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Speaker 1: You got a thousand shirts sitting there to be lined up.

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Speaker 2: I take my drug dealing kid and I say, look,

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Speaker 2: we're gonna make two dollars on every single shirt that

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Speaker 2: we print out there.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna print nine hundred shirts an hour.

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Speaker 2: How much money are you gonna make? And they're like, oh, man,

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Speaker 2: eighteen hundred dollars. You know they're going to profit eighteen

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Speaker 2: hundred dollars. And I'm like, man, that's drug dealing money

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Speaker 2: right there, you know, and just kind of kick it

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Speaker 2: back at them.

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Speaker 3: Welcome to an army of normal folks. I'm Bill Courtney.

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Speaker 3: I'm a normal guy. I'm a husband, I'm a father,

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Speaker 3: I'm an entrepreneur, and I'm a football coach in inner

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Speaker 3: City Memphis. And the last part unintentionally led to an

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Speaker 3: oscar for the film about our football team. It's called Undefeated.

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Speaker 3: I believe our country's problems will never be solved by

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Speaker 3: a bunch of fancy people and nice suits talking big

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Speaker 3: words that nobody understands. On seeing it in Fox, rather

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Speaker 3: an army of normal folks, us you and me just deciding.

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Speaker 4: Hey, I can help.

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Speaker 3: That's what Bob's at the voice we just heard has

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Speaker 3: done realizing that traditional therapy was failing kids with substance

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Speaker 3: abuse and mental health challenges.

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Speaker 4: He was sick of it.

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Speaker 3: So one day, an average guy, Bob decided, I'm going

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Speaker 3: to do something different. He started Project Lift. It has

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Speaker 3: now grown to training thousands of troubled teens in eleven

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Speaker 3: different trades. Ironically, they do therapy in natural settings rather

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Speaker 3: than sitting on a couch. They get under the hood

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Speaker 3: of the car and they do therapy while the kids

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Speaker 3: are doing things they enjoy. Wait till you hear about

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Speaker 3: the success rate. It's amazing. So let's get started. Right

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Speaker 3: after these brief messages from our general sponsors, Bob zach

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Speaker 3: thank you.

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Speaker 2: How you doing man, I'm doing well, Bill, Thanks for

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Speaker 2: having me on. This is great.

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Speaker 3: What kind of name is zachio z A C C

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Speaker 3: H e O? What is what is that?

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Speaker 4: Greek? What is that? Really?

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Speaker 1: That's Italian?

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Speaker 2: My grandmother often used to say, I had to I

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Speaker 2: had to marry an Italian in order to keep the

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Speaker 2: bloodline going. Fortunately, I found a very very awesome Irish

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Speaker 2: lady who really balances me out. So the funny part

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Speaker 2: was introducing her to my grandmother, right, So I told

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Speaker 2: her before and I said, don't don't tell.

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Speaker 4: Her you're Irish.

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Speaker 1: That could be that could be a problem.

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Speaker 3: Could be a deal killer. Are you is your grandparents?

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Speaker 3: Did you grandparents' first immigrants here?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, they were my my grandfather and my grandmother on

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Speaker 2: my on my dad's side, came through Ellis Island.

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Speaker 3: Actually, unbelievable. That is very, very very cool.

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Speaker 4: So would you grow up?

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Speaker 2: I grew up in South Florida, actually the hometown of

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Speaker 2: u At, Florida, which is on the southeast coast of Florida.

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Speaker 2: My family moved here back in the early seventies. And nevertheless,

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Speaker 2: so my family were, they kind of were in the

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Speaker 2: drywall and aluminum stud you know trade up in New York,

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Speaker 2: and one of my dad's brothers decided to move down here,

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Speaker 2: and they all followed him and eventually kind of settled

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Speaker 2: their little life here in a town that had about

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Speaker 2: eighteen thousand people in it at the time, and now

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Speaker 2: we're right around one hundred and fifty five thousand in

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Speaker 2: our little town of Martin County. My uncle's all tell

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Speaker 2: me the stories about how they, you know, went straight

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Speaker 2: from putting the drywall in the twin tours to kind

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Speaker 2: of the next jobs. We're building the condos out on

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Speaker 2: the island, the Barrier Islands out here in South Florida.

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Speaker 3: Hey, what something you may not know about me is

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Speaker 3: my undergraduate degrees in psychology.

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Speaker 1: I did. I learned that I'm watching the movie.

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Speaker 3: I know why I chose that discipline to study. It's

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Speaker 3: because I was really bad at math. Why did you

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Speaker 3: choose it?

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Speaker 4: Oh?

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Speaker 2: You know, interestingly, Bill, Like you know, it was, you know,

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Speaker 2: one of those things. I was one of the first

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Speaker 2: in my family to ever go to college, right, and

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Speaker 2: I had no business being there. And I would absolutely,

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Speaker 2: you know, stand behind that, no matter who's on the

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Speaker 2: phone with.

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Speaker 4: Me, but.

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Speaker 1: My family. You know, back in that time, I'm forty

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Speaker 1: six years old.

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Speaker 2: Back then, it was everybody went to college, period, right,

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Speaker 2: and you had really no choice. So I go to college.

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Speaker 2: I had no direction, I had no idea what I

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Speaker 2: really wanted to do.

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Speaker 1: And so I had gone.

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Speaker 2: To play football up at a small Division III school

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Speaker 2: in Philadelphia called Widduring University, really good Division III football team,

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Speaker 2: and we enjoyed, you know, I enjoyed myself doing that.

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Speaker 2: But so here's the reason why I went into psychology.

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Speaker 2: There's no smoking gun on this but I go into

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Speaker 2: it's going into my junior year, right, and again I'm

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Speaker 2: you know, first want to go to college, have no

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Speaker 2: guidance on any of this stuff. You know, probably should

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Speaker 2: have just went for a business degree and kind of

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Speaker 2: went on from their entrepreneurial you know components. But I

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Speaker 2: go in to see my guidance counselors. I was just

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Speaker 2: about to be a junior in college and she said, look,

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Speaker 2: you got to choose a major. And I was like, oh,

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Speaker 2: I didn't really think about that, and she said, well,

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Speaker 2: you need to choose one. I said, well, what will

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Speaker 2: get me out of here.

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Speaker 4: The fastest there it is?

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Speaker 2: And she said psychology and I said, well, sign me

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Speaker 2: up for that.

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Speaker 1: I'll take that. So I kid you not Bill.

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Speaker 2: That's how I decided on psychology. You know, got into

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Speaker 2: some of the classes, really enjoyed what I was doing,

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Speaker 2: but really the the reality was getting into do the

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Speaker 2: internships and the practicums. I got opportunities to do things

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Speaker 2: that was really in the field, and that's that's really

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Speaker 2: what piqued my interest about psychology.

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Speaker 3: I actually remember those days as well, and it's it's interesting.

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Speaker 3: I mean, human behavior is interesting, it's often exciting, and

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Speaker 3: heartbreaking as well. But you know, I guess that's what

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Speaker 3: we're here to talk to you about. So you got

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Speaker 3: a graduate degree, and you did that because you realize

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Speaker 3: you really can't do much in therapy with just a

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Speaker 3: bachelor's degree. And then you also, in your infinite wisdom,

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Speaker 3: decided you wanted to work with at risk youth who

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Speaker 3: are struggling with drugs and alcohol. It really easy, uplifting

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Speaker 3: group of kids to work with. Bob, are you out

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Speaker 3: of your mind? I mean, why did you want to

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Speaker 3: work with this particular demographic?

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Speaker 2: So when I did a practicum in Wilmington, Delaware, and

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Speaker 2: I don't know, I probably told this story before, not

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Speaker 2: to a ton of people, but I typically I try

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Speaker 2: my best to not get emotional about this particular component.

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Speaker 2: But I grew up in an intergenerational poverty family, right,

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Speaker 2: so we didn't have a ton of stuff. You know,

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Speaker 2: my parents loved each other to seem married. Wasn't like

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Speaker 2: I grew up in a divorced home or anything like that.

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Speaker 2: But but I ended up taking an internship in Wilmington, Delaware.

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Speaker 2: And this was back when I was in undergraduate school

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Speaker 2: and my job at the Probation Office the Juvenile Probation

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Speaker 2: office there in Wilmington, Delaware, was to transport kids from

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Speaker 2: you know, Philadelphia. They'd been in a detention center up

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Speaker 2: in the Philadelphia area, and I had to transport them,

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Speaker 2: you know, through some of the inner city projects there.

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Speaker 2: I had never seen it before, Bill, Like, I grew

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Speaker 2: up in South Florida, so I didn't know what a

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Speaker 2: row home was, or kind of a ghetto or.

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Speaker 1: Any of that stuff. So here I am kind of,

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Speaker 1: you know, transporting back and forth this you know, quintessential

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Speaker 1: white guy, you know, driving back and forth through some

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Speaker 1: ghettos and you know, picking up kids and detention centers

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Speaker 1: and driving them down to Wilmington. And one day I

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Speaker 1: picked up this kid and he was at back of

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Speaker 1: my Car's fourteen years old. Yeah, you must have been

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Speaker 1: six foot four.

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Speaker 2: Just a great you know from what I could tell,

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Speaker 2: Just a great young man, great conversation.

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Speaker 1: He's in the back of the.

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Speaker 2: Car and I'm driving down I ninety five between Philadelphia

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Speaker 2: and Wilmington, Delaware in one of the you know, transport

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Speaker 2: cars for the probation office. And I don't know if

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Speaker 2: you know that area very well or not, but it's

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Speaker 2: like twelve lanes of I ninety five, Like it's a

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Speaker 2: very big highway. I'm driving down that road and I'm

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Speaker 2: having this conversation with this kid back and forth, which

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Speaker 2: was typical i'd have. I'd try my best to talk

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Speaker 2: to him, you know, talk to whoever I was driving with.

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Speaker 2: And all of a sudden, he jumps over the back

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Speaker 2: of the seat of the car and grabs the steering

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Speaker 2: wheel of the car and pulls it to the right

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Speaker 2: and rams us into one of those guardrails.

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Speaker 3: And he's apparently six foot four to two hundred something pounds,

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Speaker 3: So you didn't have much you.

