'the Shift' featuring David Silbert, Co-Founder of So What Else, Inc. | Host: Catherine E Trotter

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Welcome back to another edition of The Shift. I am
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Catherine E. Trotter, your host, and listen. We have another
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phenomenal guest with us on today, David. He is the
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co founder of So What Else. We're going to take
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a deep dive and learn about who is David and
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what is his organization all about, and how are they
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making an impact in the community.
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So I want you to do one thing. I want
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you to hit the share button.
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I want you to send this information, send a link
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to someone you know, because we're about to shift this
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conversation to a whole other level with David. I'm just
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going to read a quick intro that I found off
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of the website. So What Else is a five to'
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one c three nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives
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of children and families and underserved communities across Maryland and Washington.
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D C. With that being said, David, welcome.
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All right, thank you for having me. It's great to
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be here. I'm already enjoying our conversation.
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Yes, we had a pre conversation before the for the interview.
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I'm just grateful that you're with us on today, but
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also the impact that you and so what else is
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making in the community. I just read a quick little
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snippet that you're a fiber one c through organization you're
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running when you're a co founder.
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But take us through the story of how, so what
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else got started? Yeah?
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I mean I think it was.
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You know, I had my journey which had its challenges,
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and I was a writer in my twenties and.
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I landed my late twenties, I had a personal training.
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Business, and you know, I just had a will to
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make a difference in the world and make my life
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and everything that I've been given and all the blessings
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and the second and third and fourth chances that I
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had led me to this space and place. I met
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my friend and we went down in New Orleans and
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worked on the Habitat for Humanity post. Katrina got this
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feeling of you know, maybe we can do something, and
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we came back to the Washington area and just sort
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of started asking this question, so what else can we
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do to help? Honestly, had no idea what we wanted
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to do or what that was going to turn into.
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It started out as a community movement to bring people
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together and get involved. It was really a research project
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at first, what can we do to help. We were
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asking ourselves that and I just took my background of
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sports and yoga and leadership and you know, character development
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and stuff like that. And our first mission from twenty
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and nine to nineteen was serve kids, serve the community,
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and get the kids we serve to pay it forward.
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This idea of we can pass the baton to our youth,
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our youth generation, and not only bring them services, but
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get them to pay it forward and give back. And
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people love that concept of you know, it goes across
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the aisle. We're providing something, but we're also teaching a
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man to fish. And then the pandemic hit in twenty
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twenty and we were there was about ten of us
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sitting around in a room going, uh oh, what do we.
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Our own survival the survival of others.
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Our after school classes were canceled, Our summer camps were
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going to probably be canceled, and we sort of went,
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what do we do now?
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And we reached out to those communities, so we provide
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free From nine nine to nineteen.
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We provided free after school in summer camp programs. That
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was our predominant program service. So we reached out to
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those communities and said hey, sorry, classes are canceled tomorrow,
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just like school. What can we do to help? And
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you know, people were scared, We were scared, and we
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just brought down We brought down some basic resources, some
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after school you know, art kits and waters and food
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in that first distribution the week of March tenth, twenty twenty,
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and it just it just built from there and it
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just became basic.
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Needs, which is really food.
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And we connected with our community and we had you know,
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restaurants and people kind of going to a giant and
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bringing it.
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To our warehouse, and which was not a warehouse at
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the time.
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It was like my dad's office, you know, somewhere in Rockville.
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And we would go down to these communities where we
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were serving fifteen to twenty kids, and what we saw
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was the whole community would start coming out to the
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t what's going on here?
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Like what can I have a bag of food?
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You know, And just this explosion of food movement turned
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us into what we are today, which is the largest
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food bank in Montgomery County volume of food wise doing
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on pace to do about twenty million pounds of.
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Food this year. So we have a three piece.
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Food and emergency resources one because we have a thrift
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shop where people can bring in their decent and above
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conditioned items and donate them and we give them.
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Back out to the community.
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Two we got we were able to within a year
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almost fully get back to our youth programs. So mission
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number two is youth development still and then finally we
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pull it all together with this beautiful tapestry of service.
