EPISODE 318

Not only can everyone make a difference, says activist & entrepreneur Tula Thompson, but just by doing a little, you can have a big impact. One of Tula’s passions is protecting Social Security and Medicare. And when Tula is committed to something, she dives right in — whether it involves buttonholing a U.S. Senator after an airplane flight or preaching the importance of our earned benefits to younger adults. Tula has a long background in business, partnering in a metal insulation company with manufacturing facilities across the U.S. She is now a partner in For Fine Arts in Montana, one of the premier fine art galleries in the West. In 2025, Tula became a member of the board of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare. Anyone interested in affecting change will find inspiration in this episode.

TRANSCRIPT:

ANNOUNCER: It’s You Earned This, the Social Security and Medicare podcast, brought to you by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. And now, your host, Walter Gottlieb. 

WALTER: Every so often, we meet inspiring people who inspire us to want to do better. Our newest board member here at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare is one of those people. Her name is Tula Thompson, and she is, to say the least, a very interesting and active person. She helped to build a company that became a leading provider of insulation products — with manufacturing facilities across the U.S. She travels to Kenya to help improve the lives of women and children.

And she is now a very active board member, like I said, of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM), which we really appreciate. 

We’re going to talk to Tula today about all sorts of things: Social Security and Medicare, the importance of caregiving, and how to become an activist. As she says, “It takes so little to do so much.” Truly, words that we can live by.

So here’s our interview with Tula Thompson. Good afternoon, Tula.

TULA: Hi, how are you? Glad to be here.

WALTER: We are doing great. It’s an unseasonably sunny and warm day here in Washington. And you are in Tucson today?

TULA: I am in Tucson, Arizona, today, and we are having one of our big winter days. It’s in the 50s and raining, which is unusual here. But as always, it brings all the flowers in March and April, which is great for the cactus.

WALTER: On the cactus! We don’t have many cacti here in Washington, but things do get prickly sometimes…

TULA: They do.

WALTER: Starting off with a bad joke by me. So, Tula, we are so happy to have you as our newest board member here at NCPSSM. And you’ve already been very active on the board. I am curious: how did you become a board member here? And when did you develop an interest in seniors’ issues?

TULA: That’s a pretty good story, really. One of your other members, Nick Smith, was really the one who got me started in this. Nick and I were actually in Kenya at the time. And he mentioned that he was a member of the National Committee. And we talked about it a little bit, and I thought it was interesting. 

The main thing he did was invite me to come to Washington, D.C. They were co-hosting, he and his wife, the choral arts at the Kennedy Center. And, interestingly enough, he sat me beside Max, the CEO of our National Committee. And I didn’t know who Max was, so I didn’t really do anything but chat, as I usually do. And we were having a perfectly nice conversation. I’m known to get a little passionate about things that I care about… that was kind of the extent of it.

A few weeks later, Nick called and said, “You know, Max was interested in seeing if you would be interested in joining the board.”  And, of course, I was massively flattered, humbled, and absolutely thrilled to get involved.

WALTER: And you mentioned the Kennedy Center. You meant the “Trump Kennedy Center,” I think.

TULA: No, not really.
WALTER: *laughs*

TULA: But that’s OK. 

WALTER: Maybe that event wouldn’t have taken place there now if it had the new name. 

Also, I won’t tell Max that you didn’t know who he is because he’s extremely famous.

TULA: Yes, he is. And I now know that. So there you go.

WALTER: Tula, how did you become interested in seniors’ issues? I know that goes back a little further than your affiliation with us.

TULA: Well, I think the number one issue is when you get a little older, and you realize, “Wow, I’m now drawing social security. I now have Medicare.”

And I realized that these issues are big. I was in the business world for many years. I had an insulation company with manufacturing facilities across the country.

WALTER: Right.

TULA: When I retired a few years ago, I realized there’s a whole world out there involving Americans and their need for certain services. There are a lot of people who struggle. And many Americans literally live for their Social Security, and have health care only because of Medicare.

So, these issues come to the forefront when you realize how impactful they are and how bipartisan (they are). These are not just Democratic issues. These are issues that cross over. 

So,  it’s a very, very important thing. And it’s easy to become involved in trying to help it.

WALTER: You did mention that you were a business person and CEO of an insulation company. And I want to ask you a little more about that later. 