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Speaker 2: Could do, no, you know, I was, you know, a minebacker,

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Speaker 2: so it wasn't like I couldn't handle myself. But at

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Speaker 2: the same time, it was like, holy, Honestly, what I

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Speaker 2: thought happened was I thought we got rear ended. Like

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Speaker 2: I thought we got it from behind, you know what

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Speaker 2: I mean. Like I couldn't comprehend what had happened. And

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Speaker 2: he so all of a sudden, we're in this rail

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Speaker 2: or we're in this you know, this concrete bunker right now,

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Speaker 2: no cell phones. It's whatever, nineteen ninety eight or ninety seven,

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Speaker 2: something like that.

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Speaker 1: And I'm like, holy, which just happened. I you know,

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Speaker 1: Squialdo has stop stop in the middle of the road.

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Speaker 1: This kid jumps out of my out of my car

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Speaker 1: and like leap frogs across every lane of the highway.

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Speaker 4: Do you remember the arcade game Froger exactly?

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Speaker 2: If you can, if you can visit this kid doing

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Speaker 2: a Frogger across the north and southbound lanes of I

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Speaker 2: ninety five between Philadelphia and Wilmington. So you know, it

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Speaker 2: takes a little bit of time, but you know, police

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Speaker 2: come and you know, rescue and all that other stuff.

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Speaker 2: And and sure enough, my supervisor shows up to the scene,

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Speaker 2: right and my supervisor says to me, I'll never forget

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Speaker 2: this because it just pissed me off.

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Speaker 1: He said, He said, what'd you let him run away for?

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Speaker 3: Right? Sure?

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Speaker 1: And I had the same reaction you just had, Bill Like,

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Speaker 1: I was like, no, I.

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Speaker 3: Mean I might have said if you ever tried to

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Speaker 3: catch Froger?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, right by the way, he was really fast. And

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Speaker 1: how come we aren't thinking of it this way though?

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Speaker 4: Bill?

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Speaker 2: Like, because this is this is really the question is

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Speaker 2: what made this kid so scared that he wanted to

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Speaker 2: ram my car into a guardrail? And that was the

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Speaker 2: that was the burning question that I had was and

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Speaker 2: that's what really lit my fire more than any.

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Speaker 3: Did you find out why he did it?

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Speaker 4: No?

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Speaker 2: I think I worked there for about a whole nother

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Speaker 2: three days because they wanted me to fill out all

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Speaker 2: kinds of incident reports and blaming me for the accident

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Speaker 2: and all this other bolt and I you know, you know,

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Speaker 2: bottom line, you know, I'm twenty one years old having

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Speaker 2: been in a you know, horrible, you know, little incident,

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Speaker 2: and I'm also processing my own personal growth right never

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Speaker 2: been exposed to anything like that, And so really what lit.

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Speaker 1: Me up was I knew at that point I had

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Speaker 1: to go do something about that. Like I don't, I

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Speaker 1: didn't know what it was that I had to do,

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Speaker 1: but I do know that God was calling me to

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Speaker 1: do something greater with my life, using my talents to

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Speaker 1: help people at the highest level I possibly could.

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Speaker 4: We'll be right back, Bob.

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Speaker 3: You said you you grew up in a socioeconomically disadvantaged.

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Speaker 3: Although you had a family, you clearly knew what it

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Speaker 3: was like not to to probably have your basic needs met,

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Speaker 3: but not to have a lot of wants satisfied. Did

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Speaker 3: you identify with these kids at all.

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Speaker 2: You know, looking back on it, I don't know that

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Speaker 2: I was probably caught up in my own selfish, twenty

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Speaker 2: one year old world. But you know, the bottom line

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Speaker 2: was I grew up in what you know, what I term,

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Speaker 2: you know, intergenerational poverty, is that my parents, you know,

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Speaker 2: I'd go home at night and the electricity be off,

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Speaker 2: you know, the mortgage wasn't paid, no food in the fridge,

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Speaker 2: that kind of thing. But my parents loved me. It

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Speaker 2: wasn't like there was not love in the house. You know,

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Speaker 2: my my mom and dad stayed married, there wasn't divorce.

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Speaker 2: My sisters and I had kind of that, like you said,

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Speaker 2: the basic needs of everything that we could want, which

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Speaker 2: is probably why they really wanted me to get out

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Speaker 2: of there, go to college, get out and see something different.

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Speaker 2: But I don't know that it's even appropriate for me

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Speaker 2: to put myself in another person's shoes, especially that kid's shoes,

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Speaker 2: because I don't know what it's like to walk a

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Speaker 2: mile in that kid's shoes. And if I ever tried

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Speaker 2: to convince that kid that I had walked a mile

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Speaker 2: in his shoes, he probably would have called me a

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Speaker 2: liar and told me to get out of the car myself.

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Speaker 3: And I understand as well as the next guy. There's

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Speaker 3: there's you know, in a situation like that, there's all

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Speaker 3: kinds of differences that can help you feel for a person,

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Speaker 3: but not not say you really get it. But in

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Speaker 3: your case, it's interesting to understand now that you know,

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Speaker 3: there were times that you would come home and the

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Speaker 3: lights were off, and you know what it is to

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Speaker 3: be scared and poor. And and as as a psychologist,

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Speaker 3: you know this better than anybody that's listening to us.

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Speaker 3: Is that, of course there is love in your house.

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Speaker 3: And I hear that, and that's wonderful, but I don't

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Speaker 3: I don't care how much love there is in the house.

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Speaker 3: For an adolescent or a young teen to come home

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Speaker 3: to the lights off, that has an effect. And there

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Speaker 3: is some trauma in that, and and it, in my opinion,

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Speaker 3: does guide where we go from there. Would you not

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Speaker 3: agree with that?

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Speaker 4: I really would?

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Speaker 2: I mean, you know, you've got you know, trauma is trauma,

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Speaker 2: and how we receive trauma is you know, different amongst us.

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Speaker 2: All you know, you know, hearing my kids, my own

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Speaker 2: kids complain about, you know, not having whatever the next

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Speaker 2: great thing is, and I you know, you you process

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Speaker 2: it differently through your developmental stage. Here I am forty

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Speaker 2: six years old processing what that must have been like

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Speaker 2: for my dad to have to see that when he

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Speaker 2: came home, you know, and for my mom to have

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Speaker 2: to deal with those things. Which what you know, in

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Speaker 2: generational poverty, whether whether it has to do with not

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Speaker 2: having you know enough, you know, cash assistance or whatever

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Speaker 2: it is that you have going on, is that you know,

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Speaker 2: it's followed by depression, anxiety, stress, attention deaths to hyperactivity

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Speaker 2: is very predominant in that type of setting. And then

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Speaker 2: also the family functional issues and substance use disorders, like

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Speaker 2: all of those things follow suit, you know, and when

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Speaker 2: you when you kind of are predestined in a lot

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Speaker 2: of ways because your parents really don't even know that

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Speaker 2: they're in it, or don't know what it is that

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Speaker 2: they're dealing with, or know how to help you understand

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Speaker 2: what the next step of your life is.

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Speaker 1: Supposed to be.

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Speaker 2: Well, how the heck am I supposed to teach that

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Speaker 2: to the next generation? How am I supposed to teach

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Speaker 2: that to my kids? You know, you got to have

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Speaker 2: a pretty considerable amount of self awareness to make it through.

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Speaker 3: And how are the kids supposed to know anything different

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Speaker 3: when that's all they see coming up.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: And you know what the interesting part was, I think

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Speaker 2: more than anything was the dignity associated with it, right

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Speaker 2: there was There was dignity associated with you know the

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Speaker 2: fact that I could get a free meal at school

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Speaker 2: or you know, I know it's a weird comment to make,

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Speaker 2: but it's the reality is that that's kind of where

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Speaker 2: we found our dignity was you know, hey, the the

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Speaker 2: cash assistance just came in, that was kind of our

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Speaker 2: dignity going to the mailbox.

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Speaker 3: Here's why all this matters, Tommy. I want to I

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Speaker 3: want to go forward and talk about the amazing things

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Speaker 3: that you and your organization have done. But this program

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Speaker 3: is an army of normal folks, and most importantly is

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Speaker 3: that our listeners are normal folks. And all too often

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Speaker 3: we talk about the amazing things people have done. But

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Speaker 3: I think it's important that we qualify what a normal

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Speaker 3: folk is. And a normal folk is a guy who's

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Speaker 3: the grandson of immigrants, who moves to Florida with his family,

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Speaker 3: who lives in generational poverty, who lived the lights being

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Speaker 3: turned off in their house, and who played football, and

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Speaker 3: who went to school and got an internship at twenty one,

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Speaker 3: and through that process learned that they wanted to be

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Speaker 3: in the psychology field. And a kid plays frog or

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Speaker 3: across an interstate and it makes you interested in what

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Speaker 3: makes them tick. But in your own real experience, you

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Speaker 3: also understand some of what makes them tick because you

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Speaker 3: lived it. And I can't think of a more average

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Speaker 3: guy than that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I just kind of want to cry a little bit, Bill, Like,

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Speaker 2: I haven't really heard my life summarized like that, you know,

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Speaker 2: you know, except for the conversations I have in my

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Speaker 2: head about you know, the components of you know, the

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Speaker 2: reality of people not really understanding what I've been through.

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Speaker 3: You experienced what you experienced, you grew the way you

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Speaker 3: grew It made you part.

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Speaker 4: Of who you are.

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Speaker 3: And now you're psychologists dealing with kids who are poverty

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Speaker 3: at risk, kids who've been in and out of trouble

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Speaker 3: with the law, and you're and briefly, just tell me

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Speaker 3: so that those listening to us can understand it. You're

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Speaker 3: sitting in your desk and you're spending forty five minutes

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Speaker 3: with a kid, and you're trying to build rapport. But

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Speaker 3: it's Phil's feudal yeah.

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Speaker 2: I mean the reality is, you know, I did have

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Speaker 2: the altruistic views of you know, sitting inside of a

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Speaker 2: clinical office and doing you know, doing treatment with families

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Speaker 2: and teenagers and and so I specialized working with fourteen

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Speaker 2: and nineteen year old teenage boys that were struggling with

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Speaker 2: drugs and alcohol. That was my specialty. And rightfully, so

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Speaker 2: it's what I gravitated to. I understood it. I really

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Speaker 2: enjoyed that part. And it's probably a lot you know,

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Speaker 2: like you were saying, had to do with hey, what

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Speaker 2: could have I done better? Which is, you know, you

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Speaker 2: have the transference components of psychology that you be really careful,

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Speaker 2: right transferring your own emotion onto another person. But you know,

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Speaker 2: one day, just sitting in my office, just very very

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Speaker 2: frustrated with doing treatment inside of that clinical office because

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Speaker 2: you just don't get anywhere. I mean, if you ever

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Speaker 2: you ever asked to sixteen year old boy how they're feeling,

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Speaker 2: you get the one word response, right, it's like good, fine, fine.

