The Future of the LARA Living Room

Director Marlon Brown reflects on the future of LARA communications, the power of storytelling, “One LARA” culture, and the 2026 initiatives driving innovation and engagement.

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Anastasha Osborn 0:21

Welcome back to the LARA Living Room. I'm your host, Anastasha Osborn, and today's episode really honestly kind of makes me want to cry a little bit. It's such a special one. You know, we're looking ahead at the future of this very podcast and how all of our storytelling and transparency and connection is going to really continue to move the momentum and shape what we like to call the "One LARA" culture. So, again, I'm joined by our director, Marlon Brown, and we're gonna have a really good conversation to talk about what's next for really LARA's communication and how we can keep highlighting innovation across the department and again continuing the conversation about what the new year in 2026 will bring. So grab your coffee, go ahead and settle in and get comfortable because you are now in the LARA living room. All right, well, hello. I'm excited to have our director Marlon Brown back with me today. I know I made a joke on our last episode that I would think about bringing him back. He said he was gonna fire me if I didn't. Oh no. I'm joking. He's like, don't say that.

Marlon Brown 1:23

Um service roll over the place for a reason.

Anastasha Osborn 1:28

Lori, our HR director, just walks in. Um well, thank you again for being here. I appreciate it. This is exciting because it's our last episode for this round. The season, yeah. Yeah, the season. I didn't know if we should call it a season or or a series. I don't know what it is, but just for this year's wrap-up.

Marlon Brown 1:47

Yes. And we can call it season one.

Anastasha Osborn 1:49

Yeah.

Marlon Brown 1:49

Conclusion of season one.

Anastasha Osborn 1:51

I like it.

Marlon Brown 1:51

There may be a cliffhanger at the end.

Anastasha Osborn 1:53

You never know. You have to keep listening to find out. So I kind of want to chat with you just a little bit about what's next for the LARA Living Room podcast specifically, and how we can really just keep growing this podcast, keep connecting with both our internal staff and our stakeholders, and then continuing to share our stories about our team Lara. So, you know, when we started the LARA Living Room podcast, um I think we really had this idea about having open conversations across the department. And now, as we're kind of doing a look back, what moments stand out to you the most about our podcast?

Marlon Brown 2:32

Well, I'd say the first moment that stands out to me is uh when you, Anastasha, proposed the idea of doing a podcast. And so uh our listeners may not realize that we're we're coming up on the end of the first season. We launched this back in May, but actually the idea of the podcast goes back to the fall of 2024. And so I just wanted to one congratulate you and our communications team on a successful first year. And it's great to see an idea come to fruition and see it through its completion. Um, you know, another thing that stands out for me is that I got to be the bookends of the podcast, starting it out at the beginning and and and ending off the first season. Uh, never thought that my work as director would uh include being behind a microphone in a studio recording a podcast. So that's been really great.

Anastasha Osborn 3:24

I have to interject really quickly because this is really funny. Um not only is this so fun, this gets to be part of your job, but I have to just mention that Marlon is the most humble person ever. One, he lets me call him Marlon. I don't have to call him Director Brown. He probably would prefer that I did, but um, but also when we pitched, or when I pitched the idea about this, about us doing this podcast, you know, I had all these really fun creative names. And one of them was Mic'ed Up with Marlon, Marlon Moments, Moments with Marlon. We had all these fun names, and you know, sweet Marlon, he's just like, actually, I don't really want it to be about me. I'd really prefer if it's just something that's more, you know, about LARA, about our department, about the work that we do and the people who support our department mission. So I'm gonna give you kudos and shout out because um I think it's it's wonderful to have a leader that has that humble mentality. So thank you for that.

Marlon Brown 4:15

Well, thank you for that. And and really, you just made my third point for me about what stands out. I've loved hearing voices of our team members, whether it's those that were winners of our employee recognition awards, those who are leading bureaus and involved with special initiatives. And so it's it has been really great to hear voices from within Team LARA talking about the work that we do and and why it matters. And so whether you know seasoned professionals or even folks that are new to the department, um, they've had an opportunity to get behind the mic and really talk about why our work is so important to the people of Michigan and enhancing the quality of life for every Michigander.