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And that's kind of the question mark what can you
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do to help? And that's sort of our belief system
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in what can transform society is if we just use
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service as a unifier, it can unify race, religion, that
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political spectrum, right, because everybody says they want to serve,
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So let's come out and meet there and kind of
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use that as a power, powerful tool.
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I think it's amazing to learn about the history of
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any organization because I think that tells the heart of
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the leaders. That also shows the why you got started.
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And so now it makes sense when I hear the
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name or see the name.
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So what else? It was a question mark that y'all had,
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what else can we do?
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And I think that's a question we myself and anyone
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that's listening and watching this segment can ask ourselves, what
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else can we do more to help in our community?
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Right?
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And so for those that's tuned in, you're tuned into
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the shift, we want you to hit the share button.
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This conversation, I think is going to hit home to many.
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And David, I'm just going to ask you, when you
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think of the shift, and you think about the word shift,
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when you shifted into being the co founder and starting
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this phenomenal organization, was there something that had to shift
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in you personally to take on that leadership capacity.
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I think you know, every day I'm shifting and evolving
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into a new leader. And I mentioned in our pre conversation.
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You know, our culture we use a we we took
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a Kaisen culture from one of one of my mentors,
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and it just means incremental daily growth. And so we
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challenge our staff to through the tenets of wellness and
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you know, training and preparation and you know, striving to
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be better at work. This idea that it's okay to
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make a mistake. We can make a mistake, but the
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but the goal is to grow to grow the goal
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as an individual, as a company, as a as a group,
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and and.
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Really as a as society. Right, you know, and.
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Here on Earth that's really what we want to do
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is is is grow and shift. So my my challenges
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and my shifts really happen every day from you know,
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things like we have eleven trucks now, Like I had
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no idea what fleet management was before that, you know,
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seven or eight years ago, I didn't really know what
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HR was, you know, So every day my level of
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leadership and capability and sometimes it's just as simple as
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I don't know the answer to that, I have to
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find a teammate.
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That's why, you know, a team.
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Concept and a community concept is so important. Although it's
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challenging to work with others. And this is the you know,
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this is the African proverb, you know what it means
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faster alone, farther together. And I think that that's a
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big challenge with our society. We hit a problem, we
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hit a confrontation, we go I'm not dealing with them,
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I'm going to walk away. But the opportunity cost of
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that is is huge, and so it's I think it's
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worth it. I see it every day with staff having
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trouble with each other or a different community movement, you know,
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and we ask ourselves, how can there be this many nonprofits?
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Is the needle moving. It's just the importance of working.
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Together and understanding that conflict, just like in our families,
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is part of the it's part of the thing. It's
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part of the day, you know, and we're trying to
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shift to get a little bit better.
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So I think what you're saying, what I'm taking in
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of what you're saying is even from your leadership growth
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from when you first started the organization. You gave very
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you know, specific examples from the trucks to the hr
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example that you grew with the process. As the organization
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was growing, you was going and I took in also
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you were saying growth for you and your leadership capacity
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is not just a one time thing you stated several times,
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it's ongoing, right. And then what you just shared about
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community and service and coming together. I noticed on the
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website mentioned your volunteer force collectively contributed over thirty thousand
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hours of service, and I think that just speaks right
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to what you're saying, coming together and when you have
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those conflicts, because it's going to happen its life, you're
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working through that. And I think, I don't know, for me,
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it goes back to the name. So what else, So
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if it is a conflict, Okay, so what else do
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we need to do to shift or fix it or whatever.
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I think the name that y'all call the organization is
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so broad that it speaks to many platforms.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, the name has been a lot of fun because
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it has, you know a little bit of mystery to it.
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You know, it has.
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For me, it sort of ultimately embodies you know Kennedy's
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old quote, that's not what your country can do for you.
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It's really you know, it's really asked what you can
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do to help. But if we can meet at that
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place of service and you have some segment of your
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being and your and your body and your life being
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devoted to serving others, this very simple concept of what
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can I do for other people?
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Which can be very very therapeutic.
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You know, in my journey where I went to from
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nineteen to twenty three, I went to you know, for
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rehabilitation centers.
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Ultimately, you know, I was became.
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A drug and alcohol counselor myself, and it was in
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that time of helping others that I completely forgot about myself.