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Speaker 1: You know, and that cool fine f you how about

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Speaker 1: that one?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, well that's two words, bob.

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Speaker 1: That is two words. Sorry in Italian though, it's one fungal.

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Speaker 3: But we can agree that you get a very dismissive tone,

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Speaker 3: short answers, because, let's face it, a sixteen year old

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Speaker 3: boy really isn't interested in telling you about his feelings.

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Speaker 3: A lot of it was judges making them go see Bob,

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Speaker 3: and therapists like Bob basically had fifty minute appointments to

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Speaker 3: change their lives, which is ridiculous and will never work.

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Speaker 3: So Bob said, there's got to be a better way.

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Speaker 1: So let me kind of, you know, brief you on

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Speaker 1: this story.

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Speaker 2: So one day I brought a fish and rod to

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Speaker 2: work with me, and I had no intention of doing

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Speaker 2: any treatment with any of the kids I was working with.

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Speaker 2: I just was going to tie a dry fly on

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Speaker 2: the end of a fly fishing rod. Is a plastic

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Speaker 2: bait on a fly fishing rod, and you could you

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Speaker 2: could actually make them.

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Speaker 1: It's like coming these little kids, you can make them.

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Speaker 1: So I'm sitting there with the first kid.

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Speaker 2: We tie out this knot, we put it on the

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Speaker 2: end of this fly rod, and I said to the kid, now,

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Speaker 2: and we had no conversation. We didn't talk at all, right,

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Speaker 2: because you don't talk because that's what's happening.

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Speaker 1: It's like good will hunting in there. So I said, like, hey,

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Speaker 1: how about we bring this rod out to the back.

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Speaker 2: Of my office. There's a little pond back there. I'll

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Speaker 2: teach you how to cast the rod. The kid's like, great,

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Speaker 2: let's do that. We go to the back and I

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Speaker 2: start teaching him how to cast this fly fishing rod

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Speaker 2: and with this little bait that he made on the

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Speaker 2: end of the rod the end of the pond, and

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Speaker 2: literally before the bait was hitting the water, the kid's

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Speaker 2: telling me all about his you know, promiscuous mom, his

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Speaker 2: drunk dad, and all the anger that he felt. And

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Speaker 2: I was like, okay, that was easy. I got him

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Speaker 2: out of the office and he starts talking right, hands

400
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Speaker 2: moving their mouth and obviously their their mouths start opening.

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Speaker 2: So what I found was there was nothing unique about

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Speaker 2: taking a kid fishing. But what I did next was

403
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Speaker 2: really unique. I called a buddy of mine who was

404
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Speaker 2: an AS certified mechanic and I who was also in recovery,

405
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Speaker 2: so he understood the processes of substance use disorders. And

406
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Speaker 2: I said to him, I go, hey, would you teach

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Speaker 2: these kids how to do automotive repair while I do

408
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Speaker 2: psychotherapy underneath the hood of a car.

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Speaker 1: And that was thirteen years ago.

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Speaker 3: So Bob left a job where he's making one hundred

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Speaker 3: and fifty thousand dollars a year to start this nonprofit,

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Speaker 3: Project Lift, where the first salary he took was thirty

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Speaker 3: one thousand bucks. But Bob couldn't not do this. He

414
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Speaker 3: felt called to try to save these at risk teens,

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Speaker 3: most of which are sent to him by judges for

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Speaker 3: substance abuse of mental health challenges. And now they're doing

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Speaker 3: therapy alongside a lot more than cars.

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Speaker 2: So Project you know, this is the thirty second elevator

419
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Speaker 2: speech on it. Aarilard pitchar is that Project Lift is

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Speaker 2: a mental health and substance abuse program that utilizes the

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Speaker 2: vocational trades as a vehicle into a kid's life, right,

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Speaker 2: because we have to take a look at replacement behaviors

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Speaker 2: in a much different way. Right, That's what that's all

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Speaker 2: cognitive behavioral therapy is. It's replacing behaviors. It's resilience based.

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Speaker 2: So how do I enact resiliency inside of a kid

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Speaker 2: and effectively replaced behavior and nefarious behavior? So when I

427
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Speaker 2: went in front of a judge and I said, Hey,

428
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Speaker 2: this is what I'm going to be doing. I'm going

429
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Speaker 2: to be teaching them the trades, and we're going to

430
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Speaker 2: replacement behavior with automotive repair and carpentry and boat building

431
00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:26,080
Speaker 2: and welding and all these other you know, anything that

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Speaker 2: we could get our hands on. We build airplanes here

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Speaker 2: now with h VAC programs. We have eleven different trades

434
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Speaker 2: that we teach. And when I went to them and

435
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,159
Speaker 2: told actually, we even do metal forging here. So that

436
00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:37,880
Speaker 2: was a funny one going in front of the judge

437
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Speaker 2: and saying, hey, we're making knives now with these kids.

438
00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:44,120
Speaker 2: Thing adjudicated, which was which was a lot of fun,

439
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:45,359
Speaker 2: and that actually happened on.

440
00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:47,720
Speaker 3: A homemade party.

441
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,800
Speaker 2: That was a funny one because we were up doing

442
00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:54,159
Speaker 2: an appearance with one of the kids doing an update

443
00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:57,119
Speaker 2: and the judge said, his name's Judge Levin, one of

444
00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:01,240
Speaker 2: the best judges in the universe. Universe totally got this

445
00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,720
Speaker 2: system and was on board from day one.

446
00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:06,920
Speaker 1: He was actually the chief judge at the time.

447
00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:08,840
Speaker 2: I'm standing there with one of the kids and the

448
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,399
Speaker 2: Judge Levin said, so, so how's it going over there

449
00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,680
Speaker 2: project lift and the kid goes, it's awesome, I made

450
00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:22,320
Speaker 2: a knife. What we know is that if I'm sitting

451
00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:25,040
Speaker 2: in a clinical session with a kid and having a

452
00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:28,760
Speaker 2: behavioral session. Emotional or behavioral doesn't matter. And I open

453
00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:32,359
Speaker 2: up that therapeutic window on that kid and then close

454
00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:34,439
Speaker 2: it back down with some tools that that kid can

455
00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:36,320
Speaker 2: go home with so that he can deal with the

456
00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:38,199
Speaker 2: fact that he's getting the crap kicked out of him,

457
00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:40,480
Speaker 2: or he's dealing with the lights being off like we

458
00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:43,840
Speaker 2: talked about earlier, or just dealing with the shortage of assets,

459
00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:47,560
Speaker 2: or depression, anxiety and stress. Well, the bottom line is

460
00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:49,960
Speaker 2: those tools are only going to last so long in

461
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:53,960
Speaker 2: that kid's toolkit, right, and then eventually they'll disappear.

462
00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:56,440
Speaker 1: And what we find is that the original.

463
00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,159
Speaker 2: Behavior gets worse because the tool, the tools that we

464
00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,240
Speaker 2: were teaching inside that forty five minute session, we're gone now.

465
00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:05,280
Speaker 2: But instead if we replace it with something that has dignity,

466
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:08,919
Speaker 2: hope and promise in the future, right, like twenty eight

467
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:11,880
Speaker 2: hundred degree oxya settling torch, like teaching a kid how

468
00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:15,159
Speaker 2: to how to weld, Like giving them something that ninety

469
00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:17,440
Speaker 2: nine point nine percent of the rest of the world

470
00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,600
Speaker 2: has no idea how to do right, gives them dignity,

471
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:23,400
Speaker 2: It gives them an effective replacement. So instead of being

472
00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:25,960
Speaker 2: a really great drug dealer, like, oh you know, hey,

473
00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:27,720
Speaker 2: I'm really good at this. I'm really good salesman. I

474
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,280
Speaker 2: always say, my drug dealing kids are all they're entrepreneurs.

475
00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:32,920
Speaker 2: They're the easiest ones to change, right, because all I

476
00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:34,359
Speaker 2: have to do is just teach them the value of.

477
00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:36,560
Speaker 3: Money, about the drugs, it's about the bunny.

478
00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:37,400
Speaker 1: It's about the money.

479
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,959
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's about the economy. Stupid, it's it is.

480
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:44,600
Speaker 2: And they're incredible entrepreneurs, right, And I I often pitch

481
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:46,680
Speaker 2: it like that so that I can get that kid

482
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:48,680
Speaker 2: to really see it in a much different way, right.

483
00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,479
Speaker 2: It's I try to tell them like, oh, you know,

484
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:53,600
Speaker 2: how much does the average drug dealer make, Especially when

485
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,439
Speaker 2: we're doing one of our manufacturing components here, you know,

486
00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:58,920
Speaker 2: one of the things that we have a partnership with

487
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:02,040
Speaker 2: with a trust company here in our town, and they

488
00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 2: we teach them how to build the basic frame room

489
00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:07,400
Speaker 2: of a trust. And so I'm starting to teach them,

490
00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,520
Speaker 2: you know, the value of Each instructor actually teaches them

491
00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:12,480
Speaker 2: the value of what you can make on the construction

492
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,120
Speaker 2: of that trust or T shirt printing or whatever it is.

493
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:15,399
Speaker 3: That we do.

494
00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:18,000
Speaker 2: And I always say to the kid, like, hey, how

495
00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:20,200
Speaker 2: much do you think the average drug dealer makes.

496
00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:22,120
Speaker 1: And they're like, man, I'm.

497
00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,760
Speaker 2: Such and such brings home two grand and I three grand,

498
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,400
Speaker 2: you know whatever. And I go no, I'm like, they

499
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:29,280
Speaker 2: make three dollars and thirteen cents an hour.

500
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:34,080
Speaker 5: And they're like what and take all the risk and

501
00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:36,120
Speaker 5: they take all the risk, And I said, no, google it,

502
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:38,440
Speaker 5: And sure enough, you can google it right, you'll find

503
00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:40,399
Speaker 5: that the average drug dealer makes about three dollars and

504
00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:41,440
Speaker 5: thirteen cents per hour.

