Health Calls Season 6, Episode 5 explores the power of storytelling and social media in sharing the mission of Catholic health care. Host Brian Reardon and Executive Producer Josh Matejka welcome Stephanie Hampton, a St. Louis-based content creator known for her Instagram account @explorestlparks.
Health Calls Season 6, Episode 5 explores the power of storytelling and social media in sharing the mission of Catholic health care. Host Brian Reardon and Executive Producer Josh Matejka welcome Stephanie Hampton, a St. Louis-based content creator known for her Instagram account @explorestlparks. Stephanie shares her family's experience with Mercy Hospital’s NICU and how that inspired her to highlight the healing presence of Catholic health care online. Stephanie’s reflections on vulnerability, faith, and positivity offer a compelling reminder of the impact Catholic health care has on families—and how sharing those stories can inspire and connect communities.
Brian Reardon (00:05):
Welcome to Health Calls, the podcast of the Catholic Health Association of the United States. I'm your host, Brian Reardon, and joining me is Josh Matejka, our executive producer. Hey Josh.
Josh Matejka (00:14):
Hey Brian.
Brian Reardon (00:16):
This episode, we are telling the story of Catholic Healthcare on social media. That's the topic. And in just a moment, we're going to be joined by Stephanie Hampton. She's a social media influencer and content creator, and her handle on Instagram is @explorestlparks. And we're going to talk to her in just a moment. But before we do that, Josh, this episode's a little bit different than some of the other conversations we've had. Typically, we will talk to CHA members partners of CHA on some of the programs, initiatives that they're doing maybe inside the hospital in their community. This episode I think is kind of fun because we're actually going to be talking about the work you and I do and our colleagues who work in marketing and communications specifically around telling the story of Catholic healthcare on social media. So I guess to start off, before we bring step into the conversation, tell us a little bit about how this topic came about.
Josh Matejka (01:07):
Yeah, Brian, we're pulling back the curtain on this one a little bit. As part of our work at CHA with the marketing team, we have been working on a national campaign called When Healthcare Really Cares, where we're spreading the good word of Catholic healthcare all across the country. And as part of that work, we're working with social media influencers and there's a huge presence of Catholic healthcare in St. Louis. And as part of that too, we were identifying social media influencers. And there was someone that personally, I was already following the good work that Steph was doing as a parent, someone who was trying to get their kids out into the world, and we found out like, oh, Steph is Catholic, maybe she would be interested in partnering with us. And so we reached out and found out that Steph had an incredible story to tell about Catholic Healthcare on top of the work that she was already doing.
(01:55):
So we worked with Steph in that campaign. We got some really good data coming back from her posts, and we've developed a little bit of a relationship since then. So I'm really excited to be able to bring her on the show to get her perspective on telling the story on social media to kind of get a background perspective on the type of work that she does, and also just to share her story because I think it's really powerful and I think really emphasizes the role that Catholic Healthcare plays in the wider healthcare sphere in America.
Brian Reardon (02:25):
Great. Well, let's bring in Steph into the conversation again that we're talking with Stephanie Hampton. She is a, can we call you a social media influencer? Is that okay to describe? It seems like a weird title.
Steph Hampton (02:36):
It is a weird title. Yeah. I'm still not really used to it. But-
Brian Reardon (02:40):
You have a huge follow-
Steph Hampton (02:41):
Content creator maybe?
Brian Reardon (02:42):
Yeah, a content creator. You got a nice following on Instagram and you really post a lot about outdoor. Again, your handle is @explorestlparks. As someone who now who's lived in St. Louis a number of years, my wife and I and our dogs love to explore all the great outdoor spaces. So talk little bit about what you typically post. You're also a mother of five?
Steph Hampton (03:02):
Yeah, I'm pregnant with my fifth right now.
Brian Reardon (03:04):
Oh, congratulations. That's great. So yeah, I guess to start with, before we get into kind of, again, as Josh said, pulling back the curtain and providing some perspective on how to authentically share stories on social media. Tell us a little bit about your background, how you got into posting and how the sort of outdoor enthusiasm and being a parent all kind of came together in the work you're doing.