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And that's what service can also allow you to do,
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is you know, I'm just gonna take a break from
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my worrying about myself for a minute and just focus
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on the service of others. You get lost in the
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service of others. And I just think that you know,
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ultimately life has can be such a gift, you know.
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I mean we see some of the we see the
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bad news every day, we see the war, we see
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the suffering, but at the end of the day, it
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can be such a gift, a gift. But we have
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to we have to make that happen. We have to
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bring that out and we have to come together, and
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we have to to to not focus on the conflict
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or shift through that conflict to.
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Get to that place for ourselves and for other folks.
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No, one hundred percent, and thank you for your transparency,
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because I think this show is all about when we
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started the shift is to bring on leaders.
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Who are real leaders, who have.
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Started organizations, but are open and transparent because we never
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know who's going to hear this segment.
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What would you say to.
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That leader or that budding leader that might just be
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getting started, whether it's a nonprofit, whether it's a for profit,
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what words of wisdom or encouragement would you say to
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that person just getting started?
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Yeah, so I think, you know, I love the term
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dharma dha are the h A R m A And
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it's sort of the fusion of your your potential because
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most of us aren't operating at one hundred percent potential.
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I tell my son when he's playing basketball, you're doing
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about forty percent.
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You're given that game, I think you got about sixty more.
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And so, you know, maximizing your potential, connecting with your.
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Your universal path.
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And this is what I would this is I think
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the answer to your question is you have Each person
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has a special gift to offer to the world. And
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whatever that calling is, that drive, you know, that dream,
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that drive, answer that calling and go towards that and
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and purpose, right, especially if it's if it's purpose driven,
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and that you know, back into service, right is if
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your purpose has some type of some type of service
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oriented to it, then then you're in the right lane
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and you're in the right path. And so you know,
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for me, it took a long time to get there.
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I was writing and not finishing my books and just
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sort of you know, these kind of nice ideas and
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then with so what else, it's been extremely extremely dedicated
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and driven and it just sort of feels like even
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on a bad day, it feels like I'm in the
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right I'm in the right ship or boat or car,
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you know, going going to a place.
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Because it has purpose. The purpose at the end of
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the day is too.
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It's very broad, like you said, with so it else,
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it's to provide less suffering, to provide more resources, to
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bring people together, to get people on their path to
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you know, becoming their best selves.
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So it's very imperfect.
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But what I'm hearing from you is when you're maybe
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in your beginning phases or you're about to launch out
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there on whatever you're calling your purpose is or whatever
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it is you might be striving to do, when you
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step out and you couple it with the purpose, the
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why behind what you're doing, that is going to keep
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you being motivated even though things may be imperfect, or
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there may be challenges or whatever may happen. But if
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you stay focused on the purpose of why you're doing it,
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you can continue to move forward. Now, you just drop
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something on us about your books. Now you can't drop
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that and not talk about your books. So share with
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us about your books.
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Well, you know, I mean, I think in a way
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I've turned my books or my writings, my poems, my
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short stories into into so it else in a way.
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I mean, I think this is an art.
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That's why I love these opportunities, because it reconnects you
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to the why, it reconnects you to the purpose. I mean,
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I was writing, you know, just I remember I was
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working on a book called Urgency, the urgency of now
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we have to come together, we have to unite. I've
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just you know, I've always been a person that you know,
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and I think it's even become like a sort of
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a politically challenged thing.
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I just don't I'm not a big I don't.
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See I don't like to see color like it's it's
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I see a human being. I see human beings, and
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I see that you know, we're all suffering and rich, poor,
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you know, it's I just think it's the great challenge
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is where can we unite? You know, and obviously like
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being a for example, being a you know, a nonprofit starter,
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one can guess, or take an educated guess. Then I'm
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a bleeding heart liberal. You know, I live in Montgomery County, right,
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but I think I you know, I would even issue
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the challenge to like my Montgomery County colleagues and you know,
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things like that, like how do we how do we
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how do we reach out to people we don't we
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don't completely agree with and kind of understand. I mean,
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these issues are extremely nuanced and complex and things like that. So,
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you know, I don't want to make it sound like
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I'm saying something I'm not. But ultimately, the prize is peace, freedom, love,
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the safety of our kids.
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That's what we're that's the big game.
