1
00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:08,080
Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, it's Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks.

2
00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:11,920
Speaker 1: And we continue now with part two of our conversation

3
00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:16,040
Speaker 1: with Wendy Steele. Right after these brief messages from our

4
00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:30,440
Speaker 1: generals sponsors, do the applicants? Are you searching out female

5
00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:36,239
Speaker 1: applicants or that's not a thing. It's a female based

6
00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:42,320
Speaker 1: philanthropy giving power to women to make a difference in

7
00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:47,800
Speaker 1: their communities. But you're not specifically seeking out women run

8
00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:50,320
Speaker 1: no organizations.

9
00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:53,559
Speaker 2: No, And that was the other thing. Back when Impact

10
00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,200
Speaker 2: one hundred started, there were women's funds that were just

11
00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:00,360
Speaker 2: starting to come into favor around the country. A lot

12
00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:03,920
Speaker 2: of them they were giving with a gender lens, meaning

13
00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:09,520
Speaker 2: they would only fund women and girls initiatives. And although

14
00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:13,560
Speaker 2: I think that's important, I don't think that's the whole story.

15
00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,000
Speaker 2: What I know about women is that if there were

16
00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,319
Speaker 2: a cure for prostate cancer, every woman I know would

17
00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:25,000
Speaker 2: be happy to fund it. So when we get too

18
00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:30,119
Speaker 2: focused on one part of the community, the whole community

19
00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:30,720
Speaker 2: can't thrive.

20
00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,520
Speaker 1: All right, So you did this, and then here we

21
00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:39,960
Speaker 1: are twenty years later, which we'll talk about the unbelievable

22
00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,360
Speaker 1: amount of money that this organization raised, But How did

23
00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:49,960
Speaker 1: other cities and other people find out about this crazy

24
00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:52,800
Speaker 1: check writing group of women that you concoct it?

25
00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:54,640
Speaker 3: It was crazy.

26
00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,320
Speaker 2: I got a call after we gave away our first grant.

27
00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:03,080
Speaker 2: I got a call on my landline in Cincinnati from

28
00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,600
Speaker 2: the deputy Midwest Bureau chief for People magazine and they

29
00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,440
Speaker 2: wanted to write a story. Yeah.

30
00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:17,120
Speaker 1: That was Midwest Chief Bureau chief bureau Chi, which means

31
00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:20,800
Speaker 1: right yeah for People.

32
00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, and they wanted to write the story. I literally

33
00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,480
Speaker 2: thought it was a prank call. We had tried so

34
00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:27,640
Speaker 2: hard to get media.

35
00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:29,679
Speaker 1: Can't tell you a funny story real quick, please, I

36
00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:31,560
Speaker 1: don't know why this spopped in my hand, but it's

37
00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,359
Speaker 1: really funny. We had a guy from the middle We

38
00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:39,960
Speaker 1: do business in forty two different countries and because of that,

39
00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:44,040
Speaker 1: our banking information is everywhere because you see wires and

40
00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:50,000
Speaker 1: achs and LC's and we're dealing with different currencies, so

41
00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:54,560
Speaker 1: you're exposed a little, as you would know being a banker.

42
00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:59,880
Speaker 1: And anyway, this guy from turns out it was Nigeria,

43
00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:04,440
Speaker 1: tried to mimic one of our customers and get us

44
00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,840
Speaker 1: to wire some money and it was close. It's pretty believable.

45
00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:09,840
Speaker 1: We didn't do it. We have controls in place. But

46
00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:12,880
Speaker 1: at any rate, he had gotten some money from three

47
00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:17,840
Speaker 1: people in Canada. And I called to my friend at

48
00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:19,680
Speaker 1: the FBI and said, hey, I just want to make

49
00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,000
Speaker 1: you aware of this number of this email address. This

50
00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:24,400
Speaker 1: is what happened. And he said, yeah, I believe this.

51
00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:28,440
Speaker 1: I got contacted by someone with the Royal Canadian Police

52
00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,640
Speaker 1: about this very thing, wire fraud. And he said, if

53
00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:34,800
Speaker 1: you don't mind, I'm going to give you the number.

