about college after.

Steve Erpenbach
I would agree. Find your place. I mean, there there again, a lot more opportunities than when I graduated in 1985. But again, the Collegian was an experience that was kind of life changing for me. But, but as I look at it now, in terms of the experiences that that students have at their at their fingertips, really, I think there's probably 200 different, student clubs on campus. Even the Taylor Swift Society is, I think, one of the bigger and fastest growing ones. So find your place because there is no matter what your interest is, whether you like big groups, small groups, whatever the interest is, there is a place for you here. And frankly, that creates your, you know, builds your network. I think it frankly adds to your sort of the your overall experience outside of the classroom. The other thing I would say is don't rush your way through it. I, I crammed a four year degree into five years. I wish I could have done six. But I but I do think that there are so many things that you can do. If I had not done five years, I wouldn't have been editor of the Collegian my last year. So, again, find taking advantage of, of everything on campus and, and I don't want to get people through. You don't want to have a lot of student debt. And part of our focus is, is scholarships. Because certainly student debt is a real thing. But finding ways that you can just, take advantage of this because, when you leave here, you can come back. You're always going to be welcome. But those things, those 4 or 5 years, you take are really precious. And, so don't don't take any of that for granted.

Travis Jensen 
You know, embrace those special moments. Right. Steve, thank you for joining Andi and I on the podcast today. Thank you both for the work that you are doing every day to make SDSU stronger for generations to come.

Steve Erpenbach
My pleasure. Thanks.

Andi Fouberg 
Thanks for joining us for another episode of STATE Stories. Like what you heard? Hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Your support helps us continue sharing these inspiring stories from our legendary SDSU alumni. You can find all episodes at statealum.com/podcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

Travis Jensen
Hey there, Jackrabbits! Welcome to another episode of STATE Stories podcast, stories from legendary SDSU alumni. This podcast is dedicated to celebrating our exceptional SDSU community and its esteemed alumni, bringing you inspiring stories, laughter, and lots of Jackrabbit pride.

Our guest today is Jeff Eckhoff, a 1982 sociology graduate of SDSU and a 2023 Distinguished alumnus. Jeff serves as the director of planning and development services for the City of Sioux Falls. And his career has spanned economic development, small business growth, and community planning. Jeff, welcome to the show.

Jeff Eckhoff 
Thanks, Travis. Glad to be here. I appreciate being asked. This will be fun.

Travis Jensen
That's right!

Andi Fouberg 
Jeff, your path has taken you from a farm near Hurley all the way to city leadership in South Dakota's largest and fastest growing community. Let's start at the beginning. What drew you to SDSU and how did your time here shape your career?

Jeff Eckhoff
Yeah, you know what's interesting, Andi, is it was not in my initial plan to come here. I had visited another school and just didn't have a great experience. And one weekend some friends of mine were coming up here. Yeah, I'll go along. I have nothing else to do. I'll just kind of tag along and we'll, you know, do something on the way home. And so sat through a session, got interested, went on the tour, and just right away felt like the place to be. And so I immediately switched plans and, got my application in late, was in overflow housing, did the whole thing, but was so glad I came here and you just never know where life's going to detour you and where you’re going to turn and pivot and you just have to be ready to take advantage of it. And so it was, it was obviously a great choice.

Travis Jensen
You spent most of your career helping communities grow, from working in local economic development to your current role overseeing planning and development in Sioux Falls. What originally sparked your interest in helping shape communities?

Jeff Eckhoff
You know, so I got out of college, and I wasn't really sure what I was going to do. I actually went to work for the State Department of Labor and spent a lot of time with employer relations and just, talking to business people, talking about their growth plans, from the standpoint of workforce and adding employees, and just really got interested in that. And when I had the opportunity, it was just kind of the perfect marriage of helping the community helping and being involved in the business side of it, which is really kind of what my interest was when I went through college. So it kind of came around as a great opportunity, and once I got involved with that it really sparked my interest in public service, and staying involved with nonprofits or government or that type of thing and serving communities.

Travis Jensen
Was there a moment while you were here as a student that helped, trigger that or maybe spark that that led you kind of down that path? 

Jeff Eckhoff 
Yeah. You know, it was really interesting. So, I was a sociology major, but back then they had an option called Personnel Services, believe it or not. So it was kind of an HR. It was it was way before the Ness School. There really wasn't a business degree here. So I was kind of pursuing that HR and I had an Econ minor that I declared, and that was kind of the route that I was going down. Some of the classes, I remember, like Money and Banking and Industrial Psychology was a class I took. It was just the sociology of people in general and at work. It always really interested me, and it's really interesting how today, so much what I do is group meetings, facilitating groups, working through proposals, working through problems. Those skills, I really use them every day. It's amazing how that path brought me to where I am and how, you know, you're a kid, you don't really know. Right? But those skills really well prepared me for the work I do today.

Travis Jensen 
So a lot of the topics that you were covering in your classes back in the early 80s, still relevant to the things that you're covering today and your current role? 

Jeff Eckhoff
Yep, absolutely. Even from way back then. Yeah, very much so. Those are the classes that interested me the most too, so I'm sure it absolutely was part of setting the path for today. 

Andi Fouberg
Jeff, Sioux Falls is one of the fastest growing cities in the region, and you're kind of at the center of all of that. How do you balance progress with sustainability, and what do you think makes Sioux Falls and by extension, the region, such an attractive place to build?

Jeff Eckhoff 
Yeah. It's a great question. You know, Sioux Falls, obviously way before me, there's been a great, leadership that really has done a good job of planning for the future. Very well thought out, planned and managed growth. We've grown at a pace the last seven years of over 5000 people a year. And we've added in the seven years that the Mayor Tenhaken, has been there, we've actually added like 36,000 people. So you put that in perspective. That is the city of Aberdeen and the city of Harrisburg. All within our city limits. And so that type of growth, like I tell people, they're not going where we didn't think they were going to go, they're just going there a lot faster. But it is a struggle. It's a struggle. And stay out ahead with infrastructure. We really try to focus on redevelopment and reinvestment and trying to conserve our resources the best we can and be smart about growth. You know, very much in an incremental not to spread out and jump around and be as thoughtful and resourceful as we can with the resources that we're given.

Travis Jensen 
Well, one of the exciting developments within the Sioux Falls community is the SDSU Metro Center. Thanks to the generosity of Avera Health, SDSU will be launching the Metro Center right in the heart of Sioux Falls. You know, a space that will house nursing, pharmacy, other health science programs and will offer other university services. What type of impact do you see the Metro Center having on the Sioux Falls community?

Jeff Eckhoff
You know, that's so many things. It's a great location. The visibility is huge. There are over 20,000 healthcare related jobs in the city of Sioux Falls. And the fact is we’re always looking for additional health care professionals. We're always looking to grow that industry. And that supports not only Sioux Falls but the region. So you think about bringing that piece of infrastructure with, education to be able to have more people, having people that are coming back for a second career because now it's more convenient to go there. It's really going to be obviously a boon for that, too. But I also see the Metro Center as you look ten years, 15 years down the road and you kind of look at the, the mission statement of SDSU as far as being a land grant university about innovation and expanding in the community. You think about, the precision agriculture. You think about the Ness School partnership with the start of Sioux Falls and the entrepreneurial universe. And you just think about all those things that the depth and the breadth of a land grant college. And we've got great education partners in Sioux Falls, but none of them have the capacity or the bandwidth that a full land grant university has. And I just really have to applaud, President Dunn and his vision, SDSU Connect, the work that Brian is doing down there to really expand this SDSU beyond the borders of Brookings, beyond borders of South Dakota, and really becoming that regional powerhouse for education, opportunity, economic development. And I just see the Metro Center being kind of epicenter of that for Sioux Falls. And so we're extremely excited about that. And to see it not only in this initial mission that you've talked about, but what it'll become for years beyond that.

Travis Jensen 
Regional powerhouse. I like that.

Andi Fouberg
I like that, too. 

Jeff Eckhoff 
With sports and everything, you know?

Travis Jensen
We maybe need to run that over by UMC. There's something to that, right? The marketing department can put something around that. 

Jeff Eckhoff 
Are the royalties that come with that?

Travis Jensen 
Yeah, we'll look into that for sure. 

Andi Fouberg
I’m sure everyone’s excited about our good ideas here on the podcast. Jeff you’ve stayed involved with SDSU through the foundation Council of Trustees. Why has it been important for you to stay connected to the university?

Jeff Eckhoff 
You know, well a couple things. First of all, I would tell anybody that's a recent graduate or going to be a graduate or is going to come here. The network of jackrabbits is so deep. And so once you leave, I mean, from a professional standpoint and a personal standpoint, I mean, I've made some great friends. Obviously, when you're on campus, you've heard those stories, but I've made even just as good of friends afterwards that our connection was through being a jackrabbit. And we're in Sioux Empire Staters together, or we were at a golf event together. We were at, you know, a Summit League game and a fact, Andi, I think it was a little before you I think it was 2008, the Sioux Empire Staters were the first formal chapter, right? There were a lot of clubs West River Jacks and Yankton, but we were the first formal chapter, and Mike Hart and Jimmy Spears and Eric Coleman and John Gustafson and I were on that initial board and still and John and I knew each other from working in the bookstore from when we were on campus together, but in particular, Mike Hart and I became very good friends through that and stayed connected, even though we're no longer on that board. And so I would tell people that that connection goes on and on. Right. And the introduction of being a jackrabbit is huge. And secondly, I just think that, you know, SDSU lives this mission of giving back, if you've been blessed with a great career, if you've been blessed with a great opportunity, you owe it to your community or state to give back. And being able to connect with the campus, be able to connect back and help in ways to help out with time and treasure with students. That to me, is part of your responsibility to give back as the gifts you were given as a graduate of SDSU. 