505
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:43,040
Speaker 2: And I said, and you're the one that goes to

506
00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:44,840
Speaker 2: jail at night. And I said, now, let's talk about

507
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:47,359
Speaker 2: the guy that just built this trust, you know, and

508
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:50,879
Speaker 2: what he's taken home per hour and what that looks like.

509
00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:54,000
Speaker 2: And or we'll do a manufacturing component that has to

510
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,320
Speaker 2: do with our T shirts. So we print thousands of

511
00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:58,080
Speaker 2: T shirts a week out of here, out of our

512
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:02,200
Speaker 2: social enterprise that we have here at Project Lift, and they,

513
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:04,679
Speaker 2: you know, got a thousand shirts sitting there to be

514
00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:07,080
Speaker 2: lined up. I take my drug dealing kid and I say, look,

515
00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:09,320
Speaker 2: we're gonna make two dollars on every single shirt that

516
00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:11,440
Speaker 2: we print out there. We're gonna print nine hundred shirts

517
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,440
Speaker 2: an hour. How much money are you going to make

518
00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:16,439
Speaker 2: and they're like, oh, man, eighteen hundred dollars. You know

519
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,720
Speaker 2: they're going to profit eighteen hundred dollars And I'm like, man,

520
00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:23,560
Speaker 2: that's drug dealing money right there. Just kind of kick

521
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:25,200
Speaker 2: it back at them, and you know, and that's the

522
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 2: way O track. Our staff is trained. They're trained with

523
00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:29,920
Speaker 2: the I love you, I care about you, and I

524
00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:31,560
Speaker 2: can't wait to see you tomorrow attitude.

525
00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:37,840
Speaker 4: Here's the deal.

526
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:44,920
Speaker 3: Yeah, you got Bob who's a psychologist who says this

527
00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:49,240
Speaker 3: isn't work and catches lightning over a fishing rod, gets

528
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:52,320
Speaker 3: a buddy who's a recovering addict to help them in

529
00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:57,080
Speaker 3: a mechanic shop. And it has grown to how many

530
00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:58,440
Speaker 3: kids have been through your door?

531
00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:01,040
Speaker 1: Now we see about one thousand a year.

532
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:05,520
Speaker 3: On thousand a year, And what is the success rate

533
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,800
Speaker 3: of the kids that come through your program that that

534
00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:11,240
Speaker 3: don't I guess is recidivision.

535
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:13,399
Speaker 4: I don't know what the right word is.

536
00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:15,880
Speaker 1: What's what's the word your recidivisms?

537
00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:16,280
Speaker 4: Right? Is?

538
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,760
Speaker 2: You know how many are you know reoffenders are adjudicated.

539
00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:22,600
Speaker 2: So we've been actually measuring that for thirteen years and

540
00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:26,200
Speaker 2: we compare that number from juvenile record to adult record,

541
00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:28,440
Speaker 2: and we compare it every year, every single kid that's

542
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,880
Speaker 2: been through Project Lift, which is now we're looking at,

543
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:34,720
Speaker 2: you know, well well over five thousand kids at this point.

544
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:39,800
Speaker 2: Is we compare h that juvenile record to the adult record,

545
00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:41,960
Speaker 2: and what we found is that seventy two percent of

546
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,200
Speaker 2: the kids they come through Project Lift never get back

547
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:45,840
Speaker 2: into the system.

548
00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:51,440
Speaker 3: Again, what is the national average that So you're three times.

549
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:52,280
Speaker 1: Better, three times better.

550
00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:56,639
Speaker 3: These are not a thousand kids, These are a thousand

551
00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:58,440
Speaker 3: of the most challenged kids, right.

552
00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,560
Speaker 2: You know, eighty seven percent of the of the teens

553
00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:04,240
Speaker 2: and young adults that come through Project Lift can successfully

554
00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:08,880
Speaker 2: complete our programs. Ninety three percent successfully complete them drug free,

555
00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:12,000
Speaker 2: so meaning that only I'll kind of give you the

556
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,199
Speaker 2: statistics on the back end here too, is nineteen percent

557
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,800
Speaker 2: of the kids that come to Project Lift on intake,

558
00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,080
Speaker 2: only nineteen percent of them can pass a drug test, right,

559
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,320
Speaker 2: so the other you know whatever, eighty one percent can't

560
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:27,159
Speaker 2: even pass a drug test. And here we are with

561
00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:30,760
Speaker 2: ninety three percent of them at discharge passing their urine

562
00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:34,240
Speaker 2: drug testing. You know, scenarios and you know, to me,

563
00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:37,359
Speaker 2: that's really what it what it boils down to, is

564
00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:38,720
Speaker 2: clear minded decision making.

565
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:52,200
Speaker 4: We'll be right back, Bob.

566
00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:55,880
Speaker 3: I think about the seventy two percent success rate, and

567
00:28:55,920 --> 00:29:00,680
Speaker 3: I think about all starting with mister Frogger going across

568
00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:04,560
Speaker 3: the interstate, and you know, from that number one to

569
00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:10,200
Speaker 3: five thousand, tell me your favorite story. What is what

570
00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:12,560
Speaker 3: is your favorite success story so far?

571
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:16,479
Speaker 2: Oh man, there's I got so many of them, I'm

572
00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:20,040
Speaker 2: gonna I have to go with two. The first one

573
00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:23,360
Speaker 2: met this this young man.

574
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:24,640
Speaker 1: This is going back years ago.

575
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 2: His name was Bruce Thomas and uh, you know roll

576
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:32,640
Speaker 2: Enclave out of you know, the you know, kind of

577
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:35,120
Speaker 2: western side of our town, and you know, he was

578
00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:37,880
Speaker 2: the bread winner for the family. Uh you know, he

579
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,240
Speaker 2: was probably sixteen at the time when I met him.

580
00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:42,880
Speaker 1: And I mean it's you know, pretty pretty.

581
00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:47,400
Speaker 2: Normal, you know, Hispanic family and uh, you know likely

582
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:50,680
Speaker 2: you know, so many different things were happening, right so

583
00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:53,040
Speaker 2: I know one of the components was his dad had

584
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:56,480
Speaker 2: gotten deported and uh, you know, it's right around a

585
00:29:56,560 --> 00:30:00,120
Speaker 2: time when they were really cracking down on illegal immigrants

586
00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:02,800
Speaker 2: and all kinds of crazy things were going on. And

587
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:06,000
Speaker 2: so I got hold of this kid and his family

588
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:07,920
Speaker 2: had been through some pretty significant trauma.

589
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:09,920
Speaker 1: You know, I had an uncle who.

590
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:12,880
Speaker 2: Sure got caught in a chopper and you know, one

591
00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:16,320
Speaker 2: of those wood choppers and dragged him in, and just

592
00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:20,000
Speaker 2: just horrible trauma that had gone on in this family's life.

593
00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:22,200
Speaker 2: And you know, after that, that's kind of how I

594
00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:24,280
Speaker 2: started seeing him, was because of this trauma. And then

595
00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:27,320
Speaker 2: you know, shortly after that, his sister was killed in

596
00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:29,600
Speaker 2: a car accident coming around one of the bends. And

597
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:32,920
Speaker 2: at the time, we had kicked off Project Lift with

598
00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,520
Speaker 2: boat building program restoration and boat building, because that's pretty

599
00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:38,719
Speaker 2: big in our area. And again, you know, when you

600
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,600
Speaker 2: look at, you know, expanding these programs, you have to

601
00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:43,040
Speaker 2: see what the communities are doing.

602
00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:44,520
Speaker 1: And so we started teaching that.

603
00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:48,920
Speaker 2: So we started teaching what's called carbon infusion, right, So

604
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,959
Speaker 2: it's a technique of vacuum bagging holes of boats so

605
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:54,560
Speaker 2: that you can make them nice and smooth and then

606
00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:57,240
Speaker 2: you can stand them down. And we started teaching Bruce

607
00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:00,440
Speaker 2: this technique, got him connected with one of our industry

608
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,320
Speaker 2: partners and kind of cleaned him up a bit, and

609
00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:04,840
Speaker 2: just in terms of his his life, got him cleaned

610
00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:07,080
Speaker 2: from drugs and alcoholic right, drug testing all the time.

611
00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:08,240
Speaker 1: So he was numbing himself.

612
00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:10,680
Speaker 2: I mean, the trauma that kid had gone through. I

613
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,360
Speaker 2: didn't did not blame him one minute for wanting to

614
00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:17,280
Speaker 2: numb himself, right sure, and got him clean and sober,

615
00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:19,400
Speaker 2: got him kind of into the end of that position

616
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,440
Speaker 2: of you know, feeling loved again and feeling hope and promise.

617
00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:24,960
Speaker 1: Taught him how to do this vacuum bagging process.

618
00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:28,200
Speaker 2: Now, this vacuum bagging process, it's not a whole lot

619
00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:30,040
Speaker 2: of people know how to do it, and it's you know,

620
00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:30,840
Speaker 2: carbon infusion.

621
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,880
Speaker 1: You see these big sport fishing vessels that do it.

622
00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:36,720
Speaker 2: And we got him a job at a company called

623
00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:40,720
Speaker 2: American Custom Yachts, one of the largest boat builders in

624
00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:43,680
Speaker 2: the country. Right, They're they're known for their sport fishing

625
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:45,080
Speaker 2: yachts and all this other stuff.

626
00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:47,120
Speaker 1: So it must have been.

627
00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,680
Speaker 2: Two years three years later, you know, after he had graduated,

628
00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:52,840
Speaker 2: been through, had the job. I hadn't seen him for

629
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:55,000
Speaker 2: a little while, and I was just at I was

630
00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:59,000
Speaker 2: at seven eleven, normal guy, right, normal guy seven eleven,

631
00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:02,120
Speaker 2: walking through thing, and I hear mister Bob, mister Bob,

632
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:05,160
Speaker 2: and I look over and it's Bruce, right. And it

633
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:07,440
Speaker 2: took me a second to grab his name, right, because

634
00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:10,040
Speaker 2: you know, you know how it is with the amount

635
00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:11,680
Speaker 2: of kids that you see through stuff.

636
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:14,120
Speaker 1: And I was like, oh my god, Bruce, how are you?

637
00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:16,680
Speaker 1: How are you doing? He's like, he pulls up on

638
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:17,720
Speaker 1: his phone.