54
00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:38,640
Speaker 1: I said, Tim, fine, whatever. Didn't hear anything for two weeks. Whatever,

55
00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:40,880
Speaker 1: We didn't get beat out anything. We're moving on in

56
00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:45,480
Speaker 1: my phone rings and I pick up and this guy says, hello,

57
00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:47,920
Speaker 1: A is this Bill Courtney? I said yeah, and he

58
00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:52,880
Speaker 1: said this is Ronald McDonald with the Royal Canadian Police.

59
00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,120
Speaker 1: You know what. I said, get the hell out of here,

60
00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:00,720
Speaker 1: and I hung up as I knew was a buddy

61
00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:05,920
Speaker 1: screwt Ronald McDonald with the Canadian Police Department. I did

62
00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:09,520
Speaker 1: hang up. Phone came back and he said that happened sometimes.

63
00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:12,160
Speaker 1: My name is really Ronald McDonald really with the cops.

64
00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,120
Speaker 1: And I'm like, okay, got my addiction now, so I

65
00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:19,640
Speaker 1: can completely understand you want to hang up on People magazine.

66
00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,360
Speaker 1: I mean, you're a banker in Cincinnati. What does people

67
00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,800
Speaker 1: want to do with you? They're writing stories about Steve

68
00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:28,080
Speaker 1: Martin and el McPherson exactly.

69
00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:30,839
Speaker 3: Yeah, you celebrity Cincinnati.

70
00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:34,480
Speaker 2: Well, and at the time we had been trying so

71
00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:38,640
Speaker 2: hard to get local media coverage and we were interesting.

72
00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:39,440
Speaker 3: Nobody cared.

73
00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:42,800
Speaker 2: But when we gave the money away, like buried in

74
00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:47,400
Speaker 2: the living section was this little article that said impact newspaper.

75
00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:51,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, of this newspaper didn't see it as really newsworthy,

76
00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:55,400
Speaker 1: but People, and I think I'm not read. I don't

77
00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:58,039
Speaker 1: know if it still is, but People is or has been,

78
00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,640
Speaker 1: like the most widely read magazine.

79
00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:02,320
Speaker 3: At the time it was.

80
00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:03,760
Speaker 2: I don't know if it still is, but at the

81
00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:08,159
Speaker 2: time it was the most widely read publication period.

82
00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,600
Speaker 1: So it was a big deal with a story, like a.

83
00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,120
Speaker 3: Real full a real life story.

84
00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:16,720
Speaker 1: All right. So you say, after you don't hang up on.

85
00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:22,320
Speaker 2: Them, exactly, I say, okay, And man, did she do

86
00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,520
Speaker 2: her homework? She was. She asked a lot of questions,

87
00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:32,800
Speaker 2: and interestingly, because this conversation started off talking about my childhood,

88
00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:34,880
Speaker 2: that's exactly where her interview started.

89
00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:39,760
Speaker 1: Now that just means that I'm a stone Hold.

90
00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,600
Speaker 3: Professional, exactly. Clearly, it is clear.

91
00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,839
Speaker 2: So that when she started asking me, and I am

92
00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:53,279
Speaker 2: a person who doesn't like lying. Now, let me just

93
00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:57,560
Speaker 2: say that at that point, my closest friends did not

94
00:05:57,839 --> 00:05:59,000
Speaker 2: know how my mother died.

95
00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:00,719
Speaker 1: Oh, but you you had found out.

96
00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:06,000
Speaker 2: So I found out in between. It was shortly after

97
00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:08,480
Speaker 2: graduating high school but before I went to college, so

98
00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:10,840
Speaker 2: literally four years in the summer.

99
00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,840
Speaker 1: But then you never you did. Mum's the word just

100
00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:14,960
Speaker 1: like your family, right.

101
00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:17,039
Speaker 3: I didn't tell that.

102
00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:19,760
Speaker 2: I didn't tell a soul.

