Nonprofits are faced with more challenges to accomplish their missions and the growing pressure to do more, raise more and be more for the causes that improve our world. We're
here to learn with you from some of the best in the industry, bringing the most innovative ideas, inspirational stories, all to create an Impact Uprising.
So welcome to the good community. We're nonprofit professionals, philanthropist, world changers and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.
So let's get started. Becky, we're just like grinnin straight like
my dimples are out. You know, I am loving who's on the podcast today. Our friend.
I mean, our friend that I feel like we have such a kinship with we're just getting to know her but her work. I cannot wait to just get into the mind of somebody like Stacy Houston that is joining us on the podcast today. She's executive director of six degrees.org A little organization you probably have heard of with a huge imprint, and she's also CEO of entertain change. Let's talk about how you're even balancing two such beautiful missions at the same time two toddlers go you are you Yeah, so impressed. But today is all about talking about catalyzing change. Yes, Stacy is this incredible award winning campaign creator, we're going to talk about how do you create those kind of memorable campaigns that capture hearts and minds. But we want to get below the surface about really the DNA of how you do work with meaning how do you really catalyze meaningful change in our work? And so I gotta say a little about Stacey, I mean, she has this renowned social impact expert. She's an Executive leader celebrated for her contributions as producer and keynote speaker. She's the Executive Director of 60 ps.org. And y'all now, we all have a 60 reconnection to its founder, philanthropist Kevin Bacon, and she also serves as the executive producer of his top rated podcast, we see him at the top of the charts and our nonprofit category. We've loved having Kevin's podcast out there. It's so powerful, and the storytelling that you're bringing to bear really comes to a culmination through your work at entertain change to where she spearheads a social impact agency that creates transformational solutions by collaborating with entertainers and organizations. And I can't help but think one of the themes and the, you know, trends that we've been lifting this year, Becky is all about how media scales impact. And it's just like baked into the DNA of how Stacy has been showing up into the world. And so I can't wait to really tap into a lot of your mindsets around this work. So I could go on for a long time of all the dreamy brands that she has collaborated with, from I heart media to CBS to MTV, which I couldn't watch growing up, but I would love to get this, our friend here was honored with the heritage shape and Humanitarian Award. She lives this work in so beautifully. She's a driven leader committed to making a difference through daily strategic philanthropic efforts. We cannot wait to get to know you more, my friend. And you know, you're based in DC with your incredible husband, Danny and yells two small kids that we've just heard about today. So welcome to the podcast, we're just a little excited, you're here.
I'm so excited just to spend some time with you. You both you just do such incredible work here. And I recognize the labor of love that podcasts are. So just thank you. Thank you for having me. So
glad to be here. It's
an honor. I mean, yeah, you're reflecting that to us. I mean, you've created such a brilliant podcast and show and you know, you are such a great storyteller. And we always start with story here. And we want to get to know you. We want to get to know Stacy behind all these huge celebrity campaigns and this work that seems larger than life. Tell us about growing up, tell us about some formative experiences that led you into this work and path.
Wow. So I'm a girl from a really small town in Southern California. And I was always really drawn to social justice work, quite frankly, I think I was overwhelmed with emotion when it came to a lot of pain and brokenness in the world. And probably a lot of that stemmed from some of the things that I experienced and saw up close growing up. When I was about eight, my mom was in a car accident, and she became permanently disabled, legally blind. And so when you are so young, and we're she was still my mother and a wonderful mother, there are certain roles that kind of flip on its head where you're starting to kind of look out for this other person that is your caretaker in a lot of ways. And so childhood kind of stops in a lot of ways at that at that time. And I think that as I continued to progress through through life and those early kind of adolescent years, I so wanted to be a change maker and to fix so many things that I saw that were broken, but quite frankly, my road to philanthropy and social impact work was non traditional. And I think a lot of that was because some of the struggle that As we had growing up financially, and I was really good at sales, and so I ended up going into a job in sales. I know, it was one of those things that I was like, I wish I wasn't good at this, you know, because being in sales is hard, and it's a grind. But it afforded me a lot of opportunities, you know, to set myself up and my family up in a way that I felt like there was stability and a strong foundation, but always had that pool. Right. And so, I was kind of dipping a toe with volunteering. And, you know, I, when I was in college, I did a lot of kind of citizens and marches and things like that I was kind of always an activist of heart for for different campaigns that I really cared about and movements that spoke to me, were buying red brands, you know, so I could feel like I was doing something with how I spent my money. But it took many years for me to just to decide that this was this was the switch I needed to make.