Steph Hampton (03:25):
Yeah, so it all started with my daughter Holly. She is my second daughter. And when she was born, it was a bit of a traumatic experience. She was born three months early. I had severe preeclampsia that developed pretty sudden. And so we were at another hospital and had to be transferred to Mercy because she had to be delivered quite early. And so we had heard great things about Mercy with their NICU program there and being able to handle children that were born very early. So we were able to deliver her and she made it through that experience. And she was in the NICU for 58 days at Mercy and is now six years old. But during that time at Mercy, we just really saw God's work through every single one of the staff members there, all the doctors, all the nurses, all the therapists. And so we've just been so thankful for that experience. But then Holly, she had leg splints on when she was coming out of the nicu and when she started walking, her medical team recommended that she try some uneven surfaces to walk on to build up her strength. And this all coincided with the onset of the pandemic when all the playgrounds were closed at that time. And so I just turned to the trails and we'd go to the trails very early in the morning and there was no one there. And my husband was working from home at that point, so he got some peace and quiet while I took the girls out. And we would go to a different trail every day. I'm not from St. Louis, I've been here now for 10 years. So it's been really neat for me to really connect with the city by learning all the trails. And if someone says, oh, is there a restaurant nearby this? I'm like, well, what park is it by? That's how I frame St. Louis. And so it's been a neat way to connect. And so anyways, kind of backing up I guess.
Brian Reardon (05:26):
No, no, no. That's great. Yeah.
Steph Hampton (05:28):
My family, we started going to a different park a day, and then my husband is from St. Louis and he didn't really know about any of these parks. And so it was fun on the weekends and then we'd go as a family and try and see all these parks together and so come just widened our range. And then we started exploring two hours from St. Louis, three hours from St. Louis. So it's been really fun. But then my friends started calling me the park lady and suggested I should go on social media and share some parks. And I was not as, I'd never been on social media on Instagram before, so my friend helped me start one up and I just started posting a park a day while my kids were napping. And it's been really fun. I think there's about 240,000 followers between Instagram and Facebook, so it's been really neat to share my love of outdoors through that.
Brian Reardon (06:19):
Well, it's interesting that, again, it seems like a fairly simple concept. I think, again, and I'm not a social media expert, I sort of stepped away from social media a little bit, although I am on Instagram, LinkedIn don't really do a whole lot of Facebook and Josh knows this, of course. It was sort of my apprehension with social media and just sort of the, I guess there's a lot of negativity and what you're bringing is really a simplicity in your post. And again, I mentioned authenticity, which I think is something to remember. So is there something you could share about the post you're doing again on St. Louis area parks that has resonated with people? Is it the pictures, is it the captions? Is it the engagement you have with your followers? Can you share a little bit about why you think that's taken off?
Steph Hampton (07:05):
Yeah, so right now the algorithm always changes with Instagram and Facebook. It used to be really targeted towards photos, and that's how I started posting photos. But then the trend changed to reels, which are small videos. And usually a view is only counted if followers watch that video for two seconds or three seconds. If they flip away really fast, it doesn't count as a view. And so when you're creating content, you want to have a good hook it's called, or something quick. I feel like right now it's targeted towards really quick videos and snapshots. And so I think that has really helped to grab people's attention. There's also something, a feature on Instagram and Facebook called ManyChat, which is associated with Instagram and Facebook where, I don't know if you've seen it, but they will if you, it'll say in the caption comment link, and then this will get sent to you. So that's a way to increase engagement. And then you can set it up on this feature where if you have a special link, then it will, if they type in link, it gets sent right to them and their messages, and then whatever content you're hoping that they read, it gets sent right to them. They don't have to find it anywhere. So that's been a way to really increase engagement and get views out to followers.