Andi Fouberg
It's energizing. 

Jeff Eckhoff 
It is, it's amazing. Every time you come up here and just you get excited and you can't wait for the trustees meeting, and you start hearing about all the great things that are going on. And then you can then you can amplify that message and tell people about it. So it's just it's just been a great experience to be that connected back to the university.

Andi Fouberg 
Well, you've been a tremendous ambassador for us. So, that is appreciated. Looking ahead, what excites you about the future of South Dakota? Any trends or changes you think current jackrabbit students should be paying attention to?

Jeff Eckhoff 
You know, I think that there's so much space out there for the, again, the innovation, the research. When we did a, we’re kind of in the middle of our comprehensive plan, and we did this, statistically valid survey with residents in Sioux Falls and asked them, you know, why do you live here and why do you stay here? And one of the things we asked them is from an economic development standpoint, what things would you like to see us pursue? And then the answers came back pretty loud and clear include biotech, scientific research, things that again, back in the wheelhouse of a land grant university in the heart of Sioux Falls, with the resources of the companies and the health care systems that are there. I think there's a huge space for that. I think, you know, we've talked forever about graduates leaving South Dakota for other opportunities because they aren't available here. I think that space, there's an appetite for it. I think there's an infrastructure that is being built for that. And so I'm excited. And you think about, the R1 initiative, right. And what that can do to help fuel that and take, opportunity for those types of graduates in those disciplines and to expand the disciplines that we have and the opportunities to really bring that knowledge and that economic engine back and keep it in South Dakota and help expand it. So I think the future is really unlimited. And I think things like Metro Center, R1 really are cornerstones of what that can be.

Travis Jensen 
We say this often, but it's a great time to be a jackrabbit. 

Jeff Eckhoff 
It's always a great time to be a jackrabbit.

Travis Jensen 
That's right. You know, one of the things that Andi and I enjoy most about hosting this podcast is hearing the joy of our guests as they reflect on their time at SDSU. What's one of your favorite SDSU moments that brings a smile to your face?

Jeff Eckhoff 
Well, you know, like all of us, right? There's hundreds of little things from the dorm and the Student Union. It was certainly a misguided day at Jim's tab, but that's a whole other story. 

Andi Fouberg 
So you're the one. 

Travis Jensen 
Yep. There we go! 

Andi Fouberg 
There's only been one.

Jeff Eckhoff 
But the story, I’ve thought about this, that I want to share. And, Travis, you and I have this in common. And I think this has to do with undeveloped freshmen, minds of males. And so there wasn't a blizzard, but it was in the winter and it was cold. And we decided it was in December kind of right before finals. There were four of us inside, and we were about to move outside to play football. And so we played football. We were north of Young Hall, kind of in that area. And we're, we're having a great time. And, and it's of course it's cold and, and I got tackled and I broke my leg. 

Travis Jensen 
Oh, wow. 

Jeff Eckhoff
I mean, ride in the ambulance to the hospital and up in Sioux Valley. At that time it was Sioux Valley to have surgery because I broke it really, really, really well. And so this kind of to me epitomizes what SDSU is about. So I remember when I, as Andi mentioned, I came from a small town, and the first time I walked into a class in the rotunda, right, there were more people in that room than my entire hometown. So, you know, you're kind of a little overwhelmed. And so anyway, so I'm in the hospital a little anxious.  I know I'm going to  have surgery next day. And the phone rings. And so I answer it and it's like, “Hello, Yeah, this is Professor Rocky Gilbert from South Dakota State University. I understand that you're a South Dakota State student and that you're in the hospital”, so pre HIPAA obviously. Okay. So I'm going yeah. Yeah yeah. You know it's a very nice conversation and you know signed off. Wish me well. And you know just want me to know that he was thinking of me. And I just thinking, wow. I mean, not and not only professor, but Rocky Gilbert, right? I mean, the legendary Rocky Gilbert.

Andi Fouberg
Had you had a class with him?

Jeff Eckhoff
No, no, and that's a whole other story. I actually, I actually got out of ‘Rockonomics’, so I got around it, but I don't know another story for another time perhaps, but obviously knew who he was and had heard of him.

Andi Fouberg 
Yeah, absolutely. 

Jeff Eckhoff 
And the fact that he would take the time, I have no idea how I found out I was in the hospital, you know, pretty good-sized hospital, right? I have no idea how he found out it was in there, but he did and took the time and, you know, and the only regret from that I have is being a kid from a small town and just kind of. No, not really. I just regret I never followed up with him when on campus and thanked him for that.

Travis Jensen 
It really is a reflection of that jackrabbit spirit, right? To have those individuals within your community that care about you, maybe not having a direct relationship, but the simple fact that they knew that there was someone in need, right? A fellow jackrabbit wanted to just ensure that, hey, we're thinking about you. And, that's not surprising by any means to hear that that was something that he extended to you.

Jeff Eckhoff 
And what was amazing, right, I hadn't met I hadn't met him. I hadn’t declared a major, a minor yet. So he had no idea that I was going to be a future economic student. I just he just knew I was an SDSU student. That's all it took him to make the call.

Travis Jensen
Jeff, we want to thank you. Thank you so much for joining us today, for all that you're doing to help South Dakota grow and for staying connected to the jackrabbit community along the way. Thank you for joining us.

Jeff Eckhoff 
Thank you. It's been a real pleasure. Thank you.

Andi Fouberg 
Thanks for joining us for another episode of STATE Stories. Like what you heard? Hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Your support helps us continue sharing these inspiring stories from our legendary SDSU alumni. You can find all episodes at statealum.com/podcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

Andi Fouberg
Hey there, Jackrabbits! Welcome to another episode of STATE Stories podcast, stories from legendary SDSU alumni. This podcast is dedicated to celebrating our exceptional SDSU community and its esteemed alumni, bringing you inspiring stories, laughter, and lots of Jackrabbit pride.

Travis Jensen
Today's episode has a little extra heart because it's all about a couple whose story began right here at South Dakota State University. We're joined by Dr. John Bisson and Alex Bisson, proud SDSU alumni, small business owners, and yes, STATE Sweethearts. The two met as students, fell in love on campus, and now run Bisson Dental in Brookings, South Dakota, where they've been serving the community since 2018. John and Alex, welcome to the show.

Alex Bisson
Thanks so much for having us. We're excited to be here.

John Bisson
It's going to be great. Thanks.

Andi Fouberg
Let's start at the beginning. How did the two of you meet at SDSU? And do you remember your first impressions of one another? 

Alex Bisson
I do. I don't know if John can say the same. Um so how it all kind of played out is, after being together for many years, we realized that we had actually crossed paths well before we started our journey here at SDSU. But officially, my sister was at the State Swim meet in the summer of 2007. And I remember she called home and she said, Alex, you'll never believe I just met this guy John, and he's going to SDSU and he's going to be on the swim team, and he's really cute. And I was like, oh, all right, well, tell me more. So my sister kind of met him and I think she told you, John, about me and that we would be swimming together. And so, of course, I looked him up on social media as any normal person would. And I remember my first impression of him is he walked into the natatorium, into the swimming arena in boardshorts. So, as you know, most collegiate swimmers wear, like, very tight fitting jammers or like a Speedo when they compete and or train, and he walks in wearing his boardshorts. I look over at Coach Brad Erickson and, at the time, head coach of the SDSU swim & dive team, and I go, hey, coach, who is that? But like in my head, I played it off cool. Like, I had no idea who he was, but I fully well knew that was John Bisson from Sturgis walking in.

John Bisson
Yeah, that was a fun day. I was not prepared for those first couple college practices. It was it was a little rough, but, yes.

Alex Bisson 
You did great.

John Bisson
No, and I just remember meeting you at, kind of the first couple swim practices and, getting introduced and, Yeah, it was just really excellent.

Andi Fouberg 
Do you still have those boardshorts?

John Bisson 
I don’t think so.

Alex Bisson 
I sure hope so. That's a memory right there, John. Your first swim meet or first swim practice wearing boardshorts. I will never forget that. 

Andi Fouberg 
A little extra drag. You wanted to show people just how fast he was. He put a little extra drag.

Alex Bisson
Exactly. 

John Bisson
Yeah, yeah.

Travis Jensen 
Do you remember the conversation you had with who is now your sister in law? Do you remember that?

John Bisson
Oh, yeah, I remember that. I do. I was, kind of sitting at the, it was actually the STATE meet here in Brookings is where we had it at an outdoor pool. I was just checking some times to see how I'd done, and Liz walked up and kind of introduced herself. We talked for a little bit, and she mentioned that her sister was going to be going to SDSU to swim. That's where I was going at that time, too, and kind of helped make that connection and everything. 

Travis Jensen 
Now, did you do the social media sleuthing as…

Alex Bisson 
Be honest, be honest.

John Bisson
You know, I didn't have to wait too long. Alex reached out to me and said, hi on social media. So it was pretty easy to put the, connect the dots at that point. 

