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Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta. It’s time for Charitable Georgia. Brought to you by Bee’s Charitable Pursuits and resources. We put the fun in fund raising. For more information, go to Bee’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. That’s Bee’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. Now here’s your host, Brian Pruett.

Brian Pruett: [00:00:45] Good Fabulous Friday. It’s another fabulous Friday and it’s it’s November, but it’s been 80 degrees the last several days, so I don’t know what to think. And I wonder why people get sick in Georgia because the weather can’t make its mind up. So we’ve got three fabulous guests this morning. So if this is your first time listening to Charitable Georgia, it’s all about positivity happening, positive happenings in your community. And we’re going to get started this morning with Carla Maton from American Red Cross. So Carla, welcome this morning.

Carla Maton: [00:01:11] Hey. Good morning. Thanks for having me.

Brian Pruett: [00:01:13] I always joke, I like to have people when they tell me where they’re coming, coming from. And I’m going to joke one day and see them get somebody from Macon, which I think I am getting somebody from Macon to come up to do the show. But you came from Dalton, so thanks for driving down here. So I’m sure a lot of people know about the American Red cross, and we’ll get into that just a second. But if you don’t mind, share a little bit about about your background and then how you got involved.

Carla Maton: [00:01:32] Sure. So I come from a family of public safety. And of course, this is where I sort of grew up in the world of my career. So started with the 911 center in Whitfield County and worked as a dispatcher for about ten years, and then moved on to an ambulance and worked for a couple of years there. Learned very quickly that that is a tough, tough job. But through my years in public safety, you know, we respond to emergencies and we bring patients to hospitals and drop them off. And I found myself like, man, I wonder what happened with that family or with that patient. And one one particular call. We took a family, actually a mother and her son to the hospital who had been involved in a house fire. And they excuse me, they were her husband actually had passed away in that fire, and they did not have any working smoke alarms in that home. This happened in Chatsworth and we delivered the family to the hospital. They were they were okay. They had some injuries, but they were able to be released and they were just weighing on my heart. And when I went back to the hospital, you know, on a different shift a couple of days later, the Red cross was there, and they were meeting with her because she had nowhere to go. The hospital couldn’t release her because she didn’t have a home. And the son had just got there to pick her up. And they were, of course, devastated because of the loss of her husband. And the Red cross was just hugging and consoling this lady as she was trying to figure out what her next steps would be.

Carla Maton: [00:03:11] But that’s exactly why they were there. It was. Here are your next steps. Here’s some funds. You can go get a hotel. You can get some clothes. She had nothing and it just touched my heart. And so we I just continued to monitor what does the Red cross do in this area. I never knew they responded to disasters. I was always correlating Red cross with blood donations. And when I started learning more and then they had a position open in in the disaster team, I jumped on it. And so I was hired by eight years ago and became manager of those disaster volunteers who would go out and meet with families. And that gave me that, that next step of working with families that I was missing when I was working in public safety. So now I still work. Our teams do hand in hand with with those fire departments and emergency managers and just delivering that next step of care to families when they’re going through crisis. So that’s what brought me to the Red cross every day. I learned to love it more. I just can’t I can’t hardly explain what it is like to work in an organization where 90% of the people around you are volunteers. I mean, they they choose to be there and they do it for the mission. And when you’re working in a room full of mission driven people, it’s just a different kind of atmosphere. So it’s very fulfilling to be here now.

Brian Pruett: [00:04:30] Yeah, well, it does take a special person. I was actually used to be a 911 dispatcher for the city of Kennesaw, and I wasn’t there very long. But you’re right, it takes a special person. You got to have passion for the people. Have a heart. The worst call I ever took was listening to a lady call and try to get help. And having a stroke, and died on the phone. It was. Yeah, and that can take a toll on people. So. So you had mentioned that you there’s different chapters of the Red cross and you are in Northwest Georgia. Share what that means when you talk about Northwest Georgia in the chapters.

Carla Maton: [00:05:01] Okay. Sure. We so I’m the executive director for Northwest Georgia, which means I get to advocate in our communities about what our services are, what those are. And no matter where you’re at in the country, the Red cross is services are aligned. You’ll find that we we do blood collection. So we are the nation’s largest blood collector. We deliver about 40% of the blood supply to hospitals across the US. So that’s one of our biggest programs. Obviously, we have our disaster cycle services team. So it’s not just responding to the large scale disasters. House fires are the number one disaster we respond to. So this time of year especially, we’re encouraging folks to take fire safety measures. Listen to those tips your fire department’s giving you. We have preparedness programs through that as well, that will deliver free smoke alarms to families who need them. That is what will save a life. If you have a house fire to get you out early. And there’s some really incredible YouTube videos on our on our Facebook page, we shared recently of a demonstration we did with the DeKalb County Fire that showed just how quickly a bedroom catches on fire and then is just completely engulfed. We did that as a demonstration to show when the smoke alarm went off and the smoke was just starting, and then in less than a minute, you couldn’t see the room anymore. It was just fire. So, so important to have working smoke alarms. So test those. If you don’t have them, call any Red cross office and we’ll come put them in for free. And then we have our training services, which is our CPR first aid courses. You can take those online now. Covid brought that to us. We had to adapt. And so we don’t necessarily have to be in person to teach you those skills. You can go online to teach, to learn that. And then finally our service to armed forces. Of course, it’s Veterans Day this weekend and or today and.

Brian Pruett: [00:06:50] Tomorrow, but.

Carla Maton: [00:06:51] Tomorrow.

Brian Pruett: [00:06:52] On this it is Marine’s birthday today. So yes.

Carla Maton: [00:06:54] Okay. It is Friday, right. So Service Armed Forces is where the Red cross was born. We were we were assisting military members in in Civil War times. So that’s how we came about. And we just want to take this time to recognize those military families and the work we do with them every day.

Brian Pruett: [00:07:13] Yes, yes, all the veterans out there, we thank you for your service and those that are serving now. So Amen. It’s funny you were talking about the the fire in the bedroom. And I just recently read where why they tell you to keep your bedroom door closed when you sleep. And it’s because of the fire, which I didn’t realize that. Can you share about that? Do you know about that? Yeah.

Carla Maton: [00:07:32] When we do the smoke alarm installations, we do some fire safety education with the families as well. And that’s one of the tips that that we will advise is as well. And it’s it’s just that barrier, if the door is closed, it takes the fire longer to break that barrier to reach inside your bedroom. It’s crazy. Again, YouTube will show you some some fires where a bedroom door has been closed and that bedroom looks untouched, where the rest of the house can just be completely crisp. So yeah. Incorrect. We put smoke alarms inside your bedroom and then outside in like a common hallway is what we would recommend because we want you to shut that bedroom door. So. Right which side of it catches on fire? You’ve got an alarm that’ll signal you.

Brian Pruett: [00:08:14] Right. So you talked about the different areas of and you say the northwest chapter. Can you share what what is the northwest chapter? Sure.

Carla Maton: [00:08:25] Our headquarters office is in Rome, Georgia. So if you want to visit an actual office, we’re there on Mondays and Thursdays. And then the rest of the the time we’re serving in community. So our chapter services as far south as Bartow County, and we go as far east as Union County. And then kind of that triangle from Union down to to Polk County and all of the northwest corner of Georgia. Okay.

Brian Pruett: [00:08:53] And what is the biggest thing, I guess, for international, you guys still travel and do international disasters too?

Carla Maton: [00:09:01] We do. So the Red cross, we are the American Red cross. And just about any country you can think of, you can place, you can replace American with it. So each each there’s over 192 countries across the the world that have a Red cross crescent movement or installation within it. So each of our Red cross operate under the same mission is to alleviate human suffering. So in some countries you may see their services look a little bit different. In Mexico they run the ambulance service same same and a few other countries. But yeah, the Red cross is worldwide. And when something catastrophic happens, war happens. The American Red cross is part of that entire world movement will will of course, support it in the way we we can best do so.

Brian Pruett: [00:09:47] Well, you mentioned Kimmy being in the community and serving the community. And one of the things I love talking about on here is why is it important for people to be in part of the community? So why is it important for you to be part of the community?

Carla Maton: [00:09:58] For the Red cross.

Brian Pruett: [00:09:59] For you and you personally.

Carla Maton: [00:10:01] Oh gosh. Yes. So you know I’m in Dalton, Georgia and and so that’s where I call home. But I feel like all of our northwest Georgia communities I’ve, I’ve became a part of just through my Red cross work. So each community has its own challenges, has its own gaps to fill, if you will. And I love being part of the solution. So just attending those community meetings, learning what the what the. Organizations that are in your area are coming together to focus on and strengthen people. It’s just humanitarian work at its best. And so I think it’s it’s so important for anyone just to get to know your community and see where you can fit, bring your unique skills to help strengthen your neighbor.

Brian Pruett: [00:10:49] And that’s so important because not everybody, everybody’s different. God made everybody individual, and we’re all here together. So let’s be part of the community together. So we also talk on here a lot about the power of networking. Are you able to go out and do a networking for the American Cross in your area?

Carla Maton: [00:11:02] Oh yeah. That’s that’s my favorite part of my job.

Brian Pruett: [00:11:05] So do you have a positive story you can share about networking that you that you’ve encountered yourself?

Carla Maton: [00:11:10] So we are one of our big partners are the United Ways that are across Georgia in general. But in northwest Georgia, United Way supports multiple nonprofit agencies within within their specific communities. So very often we will go out with our our fellow agencies supported by United Way along with them to present to corporations or others, just to let them know what our services are and how United Way supports us. And we went to shawl and there was a neighboring partner with me, and we were talking to the shawl group, and they were part of a men’s homeless shelter in Bartow County, and they brought one of their shelter residents with them just to share his story. And before we left, the gentleman was talking about volunteering with the Red cross, how he had a passion for the disaster work. But then the HR manager was in the room with us and literally took him out of the room and gave him a job. So that was that was pretty incredible to watch. All those puzzle pieces come together, but it’s just how networking works. Just getting out there and again, knowing your neighbor and what your what your challenge is. And I’ve got something to help you with that.

Brian Pruett: [00:12:26] So. Well we talked well it was on air, but mentioning how small the world is because you walked in the front door of the the building here, and you knew the young lady at the front. Right, which is kind of wild. So it’s just kind of cool how small the world really is. All right. So you talked about the different opportunities that you guys have to go out and serve. Are there ways for the community to come and help you guys serve and businesses helping you? And if so, how can what are those opportunities? Okay.

Carla Maton: [00:12:52] We have obviously, as I mentioned, nine out of ten of our folks with Red cross are volunteers. So Redcross.org is where you’re going to find all of the opportunities to get involved, not just in volunteering, which is what you can do, but also in where local blood drives are. If you would like to work at a blood drive as an ambassador, welcoming folks to the to the drive or as a blood donor yourself, you can find where all of our blood drives are and sign up for an appointment at redcross.org. And then you can also go online, of course, Redcross.org to make a donation of any size to support our programs. We are fully funded by donations, so any any dollar amount counts when it comes to that.

Brian Pruett: [00:13:38] All right. Awesome. Well you shared the website, but if somebody is listening, maybe that’s end up in your ear and wants to get a hold of you and talk to you about any opportunities, how can they do that?

Carla Maton: [00:13:46] And again, our headquarters office is in Rome, Georgia. So just contacting our Rome office is fine. Again, 800 Red cross is our general phone number. So if you call that, you can get in touch with your local Red cross. Excuse me. And and you’ll be able to reach us there in Rome.

Brian Pruett: [00:14:06] Awesome. All right, one more question for you, because I talked to a lot of different nonprofits on here, and obviously you’re one of the larger nonprofits around. But if somebody is thinking about getting involved and wanting to make their life work a nonprofit and maybe not starting a nonprofit, but going to work for one, what kind of advice can you share for somebody who wants to do that?

Carla Maton: [00:14:28] I would share to find that that nonprofit that’s mission really touches your heart. It’s really working for a nonprofit agency is a lot of blood, sweat and tears. It’s not a 40 hour day. I’m 40 hour week ever. You do your work because you’re passionate about it. And that’s what makes the volunteers so special, because they are so passionate about our mission. And as you explore different nonprofits, missions and values, you’ll you’ll start to be gravitated toward that one that matches or aligns with your personal values. So I would just say to really focus time on your what your mission is. If you’re going to start a nonprofit, what is it you’re most passionate about? Develop that mission and vision and then and then stand behind that or let it lead your way.

Brian Pruett: [00:15:15] Awesome. Yeah, we’ve had two other folks talk about here, too, about if there’s somebody already doing something that you want to do, go partner with them. You know, that way, because sometimes it can feel like it might be diluted and, you know, and competiting competing, but that’s really not the case. So Carla, thanks for coming. On and sharing a little bit of your story and about American Red cross and what you guys do. Don’t go. Don’t go anywhere. We’re not done with you yet, but we’re going to move over to Scottlin Smith. I just like the name because it feels like it is like the country, but not spelled the same way. But you’re with Love Travels Beyond Inc, which is a nonprofit out of Bartow County. Cartersville, correct.

Scottlin Smith: [00:15:47] Good morning. Yes, correct.

Brian Pruett: [00:15:48] So you and I actually knew each other in over the years, the first time we met in person, but we knew each other for years ago because we actually had a magazine. And we did a story on your organization. But we’ll get into your organization in just a minute. But tell us about your background and why you do what you do.

Scottlin Smith: [00:16:03] So I am from a service background. I would say my dad, Donald Strickland, he has a homeless shelter in Cartersville, Georgia. So I’ve always known serving the homeless. I’ve always known like helping other people. So that was kind of instilled in me at a young age. I’m the youngest of six first generation college graduate. So there were minor things that, you know, I struggled with growing up, and I always wanted to fill that gap for other people and for younger girls in our community and beyond. So I would just say starting out again as a young girl, I didn’t have a choice then, but it was just instilled in me and I ran with it. And I love serving my community. I love being a servant leader. I started my own free prom dress giveaway my junior year in high school, so I would just swap out dresses amongst friends if their families were struggling. I gave away all of my like, prom dresses. And my parents. You know, of course, being from a service background, they didn’t have an issue with it and they encouraged it. So I hosted the first one at the Goodwill in Cartersville and we had about 20 girls come out.

Scottlin Smith: [00:17:13] But now we host one of the largest free prom dress giveaways in Georgia. And then with my nonprofit, I actually made it a nonprofit when I was in college at the University of West Georgia. I just felt like there was gaps that needed to be met. I saw some students struggling, and I really wanted to create an organization that was simply love filled, and we were just helping each other, and we just wanted to give back. If one student was hungry, if one student needed gas, money, or whatever the case may be, we would have a basket of love at the front of our meetings and just pouring into each other and just sitting in a room, making vision boards and seeing where we want it to be in life. And everybody didn’t always have that support system, so we were that for each other. But now that’s a successful 500 and 1C3 nonprofit. So we have the West Georgia chapter and then we have the Bartow County chapter.

Brian Pruett: [00:18:05] Awesome. So tell me about the name. How did you come up with the name?

Scottlin Smith: [00:18:08] So originally it was Love Travels. And then we added beyond when I made it a 500 and 1C3 nonprofit. But I just feel like love travels beyond our differences. I feel like love travels beyond our political differences, our race, our backgrounds. Love will always win, and love is so much more important than hate. And all of the negative things that so easily take over the world.

Brian Pruett: [00:18:34] Well, and that’s important because again, I’ve talked about this before on the show, but why can’t you be a Democrat and Republican and be friends? Why can’t you be black and be white and be friends? Why can’t you be whatever and be friends? Just because you have differences doesn’t mean you can’t be friends. So that’s awesome. So, um, you talked a little bit about serving in the community and stuff, so why is it important for you personally to be part of the community?

