Channeling Pain to Purpose + The Mission of Roc Solid Foundation - Eric Newman

5:34PM Sep 24, 2021

Speakers:

Julie Confer

Becky Endicott

Jonathan McCoy

Eric Newman

Keywords:

people

nonprofit

kid

cancer

story

world

moment

build

ended

money

mission

fighting

values

shareholders

mom

journey

life

purpose

left

dad

Hey, I'm john.

And I'm Becky.

And this is the we are for good podcast.

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So let's get started. Hey, Becky, welcome everybody.

Oh, man, we are so excited today.

We are so excited. I love how wide the world is that you could have somebody who's an incredible visionary who could be a surfer. Yeah. And and do it all. Yes, and a survivor and a leader. And I think we're about to have a really amazing combo.

Totally. So we are talking to one of my favorite people, Eric Newman, I think we met on Instagram. So you know, we love meeting in these digital channels. But he's one of the most inspiring guys that I've had the chance to meet in this journey. so far. He's a childhood cancer survivor, that really kind of, I would say, shaped a lot of his purpose and a lot of his calling in his life. And it didn't hold him back. It really set him on a trajectory. But his story is one that, gosh, I literally was sitting in my office crying, watching your story and report last time we got to meet. And it's just really moving, how you have paid that forward, how you have mobilized an army of people behind you, and are really changing the world through serving now pediatric cancer families from the second that they get that diagnosis through their journey. So I want to hear a little bit today about rock solid foundation, which is the organization that Eric started. But he also just wrote a book about his personal story about turning that passion, purpose into action. And he is a guy that takes serious action. And so that book, what hope looks like is available now. And so we want to talk about that today. But Eric, it is just a complete delight to have you on the show my friend.

Yeah, thanks. Thanks for having me, man. Like I said earlier, if this podcast had been around 12 years ago, it would be it would have been a lot easier. So I appreciate what you all do. So thanks for having me.

Appreciate your generous comments. Would you kind of take our listeners on your journey and kind of take us back to your story and kind of, you know, fill in the gaps that I left out?

Yeah, sure. So my story really started at the age of three, I went in for a normal checkup and guy ended up leaving that doctor's office for a three year old checkup and they sent me straight to a children's hospital where I had an enlarged liver. And they ended up finding hepatoblastoma which is a rare form of liver cancer at the age of three. So I was diagnosed, told my parents to expect the worst they gave I think like a less than 10% survival rate called in called in family and ended up beating the odds. So I'm 32 years cancer free right now, which is pretty cool. So but they ended up taking close to three quarters of my liver out and ended up going through chemotherapy and I fought that till the age of five. So really with me being a cancer survivor, you would think that I would want to like dive back in. But the story I had a cousin second child three years old, which I was second child, three years old when I was diagnosed and my cousin Shannon, second child, three years old, got diagnosed with leukemia, fought it till the age of five like me, and then got put into remission. So fast forward a little bit more. My dad's brother, second child, three years old, got diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. So we ended up losing Nicole fast forward a little bit more cancer or leukemia came back took Shannon out right at the age of 16. Seven right right for she turned 17 and that moment that we laid Shannon to rest, I was like, holy crap, like this is gonna come back and get me this is like bump this out. So I threw away the word cancer. And then I made a decision to work hard, party hard and play hard. And that's what I did. I was probably better at playing hard than anything. started a couple companies started lawn care company so that started construction company, and in 2008 I ended up losing everything in the real estate construction crisis and I took I did what any responsible businessman would do is I took drain my bank account which Costa Rica so love to.

Just came back with an empty bank. Yeah.