Well, I'm so glad that you did. And before we go a minute further into this conversation, what is your mother's name,
Laurie,
Laurie, Laurie just built a beautiful legacy within you. And likely you're, you know, you have a village of people around you. But I thank you for sharing that story so much, because we are so much a product of the people who've lifted us in life. And they really spur us to keep lifting others. And I just think that's such a good centering point. And I just I'm really in awe of You Can we talk about the fact that we're like one degree from Kevin Bacon today. We're literally one degree everybody listening right now we are right here with Stacey. And I just think the way that you're catalyzing change is so different and so interesting than what we see in traditional nonprofit, but we want what you're doing to be mainstream. And nonprofits. I want to talk about this because you wear all of these hats, your producer, your keynote speaker, your coach, your thought leader, your executive director, I want to throw in your mom, you're doing all the things. We just observed that there's this through line, and all of your work that's really about how do we catalyze this change through media, through employee engagement through collaborating with entertainers, and there's just so much more possibility there. So help us just set the tone. And just tell us like what you're observing in the sector right now? And what elements are really crucial to catalyzing that change in missions today? What are people missing that they need to be seizing?
I think that what we're seeing is that nonprofits like us were being really strategic and coming in as a partner. So I talked about this a little bit when we first met at the nonprofit marketing Summit. But I think nonprofits, prop nonprofit professionals are trained to really position their mission as this great critical need that it is, and that we really need these partners to support us so that we can get this work done and and which is all very true. But there's also a value proposition. And I think that can be uncomfortable sometimes with fundraising professionals, and those that are really trying to build partnerships. But you have to really think through the different partners that you're trying to work with, and what's in it for them. And some of those pieces are really altruistic, right, they want to do better in matches their CSR social impact pillars, and they care about this work. And then sometimes it's that they are wanting to, to get some of their products out there in a bigger way, right? Or they're wanting to really focus on employee engagement so that they can get that attraction and employee satisfaction score up. There's a lot of different reasons why someone might want to engage with a nonprofit partner, but going in and sitting on the other side of the table with them and say, Hey, let's figure out how we can be strategic partners, right, how we can help each other with our shared mission. John, you have a question. I could tell
John's like, Oh,
I'm so happy. You're saying this. And I love that when people come into the space that haven't been held back by a lot of the long held beliefs and nonprofit that keep us playing small, they keep us not claiming our power, you know, in these opportunities. And so I love that you're flipping the script on that so much. I want to get into your mindsets, because just in your roles that you show up for and that you identify like on a daily basis. Like you have got to have your mindsets locked in so tight of just how you show up and approach your work. Would you give us a peek into that like what does that look like and what what do you really channel for how you show up into your work today.