103
00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,840
Speaker 1: Wow, are you telling me you let your friends know

104
00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:24,360
Speaker 1: that your mom committed suicide?

105
00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,440
Speaker 2: And People magazine, well I did reach out to them

106
00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:31,600
Speaker 2: before it came in print. But there definitely are people

107
00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:34,080
Speaker 2: who found out because of the magazine.

108
00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:35,200
Speaker 3: There's no doubt about it.

109
00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:39,440
Speaker 2: And and I, so, you know, I have to tell

110
00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,280
Speaker 2: her the story. And I beg her like, look, don't

111
00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:49,279
Speaker 2: make this sensational. Please don't make everything that I've done

112
00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:55,560
Speaker 2: be all about this tragedy, Like, please, don't do that.

113
00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:56,719
Speaker 3: She wouldn't.

114
00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:58,839
Speaker 2: I said, can you show me the article before you

115
00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:00,760
Speaker 2: or before it goes to And she's like.

116
00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,719
Speaker 3: Absolutely not, don't do that. That's not happening.

117
00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:12,200
Speaker 2: So I literally had to call my sisters and say,

118
00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:17,720
Speaker 2: I don't know if you've told your friends, but I

119
00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:23,800
Speaker 2: think when this article comes out the gigs, you know,

120
00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:25,160
Speaker 2: I think.

121
00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:26,360
Speaker 3: They were a little surprised.

122
00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:27,920
Speaker 2: I mean the whole thing. It's like, how do you

123
00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:28,880
Speaker 2: even react to that?

124
00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:29,480
Speaker 3: They weren't.

125
00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:33,920
Speaker 2: I don't think they were surprised that I told the truth.

126
00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:36,360
Speaker 2: I think they were surprised that someone would want to

127
00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:38,480
Speaker 2: put it in a story like I think it.

128
00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:44,520
Speaker 1: Was hard, but you really do understand it is so

129
00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,720
Speaker 1: much about who you are, and that's why I'm not sensationalizing.

130
00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:50,800
Speaker 3: No, no, no, and wouldn't.

131
00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:59,200
Speaker 1: And I have a serious, genuine empathetic art for what

132
00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,680
Speaker 1: your mom must have struggled with just going day to day,

133
00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,280
Speaker 1: and your poor father and all and you and the

134
00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,160
Speaker 1: girls and all of it. But it's really the whole

135
00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:15,160
Speaker 1: reason that's so important is because the irony of how

136
00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,680
Speaker 1: hard your mom struggled just to live life, and what

137
00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:23,680
Speaker 1: a strong woman she raised and you became, and how

138
00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:28,360
Speaker 1: then you have made this massive impact on our country

139
00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,840
Speaker 1: with more strong women. I think I think the story

140
00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,199
Speaker 1: cannot be unconnected right exactly.

141
00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:39,520
Speaker 2: And it was a gift to me in a lot

142
00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:43,760
Speaker 2: of ways because I am someone who tells the truth,

143
00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,080
Speaker 2: so like, I couldn't imagine having a lie in print.

144
00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:50,560
Speaker 2: And it ended up being really freeing. But it was

145
00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:52,119
Speaker 2: sort of scary in the moment.

146
00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:54,440
Speaker 1: Because I bet, I bet you had all kinds of

147
00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:56,960
Speaker 1: insecurity over it. I mean, she was this person going

148
00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:00,240
Speaker 1: to write about me all that, But turns out out

149
00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:01,800
Speaker 1: the article was pretty deck I'm good.

150
00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:06,080
Speaker 2: It turns out, yeah, that the article not only is

151
00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:11,599
Speaker 2: what spread the word about Impact one hundred, but randomly

152
00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:17,200
Speaker 2: it also because it was People Magazine, parenthetically mentioned that

153
00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:18,080
Speaker 2: I was divorced.

154
00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:20,640
Speaker 1: Oh you were divorced at this time.

155
00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, so while I was building Impact one hundred, my

156
00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:24,720
Speaker 2: marriage was falling apart.