Travis Jensen 
So you technically made the first move? 

Alex Bisson 
You darn right I did. 

Andi Fouberg 
Way to play it cool, Alex. 

Alex Bisson 
You know what I was like. I think, I don't know, there might be something here. So I knew right away from the beginning I was like, I think I need to get to know this guy. And it paid off, as we should say. Almost. How many years since then are we in now? 18? 

John Bisson 
Yep.

Alex Bisson 
Since that day. Summer of ‘07. In the summer of 2025. Am I doing my math right there? A lot of years. 

Travis Jensen 
Now, do you feel like you need to defend yourself with the whole board short fiasco?

John Bisson 
You know, I didn't come from as strong of a swimming background as far as high school and everything. I kind of…

Andi Fouberg 
That’s the program in Eureka. 

John Bisson 
Haha. Yeah, the Metropolis of Eureka. You know, we kind of had a smaller team, and I just didn't have all that setting for the larger team. When I showed up, that was kind of what I had always done for that. And, yeah, I learned very quickly that I wasn't about to keep up with all the other fast collegiate swimmers wearing that. So I had to change paths really quickly.

Travis Jensen 
Finding ways to cut time, right. 

John Bisson 
Exactly. Yeah, exactly.

Travis Jensen 
Now there's something really special about meeting your person during college, especially at a place like SDSU. What role did the campus community play in your relationship early in that connection?

Alex Bisson 
I think for me, it was just the fact that we spent so much time together being on the same team and a lot of our practices aligned because in fact, we were both we were in the same lane training quite a bit because we were both like in the sprint group. There's different groups for training¬ - sprint mid distance and distance for swimming, at least at the time. That's kind of how the practices were coordinated. So, you know, the men and women's team train together. We were in the same lane. We were doing team meetings together. We were doing we were traveling to meet together. I think the beautiful thing about both of us being on the same team is that we just spent a lot of time together. At the end of the day, I think the best part about that is I didn't really have to reschedule my life to make it work for us to be together. You know, we really didn't have to figure out when I was going to see him. Like if I had been in a different sport or maybe not on the team at all, I think it would have been different. I like to think at the end of the day that we still would have found each other if I had not been on the team or John had not been on the team. I think back a lot about that because I didn't start my career at SDSU, so I started my career at the University of Minnesota. I swam for the Gophers for one semester, and I realized pretty quickly it was just not the right fit for me personally. I knew I wanted to come home. I wanted to come back to South Dakota, and there was no doubt in my mind it was going to be South Dakota State University and nowhere else. I had known Brad Erickson for quite some time, and so I called Brad and I said, Brad, I'm ready to come back. I gave this a go. I just knew it's not my time. This is not like the fit for me. He welcomed me back with open arms. It was a great transition. I think at the end of the day, the best part about all of that is I got to meet John and I wonder, there's so many times when I wonder if I hadn't made that switch, if I hadn't come back, or perhaps had gone to a different South Dakota State University or a university in South Dakota, had we met. I'm just really thankful for how that all played out in the path that I took.

John Bisson 
Yeah. And I feel like the just the layout and the size of the campus, we had a lot of mutual friends and mutual professors and kind of ran into, you know, cross paths as we went to class and got lunch and everything like that. There was a lot of that connection too and it was easy to spend time together outside of the pool as well, which really helped, I think, us with that. Just meeting new people and kind of getting to hang out together the whole time. 

Andi Fouberg 
How did you choose South Dakota State? So we kind of got the picture for Alex, but John, how did you choose SDSU?

John Bisson 
Yeah, so that's a great question. When I started out, I was pre pharmacy is kind of the path that I wanted to take with that. I had some friends that are a little bit older and, kind of family friends that had gone here and really enjoyed the school for, you know, all the different degrees that they went, pursued for that. Because I was doing pharmacy at that time, that was kind of a clear choice for me that they had a great program here, and I thought I'd start with that. As I went through my career at SDSU, I kind of changed, majors a couple different times, just kind of trying to find the exact right fit that I wanted to. The pre-professional club, and they did a great job to show me the way with them.

Travis Jensen
You know we’ve established that you were able to spend a lot of time together. Whether that was at practice or at meets, in the classroom, and then you started to form more than just a bond at some point. At what point did you each start to think this could be more than just a college relationship? Was there a moment where it clicked for you?

Alex Bisson 
I'm going to have you start.

John Bisson 
You know, I think, as we spent more and more time together, I just found that it was really easy to spend time with Alex, and we just really enjoy each other's company. Whether it was watching a movie or going to a swim meet or just working on homework, it was just always easy. I really, felt like we just connected on a deeper level right away.

Alex Bisson 
I would agree with that. For me, we had agreed to go see a movie together over Christmas break that first year. It would have been my sophomore year and John's freshman year. We were sticking around for some reason. I think we both had like late finals that year, so we were both still here. Then we agreed to go see a movie and okay, it's silly, but it was kind of the first time that we had like held hands. That for me that was the moment. So if you're asking me if there was like a moment where it all clicked, it was that, I mean, honestly, I don't even remember what movie it was, but clearly I remember that that was like the first time that we held hands. It was like, okay, there's something here, and this is so special, and I just felt so lucky.

Andi Fouberg 
Brookings is a special place for so many SDSU alumni, but for you, it's not just where you studied, it's where you've chosen to build your life. What makes this community the right fit for your family and work, and what made you want to come back?

Alex Bisson 
When we graduated from SDSU, John got into dental school at Creighton University in Omaha. I had graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism and I started looking for a job there. Ultimately, we ended up five years in Omaha. John's dental school took four years, and then he worked there for one year. We had started our family and decided after our son Jackson was born, I did try to go back to work. A 2 a.m. wake-up call with a new baby is really hard. Working on the morning show at KETV is where I was working at the time and I said, I think we just need a switch. We were kind of far from our families and so we decided to come back to South Dakota. At the time, we had a connection to someone in Mitchell, a dentist in Mitchell that we knew was looking for an associate dentist. At that point, I don't want to speak for you, John, but I don't think we were ready to own our own practice, kind of dive into that just yet, so we worked. John worked in Mitchell for about a year and a half, almost two years, for this dentist in Mitchell. It was a good experience, great opportunity to learn how a business operates, because we knew at the end of the day that that's the path that we wanted is to own our own business and have our own dental practice. Then once we knew that we were ready to start looking for that opportunity, we were made aware of an opportunity here in Brookings, as well as others throughout the state, that there might be a doctor that's ready to either partner or sell his practice to a dentist or another doctor. There was no competition. The other opportunities, when we knew Brookings was on that list, we said, yep, we don't even need to explore these other opportunities. Why? Brookings is just such a great place. It's big enough to have those opportunities that you want to have, especially for a growing family. There's so many things going on at campus, from arts to athletics to all of these different events that are put on by different organizations and clubs. It's just great for us to be able to take our kids and show them all these different things. Take them to a football game or take them to a show at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center. It's just really cool to have that. And then the people here. That’s what we loved, or at least I can say that's what I loved when I went to school at SDSU. You still have that hometown feel, which is what I felt like I lost when I went to the University of Minnesota. I came from a graduating class of 24 kids, so for me to go to the University of Minnesota, while it's an incredible university, I just felt lost. It was a culture shock for me. When I came back to Brookings, it was home. It felt like home, and it still does to this day.

John Bisson 
Yeah, I would add to that. Just remembering that there was one summer that we stayed here while were on campus, and like Alex said, how we just really, really loved and enjoyed all the events and opportunities that we had during the school year. I think it was really fun to see Brookings for kind of more than just as SDSU at that time. In the summer we kind of got to see it without all the, you know, busyness of the school year and all the extra students that were there and kind of got to go to the campus for some summer classes while it was a little quieter and just kind of dive in a bit more. We just both really enjoyed all the other things that we don't always get to see during that school year at that time too, which was really cool and made it feel like home for us.

Alex Bisson 
I remember when we had the opportunity to come back, I texted Justin Sell, the athletic director, who was one of his first years I think was when we were I don't remember exactly what year.

John Bisson
Juniors or seniors. Yeah.

Alex Bisson
Yeah. One of his first years here on campus was like our later years as swimmers. So we got to know Justin well. And when we had the opportunity to come back, I texted him and I said, hey, what do you think? There's this practice for sale in Brookings. Like, is it a good opportunity? And he's like, why are you even asking? You know the answer. Like of course it's a good opportunity to come back to Brookings. I think that was just like the final that clinched the choice for us to come back. 

Travis Jensen 
It doesn't surprise me that Justin was such an ambassador. Right.

Alex Bisson 
Exactly. Yep.

Travis Jensen 
You're now married, raising a family and running a business. That's a lot of shared responsibility. What inspired you to go into business together? I mean, I have to imagine that would be difficult for many couples, and you chose that path.

John Bisson 
You know, I think we decided to go that route and kind of have a shared business adventure with just the fact that we had spent so much time together in the past and we knew that we worked really well together, whether it was just working on homework or, you know, swim meets and kind of having shared goals and knowing we could work hard for those goals. I think that was a big part of it. Alex is really good at kind of making things happen, whether it's all the behind the scenes stuff with the business and everything. She does a really good job with that and is really the glue that holds a lot of that together that I just don't always have time to manage some of those things. I just know that it's in good hands when she's working on that and doing all those things.