Brian Reardon (08:30):
And I bet, and as Josh joins us in a few minutes, we could really get into some of the nitty gritty details of strategy, which I think is important because again, we always encourage not only our colleagues at CHA, but members to really get out there and tell the story because as I said earlier, it just seems like there's so much, I dunno, toxicity and I think telling the good story and seeing the engagement, which leads me to my set of questions, and that is you got involved with Catholic Healthcare, obviously you shared your mercy experience, but what was it about our campaign that appealed to you?
Steph Hampton (09:04):
Sure. Well, our family is Catholic and we love going to Mass. We love raising our kids Catholic, and I think the values that Catholicism stands for just resonates so well with us and how we live life. And I think it's amazing to see that transfer into the Catholic health system. And I've always felt so safe and protected in the Catholic healthcare when I feel like I pray to God through good times and bad. But I feel like in those tough times is when I seem to pray the rosary more or attend daily mass more or really turn to God more. And when you're in that area where you feel so vulnerable and you're not sure what's going to happen, is my kid going to live? What's this going to look like? When you're surrounded by good people and a good hospital and where you feel safe and where you feel your child is safe, it feels like a better area for us to all get better. It's seeing God work through all the medical staff and make us feel comfortable and focusing on the sanctity of life is caring for the whole person. And so I think that's really helped me for feeling comfortable with the Catholic health system. So it was easy to say yes to this because I feel like it's such a neat way to share the story, to share the positives of Catholic healthcare and how it affected my family for the better.
Brian Reardon (10:40):
And I love how you are sharing your personal faith through this work. I think that's really powerful. What would you say to colleagues, and not just marketing and communications professionals, but just folks who work in Catholic healthcare that maybe are on social media and maybe apprehensive or reluctant to share sort of their faith or their personal conviction on something thinking, well, I don't want to get attacked on social media. Any advice to them?
Steph Hampton (11:05):
Yeah, it's such a political world right now, and-
Brian Reardon (11:12):
Organization. Yeah, it just seems like there's always a trigger.
Steph Hampton (11:15):
There 's always something. Yeah. I always go by where if you're a true to yourself on social media and share what's going on in your life, people are more likely to trust what you have to say. And so if I am showing a trail, usually everyone's going to, or my followers are going to trust that, okay, this is actually a good trail for kids that. So I think over time as you build up, you want to create a presence where followers know you, even though it might be difficult, but I always go by, it's okay if get unfollows because I want to live true to who I am
(11:57):
And follow who I am and stay true to that. I always think we have my kids babysitters that are on here that I feel so highly of, and they're also Catholic. And so I think of them and I'm like, okay, they're watching this. How can I be a role model to them too, to still live through my faith and to encourage them to live through their truths and stay true who they are too? Or my kids might be watching this later on someday when they get social media when they're 50. But yeah, I think the most important part is stay true to yourself and show yourself. I like to leave little nuggets of my whole website and social media is not Catholic focused, but I do have Catholic Catholicism throughout it. So when my daughter had her first communion, I put that on there. Or when we have a beautiful picture of Mary, our lady Guadalupe, that's right above our piano, and I, we have our rosaries hanging down, and I actually found it for $10 at TJ Maxx.
Brian Reardon (13:10):
There you g,
Steph Hampton (13:11):
Our Lady Guadalupe. But anyways, I get a lot of comments from that of, oh, where'd you get that? Or, oh, I didn't know you were a Catholic. And so it kind starts like opening up for dialogue. And I haven't had any backlash, which is great. Everyone will have unfollows, which is fine. I think another thing with social media is to not take it personally, but I think it's great to
Brian Reardon (13:34):
Be personal, but don't take it personally.
Steph Hampton (13:36):
Yes, exactly. Yeah, still showing
Brian Reardon (13:39):
True. You came up with that.
Steph Hampton (13:39):
That was great. You should put that on social media.