157
00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:26,880
Speaker 3: And so why didn't you go.

158
00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:29,319
Speaker 1: Up to the woman at the bait shop up Michigan.

159
00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:30,319
Speaker 1: She could have set you up.

160
00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,600
Speaker 3: She was gone by then. Sadly, yeah, she.

161
00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:37,640
Speaker 1: Sims, oh, you had seester, she could have fixed you

162
00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:40,160
Speaker 1: up with some dude well down the street.

163
00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:43,520
Speaker 2: Actually that's kind of what happened. I'm pretty sure that

164
00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:49,880
Speaker 2: Esther channeled her matchmaking through People Magazine because, wait for it,

165
00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:55,480
Speaker 2: the guy that I dated during the summers in northern

166
00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,040
Speaker 2: Michigan when I lived in Saint Louis and went to

167
00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:01,240
Speaker 2: high school, and he lived in bar Mingham, Michigan and

168
00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:02,600
Speaker 2: went to high school.

169
00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:04,040
Speaker 3: On Walloon Lake.

170
00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:09,240
Speaker 2: He is sitting in a doctor's office waiting for his physical,

171
00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:15,760
Speaker 2: picks up the magazine. He sees me, and he knows

172
00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:17,760
Speaker 2: who I and of course if he didn't know who

173
00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:21,079
Speaker 2: I was, it gives my maiden name. Like it. There

174
00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,600
Speaker 2: was no mistaking which Wendy they were talking about here.

175
00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:31,160
Speaker 2: And he was divorced. He's reading I was divorced. He

176
00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:34,120
Speaker 2: picked up the phone. I think he called his mom

177
00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:38,160
Speaker 2: first and said, do you remember Wendy Herman? And so

178
00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:43,160
Speaker 2: then when I got a call from him, before he

179
00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:47,040
Speaker 2: could say his name, I knew his voice, yes, as

180
00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:51,720
Speaker 2: he has this very distinctive Michigan accent, Like it's just

181
00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:56,719
Speaker 2: this very deep voice and very memorable.

182
00:10:57,160 --> 00:10:59,320
Speaker 1: So you went on a date and never saw him again? Right?

183
00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:00,000
Speaker 3: Yeah?

184
00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:05,280
Speaker 2: Well that that happily ever after? Yeah, So we got married.

185
00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:10,840
Speaker 2: The article came out in January of three. He was

186
00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:14,600
Speaker 2: divorced with two kids. I was divorced with three. We

187
00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,360
Speaker 2: got married in June of five. We're getting ready to

188
00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:20,600
Speaker 2: have eighteen years of marriage and our blended family of

189
00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:26,160
Speaker 2: five kids is like the best thing ever and amzing.

190
00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:27,959
Speaker 3: Yeah, totally happy.

191
00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:33,640
Speaker 1: You know, it's really interesting the sand dunes and water

192
00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:39,480
Speaker 1: of Northern Michigan gave you your mother, your stepmother, and

193
00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:43,720
Speaker 1: your husband. Cool, right, Yeah, there's got to be a

194
00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,840
Speaker 1: story in there about I think you could have a

195
00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:52,280
Speaker 1: matchmaking website called Esther of Northern Michigan or something. That

196
00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:53,280
Speaker 1: thing's insane.

197
00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:58,520
Speaker 2: It's insane. Yeah, it's so funny how that place was

198
00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:05,680
Speaker 2: woven into my dad's romantic life and mine.

199
00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:08,440
Speaker 3: Crazy. It is crazy, all right.

200
00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:12,160
Speaker 1: So People Magazine comes out, and I assume because they

201
00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,560
Speaker 1: did a good job with the story, your email starts

202
00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:20,480
Speaker 1: blowing up. Is that what happened? Wendy's answer to that

203
00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:34,760
Speaker 1: after the break, Now we return to what happened After

204
00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,080
Speaker 1: the People magazine feature came out.

205
00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:42,719
Speaker 2: My email started blowing up, My phone started blowing up.