Alex Bisson
I like to call myself just the support system for him. I think he steers the ship so well that I don't really need to be there a whole heck of a lot. He's just incredible at what he does. He's a phenomenal dentist. He really good chair-side manner. And I just kind of fill in the gaps. So I offer the support wherever he needs it. I have filled in on maternity leaves. I deep clean our office every week. I work on payroll. So just those few things here and there that I can help where I feel like I'm going to be an asset to our business. And just kind of support John in that venture. It really, at the end of the day, is cool to see not only the two of us, but, you know, there are other teams in Brookings that work together, husband and wife crews specifically in the dental field, and I love to see that. I'd love to see that partnership between husband and wife. I think it's really a special opportunity for us to be able to do that together. Yeah.

Andi Fouberg
We always like to reflect on the college experience, and you've done a little of that. But do you have a couple favorite memories of your time on campus together?

Alex Bisson
I do. I have one that really sticks out for me because it was early on in our relationship. So when I was a sophomore, I decided to try out for, and this was John's freshman year. Mind you, he had just been on campus a month or two. I decided to audition for an audition, but I decided to try out for, Miss SDSU, and I think we were kind of talking at that point. We weren't officially dating, but just spending time together. I remember getting on stage and like looking out into the audience, and he's there. Like, John came to miss SDSU. I didn't ask him to come. I told him I think at some point that I was going to be doing that, but I remember looking out and seeing him there, just getting butterflies, more butterflies in my stomach than I already had. And then I went on to compete at Miss South Dakota, and I won, and I got to go to Miss America, which all of those things, the culmination of it was just this incredible experience. And he was always there. He was the rock alongside of me on the good days and on the really hard days because yeah Miss South Dakota is great but there are some challenges in there too. And going to Miss America and just having my family and John there to support me, that was one of the biggest highlights of my career here at SDSU. I did have to take that year off. I decided to take a gap year. And so I took time off of my classes and off of, I deferred scholarships for a year on the swim team. And just that alone was a little bit tricky and a little bit challenging. So to have the support of John in all of that, looking back, I think that also really strengthened our relationship because I don't know that a lot of 19, 20, 21-year-olds in a relationship would have some of those unique challenges that we had when I was going through those years of pageantry.

John Bisson
Yeah, I just think so many of my favorite memories from SDSU just revolve around the people and the classes and the swim team that we went to, you know, all the meets and traveling and just a lot of really great time we spent together with Alex as well. And it's just so much fun, especially being there and cheering her on for some of her gap year and pageantry and everything was really fun to see. And it was just so amazing to see her kind of take on a bigger role with that and really grow during that year. And just seeing how she managed all of the challenges that she, you know, was presented with that. And it was really fun to see what you could do when you put your mind to it.

Alex Bisson
If I had not taken that gap year, I always sit back and think I would have graduated a year prior and I would have, you know, you just always what ifs. It's always those what ifs. And so I think just having that year off where we could graduate together and have that experience and that celebration of our earning our degrees here at SDSU was just, that's another day that just kind of is burned in my memory forever in a good way.

Travis Jensen
Gosh, it's almost as if it was meant to be.

Alex Bisson
I like to think so.

Travis Jensen
There are a lot of students at SDSU right now building friendships and relationships and who knows, maybe even futures together. What advice would you give to those couples who might be walking the same path you once did?

Alex Bisson
That's a great question. I think what I would tell those students is just to really be mindful of all of the opportunities that you have. John and I were so lucky in the fact that we were both kind of able to do exactly what we wanted to do. I felt so lucky and blessed that after our time at SDSU, I could go with you to Omaha and to Creighton University for your dental school. I know couples can make it work if they have to go separate ways for post-graduate schooling or even during their time at SDSU if a transfer would be needed or would happen. But I would just say, I think at the end of the day, I love how our story turned out. I wouldn't change it for the world. So it's just one of those things where you have to just balance the beauty of your relationships that you have, while also being so mindful of the goals that you have as well. I can say now that I run marathons, and I along during that year of Miss South Dakota, somebody told me, if you can get through this year with him as your boyfriend or person, you can get through anything because it really is that challenging of a year. And I always think back on that and think, yeah, actually that's true because we've been through ups and downs since SDSU, we have hard days and we have easy days. But at the end of the day, I'm just so glad that I get to share it with him, because I know that no matter what, he's always going to be there for me and support me. And I run. I train for marathons now, and he watches our kids for three hours when I'm out in a training run. He's the first person to say where are we going next? What's our next race? He wants to travel the world with me if I'm, you know, keep running these marathons. So that's really cool. And I think if you have that person and you find that person here at SDSU or wherever it is, don't let that go.

John Bisson
Know, I would just think that, you know, for students that are walking their path right now through SDSU, one of my biggest pieces of advice that I give a lot of students that come shadow or just young friends and things like that is just, you know, have patience and, you know, faith that you know things are going to work out. At this age, I feel like a lot of times students feel like everything has to happen perfectly and right away and the first time and a year feels like eternity and things like that. And just knowing that following your heart and making sure that it is exactly what you want to do and where you want to be. And, I think that SDSU is a great place to kind of figure those things out.

Alex Bisson
I always say, think if you're on the right path on your own, everything else is going to fall into place. So just make sure that you are doing what you want to do, and everything else will come.

Travis Jensen
Alex, John, it has been such a joy to hear your story from your first days on campus to raising a family and running a thriving practice in the Brookings community. Thank you both for joining us today. We really appreciate it. 

Alex Bisson
This was so fun. Thanks for having us. 

John Bisson
Yeah, thank you so much for having us.

Andi Fouberg
Thanks for joining us for another episode of STATE Stories. Like what you heard? Hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Your support helps us continue sharing these inspiring stories from our legendary SDSU alumni. You can find all episodes at statealum.com/podcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

Andi Fouberg
Hey there, Jackrabbits! Welcome to another episode of STATE Stories podcast, stories from legendary SDSU alumni. This podcast is dedicated to celebrating our exceptional SDSU community and its esteemed alumni, bringing you inspiring stories, laughter, and lots of Jackrabbit pride.

Travis Jensen
Today's episode has a little extra heart because it's all about a couple whose story began right here at South Dakota State University. We're joined by Dr. John Bisson and Alex Bisson, proud SDSU alumni, small business owners, and yes, STATE Sweethearts. The two met as students, fell in love on campus, and now run Bisson Dental in Brookings, South Dakota, where they've been serving the community since 2018. John and Alex, welcome to the show.

Alex Bisson
Thanks so much for having us. We're excited to be here.

John Bisson
It's going to be great. Thanks.

Andi Fouberg
Let's start at the beginning. How did the two of you meet at SDSU? And do you remember your first impressions of one another? 

Alex Bisson
I do. I don't know if John can say the same. Um so how it all kind of played out is, after being together for many years, we realized that we had actually crossed paths well before we started our journey here at SDSU. But officially, my sister was at the State Swim meet in the summer of 2007. And I remember she called home and she said, Alex, you'll never believe I just met this guy John, and he's going to SDSU and he's going to be on the swim team, and he's really cute. And I was like, oh, all right, well, tell me more. So my sister kind of met him and I think she told you, John, about me and that we would be swimming together. And so, of course, I looked him up on social media as any normal person would. And I remember my first impression of him is he walked into the natatorium, into the swimming arena in boardshorts. So, as you know, most collegiate swimmers wear, like, very tight fitting jammers or like a Speedo when they compete and or train, and he walks in wearing his boardshorts. I look over at Coach Brad Erickson and, at the time, head coach of the SDSU swim & dive team, and I go, hey, coach, who is that? But like in my head, I played it off cool. Like, I had no idea who he was, but I fully well knew that was John Bisson from Sturgis walking in.

John Bisson
Yeah, that was a fun day. I was not prepared for those first couple college practices. It was it was a little rough, but, yes.

Alex Bisson 
You did great.

John Bisson
No, and I just remember meeting you at, kind of the first couple swim practices and, getting introduced and, Yeah, it was just really excellent.

Andi Fouberg 
Do you still have those boardshorts?

John Bisson 
I don’t think so.

Alex Bisson 
I sure hope so. That's a memory right there, John. Your first swim meet or first swim practice wearing boardshorts. I will never forget that. 

Andi Fouberg 
A little extra drag. You wanted to show people just how fast he was. He put a little extra drag.

Alex Bisson
Exactly. 

John Bisson
Yeah, yeah.

Travis Jensen 
Do you remember the conversation you had with who is now your sister in law? Do you remember that?

John Bisson
Oh, yeah, I remember that. I do. I was, kind of sitting at the, it was actually the STATE meet here in Brookings is where we had it at an outdoor pool. I was just checking some times to see how I'd done, and Liz walked up and kind of introduced herself. We talked for a little bit, and she mentioned that her sister was going to be going to SDSU to swim. That's where I was going at that time, too, and kind of helped make that connection and everything. 

Travis Jensen 
Now, did you do the social media sleuthing as…

Alex Bisson 
Be honest, be honest.

John Bisson
You know, I didn't have to wait too long. Alex reached out to me and said, hi on social media. So it was pretty easy to put the, connect the dots at that point. 

Travis Jensen 
So you technically made the first move? 

Alex Bisson 
You darn right I did. 

Andi Fouberg 
Way to play it cool, Alex. 