So I did that I drained my bank account, but I ended up taking a journal with me. I don't know why. My sister always used to call it a diary. But in reality, I just grabbed those on the nightstand, ended up pulling it and taking it with me went to Costa Rica spend some time surfing and just asking myself what this one only life was about. And while I was there, probably the lowest point of my life, I would say, I was by myself and a part of Costa Rica. I didn't know anybody the group that I was traveling with had already left I was in a mosquito net. And there was like, I mean, it was a bad part of town there was like heroin needles all around like it was it was a rough, rough, rough patch. And I just screamed, I just like I started bawling. I started crying. I yelled at God, saying like, Hey, you made a mistake. You took Shannon, which was my second cousin. And she's so much better than me. I'm a piece of you know what so. But in that moment, after I got done, I collected myself, I open the journal and wrote down a word hope on a piece of paper. I had no idea what it meant, but ended up coming back. I'd love to tell you at that moment, everything changed. But that did not happen. My parents had to get me back home, they had to fly mommy and daddy had to fly me home. And then from there, do a fundraiser for our local hospital Children's Hospital, one of my buddies found out that I was a cancer survivor. And mom and dad were standing next to me right before I presented the check. And the mom was like, Hey, who are you like I was in flip flops? And I mean, I did not look like I was supposed to be there. Everybody else was in tux, not tuxes, that would have been really weird. They were in suits, and there was cameras everywhere. they smelled really good. And I don't Don't ask me why I remember that's very weird. But she's like, what are you doing here, but for the first time since Shannon passed away, I started to tell the story in a lot more detail than what I just shared with you all about my journey with cancer and losing everything. And the mom looked at me and proceeded to tell me the words that changed everything she said, You give me and my husband hope that my son will be sitting in your seat one day, and when I heard that word, everything changed because for the first time, first time in my life, when I spoke about that cancer journey, it didn't come out as pain. Like it came out as like a purpose. I'm like holy cow, did anybody else just hear what this lady said to me. So I knew by that time I left that hospital that I was supposed to combine two tragedies of my life losing everything and construction and having my cancer knowledge and then therefore formed rock solid foundation to build out for kids fighting pediatric cancer, so is it was a tragedy a couple tragedies in my life that I was able to marry together.

Okay, one of the great tragedies of this podcast is that you are not physically here and I cannot reach over right now and hug you Eric namun because

your air hug we can air total air

bag or elbow because it What a story and the winding nature of that and how you were able to turn your pain into purpose is a very inspiring thing. And I think it also is a testament to when we chase things that matter it is it is not something that is that is easy to jump to these are hard. These are hard, hard lessons that we're running toward and I love the story of your awakening and the awakening of Eric coming into his purpose and I think you've teed up rock solid foundation very nicely. And I want you to take our listeners kind of behind the curtains and tell us you know the story the history of it, what you all are doing and kind of the miracles and magic behind it

sure. So from that moment life did not change I was still broke right it's still still trying to figure things out but for the first time I had a direction right? I believe action without aim is exhausting. So for this moment I had a I had a little nugget and I had a word so ended up my buddy asked me to build a playset for his kid he had left it outside this was not a child fighting cancer. And so I can frame houses pour concrete I can do anything but he didn't tell me left it outside for like a year dumped all the hardware in one bucket. So I ended up doing it. My dad went with me free labor. I mean that's support my dad was like hey, I can't give you much but I can give you the blood and sweat tears off of my hands.

Go dad's Yes. Is a rock

star. So I ended up doing that and I swore took us like 20 some hours to do I swear when I put that last anchor into the ground that I told my dad I was cussing and cussing and moaning and explained the whole time. I was like I will never build another place

cuz they never lined up just like balsa.

No, yeah. So the little girl busted out of the door and gave me a huge hug, wrapped around my leg hugged, handed me a check. And then she said thank you for letting me play. And I looked at my dad tears like coming down, right? So there's a combination of when your life makes a pivotal turn, like there's usually tears involved, right? 100 and I looked at my dad tears I said swallowed unlike. I think I'm supposed to build playsets for kids fighting cancer. So we ended up doing that and then we built our first place that still broke the only fundraising experience that I ever had. was selling doughnuts at for my T ball uniform when we first started doing this it's funny you mentioned it. I think it's on your intro about philanthropist, right? Someone called me a philanthropist and I like jumped at him. I'm like, why did you call me like anything? So I had to Google it. So anyways, long and I know this is a long story, but we sold donuts 30 $500 for our first place that ever, and we were prepared. We hadn't wrapped our minds around it. Like we had ordered the material, we'd ordered everything. I mean, it was hurricane status when this little girl when we were building, but we ended up doing it anyways. I used to pay people good money in the construction world. And they still wouldn't show up, right? The threat of rain, they wouldn't show up. I had about 10 of my buddies that I took out for some beers. I was like, Hey, I got this idea. Will you help me do this hurricane status. And they Alton showed up. We built the place that we were prepared, took us two days to do it, dropped it off at her house, took her out in a limo that day, she left we continued to finish the play set. And then that's when everything changed for me is that I realized we had something because we had wrapped our minds around it. But when Jillian jetski came around the corner, saw her play set for the first time. Guess what she wasn't thinking about? cancer. We one, one family at a time. And in that moment, I was like, you can wrap your head around something. But if you wrap your heart around it, that's when true change happens. And that those buddies are still with me 12 years later helping me build play sets. But the reality is in that moment, I witnessed play defeating cancer, it didn't cure it. But if we can focus on the one what we wish we could do for the money. And if we focus on the one person, one family at a time, one play set at a time, there's nothing that we can't do. So that that's really how the place that started, kept selling doughnuts kept doing some fundraising stuff. But then in 2009 2010, what we realized is that, after all the layoffs, that some companies were trying to bring their people back. They were trying to build their culture. So one of my buddies raised his hand, he was like, Well, why don't we sell these as team building corporate experiences throughout the United States. So we can take care of all the hurt hard work, these companies bring their people in to build their culture. So they get what they want, we get what we want to build hope for kids fighting cancer, and then therefore, that's really the catalyst for rock solid. In the place outside, we built for some pretty large companies throughout the United States. But the kicker is, again, focus on the one which you wish to get to for the money.

