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. Welcome, welcome.
I'm so excited that you guys are on the podcast today. Oh, my gosh, I've been a little like podcast crushing over you guys for a while. And you're so nice. We also have some of the same like just fractions and areas we geek out on. So I want you guys to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what in there. What made you start, first of all, a podcast that drops three times a week. And second of all your business.
Well, I spilled the beans right before we started. But we went I wanted to do five times a week. And that was
a hard pass on that. So.
But yeah, so Becky and I actually met like 15 years ago, she hired me as an intern at the OSU Foundation, we both have had a passion for the nonprofit space, I was this geeky designer looking for an internship, she was the Director of Marketing. And we just became like fast friends and so value aligned that we've just have never left each other side, we stayed for five years in higher ed and then went on to healthcare, philanthropy, and just love philanthropy, like love getting people involved in it believe it's revolutionary and life changing for those that receive, you know, the end impact, but also the giver. And so we just believe by getting more people involved at any level, like it's just going to make the world a better place and solve some of the greatest problems. So we're just really smitten by that. And you know, because we kind of have followed each other, we've always had the conversation of like, what's going to be next. And so I've been dropping seeds to Becky for a long time to cultivate me for very long. Those donors. And honestly, I can remember one day when I was like, Hey, you need to do is so cool here at the hospital, we get to impact all these lives, hundreds of people. But what if we could go impact 1000s of people and like, just spread this impact around the world. And that was the first combo, you know, and that kind of soften the discussion. And it's taken on some different forms of what it would look like. But really just felt called to show up and serve in this space. Because we always felt like there was never a table to just get to plug in with like minded people that wasn't steeped in, you know inaccessibility, or cost to really come to a table to learn and grow. It's not behind like an association or just some of the formalities that are out there in the field. And we just wanted a place where it's like you're hanging out with friends, but you would talk about what's happening and how we can all grow our missions. And because people are just connected that are in philanthropy, I think you have a different spirit about you. And it's just proven to be true. So the podcast is our first foray into that, I guess. And it's allowed us to meet a lot of friends and kind of start the platform, so to speak of just what we stand for, and what are the values and just link arms with like minded people. And it's been a complete and total blast.
I don't know how I could add to that. I think one of the things I love the most about john is he just had this entrepreneurial spirit. And he has such a great ability to dream at a crazy level. And he drags me along. And then I get caught up in it. And then our creativity collides, as he's the designer, I'm the writer, and we kind of fuse those two together. And we have this ridiculous idealism and positivity. And we believe that we can literally change the world if we can teach people how to be empathetic and use entrepreneurial mindsets and hacks in nonprofit. It's just not something. You know, we live in an industry that is old and tired and not well innovated. And so we were looking for what is we're for good for, like over a decade. And we finally just said, Okay, I guess we're gonna build it because we can't find it. We are absent people around. I know. So yeah, we talked about mom's kitchen table a lot because that's, that's what we call our space over here. Because mom's kitchen table just seems like the safest place that you can come in your flannel pajama pants and a cup of coffee and have these really safe conversations. And anyone is welcome. And so we wanted to thread our values than the things that are really important to us in life. And with this mentality of everyone's welcome here and our table is for everyone and we want to equalize ourselves. And make it more inclusive for everybody.
And you did that you created where for good? There it is, there it is. I mean, I remember the day that I read it on the whiteboard, I was like, Becky, I know what this is gonna be called. And we didn't even fully know what it would be yet.
Yes. And john said, I have the name. And I said, this is we have a scary alignment of brain sometimes, probably because we've been hanging out together for so long, but I'm like, whatever it is, I think it needs to be a sentence, a sentence would be describing what we're doing. And he goes, Oh, it has a sentence and a period at the end, like ality of what we're doing. Yeah. So I love it. It was perfect.
That's so good. And so you guys said nine months ago is when you started. How long were you cultivating this, this dream and this process?