But it did strike me to ask you this: You are a progressive-minded entrepreneur and businessperson, but a lot of the business community does not like Social Security. They don’t like having to pay payroll taxes, and they believe that the government should not be involved in social welfare or social insurance or anything that sprung out of the New Deal. Why do you think that is?

TULA: I can only speak for myself. I think that, as a businessperson, my business certainly absorbed me. I think a lot of businesses forget that we live in a community, and in a country, and in states that need these services. We are fortunate as business owners.

We have the resources to take care of ourselves and our loved ones. But there are many people, and certainly our employees, who really deserve these benefits that we (business owners) are so accustomed to having in our positions. And it’s very difficult for our workers and the rest of Americans to be able to have that level of comfort, certainly as they retire, as they get older, and have children, or are disabled.

WALTER: Well, we appreciate that you are a progressive-minded business person, we truly do.  

I’ve noticed something about you. You are what I would call a “do-er.” You seem to dive right in and try to make a difference, whatever you’re working on. What is the philosophy that guides you in your activism, and can anyone emulate it?

TULA: Well, I’m sure anyone can emulate it, but I know that it takes a little motivation, and certainly in my case, I think part of the motivation was getting older and retiring, and you realize that, “You know, my life’s not over, I’ve got a lot of things that I can still do.”

The way things are right now in our country, it’s easy to go to bed and pull the covers over your head. But the truth is, we have to do something. We have to speak up if we’re going to be heard. We have to get up and brush ourselves off, and do something to make this world a better place.

Part of that involves getting yourself involved in some kind of committee, whether it’s the city council or the school board, whatever it could be, where you can try to make a difference. Whether it’s at the grassroots level or at the highest level, it’s important to get involved. You have to speak up, and I’m doing my best now to do that.

WALTER: You seem to have no problem going right to the people in power. I know that since you joined our board, you’ve had encounters with both Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia. Tell us about those.

TULA: So I was seated on a plane, and I saw Senator Warnock get on the plane. He passed me and sat behind me about two rows. 

It was one of those things where I spent the entire flight from Atlanta to Washington, D.C., trying to decide whether I should approach him. Should I not approach him? And what should I say? And oh, my goodness.

And I finally decided I needed to be brave, and so I waited for him after I got off the plane, and then I approached him and said, “Hi, I’m Tula, and I’m with the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and I want you to know we think you’re doing a great job, and I also want you to know that we hope you’ll continue to support senior issues. Here’s my card, and we would love to help you any way we can.”

And in turn, amazingly, a week later, his aide called me, the one who handles senior issues and Medicare issues, contacted me, and from that point forward, we scheduled a call, and from there, it went really well, and it was very, very fun. I had no idea that I would be on the call alone. 

Max was supposed to be with me, our CEO, but he had a conflict, so I did the call myself. We actually discussed Senator Warnock endorsing some senior bills that were out there, and it was very exciting. They were pleased because I was able to tell them about some bills they didn’t know about, and it felt great to know I was making a difference and helping. So again, jumping out there to just try. That’s all it takes.

WALTER: And we did endorse Senator Warnock back when he was last elected. And the Democrats in Congress do have to be a firewall right now to protect Social Security and Medicare as best that they can… so we’re always lobbying up on the Hill, and you became part of that. 

And what happened with Senator Ruben Gallego?

TULA: He was doing an event in Tucson, and he had a great grade with us as far as his being involved in issues for seniors and for Medicare. I was able to meet with him for just a few minutes and tell him how proud we were of him and his support for senior issues and Medicare. And we took some photos, and it was a lovely meeting. And then he did a great job, again, of supporting those issues during his town hall. So it was a great experience for me, and hopefully, it was a good experience to relay those great messages to the people of Tucson.

WALTER: And I’m sure it was meaningful because Senator Gallego only took office last January. So he’s a freshman Senator from Arizona. 

We talk about caregiving a lot here at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare — caregiving and caregivers. You two are caregivers to your mom, who is 90, I believe. What are your feelings about the state of caregiving in our society?

TULA: We have to get a little older before we can reflect on what some of these things really mean, because once you experience it, it has a lot more meaning than just saying, “Oh, well, what about caregiver situations?”

 I’m 70. So I have a lot of girlfriends my age who also have moms in the same situation… moms or dads. 

And they brought up a new term for me: the “sandwich roll.”  Which is taking care of mom or taking care of dad on the one hand, and then our kids now have kids. So now we have grandchildren on the other side. And I’m fortunate enough to have my daughter and son-in-law here in Tucson, who have two little girls. So, I try to take care of my mom on one hand.