So I talk a lot about this with my team, my small team and my family. I'm a big fan of Dr. Cal Newport, who is a professor here in Washington DC and full disclosure our I'm a TEDx curator, and we produce his TED Talk. But the TEDx need to do Um, his books actually up behind me deep work. And he really talks a lot, and especially now about digital minimalism. And so I think that we believe this lie that we can multitask. And in the nonprofit world specifically, this is something that we almost wear as a badge of honor, I wear a lot of hats, we're often told how you guys operate and seem like a much larger team than you are. Whereas we can be like, great. But it's also it can be debilitating, right like, and you can't always switch on and off in an instant. So being really careful about planning out periods of time, where I'm responding to email, responding to texts, making time to meet with network partners is what we call our nonprofit partners that we work with times when I'm really trying to work LinkedIn and fundraising and build networks or in front of people, and then having a turn off switch. So that I can separate that for my own mental health and well being. And I have to work really, really hard at this because I say that six degrees is like my, my dream roll, I couldn't have dreamt it up. And you know, it was made for me, that's what I truly believe. So like, it doesn't feel like work. But it is it is work. And so I have to be really diligent about respecting those, those times and turning off for my family. And also for those that work with me, right? Because sometimes that then sets a expectation that you may not be saying with your mouth, but you certainly are in your actions that you expect them to show up the way you show up, or you're going to be dissatisfied in some way. So I'm trying to be really conscious in my mindset about doing doing these tasks, one at a time not taking on more than we can actually do really effectively in something you know, we can do proud. And then yeah, separating the time and space that we need to, to just be the other people outside of our roles
are so planted in our life in this movie.
Yes. Like a huge, the applause moment, where's my meme of everybody standing up at the Oscars and giving a standing? Oh, because I, this has been a really interesting recurring thing that we have heard on the podcast the last couple months. And it honestly gives me a lot of hope. We have leaders who step into this podcast chair, and talk about rest, and talk about not overprescribing your team about modeling. And it's like, this is really freeing our leaders and our people to have balance in their life. And you cannot run this hard at something without sacrificing something personally, and that sacrifice erode your people, right? Absolutely. And so I just really appreciate that you're modeling this. And I hope that this becomes the way. And I also just think you're this expert in crafting these award winning campaigns. They're capturing hearts and minds, which I'm going to stick a pin in that because we're going to come back to that. But I want you to just let's get into the tactics here for listeners, talk about some of those core elements that you use to integrate into crafting campaigns, like, what should listeners start to implement in their own organizations that are non negotiables, for you,
non negotiables, that you need to make sure that you have the people whose voices are being reflected in this work, not just at the table, but like active participants, right? You need to be leaning into their them, you need to be asking their thoughts about language, how things are set up what the real needs are, we so often come in with the best of intentions, especially funders, whether it's corporate funders or individual funders, or we're even nonprofits in some type of way. And they're and we believe that we know what the need is, and we know the best way to do it. And we're often wrong. Because needs are really personal. And we have to ask those questions every time because needs change. Very often they change from community to community, as well. And so I say that we always make sure that we have built like an advisory team that's really speaking the language of this campaign that we're trying to build. And we don't do anything without collaboration. So we believe that these campaigns should have more than one nonprofit represented. Oftentimes three or four. There are a lot of organizations that tackle similar cause areas in different ways. And we have to get out of our own way and thinking that somehow we're the only one that can do it the right way. If that was the case, and we would have solved lots of issues, right and we're not solving and lots of issues. So we get partners to trust us and say, You're going to come in fully, everyone's going to roll up their sleeves, we're going to share the spotlight, and we're going to amplify each other. And really, really beautiful things happen when they move from that kind of scarcity mindset of Oh, no, my my donors going to see that there's another organization that does similar work in hunger, and what if they jumped ship it's like, or they're going to say, this is incredible, this cause that I care so deeply about, look at the campaign that you guys are putting on. So So that's huge. And I mean, there are a lot of other things just about being aware of the milestones and timeliness of a campaign. Yes, we can do campaigns around anniversaries or awareness, weeks or days and those sorts of things. But it's time to get really creative around these milestone moments that you can build something that's fun, and kind of can bring levity to, um, sometimes really complex and complicated work, that can be a little heavy. And so with us, we try to build something that people can laugh and enjoy and have a moment of, of just fun, before they realize that they're being educated. And they're spreading a great deal awareness. And before the ask that comes, you know, if can you help support this financially, even. And so that's some of the things that we've done with like cake it like a kid, which was a big pediatric cancer campaign that we did several years ago. And that's, that's a hard one. But you know, what was not hard thrown cake in someone's face for a kid to make them laugh and make yourself laugh. And those types of campaigns they take on lives of their own, you know, we did this for a regional area of the Mid Atlantic. And the best campaigns can be replicated, and can be owned by other champions in different communities. So whereas we were working with Make a wish, Mid Atlantic and children's, and NIH here in the DC, kind of Maryland, Virginia area, it started spreading to the Mayo Clinic and two organizations in Houston, and then they got picked up in Spain. And it was so powerful to see that because then people started finding their own organizations working in pediatric cancer, and doing kick it like a kid. And so when I think about the best campaigns, it's campaigns that are really easy for anyone to do. Real Low risk, low barriers of entry, they're accessible to lots of people old, young, different, you know, physical abilities and capabilities. And they have some fun pulled into all of that. I