Alex Bisson 
You know what I was like. I think, I don't know, there might be something here. So I knew right away from the beginning I was like, I think I need to get to know this guy. And it paid off, as we should say. Almost. How many years since then are we in now? 18? 

John Bisson 
Yep.

Alex Bisson 
Since that day. Summer of ‘07. In the summer of 2025. Am I doing my math right there? A lot of years. 

Travis Jensen 
Now, do you feel like you need to defend yourself with the whole board short fiasco?

John Bisson 
You know, I didn't come from as strong of a swimming background as far as high school and everything. I kind of…

Andi Fouberg 
That’s the program in Eureka. 

John Bisson 
Haha. Yeah, the Metropolis of Eureka. You know, we kind of had a smaller team, and I just didn't have all that setting for the larger team. When I showed up, that was kind of what I had always done for that. And, yeah, I learned very quickly that I wasn't about to keep up with all the other fast collegiate swimmers wearing that. So I had to change paths really quickly.

Travis Jensen 
Finding ways to cut time, right. 

John Bisson 
Exactly. Yeah, exactly.

Travis Jensen 
Now there's something really special about meeting your person during college, especially at a place like SDSU. What role did the campus community play in your relationship early in that connection?

Alex Bisson 
I think for me, it was just the fact that we spent so much time together being on the same team and a lot of our practices aligned because in fact, we were both we were in the same lane training quite a bit because we were both like in the sprint group. There's different groups for training¬ - sprint mid distance and distance for swimming, at least at the time. That's kind of how the practices were coordinated. So, you know, the men and women's team train together. We were in the same lane. We were doing team meetings together. We were doing we were traveling to meet together. I think the beautiful thing about both of us being on the same team is that we just spent a lot of time together. At the end of the day, I think the best part about that is I didn't really have to reschedule my life to make it work for us to be together. You know, we really didn't have to figure out when I was going to see him. Like if I had been in a different sport or maybe not on the team at all, I think it would have been different. I like to think at the end of the day that we still would have found each other if I had not been on the team or John had not been on the team. I think back a lot about that because I didn't start my career at SDSU, so I started my career at the University of Minnesota. I swam for the Gophers for one semester, and I realized pretty quickly it was just not the right fit for me personally. I knew I wanted to come home. I wanted to come back to South Dakota, and there was no doubt in my mind it was going to be South Dakota State University and nowhere else. I had known Brad Erickson for quite some time, and so I called Brad and I said, Brad, I'm ready to come back. I gave this a go. I just knew it's not my time. This is not like the fit for me. He welcomed me back with open arms. It was a great transition. I think at the end of the day, the best part about all of that is I got to meet John and I wonder, there's so many times when I wonder if I hadn't made that switch, if I hadn't come back, or perhaps had gone to a different South Dakota State University or a university in South Dakota, had we met. I'm just really thankful for how that all played out in the path that I took.

John Bisson 
Yeah. And I feel like the just the layout and the size of the campus, we had a lot of mutual friends and mutual professors and kind of ran into, you know, cross paths as we went to class and got lunch and everything like that. There was a lot of that connection too and it was easy to spend time together outside of the pool as well, which really helped, I think, us with that. Just meeting new people and kind of getting to hang out together the whole time. 

Andi Fouberg 
How did you choose South Dakota State? So we kind of got the picture for Alex, but John, how did you choose SDSU?

John Bisson 
Yeah, so that's a great question. When I started out, I was pre pharmacy is kind of the path that I wanted to take with that. I had some friends that are a little bit older and, kind of family friends that had gone here and really enjoyed the school for, you know, all the different degrees that they went, pursued for that. Because I was doing pharmacy at that time, that was kind of a clear choice for me that they had a great program here, and I thought I'd start with that. As I went through my career at SDSU, I kind of changed, majors a couple different times, just kind of trying to find the exact right fit that I wanted to. The pre-professional club, and they did a great job to show me the way with them.

Travis Jensen
You know we’ve established that you were able to spend a lot of time together. Whether that was at practice or at meets, in the classroom, and then you started to form more than just a bond at some point. At what point did you each start to think this could be more than just a college relationship? Was there a moment where it clicked for you?

Alex Bisson 
I'm going to have you start.

John Bisson 
You know, I think, as we spent more and more time together, I just found that it was really easy to spend time with Alex, and we just really enjoy each other's company. Whether it was watching a movie or going to a swim meet or just working on homework, it was just always easy. I really, felt like we just connected on a deeper level right away.

Alex Bisson 
I would agree with that. For me, we had agreed to go see a movie together over Christmas break that first year. It would have been my sophomore year and John's freshman year. We were sticking around for some reason. I think we both had like late finals that year, so we were both still here. Then we agreed to go see a movie and okay, it's silly, but it was kind of the first time that we had like held hands. That for me that was the moment. So if you're asking me if there was like a moment where it all clicked, it was that, I mean, honestly, I don't even remember what movie it was, but clearly I remember that that was like the first time that we held hands. It was like, okay, there's something here, and this is so special, and I just felt so lucky.

Andi Fouberg 
Brookings is a special place for so many SDSU alumni, but for you, it's not just where you studied, it's where you've chosen to build your life. What makes this community the right fit for your family and work, and what made you want to come back?

Alex Bisson 
When we graduated from SDSU, John got into dental school at Creighton University in Omaha. I had graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism and I started looking for a job there. Ultimately, we ended up five years in Omaha. John's dental school took four years, and then he worked there for one year. We had started our family and decided after our son Jackson was born, I did try to go back to work. A 2 a.m. wake-up call with a new baby is really hard. Working on the morning show at KETV is where I was working at the time and I said, I think we just need a switch. We were kind of far from our families and so we decided to come back to South Dakota. At the time, we had a connection to someone in Mitchell, a dentist in Mitchell that we knew was looking for an associate dentist. At that point, I don't want to speak for you, John, but I don't think we were ready to own our own practice, kind of dive into that just yet, so we worked. John worked in Mitchell for about a year and a half, almost two years, for this dentist in Mitchell. It was a good experience, great opportunity to learn how a business operates, because we knew at the end of the day that that's the path that we wanted is to own our own business and have our own dental practice. Then once we knew that we were ready to start looking for that opportunity, we were made aware of an opportunity here in Brookings, as well as others throughout the state, that there might be a doctor that's ready to either partner or sell his practice to a dentist or another doctor. There was no competition. The other opportunities, when we knew Brookings was on that list, we said, yep, we don't even need to explore these other opportunities. Why? Brookings is just such a great place. It's big enough to have those opportunities that you want to have, especially for a growing family. There's so many things going on at campus, from arts to athletics to all of these different events that are put on by different organizations and clubs. It's just great for us to be able to take our kids and show them all these different things. Take them to a football game or take them to a show at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center. It's just really cool to have that. And then the people here. That’s what we loved, or at least I can say that's what I loved when I went to school at SDSU. You still have that hometown feel, which is what I felt like I lost when I went to the University of Minnesota. I came from a graduating class of 24 kids, so for me to go to the University of Minnesota, while it's an incredible university, I just felt lost. It was a culture shock for me. When I came back to Brookings, it was home. It felt like home, and it still does to this day.

John Bisson 
Yeah, I would add to that. Just remembering that there was one summer that we stayed here while were on campus, and like Alex said, how we just really, really loved and enjoyed all the events and opportunities that we had during the school year. I think it was really fun to see Brookings for kind of more than just as SDSU at that time. In the summer we kind of got to see it without all the, you know, busyness of the school year and all the extra students that were there and kind of got to go to the campus for some summer classes while it was a little quieter and just kind of dive in a bit more. We just both really enjoyed all the other things that we don't always get to see during that school year at that time too, which was really cool and made it feel like home for us.

Alex Bisson 
I remember when we had the opportunity to come back, I texted Justin Sell, the athletic director, who was one of his first years I think was when we were I don't remember exactly what year.

John Bisson
Juniors or seniors. Yeah.

Alex Bisson
Yeah. One of his first years here on campus was like our later years as swimmers. So we got to know Justin well. And when we had the opportunity to come back, I texted him and I said, hey, what do you think? There's this practice for sale in Brookings. Like, is it a good opportunity? And he's like, why are you even asking? You know the answer. Like of course it's a good opportunity to come back to Brookings. I think that was just like the final that clinched the choice for us to come back. 

Travis Jensen 
It doesn't surprise me that Justin was such an ambassador. Right.

Alex Bisson 
Exactly. Yep.

Travis Jensen 
You're now married, raising a family and running a business. That's a lot of shared responsibility. What inspired you to go into business together? I mean, I have to imagine that would be difficult for many couples, and you chose that path.

John Bisson 
You know, I think we decided to go that route and kind of have a shared business adventure with just the fact that we had spent so much time together in the past and we knew that we worked really well together, whether it was just working on homework or, you know, swim meets and kind of having shared goals and knowing we could work hard for those goals. I think that was a big part of it. Alex is really good at kind of making things happen, whether it's all the behind the scenes stuff with the business and everything. She does a really good job with that and is really the glue that holds a lot of that together that I just don't always have time to manage some of those things. I just know that it's in good hands when she's working on that and doing all those things.