Even though she lives on her own, she certainly still needs care. She has macular degeneration and vision issues. So it’s a matter of helping her with her medications, helping her read mail, understanding how to pay her bills, and all of those things. 

So she’s in great shape, but I still am the one who is the “caregiver.” On the other hand, my daughter needs me to come and take care of a baby while she has a doctor’s appointment or whatever. So I’m trying to do both hands-on work and my life, and, of course, if you’re one of those people like me, you’re trying to do everything and try to save the world at the same time.

WALTER: You have your hands full, Tula, but it sounds like you’re a very conscientious grandmother and daughter. And, of course, here at the National Committee, we support a greater federal role in bolstering caregivers, both through caregiver credits for Social Security and whatever the federal government can do to better support caregivers and make what they do more financially viable.

Tula, I want to ask you about the 2026 midterms, which are drawing closer by the minute. What does our side need to do in order to make sure that the next Congress is more friendly to seniors and the most vulnerable in our society? Because we have seen what has happened with this Congress that is controlled by a majority that does not seem to support seniors.

TULA: Well, it’s a huge issue. We must win either the House or the Senate in the 2026 midterms. I think we have to do more than complain about President Trump and his policies. We have to get our message out. We have to communicate and educate. Social Security and Medicare are really bipartisan issues, and I think it’s amazing that more people — especially young people — don’t realize how important they are. I think they are a huge voting bloc that sometimes gets forgotten.

Those 18 to 35 year olds make up a huge voting block that doesn’t believe in Social Security and Medicare… they don’t get it. They don’t understand that they really need it and that it is beneficial to them right now. An example would be a young family. Let’s say you’ve got a husband who’s 27 years old and married and has two kids, and he gets killed in a car accident. He actually has an insurance policy through Social Security to offer benefits to his children and his spouse going forward, these are things that are unbelievably important and yet people don’t realize that they even have this benefit.

WALTER: Well, you really hit the nail on the head, and your comments are very timely, because we here at the National Committee are getting ready to undertake a public education campaign aimed at younger voters for the very reasons that you talked about. 

And it doesn’t help that right-wing think-tanks seem to be publishing an op-ed every week saying that “Social Security is a bad deal for younger people,” which is part of a strategy to divide the generations so they can cut and privatize Social Security.

But I’m so glad that you brought that up, and we will be reaching out to younger people in this election year. 

So, Tula, you mentioned that you did some work in Kenya, and I believe that was to improve conditions there for women and children. Can you tell us a little more about that?

TULA: Sure, this all started a long time ago when my youngest daughter took a trip to Kenya and she came back and said “Mom, we got to do something. You know they need some things, they need educational tools and so forth.” So, I went for the first time about 15 years ago, and subsequently have made a commitment to go every other year. We have put in a well in a village. We’ve put in six libraries. We support a women’s co-op group, which is made up of about 70 women. 

They decided this year to pool their money together and they have been raising chickens.
So they have eggs and chickens, and they are very excited about their business propositions as well. 

So there could not be anything more heartwarming to make you feel like you’re doing the right thing, then to know that you’re being able to send people to school and make a big difference. It’s a powerful thing to realize that it takes so little to do so much. And so, again, it just means stepping up and saying “What can I do?” And then trying to do it.  If you need help doing it, if you speak loud enough, someone will probably help you.

WALTER: It takes so little to do so much. I love that. Did you make that up? Or is that an old quote?

TULA: I’ve got no idea *laughs*. 

WALTER: Well, it’s a good one. I want to get that made as a placard and put it up in the office here. 

So, you’ve had many different phases of your life and career, obviously. What advice do you have for older women thinking of making a career change or a lifestyle change at any age?

TULA: I’m gonna start with a really cool statement that came from the last DNC meeting. They talked about how the resistance has gray hair…

WALTER:  Mm-hmm. 

TULA: And the truth is, there’s an awful lot of us out there these days. Baby boomers are all turning 65, and I think the statistics have it at 11,400 people per day are turning 65, and with that statistical force out there, all I can say is for women: You’ve got to go for it, girl

We can’t be heard, don’t speak up, and I think it’s one of those things where staying at home and wringing our hands or bratting about it is not gonna make it any better. We have to speak up. Like I said earlier, we’ve got to get involved, and a great place to get involved is obviously with the National Committee. Again, it takes very, very little to join this community and help us. So again, that’s another opportunity to get involved.