I mean, it was definitely two or three years, you know, and I think we had just to kind of take you through some of the iterations, we, you know, had this opportunity at our health care philanthropy to build this kind of unique employee campaign that really caught fire. And so we got this opportunity to teach at different forums, like I mean, the associations that I talked about, or different webinars, and people just gravitated to it. And it was the core values that we adopted for weird forget today. It was building a campaign that everyone matters, playing the long game building rabid fans not focusing on the money focus on the belief in the whole campaign. And it was disruptive. And I think, at the same time, we were building it, we're like, why is this disruptive to like, prioritize everybody mattering? Like, why is that a weird thing? Kind
storytelling? Yeah, stories out and not talking about goals. I mean, it seems so intuitive,
like kindergarten style stuff, you know, that would be true. But I think that's what's sadly missing a lot of times is just the humanity in it. And so, you know, one of our first iterations is like, let's just go around and teach this new way of doing employee giving. And we just, we started to work on securing contracts for different consulting roles that could be like that. And Becky and I had this seminal moment, it was at the sandwich shop in town, we're sitting down at lunch, we're looking at, you know, working on both sides of the coast, having to travel all the way to go do that. And we're like, Man, it's gonna be kind of crappy to leave our families to go do these things as cool as this opportunity is. And we just had this moment, I remember looking back, I said, we're not reacting. Why do we have to travel? Like, why don't we build a model that's different. I mean, we each are happily married, we should have said that for everybody, and have our own families and our families love each other. But we just had different dreams than to be like consultants flying around the country and doing that, and really didn't want it to be about us either. Like just this idea. We wanted to build up movement. And so we really kind of went back to the drawing board and channeling the different entrepreneurial thoughts. That's where it just kind of we went even bigger. It's like employee giving to me is revolutionary at an organization. But what if we thought about it at a global level? And so we kind of zoomed out, and that's where the traction are, and we're for good? And how do you build a community? How do you start a conversation will podcast thing is really interesting to us. We're storytellers by Trey, we're marketers at heart, like, it just kind of was the right fit. And I'm like, we've been behind tables, producing galas, you know, in the background for all these years, we know how to do some of this stuff. Let's put it all together. And you know, and that was weird for good 1.0. I didn't, we didn't anticipate the pandemic. And so that kind of was our last confirming step. It's funny, we are planning on leaving our jobs in July of 2020. And Becky was so fervent on that she's like john 20, July 1 2020, is the day that I'm going to jump,
like a year before that. But I also I had, like a mental health crisis. And as a result of coming out of that I had crazy clarity about what I needed to be doing with my life and what I did not need to be doing with my life. And so yeah, it was like, it just seemed really clear. And we were a pandemic baby company, you know, board in the pandemic, and we're one of the few companies who has, I think, thrived as a result of people being completely virtual people, being at home, people looking for doing a different way to do business, people looking for something positive and good with all of the heaviness in the world. So we just, I mean, divinely, or fortuitously, we hit it at the exact right moment, and we feel blessed every day.
So Becky knew she wanted to jump, she was real definitive, I needed a little bit more badging and I really needed my wife to say, quit putting off your dream like this is the you know, like, let's go for like what's the worst that's gonna happen and if I get to go back to being a barista, which I did in college, my dream job anyway so like it's always the backup plan.
I love that you like had to bring you know Becky along but then Becky was really your push to like actually go for it. Like there's just this beautiful balance and synergy between you guys even before we got on Mike just like the energy you know, that you brought into, brought into this room is so contagious, and I'm curious if there's been anything surprising that you guys have learned about yourself as you've been bringing people on to teach others? Has there been like common themes that you have caught on to that you have just been maybe surprised about of like, Oh, this is this is really good.
Such a good question.