Brian Reardon (13:42):
And I think the other thing about the Catholic faith and the healing experience, and I think again, we're talking about being in front of a screen and following you in social media, but you're bringing sort of, what is it I rls in real life to people, Hey, I'm picking up on this stuff, but I do have two daughters in their mid twenties, so I capture a little bit of it. But I think I like that in the sense that what you're doing fits very much with what we preach, if you will, in Catholic healthcare about, you mentioned whole body or whole person care, but that idea, if you go to any Catholic facility, there's always that sense of outdoor space, even bringing outdoor spaces inside the hospital through water features and stone features and things. So I think it's so important to make that connection
Steph Hampton (14:26):
At Mercy. The big mercy in St. Louis, there's a really beautiful trail, and my husband and I did that so many times and it was such a peaceful way to calm and take a deep breath that before going back inside. And so yeah, I definitely agree with that along with also that my care team at Mercy didn't just care for my physical part of me, they also care for my mental health, which I thought so neat to care for the whole person. And going back to the sanctity of life, looking at, no matter who you are, no matter what your background is, no matter if you're rich, if you're poor, caring for the whole person is something that I've just always gotten. So
Brian Reardon (15:08):
As you posted about Catholic healthcare, what kind of reactions have you had by the folks following you?
Steph Hampton (15:14):
Yeah, I always post saying, thank you for letting me share what is really important to me. And I understand if I know that we all think differently, we all have different perspectives, thank you for allowing me to share mine. And I think I've had positives. I think I haven't really had negatives, knock on wood, but I think it's a neat way to evangelize in my own way and by still, so I haven't had any backlash yet, so that's good.
Brian Reardon (15:47):
No, and we've noticed that because of course with the campaign that Josh mentioned, when healthcare really cares, we get to see the reactions. And I think one of the things that's been a really nice, pleasantly surprised, because again, and I don't mean to be so negative about social media, but it's just sort of looking at it over the years, it just seems like there's a lot of people who aren't on there to spread the good news, to talk about the good things, but really to dwell on some of the negative. And it's been really heartening to see a lot of people say, wow, I didn't know that about Catholic Healthcare. Even when we talk about things like Whole Person Care and being able to explain that, it is I think, very appealing to people as they look at what does healthcare mean to them. So I think the work you've done has really helped elevate what we're about in Catholic healthcare through different channels. Of course, word of mouth is always important. I've been in Catholic healthcare and marketing and communications for over 20 years, and I used to be you put a billboard up on the main road by the hospital, and that was considered marketing. We understand how important social media is and really engaging people in conversations, not just simply posting, Hey, there's a health fair coming up, or We just got a new cardiovascular surgeon. But really trying to engage people. I think that's the work you're doing is so important to really have that dialogue with folks.
Steph Hampton (17:00):
Yeah, I think spreading positive news can really go far. I feel like a lot of the times, there's a lot of negatives on social media and looking at social media as a positive, where it can be a really great space to share good news and to spread positivity, I think is a real gem of social media. People go on social media to connect with others or to learn new information
Brian Reardon (17:26):
That was the intent, right?
Steph Hampton (17:27):
Yeah. And so I think sometimes it's kind of stray away from that, but I think going back to the basics, people when they go onto my page, they're looking for, or what I hope to share is positivity, the sanctity of a family, of how sacred that family unit is and exploring together and building those relationships. And I think that goes really hand in hand with Catholicism, especially St. Louis being such a big Catholic town. So it's been great.
Brian Reardon (18:01):
Now, I love your passion. I'm going to bring Josh back into the conversation. So Josh, as you've heard us talk, any reflections or questions you might have?
Josh Matejka (18:09):
Something that I think about a lot is storytelling and how we tell stories of Catholic healthcare. Brian, it makes me think of a conversation we had recently about how it's good to share facts. It's good to share things about how the healthcare system works, but ultimately it's the stories of healthcare that make people passionate, that make them want to drive for change. And something we're seeing a lot with ha's members is they want to get involved in the influencer space. They want to tell their stories on social media. Steph, in your perspective, for our members who might be listening and who want to be involved in that space, but maybe don't know how to tell the story on social media, what are some things that you've learned about storytelling, about sharing stories yours and your families and maybe even others in your work?