WALTER: And at the end of the show, I’ll tell people how they can get involved. But thank you very much for the plug, because we love grassroots volunteers, and we also love new members, and I’ll tell you how to do that a little bit later.

Tell us something, Tula, as we close, about the insulation business that would surprise me or our listeners.

TULA: Well, insulation is one of those things where when you’re in business, or you’re at some party, and somebody says, “Well, what do you do?” And you have to say, insulation. And they think, “Oh, well, you’re in somebody’s attic with that itchy stuff, right?” And I’m like, “Well, not exactly.”

I think one of the most interesting things about insulation is that people always think of it as something icky. In reality, if we could achieve worldwide participation in insulating new buildings and homes, we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and resource use by 50 to 90 percent.

I mean, it’s huge. Energy use, demand for natural resources, and all could be reduced if we use insulation. There are a lot of buildings, particularly in the South and in the West, where they don’t think insulation is so necessary because the weather is kind of moderate. But the truth is, they’re using air conditioning now. So it is an important thing.

So, as boring and dull as it sounds, if we could get more involved in insulation, we could make a difference in climate change and the cost of energy in America.

WALTER: Well said. And I love how you turned an opportunity for a fun fact into a message-oriented piece as well. So that was great. Don’t insulate yourself from the idea of insulation.

TULA: Okay, there you go.

WALTER: If I may paraphrase. So Tula, this was wonderful. We’re big fans of yours and we’re so glad to have you on the board. We thank you, by the way, for screening our documentary, Social Security 90 Years Strong, up in Montana.

Before we go, how did that screening go? How did the audience react?

TULA: So I was invited by the Democratic Women’s Group in Kalispell, Montana, to speak. And I took my video on the road, and they loved it. We’re hoping to use this with the youth council and at town halls and so forth. It gives you a lot of background data. I had no idea that Social Security was 90 years old and that it made a huge difference, particularly after the Depression. 

People didn’t have any income, certainly no income for themselves as they aged, and particularly if they were disabled, or lost their job, or lost a limb because of the war, these people did not have any benefits. And so this was a huge opportunity to make a big difference in America. And what we’ve done now is it’s been 90 years, and we’ve forgotten. And when we forget, we tend to repeat things that we shouldn’t.

In the near future, we hope to have this on PBS so that people can really understand why we have Social Security and Medicare and what the benefits are.

WALTER: Thank you for all of that. And one programming note, so the 46-minute version is available on our website at ncpssm.org and on our YouTube channel. It’s also going to premiere soon on Amazon at the full 46 minutes. And then, as you mentioned, it will be offered to PBS stations in a 30-minute format. And then you have your 10-minute version that you’re taking on the road, which is great. So there are custom links for any attention span, right, Tula?

TULA: Exactly. I would just tell you that it is really interesting. I mean, I forced my kids to sit down and listen to it during Thanksgiving. At the end, they had tons of questions and were absolutely amazed how much they liked it and how many questions they had for me. So it really is tremendously beneficial.

WALTER: Thank you very much. And we’re very proud of that documentary, which we produced in 2025, and as I said, is coming to Amazon and PBS stations near you. 

Okay, Tula. Well, thanks again for joining us. When are you going back to Montana?

TULA: I actually have some stuff to do next week, so I’m going back next week, but typically we don’t go back until it starts to warm up. So usually when it starts to get too hot here and it starts to warm up in Montana, usually about April, we head back up to Montana.

WALTER: There we go. I forgot to mention earlier that you split your time between Tucson and Montana, and that’s wonderful. Okay, Tula. Well, we’ll have you on again, but in the meantime, safe travels and good luck with everything that you’re doing, including on our behalf.

TULA: Thanks so much, Walter.

WALTER: As Tula mentioned, you can become a member of NCPSSM, of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. You can do that at ncpssm.org by clicking “join us”, that’s ncpssm.org, and click “join us.”

There’s also information on the website about how you can become a grassroots volunteer with our organization, and like Tula, make a difference by doing a little and achieving a lot.

Our editor on the podcast is Steve Lack, our story editor is Donna Lack, and our engineer, as always, is Shahab Shokouhi. I’m Walter Gottlieb reminding you that: “You Earned This!”