mean, please put a pin in this and come back next time you're planning a campaign say she just gave you the list of protests, literally telling you that are so
there's cake in there, like you can literally have your cake and eat it too. So
true. Yeah, he's a vibe, like we've been championing this idea. Like I think we do. Get so mired in the seriousness of this and realize we're all humans, we want to have that moment of levity, that moment of connection, that light hearted, it's such a connector. And I want to transition though and talk about your dream job a little bit here, over it's six degrees, right? I mean, we we've all been aware our whole lives of this whole Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, I love seeing how he took what he had, you know, this platform, and you know, these connections, and he's tried to really harness good for that alongside you. And so I want to talk a little bit about what the mission does. What are your programs look like? I love how you're using a podcast to amplify your mission. I mean, this is just too cool.
Yeah, so we are a nonprofit for nonprofits and a lot of ways. And we connect our network partners, which is what I said aren't our nonprofit partners, our two critical resources through these essential kits that we build called building kits by Kevin Bacon, or BK by KB. We also share stories, which is where the podcasts and other kinds of short form content comes from. And we amplify changemakers. And we really believe that shifting narratives is an impact and getting people to understand that stories do have the capability of changing communities and hearts and minds. And sometimes there's not a direct metric around how much has been raised around this storytelling piece. But there's a lot of really powerful moments that can't be overlooked when you're doing a campaign that is centered around really strong storytelling. And so over the years, we've raised more than $15 million dollars for causes in a wide range, but our pillars are really focused on youth empowerment, justice and equity, what we call building sustainable living environments and emerging crisis when we feel like we can really make it impact and spin up a campaign around a cause that is domestic. So there's a lot of really wonderful organizations that work internationally. But we believe that there's a lot of need right here in the States. And that's where we're centered. And that's where we're going to probably continue to be centered, because we get asked all the time, like, what are you going to do and you know, Canada or the UK, and we love to amplify projects that people are doing everywhere. But our heartbeat is really here in the US. And so our three programs degree shift is a convener campaign model. That's where we kind of bring in all these different stakeholders, and create awareness campaigns, probably most notably is the I stay home for a campaign that we did and 2020 to get people to stay at home and be safe. Yeah, it was. That was wildfire. It became the most utilized hashtag of of 2020 and $0 budget, that was all just grassroots organic marketing, asking a catalyst to champion it. And it was really like the perfect storm in the terms of like, this was a global pandemic, everyone had that, that feeling and wanted to do something, and it was powerful, that's powerful to see that so we build campaigns where lots of stakeholders can kind of come together to amplify, you know, the cause that they all care about at once. And then we have cause evolve. And that's all of the social impact production work that you're seeing. So from the podcast, to behind the scenes, videos, and missions around these organizations that are doing incredible work, but they often don't have budget for marketing. And I know that on this show, you guys talk a lot about marketing, and as mission, and it's just so hard for these smaller organizations to get their board and their team to say, Yeah, we're going to materialize the funding that's necessary to build some type of media to get our name out. So six Reese comes in. And we, we do that for them. And we support them. And lucky for us, we have Kevin and a lot of other notable people that have platforms that are super generous with their time to platform these other organizations, and you don't need a Kevin Bacon, you really don't. You just need someone that has a really engaged audience that authentically cares about the work that you're doing, to help kind of propel a message or a campaign. So we just have so much fun, a part of our organizations that were so nimble that we can do a whole lot. But over the years, we've gotten a lot more strategic and focused, so that we can produce really high quality content and in scale our mission, you're
literally like the nonprofits BFF like their hype squad, like taking them along with you. And showing them what could be if we just think and have this mindset of work in a different way. And I also just want to note that even though you have this domestic focus, you are proving that through the use of leveraging media, it can be an international and global movement. I mean, when you talk about that children's cancer, like starting in the DC area, and then rippling all the way to Spain, that's what we think media scaling, impact has the potential to do. And then you find again, it's not just about your organization, or six degrees, or whoever it is. It's about all of us coming together in our communities wherever we are in the world and attacking that very one specific thing. So I think the model is just absolutely incredible. And we're gonna get into a case study, but before we do, I have to ask something totally off script because I have you here and I've always wanted to know, what does Kevin Bacon think about the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon? Now?