Scottlin Smith: [00:18:55] It’s important for me to be a part of the community, because I feel like there was so many people that helped me along the way and that filled that gap, those gaps for my parents. There were people like Coach Hill and monumental people in our community that simply rode around giving out food, that rode around, giving out hugs, that took us to, you know, our different practices. Summer Hill in Cartersville, Georgia is a community like no other. Like the gaps are filled. Whatever a child is in need of or whatever the case may be, even as adults, they still fill the gap. And I just always wanted to pay it forward. Because if it wasn’t for those people, you know, lifting me up and helping me get to the next level, then I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Brian Pruett: [00:19:41] That’s awesome. I haven’t shared my story on the show since I’ve been doing this show. One day I might, but that’s exactly why I do what I do, because the community was there for me on some instances that that happened. So, um, all right, so let’s go and talk about you mentioned some things that you do. You got the prom dress giveaway. You talked about the food, but what all other things do you guys do as an organization.

Scottlin Smith: [00:20:01] So we have our program, our service summer camp. We bring the youth together during the summer one to keep them out of trouble, but also to teach them the importance of giving back. We take them to the police station because there is a gap. Sometimes we want the police to know who they are and we want them to know who the police are. There were some kids that were like terrified to go in because of their own experiences, but we were able to bridge that gap. We took them to the nursing home. To show them you treat everybody the same. We play bingo. The elderly loved it. They loved it. We did road cleanups to tell them the importance of keeping our community clean and positively impacting our community. And we also just do fun things like take them swimming, have cookouts and everything like that. We do our blankets of love drive during the winter to where we collect blankets, and then we go into the homeless communities, the tent communities in the woods and hand out blankets and self-care kits and things of that nature. But we also collaborate and simply serve other nonprofits. You know, we believe in community. We believe in giving back, and we don’t believe in just supporting our own programs, but also being there for other nonprofits.

Brian Pruett: [00:21:17] And there’s that word I like collaborate because you don’t collaborate over competition is a buddy of mine. Bob Brooks talks about all the time. So that’s a that’s a great word. So I know when we did an article on you several years ago, you guys were doing a three on three basketball tournament, right? Do you guys still do that?

Scottlin Smith: [00:21:31] Yes, we have our charity basketball tournament and we bring the community out. We bring them together for a great time. We pack out the gym on Summer Hill and we of course bring them there for a positive experience. And who’s the best basketball player or whatever the case may be. But in that we are collecting funds to be able to help their neighbor, you know, be able to afford Christmas and toys and Thanksgiving, whatever the case may be and whatever they are in need of. But we really pride ourselves in bringing the community together and being able to support each other and not just us. So even if it’s $5 or even if it’s a gift at the door, we love bringing our community together to support one another.

Brian Pruett: [00:22:17] And I like how you just mentioned it, because I know people. It’s like, well, I can only give a dollar. Well, a dollar goes a long way, so that’s awesome. Well, you talked a little bit about what you guys do. How can people in the community get involved and help you guys?

Scottlin Smith: [00:22:30] They can visit Love Travels inc.org, and they can also reach us at (678) 719-2212. But we love having people help us out, whether it’s a big or small way we have. Last year we had 500 girls sign up for our free prom dress giveaway, so we need as many hands as possible and our events are love filled and they’re great and anybody can come help. I know sometimes people feel like I’m not in a position to help. I’m not this, I’m not that. But we we need everybody’s help.

Brian Pruett: [00:23:04] Well, even if you’re not a financially positioned to help, you can go volunteer.

Scottlin Smith: [00:23:07] Absolutely.

Brian Pruett: [00:23:08] You know, how about businesses are there are ways for businesses to get behind you and do sponsorships and stuff like that.

Scottlin Smith: [00:23:13] We definitely need businesses to sponsor us. But even if they can’t financially sponsor us, we need drop off locations for our toys, we need drop off locations for our prom dresses and everything like that. So that’s where that’s where the businesses come in. Because sometimes I was driving from Tennessee to Woodstock to Rome to pick up dresses. So if we have those central locations where people can just come and drop off those donations and we do, you know, a once a month pickup or something like that, then that’s super helpful for our board to be able to, you know, put our efforts in other places.

Brian Pruett: [00:23:52] So how about the networking aspect? Are you able to get out and do any networking?

Scottlin Smith: [00:23:55] Absolutely. We love going to networking event. We host pop up shops for different nonprofits and community events. We help out with the Black History Parade in town. We host a June. We help with the Juneteenth celebration, bring in business owners, owners together. And you know, we we thrive off of the networking because we all need each other. Everybody knows somebody that can help with one program that can help in a bigger, small way. Even with this radio show now, like just meeting through the chamber, you know, we’re able to get our word and our mission out even more. So we love networking. Invite us out. We would love to come spread love at your event, and we would love to help out in any way that we can as well.

Brian Pruett: [00:24:42] Do you have a specific story of networking you can share that might have been a positive thing for you?

Scottlin Smith: [00:24:46] I would say our Belles of the ball event. Some girls say it’s better than prom for them, honestly, and we have vendors that come out to that event and they just leave. So blessed. They cry the whole time. We because the girls have to walk the red carpet. And some of these girls have never had that moment. Some of these girls have attempted suicide, have been raped, have just they’ve been through so much in life. So for them to have that moment for all eyes and ears to be on them and for the whole entire room to celebrate them, and these vendors pour back into them, even if it’s just giving hygiene kits, even if it’s giving nail kits or earrings or shoes or whatever. To make their prom day even better. So me being able to see the vendors just be able to contribute to this mission and be so happy about it and want to start their own prom dress giveaway in a different area and stuff like that really is heartwarming.

Brian Pruett: [00:25:47] What I liked about when you when you answered my question about the networking events, you talked about all different kinds of events and not just a business club, because people don’t think about networking at an event. And it is true networking at other events. So I’m going to share with you, you may not know about this, but if you do, you need to come. And Carl and Glenn, you guys are welcome to come too. But every Wednesday morning from 8 to 930 is the Carnival Business Club. We meet at Unity Worship Center, 60 to 50 to 60 people there every Wednesday morning. I guarantee you, you come, you’re going to get some support for you. So you should come check that out. We’re there every Wednesday morning. So awesome. Um. All right, so you started your nonprofit, you said back in college. Give some give somebody advice on who might be listening. Carla mentioned some stuff, but if somebody is thinking about a nonprofit, what would advice would you give them?

Scottlin Smith: [00:26:35] I would say just go for it. I feel like sometimes people feel like they have to be in certain positions again to help people. But I unofficially started my nonprofit by giving away dresses in high school. Before I knew what a 500 and 1C3 nonprofit was, I started my nonprofit by starting the student organization. Before I knew what a 500 and 1C3 nonprofit was. So I would just say start. Start with a small give back event, see what needs that need to be met in the community, and kind of do that research to see again if other organizations are already fulfilling that mission, but, you know, follow your heart and your purpose. We all have a purpose here on Earth and find something that’s connected to your purpose, because you will never get tired of doing it.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:20] Um, so you mentioned some of the events that you do you have anything coming up that you want to share?

Scottlin Smith: [00:27:25] We have our charity basketball tournament December 10th at Summerhill, and you can find out more again at Love Travels inc.org.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:33] Awesome. Carla, I didn’t ask you, but do you guys have any events coming up you wanted to share?

Carla Maton: [00:27:37] And we have one of our. We pick a day where we will go into a particular community and just do a blitz of smoke alarms. And so we’re going to be in Dawsonville on December the 10th, and we’ll bring community volunteers together. If you want to come take a beautiful drive over to Dawsonville or you live in that area, come join us, because we will we will show you what to do. We will get into teams, and we will literally go knock on doors and put up smoke alarms for the community that day. So you can find more information about that particular event on our website again, and on our Facebook and social media pages. Georgia Red cross.

Brian Pruett: [00:28:14] All right, Scottlin, you got a Facebook page as well. Yes.

Scottlin Smith: [00:28:17] Our Facebook is Love Travels one on one.

Brian Pruett: [00:28:19] Okay. So if you guys want something to do on December 10th, you got two opportunities there to go do something and either have fun, have fun, volunteer whatever you want to do. So Scotland, thanks for coming and sharing a little bit about you and your organization. Don’t go anywhere because we’re not done either with you, but we’re going to move over to Mister Glenn Carver. Author speaker. Uh, I know you’re no stranger to the area here. You just had a big event where you talked about adversity. You have your own podcast, and I just heard a little bit of your story, so I’m going to try to talk about it. I want you to share your story because you’re still dealing with adversity, but you’re talking about how you’re dealing with it. Sure.

Glenn Carver: [00:28:54] Yeah. And, you know, I’m a huge fan of the late, great Jim Roan. And Jim Roan was Tony Robbins original mentor. And Jim Roan said in one of his, he gave one of his great public seminars back in the 80s. And after the seminar, somebody walked up to him, one of his fans and students, and said, Mister Roan, in your opinion, what is the business climate going to look like for the next 3 to 5 years? Which is a wonderful question. And he said in his classic tonality, said, well, he said it’s going to be the same. It’s been for the past 10,000 years. Adversity with a chance of opportunity. So I love that that that paradigm. We’re all going to deal with adversity. I don’t care who you are, you’re going to have adversity either in your personal life, your professional life, maybe both. We only have one life, so let’s just throw it all in together. There is adversity on the way and how you frame the adversity that that descends upon you will literally dictate the quality of your life. So I’m all about for the rest of my life, you know, praise God, I’m still here for the rest of my life. I’m all about helping people move through adversity and finding the opportunity and maybe even the advantage in the adversity, because that’s where all opportunity lies is hidden within the adversity. You know, all of our growth happens outside of our comfort zone, not with in our comfort zone.

Brian Pruett: [00:30:23] Right. Do you mind sharing your story of what the you know. I mean, I was told about what was going on, but do you mind sharing? Yeah.

Glenn Carver: [00:30:31] Of course. So early Sunday morning, August 15th, 2021, my life changed forever. My wife had recovered from Covid the week before. She was sleeping upstairs in our bedroom. I was sleeping downstairs on the couch. I wasn’t in the doghouse. We were just trying to be responsible. And early Sunday morning, she heard some strange noises coming from me downstairs. So she walked out of the bedroom and she looked over the railing at me on the couch, and she thought I was having a bad dream. I had my arms out in front of me, kind of playing this virtual piano, if you will, and I was making these really loud exhaling noises woof woof, woof like that. And she thought I was just having a nightmare. And she started yelling, Glenn! Glenn, are you okay? Glenn? Wake up. And I didn’t respond, so she came downstairs and started shaking me, and I didn’t respond. And that’s when she became kind of concerned. Eventually she got me out of my state of mind and got my dead weight literally off of the couch and got me to the car, and she took me up to North Side Cherokee Hospital, which was 12 minutes from where we live, and dropped me off at the emergency room and went to park the car.

Glenn Carver: [00:31:49] When she came back, I was already back being seen and evaluated and was quickly diagnosed with Covid double pneumonia. Just ones not good enough. Single pneumonia is easy. Got to go for double. That means in both lungs, right. And a blood oxygen level of 45. Now, if you don’t know what I didn’t know what 45 meant. You know, I’ve since learned that 90 is low, 45 is is death. 45 is organ failure. It’s potential cognitive damage. And one of the technicians shortly told my wife that that was the lowest blood oxygen level they had ever seen. And she said, you mean during Covid? And he said, no in the history of this hospital. So, wow. You know, miracle number one is that my wife didn’t sleep in and I could have died in my sleep that day. So fast forward ended up spending 96 days in the ICU. I survived the full Covid protocol from remdesivir, which I will not get on my soapbox about that drug right now. I was fully ventilated and if you got ventilated during Covid, that was a death sentence. I went code blue. October 16th of 21. My ventilator came off of my tracheostomy, stopped breathing, heart stopped beating.

Glenn Carver: [00:33:13] I was effectively dead. Thank God. My favorite ICU nurse, Lucas Uriah, who will be on my podcast this month, former Army medic. He was right down the hall. Knock on wood, he was right down the hall. He came in and hit the code blue alarm. Code blue means all hands on deck. Somebody is about to die. And he came in and started three rounds of compression on me. And literally some of us know the great song by Motley Crue, Kickstart My Heart. Well, Lukas kick started my heart and. Brought me back to life. And, you know, by the grace of God survived. I mean, everybody. Brian in that ICU died. Wow, everybody. As a matter of fact, Lucas said in the two and a half years that he spent as an ICU nurse in the hospital, he saw three people. Three go through the entire Covid protocol protocol from remdesivir through the ventilator, and three left the ICU outside of a body bag. Wow. So that story to me is kind of like you hear the story of the commercial airliner that crashes, and 2 or 300 people die and 2 or 3 people walk away. Think? I think I feel obligated to share something powerful the rest of my life.

Brian Pruett: [00:34:32] Right?

Glenn Carver: [00:34:32] Yeah. And so that’s that’s half the story.

Brian Pruett: [00:34:36] Well, keep going because there’s more to it. I would love for you to keep going. Yeah.

Glenn Carver: [00:34:40] So I started writing a book called The Advantage of Adversity. That’s the name of my podcast. It’s a video podcast you can see on YouTube. Started writing the book in December of 21 when I got home, and then February of 22 went in for a routine colonoscopy. Oh, by the way, I had emergency colon surgery two weeks into the ICU. Upper colon burst. Internal bleeding was very close to sepsis. And sepsis can lead to a condition called death. So I had emergency colon surgery removed, 18in of my colon left me bagged. It’s supposed to be for 90 days. Temporary. Then they do a reversal surgery. Went into the hospital February 2nd, 2022 for a routine colonoscopy. They found a mass in my rectum two days later, diagnosed with rectal cancer. So the ICU was the uppercut, the cancer diagnosis. Right hook. But I’m still here. Clearly, I’m here and I’m alive, right? I’m still. I’m sitting right in front of you. Yeah, I do have the label of stage four, and that means it has spread. So it started in my rectum. It’s I’ve got these nodules in my liver. And here’s what I’m all about, Brian. That does not that does not scare me at all. I have zero fear, zero anxiety around that label of stage four. Part of my message is cancer is not a death sentence. It’s a big warning light on the dashboard to say you need to make some changes. One of my coaches has taught me that actually, cancer shows up to save your life, not to kill you, to make the changes necessary to get on a different track. And I’ve done that. But yeah, it’s been so I’m healing.

Glenn Carver: [00:36:31] I’m not out of the woods, but I’m healing naturally. I’ve still got a port in my chest because I was supposed to start chemo in March of 22, and I. God bless my wife. She she got the nudge and she dug in, and she found the truth. The truth about cancer. And she really dug in and started learning really, really fast. And the saying is, you know, one day you know nothing about cancer, the next day you know everything. We have learned a lot. So we decided, given the physical state I was in after 96 days in the ICU, if I had in fact started chemo in March of last year, it would have killed me. There’s no question in my mind I would be dead, because a lot of times chemo kills people before cancer. Chemo is poison. It is a derivative derivative of mustard gas from World War two. Now it does kill cancer cells, but it can kill everything else too. It can crush and destroy your immune system. So this is not medical advice. I’m just saying there are other ways to heal from a chronic disease other than standard of care from our medical industrial complex. So I’m going the alternative route. My my trifecta of healing is faith. Mindset and nutrition. Not chemo, radiation and surgery that works for some people. When you get the diagnosis, it’s a very personal decision and you’ve got to make a very personal plan and decision as to what you feel is best in your heart and in your mind and in your soul. And what I believe, Brian, is that, you know, I know that God spared my life in that ICU.

Glenn Carver: [00:38:12] I know it beyond a shadow of a doubt. I’m getting goosebumps right now. So if God did spare my life, not ICU, why would he have me die of cancer a year or two later? That makes no spiritual sense to me. I’ve got a message. I mean, as a speaker at my core, I’m a speaker. You always want a big story. I didn’t want one this big, but I got it. So be careful what you ask for. So now I’ve got this. I think I’ve got this incredible platform, this message. My testimony is huge, but I can I can speak about the power of moving through adversity because we’re all going to face it. Not a matter of if, but when. And seeing that adversity is an opportunity to grow, an opportunity to find the advantage in the adversity. And that’s what I love about that’s what I love about entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs find advantage in adversity. They solve problems. And I love what you’re doing and bringing our community together. It’s you know, one of the main reasons I’m sitting here alive today is prayer from a massive community. And I’ll tell you, the community that we have here in Cherokee County is awesome. I mean, the community that has supported my family emotionally and financially over the past two years has been awe inspiring, totally humbling. And I just I can’t say enough about there’s so much going on in the world that’s beyond our control. All we can focus on is our thoughts, what we think, our attitude about the world and our community, our circle of influence. And it’s pretty tight. So.