Alex Bisson
I like to call myself just the support system for him. I think he steers the ship so well that I don't really need to be there a whole heck of a lot. He's just incredible at what he does. He's a phenomenal dentist. He really good chair-side manner. And I just kind of fill in the gaps. So I offer the support wherever he needs it. I have filled in on maternity leaves. I deep clean our office every week. I work on payroll. So just those few things here and there that I can help where I feel like I'm going to be an asset to our business. And just kind of support John in that venture. It really, at the end of the day, is cool to see not only the two of us, but, you know, there are other teams in Brookings that work together, husband and wife crews specifically in the dental field, and I love to see that. I'd love to see that partnership between husband and wife. I think it's really a special opportunity for us to be able to do that together. Yeah.

Andi Fouberg
We always like to reflect on the college experience, and you've done a little of that. But do you have a couple favorite memories of your time on campus together?

Alex Bisson
I do. I have one that really sticks out for me because it was early on in our relationship. So when I was a sophomore, I decided to try out for, and this was John's freshman year. Mind you, he had just been on campus a month or two. I decided to audition for an audition, but I decided to try out for, Miss SDSU, and I think we were kind of talking at that point. We weren't officially dating, but just spending time together. I remember getting on stage and like looking out into the audience, and he's there. Like, John came to miss SDSU. I didn't ask him to come. I told him I think at some point that I was going to be doing that, but I remember looking out and seeing him there, just getting butterflies, more butterflies in my stomach than I already had. And then I went on to compete at Miss South Dakota, and I won, and I got to go to Miss America, which all of those things, the culmination of it was just this incredible experience. And he was always there. He was the rock alongside of me on the good days and on the really hard days because yeah Miss South Dakota is great but there are some challenges in there too. And going to Miss America and just having my family and John there to support me, that was one of the biggest highlights of my career here at SDSU. I did have to take that year off. I decided to take a gap year. And so I took time off of my classes and off of, I deferred scholarships for a year on the swim team. And just that alone was a little bit tricky and a little bit challenging. So to have the support of John in all of that, looking back, I think that also really strengthened our relationship because I don't know that a lot of 19, 20, 21-year-olds in a relationship would have some of those unique challenges that we had when I was going through those years of pageantry.

John Bisson
Yeah, I just think so many of my favorite memories from SDSU just revolve around the people and the classes and the swim team that we went to, you know, all the meets and traveling and just a lot of really great time we spent together with Alex as well. And it's just so much fun, especially being there and cheering her on for some of her gap year and pageantry and everything was really fun to see. And it was just so amazing to see her kind of take on a bigger role with that and really grow during that year. And just seeing how she managed all of the challenges that she, you know, was presented with that. And it was really fun to see what you could do when you put your mind to it.

Alex Bisson
If I had not taken that gap year, I always sit back and think I would have graduated a year prior and I would have, you know, you just always what ifs. It's always those what ifs. And so I think just having that year off where we could graduate together and have that experience and that celebration of our earning our degrees here at SDSU was just, that's another day that just kind of is burned in my memory forever in a good way.

Travis Jensen
Gosh, it's almost as if it was meant to be.

Alex Bisson
I like to think so.

Travis Jensen
There are a lot of students at SDSU right now building friendships and relationships and who knows, maybe even futures together. What advice would you give to those couples who might be walking the same path you once did?

Alex Bisson
That's a great question. I think what I would tell those students is just to really be mindful of all of the opportunities that you have. John and I were so lucky in the fact that we were both kind of able to do exactly what we wanted to do. I felt so lucky and blessed that after our time at SDSU, I could go with you to Omaha and to Creighton University for your dental school. I know couples can make it work if they have to go separate ways for post-graduate schooling or even during their time at SDSU if a transfer would be needed or would happen. But I would just say, I think at the end of the day, I love how our story turned out. I wouldn't change it for the world. So it's just one of those things where you have to just balance the beauty of your relationships that you have, while also being so mindful of the goals that you have as well. I can say now that I run marathons, and I along during that year of Miss South Dakota, somebody told me, if you can get through this year with him as your boyfriend or person, you can get through anything because it really is that challenging of a year. And I always think back on that and think, yeah, actually that's true because we've been through ups and downs since SDSU, we have hard days and we have easy days. But at the end of the day, I'm just so glad that I get to share it with him, because I know that no matter what, he's always going to be there for me and support me. And I run. I train for marathons now, and he watches our kids for three hours when I'm out in a training run. He's the first person to say where are we going next? What's our next race? He wants to travel the world with me if I'm, you know, keep running these marathons. So that's really cool. And I think if you have that person and you find that person here at SDSU or wherever it is, don't let that go.

John Bisson
Know, I would just think that, you know, for students that are walking their path right now through SDSU, one of my biggest pieces of advice that I give a lot of students that come shadow or just young friends and things like that is just, you know, have patience and, you know, faith that you know things are going to work out. At this age, I feel like a lot of times students feel like everything has to happen perfectly and right away and the first time and a year feels like eternity and things like that. And just knowing that following your heart and making sure that it is exactly what you want to do and where you want to be. And, I think that SDSU is a great place to kind of figure those things out.

Alex Bisson
I always say, think if you're on the right path on your own, everything else is going to fall into place. So just make sure that you are doing what you want to do, and everything else will come.

Travis Jensen
Alex, John, it has been such a joy to hear your story from your first days on campus to raising a family and running a thriving practice in the Brookings community. Thank you both for joining us today. We really appreciate it. 

Alex Bisson
This was so fun. Thanks for having us. 

John Bisson
Yeah, thank you so much for having us.

Andi Fouberg
Thanks for joining us for another episode of STATE Stories. Like what you heard? Hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Your support helps us continue sharing these inspiring stories from our legendary SDSU alumni. You can find all episodes at statealum.com/podcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

Andi Fouberg
Hey there, Jackrabbits! Welcome to another episode of STATE Stories podcast, stories from legendary SDSU alumni. This podcast is dedicated to celebrating our exceptional SDSU community and its esteemed alumni, bringing you inspiring stories, laughter, and lots of Jackrabbit pride.

Travis Jensen
Today's episode is a real treat. We're joined by Rana DeBoer, a proud SDSU alumna, culture strategist, entrepreneur and public speaker who has dedicated her career to helping organizations and leaders thrive. Rana, welcome to the show.

Rana DeBoer
Oh my gosh, thank you so much. What an awesome opportunity this is.

Andi Fouberg
So excited to have you. Your journey has touched the worlds of business, government, wellness, leadership development. But before we dive into that, can you take us back to where it all began? Tell us about your time at South Dakota State University. What did you study? How did your experience as a student kind of shape you to this line of work?

Rana DeBoer
Absolutely. I would love to. So, grew up in Okoboji, Iowa, and honestly, I was like, South Dakota, what is what is South Dakota? I don't even know. And was lucky enough to get recruited to run track at SDSU. And so, in 1990, ventured to Brookings and got introduced to what I would say is the spirit of South Dakota. Just loved it. I completely fell in love with it. The school was just a beautiful campus, right. And obviously, my degree was nutrition science, health promotion, exercise science. You know, all the things that had to do with human and organizational performance, really focused on the human performance side. I spent so much time in the hyper building and so many great memories. And I'll never forget walking into Frost Arena for the first time. It was like this, WOW, super cool experience. And being a part of the athletic program was, just a tremendous way to be able to transition from being several hours from home, being an only child and then walking into it basically a family right away with, again, like I said, this beautiful spirit of South Dakota. And oh, those basketball games, you guys, they were electric. The men's basketball games were some of my favorite memories. All of the 400 runners, 800 runners, you know, you create this little synergy with one another, and you do things together. You do life together, you do school together, you do fun together. And, oh my gosh, we had just a great time at the basketball game. That’s some of my greatest memories.

Andi Fouberg
I’m trying to imagine how many times you probably ran around the indoor track at Frost Arena as a track athlete.

Rana DeBoer
Yeah, countless times. And then to be a sprinter and be like, I can't do this indoor track anymore. So jealous of the facility now it's not even fair. But, to get all dressed up and go outside and run with them. The distance runners were sometimes better than the sharp curves up there, but oh my gosh, still tremendous time. 

Travis Jensen
Yeah. You found your community.

Rana DeBoer
I absolutely found my community. And I think that's, you know, just one of the most important pieces that you get out of college, is this pride of the blue and the gold. There's just so much pride there. It's that sense of belonging, that sense of collegiality and the connection that you have with people that you don't even know. But you can say, yeah, I'm a Jackrabbit too, and you've got this instant friend.

Travis Jensen
You've worked in the public and private sectors. You've coached leaders. You've built cultures from the ground up. Can you pinpoint a moment, maybe even during your time at SDSU that sparked your passion for leadership in that human centered work?