Yeah, anytime
anytime.
Well,
hold boards, like star cultural phenomenon.
We'll do we'll just do the walk down memory lane. It started in the 90s. At Albright University in Jersey, I believe. Three college kids were in the dorm and they were watching a movie that had Kevin in it. And then as soon as that movie ended, the next movie also had Kevin. And so they I'm sure they were drinking. They were like, oh, like I bet you can connect this guy to every other Hollywood actor and six degrees or less just like the six degrees of separation theory. And it became like a parlor trick, but this was like, pre internet, pre social media. Really? I mean, the 90s. So honestly, I'm like how I guess word of mouth. But I guess that's how that happened. But Kevin started hearing about it and was pretty annoyed. He thought that they were poking fun at his career, which is like insane. I know you like step back. You're like, Kevin, you've literally been in so many credible film. You're so talented. And what I love about him is that he, he doesn't get Yes, he plays a racist cop. Often, it's sometimes uncomfortable, how good he is at it. Not at all his personality, though. But he plays a lot of different characters, right? Like he's a character actor. So because of that he's been in a lot of different films. And it wasn't until he met them on a late night show, where they kind of surprised him he was going on, they said, Hey, we also have these three guys that started the game here. And he kind of was like, Oh, this is terrible. But then they came in, and they were really warm and excited and deferential to him and his career. And he realized, like, Oh, they're not poking fun. They're actually admiring my career. And I think it's just everyone has impostor syndrome, right? Even someone like Kevin, who has had an incredible career, and he's a star, right? But yeah, it goes to show that we all kind of fight with that, you know, how we how we view ourselves, and others eyes, but he decided to kind of take that and spin it on his head when he I think it's like 2007. Because he thought, Well, what do I have, I want to give back and Paul Newman has this, like, spaghetti sauce. And you know, other people have other things. And he was like, Well, I have this six degrees concept. And he really thought about, well, if you take me out of it, we're all just really six degrees or less from someone else that needs our help. And we're all really in need of connection. Right. And so he wanted to create a way for everyone to be a celebrity for the causes that they care about. So lots of iterations later, here we are doing this work and, and using celebrity and using media and the things that we have that are unique to us, around the entertainment world to shine a light. But we really love grassroot organizations. And you know, sometimes what we do partner with some larger organizations, especially through the podcast, when we're highlighting some of the causes that our celebrity friends really champion and care about, but our heartbeat are those smaller organizations that you haven't really heard of, but there's like, you know, hundreds of volunteers, and they're like, they are doing this mission driven work with such a small budget, and you're just like, it's like a magic trick, you know, you're like, man, if they just had more eyes, the right eyes, you know, the right funder, the right donor, just come in and see their work and see that other people are appreciating it. What can we really do then. And so our goal is to really help these nonprofits get the much deserved Limelight that they should be having, right? Celebrities realize that they have this and they can use it for a lot of good. Just like athletes, and a lot of other people have status. And it's powerful when it's used the right way.