I mean, I think for me, I have been so affirmed at how showing up as your authentic self, in 2020. And 2021 is one of the greatest things you can do for your brand, like your personal brand. And people can just sniff out a phony, especially online, on socials. And if you if you are comfortable and willing to show up with all your warts, which john hates it when I've used that analogy, but to like, be vulnerable, and to say, these are the things I'm struggling with, these are the things that are heavy on my heart, and, and reaching into community to give you answers give you solutions give you support, it has been one of the most affirming things, I think, in the journey, because we kind of just have these conversations and our strategy for the first year, we had like a two fold strategy. And it was like to never ask for money for anything. We just wanted to create as much content that was free as possible. And we just wanted to listen and make friends. And so we're just sitting here listening. And by virtue of just having this runway to listen and allow people to share their story. It's like the the arcs that we forget are going to take are going in so many different terms that we could have never ever anticipated. We don't have all the answers, and I hope we never will. I hope that we're always learning and growing. And I have a sense. I mean, we're learning and growing from you guys, too. So it's just so great that community feel of getting better and improving the world around us.
You know, I'm definitely like the big visionary type person. And I love living in that if I didn't have to actually do all of the tasks underneath I would be so thrilled, you know, that were associated with that.
We are the same person I like live in the clouds all the time. Haley's like, okay, like, we got to get stuff done today, no, stop ideating and like visioning for like three years from now. And I'm like, already, like 20 years down the road. And she's like, what about today?
This is why you guys are good match, like, yeah, Haley and I are Hi, Jay on Myers Briggs. Like, you all have this. But yeah, you've got to see the dreamers. You gotta have the dreamers I
think, too. So. But I mean, I definitely have noticed, it's a lot easier to talk about things like once you actually put your life on the line, it feels different than talking about it, teaching about it, all the things. And I really naturally can roll back into like this scarcity mindset. And Becky has to push me on this almost every week. I mean, every day that we talk is just, it's easy for me to like, want to hold on to what I can control and not make that investment do the thing that's going to push us forward because it's it's easy for me to stay comfortable even though I'm like this visionary person. And so I think that's been the most surprising thing. And I've needed people around me to call me out on it. And it's been good and it's been healthy. But I still there's a lot of days that I'm like, Oh my gosh, it's so I'm a peacemaker, my enneagram nine probably like off the charts side don't like I love peace, and you know, not gonna have, you're not gonna have all peace when you're running a business and you've got a lot going on, you know,
so I'm laugh because we're hard eights here, both of us. I'm married to a Hard Eight. I'm the two. I'm the helper but,
but I am an eight. We would be like a dynamic team right here tonight we'll do a play.
It's awesome.
If you guys could work with one type of person, or reach one type of person, one type of company. very specific. Who or what would that be? Oh, I
love this question.
I've been asked this question before, you know, we're marketers in our minds. I mean, that's how we think through the lens of everything. So we have avatars for our business. And we like obsess about these avatars. We've named the avatars of just like, Who are we trying to speak to? And they're real people, real people showing up I should
have just like naturally gravitated to what we do. You know, in the beginning, we're like, we don't really know we want to help all nonprofits. But we have two distinct groups. And I guess I'll talk about one of them. Becky can choose what you want to talk about. But I love this young professional, that does not have influence yet. And their organization. they desperately want to be the person of influence, but they maybe don't yet, but they're so hungry. They want to make a difference in the world. They're still wide eyed, and they're just looking to grow and absorb. Like I've been so boosted by those people in our community, that are just young and want to change the world because I think this generation that's coming up is truly revolutionary on that. Land playing field. And we talked about playing the long game all the time. And part of us is just like, what if nothing happens for 15 years for this company, like, we're cool with that, as long as we can survive that long, you know, because we feel like we're going to cultivate this younger generation of, here's the tools to equip you to, to go and do and start because you've got the burning desire in your heart. But let's give you the mindsets and tools to equip you to go start a movement, or to raise incredible amounts of money for causes, that means something to you. So I love that group, they give me energy, and they make me feel very old at the same time, but I love I love those people in our community, I like boost me to spend some time with them.