Brian Pruett: [00:39:51] Well, I like that because personally, I needed to hear your story this morning because in my business, I’m currently going through an adversity and trying to figure out if the doors are going to stay open. You know, you’re.

Glenn Carver: [00:40:00] Not alone, brother.

Brian Pruett: [00:40:01] Right? But I just I love the fact that you’re out there spreading that word. First of all, there’s no coincidences, right? And like you said, God had a purpose for you. And so you were were you an author and a speaker before all this started?

Glenn Carver: [00:40:19] Yes. I got into speaking business in 2004 and 2012. I wrote my first book called stand in the Heat Lessons from Legendary Entrepreneurs, on Staying Cool Under Pressure that I could sum up that book in three words don’t freak out. Because we all have a chance to freak out pretty much every day, and freaking out does no good. No. With our kids or spouses or colleagues, our clients are picky or picky prospects. Vendors freaking out never does any good. But we tend our lizard brain. We tend to freak out very quickly. I’m still guilty.

Brian Pruett: [00:40:59] Right. So I like for you to share maybe a different answer because obviously the community was there for you through your, your, your incident, your, your procedures and all that. So is there a different answer you can give of why you’re a part of the community, or is that pretty much the reason?

Glenn Carver: [00:41:15] Well, I mean, I love community, I’ve always been I mean, I’m a I’m a I’m a, I’m a rainmaker and a maniacal hunter. You know, in the professional world, I’ve been in sales and business development my whole life. So I always loved to network. And I’ve got a philosophy, you know, our parents taught us when we were kids. Don’t talk to strangers for the right reasons, okay? As adults in the business community, just the opposite. Talk to strangers. Talk to everybody. And if you followed me around for a day, you would see how I live it. I talk to everybody, and I believe that when you when you meet somebody new. That’s why I love being here. I’ve met three new friends today because you never know. It’s like pulling a lever on a slot machine in Vegas. When you meet somebody new, you never know what you’re going to get. You never know who they know. You may know somebody. Scotland. That could change my life. Or I could change their life. Or, you know, you just told me about Michelle Cleveland. Mind boggling story. Yeah. So talk to strangers, get into your community, be real, be authentic. And you know, you know, my book, Stand the Heat, is all about helping entrepreneurs move through it. And because we’re all just life and business can be mean, tough and nasty, right?

Brian Pruett: [00:42:29] So it’s kind of cool. I when I was in high school and growing up, I was the shy introvert. And then I decided to go into communications as a major. And everybody’s like, you got to get them talk to people. Yeah, but my dream was to be a sports announcer, right? But then I got into sales and I’ve been doing sales and marketing for about 30 plus, a little about 30 years. And that led into the fundraising part. But everybody’s like, I can’t believe you’re doing sales. And how do you take the no. And this is true, but it’s funny, I got used to the no. Because in college, every single girl I asked out said no. So you just got to go with it. You’re prepared. Yeah, exactly. So, um, I like for you to maybe give some advice on a couple of things. One, anybody who’s thinking about starting a business, what would you give them advice on? And then to anybody who wants to maybe write a book, what would you advice would you give?

Glenn Carver: [00:43:22] Okay. Starting a business. Read a couple of books. First, the E-myth by Michael Gerber. The E-myth stands for the Entrepreneurial Myth, and it’s the myth that just because you’re the best plumber in town means you can run a business. And those are two opposite worlds. Read the E-myth and maybe read traction EOS Entrepreneurial Operating Systems. Make sure you know what you’re getting into, because we tend to go into things with our with our heart on her sleeve. You’ve got I believe you’ve got to be passionate about what you do, Scotland, or else you’re not going to last. Right? Make sure you know, we jump into things. I’m guilty. I’m I’m a very emotional creature. I’ll jump in. I have never suffered paralysis of analysis. I’ll just jump in and get beaten up. But do some homework, know what you’re getting into, have a plan, have some money lined up because everything is going to take 2 or 3 times as long as you’re planning on, and at least twice the money. Be realistic. You know people with the entrepreneurial spirit. See pie in the sky? Guilty. Everything’s possible. That’s me. My wife is the opposite of me. She grounds me. So sometimes people who are thinking about starting a business need to have somebody come in and offset them, offset all their aspirations with some reality, get some counsel, get some coaching, get a good coach up front. And then writing a book. Incredible experience, one of the best of my life. I’ve read hundreds of books I didn’t think I could ever write one.

Glenn Carver: [00:44:58] And in spite of that, I just. I willed it to happen. But I use a great company in Alpharetta called Book Logix. Ahmad and Angela, and they really held my hand and walked me through the process because it was daunting, but I used. Here’s an answer for both of your questions, Brian. Use emotional leverage on yourself. When I first started writing stand in the heat, I had a mock copy mock copy made up of the book had the cover. It was 150 pages. Every page was empty. It was a mock up book. And I would put that book on, you know, on my mirror, or I’d walk around with it. I’d envision it being complete. I even one day took it into Barnes and Noble and put it up on the bestseller shelf. Oh, nice. And backed away. I can feel it right now. Backed away. It was crowded and it was not an empty store. And I backed away and I just stood there and kind of looked at it, and I felt awkward and weird. My armpit started sweating and then I took a picture of it. I took a picture of my own book on the bestseller shelf, and then I put that on Facebook. So I put it so far out there that I couldn’t retreat. So if I if I put it that far out there and then a retreat, I’m a liar. I’m an empty suit. So emotional leverage can be really powerful when you’re trying to accomplish any kind of goal.

Brian Pruett: [00:46:23] That’s awesome advice. Thank you. So you talked about the networking aspect aspect too. So but I first ask you talked about the iOS system. Do you know Joshua Kaminsky I do not. So Joshua is an iOS implementer. Oh great. And he actually networks with the Carnival Business Club. So I can make that connection for you. He’s a great guy. Great. Yes. Um, you talked about networking. What positive story can you share about your networking experience?

Glenn Carver: [00:46:44] Oh my God there’s. There’s many. I mean, I haven’t done as much networking. Certainly the past two years. I mean, the first year of the hospital, I was just I was at home surviving, you know, before Covid, I was a maniacal networker. I mean, end of the year, I would I would look at all the business cards I had each December. I’d assess all the business cards I’d collected over the year. And it was, you know, it was 4 or 5in high. Now it’s dwindled down to to that size. But I believe that every time you go to an event, you’re going to if you meet one person, you could go to an event with 3000 people, or you could go to an event with four people. And if you meet one person and make one connection and follow through and start to develop a relationship and add value to their life or their business, it’s worthwhile. So I’m just I’m a massive advocate of networking, meeting new people, telling your story. We’ve all got one. And just being there out in the world. Somebody once said to me, if you’re going to be a they said to this in the context of real estate, but it applies anything. If you want to be a great agent at anything in life, you can’t be a silent agent. Got to get out there and generate exposure for yourself, right?

Brian Pruett: [00:48:01] I know you just had an event last week where you were speaking. I know Woodstock Business Club and Business Club came together and you get you did some. But do you have anything else coming up you want to share that you’ve got going on.

Glenn Carver: [00:48:11] As we wrap up the year? I do not at the moment. So nothing to plug or promote, but there will be plenty of things coming up in 2024.

Brian Pruett: [00:48:22] Awesome. Well plug how they can find your book and also your podcast.

Glenn Carver: [00:48:25] Yeah, my podcast is called Advantage of Adversity. It’s on YouTube and video format. We launched with video. It’s on all the other platforms in audio form like Spotify and Apple whatnot. But if you go to YouTube and plug in advantage of adversity, I think I’ve got 13 or 14 episodes out there. We just launched a few months ago. My book is called stand in the heat. My first book, my second book is not finished yet. That’ll be a 2024 initiative. And yeah, you can reach me at Glen at Glen carver.com Glen with two ends. The second end is silent.

Brian Pruett: [00:48:59] So if somebody wants to have you come speak, that’s the best way to get a hold of you. And I’m sure you’re open for come speaking for some folks.

Glenn Carver: [00:49:05] Absolutely. Cell numbers 404 2910291I do free speaking engagements. I love paid speaking engagements. Paid pays the bills better than free. Yes, but that’s another. You know, even when I do free speaking engagements, something great always happens. It’s just once again, it’s exposure. You got to get out there and expose yourself and tell your story.

Brian Pruett: [00:49:30] Right. So just a little bit I’ve got something coming up next week that I want to share. So monthly I do a trivia show at Saint Angelo’s over in Emerson, and I’m rotating the charities currently in Bartow County. It’s how Carlin Scotland reached out to me because I put an email blast on looking for sponsors for next year that I do that. And while it’s interesting that trivia for the non profits is already signed up, filled up, we’ll get you guys and we’ll do something with you guys too. But this coming Wednesday is actually a nonprofit based in canton called the Experiences Foundation, and they are a mini Make-A-Wish meets Big Brother Big sister type organization. They’ve got an incredible story. So if you want to come, it’s 6:00 is when the buffet opens. So for $25 you come in 6:00, have a buffet of all you can eat pizza, wings, pasta salad, garlic knots and nonalcoholic drinks. And then we do trivia. And just. Put your thinking caps on because people say, my trivia is hard, but it’s fun. Um, and then we obviously have the money portion of the proceeds go to them. But we’re also this month doing a dessert raffle, and I’ve got several desserts come. So if you need dessert for Thanksgiving, it’s just a week away. After that, come get your dessert at the raffle and come have a good time. So all right, as we wrap this up, this is what I like to do. I like to have each of you share a positive quote, word or nugget for somebody listening to take the rest of 2023 and beyond with. So Carla will start with you. What have you got?

Carla Maton: [00:50:56] Um. All right, so what’s on my mind is get to. Yes. So I just finished a leadership course through an internal course through the Red cross, and it was a year long program. It was phenomenal. We we were able to work and hear from our national leaders with the Red cross, you can imagine leading a national organization such as this. It’s the the skills and the experience of the folks that are leading this organization is just unreal. And to get to learn from them. The last year has been incredible, but they challenged us to find our own personal leadership motto. And that one landed with me and it was on. I saw it plastered on the walls of a disaster headquarters I went to in Louisiana probably eight years ago, and the volunteers had started this motto of, we’re in this community. Folks are devastated by flooding. We’ve got to find the yes, even if we don’t do that. That’s why networking is important. And you think Red cross is huge? We cannot do what we do alone. We depend on community and organizations and people to do our work. And so I’ve adopted that and it’s my new leadership motto is just find the will, find the way and get to yes, awesome Scotland.

Scottlin Smith: [00:52:12] I would just encourage people to spread love. The holiday seasons are great for some, but there are people that are out here struggling. I shared that my neighbor committed suicide this time last year, so you just never know what people are going through. People may look nice on the outside. Hair, shoes, outfits, everything may seem great, but everybody is going through something. Everybody’s struggling in some way. So if you can be that difference, if you can be that change maker in somebody’s day, in somebody’s life, I encourage you to do so.

Brian Pruett: [00:52:44] Well, that’s important to talk about. Mention too, because you do not know what everybody’s going through and you not talking about. They may smile or whatever. When Michelle was on last week, I talked a little bit about, I mean, the two people I can think of, I never would have thought committed suicide. Robin Williams and Twitch from the Ellen Show. Right? You just never know. So all right, Glenn, I know you spread a lot already, but what you got?

Glenn Carver: [00:53:05] Well, you never know. You, one of my dearest friends of 20 years, took his life last September. And to two of the sharpest guys I’ve known in my life taken their lives, you know, and it’s just you never know what’s going on in somebody’s heart, their mind and their soul. But what’s resonating with me right now is one of my favorite quotes from Martin Luther King. In the spirit of this conversation today. And what you do, Brian, is everybody can be great or anybody can be great because anyone can serve awesome.

Brian Pruett: [00:53:33] Well, the other thing that’s lost art these days is the thank you. So, Carla, thank you for what you’re doing with the American Red cross and the community Scotland. Thank you for what you’re doing for Love Travels Beyond in the community in Bartow and the West Georgia area. And Glenn, just thank you for sharing your story and being the hope that people have through adversity. If you’re a veteran too and you’re out there, thank you for your service. Thank you for your if you’re currently serving and everybody listening, let’s remember, let’s be positive. Let’s be charitable.

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta. It’s time for Charitable Georgia. Brought to you by B’s Charitable Pursuits and resources. We put the fun in fund raising. For more information, go to B’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. That’s B’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. Now here’s your host, Brian Pruitt.

Brian Pruett: [00:00:45] Good, fabulous Friday morning. It’s another fabulous Friday, and we’ve got two fabulous guests here this morning. We’re supposed to have three, but our other guest is sick with a stomach bug, so we’ll get her back on here. But again, we’ve got two fabulous guests. And if this is your first time listening to Charitable Georgia, this is all about positive things happening in the community. So we are going to get started with Meena Lahku. I say it right. That’s right. Awesome. I get brownie points for doing it right. So you’re with 52 Compassionate Hearts as well as Best Version Media. So we’ll get into all that in just a second. But you’ve got a pretty cool backstory and it leads into your passion of what you’re doing. So if you don’t mind, just share your story with us.

Meena Lahku: [00:01:23] Okay, well, that’s. How much time do we have?

Brian Pruett: [00:01:27] I’ve got till 5:00. I don’t know about Holly, but.

Meena Lahku: [00:01:30] Okay, well, where should I start? I mean, you’ve heard the story, so it could. It could? Well, just.

Brian Pruett: [00:01:38] Our listeners don’t know anything about you, so just give a little bit about your background, and then while you’re doing well, we’ll talk about 52 Compassionate Arts in the magazine. But there’s a reason why you’ve started both of those. But so share just a little bit of share as much as you want to. Because like I tell people all the time, you don’t know who’s listening, who might need to hear your story.

Meena Lahku: [00:01:54] Right? Okay. Well, so there’s definitely a significance behind the name 52 beginnings. And just to kind of back up a little bit, you know, I guess the story started of the main part of it started. I’ll say like in 2019 and basically decided to start a business of my own with somebody that I was engaged to at the time. And, you know, things didn’t go as we had planned, so that relationship didn’t work out. It wasn’t a very positive relationship, to say the least. And, you know, I kind of came to a point where I had to make some decisions and decided to to to leave that opportunity. Although I loved the environment, the place that I was in, the type of work which was more in hospitality, it was a bed and breakfast, a a historic home that was transported up to the North Georgia mountains. There was an event venue seated 200 people. It was just a gorgeous, gorgeous property and I loved it up there. But it was also a toxic personal environment. Somewhat, I hate to say it, but somewhat of an abusive relationship that I had, I had to get out of. So I made that decision in 2020 to just leave and cut my losses. And whatever happens, happens. And chips kind of fall where they may. And so that happened in March of 2020, and we all know what happened that month as well. So, you know, just as things would have it, that particular week that I left, Covid was not as big of a deal.

Meena Lahku: [00:04:09] People were talking about it, but it wasn’t like there wasn’t a lockdown or anything like that. We had just had some guests from China and directly flew in from China. There was a international boarding school located next to us, so they just had flown in. My daughter wasn’t feeling well and so I did not go visit my dad and. You know, for obvious reasons. And so I left that week, and later on that week my dad passed away. And that same within a like the day before that. That was a Saturday. So like on Friday the world decided to shut down. And so timing like everything was just awful, awful, awful. Like when it rains it pours type of thing. You know, we had to have the funeral at home. It was just nobody knew what anybody else was doing. It was just a bad time. So basically from there, just, you know, we were all at home. I went to real estate school online because what else can I do? And my heart wasn’t really in it. I really that’s not what I wanted to pursue, but I knew what I didn’t want was to go back to work for somebody else on somebody else’s time and money and work every weekend, work at nights, and miss the summers and miss the holidays and all of that.

