Inside the Turning Winds Team - The People Behind 25 Years of Change

What does it feel like to work somewhere where relationships matter just as much among the staff as they do with the students?

In this episode of the Turning Winds Podcast, host Kevin Zundl brings together members of the Turning Winds team for an inside look at the culture that shapes every student’s experience. Featuring Tracy Bell, Director of Client Relations, Eric Loesch, Director of Admissions, Program Director Enoch Stump, Outreach Director Danny Baccum, and educator Kathy Miller, this conversation explores the shared mission that brings their work to life.

Rather than focusing on policies or procedures, the team shares the moments that convinced them Turning Winds was different. From a welcoming campus built on genuine connection to leadership that values people before performance, they describe a workplace where collaboration, trust, and service are more than values. They are lived every day.

You’ll also hear powerful stories of students learning to read for the first time, alumni returning years later to thank the staff who believed in them, and why individualized care depends on a team that supports one another as deeply as they support the teens they serve.

If you’ve ever wondered what truly makes a treatment program different, this episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the people whose relationships create lasting change.

To learn more about Turning Winds, visit https://www.turningwinds.com or call 800-845-1380.

Recommended Podcasts

⁠Creating a Culture of Service: How Team Unity Transforms Teen Mental Health Treatment · Why the health of the team directly impacts the healing of every student.

⁠The Relationship Model of Care at Turning Winds · Jared Sartell explains why authentic relationships remain the foundation of lasting therapeutic change.

⁠What It Means to Truly Meet a Teen Where They Are · How creativity, flexibility, and genuine connection help students achieve breakthrough moments.

Recommended Reading

⁠The Turning Winds Difference · Discover the philosophy, people, and approach that set Turning Winds apart.

⁠Working with Children in a Therapeutic Environment · How collaboration, consistency, and authentic relationships create lasting growth.

⁠A Healing Philosophy · The values that shape every interaction between students, families, and staff.

Keywords

Turning Winds culture, relationship based treatment, therapeutic boarding school, teen mental health, adolescent residential treatment, collaborative care, treatment team, staff culture, individualized treatment, family support, clinical excellence, relationship driven care, therapeutic environment, student success, teen transformation

For more teen parenting tips and treatment information |  turningwinds.com | 800-845-1380.

Transcript

This is what it sounds like when you don't just go to work, but when your work makes a real difference in the world. Because we're saving lives in a real way, and maybe that's saving their actual life or maybe that's saving their potential. But either way, we get an opportunity to do that. Welcome to the Turning Winds podcast. My name is Kevin Zundl.

Turning Winds has a full continuum of care for teens who could benefit from real help clinically and academically. Today, I get to speak with a slew of folks who are the Turning Winds team and hear what it's like to be there and do the work they do I've had a chance to be on campus and see firsthand the environment that creates such important and profound change. 

Traci is director of client relations. I'm curious, what was it like for you when you first came here? I went up to Turning Winds. Didn't know what to expect. I know what I had in my head, um, but it's not what I expected. I walked up and I was with Eric, and he just opens the front door. I'm the first... I'm looking at him like, "Wait, we don't have to be buzzed in? We don't... Like, this isn't locked down? Like, what is this?" And as soon as he swung the door open, you just could feel this camaraderie. You could feel the c- you could hear the kids. You could hear this laughter and all this movement, and all these staff just moving around and coming down to see who's there and welcoming, and it was just like a ginormous hug. And I would say that that's what Turning Winds, I feel Turning Winds is. Everybody supports everybody. I feel so supported in my role. If I need something, they're there for me. I'm there for them. I feel like everybody that's there is there because they wanna be and they love the mission of these kids, and you can feel it. 