Anastasha Osborn 4:57

Yeah. I know we had um Fire Marshal Tom Hughes on a couple episodes back, and that was one of the things he highlighted as well. When he joined Team LARA, it was really beneficial for him to listen to the first couple episodes of the podcast and get kind of a well-rounded idea and view of what the department does as a whole instead of just what BFS does or what MI Prevention does. So that was really nice.

Marlon Brown 5:20

Yeah, that was one of the anecdotes I was thinking about um sort of encapsulating this season, and that is that that Tom had shared like, hey, this is a great way to learn about what LARA does. I'll give you another anecdote, though. Um, I was at a conference earlier this year and ran into an individual I had never met uh from the state of Maine. Shout out to Penny Valencourt, um, but she said, Hey, one of my board members just shared your podcast with me. And now I get to tell my board member that I met the person behind the podcast. And so you know, someone all the way in Maine working in their uh Office of Professional Regulation was able to tune in to our podcast and learn a little bit more about what what LARA is doing. So we're reaching audiences beyond the state of Michigan, uh beyond even the U.S. in some instances, because I've got folks uh that that are in other countries that happen to tune in.

Anastasha Osborn 6:18

Yep, yeah. We check those um analytics and we watch them regularly. We want to know who's listening. Unfortunately, the data we only get is just state or country. We're not able to really dive deeper into kind of more of the demographics, but it is still really interesting to kind of see who's tuning in. And yeah, I'm glad that it's reaching a lot of other people. So that's exciting. So let's talk about how this podcast, um, we have this thing that we say here um across our department, which is one LARA. We have this one LARA culture, and so I want to talk a little bit about that and how this podcast has really helped move that forward.

Marlon Brown 6:55

Yeah, I know that that's really great. Um LARA is very diverse. So if you've been listening to the entire season, you hear that we do a lot of different things. Um, but we have it all under the umbrella of one uh overall agency, which is licensing and regulatory affairs. And you know, last time I looked at the org chart, we have about 20 different bureaus, agencies, commissions, or offices, including the director's office, that do a lot of different things in support of the people of Michigan. And so it's easy to get fixated on your area or your corner within LARA. And what I like to do is take a step back and think about how are we one coherent organization? Because the public thinks about not just the bureau that they interact with, but they're thinking about, you know, the state, the entire department. They see the department name on their license or the letterhead or whatever. And so um, I'm a musician outside of my uh role in government. I love to play in in ensembles, I actually play uh with a jazz ensemble uh here in Lansing. And one of the things that I keep in my office is a conductor's baton, and that's really a reminder to me of how I want to lead. And so the idea of one LARA kind of comes from the analogy of an orchestra, and that is when you when you go to see the orchestra, you've got musicians playing a lot of different instruments, and they're really good at what they do. Uh, it's the job of the conductor to get them to play together as an orchestra. And the and the great thing about that is that even though the conductor leads, nobody goes to the orchestra to see the conductor. They're going to hear the orchestra. Um, you know, and so the idea is that we are a diverse organization. We come together with different um parts, different areas of expertise, different things that we're doing. Um, but we are one LARA. We have one mission that's to protect people and promote business. I'll give you another another insight there. Um there's a movie that I enjoyed uh going back to the early 2000s called Drumline. And they had a line there called One Band, One Sound. Yeah. You know, when we all play together, people hear that sound. If one of us looks bad or sounds bad, we all sound bad. And so that really is just kind of like the team philosophy here that um we're all in this together, all serving the people of Michigan. One mission. We may do that in different ways, but at the end of the day, um we're all here together. And I may get to be the person that stands out in front, but ideally it's the orchestra that's producing the music and making the beautiful sound that people want to hear. And so then when we when we look at this podcast, right, this is an opportunity to tell the story of LARA, to highlight those differences, but still to stretch that unifying thread of how we are making a difference in the lives of people here in Michigan and really help the public understand what regulation is. It's kind of like this black box at times. And so I hope that the podcast has done a good job of demystifying regulation, understanding why we have so many different rules and laws and procedures in place, um, and then helping the public to navigate those different um those different areas of regulation.