I would have said the same thing, would you Yeah, we love our young professionals. But it's because we believe that if you want to change the world, and you want to completely revolutionize the nonprofit sector, in our minds, the best way to do that is to teach this new way of thinking to our millennials, and Gen Z errs, who are just now coming out of college, they're getting into their first job, they have so much passion, they want to align with companies and causes that are near and dear to their heart. And so if you can take that energy, you know, and teach them a new style of how to connect, how to fundraise how to engage, how to steward how to be incredibly authentic, and in how you show up. We really believe that has a ripple effect. And then, you know, we also want to teach the teachers how to do this. So we're finding consultants and people are out there, you know, working one on one with nonprofits, and we're trying to train them to and after a while, you can kind of see this movement building. So anyway, that was, I guess, me, piggybacking on your comment.
So you talked about the long game, right. And we find it really important about sustainability, we have a five p framework on sustainability, we have a rating scale that we do for ethical impact businesses. And that's something we care about so deeply of how are we are we thinking about proactively? How are we looking inwardly, not just outwardly on our impact and about purpose and people but also inwardly on ourselves? And so we're constantly talking about what does that mean for sustainability, right? And so how would you guys, especially in the non, you know, in the nonprofit, profit sector, and we talk about, you know, we deal with businesses across the board, from corporations, nonprofits, for profits, all of it. But what we hone in on is it doesn't matter to the entity or it matters on that sustainable mindset. And we need to start changing that terminology. So how would you define that to someone in non profit, especially the nonprofit world? Because I think we get hung up on these terms. And again, this coming from a mind of scarcity coming from this burnout stage most at a time. So what does that look like for you guys? And maybe the definition of when you say, oh, being in the long game, or the long haul? Like what does that mean? Okay, yells
questions are so good. podcasting notes from y'all, because y'all are good.
Let's think about stuff. And yeah, awesome.
I kind of have like two trains of thoughts of this. And one of them is, you know, I think the nonprofit's that thrived in the middle of COVID. And that have, you know, picked up much quicker as a result of that. Are those that like, are so in tune? Not with the institution, as much as Who are they impacting at the end of the Why are they Why do they even exist, is the the organizations that we talk to, and I think the ones that are aspirational, like she's the first you know, is when that comes to mind is they're so in tune with the girl that's desperately wanting to be educated, that they want to figure out how to empower her. And they're having conversations with her to figure out what resources and access to those resources she needs. And that evolves, I mean, it's so different, and they are humble enough to pivot as that changes and evolves, because their mission may be the same, but the way that they deliver that or the way that they you know, deliver programs is changing. And so I think that is a really powerful mindset of like, the long game is like, what is you're really trying to do, and don't be so attached to these, Oh, you got to have a gala on April every year, which or whatever it may be. These things that don't matter, oftentimes feel like the things that are most important politically and the structures inside nonprofits, but like, what is are we really trying to do here, an organization that we love, and we just talk about them every chance we get as water for and they're, you know, they're in the Clean Water space, they have got this bold vision in which I think is so critical, but a bold vision to you know, by 2030 provide community wide access to water and their vision is not to build the well and walk away their vision is to like you would have running water in your house because who wants to really walk to a Well, I mean, that's not really living at that. I mean, it's not living that anybody would want in America. So why would we want that to be our endgame for our friends in Africa. And so I think that that kind of bold thinking is really powerful. And they ultimately want to go out of business because it's solved. So I think that's A different dichotomy of the long game but they're so subscribed to solving said mission that they would be willing to go out of business. I think that that kind of thinking really resonates since me, those are the organizations that I want to put my money in, and who I want to run alongside.