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And so we might have to we might not get
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every single thing we want on the way, and so
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I'm just you know, I've worked on a unity I've
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worked on a you know, co founded a unity project
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and what would that look like? And you know, so so.
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So one of the books and thank you for sharing
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that information. So one of the books that you have
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out now is called Urgency.
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Oh I didn't finish it. That's what I was a
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very average writer.
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And and you know, it's just it's sort of so
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my writing flowed into because.
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Yeah, I was just like, well, you know what, that's
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kind of poetic because you started writing the book Urgency,
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and the philosophy behind what you were putting in the
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book actually just manifested in real life.
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And you produce the organization exactly.
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Yeah, and it's been a better fit.
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And I sort of, you know, I kind of watch
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a movie and go, oh my god, look at those credits.
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They made this movie for seven years, you know, or
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they you know, they wrote this book for seven years.
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You know.
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The humanitarian work is a living piece of art. It's
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a living you know, it's a living thing, right, And
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so you know, I kind of said to myself, if
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someone can make a movie, if someone could put all
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this effort into blowing up a building or doing something negative,
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I can put some effort into doing something super positive.
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So I think that, you know, that just gets back
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to like I mean, I think in a strange way,
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that's like I am not the most religious of people,
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but I think like that that's whatever that is, that's
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a connection to this belief that we're here to bring
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out the best in what's being offered into each other.
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So I just had to write down when you said
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humanitarian is a living piece of art. I've never heard
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of it put that way, but I think it's a
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beautiful way to describe doing humanitarian work. You know, as
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I mentioned to you in the pre conversation that we
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had My background is as a community organizer, and I
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think the way you described it gives anyone a visual
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picture that will pop up in their mind that when
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you're helping, you're lifting up, empowering someone, that that and
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of itself is a piece of art, and that that
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that is You.
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Kind of stumped me on that. I wrote that down.
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So for those that are listening, for those that may say, like,
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I've been doing community work, I've been doing humanitarian work,
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and you may feel like, well, is it significant? Oh, yes,
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it is. You just heard David say that it is
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a living piece of art. So I want you to
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look at what you do from a completely different lens. Now, David,
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if somebody is just learning about your organization today, so
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what else, how can they support?
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What ways can they contribute?
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Yeah, I mean that's definitely one of the most beautiful
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parts about what we do is is it is a
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tapestry that is growing every day, and you know, a
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snowball rolling down the hill.
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And we we want to pick up.
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New energy and new you know, new ideas and new
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supporters and new folks and so we you know, are
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our headquarters are in North Bethesda, Maryland, and we had
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We're open from Monday to Saturday, serving kind of serving
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clients all day long Saturdays or very special days because
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we have between one thousand to fourteen hundred cars drive through.
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It's really kind of a bizarre, maybe just under a
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festival type of environment, you know, one hundred and fifty
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to two hundred volunteers a day. Our website is so
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whatelse dot sodelse dot org, you know, and the kind
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of the whole tagline is, so what else can we
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do to help?
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We have loads of volunteering.
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Opportunities across Montgomery County, Baltimore and DC, and we have
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a new and exciting scaling project talking talk about shifting
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and scaling and challenging yourself. We were provided with this,
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you know, almost spiritual opportunity me in North Carolina where
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I was connected to a pastor down there, pastor Keith Moore,
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and you know, it just felt very synergistic. I guess
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I could tell this story because it's pretty It was
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pretty crazy how it happened. So if we have a
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mutual friend who introduced us and we did a zoom call,
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and what they do is they do a distribution in
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Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the second Saturday of every month.
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So we did that. We did this zoom call on
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a Tuesday. We have a pantry. We're learning about what
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they do. Okay, so what else in North maybe we
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could do something together. The next night, I'm in a
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at an event in Bethesda and I look.
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On the list and there's a name. You know, there's
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a name Keith Moore.
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And we actually have a student who wants Student of
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the Year named Keith Moore.
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So I know Pastor Keith Moore, Keith Moore. Well, it's
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neither of those people.
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I'm sitting down at the end of the night and
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I'm sitting next to this young African American guy and
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I said, where are you from?
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He says North Carolina.