Meena Lahku: [00:05:38] So, um, and I and if I didn’t mention this, I’m a single mom. I have three kids, so that in itself is a challenge. Anyhow, long story short, I was blessed enough to have the opportunity within that next couple of years after that to be able to take my mom, to go visit family and able to take care of her while she had knee replacement surgery. Things of that nature. Um. When it came to a point where, okay, I need to, you know, figure out what I’m going to do next. Uh, you know, I took odd jobs in between. And one of them was to basically, you know, help a person that I considered a good friend of mine at the time, we had known each other for ten years, somebody I trusted, somebody who I laughed and cried with, like, everything. And basically that ended up into another bad situation where basically I just did not get paid for about nine months worth of work and it just wasn’t good. And just to kind of make things right, I won’t get into big, big long story, but to make things right, I. I pretty much demanded that. I guess things be put in a manner that that they should have been in, in terms of payments. So I started an LLC and I was 51 at that time, and I was on the verge of turning 52. And I’ve always been the same person I am today, which I’ve always had a positive outlook in life, and everything happens for a reason.

Meena Lahku: [00:07:32] I don’t know why all of this has happened, but something good is going to come out of it. I don’t know what it is, but something good is going to happen. I was about to turn 52 and I just went with 52 beginnings, knowing that there was a bigger, brighter future ahead. So that’s where 52 beginnings comes from. And, you know, moving forward from that is when I connected with Best Version media and it just aligned with every single. Way my brain thinks and feels about the community, about being compassionate, about being having a fun, loving spirit. A professional will and a compassionate heart. Those are the three pillars that they stand by. Almost so good that I kind of didn’t believe it. You know, I was like, oh, this is way too good to be true, right? So anyways, that’s that’s where that comes from. And I, you know, moving on with that, I basically turned it into 52. 52. 52 beginnings local media, which has with the print and digital publication in the town lake area, there’s about 42 publications now in the Georgia area. Most of those are in the Atlanta area. So, you know, with that, it goes into another big long story. I don’t know how much you want to hear, Brian. You like opened up a. That’s right.

Brian Pruett: [00:09:17] The people tell me I do that all the time. So well a couple of questions. So first of all, we had one of your cohorts on here, Caitlin Thomas, who’s doing the Cartersville Living from Virgin Media over there. So and she’s got the same kind of heart. So my first question is going through what you did, especially with somebody you thought was a friend and, and then dealing the stuff with your dad and all that. A lot of people might have shut down at the time and said, you know what? Community is not there. It’s just it’s terrible. It sucks. Whatever the case may be, you decided to turn that around and keep going and push through and you have a heart for community. So why is it important for you to be part of the community?

Meena Lahku: [00:09:56] I just have faith in people. So, you know, there were so many times that people told me, you’re just too nice. You’re too nice, and that’s why this happens to you. I’m like, I just. Yeah, that’s great and everything, but I’m not going to change the way I am. I mean, I like who I am, I like being nice, I like being compassionate, I like helping people, and I believe that there’s other people that feel the same way. So why why become something that is so unnatural and something that I don’t want to be, you know, just to get further in life monetarily. You know, that’s I don’t I just don’t personally believe. That’s right. So I believe that there is a community out there of people which I have seen in the Cherokee County area that do have a compassionate heart, that that that do look out for each other.

Brian Pruett: [00:10:53] Which, you know, there’s a there’s a lot of pockets out there of these types of community from Cherokee and Bartow. You know, Cobb, you know, and I sit down and talk to people every day and learn their stories. And that’s what birthed Charitable Georgia, because there’s a lot of great stories out there, and that’s what needs to be heard. Not all this negativity and scare tactics that the mainstream media puts out. So it’s just great to I mean, you do so much for the community. I mean, you you’ve even turned your backyard into an event facility, which you just had an event. So you kind of focus right now on working with people with the brain, brain injuries, brain tumors, all the above. We share about that.

Meena Lahku: [00:11:30] Sure. So. When it came to my first publication, I had one full page that was generously donated by a corporate sponsor who didn’t need the space he just donated. You know, the the cost of it. And so I needed to put something on that page, and I wanted to give it back to a cause. And so upon doing some research, I found out that this was in the month of July. And so I found out that July 19th is Glioblastoma Awareness Day. It was the fifth year that it’s been nationally recognized. I was dumbfounded and like that. I didn’t even know that that existed because my brother passed away of a glioblastoma. And so the moment I saw that, I knew that that was it. I knew that I had to do something to bring awareness to that day and to to all the different types of brain cancers that are out there, because there is such little research that has been done in such little progression in decades with treatments and things. So, you know, basically what ended up happening was I had a friend of mine, do, you know, kind of get the information together. He’s a retired physician. I figured he’d be the best person to, you know, get all this together for me. And things didn’t quite pan out. And I stayed up the night before my deadline thinking, oh my gosh, what am I going to put on this page? I don’t know what I can do, what I can’t do.

Meena Lahku: [00:13:17] I’ve never done this before and ended up connecting with someone at the National Brain Tumor Society almost, almost by accident. We both almost thought it was the wrong number and hung up, but ended up spending probably an hour and a half or so on the phone with her. She. The night before, while I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with this page, I my wheels just started turning and I like had all these ideas of, oh, I could do this, I could do this. And so when I was sharing that with her, she was like, we could totally do that and we will support you in that. And within a couple of hours, I was, you know, connected with their marketing department and we got that page together. We didn’t know exactly what we were going to do at that time, but we knew we were going to do something. So that’s how 52 Compassionate Hearts began. And it’s basically a year long fundraising effort that started on July 19th of this year. That will go on through July 19th of 2024. My goal is to to work with 52 compassionate hearted people or businesses and create these teams where we’re all supporting each other. We’re all supporting the communities, whether it’s the families or the businesses, that doesn’t matter. There’s a way that everybody can make it work and it doesn’t cost anybody any money, which is amazing. And and my goal is to raise $52,000 by that date.

Brian Pruett: [00:14:50] So you just said it doesn’t cost any money. Can you share more about what that looks like?

Meena Lahku: [00:14:54] Sure. So the way I’ve got it set up with the National Brain Tumor Society on the site is you can either donate money and just just do that and be done with it and no big deal. Or you can become a fund raiser where you can either join an existing team or you can create your own team. So if you either want is fine, if you create your own team and neither one of those options cost any money, it’s just a way of you to be able to participate. But with that, if you create your own team, you get your own web page where you can customize and, you know, put in your if you’re a business, put in your business logo. If you’re an individual, you could, you know, if you want to do it as a family incentive for the kids or, you know, use it personally, just, you know, you can customize it however you want and do a fundraising campaign on your own or not. Just do it like if you want to lose weight, if you set up a goal to every time I lose a pound, I’m going to donate a dollar, you know, set it up however you want. It doesn’t matter. It just matters that everybody participates in one way or another. And at the end of the year, if we all do it, then I don’t think getting $52,000, I know it won’t be a problem.

Brian Pruett: [00:16:14] So share right now, if somebody is listening and says, I want to be a part of that, how can they do that? How can they get a hold of you or go build their team, or what they need to do.

Meena Lahku: [00:16:21] So they can connect with me on? Well, there’s a couple of ways. I think the easiest way would be, well, there’s Facebook, you can look me up on Facebook or you can go to 52 beginnings.com. And you know, that’s my website. And you can you can find it on there as well. There is a link but it’s kind of long. So yeah I’m not going to say that right now, but.

Brian Pruett: [00:16:49] Just reach out to her the way she said. And you can get more information on that as well. So. Right. All right. So let’s talk a little bit more about the magazine. So what’s the name of the magazine that you currently have.

Meena Lahku: [00:16:57] Neighbors of Town Lake. All right.

Brian Pruett: [00:16:58] So it goes actually just to the town Lake area. Yeah. And is that directly mailed to the homes?

Meena Lahku: [00:17:04] It’s mailed directly to the homes. And it goes to the communities in that area they do not subscribe to. That they don’t, you know, they don’t pay for it. It just gets delivered right to their homes. It’s a private publication, so it’s not online or anywhere.

Brian Pruett: [00:17:20] And so how do you go about finding your stories for the magazine?

Meena Lahku: [00:17:24] Well, we ask for the community to submit them. So, you know, the magazine is the reason why the concept works so well. It’s a branding concept, and it works so well because the information in it is derived from the community. I’m not going around interviewing people or writing stories myself or my, you know, my content coordinator who’s fabulous. She does write the stories, but she writes them for the businesses that are sponsoring the publication. So everything is very local. All the pictures and all the content come directly from the community. Therefore, they’re going to flip through every page because they want to know, you know, if if their content got put into that particular edition or not.

Brian Pruett: [00:18:13] I think it’s funny, a lot of people talk these days that print is dead, but it’s kind of cool to see different, a lot of different community type magazines coming out at the time, because people do love still holding something in their hand, flipping the pages, reading it, looking at it. And when it comes to the community, especially a buddy of mine and I had a magazine a few years ago called Northwest Georgia Rising Stars, and it was all positive feature stories on the kids in the high schools in Bartow and Gordon counties, whether they played sports or not. And it was such a well received thing that I think people love, again, positive stories about the community. So if a businesses I’m assuming businesses, you talk about business sponsoring the magazine and it’s more or less them advertising. Correct.

Meena Lahku: [00:18:56] It’s advertising, but it also gives it also allows for the community to be able to submit that content. Right. So if a business is sponsoring, say, the pet page or the recipe page, then yes, half of it is like an ad of their own, which we also encourage them to make it more educational. Give people the reason why they should choose them. When there’s like a sea full of other businesses that do the exact same thing, why should they go to them? Right? So be a little bit more informative that way. But then the rest of the page is where the community can, you know, can submit their content and it gives them space as well.

Brian Pruett: [00:19:37] How often does the magazine is it mailed out? Is it once a month or.

Meena Lahku: [00:19:42] It’s every single month?

Brian Pruett: [00:19:43] Every single month. Yeah.

Meena Lahku: [00:19:44] And then the what we also do, which is really great, which no other company does, is we’ll take the the ads, I’ll just call them ads that are in the publication and reformat those according to the specs on Google, Facebook and Instagram and run those campaigns on those platforms as well. So they’re getting that many more impressions.

Brian Pruett: [00:20:07] So if a business is listening and wants to do that with your magazine and be a sponsor, how can they get a hold of you for that?

Meena Lahku: [00:20:13] Well, probably the same way. It would just be either through Facebook. You can find me there, you can find me through there’s a business web page. Business Facebook page that’s neighbors of Town Lake. They can that would probably be the easiest way to to look me up. Or they can look me up personally. Message me that way or go to the website.

Brian Pruett: [00:20:36] Another thing we talk about a lot on the show is networking. And I’ve seen pictures of you at networking events, so I know you network as well. So do you have a positive story you can share about networking and how it’s helped you?

Meena Lahku: [00:20:48] Um. Absolutely I think. Just just getting around like minded people that, you know, have the same goals and want to, you know, in all networking groups are different. You know, I kind of tend to, to, to go to the ones where I can make more of a personal connection and get to know people. So, yeah, it’s definitely something that I feel is very powerful and that can help everybody in every business and definitely support that. I think what I was trying to do with the event this past Friday was incorporate the 52 beginnings Compassionate Heart like, combine those efforts and create a networking opportunity that was more in the evening, as opposed to 730 in the morning, right when a lot of people can’t make it. So give them another opportunity. Give those business leaders another opportunity. And I think.

Brian Pruett: [00:21:56] It’s important to you that you mentioned about going and establishing the personal relationship side, because too many people make the mistake of going right into networking and trying to sell, and you can’t do that.

Meena Lahku: [00:22:07] Oh, yeah. Well, I kind of found that out the hard way because I had no idea how the whole networking thing worked. And yeah, I did do that. I thought that’s what we were supposed to do. And so I was actually kind of relieved to find out, no, that’s not what you do, because I wasn’t comfortable doing that in the first place. I’m more of a people person. I like to get to know people. I build relationships. If things happen, they happen great. If they don’t, no big deal either. We’re just trying to create an environment that helps everybody, you know, and it may not be for everybody. And that’s okay too, right?

Brian Pruett: [00:22:47] Which it’s kind of funny because nowadays I get more uncomfortable talking about myself than listening to about somebody. I’d rather sit down and learn about you than to talk about me all day long. So it’s definitely go in with the open mind and heart about learning and how you can help somebody else than yourself, and it’ll come back to you whether it’s immediate or not. It’ll come back to you. Absolutely. So a couple other questions for you. So first of all, the first question is other than networking, how do you get the word out about 52 beginnings 52 Compassionate Hearts. And then how do you get the word out about the magazine?

Meena Lahku: [00:23:20] Um. Well, social media is really big. That’s very helpful. So I’m not the best at that. I will admit it’s hasn’t been my thing, but that is definitely, you know, something that I’m working on is is putting more out there to. To get more awareness and for more people to participate and going to more events myself.

Brian Pruett: [00:23:55] So you’ve been on both sides of this too. So if somebody is listening first of all and is thinking about starting their own business, give them some advice on what to do. The other aspect is if somebody is listening wants to start a nonprofit, what advice for them?

Meena Lahku: [00:24:09] Well, starting with your own business, I would say definitely have a business plan and think it through thoroughly. You know what I see a lot of is people that are so passionate about doing whatever it is that they’re doing, whether they’re making something or it really doesn’t matter, but they’re really passionate about their business, but they haven’t thought about the whole business process. And that’s where I believe that businesses fail, because you can love baking cookies or whatever it is you know, or, you know, art or whatever, whatever your business is. But if you don’t have the business plan to support it and the budget to support it, then it’s going to be a rough road. And you know that that directly, I guess, relates to me when we’re talking about marketing, because a lot of people don’t have a marketing budget, and therefore they try to do a lot of it themselves, and then they end up doing so much of it themselves that they don’t have time to do the actual thing that they love to do in the first place. So. Well, and.

Brian Pruett: [00:25:22] That’s the first thing people cut to is the marketing budget. They do have it, which is the last thing. So you have to always to my, in my opinion, have a marketing budget because you can people say, well, I have too many clients, I have enough clients. You can never have enough or too many, right? What happens if that? Well dries up? You need to be constantly doing that. So share some advice on starting a nonprofit.

Meena Lahku: [00:25:44] Well, technically I’m not a nonprofit, you know, yet. It is something I am considering. And. You know, I would just say like, get really educate yourself, talk to other people who have been there, done that, not other people who are thinking about it. Right. And, you know, just educate yourself and make sure that that’s the avenue you want to go down. You know, there’s a lot of logistics behind it, a lot of there’s a lot to it. So it’s not that simple.

Brian Pruett: [00:26:23] And I’ve had several other people and non-profits on here that too, that also say that look at other people, other non-profits in the area who might be doing what you want to do and align yourself with them first and then, you know, go from there because you can always partner. Right, right. And be a part of something that’s already there. Don’t reinvent the wheel.

Meena Lahku: [00:26:40] Exactly, exactly. There’s no need to do that. Right?

Brian Pruett: [00:26:44] Right. You shared about your your year long fundraiser that you’re doing, but do you have any other events that are coming up or anything else you want to share that might be coming up you can let people know about?

Meena Lahku: [00:26:53] We have an educational event coming up in January, so we’re still working on the logistics of that, but that’s going to be our next one.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:01] And what kind of educational.

Meena Lahku: [00:27:03] It’s going to be more towards brain health and brain training. And we’re talking to some of the senior communities, local senior communities, about doing things that will help Alzheimer’s patients and dementia patients and things of that nature. So it’s going to be surrounded. You know, in that way. Okay.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:33] All right. So share one more time, either the website or the Facebook so people can follow up on that. And then again how they can connect with you.

Meena Lahku: [00:27:41] Sure. So they a website is 52 beginnings.com. And you can follow me or follow me on Facebook as well or Instagram. And it’s Meenaa. Meena Lahku. And the business page is neighbors of town.