I mean, there is behind the scenes of how do you build how do you take something that's seemingly simple and scale it to become this thing that's truly impacted so many 1000s of families by this point, I loved hearing that. And I know your programs have kind of expanded to also some other components. I'd love for you to share about that. Because it's back when Becky hears about it, she's gonna be like, Oh my gosh, we have to geek out on this. So tell me more. Oh, I'm

ready.

So we have so the place that I hate, I hate the saying that there's light at the end of the tunnel. I can't stand it. Because for the families that are going through the pediatric cancer world, this tunnel for girls, little girls, it could be two years for little boys, which they have changed some of the treatment cycles could be three or four years. So when we were in our world headquarters, which was my parent's garage. I remember asking my mom, I was like, Hey, what's the one thing you remember on the day that I was diagnosed? And my mom has turned away cancer. She's just recently started talking about it, because there is something called survivor guilt. My mom has me my aunt's my uncle's don't have their kids. So like they're, I mean, there's some pretty pretty heavy stuff with that. So finally, about a week or so later, she came back. I said, I remember your dad had to leave me on the worst day of my life to go pack a ready bag. And so from that I was like, or she had to go pack he had to pack an overnight bag, and he forgot half of the stuff in there because he didn't know what he didn't know what to pack and he was distraught. So I looked at her and I believe if I can be cancer, I can do anything in this world. I said, Well, why don't we eradicate that moment from the face of this earth? No family should have to be split up on the day they're diagnosed. And so that's certainly on to a journey of like okay, what goes inside of there so my mom designed the first kit, and I wear always wear a hair tie around my finger. because it reminds me the most simplest things in life can make a huge impact. a hair tie is like gametime for mama bear. She ties her hair up and she has to look over the hospital bed. It's less than five cent right? People think in nonprofit you get to give big chunks of money and rock solid give us $1 that can put about 30 of these enough in a ready bag so but the whole point of the ready bag is we deploy them to the Children's Hospital rock solid does not hand them out. We partner with hospitals all over the United States. And when the doctor walks in and tells the family the worst news of their life, in walks a rock solid ready bag and that's what hope looks like when it's not for what you'd hoped for. at all, it's the it's the light switch at the very beginning of the tunnel. And then they carry that bag, probably for about 72 hours and they take it home, then they pack it with their stuff. So now this ready bag is a flashlight all the way throughout the journey. They it's it's an intricate part of their journey. And because if a child with cancer spikes a fever, they have to automatically go to the hospital. So then therefore this bag goes with them.

Eric, William Newman, I'm kidding. I don't know what your middle name is.

Douglas, it was close. You're very close.