Anastasha Osborn 10:10

Yeah. And I also just want to add to that for me, even just hosting, I have learned so much about our department. And I feel like too, actually. I put people come on, I'm like, wow, I did not know we did that. And so it's also a learning thing, I think, for us too, to have these people on. And it's interesting because sometimes some questions will come up that I didn't anticipate that I would have going into that recording. And so I'm hoping that, you know, again, it's informational not only just for the public, but also for a lot of our staff who are listening and maybe even work within that specific bureau or agency. And then from there, they're like, wow, I didn't know my my bureau even did that. So again, just trying to get, I guess, get a better picture of what we do and how we all work together.

Marlon Brown 10:56

I remember I think it was on our first or second episode, and I mentioned one of the things that surprised people that we do, uh, that surprises people that we do here. And I think I brought up the uh Stateline Remonumentation Act uh and the Office of Land Survey and Remonumentation, and you're like, what is that?

Anastasha Osborn 11:15

We will fact check that later. But yes, that is true. I was like, I've never heard of that. So it's just it's so interesting. One of my biggest things, too, I feel like I've learned honestly, is anything that has to do with policy or rulemaking. And so when we had our OPLA team on, we had Paige on, and and she talked a lot about that, and I feel like it was really good for me to kind of get a better insight on kind of what they do and how that all works behind the scenes. So that was incredibly helpful for me. So hopefully that was also incredibly helpful for everyone else, too, who may think it's hard to understand.

Marlon Brown 11:49

Definitely, yeah, no, unraveling um some of the the complexities of dealing with policy and and laws and all of that. And so we're we're telling all these stories, right? I think in communications we talk a lot about how are we telling the LARA story. And one of the things that came up in a recent leadership team meeting was that we are real people helping real people. And that kind of stuck with me. And I look at the work of this podcast, the work of you and your team, Anastasia, and it's like, yeah, we're highlighting that, you know, we're not just bureaucrats or technocrats, we're real people that care about public service, that care about helping the people of Michigan. And then on the other side of the coin are those real people that we are helping, whether it's someone that's trying to start a business, someone that's trying to get good health care from a competent healthcare professional. And so it's real people on both sides of the question or both sides of the coin. And the through line is that, you know, we really are here to help people in the way that we do that is by protecting people and promoting business.

Anastasha Osborn 12:53

Yeah, and that actually just made me think of something too is you know, with this podcast, outside of transparency and storytelling and communicating what LARA does, I also feel like the next step for us really is telling the story of LARA and like you mentioned, kind of that we are real people and and how that looks and how that conveys to then the people that we that we service and that we want to make sure that they know there isn't just a chat bot on the other side, there's actually also people. There might also be a chat bot, but there also are real people behind the scenes too who are also processing your license, who are reviewing your applications. Um and you know, we want to do things efficiently and the best way that we can. And while there may seem like there's a lot of roadblocks, I also feel like they're in place for a reason too.

Marlon Brown 13:43

Oh, always. Yeah, I like to say guardrails.

Anastasha Osborn 13:46

Yeah, there you go. Okay. Yeah, I'm gonna write that down.

Marlon Brown 13:48

We're trying to make sure you don't swerve off the road. Don't say roadblocks. But but to your point, Anastasha, you know, one of the things that we hear is that when um folks call LARA and they get somebody in one of our call centers or they get somebody that you know deals with phones on a daily basis, they'll be surprised if they got to talk to a real person, a real live person. Uh and you know, hopefully we're doing a lot better than some of our private sector competitors and keeping people on the phone forever. Um, but we try to really make sure that you know there is that enhanced customer experience. And one of the ways we do that is just making sure that, you know, we do have real people hearing your concerns, addressing your concerns and trying to resolve problems to the best we can.

Anastasha Osborn 14:33

I agree. Well, our last episode, we did talk a lot about kind of regulatory predictions for 2026, but I want to kind of take a little bit more of a light-hearted spin, I guess, on that, and kind of talk about some upcoming initiatives for 2026 that are going to continue to highlight kind of our collaboration and then the continuous improvement as it pertains to, I guess, the podcast and in our department as well.