And just having an abundance mindset. You know, the thing that I think is so striking to me, as I've stepped away after 20 years working in foundations is that foundation structures are so rooted in tradition, and infrastructure, and politics. And so there is because you're tethered to the ground in those things, there is no opportunity to dream up here and to ask those super big questions about how do I eradicate my crisis? You know, or my problem? How do I solve my problem? And and move on to the next great thing? How can I leverage creativity, innovation and tech to help me get there faster? And so, you know, my response to someone that's in that mindset is, we have to do like a deep internal dive on what we're thinking and how we go about our day to day business, how we use our boards, how we use our volunteers, you know, we should be driving every part of the philanthropic purpose and the vision and and, and yet, you see so many foundations where the board is dictating it, or that C suite is telling you what you need to fundraise for
the C suite that doesn't look like they're trying to
look like we're people we're trying to serve in our missions. And so, I mean, just I would say, even rounding out your last question, Who is the perfect company that we're looking for, we're looking for people who are highly abundance mindset subscribed, we want them to be so bought in to CSR, corporate social responsibility, we want them to align their giving, with companies, nonprofits, who have those same values, who chase things that are much bigger than profit, like we're chasing, solving the world's biggest problems, and it's going to take us all to link arms. It's not about putting a proposal in front of somebody and saying, will you fund this, it's, it's about reaching across the table to somebody and saying, Hey, we aligned, and we need to partner on this together, we need you. And we've got the vision, you've got the resources, and let's come together and figure out how we can do this together. It's not, please come and buy a table. You know, there's nothing inspiring about that kind of a model. We want to build believers, not donors, because donors will come from being a believer, rabid fans will come volunteers will come crowdfunders will come. And so it's just a different mind shift. And we think nonprofit is finally ready to like jump toward this. And we are meeting with all these incredible people like you and talking to these experts who are already there, with their thinking and the way that they're setting up their strategies. And they're having massive success building massive movements online. And people feel great about it to the point of everybody feels great when they can pour into it the receiver and the donor. Hmm. Yeah, Mic drop.
My background is in a lot of domestic like us nonprofit management, that's pretty much been my entire career. And it's so fascinating, because that's what this what I'm hearing you say is exactly what I recognized is like the traditional US based nonprofits, it's here, you know, looking for grants, looking for donors during the galahs doing the things and then you have the higher level nonprofits who are have that big vision, have the good story, have that all encompassing thing that you just you can't help but want to be a part of, when there's this great divide between the two. And it seems like when I was an executive director, I remember thinking how as an ad, first of all, I'm a woman, I'm a petite woman, at the time I was even 10 years ago. So as much younger I was in my 20s. And I remember thinking, Okay, all my board are pretty much old white men, and how in the heck, they know nothing about nonprofits. Right? It was just like a grab bag of these want to come be on my board. How do we make you strategically work so that like I can get you know, right? That's so often how nonprofits work. Because as much as you want to be strategic, you have all these other competing needs. And so I remember thinking this is, and I saw it with every peer over the whole course of my nonprofit career. This is totally unsustainable, this isn't helpful. This is not getting us anywhere closer to our vision. I spend more of my time educating my dang board than anything else on just how to do the things right and they don't even know what's going on. And then not to mention when you want to get innovative And really think big. I have a master's in nonprofit management and community development and no one else could speak that language. Right? Because it was just so hard right there were so burnt out. My staff, my board, everyone, the community, the donors was I stepped into this org and it was just tired. And I feel like so many nonprofits I worked for hired. And you kind of mentioned this right? And so I'm curious what you guys are you guys first of all, like, which platform to like, divide, like, bring together this bridge, like create this bridge between this visionary like Charity Water, right? Something big brings you right along, wants you to be a part of this vision, doing really innovative things to like the mom, pa nonprofit and a little small town, right? Why do you get them to go, Whoa, hey, you can rethink about how to do this. I could think about fiscal sustainability and diversity differently. I could think about doing Gollum totally differently. I could think about, you know, all of these pieces, because they all need to be reworked. In my opinion. And that is, you know, the foundation of of school of ethical impact is like, it all needs to be blown up so we can create something different. So I'm curious, are you guys gonna solve it?