Yeah, I mean, the the brilliance of taking this concept on and making it something that's good, is just so great. I just so glad that you all leaned into it. I'm such a huge Kevin Bacon fan. But I really want to get into this case study because you have this recent campaign you did. And it was like, just like over three months, your team was able to fundraise acquire and immediately distribute double click on that more than $865,000 and products to four incredible organizations in Utah. So take us behind the scenes of this campaign because we want organizations to replicate this playbook take us back.
Oh, man, it's it's it's really not even that long ago, but it was a world when back to that levity piece that we were talking about earlier. We knew that Footloose which was one of Kevin's most iconic roles was turning 40 This year, as am I those little hard for Katie to swallow, but my 40s
are amazing. The best decade ever, right?
I'm looking forward to
last year it was Yeah.
So we knew that this was going to be a moment, right? There are such great fans of this film. And there's so much excitement around it that we were really strategic early on and went to Kevin and said, so there's gonna be a lot of people that are gonna want to pull you into ALL THINGS Footloose next year. Can you ensure that there's a charitable component with all of those pieces? In which he said yes. And so that was really important for us to talk about how we could galvanize what we knew was going to be a huge movement around this film, and celebrating it, you know, really the world over. So we started talking to the people of Payson, when we started seeing this this hashtag bacon the pace and Pa Hang up everywhere. And the students there were really smart. And they started a social media campaign. And by the time we saw it, they were 190 days into it, where they were just sharing videos daily, with, you know, they had cardboard cutouts with Kevin and they were doing Footloose dances, and really trying to get Kevin to come back to the high school that it was filmed at. And what's interesting about that is that high schoolers are kind of outside the demographic of Kevin, most of them are like, I don't know who Kevin is, you know, they were really just campaigning, to get Kevin to come back. And Kevin was kind of like, you know, like, I don't want to come back just for myself, like, maybe there's something that we can do here, but we reached out. And the students actually were the ones that said, we would love to do a fundraiser for six degrees and partner for this campaign that they saw that we launched on Giving Tuesday of last year. And that was to build 40,000 of our BK by KV kits and distribute them across the country, you know, in celebration of this movie. So they were very smart, actually. So this is kind of a case study back on how you can, you know, get the attention when you're really trying to move an effort forward. So they, they're just as much a part of how this all came together as six degrees. And so we sat with them when we said, Okay, we're going to do some fundraising here. And we want you guys to be the champions on the ground and the community to do what you can. And they were really going to just pull the support from volunteers and kind of local businesses, the things that high school students are really good at doing right going to their local pizza shops, and asking some of the local businesses to give and six degrees focused on some of our national partners and brands. But really, what's important here is when you're doing something that's heavily local, you want to hit up those local brands and product partners. And these kits are filled with a lot of like hygiene items and things that are oftentimes not sexy, right. But there's a moment and a wraparound campaign that's so much fun, that you can talk about something like, you know, youth, the youth homeless crisis, and LGBTQ kids that are being, you know, kicked out of their houses, and they don't have anywhere to go, you know, families that are struggling, and, and don't know where their next meal was coming, right. And you can educate the public and get them to support them in a way that's really creative, but also highly visible. And I think that these brands knew that this was a moment that they wanted to be a part of, because Kevin was coming back to this town that I mean, just adored him and adored Footloose. And, I mean, we had teachers that were at the school when he filmed that we're still there, you know, 40 years later, a lot of the students their parents were, you know, in, in the movie or their grandparents were in the movie. It was really, really profound. But what was what was really important about this is that we partnered with champions in this community that have like, servant hearts, right? They, they cared about this, and they showed up willingly and rolled up their sleeves. And we created a lot of different ways for people to get involved and give