Rana DeBoer
100%. You know, after undergrad, I ended up in Sioux Falls and did coaching at Canton outside of the school district, while I also was a personal trainer and a fitness instructor. And at one point, sort of, you hit this, wow, I'm not going to make the money I'd really like to in this career. So hiked myself back to SDSU graduate school. And I'll tell you what, I have many, many great memories and so many great experiences on undergrad. But that graduate school program with Dr. Vukovich in the Ex Phys lab was unstoppable. Number one, he's brilliant. He's still a mentor. And somebody that I call on today to help me think through things. But, being able to be a graduate assistant with the track and cross-country team, teaches you a lot about leadership. Because the jump from high school coaching to college coaching is, you know, that's a big bridge, a big gap to jump over. So many great leadership lessons there. And then again, that time in the Ex Phys lab. But for him teaching me the value of research to be principled in your work. Not that I didn't have that, but I didn't have the richness of it. Right. So, it taught me that principle of research. But the innovation that you get out of research too. Just to really come and appreciate that and then put that into my work today. Every group I work with, I don't know if I should say this or not. This is so funny. Is like a little research project. I mean, honestly, just like with coaching, there's so many different personalities, different strengths, different orientations and tilts, what motivates one person doesn’t the other. And so, that grad school experience was incredible. To be able to do that and to really extend, you know, I always share this story, that I got into corporate because I was dead broke after graduate school. Honestly, I just needed a job and ended up at Avera in the corporate health where we were out doing wellness program, injury prevention, rehab and care and thought I was completely selling out and understood that actually, all of those athletic, experiences and all of that great graduate school rich work, really was a dire need in the workplace. Leaders didn't know how to coach. Employees don't know how to team, where you get to argue, where you get gritty, right. You can get mad at each other, but you love each other too. And you lift each other up and you push each other farther than you know you've ever before. And coaches again looking at each person like, wow, look at the talent I have here and this whole team of talent. How do I synergistically put them together? So I would say those experiences at SDSU helped me bridge that or bring that into the corporate world in a really beautiful way.

Andi Fouberg
Let's expand on that a little bit, because you've helped teams across many sectors to create healthier, more intentional workplaces. In your experience, what defines a truly strong culture?

Rana DeBoer
Oh, there's so many answers to that. But first and foremost, I think it's, every employee knows what it means to win the game. There is a, there's a purpose behind that. What really defines culture is the way people think, act and interact. And that is all brought into, the purpose, the intent, the values, the meaning behind the work because it is all about human connection. And the work is easy. The people are hard. Right? But if we can all align towards a common purpose and the value and the meaning behind that work, that creates a foundation of guidance, if you will, to how people think, act and interact in the workplace. And there's a lot of pride, there's a lot of, alignment in what does it mean to win the game. So everyone's thinking towards that same strategic objective and, nobody wins alone, right? You just can't win alone. And you realize when you get into that mix, in that richness of the work, that it's so much more meaningful when you can do it with other people and you're achieving something together, there's nothing better than that. Even the most raging introvert still wants to be included and part of a team towards something really meaningful and purposeful.

Travis Jensen
So with that in mind, looking through the lens of culture, how would you describe the culture of SDSU?

Rana DeBoer
I would definitely say it's fun and lighthearted. I think I've always appreciated that. Never take yourself too seriously. Like there's a zest for life in people at SDSU. I also would describe it as curious. And maybe that's just because that's where I really learned what it meant to be curious. But there's a genuine honor, respect and curiosity, you know? Who are you? What do you do? Let's learn. Let's grow together. I would say the other piece is giving, giving back, contributing to the communities in which we live, work, grow and play. That's instilled in you somehow, somewhere through the SDSU way, if you will.

Travis Jensen
So, let's pivot a little bit to the topic of leadership. You had mentioned the impact that Dr. Vukovich had on you. Academically. Professionally, who were some of the key influences in both your academic and professional career that helped shaped your view of leadership?

Rana DeBoer
Sure. You know, I'll never forget being, that freshman at SDSU and there was a gal, she was an incredible 800 runner, and her name was Kim Fordham from Aberdeen. And she probably taught me that first real college lesson of leadership where she took me under her wing, to show me the way to sort of be your buddy or your mentor, if you will, like welcome to the world of, athletics in school and keeping it all pulled together. So she was definitely someone who was, empowering. She pushed me, supported me, and she let me cry. But then told me to put on your track spikes and let's go girl, like, you know for sure. I'll also say that, there was a gal at Avera. She was my first, real corporate boss. She was head of nursing Judy Blauwet. I'll never forget the day that she called me into her office and kind of gave me that feedback of I your spirit to win Rana. I love how you get things done. You do it with other people for the most part. Then there was this really awkward pause. And you know what's coming right? And so you can only say this in health care. Well, to some extent, she's like, but you're leaving dead bodies behind you. It's gallows humor, right? Of course you say those things a little bit and have some fun with it. And her point was, no one wins alone. Like, thanks for your competitive fierceness. But that was my first real lesson in what it meant to, bring other people along, invite them to the table, the value of co-creation, of setting strategy, but then inviting everybody in to have a say, a piece, a word, a part of bringing it to life. That was an absolutely monumental, definitely moment. Great leadership.

Andi Fouberg
Those lessons can be challenging to hear, right? But if you internalize that, I mean, how great is that kind of, you took that and what it did for you long term and how you build teams now.

Rana DeBoer
Absolutely. It's absolutely critical. And you think about kids today coming out of school. Kids today, I can say that because I'm, you know, a parent and such. But kids entering into their first kind of professional sort of degree, their first professional role, I just can't emphasize enough that word curiosity. Be curious, be humble, be hungry. You don't have all the answers. You don't know everything, but you can absolutely influence and help everybody at the table learn and grow with this incredible spirit and knowledge and zip and zest that new employees bring into the workplace, right? New grads, they just have so much energy.

Andi Fouberg
Speaking of energy, let's talk about momentum. You don't stay still for very long. Whether it's launching your own company, working for the city of Sioux Falls or coaching executive, what keeps you moving forward? And how does your connection to SDSU continue to play a role in that momentum?

Rana DeBoer
So I'm going to go back to the word purpose, which is a little bit overused. But you know what? I'm glad it is. And that experience at SDSU secured for me that my purpose, my role, my strengths, my gifts, were absolutely to serve others. And in that sense of service is the human potential piece. It's a passion point for me. I just love it. I can't stop enough and to bring that kind of infectious positivity to other people and teams, to say every single person has potential on your team. It is your job as a leader to look at it, see what it is, maximize it, and then grow it and use it. And that, that's my calling, right? No matter what venue that I bring that into. So that is just, also insatiable. Desire to learn and keep growing myself, being healthy, being well, that's all a piece, that's all part of it, that fuels that ability to just keep going, keep believing, keep helping people.

Travis Jensen
You get to have some really, dynamic conversations with leaders and various different organizations, and you even mention having conversations with young professionals that are just coming into their careers. So with that in mind, if you could offer a piece of advice to SDSU students or young alumni who are stepping into their careers, what would that be?

Rana DeBoer
I would encourage every grad to have a transition team. So it's one of the most powerful sort of strategies or approaches that I use in my work with organizations. But everybody needs a transition team. So every time that you're rolling into a new position, a new role, a new title, a new adventure, you need a colleague around the table that is your trusted advisor, right? Somebody you can lean into for professional advice. You need somebody at the table that will speak truth into you that's, an ever loving, human being who loves you no matter what and will tell you when you're on track or off track. And you need to hear that/. You've got to have somebody who helps you with creative thinking, that person who's really an ideator or who will help you be creative and get unstuck when you feel like you're stuck somewhere. And, I think from there, people can fill in the blank with, who else do you need around the table? But everybody needs a transition team at some point in their life. Multiple of them

Andi Fouberg
I love that.

Travis Jensen
Yeah. Me too, there were times where I needed a transition team and I was not intentional about that.

Rana DeBoer
Yeah, be intentional about that. It'll help you be successful. For sure.

Andi Fouberg
Before we transition to kind of close this out, anything we didn't ask you? Anything you'd like to share with Jackrabbit Nation? If you will? 

Rana DeBoer
I think, I think something kind of fun would be okay to share. Is that okay? This might get a little crazy, and we can edit this out if you really think you need to.

Travis Jensen
Oh, I'm intrigued now. 

Andi Fouberg
Yeah, I just decided we don't edit this episode. 

Rana DeBoer
There's no editing on this one. So, bun huggers were a real, real transition for me. Speaking about transitions. So essentially you go from high school athletics wearing some gym shorts, tank top.

Travis Jensen
Oh, yeah. Yeah. 

Rana DeBoer
And then you get acclimated to basically wearing a swimsuit to be able to compete in. So that was a lot of fun. 

Travis Jensen
I can imagine there's some challenges with that.

Rana DeBoer
I'm not sure that's really what Jack Rabbit Nation wanted to hear,
but oh my gosh. 

Andi Fouberg
But every track alum can probably relate to what you just said. 

Rana DeBoer
Yeah. Get the right kind of underwear, the right kind of sports bra. You know, the whole thing. Oh my gosh, so so fun. 

Andi Fouberg
So now I'm really having the whole run. Lots of laps around, Frost Arena because the track was open to everyone, not just. And so the, the, the slowly which is how I would
mark my time. Right. And then serious and so yeah. So you're probably like, well we're half dressed and the other people on this track who are just here to use it, are wearing parkas practically is probably how it felt in comparison.

Rana DeBoer
I guess it's just another lesson in like, don't take your life to seriously. Right, like, keep it real, have fun and do good things. SDSU gave me that gave me that strength, that resilience, that humor. When you needed a push, when you need it. And absolutely, like I said earlier, the smarts just made me wicked smart and hungry to keep learning

Travis Jensen
And a community.

Rana DeBoer
And a community without question.

Andi Fouberg
What a great way to close out. Rana, thank you so much for joining us. It's been a pleasure hearing your memories and, perspectives. And we're proud to share this with, our listeners. So thank you so much for joining us. 

Travis Jensen
Yes. Thank you. 

Rana DeBoer
Thank you for the opportunity.