639
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:21,040
Speaker 2: And shows me a picture of a seventy two foot

640
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:25,320
Speaker 2: sport fishing vessel that he just finished vacuum bagging, and

641
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:27,840
Speaker 2: he was just like, mister Bob, like this is the

642
00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:29,920
Speaker 2: great you know. He just was so proud to show

643
00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:32,920
Speaker 2: me everything that he was doing. Then he pulls up

644
00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:34,920
Speaker 2: a picture, you know, of his kid and all the

645
00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:36,720
Speaker 2: things were going on in his life, and I knew

646
00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:39,640
Speaker 2: that he had had done it now, you know, telling

647
00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:44,040
Speaker 2: that story it's not like this this big burning bush

648
00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:47,000
Speaker 2: story of something right. But to me, it was like

649
00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:50,360
Speaker 2: I had done what I was supposed to do, you know,

650
00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:55,440
Speaker 2: And that's what was important to me. That moment of

651
00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:59,640
Speaker 2: seeing this kid who had had never even heard of

652
00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:03,600
Speaker 2: a vacum came back before in carbon infusion and all

653
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:06,200
Speaker 2: this stuff. Now with supporting his family in a way

654
00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:11,000
Speaker 2: that I was Hike would struggle doing. I mean, it's

655
00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:12,520
Speaker 2: just an amazing.

656
00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:14,160
Speaker 1: Let me move on.

657
00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:16,440
Speaker 4: That is.

658
00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:20,680
Speaker 3: But that is that is I mean, just think about it.

659
00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:24,880
Speaker 3: Father deported, uncle killed in the chipper sister killed in

660
00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:28,120
Speaker 3: a car wreck, sixteen years old, drug and alcohol abuse,

661
00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:33,960
Speaker 3: supporting a very broken family, whatever was left over left

662
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:38,240
Speaker 3: of it, and through this, through this work, you've done it,

663
00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:41,080
Speaker 3: through the organization. He's got a smile on his face

664
00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:43,479
Speaker 3: and he has hope and he's clean. I mean, I

665
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:43,960
Speaker 3: get it.

666
00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:45,360
Speaker 1: That's it was awesome.

667
00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,040
Speaker 2: And for him to tell me the story, he's he's like,

668
00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:50,360
Speaker 2: I'm the he said he was the lead on that

669
00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:52,280
Speaker 2: he I remember him saying I was the lead.

670
00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:56,320
Speaker 1: I was the lead, right, you know. And I maybe

671
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:58,400
Speaker 1: I'll just tell that one story because it's enough for me.

672
00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:00,200
Speaker 3: I know, I want to know the second one.

673
00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:00,600
Speaker 4: Now.

674
00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:02,640
Speaker 3: Now you got me a little choked up. I want

675
00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:03,360
Speaker 3: to hear number two.

676
00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:09,560
Speaker 2: I got to say probably this one was this story.

677
00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:12,319
Speaker 2: And you know, we have tons of recent stories, but

678
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,000
Speaker 2: I like the old ones because it was just me.

679
00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:17,040
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I think that's the weird part,

680
00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:18,520
Speaker 2: is like it was just me and a couple of

681
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,799
Speaker 2: volunteers at the time. And you know, one of the

682
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:23,640
Speaker 2: things that we like to do at Project Lift is

683
00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,040
Speaker 2: we like to give away cars. So we've given away

684
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:28,600
Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty five cars now, so we get

685
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:31,120
Speaker 2: cars donated to us in our automotive repair program.

686
00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:32,400
Speaker 1: We we we.

687
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:34,080
Speaker 2: Repair them and then we have the kids give the

688
00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:35,799
Speaker 2: cars away to people in the community.

689
00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:36,120
Speaker 1: That need cars.

690
00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:38,000
Speaker 3: That's awesome.

691
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,920
Speaker 1: Well, it helps change their thinking, right it Well.

692
00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:43,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, because instead of taking, they're given.

693
00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:46,520
Speaker 2: They're given right, And it's a paradigm shift, right, And

694
00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:48,480
Speaker 2: a lot of times these kids that are giving cars

695
00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:51,919
Speaker 2: away like this with us every every year, they're given

696
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:54,839
Speaker 2: at bigger levels than most of the you know, most

697
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:56,600
Speaker 2: of the people in our community give. I mean, you're

698
00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:59,000
Speaker 2: giving away five six thousand dollars car to a family

699
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:02,840
Speaker 2: that's in need. Like it's it's something special. So I

700
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,080
Speaker 2: wanted to do that right right from the very beginning,

701
00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:08,360
Speaker 2: I knew we needed to give away something to our

702
00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:10,759
Speaker 2: We need to teach a kid how to give. And

703
00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:13,960
Speaker 2: I had this young man named Ray who was working

704
00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,279
Speaker 2: for Project Left. And I say working because I think

705
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:20,759
Speaker 2: it's an important delineation, right, it's destigmatize the processes. It's

706
00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:23,759
Speaker 2: mental health programming. But in their minds, they were coming

707
00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:25,719
Speaker 2: to work, right, They're coming to work because that's a

708
00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:31,280
Speaker 2: destigmatization process. So the new local newspaper had caught wind

709
00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:34,160
Speaker 2: of us given away a car. So they sent over

710
00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:37,920
Speaker 2: their you know, best reporter, and she comes down and

711
00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:41,040
Speaker 2: I got this a couple it must have been three

712
00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:42,839
Speaker 2: or four kids. I was working with at the time,

713
00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:45,480
Speaker 2: and it was a Toyota four Runner. It was a

714
00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:50,600
Speaker 2: I don't know, it was a nineteen ninety five Toyota

715
00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:51,879
Speaker 2: four Runner or something like that.

716
00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:55,160
Speaker 1: And the family were given the car to There was

717
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:59,040
Speaker 1: like seven the lady had seven kids, right, And I said, look,

718
00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:00,279
Speaker 1: you gotta stop having kids.

719
00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:01,799
Speaker 3: They don't make a big enough car.

720
00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:03,680
Speaker 2: Like I don't know how I got to give you

721
00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:06,000
Speaker 2: two cars, but you don't have anybody old enough to drive.

722
00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:10,160
Speaker 2: So so I'm standing there with Ray and I got

723
00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:12,360
Speaker 2: my arm around him and we're all kind of posing

724
00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:16,920
Speaker 2: for this picture and the kid Ray looks at me

725
00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:20,439
Speaker 2: and he goes, just just just before the picture is taken,

726
00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:22,040
Speaker 2: I actually have the picture somewhere.

727
00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:24,600
Speaker 1: I gotta find it. But he looks at me and

728
00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:27,440
Speaker 1: he says, mister Bob, I'm used to stealing.

729
00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:32,040
Speaker 2: Cars, not giving them away. That was the moment that

730
00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:35,239
Speaker 2: I knew we always had to give away cars. So

731
00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:37,719
Speaker 2: he was fast forward. Ray did really well. He ended

732
00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:40,360
Speaker 2: up learning welding from us. It's kind of that introduction

733
00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:42,680
Speaker 2: of welding, and we got him a position at the

734
00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:45,480
Speaker 2: Pipe Fitters Union down in Palm Beach County. So he

735
00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:48,440
Speaker 2: did go through an apprentice program and ended up going

736
00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:53,040
Speaker 2: into the welding you know, field working across the country

737
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:56,000
Speaker 2: doing you know, pipes and all kinds of crazy things.

738
00:36:56,600 --> 00:36:58,920
Speaker 1: And so anyways, fast forward.

739
00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:01,120
Speaker 2: And one of our other kids that came through Project

740
00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:05,200
Speaker 2: if they're all not successes, but you know, we worked

741
00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:07,000
Speaker 2: with him for a while. His name was Tyler, and

742
00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:11,040
Speaker 2: unfortunately he was my dad would have called it like

743
00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:14,280
Speaker 2: shylock and you know guns right, he would loan guns

744
00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:16,719
Speaker 2: out and so on, and and we're working with him

745
00:37:16,719 --> 00:37:18,200
Speaker 2: and trying to figure out how to get him out

746
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:19,880
Speaker 2: of that scene and get him clean and get him

747
00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:21,400
Speaker 2: a job and a career and all that stuff. But

748
00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,200
Speaker 2: unfortunately the street caught up to him and he was

749
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:24,880
Speaker 2: shot and killed.

750
00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:29,800
Speaker 1: So I I'm.

751
00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:31,560
Speaker 2: Sitting right where I was sitting when I heard the

752
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:34,520
Speaker 2: news of that, so kind of a little memory just

753
00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:37,399
Speaker 2: flashed in my brain. And then so anyways, I talked

754
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:39,640
Speaker 2: to his mom, and you know, we go out there

755
00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:42,560
Speaker 2: and we end up doing a I get an opportunity

756
00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:45,680
Speaker 2: to speak at his funeral and you know, I had

757
00:37:45,719 --> 00:37:48,600
Speaker 2: some scripture, and you know, there's nothing that can make

758
00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:50,720
Speaker 2: any of this better, right, it's, you know, the worst

759
00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:53,200
Speaker 2: thing that can happen. It's your worst day as a

760
00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:56,120
Speaker 2: as a therapist, it's your worst day as a mentor.

761
00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:58,640
Speaker 1: It's nothing good about it.

762
00:37:58,760 --> 00:37:58,960
Speaker 4: Right.

763
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:01,719
Speaker 2: So I leave and we're walking down the street and

764
00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:03,520
Speaker 2: I was with my dad. I brought my dad and

765
00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:06,160
Speaker 2: my daughters with me, and we're walking out of the

766
00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:09,080
Speaker 2: out of the church, and up comes from behind comes

767
00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:12,759
Speaker 2: Ray and he says, hey, man, I just want to

768
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:14,880
Speaker 2: say can I can we go out to lunch?

769
00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:16,879
Speaker 1: Right? He wanted to go out to lunch. I hadn't

770
00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:17,720
Speaker 1: seen him in years.

771
00:38:18,239 --> 00:38:20,240
Speaker 2: He had been you know, doing his thing out working

772
00:38:20,239 --> 00:38:23,040
Speaker 2: in the field and the pipe pipe fitters.

773
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:23,680
Speaker 1: Fields and all that stuff.

774
00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:26,680
Speaker 2: I said, yeah, I would love to write I wouldn't

775
00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:29,799
Speaker 2: have recognized him if you had, you know, told me

776
00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:30,319
Speaker 2: it was him.

777
00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:30,600
Speaker 4: Right.

778
00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:33,560
Speaker 1: So we go out to go out to eat.