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I said, oh my god, I just talked to a
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past stir from North Carolina. We might do some stuff
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with them. He said, wait, is it is it? Is
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it Pastor Keith? He said, that's my dad, so he
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calls his dad. It's just it was so weird. It
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was like I have to do this again. It was
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you know this, you know, And and to be honest,
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I've taken a lot of like kind of like wait,
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where are we going to North Carolina.
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What are we what are we doing there? What has this?
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You know? And so you know that is a it's
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been a challenging, but it's also been.
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Like a vision and a hope and a goal for
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me is to see what would it look like if
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we could get communities across this country to ask themselves
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what can we do to help? How can we bring
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our communities together? And so it's just something I can't
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I can't not do.
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I have to try it.
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I have to try it, and I think, you know,
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I ultimately I see the you know, the the suffering
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in our country, which you know, I think can be.
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Of course it's imperfect. Of course it has challenges.
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Of course it has historical the terrible things, right, but
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we you know, that's the challenge, right is to get it,
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to get it to be a better, you know, a
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better country.
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So no, I'm grateful that you shared the story and
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the backstory behind the story, because I think, again, this
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is another piece of the puzzle that where we all,
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including myself, learning more about you, but learning more about
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so what else, but learning about how connection happened, and
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sometimes you don't even know the connection is as happening
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the son, the dad means, you know, and how that
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came together. And now your path is leading you to
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North Carolina, which now is going to expand the impact
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of so what else? And I think as that expansion
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takes place, going into North Carolina, that's going to help
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provoke others to ask themselves, so what else? And So
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for those that's listening to this segment, again you're part
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of the Shift podcast show, we want you to share this.
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But as you share, ask yourself what else can you do?
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And whoever you share it to, here's a challenge you
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can when you share the link, you can put that question,
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so what else? They're gonna be like, what is they
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talking about?
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So what else?
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And then tell them to click the link and listen
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to the segment. And David, you know, I think it's
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so important to make sure that we're purpose minded. Everything
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that I'm hearing you talk about right now is all
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leads back to one word, and that's purpose. But it
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also what I'm really getting from you as well, because
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you talked about how you have at least two hundred
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and fifty volunteers at any given time of servitude, and
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you're serving between one thousand to fourteen hundred individuals you
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mentioned on a Saturday that is powerful. Can you speak
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to that, like, how did you get such a large
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volunteer base, because I know some struggle with volunteer recuitment.
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Well, I think it's I think it's just being you know,
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somewhat of an open organization and being willing to because
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when you when you take on you know, new energy,
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you take on new energy the same way you take
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on It's like, you know, it's like my my dad
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used to say, oh gosh, what is that line.
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Oh no, it's going to come back to me.
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But it's like it's like if you when you take
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on more, you take on more problems. I forget the
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it will come to me. But you know, you have
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to be willing to take on. You have to be
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willing to take on the good with the bad. If
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you take away you know, everybody's everybody's demons, you might
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lose their angels too. So you just have there there
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has to be this understanding that you know, a volunteer
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might come in and they may not it might be
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a good idea, it might not be a great idea
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whatever whatever they might present. So I think, you know,
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I mean One of the things we did in particular
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that was a conscious choice was when we started collecting
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food and we started passing out food. I had a
490
00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:13.960
lot of local community members say, hey, you know i'm moving,
491
00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:18.200
I'm moving my house or my kid just graduated. I've
492
00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:20.720
got all this stuff. Would you like me to bring it?
493
00:27:20.920 --> 00:27:22.920
And I think most nonprofits would say, well, we don't
494
00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:25.519
do that, we do food. But I said to myself,
495
00:27:25.640 --> 00:27:29.119
if I'm saying no to this person, I may never
496
00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:30.640
see them again. So I don't want to do that.
497
00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:32.160
I don't want to say no to them. I want
498
00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:35.119
to say, yeah, drop off your stuff. And that's how
499
00:27:35.160 --> 00:27:37.720
we sort of started that. That became our thrift shop.
500
00:27:37.880 --> 00:27:40.720
You know, now we have a free thrift shop, and
501
00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:44.960
it's a way to introduce all these people. So I
502
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:47.279
don't like to say no. But there's a reason.