Andi Fouberg
Thanks for joining us for another episode of STATE Stories. Like what you heard? Hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Your support helps us continue sharing these inspiring stories form our legendary SDSU alumni. You can find all episodes at statealum.com/podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

Andi Fouberg
Hello and welcome back to the STATE Stories podcast, where we spotlight the journeys, passions, and impact of South Dakota State University alumni. I'm Andi.

Travis Jensen
And I'm Travis, and we are so excited to kick off Season Two of STATE Stories. Whether you've been with us since the beginning or you're tuning in for the first time, welcome to the Jackrabbit family.

Andi Fouberg
Before we jump into what's coming this season, let's take a quick moment to look back. Season One was a true celebration of what it means to be an SDSU alum. And honestly, we were blown away by the stories that were shared.

Travis Jensen
We heard from alumni who were leading in health care, launching businesses, mentoring students, shaping culture, and giving back in incredible ways. There were moments that were heartfelt, inspiring, and even pretty funny because no matter how far people go, those SDSU roots run deep.

Andi Fouberg
Season One featured a nurse and mentee duo sharing how the SDSU Alumni Mentor program helped launch a career, a couple alumni creating and capturing special moments on campus, an ag legend sharing some of his fondest moments at State, and a leader who credits SDSU with giving her the courage to challenge the status quo in her industry.

Travis Jensen
What we learned is this. Jackrabbits are everywhere. And the impact they're making locally, nationally and globally is something we're really proud to highlight.

Andi Fouberg
Okay, Travis. Without giving too much away, what can listeners expect from season two?

Travis Jensen
We have episodes coming that dig into topics like leadership, purpose, reinvention, and even love. From SDSU classrooms to corner offices, campaign trails to dental chairs, the guests this season all have one thing in common. They started their story right here at State.

Andi Fouberg
You'll hear from alumni who are creating opportunities for underserved youth, transforming company culture, building businesses as couples, and the lasting bonds that come from being a Jackrabbit.

Travis Jensen 
That's right. In fact, we'll hear a common theme throughout our Season Two episodes. This idea of finding your community while at State. Our guests talk about finding lifelong relationships and a place where they feel like they belong.

Andi Fouberg
In fact, here's a couple of clips of what you will hear this season on STATE stories.

Travis Jensen 
Now there's something really special about meeting your person during college, especially at a place like SDSU. What role did the campus community play in your relationship early in that connection?

Podcast Guest Preview #1
I think for me it was just the fact that we spent so much time together being on the same team, and a lot of our practices aligned because in fact, we were both we were in the same lane training quite a bit because we were both like in the sprint group. There's different groups for training, a sprint, mid distance, and distance for swimming, at least at the time. That's kind of how the practices were coordinated. 
And so, you know, the men and women's team train together. We were in the same lane. We were doing team meetings together. We were doing we were traveling to meet together. And so I think the beautiful thing about both of us being on the same team is that we just spent a lot of time together, and at the end of the day, I think the best part about that is I didn't really have to reschedule my life to make it work for us to be together. You know, we really didn't have to figure out when I was going to see him. Like if I had been in a different sport or maybe not on the team at all, I think it would have been different. I like to think at the end of the day that we still would have found each other

Podcast Guest Preview #2
Yeah. And I feel like the just the layout and the size of the campus, we had a lot of mutual friends and mutual professors and kind of ran into, you know, cross paths as we went to class and got lunch and everything like that. So there was a lot of that connection to and it was easy to spend time together outside of the pool as well, which really helped, I think, us with that just meeting new people and kind of getting to hang out together the whole time.

Andi Fouberg
You've helped teams across many sectors to create healthier, more intentional workplaces. In your experience, what defines a truly strong culture?

Podcast Guest Preview #3
Oh, there's so many answers to that. But first and foremost, I think it's, every employee knows what it means to win the game. There is a, there's a purpose behind that. What really defines culture is the way people think, act, and interact. And that is all brought into the purpose, the intent, the values, the meaning behind the work because it is all about human connection.

Travis Jensen
It is incredibly fun to watch those eighth graders come on campus and to see the excitement in their eyes and the energy that they bring to the campus community. There's already great positive energy. But then you get a group of eighth graders who have never, or very few of them have experienced that type of environment. And it's just incredibly energizing to witness that.

Podcast Guest Preview #4
Yeah, it's pretty amazing to watch these kids open their eyes to what's possible for their future. And that's the whole point of the trip. And, you know, everybody at SDSU has been just incredibly welcoming and affirming. And, you know, we all want affirmation. We all want to, you know, we want that support from others. But SDSU does it in a pretty special way.

Travis Jensen
So, Andi, was that your experience at State as well?

Andi Fouberg
Did I find my community?

Travis Jensen
Did you find your community here at SDSU?

Andi Fouberg
I think it would be hard not to find your community at SDSU. I certainly as an RA was somewhat responsible for a rambunctious community while I was at State. So it's interesting to run into those folks now, as you know, adult adults, as I sometimes say, rather than as student adults. They have students who have come to SDSU. And so it's kind of a full circle moment with some of them. And it's still weird to have them think that I'm still their RA. They still make jokes about it at this stage. Certainly, the Pride of the Dakotas is a community. Certainly still in touch with some of those folks. I was in Alpha Xi Delta. And so that has been a great community of folks who sisters that I'm still in touch with, but then I went to work for the Alpha Xi Delta after college and continue to volunteer, and so the roots that were planted at the chapter here have continued to flourish in ways and relationships around the country. So…

Travis Jensen
I have to imagine you have a lot of stories from being an RA that you probably can't share on the podcast. 

Andi Fouberg
Well, I was an RA in Hansen Hall, so. Oh yes, yes, yes, absolutely. 

Travis Jensen
And all the former RA’s or perhaps even current RA’s are probably shaking their head right now as they listen like, oh yeah, we have stories.

Andi Fouberg
Yeah. I think they're CA’s now, their Community Assistants. Right. That's right. Community is right now built into the name. Yes, yes. Travis, what about you?

Travis Jensen
Well, as I think about it, much as you had stated, how can you not write like, how can you not find your community if you're attending SDSU? And as I thought about this question, instantly of course, the first thing that comes to mind for me is the close group of friends that I have been able to acquire over time now, but most certainly as a student here at SDSU.

Andi Fouberg
That’s the first thing that comes to mind?

Travis Jensen
No, Andi. Thank you.

Andi Fouberg
You said that was the first thing that came to mind, and I think you're in trouble.

Travis Jensen
Yeah, I think what Andi is referencing is the fact that I met my now wife here at SDSU. And I'm hoping that maybe she's not listening or not paying attention at this moment, but yes, that's correct. So, I include her as a friend as well, right?

Andi Fouberg
Isn’t that thoughtful? Nice.

Travis Jensen 
I really painted myself in the class. Yeah. More than anything, though, I think that when I think about community here at SDSU and my time here, I think about the environment and how that made me feel as a student here. And I am very open and sharing that I wasn't the best student when I started attending. And there were certainly moments where I easily could have fallen out, but I was surrounded by too many people that were invested in me, developing and growing not only as a professional, but as just a good human being. And so there was no way for me to fail because I had too many people that were invested in. So I just created an experience for me that I always knew that I was going to come back here at some point. And so, just like you, we both…

Andi Fouberg
Found it.

Travis Jensen 
We both found it. We found our way back. And here we are now hosting a podcast for our alumni association.

Andi Fouberg
Listener. Singular.

Travis Jensen
Perhaps my wife, who is not too thrilled right now, but we'll work through that.

Andi Fouberg
I think when you talk about that support system, though, and that is the special part of South Dakota State University and the experience here, and the thread that you hear from people is what it looked like, what it felt like to find their community, and then how much it existed. Then and in many cases continues to exist. And how fortunate we all are to have that start here, how really fortunate some of us are to have found our way back, and get to hopefully help either spread that message or encourage that along the way today. 

Travis Jensen
And we certainly hear that in Season One. Right? Many of our guests reference their wonderful experiences here at State and the reason why they continue to invest their time, talent, and treasure. And that theme, as you pointed out, continues to play out with our guests in Season Two. And, you know, for our listeners who are unaware of why we do this podcast, we recognize and we have the fortunate position that we get to interact with alumni all the time who share their excitement and love of being a jackrabbit and being a part of this community. But we recognize that there are so many out there that don't get to hear those stories. So here we are. Yeah, sharing those stories with others.

Andi Fouberg
Yeah, we don’t want to be selfish with them. We get to hear them all the time. And so we don't want to be selfish. We want to share those with people.

Travis Jensen
That’s right. Because there's not a lot of people get to have just regular interactions with Jim Woster or John Stigelmeier or Kim Tyler. So this is our opportunity to be able to share those wonderful stories with others.

Andi Fouberg
And excited about the people you're going to get to meet in Season Two.

Travis Jensen
Very much so, yes. But as you mentioned, SDSU is very much a special place, and we hope that this season gives listeners a fresh appreciation for the power of the SDSU experience.

Andi Fouberg
That's right. Thanks to our listeners for joining us on the first episode of Season Two. A reminder that new episodes will drop every other week. If you haven't already, hit that follow or subscribe button on your favorite podcast platform so you don't miss a single story.

Travis Jensen
And while you're at it, share this podcast with a fellow alum or a current student. Because the more we celebrate these stories, the more connected we all become. 

Travis Jensen & Andi Fouberg 
Thanks for listening.