206
00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,719
Speaker 2: People started saying, how do I buy a franchise? How

207
00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:47,640
Speaker 2: do I license by franchise?

208
00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,240
Speaker 1: You only made it one year earlier. You don't even

209
00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:52,560
Speaker 1: know what you're doing completely yet exactly.

210
00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:57,319
Speaker 2: And this was designed to remove the barriers to get

211
00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,920
Speaker 2: women involved. So I was over the moon that It's like,

212
00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:03,840
Speaker 2: wait a minute, really you want to do that there.

213
00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:05,360
Speaker 3: That's fantastic.

214
00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:06,880
Speaker 1: Let me tell you how.

215
00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:08,280
Speaker 2: And that's how it all began.

216
00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,720
Speaker 1: And now twenty years later, twenty years later, cities that

217
00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:14,800
Speaker 1: it is, so it's.

218
00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:17,640
Speaker 2: It is around the world. So we have chapters in

219
00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:21,760
Speaker 2: the United States, we have eight in Australia, When in

220
00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:23,200
Speaker 2: New Zealand, When in the UK?

221
00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:27,240
Speaker 1: And what city in the UK is at London or London? Yeah,

222
00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:30,760
Speaker 1: you said eight in Australia.

223
00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:33,880
Speaker 2: Right, that's interesting, It's really interesting. It's taken off like

224
00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:36,280
Speaker 2: wildfire there, which is fantastic.

225
00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:40,320
Speaker 1: So Australia and New Zealand, UK, yep. And in the

226
00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:41,320
Speaker 1: States and.

227
00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:45,480
Speaker 2: Around the United States we have so our first grant

228
00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:47,199
Speaker 2: was in two thousand and two f one hundred and

229
00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:51,280
Speaker 2: twenty three thousand dollars right by the end of twenty

230
00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:55,320
Speaker 2: twenty two, so twenty years later we have grown a

231
00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:59,720
Speaker 2: thousandfold and we've given away now more than one hundred

232
00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:04,560
Speaker 2: and twenty three million dollars one woman at a time.

233
00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:09,360
Speaker 1: Is phenomenal, isn't it crazy? And you can't do that

234
00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,080
Speaker 1: bacon cookies, No, you really can't.

235
00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:13,360
Speaker 2: You really can't.

236
00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:19,680
Speaker 1: Listen the story of and it works the same way

237
00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:22,840
Speaker 1: you described the first year. Everywhere everywhere it works the.

238
00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:26,280
Speaker 2: Same everywhere, although I will tell you in Australia, all

239
00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:29,960
Speaker 2: but one chapter is gender neutral, so in other words,

240
00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:35,160
Speaker 2: it's not all women in Australia. But other than that, yes,

241
00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:36,520
Speaker 2: it works.

242
00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:37,600
Speaker 3: The model works.

243
00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:43,920
Speaker 1: So the thing about it, well, not the thing, but

244
00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:46,920
Speaker 1: I mean, how many millions? One hundred what.

245
00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:49,400
Speaker 2: Over one hundred and twenty three million dollars.

246
00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:53,600
Speaker 1: Which is ironic because that is exactly a thousand times?

247
00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:54,600
Speaker 3: Isn't that crazy?

248
00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:58,280
Speaker 2: And I'm embarrassed to tell you how long it took

249
00:14:58,360 --> 00:14:59,880
Speaker 2: me to make that connection.

250
00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:01,760
Speaker 3: I'm not kidding.

251
00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:05,320
Speaker 1: I'm the king of ironic connections. So it was I'll

252
00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:08,240
Speaker 1: miss the most obvious so long.

253
00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:11,840
Speaker 2: Because we announced it on what is called the Global

254
00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,520
Speaker 2: Day of Impact, which is the first Thursday in November

255
00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,720
Speaker 2: and this year. So last year was the first Global

256
00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:20,560
Speaker 2: Day of Impact and we broke through one hundred million,

257
00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:23,840
Speaker 2: which was super exciting and lots to celebrate, and it

258
00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,680
Speaker 2: was a first. Well this year, I'm looking at him

259
00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:29,800
Speaker 2: like it's like one hundred and twenty three million and change,

260
00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,480
Speaker 2: you know, Like I'm like, couldn't it be one hundred

261
00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:33,480
Speaker 2: and twenty five million?