Tell us? Yes. We call it impact appraising, I can swivel one, it's like on our wall right over here. I love that. That's our vision. Like it's literally on our wall is that we believe, obviously, education is key, you know, to everything. I think you talk about the small nonprofits, there's not even an awareness a lot of times inside of like, that the thought that they could ever be or aspire to be like Charity Water. And I think there's a lot of things going on there, honestly, because a, they probably have a mission that completely bores their staff to death, and a vision that bores everybody to death, and they're bored to death, we had the honor of Dan pelada, we talked about this right before the podcast, we just interviewed him on the podcast, he blew our minds, but it's the same thing that he's been talking about for 10 years, since, you know, disruptive Ted's pocket dropped, it's like, we have to rethink what we're doing here. You know, people
showed my power that video and I thought, okay, maybe this will be this will be the end. They're like, I've sent that video to so many of my bosses, and it's like, it goes right over their heads, you know, because that old thinking is so ingrained, and they think they know, because they know what ROI is. And they know the equation for cost to raise $1. And they think overhead is this horrible word. And all of those things are stifling your ability to be creative, to blow that vision out of the water. And so we are really like in a deep education space, but please keep going with them packed up, right? So
it all folds into it. Obviously, we alone can't solve this, our vision is not just that it'd be the two of us, we feel like where we can plug in in the next few years specifically, is providing education, assembling and curating the best teachers. We believe in today's society that that people that I described as my favorite avatar. This is the Netflix generation, you know, let's be reality, we're not going to sit on an hour zoom, watching PowerPoint slides of how to do something, we're going to edutainment to this platform, because we're gonna change the world. You know, it's like this could be this incredible, exciting stuff. So why are we stuck behind our PowerPoints for an hour, like let's talk about and get people mobilized and excited. So that's, you know, our next play is we're locking arms with some of the best teachers to build a really accessible platform that we want to see in every conference room around the country, that edutainment of how to do this, and getting the best minds teaching. But even, that's not gonna reach everybody. So we just, we have lots of different ways that we want to teach and share stories. Because I feel like it's true that you can't become what you don't see in so many ways. And so by telling the story through through the podcast, or to the other mediums that we want to, you know, share through our work, and just locking arms with so many people that are doing wonderful work like you guys as well, is just, it's gonna take all of us pulling in that direction. But at the end of the day, it's kind of shocking. It's like the GDP has not moved and yours now percent of GDP, that's part of the philanthropy, is it 2% percent? for years. It's like, how is it 2%? And how can Isn't this the time that we could actually move the needle on that. But I don't think it's just going to be on mobilizing the fundraisers to do more. I think it's also going to be mobilizing on people getting involved in philanthropy at lots of different levels and the businesses coming together and the community so this is the part we feel called and accountable to right now. But impact uprising, what can I say? That's what we love it.
And I love that you guys talk about education, because that says I mean, when we started the School of ethical impacts were like what, what is our move here? Like we saw alignment, we saw our values, we saw gaps, we were frustrated, you know, Haley I she said comes from the nonprofit sector, domestic wise and tons of just just Yours on that. And then of course, I'm in the international sector and social enterprise and trying to be innovative in business. And people don't understand terminology. And it's just like, don't understand what this what is going on. Right? So we're like, how do we educate people? And how do we tell them that this should be the normal like, that's why we say ethical impacts shouldn't be the social norm, this is what we should be doing. And so, and I love it all starts with education. I even think of like our women, our money collective, it started with educating them before anybody can be empowered, you have to start with educating and I think that's true in any level, from an artisan level, and a third world country to us who are EDS or you know, board members or whatever sitting at the table, like there has to be education for us to be empowered in our positions. And so I love what you guys are doing and I love that you know, like we said, is such a big world but small world at the same time and that we Haley always laughs at me, but you guys are now my best friends. I always say when I meet someone wants they're, they're my best friends. So. So I might text you at midnight. Welcome to being my best friend is always gonna hear from me.