Brian Pruett: [00:28:03] Like awesome. Meena, thanks for coming on and sharing a little bit of your story. Don’t go anywhere. We’re not technically not done with you, but thanks for coming on and sharing. We’re moving over now to miss Holly Payton, and I’m sure people have probably go, hey, I know that name. Well, her husband Stone is the one that owns the and runs the studio here. And when you hear her voice, you’ll say, I definitely know that voice because she does the intros and outros. But, Holly, thanks for being here this morning.

Holly Payton: [00:28:25] Thank you so much. I’m glad to be here.

Brian Pruett: [00:28:27] So you did something pretty incredible. Just what, a month and a half, two months ago you donated part of your body. So it’s kind of cool that when Stone shared it with me, it wasn’t somebody to directly. It was more of like a almost like a ring type thing. Can you share that? Sure.

Holly Payton: [00:28:45] Um, my best friend, Mary Guyer, we grew up in the Philadelphia area, and in February of 2021, she called to share with me that she had kidney disease. And at the end of the call, she asked, would it be okay if I sent you some information on on kidney donorship? I said, sure, and then she said, would you consider being a kidney donor? And I said yes. And so when Mary hung up the phone and she talked to her daughter Sarah. Sarah said, mom, you know, Holly’s going to have to talk to her family and a lot of people. So let’s not get too excited. And that was absolutely not the case. You introduced this by saying I did this incredible thing. People have reacted that way, and I feel like everybody in their life has somebody that they would do this for. Mary’s my son. Buddy. You know, I didn’t have to ask anybody else what they thought. Mary was my son, buddy. And the other thing I would say. If anyone is considering this. My friend Mary was challenged a little bit. She was disappointed that some of the people in her circle of friends and circle of influence didn’t jump at the chance, you know? And they said, oh, what if one of my children needs a kidney? I don’t think I can do this now.

Holly Payton: [00:30:33] And. I was raised that you pitch to the batter that’s at the plate. You don’t live your life. What if this. What if that? Mary was right in front of me. I had someone right in front of me that needed something. And it was something I could do something about. So. I contacted Emory University. Emory is the Emory University hospital. They are the hospital in the Atlanta area that has a kidney transplant program. And I was not a match for Mary. So what the. We went into the National Kidney Donor Registry and we were paired. So what that means is I’m not a match for her, but I’m donating on her behalf. And you. Let’s say you need a kidney. You, your person who wants to donate on your behalf isn’t a match. So my kidney goes to you and your person’s kidney goes to Mary. So they create a chain. And that chain can be a few people. It can be 25 and 30 people. So in a year and a half, nothing happened. By that I mean no chain was created. I was matched, but the chain. But Mary wasn’t. The chain never formed, or Mary was matched, but I wasn’t matched, and the chain never formed.

Holly Payton: [00:32:04] So we were both educated, Mary and I, from her coordinator in the Philadelphia area. Mine down here, that it would go faster for Mary if I would donate. If we would decouple, we wouldn’t be paired anymore in the National Kidney Donor Registry. And I would donate and go into the voucher program. And what? So on September the 5th, I went into have kidney donor surgery at Emory Hospital, and the next day my voucher went to Mary that someone has donated on her behalf. So she was active now in the National Kidney Donor Registry, and she’s just waiting for a match. So it you never know when that will happen, but her odds are much better now because we don’t have to pair two people, just her. And I feel in my heart of hearts that this will happen for her this fall sometime. She’s not on dialysis yet, but getting closer in the best of all possible worlds. She would get a kidney transplant before she goes on dialysis, but if that’s not the case, that’s not a problem. You can be on dialysis and stay healthy while you wait for your your kidney transplant.

Brian Pruett: [00:33:37] So with that is you mentioned the voucher part and stuff. So I guess is that part of still being I guess you’re on the list. The waiting list, like Mary is on a waiting list of certain, you know, when somebody gets one and then she moves up. Is that the way it works? Yes.

Holly Payton: [00:33:52] So in the National Kidney Donor Registry, the way it works is someone gives a kidney and you get you don’t just get. There has to be someone who is giving on your behalf. And either I give directly to you or I give it in a chain, or I give it and you get the voucher and and you will get. So I went was active in the voucher program probably in July. And in mid-August I got the call that I was a match, and it was a chain of about six people. And so I can’t know who my kidney went to or where it went. I have a feeling it got on a plane, because my surgery was at 6 a.m. and the recipient’s surgery was that evening. So I think it went on a plane. But the next day I learned that it was very successful and that the kidney was fully functioning in someone else on the operating table. So which was very cool.

Brian Pruett: [00:35:10] That’s awesome. So but you mentioned that you you can’t know is that obviously in Hollywood they can do what they want to, but you see things where people they meet their donors and stuff like that. Yes.

Holly Payton: [00:35:20] I could have requested that the recipient had my contact information. And that way they. You could have. I could have known. I could have met that person, or they could have met me. Uh, this sounds terrible. I chose not to do that because. It’s very humbling at times to receive all that wonderful good wishes. And and people are so amazed and they it’s hard for me to take sometimes. And so I thought, you know, if this person reached out, they would be so thankful. And so and you know. That would be a little awkward for me, so I didn’t. I chose not to do that. I’m just happy that I’m thrilled to death, that I heard that the kidney was functioning and the surgery went great for that person.

Brian Pruett: [00:36:28] Well, yeah, that’s that’s I mean, you got to be off the moon or the moon just to hear that. Anyway. So what kind of did you have to do any kind of like preparation or testing to, to go through before you did this?

Speaker1: [00:36:42] Sure.

Holly Payton: [00:36:42] So people should know a little bit about kidney donor ship. I learned a whole lot by doing this. Yes. So I contacted Emory and in in February and I was not in their program until June. So there is a lot of testing. There is a lot of blood work. I had to go to Emory for many hours one day. And you had a stress test, an echocardiogram, to an ultrasound of your heart before and after the stress test. You had a chest x ray. You had your blood pressure taken, you had a CT scan of your kidney. You had all all kinds of tests. Then it was during Covid. So this was a zoom call where now people would have face to face. But you met with a social worker to kind of assess your emotional and mental attitude about this. You met with the nephrologist who was a kidney, specializes in kidneys. You met with the surgeon. You met with the financial advisor from Emory. The amazing thing about kidney donor ship. Is the donor has no medical bills. The recipient pays all of your medical bills. Wow. And so when you talked financially, he was saying, you know, you’d be out of work for a time. And so, you know, were you prepared for that? I work for IBM, I’m a consultant for IBM. And IBM was unbelievably, unbelievably supportive of me. I went on short term disability so that I was paid while I was out. I didn’t have any medical bills. So that was an amazing part of this experience.

Brian Pruett: [00:38:45] That’s pretty wild because, you know, in one aspect you would think that it might be the other way around where the recipient shouldn’t have any medical bills either. Right. But I mean, that’s just really cool. So all right, you’ve already talked about you work for IBM. So you’re in the corporate world I am. And so obviously you have a giving heart, but you gave away a kidney. Um, but I know just from being with Stone, he talks about you all the time to believe good or good or bad, mostly good. But you you you too have a heart for the community. And so why is it important to be part of the community?

Holly Payton: [00:39:23] Oh my gosh. When we were trying to, we had a house in Marietta where we raised our kids and we knew we wanted to downsize and we wanted to move to a smaller community. And so we visited a lot of smaller communities around, and we came to Woodstock, and we kept coming back and kept coming back. And Stone loved that. There was music everywhere. You know, Madlife has music outside, and sometimes in the summer century House has music and reformation has, you know, there was music everywhere, and families and children and old people and young people and everybody’s downtown. And we fell in love with the community. And when we moved here over two years ago. We moved here right as the Reeves house was having their opening, and we went and I had the chance to talk to some of the people who have leadership positions in Woodstock Arts. And I was amazed. How in the world did a small town like this get the movers and shakers of Woodstock to buy in to having such a thriving art community? I just I couldn’t wrap my head around it. And so I was very anxious when we moved here to get involved. And so I. I love Woodstock Arts. I think that the people in the leadership positions do such a magnificent job. And so I have participated in art on the spot where artists create something and then whatever you create gets raffled off.

Holly Payton: [00:41:08] I teach watercolor classes at the Reeves house. I’ve taken clay classes at the Kish House, and in February of this past year, I got the chance to act in murder on the Orient Express. That was done in February at the theater. So I this is kind of funny. I have an acting degree from the University of Florida. So yes, you can work at IBM and have an acting degree college degree. I did go back and get a master’s in instructional design, and that’s what brought me to IBM. But I started taking oil painting classes when I was young, and I, I went to to college as an art major, but I couldn’t do it every day. I was taking an avocation, trying to turn it into a vocation that didn’t work. So I had painting skills, and I and I had artistic skills. When I was in the play in February, I had not acted in 45 years, but it was such a magnificent experience. So Stone, I don’t know everybody in town. Stone knows everybody in town. So he loves, loves that aspect of the community. And I have really gotten to appreciate the artistic side of the Woodstock community. They are fabulous. The opportunities abound. There’s all kinds of volunteer opportunities within Woodstock Arts. People can get involved in so many ways.

Brian Pruett: [00:42:47] Well, that’s a good point. Well, first of all, I do know that Stone loves being here because there’s beer right around the corner and he can go have his beer anytime he wants to. That’s right. And he can drive his golf cart now. So. Right. But you’re talking about the volunteering aspect of it. And I think that’s really cool and important to talk about, even if you’re in the corporate world, because, you know, there’s these small business owners who are all out doing the networking aspect of it, you don’t get to do that as much being in the corporate world. And so giving back and volunteering, I think is important to talk about because, you know, there’s these people that come, I might have worked ten hours a day. I’m so tired or whatever this weekend. I just want to do for myself. And I think when you find out of the volunteer opportunities and you do that and you give back, you get more.

Holly Payton: [00:43:29] Absolutely, absolutely. Woodstock arts.org is their website. They host Lantern series on the green. They host art exhibits on the green. They have the art a gallery at the Reeves House. They teach art classes at the Reeves House. The Kish House is where they have all their clay classes. They have the theater. You can volunteer to help put up art gallery shows. Man, you learn a lot about what happens behind the scenes and an art gallery. It’s very educational, and you can volunteer at the theater to take tickets or to hand out brochures or to work the concession stands. There’s all kinds of volunteerism at the when they have the Lantern series shows to seat people, to take tickets to, you know, serve wine and etcetera. So there’s just so it doesn’t matter what you what skills you have or don’t have, there is an opportunity for you to be a part of that world in, in your volunteering.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:49] And I think that, again, just being part of the community in whatever you do, because I know I have family members who’ve turned into hermits, they just want to stay at home.

Speaker5: [00:44:59] And.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:59] You know, and Covid did so much wrong for people in that way. But you’re right. Just giving back whatever you can do and it makes you feel good, you.

Holly Payton: [00:45:09] Know, and you meet so many wonderful, fabulous, talented, energetic people that it just everything you give to them, they give back to you.

Brian Pruett: [00:45:18] Right. So being how long have you been at IBM?

Holly Payton: [00:45:23] 22 years.

Brian Pruett: [00:45:25] Have you again been in the corporate? You don’t get to do networking I’m assuming, but have you ever been in an opportunity to do networking events and if so, do you have a positive story for networking?

Speaker6: [00:45:37] Oh.

Brian Pruett: [00:45:40] You can actually talk about the like you just talked about what the art and stuff. That’s technically everything you do is networking.

Holly Payton: [00:45:45] Everything you do is networking. I have been able I’ve been blessed to be able to go to events where IBM has a booth, conferences where IBM has a booth, and I’ve been a presenter at at conferences on behalf of IBM. And your comment earlier to Meena about networking is not about selling. It doesn’t matter whether it’s volunteering or small business or corporate business. People do business with people they like and people they trust. And I, I am often uncomfortable because I don’t sell, but I’m happy to listen to challenges your corporation might have. My expertise for IBM is in implementing major change. So major disruptive transformation or or systems and so on. And so I’m happy to listen to the challenges that you might be having and share with you my experience. If I have anything that could help you tweak what you’re doing to be a little bit more successful or share with you, I don’t know if this would work for you, but this is what I’ve found to be successful in working with organizations going through it. So it’s not about selling, it’s simply me giving to you, you sharing with me, and you build those relationships and it goes from there.

Brian Pruett: [00:47:20] And it’s kind of funny you said you’re not into selling, but technically you are, because everybody sells themselves.

Speaker5: [00:47:23] Everybody.

Brian Pruett: [00:47:24] That’s true. Yeah. So. Well let me I’ve got a couple other questions. I want to go to the. Being a corporate and a small business, I run into a lot of people. I used to be in the corporate world. I just couldn’t handle it anymore. So I started this small business. And I know you haven’t had the opportunity to start a business. Stone’s been in this situation, but do you have any advice for anybody who might be thinking about either one, staying in a corporate world or starting a business? You got any any advice for some folks?

Holly Payton: [00:47:56] So I am not an entrepreneur. I married an entrepreneur, but I am not an entrepreneur. I would say from the outside looking in. One of the biggest things that that Stone and I differ on is he is a risk taker. I am not. I take risks all the time. But I am blessed to work in a community where failure is fine because you fail fast, you learn fast, you recover fast, and you move forward. But as an entrepreneur, it’s a little bit bigger risk, you know? And so I would say if you want to start a business, you need to look at and really be self examining as to how big of a risk taker are you? I echo Echo Mina’s suggestion. You have to not only have a passion for the business you’re going to start. But you also and lots of people don’t have both of these. You have to have a business sense and a business plan. You have to understand. Where your what’s your supply chain is? All the things that I work in in IBM, you know, you have to understand your supply chain. You have to understand the finances of it, the tax ramifications. There’s a whole lot to starting a business. And you really have to have expertise or grow your expertise, educate yourself, you know, really learn about it in a lot of different things. It’s not just the passion for what the business is, but it’s all of those business aspects. So to start your own business is is, you know, there’s a lot to, to be good at for those people who, who do it. Well.

Brian Pruett: [00:50:01] The other thing you just talked about, which I think is cool and something I didn’t think about until you just mentioned it, but a lot of the folks that I know that Stone brings in here and people that I’ve had on my show are the entrepreneurs. And you said you’re married to an entrepreneur. My wife’s married to an entrepreneur. What advice would you give somebody who’s married to an entrepreneur because you got I know one of them. You got to be patient for sure.

Holly Payton: [00:50:23] You have to be patient. You have to love them very, very, very much because it’s in the beginning. It’s very up and down and it’s very uncertain. And and I like the certainty of working at IBM and, and so we made a great pair.

Brian Pruett: [00:50:42] That’s awesome. All right I want to go back to the the donation. You talked about having my somebody. Right. And the same thing goes with a business too. You have to know your why and anything. You got to know your why. So it goes by my somebody know your why. I’ve known people that say yeah, it’s marked on my driver’s license. I’m a kidney donor, but I just want or my own organ donor because I wanted a discount and that was the only reason they did it. But just share with somebody who has been thinking about that and just haven’t done it. Maybe they’re scared or whatever. You know what? What can they obviously the joy of knowing that you’re helping to save somebody, but share with somebody who might be thinking about that.

Holly Payton: [00:51:26] Sure. The. The first thing I would say is it’s a personal decision. It’s your body. Don’t be swayed by by anybody else. I didn’t wasn’t swayed because I didn’t ask anybody else what they thought of it. But it’s a personal decision. When I went in the day before the surgery and I met with the surgeon, he said to me. There’s a lot of things we only have one of, but we don’t live our lives in fear of that. We have one heart. We have one brain. We have one stomach. You don’t make decisions about how you live your life because you’re scared that you only have one of them. And he said, this should not change your lifestyle, your longevity, anything about how you live your life because you have one kidney. There’s lots of things and you do just fine. Some people are born with just one kidney and they do just fine that I had never thought of. And that was very meaningful to me. So the only I will say, the only thing that it changes for you is they don’t want you to take drugs like Advil or Aleve. That’s it.

Speaker5: [00:52:54] I can eat.