262
00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:34,520
Speaker 3: Like couldn't it be like.

263
00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:39,480
Speaker 2: And I literally dawdie, I literally said to someone on

264
00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:42,200
Speaker 2: the committee, can we can we just say more than

265
00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:44,880
Speaker 2: one hundred and twenty million? Because I like round numbers

266
00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:48,240
Speaker 2: and they're like, no, one hundred and twenty three is powerful. Literally,

267
00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:50,840
Speaker 2: it took me way longer than it should have, and

268
00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,320
Speaker 2: I was like, holy mackerel, this is crazy.

269
00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:56,960
Speaker 3: This is the most poetic number you could have had.

270
00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:07,360
Speaker 1: So what look phenomenal? Phenomenal? But you know, has it

271
00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:11,800
Speaker 1: dawned on you the the numbers of women you must

272
00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:13,720
Speaker 1: have empowered through this as well?

273
00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:14,960
Speaker 3: It's wild.

274
00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:19,520
Speaker 1: I mean to me, that's the It's not as big

275
00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:23,480
Speaker 1: a blessing as all of what all of that money

276
00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:30,320
Speaker 1: having serious, major, profound impacts on nonprofit work all all

277
00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:34,640
Speaker 1: over the world. And you can't, by no means do

278
00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,080
Speaker 1: I want to diminish that. But what I am saying

279
00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,880
Speaker 1: is I think there's a I think there's an almost

280
00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:48,560
Speaker 1: equally powerful byproduct of your work that is changing a

281
00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:56,640
Speaker 1: culture for women from work based stuff to being able

282
00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:00,520
Speaker 1: to to say, hey we can we can raise too

283
00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:03,480
Speaker 1: with the best of them, and we can pull it

284
00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:07,760
Speaker 1: off just like anybody. I mean, you've in large smart

285
00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:09,960
Speaker 1: changed the way a lot of women think about phalanch

286
00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:12,520
Speaker 1: B and their commitment and connection with it.

287
00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:18,160
Speaker 2: Yes, and really how they think about themselves much interesting

288
00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:25,320
Speaker 2: because imagine, so there are so many things that have

289
00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,760
Speaker 2: come of this that I wish I could say I expected,

290
00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:33,320
Speaker 2: but I didn't. One of it is that when you

291
00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:38,520
Speaker 2: look across the Impact one hundred universe, roughly fifty percent

292
00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:40,960
Speaker 2: of the women who join have never written a check

293
00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,879
Speaker 2: to a single charity for a thousand dollars prior to

294
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:49,160
Speaker 2: joining Impact. Now, in some cases it is a little

295
00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:51,680
Speaker 2: bit of a capacity. They actually had to budget, they

296
00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:55,120
Speaker 2: had to rearrange things in order to make that donation.

297
00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,080
Speaker 2: But there were other women who had the capacity, they

298
00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:03,520
Speaker 2: just didn't feel that they knew enough or they were

299
00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:06,720
Speaker 2: the right person to give. So you imagine, what do.

300
00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:11,200
Speaker 1: You mean the right person well connected to their husband

301
00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:13,080
Speaker 1: or they or they.

302
00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:16,040
Speaker 2: Deferred that to another, whether the other was someone in

303
00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,800
Speaker 2: their own family, or whether the other was an unknown

304
00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:21,119
Speaker 2: other in the community that knows more than they do

305
00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:26,439
Speaker 2: that are better connected. I think it has to do

306
00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:30,320
Speaker 2: with Yeah, I would say sometimes it has to do

307
00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:33,000
Speaker 2: with confidence. And I think it has to do with

308
00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:37,919
Speaker 2: making philanthropy mystified like like you've got to be in

309
00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:41,080
Speaker 2: this ivory tower. You have to know somebody or you

310
00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:45,159
Speaker 2: have to be somebody in order to be a philanthropist.