Marlon Brown 14:57

Sure. Yeah, no, we we spent a lot of time talking about the red tape report, uh, not only in the last episode, but there was an entire episode about it. Uh it's been something that's been top of mind this year and carrying through some of those policy recommendations, whether it's trying to get bills passed in the legislature or continuing to get rules modified, uh that work will carry on into 26. And uh for us, that is part of our strategic goal of reducing barriers to licensure. And so we say it a lot here, we we mean it. We want to make sure that the regulatory um process is one that is effective from a public safety, health, and welfare standpoint, and at the same time, it's one that does not become a hindrance to folks that are are trying to start a business or trying to get licensed to do work in the state of Michigan. Another thing is uh uh we use the word around here a lot, regulatory effectiveness. We have an office of regulatory effectiveness or Rio as we call it. And um that's been one that's been near and dear to my heart because it focuses on three key aspects of our work. One is education, how we are educating before we regulate, meaning how we are educating our own professionals, making sure that they are doing their jobs within the bounds of the law, but also educating our licensees and stakeholders. And one of the ways we do that is through this podcast. Um, so education is a key part of regulatory effectiveness. Uh, organizational performance is another part of regulatory effectiveness, and so that means um how are we using data to make decisions and drive policy? How are we using tools like lean process and process improvement to streamline the work that we do or streamline the experience for our licensees and stakeholders? And then the third area of REO is investing in our workforce. How are we making sure that we have the best people in place to do these jobs that we are tasked to do under the Constitution and under state law, making sure that we've got, you know, subject matter experts in place so that when we are going into health facilities, we have people that have nursing uh backgrounds or medical backgrounds, or when we go uh to do an elevator inspection, that's done by somebody who's had X number of years in the elevator industry. And so making sure we're investing in that workforce and and making sure that those employees are engaged because I firmly believe that when you have an engaged workforce, that ultimately makes the customer experience that much better.

Anastasha Osborn 17:39

Yeah. And I've been on a few interview panels since I've worked for LARA, and one of my favorite things is when somebody is interviewing and you know, we get through all of our questions, and then they will say to us, you know, what are some ways that um what are some benefits to being a LARA employee outside of health, dental, vision, what other benefits do I get as an employee? And I just love that question because it it tells me that they're thinking about the culture of LARA and they're thinking about what are some ways, you know, that you are trying to retain your employees and outside of how awesome our culture is. I think that we we have a great culture here. I think we're we're pretty light-hearted, as I mentioned, I think in the last episode, I or maybe it was this one, they're all blurring together, honestly, that even with Marlon, I mean I just refer to him as Marlon. I don't have to refer to him as Director Brown or Dr. Brown. Um, but no, I think that there's also um a culture that we have established here with our leadership. And then I think that there's also a lot of um professional um opportunities that people can take advantage of as they work here at LARA. We're always looking at ways that we can um help people get to where they want to be in their career, and whether that's you coming in from you know a private sector or if that's you've been here for a while and you want to move up, I think there's so many opportunities. And I and I think that's one of the goals that REO has too with retaining.

Marlon Brown 18:58

Definitely. I mean, you think about any business that you frequent, any service that you go get, you can tell when someone um enjoys what they do, finds value in what they do versus someone that uh you know maybe is burned out or or maybe feels like they aren't valued or respected by the organization. And that really then turns into the level of service that they give to the customer or to the citizen or or what have you. And so you know, it's it's internal, right? We're focusing on on our team, but that's one of the things as a leader I try to balance so that you know we're making sure that we're focusing on what we're providing to the citizens of Michigan and at the same time making sure that we take care of our people so that they can provide the best service possible.

Anastasha Osborn 19:46

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I think we'll start wrapping up because again, we're on a time frame, but I do want to kind of touch on just a little bit um ways that we can continue to really spotlight innovation. Leadership, of course, as you mentioned, regulatory excellence. Why can't I speak today? I've been talking a lot. Regulatory excellence across the department. And kind of, you know, I guess your vision for what the LARA Living Room is going to look like going forward. Or anything else, any other final thoughts you want to share?