Holly Payton: [00:52:56] I know that those two drugs are harder on your kidneys. And it’s not that you could never, ever in your lifetime take an Advil again. But Tylenol is is not hard on your kidneys. So that’s why they say that. And so you could, you know, if you have a terrible headache and you can’t get you could take an Advil, but just don’t take one for another month, you know? So that’s really the only thing that it impacts I would say as far as. The actual surgery. The surgery is done. Laparoscopically. So I have three small incisions in my torso, and then I have about a 4 or 5 inch vertical incision going down from my navel. And that’s where they actually take the kidney out. So you do have this incision. But. It. You heal up very. I’ve healed up very well. You’re limited for about seven weeks that you can’t lift anything 10 pounds or heavier. But that’s okay. I live with someone who’s willing to lift the heavy stuff and do the dishes. So that was not a problem. The only challenge I have now, physically, I feel great. I can do just about anything. I’m, you know, like I said, it’s been over eight weeks now. I’m 65 years old, and. If I don’t do core muscle exercises or yoga or things like that, my back starts talking to me, you know? And I think that’s probably at any age, if you don’t have a strong core, you your back suffers. And so right now I’m, I am cleared. I am able to start slowly getting back into yoga and start doing some core exercises. And so any back issues I might have right now will get better over the coming weeks.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:09] Have you started back to work?

Holly Payton: [00:55:10] I have, I started back to work after seven, seven weeks and and I got to say for seven weeks I didn’t sit in a chair for hours. You know, I’m sitting in a chair at my computer, I’m on WebEx calls, I’m working. And that’s been a little painful on the back because you’re not used to that. But but those muscles are building up. So.

Speaker5: [00:55:34] Yeah.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:34] So I just got to know, did you make stone pamper you?

Holly Payton: [00:55:37] I did.

Speaker5: [00:55:39] I did.

Holly Payton: [00:55:40] And and over the years his pampering skills have definitely improved.

Speaker5: [00:55:45] So got practice.

Holly Payton: [00:55:46] Yeah he got practice and he did a great job.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:49] There you go. That’s awesome. Well Holly, thanks for coming on and sharing that. What I’d like to do as I wrap this up is I always like for my guests to share a quote, a word, a positive nugget for somebody to take in today, the rest of 2023, which we’re not far from being over to 2024 and beyond with. So, Mina, what you got? You’re giving me that look? Like what?

Meena Lahku: [00:56:14] Let’s see a positive quote. Yeah.

Brian Pruett: [00:56:17] Or just a word? Or are you going to make it up? It doesn’t matter.

Meena Lahku: [00:56:24] Um. You know what? Just. Live every day to its fullest potential and live like there’s no tomorrow. And maximize every opportunity with everything that you got.

Brian Pruett: [00:56:43] Holly.

Holly Payton: [00:56:44] So. The way that we say that sentiment in my family is a quote from Auntie Mame. Life is a feast and most poor bastards are starving to death. So go out and live your life as a feast and don’t be one of the others. The other thing that my family really relishes we have always said, live your life with tickets. And what that means is always have something that you’re looking forward to. It doesn’t have to cost anything. It could be a picnic in the park, but plan things so that you always have something that energizes you, that you’re looking forward to.

Brian Pruett: [00:57:26] That’s awesome. Well, and you have a fun family. I got to meet some of your family at a, at a event that we got to go to. And yeah, there’s no there’s no boring time with your family. So that’s pretty awesome. The other thing I’d like to do is to thank you is a lost art these days. So, I mean, I want to thank you for what you’re doing for the community and getting the word out for the brain Tumors organization. And Holly, just thank you for what you’ve done for the people who need kidneys and just being part of the community that way. So everybody out there listening, let’s remember, let’s be positive. Let’s be charitable.

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta. It’s time for Charitable Georgia. Brought to you by B’s Charitable Pursuits and resources. We put the fun in fund raising. For more information, go to B’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. That’s B’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. Now here’s your host, Brian Pruitt.

Brian Pruett: [00:00:45] Good fabulous Friday. It’s another fabulous Friday morning and we’ve got three more fabulous guests. If this is your first time listening to Charitable Georgia. This is all about positive things happening in the community and we are going to get started with this. Caroline Momper from Berkshire Hathaway. Welcome, Caroline.

Caroline Momper : [00:01:03] Good morning and welcome, everyone.

Brian Pruett: [00:01:06] So you and I got to talk a little while about 2 or 3 months ago. You shared a little bit of your background. And if you don’t mind, we’ll talk about your real estate here in just a little bit, but share a little bit of background and we’ll talk about why you’re passionate about helping others.

Caroline Momper : [00:01:20] Well, as always, Brian and I connected by growing up in Ohio. I was born and raised in Cleveland. My husband and I met in Cincinnati in college back in 87 and relocated to South Florida. So as a child growing up, my passion was always just enjoying life and having family around as well as friends, creating relationships with people. And we just really connected on that family side of life and moved to South Florida back in 87. We I was in the real estate as well as retail side of my life, and my family all had gone on vacation as kids. We used to travel there in the summer, never went to Disney World, but always loved the South Florida area. So I enjoyed being in retail there for about 20 years and just connecting with people in the community and just always having a great relationship with people in networking, moving forward into my real estate side of life. My. My passion started in new home sales, but I have a two adult children to back up to my life in growing through the years. They both were graduated from college by now and all out in the real world working. I have now relocated to Cartersville, where I’ve met Bryan and all of these other wonderful people through connecting at the Chamber of Commerce.

Caroline Momper : [00:03:04] Joining the Cartersville Business Club, which is how we all became great group of networking, collaborating friends. And it’s just been a great opportunity for me. The changes through life of having lost my mom to a stroke back in 21. A lot of my passion came from serving and helping her throughout her really struggle with my father passed away in 17 and mom was being independent, wanted to stay at home, and then had the stroke and ended up in assisted living. So a lot of my life was kind of put on hold throughout that time period, just taking care of her. And then she ended up having a second stroke and we lost her in 21. So that whole year has been really made me realize that there’s a lot of things that you want to keep close to your heart, and she was one of them. She always kept us together as a family, always had the holidays together. So now I’m trying to incorporate that. And I do have a future thoughts of trying to do more community service work within the assisted living and Alzheimer’s communities, because those were the two things that had affected her as well. So.

Brian Pruett: [00:04:24] Well, when you sat down, I also told you that I didn’t hold it against you just from Cleveland because you’re either Cincinnati or Cleveland. So I think you redeemed yourself when you went to Cincinnati, right? No. It’s awesome. You talked about your your caregiving and stuff like that, because I know a lot of families where there where there’s one child or none of the child, children will take care of the parents as they get older and the things that happen. So you mentioned the networking piece of it. We talk about that a lot here on the show as well. That networking is is huge, especially when you’re a small business owner to get out there. And really it’s about establishing relationships. It’s not about selling even though people get that wrong. Um, but so give us a positive story since you’ve been networking that you can share, that’s maybe happened with your business since you’ve been networking.

Caroline Momper : [00:05:11] I actually wanted to share. Three of us, as well as myself, are working with Georgia Highlands College, the campus in Cartersville. We’re doing a financial literacy program that started just this month with the students there because, as we all know, when you go away to college, all it is is have fun and joy and figure out what you want to do in life. Well, these are some of the things that we’re trying to educate the students and understanding that we all don’t know what we want to be when we grow up, but having the experience of a credit union person from GE, we have Maggie Yost, who’s the mortgage broker, and we have Shannon Botfield, who’s the financial side of it. So we’re trying to group all four of us together to educate these students in coming into the real world, because as we know, we start out somewhere and we may not end up there. So that’s been one group we’re meeting now again in November, and then we’re going to skip the holidays and do one in March and end with a great, hopefully, experience to trade, you know, to educate and help those kids throughout their ending careers in college and where they want to become in the future.

Brian Pruett: [00:06:23] That’s awesome because they don’t teach that enough hardly at all these days. So that’s awesome. You guys are doing that. So other than the fact of taking care of your mom and being passionate on helping people with real estate, but why is it important for you to be part of the community?

Caroline Momper : [00:06:38] Well, I think that all over all again, networking, meeting people that are of like minds, as we all are at the table here, we all want to be looking out to help each other and understanding that there’s always someone that needs something that you may not see from behind the scenes, and that’s what’s most important.

Brian Pruett: [00:06:58] So in your industry, it’s kind of up and down right now, a little weird, a lot of stuff weird going on. So how is it affecting you guys that one of the biggest mortgage groups just announced two days ago that they’re closing their, their, their doors or at least their retail side? How is that affecting real estate right now?

Caroline Momper : [00:07:17] Well, as I call it, it’s the real estate roller coaster at the moment. And you just never know how things are going to be next day, next hour, next week, next month. And unfortunately, a lot of the buyers that were in the market last year with the increase of rates and things are not able to buy. This year, which is. They waited, but in hopes that they could. So my real passion was always working with first time homebuyers and educating them into the market. So it’s been a good. The thing for again education to understand how they can afford. But now, with the roller coaster that we’re on, it has become tough. And it’s it’s just always a lot of my what they call sphere of influence are my clients from Florida in the past because I was a realtor there as well for 20 years doing new home sales and general real estate. So I try to work, work, you know, the as well as finding things for them here in the area, but they’re all in the same boat. Basically. Everybody’s kind of just wondering when and how and what’s going to happen in the next, say, six weeks to six months.

Brian Pruett: [00:08:29] So can you, other than the fact of waiting and see what’s going on, can you give somebody who might be listening? That’s maybe thinking about buying a home, especially a first time home buyer? Give us some advice on what they should be kind of looking for and planning for when they’re doing this.

Caroline Momper : [00:08:44] Well, I think the most important thing is, again, establishing what is most important to you is always the payment. But unfortunately, with the rates up and down as they are, there’s always the chance to refinance in the future, which doesn’t always give them the right payment in the beginning. But they can search to find maybe not everything that checks their boxes, as we always say that they there’s a lot of new communities that are offering programs to those first time homebuyers. My first closing in Cartersville was actually through the USDA, and it’s a loan program that’s the first time homebuyers can qualify for with zero money down. And people always think that you have to put 20%, but you do not. And there’s a lot of hope grant programs in the Bartow County that is offered to them as well, which that’s kind of one of the things that I’m working on educating those buyers that there is a possibility, don’t think doom and gloom and there are opportunities out there.

Brian Pruett: [00:09:47] Also, would you agree with we got there are so many real estate agents out there, a lot of people jumping into the industry or maybe jumping out now. But what’s important to look for in an agent?

Caroline Momper : [00:09:58] Well, we at Berkshire Hathaway have a forever agent program that’s led by a great speaker, Alan Dalton, and he tries to educate us on being that forever agent and not just looking, as Brian mentioned, for that end result of the sale, but as your sphere of influence. We we look at past clients, but we also want to them to know, like and trust us the best. And there’s always competition out there. And Berkshire Hathaway has 29 offices and over 1500 agents. But finding that fit and finding the the right comfort level is what I try to do with my buyers and sellers.

Brian Pruett: [00:10:36] So is your your office is here in Woodstock, correct? Yes. We’re all can you service though?

Caroline Momper : [00:10:41] I service all of Bartow County. My first opportunity was actually out in Kingston. So we I’ve had buyers throughout Acworth and Cartersville, the Kingston area, canton, Woodstock and further south into Powder Springs as well.

Brian Pruett: [00:11:00] Okay. Also, if there might be somebody listening who’s thinking about getting into the industry other than saying, don’t do it, what would you give them? What advice would you give them?

Caroline Momper : [00:11:11] I would say, don’t worry, things are a little bit on the roller coaster side, but there’s always the opportunity that if you work hard, save hard, as we’re trying to learn that the credit background, things like that, work on that if it need be, but there’s always going to be a place it just may not be tomorrow, but it could be in the future. So things unless they’re. Leasing. You look at the comparisons to rent versus buy that you should just really think positive and hope that it will happen. It may not be tomorrow, but it will happen for you.

Brian Pruett: [00:11:52] So again, there is a lot of people in your industry or agents out there, and we talked about networking and an important piece of it. Why is it important for especially agents to be out there networking, even though there are so many out there?

Caroline Momper : [00:12:05] Well, I think that my personal coming from the industry in South Florida, learning the Georgia market has helped me becoming part of the networking and the chamber, because there’s just so many things that they do out in the community. We do a lot with the business club outside as well, and it’s the with Berkshire Hathaway, we also do five K runs. We do a few other opportunities which help meet and greet more people in the industry. We don’t. We like to collaborate, as we always say, and and help each other. And there is a number of agents that I do work side, you know, just bouncing ideas off of and trying to work together to to let everyone know we’re not competing. We’re just all in this together.

Brian Pruett: [00:12:58] And that’s important to the collaboration over competition. Because, you know, even though everybody in the industry that might be agents, I’m sure there are some agents that can do some things that others can’t do. And you may come across an agent who might just be strictly commercial. So obviously they can’t help you if you’re looking for a home. So I love the aspect of collaborating over competition, so it’s just pretty incredible. Well, you mentioned about the five K’s. You guys got anything coming up you want to share?

Caroline Momper : [00:13:23] We do one in April. I just finished one last week at the Burnt Hickory Baptist Church in Powder Springs, and there was about 50 of us that ran. We’re doing the five hour five K for the Woodstock offices in April, and that’s the they’re planning it for the Etowah River run there. So it’s a great opportunity. We do have another few things that we try to do here in Woodstock. There’s a cornhole competition and we raise the funds for kids with cancer. So everybody comes out and enjoys their night. And we usually we’ve had it at the Reformation Hardware Brewery here in Woodstock.

Brian Pruett: [00:14:02] Is that coming up any time soon?

Caroline Momper : [00:14:04] We actually just missed that one. It was a last month, the next probably couple of weeks. There’s not anything scheduled at the moment but the one back in April.

Brian Pruett: [00:14:14] All right. Well, if somebody’s listening and wants to get a hold of you for your services, how can they do that?

Caroline Momper : [00:14:18] My website is w-w-w. Dot Caroline Mopper at best Georgia.com. And of course my. As far as Facebook, we have a website for Berkshire Hathaway as well. One thing I did want to mention for all of those who are out trick or treating or doing a blood drive at our office in Woodstock, and it’s from 10 to 4. So anyone who wants to come out and donate blood, we’d love to have you.

Brian Pruett: [00:14:50] So you got Dracula. There is what you’re saying. Yeah. Nice. Nice.

Caroline Momper : [00:14:54] We’re on the perfect day, right? There you go.

Brian Pruett: [00:14:57] And that’s actually a good day to do that. I never thought about doing it. That’s pretty cool. You do it every year. Awesome. Well, Caroline, thanks for sharing a little bit of your story and a little bit of advice on some real estate. Don’t go anywhere. We’re not done with you yet. So but thank you for sharing. We’re going to move over to Ms. Becky Hart, Mary Kay, consultant. Becky, thanks for being here this morning.

Becky Hart: [00:15:13] Good morning. Thank you for having me.

Brian Pruett: [00:15:15] So it’s just in your name heart. You have a big heart. Yes. So you shared with me. You got a good story too. But your husband’s got an incredible story. So you like sharing his story? And we’ll talk a little bit about yours too. But we’ll get into Mary Kay and what you do with that. But share, share Kenny’s story because it’s pretty incredible.

Becky Hart: [00:15:35] He started out having a stroke. He’s been a diabetic most of his life, had a stroke and lost his kidney. And he didn’t know during his life that he actually only had one working kidney till they did the full body scan. So now he’s not down one, but he’s down two. My husband’s very positive. When he went into dialysis his first day, I started crying. He’s like, why are you crying? I said, because I didn’t want to see you go through this. And he said, you know what? God’s put me here. I don’t know why I’m here. He does. So I’m just going to pray for everybody that comes through that door. My husband received his kidney five years ago in February, actually turned out to be a friend, and nine days after he got his kidney. I think this is the story you want me to tell. We were in the Mason transplant house. You have to stay there a certain amount of time by the doctors, and my husband just got enraged. Well, it could be the 500mg. Of steroids I give them to keep them from rejecting. Makes them really sweet, right? And he said, I’m going home. And I said, oh, you’re not going home. The doctor said, we’ve got to be here. And he said, why? And I said, you know what? It’s been Team Kenny all this time. It’s going to be Team Becky. Now we’re staying till the doctor says you can go home.