back. I think with big movements like this that have to move quickly. You have to figure out ways for everyone to take part so that they can take ownership because collective impact is really, really powerful if it's done the right way. And I think oftentimes, we want to, you know, limit kind of our resources, our bandwidth, and we say like, No, we need to give money at this level for you to give this much product. Or you can volunteer like that's it, but we were like, Okay, we're gonna do an apparel campaign. Like, okay, you know, Dr. Smith, dentists, you know, DDS sure give us 500 toothbrushes, like that's going to actually help us offset some of the costs here. And we did that. And we were able to warehouse lots and lots of lots of items right there at the school, which was incredible, because that's a big piece of galvanizing that much product. I mean, we had 5000 of 25 items, right? Like, it was a lot of stuff. And we also had big partnerships, like with BetterHelp, they ended up giving three months of counseling for each of these bags. I mean, it is really, really, really incredible to see how brands will show up when they understand the moment and you create an urgency around that. Right. So the peel is really, really strong. And then like I said before, it was really important for us to find those network partners on the ground that were doing the incredible work that we could uplift and we did that and we made sure that they touched a lot of For areas from from youth, you know, that were really struggling with their family ties when it came to them coming out, and families that didn't really know how to deal with that. And they created houses so that they could come together as a, as a family, and really learn and grow to not just accept, but love their child fully how they are two organizations that were helping with a lot of immigrants, and, you know, those that have settled here, and were able to make fair wages so that they could, you know, afford housing, shelter, food, those sorts of things, to organizations that were, you know, teaching kids, things like podcasting, and media and communications, because this is this is the next generation of changemakers. Right. So like, Let's equip them to be able to tell their story themselves about, you know, the things that are important to them. And so we really touched on a lot of very beautiful areas brought them together. And I think that that allowed a lot of our different stakeholders to all feel like there was someone something that they really cared about. And so when you do that, you can create a much wider reach than focusing on one core area alone.
And then the campaign is not just a campaign. Yeah. And it's not just about Kevin, it's about 10s of 1000s of people pouring into this idea that everyone can be a philanthropist in their own way. And I gotta say, you opened up an entirely new market to yourselves with Gen Z, because I Julie's telling us, I saw this campaign, every everywhere tick tock on today's show, I saw it everywhere. So bravo. Well, that
was the big piece with today's show became an exclusive partner to us. But having a media partner, getting them excited about it, getting them to come out and cover it the way that you really want that story to be told is important. Because so often a media partner might come in and not tell the story the the exact way it really deserves to be told. And so having a strategy and steering that conversation, so they focus on the important things not Kevin's coming back Footloose is 40. And that's it. But you'll see in a lot of the media, these these numbers were in there, the names the organizations, we were supporting the impact of the campaign, because that was so front and center for us, it had to be centered for you. And you can really push for that to ensure that you don't get lost in the messaging.
I mean, we could quote a lot of people that have come through the podcast that have told us when it didn't go that way, you know, when you didn't control. It breaks your heart, but I'm having the same emotion hearing the story. I mean, when Kevin decided not to make this about him, but to be about this collective impact, this is what happens. And we walk away. And yes, that's almost a million dollars raised for that one piece. But when that was added to the sales, all this paid, you know, this earned media that just happened as a result is a ripple. It's so much bigger. And so this idea of collective impact, we're obsessed with it, and we want to live. So I love that you you just broke that down so beautifully. Okay, we love story, we're winding down this conversation. I love that example of you know, seeing six degrees make the ripple. But I'm curious about your own journey. If there is a moment of philanthropy that's really moved to you, as a person that is really stuck with you that you would take us back to can be personal or something you've seen in one of these organizations you've partnered with.