503
00:27:48.119 --> 00:27:50.599
Sure, I'm a nice guy. But the other reason is
504
00:27:50.640 --> 00:27:54.960
it's actually sort of a business model. Right. If you
505
00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:55.559
call me and.
506
00:27:55.519 --> 00:27:58.559
You say, if you you said, thank you for being
507
00:27:58.599 --> 00:28:00.759
on the show. But if I said no, I never
508
00:28:00.839 --> 00:28:03.599
met you. I never never met all your followers, right,
509
00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:10.680
So I think, you know, there's advantages to being inclusive, right,
510
00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:14.200
But it's not. It's not always easy to be inclusive
511
00:28:14.279 --> 00:28:18.200
for many reasons, you know, So maybe that answers the
512
00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:19.039
questions I do.
513
00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:23.240
No, No, it does. Yeah, No, I mean you you
514
00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:25.160
took us again. You're I don't know if you used
515
00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:26.480
to be a teacher, but I feel like as a
516
00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:29.720
teacher and you like you're taking us through the process.
517
00:28:29.839 --> 00:28:32.000
That's what I feel like you just did in terms
518
00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:35.680
of how you started the volunteer base and when the
519
00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:38.240
neighbor that was about to move and then you know,
520
00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:40.680
she wanted to you know, you take some of the
521
00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:44.240
furniture and so forth. I wrote down something when you
522
00:28:44.279 --> 00:28:48.039
were sharing your process, I wrote down, you help activate others.
523
00:28:48.359 --> 00:28:51.440
That's what I'm hearing from you, because you said if
524
00:28:51.480 --> 00:28:54.559
you had said no, you might not have ever seen
525
00:28:54.559 --> 00:28:57.160
her again. So that would have been a missed opportunity,
526
00:28:57.200 --> 00:28:59.839
a lost opportunity. And so because you said yes, you
527
00:29:00.039 --> 00:29:02.440
activated something in her because she was able to give
528
00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:06.079
and pay it forward, which then opened up a door
529
00:29:06.119 --> 00:29:07.440
for your organization.
530
00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:09.039
To start the Thirst Store exactly.
531
00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:12.759
So I think the process that you're describing, you're really
532
00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:15.720
giving a formula. And so for every nonprofit leader that's
533
00:29:15.799 --> 00:29:17.440
listening to this segment, right now.
534
00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:20.640
Definitely take take it in.
535
00:29:20.759 --> 00:29:23.200
I mean, because we're getting some I like to call
536
00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:27.480
it golden nuggets when somebody's dropping information. We're getting golden
537
00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:31.880
nuggets on this segment of the process behind the organization,
538
00:29:31.960 --> 00:29:35.640
and I think that's what's significant that we're bringing out
539
00:29:35.680 --> 00:29:38.759
right now. And so for those that are nonprofit leaders,
540
00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:43.240
you're maybe a founder of an organization, you are an activator.
541
00:29:43.359 --> 00:29:45.720
You know, this is what David is describing about himself,
542
00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:48.839
the other two hundred and fifty volunteers, to the neighbors
543
00:29:48.839 --> 00:29:52.599
that's in the community. A door has been opened so
544
00:29:52.680 --> 00:29:55.599
others can be activated. As we get ready to wind
545
00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:58.119
down this segment on today again, you have been tuned
546
00:29:58.160 --> 00:30:01.000
into the shift. We have been having a great conversation
547
00:30:01.119 --> 00:30:04.000
with David. He is the co founder of So what else, David,
548
00:30:04.039 --> 00:30:06.359
any final words that you would like to share before
549
00:30:06.359 --> 00:30:07.039
we transition.
550
00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:13.000
No, I mean, I think you do a great job
551
00:30:13.160 --> 00:30:18.240
asking questions and digging deeper and getting to all these
552
00:30:18.519 --> 00:30:21.880
getting to all these points. Yeah, I think you know,
553
00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:26.480
for those nonprofit leaders, you know, at the end of
554
00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:30.400
the day, it's it's a it's about you know, caring
555
00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:34.000
about other people, caring about relationships, and I always tell
556
00:30:34.119 --> 00:30:38.440
my team when people ask about, you know, fundraising and stuff,
557
00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:41.920
it's get to know people, get to know people, save
558
00:30:41.960 --> 00:30:46.000
their save their number in your phone. And I think,
559
00:30:46.200 --> 00:30:48.000
you know, you can only pretend for so long. You
560
00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:50.720
have to really you can. You have to really, you know,
561
00:30:50.839 --> 00:30:55.559
care about people and develop those relationships and develop those
562
00:30:56.400 --> 00:30:57.359
those friendships.
