This episode brings you inside a Back to the Roots first: a kids' gardening workshop with The Home Depot on a military base. Fort Hood is one of the largest bases in the world, and for one Saturday, it turned into a garden party for nearly 500 active-duty families. Kids built their own wooden planters, filled them with organic soil, and picked out seeds like basil, cucumber, beets, and wildflowers, all while learning that growing your own food is simple, sustainable, and fun.
Alejandro sits down with three special guests to talk about the day. María Clara Rodríguez Galvis, a dear friend and fellow Colombiana, shares what it was like watching kids connect with nature for the first time. Sarah Dobrow, our Retail Partnerships Manager, explains why supporting military families matters so deeply to our team. And Bill Murphy, Alejandro's stepdad and a Marine veteran, reflects on what it means to bring a little joy to the families who protect our freedom every day.
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[00:00:00] Alejandro Vélez: Welcome back to the Back to the Roots podcast. I'm Alejandro, and y'all, we are taking you to none other than Fort Hood, one of the largest military bases in the entire world, where we actually hosted a kids' workshop with The Home Depot. It's been over 30 years since they've let a partner brand onto the base.
I honestly thought maybe a couple hundred families would show up. We got closer to 500. This is the coolest thing ever. Also, quick heads-up, if you're listening on audio only, that banging you're gonna hear is a few hundred kids hammering together planter boxes, so bear with us. And if you wanna actually see it, go check out our socials or YouTube.
You have the full video there. Today, I'm talking with Maria Clara Rodríguez Galvis, an entrepreneur and a dear friend of mine. I'm also talking to Sarah Dobrow, our Retail Partnerships Manager here at Back to the Roots, and my dad, Bill Murphy, a US Marine vet who came out to spend the day with me. Let's get into it.
Today is a special one. We are in Texas, and actually, we are in Fort Hood. This is the first time in my life that I've actually been in a military base, let alone one of the largest military bases in the entire world. And why is Back to the Roots here? Why am I here? Because we are hosting, and this is the first time ever for Back to the Roots, but we are hosting a kids' workshop with The Home Depot in a military base.
And I would be just ecstatic if it was one family because these are active service men and women that are defending our country, defending our democracy. But we have had hundreds of families out here today. This is the coolest thing ever. This is the coolest, most special day, and check it out. Thanks so much for joining us.
I'm here with such a dear special friend of mine, a fellow Colombiana, Maria Clara. Maria Clara, tell me what you're doing here.
[00:01:58] Maria Clara Rodríguez Galvis: Well, I'm so excited to be here today with the Army people, helping kids to grow their own seeds and see how your company helped them to love nature, and to connect with all your purpose is wonderful.
[00:02:12] Alejandro Vélez: And this is, you've been to military bases before.
[00:02:15] Maria Clara Rodríguez Galvis: I've been. I haven't been here, like, 15 years ago, that's why I'm so excited to see Army people, how they're organized, and so proud of their military.
[00:02:23] Alejandro Vélez: You're a military daughter.
[00:02:24] Maria Clara Rodríguez Galvis: I have a military family, so I grew up in bases, and now to be back here, it's so exciting.
[00:02:30] Alejandro Vélez: Is this your first time at Fort Hood?
[00:02:32] Maria Clara Rodríguez Galvis: It's my first time, and I know it's the biggest fort of America, right?
[00:02:35] Alejandro Vélez: One of the largest in the world. Wow. One of the largest in the world. And I invited her. She's a friend of my... Like, she's family, and I said, "We have a kids' workshop. You have to come. It's my first time." Well, tell me about it. Do you like it? What do you think?
[00:02:50] Maria Clara Rodríguez Galvis: I think it's amazing how kids, uh, get along with your product, and of course, I'm so proud that my kids were helping, too. They're gonna grow their seeds. I'm so excited.
[00:03:00] Alejandro Vélez: Yeah, we told them since we're the entrepreneurs and we're the ones doing it, we have to go last, so they have still not done it yet. They're excited, but they haven't done it yet.
[00:03:09] Maria Clara Rodríguez Galvis: They haven't done it yet, and I think they're gonna remember this day for the rest of their life.
[00:03:14] Alejandro Vélez: I super love it.
[00:03:15] Maria Clara Rodríguez Galvis: Thank you for that.
[00:03:15] Alejandro Vélez: Well, thank you so much for joining us. I am here with Sarah. And Sarah, what do you do at Back to the Roots?
[00:03:24] Sarah Dobrow: I lead our partnership with The Home Depot.
[00:03:26] Alejandro Vélez: Why are we at Fort Hood right now?
[00:03:28] Sarah Dobrow: We're here leading a Kids Workshop. It's the first time that we have been, that a company has been asked to co-sponsor an event like this on a military base, and very exciting for us to see all of these amazing kiddos come out and learn how to grow something for the very first time, kickstart their journey as future farmers.
[00:03:45] Alejandro Vélez: I thought it was gonna be, like, one family, two families. How many have we had today?
[00:03:48] Sarah Dobrow: It's impossible to count. We're looking at the estimate was up to 500 families through it, so.
[00:03:53] Alejandro Vélez: So cool. And I, I think the so special, a special part of this is these are active families. Yeah. Like, they are active service men and women right now.