Becky Hart: [00:17:02] He pouted a little, but he got over it. At 1 a.m. that morning he woke up asking for his nitro, and he’s carried nitro for six years but never used it. I said, well, baby, why do you think you need it? He said, I don’t know. My heart’s beating really fast and I can’t breathe. Good. Gave it to him. Call the hospital. They sent the ambulance. They were there within three minutes and started to hook him up to the to my mind just went crazy. Hook him up to monitor his heart and all of a sudden he falls over. Now I don’t watch medical shows because I’ve got too much empathy for those people. I start crying when they die and when they fall over. And I said, what’s wrong? And he said, he’s coated. I said, well, what does that mean? He said, his heart stopped. Get the ambulance back in here. He’d sent a bunch of people away. He said, we’re good. We’ll transport him anyway. Three times. They shot Kenny that night and finally got him back. But God is so good guys that his new kidney stepped in when his heart stopped and he woke up just like he went to sleep. And the girl that gave him the kidney said, I’m your husband’s perfect donor. We just kind of thought she was being nice. She was his perfect donor. She saved his life not once, but twice.

Becky Hart: [00:18:30] She gave him a new kidney and then his heart that night. He has an amazing story. He’s been through a lot, but the last year has been great, has been wonderful.

Brian Pruett: [00:18:41] You said he doesn’t like sharing it, so that’s why you like to share it. But I like to share something about Kenny, too. Because Kenny came a couple of times with you to the Emerson Connects group. And we were there one time. And as you mentioned earlier, before we got on the air, it’s a smaller networking group and it’s a little more intimate. And we had one of the folks there that particular morning that Kenny was there asking for prayer, and we started going around talking after she got done talking and Kenny stopped, said, wait a minute, guys. When somebody asks for prayer, you pray, right? Then I just thought that was really cool because it’s not something I ever thought about, right? You tell somebody you’re going to pray for them and then you get busy. And sometimes a lot of times it may not happen. You have good intentions too, but I just thought that was really cool that he did that. So but your story too, of perseverance, especially the last several months, you’ve had some things going on, losing several folks in your life that’s been very important to you. So it’s just great to see you out and about because again, it could be one of those things where, you know, what the heck with it. I’m not going anywhere, you know? So can you share a little bit about being somebody of perseverance?

Becky Hart: [00:19:47] I guess that goes back to number one. Like you said, I’m a child of God. I’m a wife, I’m a mother, even a great grandmother. And I’m the oldest of 12 children. So I learned early in life that I’m a caregiver, I’m a caregiver, I love people, and my husband says my gift is the gift of empathy, that that’s why I don’t watch medical shows, because I feel that in my heart I feel your pain. So in doing that, that prepared me for my role as a caregiver with my husband, my three children, my grandkids, great grandkids, but also in the community as being a Mary Kay consultant. It’s not about selling. You said earlier, it’s about building relationships. It’s about sitting down and getting to the heart, sitting over a table and finding out, just looking in that woman’s eyes. How are you today? What can I do for you? It’s not about the sale. It’s about building her up. I found that God must have put in my DNA to go to homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters, boys and girls clubs. Anywhere where somebody would need my heart, my love.

Brian Pruett: [00:21:04] Well, it’s really cool, because the last several weeks you’ve got up and talked about, again, not about the sell and who you’re looking for, but what you’re looking for are people to pamper. And you mentioned, you know, lately you’re talking about looking for people with cancer and, you know, the battered women’s shelter and stuff like that. So you just briefly touched on it. But why is it important for you to be part of the community?

Becky Hart: [00:21:24] Um, I’ve had a lot of loss in my life. Children, grandchildren. The loved ones, sisters, parents and I want to leave the world a better place than I found it. I want to reach people. I think, like I said, in my DNA, God said, you need to go and serve before Kenny’s transplant. We help build churches. We fed the carpenters that built the churches. So I know it’s my job. Is serving in what capacity? Mary Kay is just an avenue for me to do that. To be with women. Um. I had a rough childhood growing up. So in doing that, I guess. Why? That’s why I’m especially drawn to women. We aren’t. We aren’t taught to take care of ourselves. We’re taught to take care of our loved ones. And we’re the last ones. I tell ladies, there’s a reason you put the mask on on the airplane first. If you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of others. You can’t pour from an empty cup.

Brian Pruett: [00:22:35] And that’s important too, because it took me actually just a few years ago to realize, you know, I used to think, man, that’s selfish. Why would you put the mask on the player on you first versus somebody next to you that needs help? But you’re right. If you can’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of anybody else. I also think that it’s cool the way God works, because he works in a lot of mysterious ways, and he obviously knew of giving you the last name Hart, when you got married, because that’s what you needed, and that’s what you got to give to people. So that’s that’s pretty awesome. So you guys do a lot with Mary Kay as far as giving back to the community. You guys did something a few couple of months ago, I guess with the, the, the enlisted and and you’re doing something now for the people with cancer. Can you share about both those? Right.

Becky Hart: [00:23:19] Both of those people think that it’s a selling opportunity. It’s not. It’s a it’s a giving opportunity. My group, my friends and family, we sent 50, 150 packs to the military women that are stationed overseas. And it’s a chance to let them know, hey, we care about you there in the middle of the desert. There in a mountainous region. They can’t get things for their skin. They can’t get things for sunburn. So we send them packs. And what I’m doing this month is I’m doing the chemo package, and that’s with the hydrating lotion, and it’s unscented, and that’s with the extra mile night cream. There’s no profit made by the consultants when we do this, but we allow our customers to sponsor two people.

Brian Pruett: [00:24:07] And how can they do that?

Becky Hart: [00:24:09] Contact me on my website or my phone number, or even through Facebook. My Facebook name is Becky Hart MK.

Speaker5: [00:24:18] When.

Brian Pruett: [00:24:19] You say sponsor to people, what does that look like when they say, hey, I want to sponsor folks. Can you give them a little more detail on what that looks like when they’re sponsoring them? Right.

Becky Hart: [00:24:27] What that is, is they’re sponsoring two people. They’re not like I said, I’m not making any profit on it. I’m just the go between. Sorry. I’m losing my ears.

Brian Pruett: [00:24:36] Well, you got two here, so go. Yeah.

Becky Hart: [00:24:41] I will deliver a package with their name to someone they love. Someone you know that’s going through cancer or to the local cancer clinic and will be cutely decorated. And the little card telling them how much we love them with two products inside.

Brian Pruett: [00:24:56] What does that cost? So somebody.

Becky Hart: [00:24:58] It’s $25.

Brian Pruett: [00:25:00] All right. So I had you’re the second Mary Kay consultant I’ve had on our show. We had Kimberly George on here talking about her experience in the Navy and and all that as well. So first of all, I got to ask, do you have the pink Cadillac?

Becky Hart: [00:25:11] No, but Kenny’s got a new kidney now.

Brian Pruett: [00:25:13] Well, there you go.

Brian Pruett: [00:25:14] There you go. Is it pink?

Becky Hart: [00:25:16] No, but it’s a Georgia bulldog.

Brian Pruett: [00:25:18] Yeah. There you go.

Becky Hart: [00:25:18] And he’s an Alabama fan, so they might not be tussling in there.

Brian Pruett: [00:25:22] There you go. So because there’s also quite a few Mary Kay consultants around. But you shared we’re sharing some yesterday at the group of how you guys have a code of ethics. Yes. Which I think is really cool. Can you share about that? Because, you know, again, there’s a lot of Mary Kay consultant out there and you don’t ever at least I don’t see people in the same group. But now I know why. Yeah.

Becky Hart: [00:25:45] If I enter a group for the first time, like when I came to Cartersville, I first found out there was no Mary Kay consultant there. Mary Kay just set up a strong code of ethics for us. Morals. I think it’s morals. If there’s a consultant there, we just kind of bow out. We don’t want to cause any conflict for her or her customers. If I meet you and I’m going to try to talk to you about products, first I want to say, hey, do you have a Mary Kay consultant? You do. That’s great. I’m glad you’re being taken care of and I walk away. If you don’t, I want to tell you about our amazing products. I’ve been using Mary Kay for 35 years. I’ve sold it for about ten. I’m my best customer.

Brian Pruett: [00:26:29] There you go.

Becky Hart: [00:26:30] I’ll be 70 in February. And I tell everybody that God and Mary Kay have been very good to me. I’ve been blessed.

Brian Pruett: [00:26:39] Awesome. Well, you didn’t start out. You said you’ve only been ten years, Mary Kay. But one of our mutual friends, Lisa Lewis, you were one of her bosses, is that right? Yes.

Becky Hart: [00:26:50] Lisa and I go back probably 40 years, and I worked for McDonald’s. I was an assistant manager and Lisa was my 16 year old cashier. Amazing girl.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:02] Yeah. She’s awesome.

Becky Hart: [00:27:03] And it’s nice to have relationships. Living in Cartersville have relationships that last that long.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:09] So I’m kind of curious. Obviously, you’ve talked about how you’re a people person, you’re a caregiver, you’ve got the heart. How is it going from the fast food world into something like Mary Kay?

Becky Hart: [00:27:23] No different. If you’re a good person, a good manager, people, people will love you. You treat them the same way. You treat them with respect. If they say no, that’s fine, you know. Glad it’s nice meeting you. Have a wonderful day. I do network events on the weekend with my daughter to to meet people, to get out in the community. And I think you just you just got to be a good person.

Brian Pruett: [00:27:49] We’re going to put that on recording and send that all over the world, because people need to hear that, especially these days. So when you hear your voice, that’s why.

Becky Hart: [00:27:57] Well, I heard something last night. I watched a movie and it was about Mel Trotter Ministries. If you’ve never watched that movie, watch it. And the young man asked another young man, what’s the difference between privilege and entitlement? Do you know the answer?

Brian Pruett: [00:28:14] No.

Becky Hart: [00:28:14] It’s gratitude.

Becky Hart: [00:28:18] And that really resonated with me. It’s like gratitude. There’s not enough gratitude in the world.

Brian Pruett: [00:28:22] No, that’s a lost art. Yes, it definitely is. All right, so you just started networking not too long ago, right? Yes. You got a positive story you want to share about networking?

Becky Hart: [00:28:36] I know you’re not going to believe this, but I’m basically a shy person. And had Lisa Lewis told me I was going to have to stand up and introduce myself, I probably wouldn’t have came. But when I got there, that’s when she told me. And every day I would be like, I can do this, I can do this. And now it doesn’t bother me. Coming on the radio station six months ago. Nah, I think I’ll pass. I’m just I’m just going to pass standing up and telling people what I want. The hardest thing is telling somebody what you want.

Speaker5: [00:29:09]

Becky Hart: [00:29:09] You know. I’m just thinking you ought to know.

Brian Pruett: [00:29:12] Well, especially if somebody you know who was there for the wrong reason. They don’t have a problem asking for what they want because it’s the wrong reason to ask. Yeah, I think all of this, that and we’ve done a pretty good job, I think, of running those people away from Carville Business Club intentionally unintentionally. But it’s it’s you know, I just love the fact that we’ve got a room full of people who are out there to help others. It’s just really cool. So. All right, let me ask you this. You were just talking about your things that you’re doing for the cancer folks. Um, what do you have anything other things coming up you want to share?

Becky Hart: [00:29:50] Um, doing the Christmas open house for my for my customers. And in that, we always give back. I do a drawing for them, a gift basket, and then I’ll do a drawing for a basket to donate to the battered women’s shelter or to the homeless shelter, whichever has a need.

Brian Pruett: [00:30:08] So speaking of donations, you’ve donated a couple of times to our trivia that I do for some prizes. And let me just tell you, I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but when I go up and give to the person that they’ve won something from Mary Kay, they’re like, what? That’s awesome. Really? So I mean, but I think it’s a misnomer because Bob talks about this all the time. When he first met Kimberly, he thought, I’m never going to use you, right? Because there’s not stuff for men, but there is stuff for men, right? Yes.

Becky Hart: [00:30:33] We have a complete skin line for men. We have colognes. I laugh and say we have everything but toothpaste and shampoo, and actually the men can use the women’s products as well.

Brian Pruett: [00:30:44] Wow.

Becky Hart: [00:30:44] But we do have a men’s line and some great smelling colognes. I’ll bring you a sample next week.

Brian Pruett: [00:30:49] All right.

Brian Pruett: [00:30:50] Sounds good. All right, one more time. Share how people can get Ahold of you in case they want to get Ahold of for your services.

Becky Hart: [00:30:55] Becky Hart MK on Facebook WW dot Mary kay.com/r Hart 82.

Speaker5: [00:31:05] Phone number.

Becky Hart: [00:31:06] (678) 535-8946. Awesome. Thank you.

Brian Pruett: [00:31:11] Thank you Becky for coming on and sharing. And thanks for for being vulnerable to share not only your husband’s story, but talk a little bit about your past as well. So speaking of being vulnerable and talking about their past and things, we’re going to Michelle Cleveland, Project 24 Seven. Michelle, thanks for being here this morning.

Michelle Cleveland: [00:31:29] Well, thank you for having me on. I really appreciate it very much.

Brian Pruett: [00:31:32] So you are on a mission. I mean, that’s one way to put it is you’re definitely on a mission to to get awareness out there, specifically on suicide. And you have a real reason. Not that there shouldn’t be people out there doing this, but you have a particular real reason why you’re doing this. Do you mind sharing your story?

Michelle Cleveland: [00:31:49] Not at all. Because it’s my why. And I think people need to know why people do these things. Crazy things. I guess we’ll talk about later. But in 2016, my youngest son took his own life. And then less than 30 days later, my oldest son also took his own life. So in less than a month, I lost two children to suicide.

Brian Pruett: [00:32:15] Yeah, it’s. Becky’s been touched by suicide. You shared you had a grandson share. I have two brothers that committed suicide. So I can only imagine, though, being a parent and having that happen. So. Obviously you’re persevering as well. You’re on a mission now to get the awareness out there. So I’ve always told people, because I used to be a sportswriter, I never wanted to ask those stupid questions. I mean, how did that feel? But talk about being a parent and then moving forward. How do you do this on a day to day basis and working, trying to get this when you’re that close to the situation.

Michelle Cleveland: [00:32:50] The calls has to be bigger than you. And project 24 over seven is a suicide prevention tool. So I think about all those families that won’t be going through what my family has gone through. Every time I talk to somebody so many times I’ve spoken with somebody. Oh, I’m so glad you told me this. I needed to hear it. Or. There was one time when I was talking to a girl at a cash register and she said, you see that car out there? That’s my mom. She’s coming to pick me up at the end of my shift. I attempted the other day and I just can’t tell her. Can you please go tell her?

Brian Pruett: [00:33:36] Wow.

Michelle Cleveland: [00:33:37] So the cause has to be bigger than you. And everybody knows suicide is a problem. Awareness is out there. From 2019 to 2021, the rate of suicide went up by almost 10%.

Brian Pruett: [00:33:53] Covid didn’t help.

Michelle Cleveland: [00:33:53] With that going up. Yeah, Covid did not help because we need peopling is what I call it. Yes, right. People need to have that contact with other people and isolating people was so detrimental to their mental health. It was awful. We are creatures of community, and when we’re cut off from that community and just the masks, think about the masks. How many times a day do we look at someone and smile? Uh huh. And with the masks, you can’t see the smile. You can see it in the eyes. But that’s not the same thing. It’s not the same at all. And so wearing masks was literally killing people.