Marlon Brown 20:19

Yeah, no, um, one is that I hope we do have a season two of the LARA Living Room. Uh maybe that's the cliffhanger, right? That we were talking about. Will there be a season two? Um, but but through this and through some of the other um initiatives that we have within the department, we are really trying to highlight uh the impact that LARA has on the lives of Michiganders. And so, you know, we've been telling that story, but one of the things I I think about is even our Bureau of Fire Services and the MI Prevention Program. You know, tangible impact that uh I was able to talk about in front of legislators um a year or two ago was we give out smoke detectors to individuals that that would request them. Maybe you have a home that doesn't have a working smoke detector, or maybe you aren't able to install one on your own, or maybe you don't have the means to go out and buy a smoke detector for your home. Um the legislature in partnership with this administration has made that a priority to utilize state resources to provide smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors to those who need them. And where I say, you know, we are making a real impact is that when I went into a budget presentation, I was able to talk about a real-world example of a family that had a home fire, um, but MI Prevention had literally installed smoke detectors in that home a few weeks before the fire. Wow. And so, you know, we talk about, yes, we like to say that we're enhancing lives and enhancing the quality of life, making a difference. But our work really does do that. And so we've got to continue telling that story. You know, real people helping real people, we've got to continue telling that story because it does make a difference. And then also I would just say that we talk about being national leaders within the regular regulatory community. And uh I think one of the great things about this podcast and some of the other things that we are doing on social media and in the comms area is telling that story, whether it's being involved with national organizations like CLEAR or FARP or being involved with MOLS, these are all acronyms. Midwest Occupational Licensing Summit and the Council for Licensure Enforcement and Regulation, but um really talking about what Michigan is doing and at the same time learning from what other uh states and jurisdictions are doing. Uh and then the last thing I think you mentioned was innovation. How can we continue to be innovative? Some of that is certainly learning from within, learning from outside of our organization. But I'm really proud of how we have recognized uh the innovations within our department, whether it's through employee recognition awards or even our Bright Ideas Initiative, where people can submit ideas, and we actually have a whole dashboard that tracks where ideas are, if it's something we can do, where we are in implementing that idea, and if it's something that we cannot do, why we why we can't do it. And so, you know, those little things may sound uh like they're not big, but they really do spark innovation and create that culture where, you know, it may be a small innovation and it may be a huge innovation, but we've created an environment where we are continually striving for better. You mentioned word of the year growth was our word of the year in 2025 and in 2024 it was excellence. And when you create that environment where people can share ideas and help to make those ideas become a reality, you are pursuing growth, you are pursuing excellence, and you are becoming a better organization because of it.

Anastasha Osborn 24:00

Yeah. Well, I really appreciate you being here again, Marlon, and again, kind of going over a lot of I think information that is going to be helpful as we kind of are preparing for 2026 and wrapping up 2025. I do want to say for all of our listeners very quickly that we don't know, there might be a season two, there might not. But if there just so happens to be a season two, if you as the listener have topics that you would like to hear us talk about, or if there's somebody you would like us to highlight from our department, I would love it if you could share those with us, any ideas that you might have, and you can email them directly to me at LARA-MEDIA@michigan.gov. I will collect those and then we'll take those into consideration if we decide to do a season two. Um, because again, as as our listeners, we want to know what you want to know and how we can incorporate that into the podcast or into any of our communications um across the department and moving forward. So, with that, this is our last episode of the year.

Marlon Brown 25:06

Yes.

Anastasha Osborn 25:07

It's so exciting. It has been a great year, um, and I'm excited to see what's gonna happen in 2026. Yeah.

Marlon Brown 25:13

So looking forward to the new year, everyone, and hope it's been a good year for you.

Anastasha Osborn 25:18

Yes. Thanks, everyone.

Marlon Brown 25:19

Thank you.

Anastasha Osborn 25:20

The LARA Living Room has always been about connection. That's creating space for conversation, collaboration, and celebrating the great work that is happening across our department. And I am just so excited and proud just of what we've accomplished in this year so far with season one of the podcast and what the future is gonna look like for this podcast as well. And as I kind of hinted at towards the end of the episode, if there is going to be a season two, so you'll just have to stick around, you have to keep an eye out and see when and if new episodes are gonna be dropping in 2026. So, again, a huge thank you to our director, Marlon Brown, for joining me today and to everyone who's been a part of this podcast journey so far. Here's two more stories, more teamwork, and more one LARA moments in 2026. We'll close out the new year from our living room to yours. We'll see you next time.