Steph Hampton (19:01):
Sure. So once you find your main goal of what you want to get across on your page, then you want to start creating content. And the best thing for creating content is just to be authentic with what your message is. And so right now the algorithm is showing more reels versus pictures, but again, it could flip flop. It kind of always has flip flopped right now. It used to be short reels and now it's going towards longer reels. And so right now if you have a reel that's over 10 to 15 seconds, that's great. A minute. That's awesome. So that's kind of where it's leaning towards now, along with you want a good hook in the beginning. I recently got my drone license, and it's been so fun to get some aerial views as a hook with my caption. And so anyways, finding something that you feel like can capture people's attention because the longer that they stay on your video watching, then you're going to increase engagement and Instagram or Facebook will send it to other people. And so if they can get that initial hook to get people to stay, that really helps too.
Josh Matejka (20:12):
Yeah, I love that. I love how practical that is.
Brian Reardon (20:14):
No, that's really interesting. What about, is there a type of story that does really well?
Steph Hampton (20:17):
Yeah, so your reel is going to go out to more people. It's going to get more reach and engagement. It's more for getting your information out to a wide variety of people, but then stories are only are there for 24 hours and they're more for your current followers. And so that's a place where you can really connect with your followers. That's where I'll share my more personal things about my faith or our day-to-day life, and a great way to connect and to build that trust because say you're making a post on Catholic healthcare, well, if my followers know that I'm Catholic, then that they found it on the stories, then they're able to believe what I have to say or trust what I have to say. And so it's a great way to build trust on the stories.
Brian Reardon (21:05):
That's great. Good tips. Well, I've learned a lot. Again, I think just knowing sort of the ins and outs, but also knowing how passionate you are and just the work you're doing, again, to share the good news I think is really important. And it's uplifting to hear that because again, when we think of social media, we don't always think of it in a positive light, as I mentioned. And having someone like you and the other influencers that we've engaged with really helping us share with the audiences that are on social media. And we know more and more that's how people are getting their news, right? They're not getting a newspaper thrown on their front step, and they're going to Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms and learning about the world through that. So the more that we can authentically tell our story through that medium, I think is going to help people understand the values of Catholic healthcare. Hopefully have them take another look at us if they haven't looked at Catholic healthcare. And so we really appreciate the work you've done. We appreciate that you coming in and sharing some of your insights and perspectives, and more importantly, just sharing the passion you have for your faith and being a mom. That's great. And again, congratulations. What are you due?
Steph Hampton (22:12):
Thanks. In March.
Brian Reardon (22:13):
Awesome.
Steph Hampton (22:14):
Yeah, we're going to find out this weekend if I have four girls right now, so we're finding out this weekend. If this is another girl or boy, I think it's another girl.
Brian Reardon (22:21):
Okay. Oh, those instincts. Well, again, we've been talking with Stephanie Hampton. She is a, we're going to call her a social media influencer, but she's a content creator, and again, you can check her out, especially I know from Instagram it's @explorestlparks. Follow her, great tips, especially for those of you who are in the St. Louis area, but really enjoyed spending some time with you here.
Steph Hampton (22:41):
Thank you for having me.
Brian Reardon (22:42):
And this has been another episode of Health Calls, the podcast of the Catholic Health Association of the United States. I'm your host, Brian Reardon. You just heard from Josh Matejka, our executive producer. We get scheduling support from our producer, Sarah Marchant. Health Calls is engineered and produced here at Once Studios in St. Louis, and you can find Health Calls on all of your favorite podcast streaming apps. If you like this episode or other episodes, be sure to give us some feedback. We always like those five stars. You can also access the episode and the video via our website. Just go to chausa.org, click on the news and publications. You'll see the podcast page there. There's show notes and other things there that you can find as well, as well as a lot of other information about Catholic health care at chausa.org. Thanks for listening.