And you chat to us on email, it was like 9am your time and 11 to story we
want to tell it. Okay, so first, I want you to swivel again and show this is okay. So Haley, let's sell this. So Haley is our also works with armadio, Director of partnerships. And something that's so cool about the sailor when we first met is because I was watching their podcast with Dana, my good friend Dana with positive equation, and I was looking at your screen and I was like, wait, they have it awani collective products. Look at that. Yes, so that I emailed them. And I was like, Oh, my gosh, you guys have a big banner. And I was so excited.
I mean, I need to like break this story down for your listeners. Because it was, I think it is one of the most incredible moments that we have experienced since we launched our podcast. But we are working at midnight, you know, which we do a lot of nights, sadly. And you know, we're startup. And this email comes in from Jenny who might never met. And she's like, you have our banner on the wall. Yeah, she's like, Hi, from Kenya. Here's my organization. And we freak out on text group thread, all of us are up and we're all talking. And so I write Jenny back. And I'm like, I cannot believe that we bought this thing at just a local shop that we have here in Oklahoma who sources like conscious consumer goods, and we love them. They're the greatest humans. And she comes in just thank you so much. That meant so much she writes back and she says, if you'll turn it around, you will see the person who made that for you. So we turn it around, we see Fatimah is written on the back. We're breaking out at another level because it's like all of a sudden, like this is not just this nameless, faceless product that was given us to us by someone It was like there is a human who is working in this ethically impacted organization that is employing women for good. And here it is on our wall and people see it every single time we turn on the podcast. And so Jenny's like Oh, I know her. I'm just gonna go out to the workshop, I guess. You said hi. And it was like, we reach back out to the to the little mom and pop mercantile called plenty merchantville here on in Oklahoma. We shared the story with them. They were crying and saying oh my gosh, this gives so much purpose or what we do. Yeah. Hang on. The story is not over. I don't think we call Jenny the story. No, I know the so we're interviewing Vic Harrison founder Charity Water her episode dropped on Monday. Did we tell the story or did she see the sign? I think she saw Harrison Charity Water founder has this exact sign in her house bathroom. I am freaking she was like I bought it at Crate and Barrel. I just loved it. Because we have we've Oh my gosh. Go ahead and cry. You can because we were freaking out and it's like this little sign and it's like what we wanted Fatoumata No, we wanted for too much to know that Her work has purpose. And that what she is doing and how she is showing up in in our space in this tiny little 98 year old house of John's where we run our podcast and we run this company that everyone who comes and sees that. We're asking people to be kind that we're asking them to lean in to what we're talking about. We're asking them to link arms with like minded friends who want to pour in this direction. And it's like this little sign. I don't know what has happened but it is taken on a life of its own. And now we are here talking on your podcast. And I just want to say for too much thank you to you, and all your sisters who are working in this space because this stuff matters. I will
let Haley talk cuz I'm a mess. But thank you for sharing the story that is incredible. Oh my gosh, wow, yeah, I'm pulling myself together, pull myself together. Um,
that is what it's all about. That's what we do what we do. Community is everything.
That's it, right, that's our eighth core value. Our final core value is community is everything. And our first one is everyone matters. And pouring into that little product truly matters. It has a ripple effect. And that is like maybe the underpinning of impact uprising is you as an individual have something to give in this world, you have gifts, you have passions, all you have to do is pour into that passion, pour your gifts into them in a way that works for you. You don't have to work in nonprofit, you can be at home working mom in a knitter circle, I don't know what it is, find a way to pour into your passion, I bring up the knitter circle, because I did see on gift butter that a knitter circle raised $250,000 for food scarcity in the United States a
couple of weeks ago, anybody but also I mean, good. I'm Jenny, strategically, whoever said, we see the people that work here, we love the people that work here, we want you to sign the art that you're creating, oh my gosh, you know, x level steward. It's not marketing, it's dignity. It's, you know, empowerment. And that took it to a different dimension for us. And for everybody that's been a part of that story. So and for the, you know, I hope for her too. So, thank you for that.