What you have just said here, what you have done. I want to say this to anybody, you have created a cure for a problem that exists in the world. We can't cure cancer. Can't do that right now. But we can cure something very seemingly small, that can actually be an incredible hurdle for someone who doesn't feel like they can pick themselves up off of the ground. And just the metaphor of the scrunchie. The hair tie. I mean, I think about when you see a baseball player turn his hat backwards, like it's rally time, to me, that scrunchie is what you said it is game time, and mom is putting her hair back. And it is go time. But would you even think about grabbing that in your haze, and the fact that you have come into a journey and you have pinpointed a moment that you want to affect the journey and instead of allowing them to go down this negative lonely path, you immediately pivot them to feel empowered to feel that someone is walking along beside them that somebody has got them. And it makes the journey less lonely, less scary. And I also think that there's an extension of you in there that it's like we have some resources we have people who's who have been through this we and all of a sudden you have built community and what you have 100% and I am just a yes john, I've got you can look over I've got goose bumps, I am absolutely loving this, the ready bag is such a powerful metaphor, I think it's a simple thing. And that $1 could affect something in a dramatic way just shows you the power of philanthropy and anyone's ability to come in at any level and effect this. So I think

at a higher level to have how this is applicable to everybody we talk a lot about in the DI conversation or in the How do you building boards that are representative of your communities. To me, this is all about having people at the center that have lived experience, I wouldn't have thought of the spreadsheet. That's not been my story, you know, but your mom uniquely qualified to say this is what you need, because I've lived it. And that's why we don't need to design solutions, or try to create impact away from that. Like, you've got to always have the people at the center that are the centerpiece of this story. So

read that. And I also want to say the other gift that you're giving that is not tangible, is you've allowed the family to stay together. Dad doesn't have to go home and separate from mom when we're all trying to absorb this news in this new reality and this new future. So there are many layers of gifts here. Yes, I'm geeked out Yes, I'm shocked. I'm not on your website making a gift right now give me another

but I want to scrunchie from my finger, right? And I lost my wedding ring. So I kind of need something.

Many, many times. That's another story that he found it in the toaster one year. So I want to talk I want to talk a little bit about your new book. And to me, I just feel like this your story. It's not even crested yet. But the book is a really important moment, I think where hope can be shared and absorbed by everybody. So talk about your new book, what hope looks like and you're passionate about wanting to get this book into people's hands to fuel their own passion.

So I fought writing the book I was probably would have been voted the least likely guy to start a charity or to write a book. And so I fought it tooth and nail, but I truly believe is entrepreneurs, right? So as leaders as entrepreneurs, and yes, if you're in the philanthropy world, nonprofit world, taking the mindset of an entrepreneur, because in reality is nonprofits, they want to solve problems, right? That's why we're in it in the first place. So the problem that I had seen over the last 12 years is that I have met a bunch of very, very successful people towards the end of their life or they've been very, they've been very, very successful. But they sit down and they meet with me because they want significance in their life. And so the reality is, I truly believe that people can live for significance and success at the same time, we just have to show them how people generally it's, I believe truly in the DNA that people want to do good, we just need to make it easy for them. And so with that, using your pain to feel your purpose, and where that where the tagline even came from is that I believe that there's a bunch of people out there that had been through some pain of no fault of their own. And they have walked out of something, a pain, that there's someone walking into right at this moment. And I think that's one of the biggest tragedies that people don't allow their pain to become their purpose, which I was one of them. And I compare it to like, it's a scar, right? All of us are given scars at some point in our life. It's the fact that like, scars sometimes heal. And it's, I feel like it's our job, our way to be able to show the world our scars for them to be able to learn by, and I mentioned it earlier is that how I started a nonprofit is I googled everything, and I hated everything that I saw. And from that, I believe in writing in my journal. And so the book of what hope looks like is truly about my story integrated with a how to manual to start a nonprofit if you have some pain, and you want to turn it into your purpose because you can live for significance and success at the same time.

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I just think about the people we've had on this podcast who have said that exact thing. I mean, I think of john Pierre Louis, you know with Capra care, which is a Haitian Yeah, which is a Haitian based nonprofit. And he says it took me nine months to figure out how to set my nonprofit up because I had no money. And so I was literally googling to your point reading, going to the library, checking out things and it's like, people need a quick roadmap on how to do this and think about how we could launch dreams and movements so much faster if there was a roadmap I'm so glad that you created this and that it exists in the world

what is what do you think is that entrepreneurial? mindset difference that's really set you on a different trajectory? Because we love that we did a series on entrepreneurial hacks like for you what is what do you think you see your peers not doing that you like this is seems so obvious if we were thinking like entrepreneurs,