Eric is admissions director and helps families navigate their individual situations. What for you makes this place so special? When I meet with our executive team from our CEO to COO, these calls, we talk about important things, right? We work hard. We hold each other accountable. We have high expectations. There's high expectations held of me. Work needs to be done. It's as simple as that. But the first thing that I'm asked whenever I get on these calls is not an immediate, "Hey, tell us about the numbers here," or, "Let's get into this immediate project here." Those calls always start with, "Hey, how's the week been?" Or, "How's the family?" Or depending upon when in the week, e- an early call in the week might be, "Hey, how's, how was the weekend? Anything happen with the kids?" If there's a special event. Just the other week, last week in fact, last Thursday, CE- CEO was asking me, "How was your daughter's birthday?" I didn't tell him, but she had just turned two. Just turned two the day before, and he knew that, and he's asking me about that, and that, that speaks volumes, right? You feel that. So it truly is genuine. And it's easy. It's easy to show up for an organization to, when they're operating in that fashion. And frankly, it's inspiring, and it makes me wanna come to work. Easy to get out of bed, easy to show up And, and the performance, I, I'd like to think echoes that, that the team sees from me. Because again, it's just, it doesn't take much to motivate you when you're feeling that, that day in and day out. So I'm truly grateful to be part of that. I feel that day in and day out. I've been part of the organization for the last few years remote, and never once, even working remote, have I felt distant from that team, from that family element. Through different calls, through opportunities where I travel out each year, throughout the year, always have felt that. And again, that extends beyond even executive team to administrative and otherwise. They know my family, they know my wife, they know my children, and vice versa. I'm doing the same in asking that, and that's something I hadn't experienced to that extent with any employer prior. I'm just grateful for that. 

Enoch is a regular on the podcast and program director here. If you haven't had a chance to check out some of the insights he's provided, go back and look for the one titled When Teens Become Leaders Through Real Growth. Enoch, what was the moment for you that let you know you'd found your calling? It's interesting, Kevin. The, it was probably my first month. I don't know. It was probably my first month, so 19 years ago. And, and I was sitting in a goodbye group for a kid that had been here for 12 months, and he was going home. And, and I had just known this kid for a week or two. Uh, a- and I will always remember that kid and how that goodbye group was, and how he communicated with the adults and, and his peers in that group, and the kind of relationships that he built and established. Uh, I think that's what hooked me. Like, who are the people that are important in their life, uh, that make a difference? And at Turning Winds, you have that opportunity. 

Danny gets to work with the professional community as outreach director in coordinating care for teens. How do you see that collaborative effort? Yeah, so I, I mean, for me it, it's Turning Winds is collaboration. Collaboration between teachers and staff, and staff and clinicians. We're collaborating with families on a daily basis. There is not a one-size-shoe-fits-all. We don't cookie cutter anything. Everything is very, very individualized. The word collaboration just, um, that speaks to who we are at Turning Winds. 

I've had the chance to speak with Cathy several times, and she's a teacher at the program. Cathy, what was the moment for you that really stands out as something that was meaningful to you? I have to think about this one young person who came in who had never attended school at all, so had no ability to read whatsoever. And as a group, we were able to identify material and pull it in to start him in the process of learning. And then when he left Turning Winds, he'd actually advanced through reading at in the middle school capacity. So considering the fact he was here less than a year, we felt very proud of that, and that was an area that we worked as a team. We have students come back quite regularly, and then we had one come back recently that he was in college and he was doing an internship. He shared with me that when he was asked in college which teacher had the greatest effect on his life, he mentioned me. When a child comes back and said, "You had the greatest influence of any school experience I had," that was a very nice thing to have said. 

Any staff that have worked here that have invested in these kids understand that they take away far more than they will ever give at Turning Winds. And it's motivating because of the other side. Because we're saving lives in a real way, and maybe that's saving their actual life or maybe that's saving their potential, but either way, we get an opportunity to do that. 

Thanks everyone. I hope this gives you a peek into the people and the culture that is at the very heart of the Turning Winds program, and check out the opportunities to be a part of it as well. If you or a family, I think your teen might benefit from treatment in a healthy relationship-based environment. I encourage you to reach out to them at 800-845-1380 or take advantage of the resources that they have available to you at turningwinds.com