311
00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,639
Speaker 2: And part of the reason I intentionally used philanthropists is

312
00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:53,080
Speaker 2: because when you when you take apart that word and

313
00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:57,200
Speaker 2: its Greek origins, to be a philanthropist means to love

314
00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:02,600
Speaker 2: humanity and know, what I refer to as an effective

315
00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:06,080
Speaker 2: philanthropist is someone who loves others.

316
00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:12,080
Speaker 1: Well, you know, Wendy. In a sense, the whole reason

317
00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:17,040
Speaker 1: this show exists is because I have this belief that

318
00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:25,359
Speaker 1: what ills our society will never be fixed by people

319
00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:30,639
Speaker 1: in DC and New York and fancy suits talking big words.

320
00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:34,240
Speaker 1: It's just going to be quote an army of normal

321
00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:36,399
Speaker 1: folks that just seeing need and say I can help.

322
00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:41,600
Speaker 1: And as I hear you, it dawns on me that

323
00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:45,120
Speaker 1: you started an army and normal folks twenty years ago.

324
00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:52,479
Speaker 1: You empowered women specifically to look at philanthropy different and

325
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,840
Speaker 1: just say, yeah, I'm an average person, but a team

326
00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:59,640
Speaker 1: of average people can do extraordinary things, and you gave

327
00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:03,920
Speaker 1: them a platform to express and to achieve that. I mean,

328
00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:09,600
Speaker 1: that's got to be you got to be I'm not

329
00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:13,960
Speaker 1: saying you're pious, But I mean, do you allow yourself

330
00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:16,480
Speaker 1: to be do you pinch yourself and allow yourself to

331
00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:17,560
Speaker 1: be proud of what you've done?

332
00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:24,280
Speaker 2: Absolutely? Absolutely, I mean I am I'm amazed. I'm amazed.

333
00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:30,639
Speaker 2: Really when I look at it, and when we change

334
00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:36,040
Speaker 2: those hearts, think about the ripple effect of how many

335
00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:42,120
Speaker 2: lives women touched. And so if I go, I have.

336
00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:45,520
Speaker 1: To tell you something. Everybody walking was first touched by

337
00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:45,880
Speaker 1: a woman.

338
00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:48,840
Speaker 3: Yes, that is very true.

339
00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:52,400
Speaker 2: Yes, or as I have friends in the in the

340
00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:56,280
Speaker 2: women's health research and they say all life starts with women.

341
00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:57,879
Speaker 1: It does start with women.

342
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:04,400
Speaker 2: If you imagine going from wringing your hands being concerned

343
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:09,360
Speaker 2: about the problems that are facing our community today and

344
00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:13,000
Speaker 2: you pivot to being on the side of the table

345
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,760
Speaker 2: that gets to be a part of the solution, you're

346
00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:17,840
Speaker 2: a changed person.

347
00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,600
Speaker 1: So true. And now that that's true for men or women,

348
00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:22,399
Speaker 1: that's true, no.

349
00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:27,399
Speaker 2: Matter, right, And then you understand that a lot of

350
00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:31,080
Speaker 2: the women who join impact one hundred, they're not what

351
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:33,639
Speaker 2: I would call your usual suspects. So if you go

352
00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:36,320
Speaker 2: to any community, there are those women who are involved

353
00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:38,080
Speaker 2: in everything, just like I'm sure there are men who

354
00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,520
Speaker 2: are involved in everything. They are the usual suspects, so

355
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:43,560
Speaker 2: the first people you go to when you want to

356
00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:46,680
Speaker 2: do something new, and we get a lot of those

357
00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:49,119
Speaker 2: women very happy they.

358
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:50,119
Speaker 1: Do right right.

359
00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:56,080
Speaker 2: But because of the way Impact one hundred works, we

360
00:21:56,280 --> 00:22:01,040
Speaker 2: get women who would tell you, I'm not a I

361
00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:04,240
Speaker 2: don't like women's groups. I prefer to hang out with men.