779
00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:37,719
Speaker 2: And this was the really the part. Again, these are

780
00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:39,399
Speaker 2: the moments that that.

781
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:40,759
Speaker 1: They're just the great stories.

782
00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:44,040
Speaker 2: And I sat down with him and we ate dinner

783
00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:46,360
Speaker 2: or ate lunch, and he's telling me about his family

784
00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:48,920
Speaker 2: and about all the things he was doing, and you know,

785
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:50,480
Speaker 2: he said, I would just want to say thank you

786
00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:52,880
Speaker 2: for for taking me in. At the time, he was

787
00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:56,880
Speaker 2: a Jamaican immigrant family from that was living out in

788
00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:00,600
Speaker 2: one of the rural enclaves again of our town. And

789
00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:06,520
Speaker 2: the check came to the table, and I went to

790
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:09,919
Speaker 2: go grab the check, right, because that's what we do, right,

791
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:14,319
Speaker 2: is we we do this, We get the check, we

792
00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:19,480
Speaker 2: take the check, because that's what we do. And he

793
00:39:19,560 --> 00:39:22,000
Speaker 2: slapped my hand down on the table and grabbed the

794
00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:27,560
Speaker 2: check and he's like, I got this. And to me,

795
00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:30,719
Speaker 2: that was one of the single best moments I ever

796
00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:34,160
Speaker 2: could have imagined. And I wasn't going to steal his blessing.

797
00:39:34,239 --> 00:39:37,480
Speaker 2: I I you know, I let him pay for the

798
00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:40,840
Speaker 2: meal because it was something that he really really wanted

799
00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:45,480
Speaker 2: to do to say thank you, and it was I

800
00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:47,200
Speaker 2: don't know, it's just it was a moment for me

801
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:51,680
Speaker 2: of this major success of this kid that not only

802
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:54,759
Speaker 2: did he make something out of his life in a

803
00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:57,759
Speaker 2: really bad situation because he did come from you talk

804
00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:00,719
Speaker 2: about generational poverty and raising him sof health, he was

805
00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:04,600
Speaker 2: he was way down on that pole and for him

806
00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:08,520
Speaker 2: to come in and just say thank you and grab

807
00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:11,799
Speaker 2: that check to me was I'll never forget that.

808
00:40:14,080 --> 00:40:22,080
Speaker 3: It is a unbelievably satisfied and rewarding thing. It's happened

809
00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:27,600
Speaker 3: to me as well. When you see a kid who's

810
00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:32,160
Speaker 3: had almost had been forced to grow up patently selfish

811
00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:37,600
Speaker 3: to survive, to show as a result of some of

812
00:40:37,600 --> 00:40:42,000
Speaker 3: the work that he's done self lessness, it is, it is.

813
00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:46,040
Speaker 3: I feel that story because I've seen it and I

814
00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:46,680
Speaker 3: understand it.

815
00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:48,960
Speaker 2: I should tell you a success story after success for

816
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:52,800
Speaker 2: a jobs and and you know, families and families being repaired.

817
00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:55,880
Speaker 1: But when you see it at that level in a

818
00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:58,800
Speaker 1: one on one moment, yeah.

819
00:40:58,560 --> 00:40:59,560
Speaker 3: It's very personal.

820
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:00,719
Speaker 1: It changes you.

821
00:41:05,160 --> 00:41:20,520
Speaker 4: We'll be right back, Bob.

822
00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:23,399
Speaker 3: I'm not a very smart guy, which makes me kind

823
00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:25,959
Speaker 3: of meat potatoes, and if I've got to boil it down,

824
00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:30,359
Speaker 3: But if I listen to you, if I understand our conversation,

825
00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:37,880
Speaker 3: it turns out if you give kids something interesting to

826
00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:43,080
Speaker 3: do and reward them and allow them to change their

827
00:41:43,080 --> 00:41:48,480
Speaker 3: addiction from weed to actual dollars, give them a glimpse

828
00:41:48,719 --> 00:41:51,399
Speaker 3: of what employing those things in their life and as

829
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:54,399
Speaker 3: an adult can do for him, it turns out they

830
00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:56,759
Speaker 3: might be able to find some success in there.

831
00:41:56,880 --> 00:41:57,080
Speaker 1: Yeah.

832
00:41:57,080 --> 00:41:59,080
Speaker 2: Well, it's more than my you know, we have evidence

833
00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:02,000
Speaker 2: to support that. It's pretty much a guarantee. You know,

834
00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:05,239
Speaker 2: when you put an effective replacement behavior in and it's

835
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:08,240
Speaker 2: something that has dignity associated with it, that's the key,

836
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:11,600
Speaker 2: right you know. I gotta I'd be remiss if I

837
00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:13,920
Speaker 2: you know, I cannot say that this is all me,

838
00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:17,280
Speaker 2: you know, number one, I point point to my Lord

839
00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:19,680
Speaker 2: and Savior like that. I gotta tell you, like, I

840
00:42:19,719 --> 00:42:21,800
Speaker 2: can't do this without being faced down on the ground.

841
00:42:22,680 --> 00:42:25,879
Speaker 2: The people that work for these kids every single day,

842
00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:29,760
Speaker 2: the staff that we work with, they have the same mantra.

843
00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:32,279
Speaker 2: It is I love you, I care about you, and

844
00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:34,919
Speaker 2: I cannot wait to see you again tomorrow. And when

845
00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:38,640
Speaker 2: you have that as your as your first steps in,

846
00:42:38,680 --> 00:42:41,520
Speaker 2: when you start with love, when you start with just

847
00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:46,560
Speaker 2: that basic, minimum viable product of love, that's where you

848
00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:50,520
Speaker 2: see an amazing staff and amazing team come together and

849
00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:51,920
Speaker 2: change change lives.

850
00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:57,440
Speaker 3: That is beautiful stuff. It is absolutely true. I have

851
00:42:57,560 --> 00:43:00,080
Speaker 3: felt that in my own life. I've seen that my

852
00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:02,520
Speaker 3: own life. I've been on I've been both the giver

853
00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:05,200
Speaker 3: and recipient of that.

854
00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:06,560
Speaker 4: And it is.

855
00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:12,279
Speaker 3: True, and it doesn't You are living proof, Bob that

856
00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:16,120
Speaker 3: it doesn't take a bunch of money, it doesn't take

857
00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:21,560
Speaker 3: some special degree. It's just an average guy paying attention

858
00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:23,759
Speaker 3: to the things around him and finding a place where

859
00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:26,640
Speaker 3: they can fit in and make a difference. And you,

860
00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:32,279
Speaker 3: my friend, have answered a question. And for decades, I'm

861
00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:35,960
Speaker 3: fifty three years old, and I think the question has

862
00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:41,920
Speaker 3: been asked by the right, the left, Christian, non Christian,

863
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:46,680
Speaker 3: every race under the sun. We continue to, decade after decade,

864
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:51,600
Speaker 3: ask the question, how do we break the proverbial cycle?

865
00:43:53,239 --> 00:43:57,360
Speaker 3: And to hear that you are a guy who's found

866
00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:00,319
Speaker 3: a way to help break that cycle, not only through

867
00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:04,440
Speaker 3: being creative, not only through Billy being willing to work hard,

868
00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:11,160
Speaker 3: but by also just showing some genuine human compassion. And

869
00:44:11,200 --> 00:44:14,480
Speaker 3: you know what, that's something every single body on the

870
00:44:14,520 --> 00:44:17,560
Speaker 3: face of this planet can do to make their culture

871
00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:20,600
Speaker 3: and societies better. And that is what it means to

872
00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:24,080
Speaker 3: be a part of the army of normal folks.

873
00:44:25,239 --> 00:44:26,920
Speaker 1: Now, you're right, you know I am.

874
00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:28,200
Speaker 3: Yeah.

875
00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:32,560
Speaker 2: I watched you watch the documentary, and you know I was.

876
00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:36,879
Speaker 2: I had so many knee jerks watching what you were doing.

877
00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:40,760
Speaker 2: And the biggest knee jerk I had, Take the football away,

878
00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:45,040
Speaker 2: Take the torch away, Take everything out of it. What

879
00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:47,680
Speaker 2: resonated the most with me was when you'd wrap your

880
00:44:47,760 --> 00:44:51,880
Speaker 2: arms around those kids and say I love you, and

881
00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:54,040
Speaker 2: it was like they'd never heard it before.

882
00:44:55,239 --> 00:44:58,520
Speaker 3: No, they hadn't. And I'll tell you a story.

883
00:44:59,640 --> 00:44:59,840
Speaker 4: You know.

884
00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:05,360
Speaker 3: That was your seven year two. I can't remember which

885
00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:08,920
Speaker 3: player it was, unfortunately, but the kid was having a

886
00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:12,319
Speaker 3: bad day. He showed up the practice, pissed off, he

887
00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:16,320
Speaker 3: screwed up a couple times. And I've got a coaching

888
00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:19,680
Speaker 3: mantra that is, you can beat him up all you

889
00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:21,720
Speaker 3: want to, as long as you love him up twice

890
00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:24,680
Speaker 3: as hard as you beat him up. And so I

891
00:45:24,840 --> 00:45:28,279
Speaker 3: ripped on him pretty good because I hold my players accountable.

892
00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:32,360
Speaker 3: And boy, I could tell he was angry or was frustrated,

893
00:45:32,400 --> 00:45:35,719
Speaker 3: he was sad, and so, you know, just tongue in

894
00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:37,799
Speaker 3: cheek as a joke. I looked at him. I said, man,

895
00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:42,160
Speaker 3: you need a hug, and he's like a hug. Grown

896
00:45:42,200 --> 00:45:44,880
Speaker 3: men don't hug, right, And I said, now come here,

897
00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:48,920
Speaker 3: we're gonna hug. And I mean he turned and he

898
00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:51,759
Speaker 3: turned from a seventeen year old six foot to two

899
00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:55,080
Speaker 3: hundred and thirty pound behemoth into a three year old

900
00:45:55,160 --> 00:45:59,520
Speaker 3: child in the matter of seconds, he melted, and it

901
00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:04,120
Speaker 3: dawned on me that kids who haven't had a lot

902
00:46:04,120 --> 00:46:06,960
Speaker 3: of hugs have a long way to go. And if

903
00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:09,359
Speaker 3: you just show them a little bit of love and

904
00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:11,160
Speaker 3: you're willing to give to them a little bit of

905
00:46:11,200 --> 00:46:15,920
Speaker 3: your time, you can change some things. And that is exactly, Bob,

906
00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:20,520
Speaker 3: what you've done. And I am, I am, I am

907
00:46:20,640 --> 00:46:23,319
Speaker 3: just in awe of the work you've done. So last

908
00:46:23,400 --> 00:46:26,200
Speaker 3: question for you, how do we scale this?