[00:04:03] Sarah Dobrow: Absolutely. Really means a lot to us as a company with many folks on the team coming from military families. It's, it's very important to us to support activations like this, so.
[00:04:12] Alejandro Vélez: Why is it important to us?
[00:04:13] Sarah Dobrow: We want every single kid and family in America to grow something, and for that to be ideally organic heirloom seeds.
And so being able to do an activation like this on a base which parents who are not necessarily having that same kind of access to gardening education is really meaningful to us and our mission.
[00:04:29] Alejandro Vélez: Well, and, uh, we care deeply about organic agriculture, organic farming. But at the same time, we wanna be really relevant.
We've got kids here. It's hot. We're at Fort Hood. They've been waiting 'cause it's been packed. I mean, we've had hundreds of families, and one of the fun activations we did today is we partnered with a local entrepreneur from Austin, Daniel and the Good Pop team. Actually, so they donated, I mean, hundreds and hundreds of popsicles.
Cases and cases of pops. Uh, they've, they're parked outside, so kids are having a blast while they wait. They get to eat some organic, no-sugar-added popsicles, so we're super grateful for that too. All right. Who are you, Dad?
[00:05:10] Bill Murphy: I am the papa.
[00:05:13] Alejandro Vélez: Yes, and this is, uh, special to me. So you've got a Marine hat on.
[00:05:18] Bill Murphy: Yeah.
[00:05:19] Alejandro Vélez: Why do you have a Marine hat on?
[00:05:20] Bill Murphy: Oh, because I served in the Marine Corps '69 to '71.
[00:05:23] Alejandro Vélez: We got his dog tag and my uncle's dog tag, who fought in Vietnam as well.
[00:05:29] Bill Murphy: Yeah. Valentine's Day, passed away.
[00:05:31] Alejandro Vélez: Yes, he did.
[00:05:32] Bill Murphy: Gave it his all.
[00:05:33] Alejandro Vélez: For our country, and- yeah... I think what's so cool, this is my first time at Fort Hood.
Seeing this, it's like a city. It's one of the largest bases in the world. And seeing the kids, seeing the families, like, this is why Back to the Roots exists. The idea of putting a smile on kids' face on a Saturday morning, uh, especially for servicemen and women who are protecting this very democracy; we would not be here without them.
We would not have the freedom we have without them. And for this brand, Back to the Roots, to just be out here and just be able to put a smile on face, to pause a Saturday morning, uh, that is just, like, the most special thing for us. And to just be a small seed, pun intended, in their weekend today is so cool.
So as y'all see today, we're doing, uh, building a planter. So the kids are gonna be able to pull a planter. They have stickers. We'll have organic soil and seed starting mix. We have organic seeds. They can pick the seeds. And for us, it's really important every kid then has an opportunity to then give it back.
We tell every kid that once you've planted and grown something, once you share with us, and they tell us the address, we'll donate it to a school of the kid's choice. So we make it a responsibility that once you've grown something, you have to get others to grow, too. So that is what this brand's about.
This is what this partnership with The Home Depot's about. This is what the kids workshop's about. This has been going on for over 30 years that The Home Depot does this, and we're so honored because this is the very first time that The Home Depot has actually invited any brand into a military base. So we take that so seriously.
We put so much time into this. I'm excited to be with the whole crew here, and let's go. Get ready, have fun. We're gonna have an amazing day today. Thank you. Yeah. And I get to do this. So proud ... with my dad, which is, uh, so special for me. The one who brought me to this country as an immigrant when I was 10 years old.
You bet. And oh, my, what's your name? Amelia. Amelia? You have no one to give her a flower? Bousset. Okay, what about, what's your name? You should be in a World Cup with that haircut, right? I like it. You're ready. You're playing for USA. You're gonna pour your soil. All organic from Back to the Roots.
If your hands get dirty, that's a good thing. When you're eating, it's not a good thing, but for this, it's a good thing.
All right. All right, Nova and Riley, I've got a question for you. It's Saturday morning. Did y'all have fun? Yeah. Yes. Yes? What was your favorite part?
[00:08:11] Nova: I like hammering it.
[00:08:12] Alejandro Vélez: Hammering was fun? Making this. Making this? It's beautiful. And then guess what? The gift keeps on giving because every day you gotta water it. And what's gonna grow?
[00:08:23] Riley: Plant.
[00:08:24] Alejandro Vélez: What seed did you plant? Do you know what seed it was?
[00:08:27] Riley: Wildflower.
[00:08:28] Alejandro Vélez: You do wildflowers? So cool. Okay, so every day you gotta promise me, you gotta water it every day. Okay? You gotta tell your mom, "I'm gonna water it." And then afterwards, you're gonna take a picture. You're gonna gift a kit to your local school.
Okay? You gonna promise me that? Promise, promise, promise. Your mom has to share it, send it to me. So once they send it to me, we'll be gifting a kit, but it'll be your school, the school of your choice. So then they can grow, 'cause we gotta keep getting kids growing all organic food. Okay? Okay. All right, nice to meet you.
Y'all were awesome. Thank you so much for joining us today. Have fun.