Brian Pruett: [00:34:37] Well, and you talk about the mask. I mean, you think about two people I particularly think about is Robin Williams and Twitch from The Ellen Show. Two people that you never thought would have done what they did. And so you never know by looking at somebody, you know, what’s going through them or what. You know, what they’re dealing with. So it’s very important, like Becky said, to have gratitude, but also just treat somebody with respect. Yes. Because you know, again, you don’t know somebody’s story. And it’s hard. I mean, we’re all humans, but if somebody does something wrong to you and the natural thing is, well, I want to get them back. But it’s not that you don’t need to do that. So when you and I first met, we went at the Woodstock Business Club. But you had your own business. Yes, I did, and you decided to quit that and go. You’re you’re traveling nationwide for this. So first of all, speak about being a business owner and then really being on a mission about going nationwide.

Michelle Cleveland: [00:35:30] Well, it was in the spring of 2022 that I had the idea that became project 24 seven, a networking colleague that I knew just only from networking. Not a personal friend, but a networking colleague, just called me one afternoon to check on me, and we had really connected because of my background, and he just wanted to see how I was doing. And it occurred to me, you know, when I needed help. When I was at my lowest, I made it as far as scrolling through my contacts. But then as I looked at each contact, I made excuses not to call. Oh, it’s too late at night. You know, I really don’t know that guy that well. And these are people that if you do end your life, they’re going to be at your funeral saying, damn it, why didn’t they call me? Those are the people that are going to be pissed off at you. So why don’t you call? Well, you make excuses. And so project 24 over seven is about removing those excuses, removing any friction to make it easier for people to call. And once I had that idea, I mentioned it to a therapist and a psychiatrist and a few more professionals in the field, and they all said, oh my God, that’s amazing. People need to know about it. People need to hear about it. And so I put together a program about it.

Michelle Cleveland: [00:37:01] And then I thought, you know, this is bigger. And so I mentioned it to another business colleague and he said, you know what? This needs to be an app. It needs to be an auto dialer, not just something you set up on your phone to remind you, but an auto dialer that’s going to dial through your friends that you indicate are 24/7 contacts. And so it’s going to dial through those people one at a time. Not like the Apple function for help that you push the two side buttons and it sends out a blast to everybody. You don’t want to do that when you’re feeling low. What you want is one person to answer the phone, so it dials through one at a time, and it keeps going until a live person hits a prompt. Yes, I’m available right now to talk. Because people aren’t always available. I’m in the shower and I just grabbed the phone real quick. I saw it was you. Oh no, I can’t talk for a whole hour. I got to dry off. So, you know, they either don’t answer or they hit the prompt. No, I’m not available right now. And if none of your contacts are available, it goes to the suicide hotline you preselected in the app. So you’re guaran damn teed. Oops. Bad word.

Brian Pruett: [00:38:13] No. You’re fine.

Speaker5: [00:38:14] Not guaranteed.

Michelle Cleveland: [00:38:16] You’re guaranteed to talk to somebody. So now I have this app I have to build. And he said, you know, you need a nonprofit to do this. Well. A non profit is another business. And so I shuttered my business and decided, this is what I’m going to do. And I sold my house. I’m a motorcyclist and I hit the road, and I’ve done over 40,000 miles in 30 states, and I have these little stickers that I give out at the same time that I rolled. The month before nine eight, eight for mental health had just rolled out to the state of Georgia. It took years to get nine, eight, eight in all 50 states, but it’s finally some of the last states or last year. And so I put that on the outside ring of the sticker. 988 National Suicide Hotline. And on the inside is project 24 over 7.org to let people know to go see about it and how to set it up manually for now. And we’re setting up the nonprofit.

Brian Pruett: [00:39:27] So you talked you just talked about that, that you’re in the process of setting up the nonprofit. How can individuals and businesses get involved and help you?

Michelle Cleveland: [00:39:36] Oh, that’s a great question because it’s expensive to set up a 501. And, you know, people don’t realize before you can be a 501 with the IRS. There’s a lot of background stuff. And just application for the easy form for the 501 is $275 I’ve spent, don’t want to say the dollar amount. A lot of money out of my own pocket to get this set up. So we really need some funds. And right now we’re doing a fundraiser. It’s t shirts, only $15 a t shirt, and it promotes project 24 over seven. And it’s really cute. It’s aqua blue and it says save a life because that’s what you’re doing. By setting up and having those conversations with your friends to set it up in your phone. Somebody is going to talk to one of their friends and they’re going to say, I’m so glad you said that. I really need to talk. Because like you mentioned Robin Williams, you don’t know what’s behind that smile. You don’t know who’s really struggling because they don’t want to make people feel uncomfortable. They don’t want people to know that they’re struggling. We’re all supposed to be just doing great and they don’t want to burden people. Right. And so when you put it out there, I want to be there for you anytime, any day. Can you please put me in your phone? That conversation is going to strike up other conversations and it will save lives, is what I’m told.

Brian Pruett: [00:41:13] Well, share how people can get involved with that t shirt fundraiser.

Michelle Cleveland: [00:41:16] Absolutely. If it’s not on the website today, it should be on there tomorrow. But go to the website and set this up on your phone. It’s project the word, the number 24 and the word spelled out seven. Dot org so project 24 7.org. Word, number. Word and the shop to buy the t shirt should be up there shortly if it’s not already.

Brian Pruett: [00:41:42] Awesome. So if you guys are listening, make sure you go take care of that and get get some of those and help Michelle out. There’s hopefully some things we’ll do as well to help you soon. So I’m curious, what’s a typical day when you’re out riding on your motorcycle? Cross country. Are you speaking at events? Are you just handing out stickers? All of the above. What’s the day look like for you?

Michelle Cleveland: [00:42:04] All of the above. I’m always looking for opportunities to speak. If anybody has any connections with the local schools, with the school board, I’d love to work with the county school boards, with the local school boards to plug into their suicide prevention programs, because it’s about prevention. And for the schools, it would be the counselors, perhaps school resource officer. It would be a list of contacts that the kids would be putting into their phones. And then first responders, rotary lions, any organizations who need a speaker, I would love to speak for them. And yeah, just handing out those stickers. Like I said, I’m having those conversations at a gas station. I see some first responders filling up their vehicle. I walk up to them because they’re one of the highest risk categories. So I walk up to them and I give them several stickers and I say, hey, share this with your buddies because you guys need to set this up in your phone. You don’t go buy a fire extinguisher when you know you’re not going to need it, right? When when the kitchen’s on fire. I said that backwards. You don’t buy a fire extinguisher when the kitchen’s on fire, you buy it when you hope you’re never going to need it. So that’s when you set it up in your phone, is when you hope you’re never going to need it.

Brian Pruett: [00:43:24] What’s it look like? How far out are we? Do you think the app is from being ready to launch?

Michelle Cleveland: [00:43:31] It’s going to be at least a year because it’s $80,000 was the the average estimate I got. But we have to have at least 20 to get a deposit down to get them to start development. So it’s at least a year away.

Brian Pruett: [00:43:47] So I’m just this is just a curiosity question for businesses, because maybe somebody listening who wants to go in and donate things without a 500 and 1C3. You know, I don’t know. Is there still a way to get. I know people should do this because of their heart, but they always want to know about the tax breaks and stuff like that. Are there still ways to go in and donate and get those?

Michelle Cleveland: [00:44:06] There is no tax deduction yet. We’re still waiting on the 501, but like I say, it costs a lot to get to that point. So we’re waiting to hear back from the IRS. It was retroactive. But you know the tax year is near the end. So we’re still.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:26] Waiting. All of you listening. Don’t worry about that. Go ahead and donate. Get this thing going because it’s a definite need out there. So um, share again how people can get a hold of you, you know, in case they want to take advantage of you coming to speak or wanting to help you.

Michelle Cleveland: [00:44:39] Absolutely. On project 24 over 7.org, there is a contact form, so you can use that to reach the team. You can also reach me at Michelle Cleveland at Project 24 over 7.org or info is much easier info at project 24 over 7.org or you can find us on the web.

Brian Pruett: [00:45:03] So I like for you to answer this. The couple people that I like to because this is about sharing too on businesses and things as that as well. So being a former small business owner yourself and now being a non profit, working on being a founder of a profit, as you mentioned, it’s still a business. But I’d like for you to give advice. First of all, somebody listening who might be thinking about starting a business, what they should do, and then somebody who might be thinking about trying to start a non profit. Some advice on that.

Michelle Cleveland: [00:45:31] If you want to start a business, have a solid business plan, find a good mentor. If it’s a new business that you’ve never had any experience in, for example, someone wanting to start a restaurant. If you’ve never worked in a restaurant, go get a job in a restaurant. Go and do some work in that field so that you understand the ins and outs behind the scenes before you dive in. Having a mentor is so important, so, so critical and pick their brains because they know what you don’t know and you don’t know what you don’t know. So that’s really important. Have a mentor. Also, if possible, use s m somebody else’s money. Have your business plan put together and go look for financing and see if you can get some startup money going because you don’t want to just use your own nest egg. That’s a hard row to hoe, and there’s limited resources when you do things like that. If you want to start at a small pace and you can do it bit by bit, having a day job and just starting your business on the side, you can always do that, but always have a plan for when you’re going to be big enough to say goodbye to that day job. And like I say, try to get somebody else’s money so that you can quit that day job and actually make a go of that business.

Brian Pruett: [00:47:04] And the last thing you want to do is have an idea and be passionate about something and not go do it, and then you’re miserable because if you’re working at a job and you’re miserable and you don’t know why. Find your why. All right. So if somebody listening wants to start a non profit, you’re in the middle of that. Give some advice.

Michelle Cleveland: [00:47:19] Very much the same because it’s another business. But non profits have a lot of little tweaks to them. So your mentor needs to be in that non profit space. Ask a lot of questions. Find other nonprofits, ask what kind of management software they use for managing all of their contacts and their donations. Ask people at networking events, hey, I need this kind of help and you’re in that line of business. Would you be willing to donate your services or would you be willing to donate? For example, I need brochures printed, go to printers and say, hey, I need this, so ask for donations in kind. So many people are so willing to help you out when you’ve got a nonprofit and you have a good cause. So look at donations in kind. Not just, oh, I need this much money for that, because money buys a lot, but not everything. And when you’re setting up a nonprofit, you want to hoard those resources as much as you can because you want to have as much available for the cause as possible. So you’ve got to be really stingy, right? Real frugal.

Brian Pruett: [00:48:35] Well, also collaborate with others because collaborating with, like you’re doing with the Outer Circle Foundation. Yes. You know, collaborating with other people that are doing somewhat of the same thing, you know, maybe not doing the exact same thing, but you’re both on a mission to help get the awareness of suicide out different groups, but all the same thing. So the other thing you mentioned a little bit ago about the networking, and you shared the story of the person checking on you. What other positive story can you share about networking?

Michelle Cleveland: [00:49:05] Well, just yesterday I was at a networking event and I was talking to different people and as they were talking about what businesses they had, I thought, oh, wait a minute, I need that service. Oh, wait a minute, I need that service. And so I talked to these people after the meeting, and sure enough, I got somebody on board who’s going to help us. And so that’s huge. But also on a personal level, I’ve had people come up to me and say, I attempted, thank you so much for what you’re doing, or this is who I lost. Thank you for doing what you’re doing and hearing that. That support really keeps me going, hearing that I’m making a difference.

Brian Pruett: [00:49:51] So I can share this because she was on my show and shared. But have you sat down and talked to Hilary McDermott? If you haven’t, you need to because she shared her story about attempting yesterday. Attempting, and she talked about how God kept her and because she did attempt it, and there’s no reason why she should be walking around other than God wanted her still here. So yeah, I.

Michelle Cleveland: [00:50:11] Saw Hillary again yesterday. We’ve spoken.

Brian Pruett: [00:50:14] She’s an amazing person. So yes, she is. Um, all right. So other than the fact, obviously, of getting the awareness out of suicide and what happened to your to your boys, can you give me a different answer about what’s important, about why you’re part of the community? I mean, that’s the big reason. But there are other reason, things that you can share.

Michelle Cleveland: [00:50:34] When I was a little girl, we escaped. The communists in Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were Czechoslovakia back then. And when we came to America, so many people donated clothes and furniture. And I saw the power of a community. I saw how they can help. I was on the receiving end of all of that love and caring. And when we lost our boys, I wasn’t very religious. I’m not very religious, but I can tell you all the prayers. Of people around when I would start to feel low. It was like somebody putting a warm blanket over my shoulders. I could feel the prayers lifting us up and holding us. So I know from the receiving end how important it is. So that’s what gets me. That’s what motivates me to be part of a community.

Brian Pruett: [00:51:36] Awesome. That’s another reason I love this show. I mean, there’s things like that is incredible. So. All right. So you mentioned a few things, but give us some things that are immediate needs for you that you’re trying to get done right now, that maybe somebody listening might be able to help you with. Obviously the financial is obviously a big one, but what other. You mentioned printing and things of that. Are there other things that people can get involved and help you with and what are those?

Michelle Cleveland: [00:52:00] Absolutely. Um, well, we’ve got some marketing needs. Anybody who wants to help us with promotion, advertising, things like that, that would be awesome. And brain block. We can accept checks, cash donations. Yes. They’re not deductible right now. But the big thing is getting the word out for us and speaking engagements, speaking opportunities that would really help us a lot. Getting the word out.

Brian Pruett: [00:52:36] Well, are you are you fixing to go on the road again?

Michelle Cleveland: [00:52:40] I’m parked here in Georgia for a while. Okay, but if you have someone anywhere in the country, especially school districts, if you know a school district who’s looking for something to boost their suicide prevention programs. I do travel all over the country. I’m staying in the warmer states right now for obvious reasons. I live on a motorcycle, but suicide prevention programs are planning six months to a year out. So if you have any contacts anywhere in the country, I’m willing to travel there.

Brian Pruett: [00:53:12] Okay. All right. One last time, share about how can people get a hold of you and, you know, in case they need speakers and things like that, go ahead and share it one more time. How they can do that?

Michelle Cleveland: [00:53:21] Absolutely. Thank you. Project 24 over 7.org. It’s the word project. The number 24. The word 7.org. There’s a contact form there or info at project 24 over 7.org is the easiest way to reach us.

Speaker5: [00:53:38] Awesome!

Brian Pruett: [00:53:38] Michelle, thanks for coming on and sharing just a little bit of your story, because I know it wasn’t the whole thing, but on your why? Because it’s just an incredible thing that you’re doing and and it’s a definite need that we have to get out to the community. So thanks for sharing that. All right. Well, as we wrap this up, I always like to do this. When we end, I would like for the three of you to share one positive word quote nugget for somebody listening today, the rest of 2023 and beyond with. So Caroline, we’re going to start with you. What you got.

Caroline Momper : [00:54:06] Well, as Michelle always says, the why in the world we need to have one. And mine has become much stronger. Being a part of the Cartersville community and meeting all the wonderful people that I have through networking. And it’s it’s just been an amazing experience that you have to do it. Because back to isolation and Covid and masks and all of that, you say to yourself, I couldn’t do it. My kids both work remote at home and I’m always like, go out, do something else, find it. But it just is so important to be among. And amongst is one of the things that one of our trainers always says, that you really have to stay focused, stay positive and be in the community helping others, seeing why it makes it so important in your heart to do that.

Brian Pruett: [00:54:56] Becky.

Becky Hart: [00:54:58] I think above all else, be kind. That person you’re meeting on the street or in the store when you’re checking out, you don’t know what’s going on in their life. So the smile and the kind words you give them may be the only one they get today. So what took a moment may last all day or a lifetime for them.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:16] Michelle.

Michelle Cleveland: [00:55:18] Going back to advice for business people. Money buys choices and so many people are chasing the money. Chasing the money, chasing the money because that buys them choices for their future. But. Not all choices can be bought. Focus on those choices that can’t be bought, because so many times you’re saying no to something that’s so much more important than money.

Brian Pruett: [00:55:42] Good stuff. The other thing I like to do at the end of this too, is again, we thank you as a lost art. So, Caroline, thank you for what you’re doing for especially the first time homebuyers. Becky, thank you for what you’re doing for the community in itself. And, Michelle, thank you for what you’re doing, not just for this local community, but everybody out there nationwide and worldwide. You getting the message out there on suicide prevention. Everybody out there listening. Let’s remember, let’s be positive. Let’s be charitable.