oh, sorry, I look at it to the one thing that I saw when I was a search engine nerd and I'm not just bashing Google, right? So it's what I kept seeing is that nonprofits and business were separated. I was like, That's the dumbest thing that I've ever seen and that's I'm very black and white. I'm like, that's just dumb. A nonprofit is a business it doesn't give me a halo right above my head that I'm this euphoric Angel. No, like my shareholders. This is how this I look at it. Where we run like a fortune 500 company we do why because I have shareholders but my shareholders our kids fighting cancer, the better I run the business the better that my kids benefit from it that's the payout right the better we can run this is a fortune 500 Company of a phenomenal CEO that like I like I hired him I'm like listen, we are going to do this if we're going to do this we're going to run it like a fortune 501 day I want to be ranked the best place to work in the United States. No nonprofits ever had that before. So separating nonprofit in business to me when I first started I was like, that's not going to happen with me because I if I'm going to dedicate my life to this I'm not going to be broke forever right? Because I want I'm not ever going to apologize to be able to afford my daughter to go to dance class. Right? So there's a combination there but I think entrepreneurialship is no money no mission, but how you go about making the money. That's a different story. And I have the best seat in the house because we can run it like a business. But then the dollars tell the stories. Right so the dollar sell about the Jillian Jessica user, the ready bags, every single one. And I look at it this way. The other thing is every number has a name. And every name matters for rock solid foundation. Our number is 16,000. Why? Because there's about 16,000 kids a year that get diagnosed throughout the United States. Guess what? rock solid foundation will one day be able to provide a ready bag for every single child fighting pediatric cancer and will be relentless, not reckless chasing after it so I could talk about entrepreneurship all day. I don't want to go down any rabbit trail. But that's fine. I think the biggest thing is, I had ran a couple companies for profit, loss everything that the world said that I should have. And when I lost everything that the world said I should have the world was nowhere to be found. So guess what, let's flip the script, let's do something different. I'm going to give it everything I have with the same mentality. But I'm going to give without a promise of return. And that's where for me is like, That's scary. Because I want the money, right? I wanted the money and for biz for profit. I just don't think there's a difference. It's a it's a tax. It's a tax thing. Right? So an IRS thing, and I'm not that's another soapbox for a whole nother conversation.

There's so much I want to talk about and I am just so amazed and inspired by what you've done here. And I think just the mindset shift of are you looking at kids fighting cancer is your shareholders versus I think about the largest companies in the world and the way that their shareholders are pushing for profit, when you flip your, your focus and your intention, I want to pour more into those shareholders, I'm using my air quotes, I want more success for them. I want more vibrancy for them. And it changes the way you show up to work. It changes the way that you pour into things that matter. And I think it's something this is where I think it's different. What nonprofit has an advantage over for profit, it's something that inspires other people to want to come along for profit. Nobody wants to keep making money for a for profit shareholders. Everybody wants to see kids fighting cancer thriving, they want to come along and be a part of that. So that is a mindset challenge for all of you out there. As you're looking at your mission. How do you come to bring people to want to come in and be an ally to your shareholders. Amazing, amazing idea. And I'm going to geek out on this many hours after this conversation is over. And I think

if you didn't notice how Eric just set up his vision and get you excited about it, like us the formula he just laid out to whatever your vision is, for this year, the way you structured that you made all of us in the room believe y'all are gonna absolutely do that. Oh, I'm excited. I

think I think with the book, my hope. And my prayer is that after you read this, that you believe that so when I first went, when I first started talking about wanting to start a charity, I got turned down by like seven or eight accountants couple different attorneys. They're like only millionaire start nonprofits, or you got to have a bunch of money, or I gave 5 million in my charity folded blah, blah, I mean, excuse after excuse after excuse. But the reality is, if you can make it through that pain, you can go through the startup, and my hope is that by reading this book, instead of it taking nine months, maybe what if we did in three months, because what about that person at month four, that if you truly bring your passion to reality, your vision to reality, because of all because of being able to navigate all the other stuff, that one person that month for, that you're able to impact could change the millions, right? And that's, that's what keeps me up at night is like this book, I want to be able to push people forward to give them the confidence to be able to start their mission, right then right now, and get to truly changing the lives of other people that really matter. I wonder

what you what advice you would give to people in the nonprofit sector about how they can better engage with their donors about understanding purpose, and how to get donors to come along and fit into that purpose. What would be your suggestion?