563
00:30:58.680 --> 00:31:05.119
And I think that I think that people, people.
564
00:31:05.480 --> 00:31:08.079
Are much better than we give them credit for, and
565
00:31:08.119 --> 00:31:10.039
far more complicated than we give them credit for.
566
00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:14.160
And people want to serve, they want to give back.
567
00:31:14.359 --> 00:31:18.799
In my journey, I I think I had written down
568
00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:21.799
on my to do list volunteer for like ten years.
569
00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:24.240
I just didn't. I didn't know how to do it.
570
00:31:24.279 --> 00:31:27.640
So when I do someone else, I'm really conscious about that.
571
00:31:27.720 --> 00:31:30.680
I'm really in my mind, I think to myself, people
572
00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:32.400
want to give. Some people want to write a check,
573
00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:35.079
Some people want to come out and volunteer, some people
574
00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:36.599
want to do a drive, some people want to get.
575
00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:37.359
Their kids involved.
576
00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:43.119
But everybody, I almost think, everybody except for you know,
577
00:31:44.319 --> 00:31:49.279
the most toxic of you know, you know, the most odd,
578
00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:53.960
odd situation out there. Really, everybody wants to make an impact,
579
00:31:54.240 --> 00:31:56.720
have meaning in their life, have purpose.
580
00:31:57.000 --> 00:31:57.319
And.
581
00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:01.480
You know and give back, and we get a little
582
00:32:01.480 --> 00:32:04.880
lost in the sauce of all that to think, you know,
583
00:32:05.799 --> 00:32:11.039
this person, they don't they don't want that, or whatever
584
00:32:11.160 --> 00:32:16.039
it's we could be we could be misreading the signs,
585
00:32:16.079 --> 00:32:18.240
you know. So yeah, I mean, we just try to
586
00:32:18.279 --> 00:32:23.839
be a platform to get involved in in in some
587
00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:27.440
type of way, whether it's with children, whether it's with food,
588
00:32:27.480 --> 00:32:32.480
whether it's doing a drive for your community, whether you know,
589
00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:35.240
I have some parents come to me and say, my
590
00:32:35.319 --> 00:32:38.359
kid is my kids struggling? Can you can you take
591
00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:41.559
them for for a few months for an internship.
592
00:32:40.920 --> 00:32:46.240
And and just you know again, you know, lose yourself
593
00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:50.079
in the service of others, is h that's my last
594
00:32:50.079 --> 00:32:51.839
thing I can do. To write that. I was hoping
595
00:32:51.920 --> 00:32:54.119
you'd write that down. Are you write that down? I
596
00:32:54.200 --> 00:32:54.599
got it?
597
00:32:56.240 --> 00:32:58.920
I am. I've been writing down some other golden nuggets
598
00:32:58.920 --> 00:33:00.880
as you've been speaking. H.
599
00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:06.079
Well, thanks, it's all because you're you're helping me shift
600
00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:09.079
into that challenge. And and you know, when I first
601
00:33:09.119 --> 00:33:13.079
started the organization, it was all about inspiration and ideas,
602
00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:18.119
and it becomes more about business or you have to
603
00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:19.880
you know, you have to fire people, and you have
604
00:33:19.960 --> 00:33:24.759
to make hard decisions and so I I am really
605
00:33:24.759 --> 00:33:27.839
conscious about no what I really need to do. But
606
00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:29.720
the most important thing I need to do is can
607
00:33:29.880 --> 00:33:34.920
reconnect myself with the mission and with the purpose, because
608
00:33:34.920 --> 00:33:38.240
if I lose that, there's no there's no path. So
609
00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:42.480
you're shifting me back on my path. So you're you're
610
00:33:42.519 --> 00:33:43.519
you're you're helping me.
611
00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:46.559
Awesome. Listen, this has been a beautiful segment.