JOHN, we can never take it off our wall. I know, we're gonna find it's going to be up there.
No, I love it. I love it so much, because that's exactly it. Um, one thing we also you know, don't do is we don't like white label where we always collaborate with brands, because we never want we don't want to manufacture and collaborate without our artisans being known because there's someone behind it. And so it's been beautiful to be disruptive in that market and to teach Crate and Barrel and targets and different these larger big box brands. How do you source How do you buy? How do you create ethical product, if that's what you really want to label it, this is how you do it. And so it's been really fun being at those tables, Haley and I and talking to buyers, big buyers of like, and kind of calling the shots a little bit, you know, like you got to change your terms if you want to if you actually want to purchase ethically it's been a beautiful journey, a long journey, but a beautiful journey. But normally our last, our last question is what does ethical impacts mean to you? And I feel like you guys really encompass that and the last bit, but I will still pose it to you if you want anything to add as What does ethical impact mean for you and your life and your business? And how you can encourage our listeners to today?
Yeah, I mean, what comes to mind is, and I can say this from being within a nonprofit for 15 years, there's years that went by, that I didn't think about the end person, you know, you get so wrapped up in your calendar, your development plan, your goals, your fundraising, political problems, that like I think what it all boils down to is like, what are we doing good for the people that we're really helping, or we're trying to help. And you know, that's why our first core values, everyone matters, we want to always see the person that we're serving. And we want to be humbled by that we want to be called by call it out by that, and just build it around. The one person that we're talking to, you know, even if this grows to 1000s of people, like we want it to always come back to the one I think that's missing, sadly, especially because efficiency is so powerful. And all these ways to do more and more and more with less, it gets less and less like personnel and less and less attached to what the impact really is. and impact is such a broad buzzword. I think it's lost. So I think that's for us. You know, that's what we talk about a lot. And I think that's what resonates with me personally,
I think I would just say when I think about like, what is my ethical impact? And how do I leave my mark on the world in a way that makes me feel good and makes me feel like I've made a difference. JOHN will probably laugh because I use this all the time. But I am a huge believer in cognitive diversity. And I believe I am a 41 year old woman, white woman from Oklahoma and the experiences that I have had in my life are incredibly narrow. And I can never begin to empathize with someone if I have not heard their story. And so if I'm really pouring into an ethical impact in my work it it is about creating space for me to listen and that would be like my, I guess We ended our podcast with what's your one thing? That would be my one good thing for today is how are you showing up and listening? How are you meeting someone in the space that they're at, and, and coming into that conversation with incredible reverence and gratitude, because it's hard to, for people to share their stories, sometimes sometimes it's very painful. But I want to learn from that experience, and I want to draw from it and make my part of the world better wherever I am. I wanted to pour into my business in that way. And and I have to say that if I have found that when I do that, selfishly, I get a lot out of it. You know, my worldview expands my heart grows, my friendships get more cemented, because now I'm going to be best friends with Haley Jenny. And maybe she'll have me. But it's it's really about I mean, this is part of the problem right now. And from my vantage point, you know, at least the United States, it's like, we cannot just be thinking we have all the answers are that our values are the right ones, or our experiences are the ones that are the most important. If you really can subscribe to this abundance mindset, then you have to listen. And that that also means that I have to listen to people I don't like you know, but I have to because they have a different point of view. And that's going to soften me and sharpen me at the exact same time. So that'd be my answer to.
Yeah, thank you guys so much. We talk about radically listening all the time. And that's your first step. So we are so aligned on so many messaging and values and where we want to go and have impact uprising and all the things and we're just so excited you guys made the time to be on our podcast. And we just encourage everyone to go visit. We are for good. And the three times a week, not five times a week, three times a week podcast, you guys just have a lot of amazing guests and really good knowledge on there. So we encourage you guys to go listen to them. And just yeah, just gather up the knowledge and be able to go out and make more impact in your world. So as we say at the School of ethical impact. Go at change the world right where you are. Thank you guys.
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