Oh, I'd say if you focus on the people, the money will come. And I know that that's extremely hard in the nonprofit world. Because no money, no mission, but hear me, when you sit across from someone, and you're talking, you're trying to engage them to eight, so I call it T four. People give in four different ways time, talent, treasure or testimony. It's t four. So when you're looking at someone taking that seat, if I'm sitting across from you all like First of all, I don't take people out to lunch, ask them for anything because the server comes in this is a little This is a little pet peeve of mine, like the server comes in, right? And you got to gear it up, right? You're starting to move and groove in the conversation, you're like, hey, john, I would like for you to consider. Now you have to start all over. So that's a quick little nugget for any type of development or anything. Take them for coffee where you can control the environment. That's just a quick plug and I really lost focus on what I was talking about. But focus on the people in the money will come ask what's important to them. Ask what's important to them. And we'll say it again, ask what's important to them. And guess what, not everybody is a fit for your mission. And that's okay. But when you try to force feed something and maybe they're not a right fit for their time or for their talent or for their treasures, which is money or their testimony, right? The testimony is like, Hey, will you talk about rock solid on your social media? Hey, will you open doors as a board of directors so that we can continue the mission forward? I think if you find out what truly is important to them, by focusing on them more so than what you focus on yourself, you become less in the equation, they become more. And so if you can get that nugget, right and look at it from the lens of the tea, for kind of perspective, that I think that that's a nugget that has helped me really navigate we started with negative 15 $100, in rock solid bank account. And I think that, I mean, we'll close out as a multi million dollar organization. But I don't focus on that multi million dollar number, I focus on the one person one place that one podcast at a time, people can tell when they're not a priority. Or if they can tell people don't like to be sold. Invite them into your story. And if they don't like what they see, they won't turn the next page, right. But all you can do is just write the story continue right in the story focused on the people that truly matter. And our pillars that rock solid, our customers, if you will, kids fighting cancer, our volunteers, our donors, and my staff in my team, we have four customers in rock solid. So if you focus on the people, those four pillars, and I have people in charge each one of those to love relentlessly, not recklessly on our four pillars, I don't think that you'll run out of money. That's not saying that it will come easy, and you got to be creative. But one of them is if you focus on the people, the money will come.

I mean, so much. So much goodness there, Eric,

and I love that you included your staff, because I think that is you have to be people miss. And if your staff are so bought into the mission, if they are, if there is such a harmonious symbiotic relationship there where they are so passionate, it is only going to create a groundswell that triggers into the other three to me, that is the starting place as well. So Bravo,

sir, ma'am. You know, every guest about a moment of philanthropy that's really stuck with you. We've heard some of those stories. But what's a story? You know, since you've launched this foundation, that's, you think you'll you know, stick with you forever?

Sure, hands down, I got to ask, I get asked this a little bit. But for me, it was when at year two, I think year two or three. So I worked for free for the organization for four years. But it was year two or three, I was working full time in construction, and working full time to get this mission off the ground. And we have a build site. And so the way that our build sites are at the kids zones, we have a check in station, and then we go into the backyard, and they do all the building. And I'm up there I'm Chief everything officer which again, start anything, your chief everything, so call yourself a CEO. That's cool, man, that's awesome. But your chief everything officer, right? So I was I'm up there and I'm like, I'm on my phone. I just launched everybody into the backyard. So I'm on my phone responding to emails doing all the check in blah, blah, blah, all this stuff that's relevant. In this little kid, he's seven years old is on a Razor scooter. He keeps going back and forth in front of me. And I know he wants me to look up. But in this moment, I'm like, Doesn't he know I'm busy raw, like all the all this stuff like I'm the chief everything officer. I mean, again, you can get a glimpse inside how crazy I am in my head. But so finally I look up. I'm like, Hey, what's up, buddy? And we had just bought our first ever rock solid hat. I couldn't afford anything else. But I got one or two of them. And this kid stops in front of the teams like what are you doing? Like we're building a place that and back to my phone. Why? Because she's sick. Back to my phone. I treated this kid horrible. Like, this is the rule number one. But like Finally, I put my phone down. I said, Listen, she's sick. And she has cancer, and we're building her a place that he's like you do it for free. I'm like, No, we're a nonprofit. So I had to explain what a nonprofit was just seven year old. I was like people give us money so that we can build playsets he's uh huh. And just left. He comes back probably about 15 minutes later with his grandma behind him. Don't say it. And you you hear him coming. You hear him coming. He's got 83 cents in his pocket. 73 pennies and a dime. That kid dumped that stuff on the table, gave me everything. He had his grandma's ball and she's like he broke his piggy bank he'd been saving. He gave me everything he had. That right there changed everything for me. Why? Because it taught me a valuable lesson. You treat every human like a million dollar donor. Hands down. If you treat every human, every volunteer, every donor every staff member, treat them like a million dollar donor. And what I say like when I'm in development meetings, I asked for large sums of money. But guess what, there will never be a better donation than 83 cents. And that kid I took my hat off I took my got awkward like I'm taking my shirt off. I walk in, I walk him around that build site. And that kid that was 10 years ago, that kid changed my life forever. Because us in this moment, right, we're distracted. But you can't be so distracted that you lose focus on the reason that you started in in the first place. Because it's not about the money. It's about the people. And that kid gave me everything he had. And from that treat everyone like a million dollar donor. And the best donation I get, a lot of people say that to me, like, Oh, this is only $1,000, or all this only 500. I'm like, only I was like, do you know what we can do with that? 500? So that one, I'll never forget that little kid. I know his name again. Like, I mean, he volunteered a little bit but that kid, I'll never forget him at three cents, the best donation I've ever received.