There's so much and I think that that's the beautiful part of our work is that we get to experience and get to know so many of these incredible organizations over time. But a few years ago, we partnered with an organization called rock to the future. And I produced this behind the scenes video, where we interviewed the different youth that basically learn how to be rock stars, you know, with this organization, and it's a way to prevent gun violence, to create afterschool activities for these youth in the Philadelphia area. And as I was asking questions, interviewing one of the students, she responded back that, you know, her mother had passed away earlier in the year, which hits very close to home because my mother also passed away. And I couldn't imagine being Thank you, Becky. I couldn't imagine being that young. Right and experiencing that. But two things were really beautiful about that. She had an aunt that was there with her that was championing her and she was supporting her and loving her and being that steadfast adult kind of mentor and caretaker that young people need, which really moved me but also what this young woman said was that this organization made her feel seen. She said, they ask how we're doing, and they really care. And I think so often we get swept up in the big things, the big million dollar campaigns, right in the glitz and all the pieces. But every day choices and everyday actions where you're leaning in, and you are asking someone how they're really doing. What you can do for them in that moment, cannot be understated. It is powerful. That is how we drive better, healthier communities, better, healthier connections. That's how we stop this epidemic of loneliness that we're seeing with our young people, and really the world over. And so in this work, I think that I'm always moved when I see the small actions that seemingly seem insignificant, but they have a ripple effect, a really powerful ripple effect. And we have to believe in that. And we have to try really, really hard for those moments to happen every day. I
like you so much. Oh, I like you, too.
I just, I think that there's there's just so many wisdom bombs, and in the brilliant nuggets to take away in this professionally, personally. And I want to compliment you too. Because, again, we talked about through lines, the through line of this conversation, you have weaved joy, you have weave the levity you have weaved the power of what the ripple can do not just for you, but for the people around you, for the community around you. And it's all centered in this concept of community of equity, equity, and in doing the right thing, and really grabbing hold of justice. And I just thank you for the way that you show up. Stacy, thank you for the way sixth degree shows up. This is the sort of modern nonprofit that just moves our hearts and gives us so much faith in the future. So thank you for that hope. And you know that we're going to round out our conversation with one good thing. So what kind of wisdom bomb you're going to drop there, my friend.
My wisdom bomb is that dignity is in the details. And when you are building these campaigns, and when you are trying to champion these organizations, from the corporate side, from the media side, from the foundation side, dignity, is in the details. And so what I mean by that is that we cannot overlook how important it is to be inclusive, to think about the people that aren't going to be directly affected by the choices that we're making around these campaigns, from the language to how we're trying to show up and serve them. And when we don't think about this holistically, we can actually cause a lot of harm. And it's not enough to just try our best and be you know, come from a good place, we really do have to take that extra step to ensure that we are fully thinking about the people that we're serving. And that takes some time, that sometimes means we need to slow down. Right, and we need to take a beat. And I don't think we are a culture that really loves to slow down. Right? But it's it's it's really critical whenever we can, yeah, we do have to normalize it so that we can do it right. Because doing it right is is much better than the alternative.
Dignity is in the details. goodness that is so poignant. It ties into so much we talk about about our how we ethically storytel How we aren't creating more harm how he comes back to like our mission can be a bomb and not harm. But we have to be intentional about that. And we have to have this posture of learning and growing and like we did that today just hanging out with you. So I want to connect people to you where you show up online, you know, have this amazing LinkedIn profile. So definitely connect there but point to the ways people can connect with six degrees and entertain change.
Absolutely. If you're interested in learning more about six degrees, you want to connect with me and you can shoot me an email Stacey at six degrees.org all spelled out. You can follow us on Instagram at six degrees of KB once again all spelled out. Obviously we're on LinkedIn and Facebook and all those fun places. And if you're a brand that is looking to do more thoughtful, intentional storytelling, you In send me a note at Stacey at entertain change.us. And I'd love to help you do it right. She
literally dropped her email address, which is always one of the kindest things people can do. And then she solicited brands which why are we all doing that you got open my time you've got open here's why the shameless shave. Amazing. And I think this is how we got to show up, we got to show up with this abundance mindset with this idea that we can do things differently. With this notion that more hands more voices in the conversation are going to make the movement richer, you are living proof of that. We adore you. Thank you for coming into this house and just filling our minds and hearts in the best possible way, my friend,
I adore you both. And I said this before Julie to who's behind the scenes, you all are doing incredibly, incredibly powerful work and I am honored to just sit with you this afternoon. Thanks for being my friend.
Thank you, buddy.
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