612
00:33:46.599 --> 00:33:49.599
What I was writing down as you were sharing, and
613
00:33:49.640 --> 00:33:51.759
this is what I took when you were talking about
614
00:33:51.799 --> 00:33:54.799
how when you're communicating and really get to know a
615
00:33:54.839 --> 00:33:57.599
person on a on a real in a real way,
616
00:33:58.359 --> 00:34:01.799
I wrote down your piece people are out there. They
617
00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:04.119
just need to know that you exist. Because you were
618
00:34:04.119 --> 00:34:07.200
talking about fundraising for nonprofits. Sometimes that can even be
619
00:34:07.200 --> 00:34:10.840
a struggle for nonprofits, but you mentioned somebody may want
620
00:34:10.840 --> 00:34:13.000
to donate financially or they may want to donate of
621
00:34:13.039 --> 00:34:15.320
their time, but they're out there, and so that's why
622
00:34:15.360 --> 00:34:17.480
I wrote down, your people are out there.
623
00:34:17.559 --> 00:34:19.159
They just need to know you exist.
624
00:34:19.320 --> 00:34:21.800
And maybe that person that you passed up could have
625
00:34:21.840 --> 00:34:25.760
been one of your people, but the relationship wasn't cultivated.
626
00:34:26.440 --> 00:34:28.599
Then of course I wrote down lose yourself in the
627
00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:32.480
service of others and then reconnect with the mission and purpose.
628
00:34:32.519 --> 00:34:34.679
And so for those of you that have been tuned
629
00:34:34.719 --> 00:34:38.400
into the SHIFT and been listening to this conversation, I think, no,
630
00:34:38.519 --> 00:34:41.960
I know that I also have been I don't know,
631
00:34:42.039 --> 00:34:45.000
reminded of why we even do this shift and why
632
00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:47.320
we're doing what we're doing. And I think, well, there's
633
00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:50.679
a saying iron sharpens iron, and that is what happened
634
00:34:50.679 --> 00:34:53.400
today on this segment. So for those of you that
635
00:34:53.440 --> 00:34:56.039
are listening, if you're in the DC area, we do
636
00:34:56.159 --> 00:34:59.119
have our next Points of Connection Exchange meet up in
637
00:34:59.159 --> 00:35:01.880
the DC area on the twenty ninth of this month
638
00:35:01.920 --> 00:35:06.239
at six thirty pm. Go to our website strategiccnetwork dot com,
639
00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:09.239
click on the events tab and you can RSVP. It
640
00:35:09.320 --> 00:35:13.119
is a complementary event for other change agents to get together,
641
00:35:13.320 --> 00:35:16.400
connect and just you know, spend quality time so we
642
00:35:16.440 --> 00:35:19.199
can really get to know each other in an authentic way. Now,
643
00:35:19.239 --> 00:35:21.360
some of you see that little circle at the top
644
00:35:21.679 --> 00:35:24.880
and it says unlocked twenty twenty seven. Yes, we have
645
00:35:25.039 --> 00:35:28.280
secured the date and location for our next business conference
646
00:35:28.400 --> 00:35:31.320
is going to be on Saturday, April seventeenth at the
647
00:35:31.360 --> 00:35:35.159
BWI Marriott Hotel. We're going to have other like minded
648
00:35:35.159 --> 00:35:38.679
individuals in the room where we're going to sharpen each
649
00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:41.280
other's iron. So you don't want to miss that as well.
650
00:35:41.480 --> 00:35:44.760
So go to our website strategiccnetwork dot com, click on
651
00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:48.559
Unlocked twenty twenty seven and you'll get more information. And
652
00:35:48.599 --> 00:35:50.519
as we wind down, David, I just want to say
653
00:35:50.519 --> 00:35:54.039
thank you again, thanks to you and to the entire
654
00:35:54.119 --> 00:35:57.159
team of so what Else? And now after today I'm
655
00:35:57.199 --> 00:35:59.679
going to ask myself and we're going to stimulate other
656
00:35:59.679 --> 00:36:01.679
people to ask what else can we do?
657
00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:03.400
Thank you?
658
00:36:04.159 --> 00:36:08.719
Absolutely break all right, absolutely, thank you.
659
00:36:09.440 --> 00:36:10.840
M M.