909
00:46:26,360 --> 00:46:26,560
Speaker 4: Bro?

910
00:46:26,920 --> 00:46:29,479
Speaker 3: How do we take your dream? How do we take

911
00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:33,960
Speaker 3: what you've stumbled across and then been creative with and

912
00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:39,560
Speaker 3: then built and have such a passion for How How

913
00:46:39,640 --> 00:46:44,520
Speaker 3: does if we want to break the proverbial chains? How

914
00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:48,840
Speaker 3: do we how do we scale this? And is it scalable?

915
00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:52,399
Speaker 3: And is there a way that other people could reach

916
00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:54,200
Speaker 3: out to you if they want to scale this in

917
00:46:54,239 --> 00:46:55,000
Speaker 3: their community?

918
00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:59,719
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I am like that is my the

919
00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:02,719
Speaker 2: million dollar question. It's the question that I have on

920
00:47:02,760 --> 00:47:05,680
Speaker 2: my brain. Actually every single day I put together expansion

921
00:47:05,719 --> 00:47:09,520
Speaker 2: plans and playbooks and you know, you know, leaning on

922
00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:13,719
Speaker 2: my football days to make sure that everybody understands exactly

923
00:47:13,760 --> 00:47:16,040
Speaker 2: how this should work. And this is probably the most

924
00:47:16,080 --> 00:47:19,239
Speaker 2: transparent program you'll ever see in your entire life. Because

925
00:47:19,280 --> 00:47:22,239
Speaker 2: if we don't teach it to everybody with transparency and

926
00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:27,719
Speaker 2: fidelity and really, you know, putting the research behind it

927
00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:30,400
Speaker 2: to make sure that that it is, you know, a

928
00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:33,760
Speaker 2: viable solution for every municipality or for every county across

929
00:47:33,800 --> 00:47:37,319
Speaker 2: the country, then we really don't don't have anything, you know.

930
00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:39,840
Speaker 2: But the bottom line is, you know, my vision and

931
00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:42,000
Speaker 2: mission and vision on this is that we should be

932
00:47:42,040 --> 00:47:44,799
Speaker 2: in sixty cities, one hundred and twenty thousand people out

933
00:47:44,840 --> 00:47:47,719
Speaker 2: of poverty and thirty thousand kids served in the next

934
00:47:47,719 --> 00:47:51,600
Speaker 2: ten years. Now, that was a big vision to have

935
00:47:52,160 --> 00:47:54,440
Speaker 2: four or five years ago, and now I see no

936
00:47:54,520 --> 00:47:57,320
Speaker 2: reason why we really can't see this in every single

937
00:47:57,360 --> 00:48:00,520
Speaker 2: county across the country because it's a it is a

938
00:48:00,560 --> 00:48:03,720
Speaker 2: solution that you can bite the tire of. It makes sense,

939
00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:07,200
Speaker 2: it doesn't. It's not like you you you know, you

940
00:48:07,280 --> 00:48:09,400
Speaker 2: go to a program and you're and you've got to

941
00:48:09,440 --> 00:48:11,960
Speaker 2: wait to see what's going on, and you walk in

942
00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:15,160
Speaker 2: the doors here and it's like every kid has walked

943
00:48:15,160 --> 00:48:16,920
Speaker 2: into their into their workplace.

944
00:48:17,080 --> 00:48:19,480
Speaker 1: Every person is here. It's a shared work environment.

945
00:48:19,840 --> 00:48:23,959
Speaker 2: Everybody's treated equally, they're given opportunities that they never would

946
00:48:23,960 --> 00:48:26,280
Speaker 2: have been able to dream of. But it's all about

947
00:48:26,880 --> 00:48:29,640
Speaker 2: the path to make that happen in any in any

948
00:48:30,040 --> 00:48:33,320
Speaker 2: municipality that's across the across the country. You could scale

949
00:48:33,360 --> 00:48:36,120
Speaker 2: Project Lift the way it is just you know, go

950
00:48:36,239 --> 00:48:39,320
Speaker 2: in do your development. You have three teams operations, development

951
00:48:39,400 --> 00:48:43,000
Speaker 2: and finance and administration, you know, components of it. You

952
00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:46,240
Speaker 2: take those three components and you you intertwine them equally,

953
00:48:46,320 --> 00:48:49,319
Speaker 2: yoke of them, equally, yoke them, work your development out,

954
00:48:49,400 --> 00:48:52,000
Speaker 2: Understand where your funding needs to come from. Have an

955
00:48:52,040 --> 00:48:55,319
Speaker 2: ambassador from every city that wants to do this, because

956
00:48:55,360 --> 00:48:57,879
Speaker 2: I got to tell you, without an ambassador, you don't

957
00:48:57,880 --> 00:49:01,120
Speaker 2: excale anywhere. You know, it's very very difficult for Bob

958
00:49:01,239 --> 00:49:04,080
Speaker 2: Zachio or you know, or for Bill to go into

959
00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:06,839
Speaker 2: some community somewhere and say, hey, we're going to start

960
00:49:06,880 --> 00:49:10,520
Speaker 2: this program without having that one person who believes deeply

961
00:49:10,560 --> 00:49:13,560
Speaker 2: and understands the community, because you can't just force stuff

962
00:49:13,560 --> 00:49:16,239
Speaker 2: on a community that does does or does not need it.

963
00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:17,840
Speaker 2: And then you could do it in a lot of

964
00:49:17,880 --> 00:49:20,200
Speaker 2: different ways. One, you can put the programs you know,

965
00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:22,520
Speaker 2: you know as they sit. You can't bastardize it. You

966
00:49:22,560 --> 00:49:24,560
Speaker 2: got to you got to you got to pull the

967
00:49:24,680 --> 00:49:29,480
Speaker 2: emotional intelligence components together with industry partners to make sure

968
00:49:29,480 --> 00:49:31,440
Speaker 2: they're all working together, because that's where the disruption is.

969
00:49:31,480 --> 00:49:31,719
Speaker 1: Bill.

970
00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:35,360
Speaker 2: It's like, if we don't follow industry partners through what

971
00:49:35,480 --> 00:49:38,320
Speaker 2: it is that they need, Like, for instance, your lumber company,

972
00:49:38,840 --> 00:49:40,840
Speaker 2: you're you're gonna need I don't. I don't know lumber

973
00:49:41,320 --> 00:49:43,759
Speaker 2: at all, so I probably shouldn't even speak intelligently. But

974
00:49:44,360 --> 00:49:47,400
Speaker 2: you've got you've got, you got, you got certain positions

975
00:49:47,400 --> 00:49:49,520
Speaker 2: that you need filled there. You have a talent acquisition

976
00:49:49,600 --> 00:49:52,839
Speaker 2: issue going on, you probably have a retention problem. Why

977
00:49:52,880 --> 00:49:55,800
Speaker 2: are we not teaching emotional intelligence inside of the workplace

978
00:49:55,840 --> 00:49:57,840
Speaker 2: and why aren't we teaching it to fourteen year olds?

979
00:49:58,160 --> 00:50:00,120
Speaker 2: So we need to know exactly what it is the

980
00:50:00,200 --> 00:50:03,520
Speaker 2: lumber company would need in order for us to teach

981
00:50:03,560 --> 00:50:05,839
Speaker 2: that to a fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen year old so

982
00:50:05,840 --> 00:50:07,960
Speaker 2: that they'd have more success in the future. They're going

983
00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:10,480
Speaker 2: to spend ninety percent of their life at your company.

984
00:50:10,600 --> 00:50:13,520
Speaker 2: It's a career, that's their new family. We better teach

985
00:50:13,560 --> 00:50:13,919
Speaker 2: them how.

986
00:50:13,800 --> 00:50:15,320
Speaker 1: To work well in that environment.

987
00:50:15,880 --> 00:50:18,759
Speaker 2: Another way that you can scale project lift is you know,

988
00:50:18,800 --> 00:50:22,000
Speaker 2: by using already existing foundations.

989
00:50:21,400 --> 00:50:23,200
Speaker 1: That are that are running already. You know.

990
00:50:23,280 --> 00:50:25,880
Speaker 2: One of the ways we've done it here is, besides

991
00:50:25,920 --> 00:50:30,120
Speaker 2: just the traditional scaling components are we worked with the

992
00:50:30,120 --> 00:50:31,200
Speaker 2: Police Athletic League.

993
00:50:31,239 --> 00:50:33,120
Speaker 1: So police athletic leagues.

994
00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:37,840
Speaker 2: Traditionally don't have strong foundations foundational supports in their environments,

995
00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:39,440
Speaker 2: so we teach them how to do that, and then

996
00:50:39,480 --> 00:50:42,799
Speaker 2: we put our operating system inside of different programs like that,

997
00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:46,640
Speaker 2: so you have your job readiness, employability, mental health components,

998
00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:50,760
Speaker 2: hands on, high touch vocational training, and then obviously destigmatizing

999
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:54,800
Speaker 2: other mental health processes. Here's the process, here's the operating system.

1000
00:50:55,200 --> 00:50:57,600
Speaker 2: Plug and play that right into your system that you

1001
00:50:57,680 --> 00:51:00,400
Speaker 2: have there at the Police Athletic League or Boys and

1002
00:51:00,440 --> 00:51:03,040
Speaker 2: Girls club or a Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and

1003
00:51:03,400 --> 00:51:05,520
Speaker 2: so you can kind of use the uber ride path

1004
00:51:05,680 --> 00:51:08,239
Speaker 2: of the system itself to do that. You even do

1005
00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:10,600
Speaker 2: it with veterans.

1006
00:51:10,680 --> 00:51:15,120
Speaker 1: I just I just piloted a program built with homeless

1007
00:51:15,719 --> 00:51:18,640
Speaker 1: And I got to tell you, most people, when I

1008
00:51:18,719 --> 00:51:21,279
Speaker 1: say the word, hey, we're working with homeless folks, you're automatically,

1009
00:51:21,360 --> 00:51:24,080
Speaker 1: you know, switched to access to diagnosis schizophrenia and all

1010
00:51:24,120 --> 00:51:25,120
Speaker 1: these other things that are going on.