Okay, how do I recover from that? I just think the lesson in that story for all of us, at least it is for me is I just think back to all the jobs I've had. And foundations and nonprofits in the amount of tasks that are before us are, are mighty, and many. And it's so easy to have your head down, and be focused on the task that we forget to look up. And remember the why. And if you are someone who is in the grind of that right now, one, I want to virtually hug you as well, because I understand that that is reality, but find a way to look up, find a way to look for story. Look for purpose, look for the kid whose scooter I mean, I'm sure that sound of that scooter is probably hardwired into the moment as well as the roughest

road, I think in the state of Virginia. What is this guy doing?

Oh, that was an incredible story. So I hate to ask this because it means we're done talking, Eric, but talk to us about your one good thing we need a bring it on home numinous. What is your one good thing

teach adherence to the values above anything else. So what I mean by that is every organization should have values if they don't, you shouldn't seriously consider where you're working, don't have 20 of them have five, I believe three to five, but teach it here. And so the values higher off the values fire off the values. And the reason being, especially what we just walked through in 2020. values are great. I mean, you know, values are there when things are great when you're on that mountaintop, right? And it's like having all you have all the friends in the world when you're on the mountaintop. But when you get into the valley, you look around, you don't have many people there. People like to be on the mountaintop, but where the water is, is in the valley. And the best nutrients you can give yourself as a leader or in any type of nonprofit is create some values have the values because the values help you make the hard decision. Do not waver from those because the values create the culture. And the culture creates the mission. But with that, the way that I do it is every single person that works on our team, I quizzed them on the values but the one thing is it every team member when you come to work for rock solid, you have to have a journal at all times you I mean, in your meetings, you got to hold them up, right? But what we do is we make them because one of our values is starting to end with why right Simon Sinek esOm about 12 years ago speak I'm like, Mind blown. But I make them keep a why photo in their journal, because they have to make decisions based off of that child, not on what's best to them. And so with that I just add here and teach values above mission, about fundraising techniques, live and breathe your values. And I'm telling you if you can do that when things get hard, just like what we all walk through and 2020 it gives you somewhere to point because action without aim is exhausting. But for us. We hunkered down, looked at our values and we came out of the gate swinging.

Okay, you topped yourself with that.

I didn't think it was possible but

it happened. I mean bringing it home I mean that's what it's all about. I feel like this conversations about centering us on the right things and it's so applicable to any mission that you're fighting any pain you're trying to turn into purpose so this has been amazing man every time we talk to you I feel very moved by the conversation so thanks for authentically showing up today. How can people get to you? How can people find you How can they connect with rock solid give us all the deets

you can go to rock solid foundation.org and rock is RSC the K fell off. That's a whole nother go to rock solid foundation.org or you can find me on Instagram at at the Newman experience.

I have one final question. How is Jillian jetski today

she is about to graduate high school. I get a picture of her every single year from her school photos. So she is graduating she is cancer free. And I again it's I'm not in my office right now but I have a huge photo of Jillian jetski but yeah, she's doing absolutely amazing.

I just think that that could be my one good thing for everybody is find someone Organization when you think about your purpose and your Why get a face, get them right there in the front of your brain. And when you're having a bad day when you're questioning, you know why I'm here why I'm showing up the face of that person right in there and keep keep plowing you're good human nation.

Thank you. Thank you guys for having me.

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