1011
00:51:25,760 --> 00:51:28,439
Speaker 2: And I got to tell you it works with them too,

1012
00:51:28,480 --> 00:51:32,640
Speaker 2: with that population as well. You can deep dive this

1013
00:51:32,760 --> 00:51:35,719
Speaker 2: system in just about any plug in play scenario. I

1014
00:51:35,840 --> 00:51:39,120
Speaker 2: choose my mission and vision fourteen and nineteen year olds

1015
00:51:39,120 --> 00:51:40,320
Speaker 2: because we haven't taught them anything.

1016
00:51:40,400 --> 00:51:42,280
Speaker 1: We need to get them in that position.

1017
00:51:42,440 --> 00:51:45,200
Speaker 2: So I don't know if that really answered your question, Bill,

1018
00:51:45,239 --> 00:51:46,960
Speaker 2: but I agree with you. I think it should be

1019
00:51:47,480 --> 00:51:50,480
Speaker 2: across the country, not just because I'm the founder of

1020
00:51:50,480 --> 00:51:52,960
Speaker 2: the organization, but because it makes sense.

1021
00:51:53,600 --> 00:52:00,080
Speaker 3: It works, Bob plug it. How do people find it?

1022
00:52:00,200 --> 00:52:01,680
Speaker 4: What where do they? What are they?

1023
00:52:01,719 --> 00:52:02,080
Speaker 3: Google?

1024
00:52:02,280 --> 00:52:02,520
Speaker 1: Yeah?

1025
00:52:02,920 --> 00:52:06,080
Speaker 2: Just google project lift dot org U r G h

1026
00:52:06,200 --> 00:52:08,279
Speaker 2: O P R O j E c T l I

1027
00:52:08,360 --> 00:52:11,560
Speaker 2: F T dot O r G. You know, just jump

1028
00:52:11,600 --> 00:52:13,880
Speaker 2: on our website. You'll see everything I talked about is

1029
00:52:13,920 --> 00:52:14,359
Speaker 2: on there.

1030
00:52:14,560 --> 00:52:14,799
Speaker 1: Again.

1031
00:52:14,880 --> 00:52:19,000
Speaker 2: Transparency is our number one policy. You can even call

1032
00:52:19,200 --> 00:52:22,320
Speaker 2: my cell phone number if you want is seven seven

1033
00:52:22,440 --> 00:52:25,600
Speaker 2: two three five nine two five five four.

1034
00:52:25,719 --> 00:52:29,840
Speaker 3: Call me. I hope that you get one hundred thousand

1035
00:52:29,880 --> 00:52:34,160
Speaker 3: calls tomorrow. Buy not that I want you to have

1036
00:52:34,200 --> 00:52:37,160
Speaker 3: to deal with it, but I hope that that people

1037
00:52:37,280 --> 00:52:41,200
Speaker 3: listening us understand the phenomenal work that you and your

1038
00:52:41,280 --> 00:52:45,080
Speaker 3: organization are doing, and and and the success and and

1039
00:52:45,080 --> 00:52:48,759
Speaker 3: and I hope folks see that. You know, you can

1040
00:52:48,800 --> 00:52:53,080
Speaker 3: be a grandson of an immigrant and a son of

1041
00:52:53,120 --> 00:52:57,760
Speaker 3: a sheet rock guy and do amazing things in this country,

1042
00:52:57,840 --> 00:52:59,359
Speaker 3: and Bob or one of them.

1043
00:52:59,440 --> 00:53:02,560
Speaker 4: I I I have really.

1044
00:53:02,560 --> 00:53:05,359
Speaker 3: Enjoyed speaking to you about this this evening me too.

1045
00:53:05,480 --> 00:53:08,440
Speaker 2: I cannot tell you how much I've enjoyed this conversation.

1046
00:53:08,760 --> 00:53:11,319
Speaker 2: I've been looking forward to it all week. And and

1047
00:53:11,400 --> 00:53:16,280
Speaker 2: I can't tell you how how much of an honor

1048
00:53:16,320 --> 00:53:17,719
Speaker 2: it is to be on the phone with you and

1049
00:53:17,800 --> 00:53:20,160
Speaker 2: having this awesome discussion about things that I'm just so

1050
00:53:20,280 --> 00:53:23,880
Speaker 2: passionate about. And I could see that in this you know,

1051
00:53:24,040 --> 00:53:27,080
Speaker 2: I get to see the film, and and also you know,

1052
00:53:27,120 --> 00:53:28,960
Speaker 2: one of the conversations that you've had on this but

1053
00:53:29,880 --> 00:53:32,080
Speaker 2: having a conversation with you as a whole new level.

1054
00:53:32,320 --> 00:53:33,560
Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you for that.

1055
00:53:34,080 --> 00:53:36,759
Speaker 3: Bob. I wrote down a bunch of stuff. I don't

1056
00:53:36,760 --> 00:53:44,480
Speaker 3: even know what I said. Everybody, Bob Zachio Project left

1057
00:53:44,560 --> 00:53:50,719
Speaker 3: and Palm City, Florida. It's taken five thousand kids. And

1058
00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:52,960
Speaker 3: I'm not talking about just normal kids. I'm talking about

1059
00:53:52,960 --> 00:53:55,600
Speaker 3: at risk kids who've had drug problems and been in

1060
00:53:55,640 --> 00:54:00,760
Speaker 3: trouble with the law. And the court sent them to Bob,

1061
00:54:00,840 --> 00:54:03,879
Speaker 3: and he's taken five thousand of them and seventy two

1062
00:54:03,920 --> 00:54:07,320
Speaker 3: percent of them have straightened their life out, as compared

1063
00:54:07,360 --> 00:54:11,560
Speaker 3: to twenty seven percent of those kids nationally. It's a

1064
00:54:11,600 --> 00:54:14,440
Speaker 3: guy who's an average guy. He's an army of normal

1065
00:54:14,480 --> 00:54:17,600
Speaker 3: folk making a difference in our world. Bob zachioh thank you,

1066
00:54:17,640 --> 00:54:18,360
Speaker 3: my friend.

1067
00:54:18,520 --> 00:54:23,200
Speaker 1: Thank you, Bill. I can't think enough awesome time, Bob.

1068
00:54:23,760 --> 00:54:26,279
Speaker 3: I think we are good to go. Look, I mean

1069
00:54:26,320 --> 00:54:29,520
Speaker 3: there's some production here and some cutting and editing and

1070
00:54:30,120 --> 00:54:33,719
Speaker 3: all of that, but I hope we do a good

1071
00:54:33,800 --> 00:54:35,880
Speaker 3: enough job that a lot of people hear the story

1072
00:54:35,920 --> 00:54:38,719
Speaker 3: because it's not for the production of the show. When

1073
00:54:38,760 --> 00:54:42,759
Speaker 3: I tell you, I genuinely believe what you're doing is

1074
00:54:43,080 --> 00:54:47,640
Speaker 3: freaking phenomenal, Dude. The success rate says it. And you

1075
00:54:48,560 --> 00:54:54,440
Speaker 3: are one by one changing the community. And if we

1076
00:54:54,480 --> 00:54:58,600
Speaker 3: could just get people to see people like you and

1077
00:54:58,640 --> 00:55:01,319
Speaker 3: what you do, we could fix a lot of what

1078
00:55:01,400 --> 00:55:04,400
Speaker 3: ails us. And Dude, you are a part of that

1079
00:55:04,560 --> 00:55:05,320
Speaker 3: army for sure.

1080
00:55:06,320 --> 00:55:10,680
Speaker 2: Man, I'm humbled and thankful to have had this conversation

1081
00:55:10,800 --> 00:55:13,200
Speaker 2: with you. And do you ever need me how I

1082
00:55:13,239 --> 00:55:15,719
Speaker 2: definitely will. All right, my friends, Thank you for a

1083
00:55:15,760 --> 00:55:19,600
Speaker 2: great evening, guys.

1084
00:55:19,640 --> 00:55:21,920
Speaker 3: To join an army of normal folks, just go to

1085
00:55:22,040 --> 00:55:26,880
Speaker 3: normal folks dot us. That's right, normalfolks dot us and

1086
00:55:27,040 --> 00:55:29,880
Speaker 3: sign up and become a member of our movement. It

1087
00:55:30,080 --> 00:55:33,200
Speaker 3: only takes committing to doing one new thing this year

1088
00:55:33,239 --> 00:55:35,680
Speaker 3: to help somebody else. And there will be a ton

1089
00:55:35,719 --> 00:55:38,680
Speaker 3: of awesome ideas on this podcast from the folks for featuring.

1090
00:55:39,239 --> 00:55:41,800
Speaker 3: Some of them may resonate with you deeply and others

1091
00:55:41,840 --> 00:55:44,440
Speaker 3: may not at all, and that's okay because we're called

1092
00:55:44,480 --> 00:55:47,719
Speaker 3: to do different things with the different talents that each

1093
00:55:47,760 --> 00:55:51,160
Speaker 3: of us are blessed with. But together with each of

1094
00:55:51,239 --> 00:55:54,680
Speaker 3: us doing what we can, we genuinely can change this country.

1095
00:55:55,320 --> 00:55:57,640
Speaker 3: We'd love to hear what you do. And if there's

1096
00:55:57,680 --> 00:56:01,080
Speaker 3: stories you've heard that you think we must tell, we'll

1097
00:56:01,120 --> 00:56:05,800
Speaker 3: tell them. Write me anytime at Bill atnormalfolks dot us.

1098
00:56:06,440 --> 00:56:11,240
Speaker 3: As you've heard everyone, we're featuring, myself included, we're sharing

1099
00:56:11,280 --> 00:56:15,880
Speaker 3: our direct contact information. We're not just putting on a show, guys.

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00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:19,560
Speaker 3: We're hoping to build a real community that's unlike anything

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00:56:19,600 --> 00:56:23,040
Speaker 3: America has ever seen. And if you enjoyed this episode,

1102
00:56:23,440 --> 00:56:25,960
Speaker 3: rate it, review it, share it with friends. On social

1103
00:56:26,840 --> 00:56:30,320
Speaker 3: all these things that will help us grow an army

1104
00:56:30,520 --> 00:56:31,440
Speaker 3: of normal folks.

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Speaker 4: I'm Bill Courtney.

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00:56:33,440 --> 00:56:34,840
Speaker 3: Look forward to seeing you next week.