362
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:09,840
Speaker 2: I prefer be or overwine. This is not my thing,

363
00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:13,480
Speaker 2: and yet they join Impact one hundred. So what happens

364
00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:18,439
Speaker 2: is is that when you have these seasoned philanthropists, the

365
00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:23,600
Speaker 2: names that you know in every community, sitting alongside women

366
00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:28,200
Speaker 2: who are newly minted philanthropists, this is a first for them.

367
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,719
Speaker 1: And under your one check, one vote thing, the season

368
00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:35,000
Speaker 1: philanthropists are no more important than the beer drinking chick

369
00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:37,400
Speaker 1: that doesn't want to hang out with all the women exactly.

370
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:41,560
Speaker 2: But when you get them together, suddenly they realize they

371
00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,040
Speaker 2: have a lot in common. Now, they wouldn't know each other.

372
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:46,359
Speaker 2: They don't live in the same zip code, they don't

373
00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:48,679
Speaker 2: shop at the same stores, their kids don't go to

374
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,000
Speaker 2: the same schools. They aren't going to the same churches

375
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:56,479
Speaker 2: and synagogues. But they are realizing that there's not very

376
00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:01,000
Speaker 2: much that separates them from each other, and so friendships

377
00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:05,960
Speaker 2: start to happen. And the impact of Impact one hundred

378
00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:09,520
Speaker 2: we see it in the community with extra grants and

379
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,760
Speaker 2: more money and connections that go to the nonprofits whether

380
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:16,360
Speaker 2: they get our funding or not. But we also see

381
00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:21,200
Speaker 2: it among the women who serve, is that their lives change.

382
00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:24,240
Speaker 1: So they actually build a community.

383
00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:29,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, I hear my favorite thing to do other than this,

384
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,440
Speaker 2: My favorite thing to do is to go to these

385
00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:34,760
Speaker 2: communities and meet the women who are making it happen.

386
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:39,560
Speaker 2: And what I hear is these are my lifelong best friends.

387
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:44,520
Speaker 2: This I now know my passion I learned. I didn't

388
00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,800
Speaker 2: even know that that was a problem. Now I know

389
00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:52,959
Speaker 2: this organization is addressing it. I am no longer going

390
00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,359
Speaker 2: to serve on the leadership team of Impact one hundred.

391
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,760
Speaker 2: I want to go volunteer to be on this person's

392
00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,560
Speaker 2: board because I now know that this was what I

393
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:02,800
Speaker 2: was born to care about. This is what I was

394
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:03,359
Speaker 2: born to do.

395
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:06,399
Speaker 1: Is the one hundred and twenty three million, or what

396
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,280
Speaker 1: you're talking about right now, the biggest payoff for you personally?

397
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:16,960
Speaker 2: This it's those individual women who step into their strength.

398
00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,320
Speaker 1: I've said one hundred times that I don't think philanthropy

399
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,199
Speaker 1: is a nice thing to do. I think, by virtue

400
00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:25,919
Speaker 1: of the blessings that we've been graced with, it's a

401
00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,880
Speaker 1: requirement to give back, not a nice thing to do.

402
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:33,560
Speaker 1: But I've also said, and I also believe with everything

403
00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:38,000
Speaker 1: that if you do it humbly and for the right reasons,

404
00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:42,760
Speaker 1: motivated by the simple edification of someone who's not as

405
00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:48,120
Speaker 1: blessed as you are, and you grow as a result

406
00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:50,639
Speaker 1: of the work that you do, that the payoff behind

407
00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:53,400
Speaker 1: all of it is you get fifty thousand times more

408
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,119
Speaker 1: out of it than you ever put into it. And

409
00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,040
Speaker 1: I hear and I wish people could see your face

410
00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:02,000
Speaker 1: when you're talking about it, because you light up, and

411
00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,600
Speaker 1: the one hundred and twenty three million dollars is phenomenal, And

412
00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:08,119
Speaker 1: it's untold how many people's lives have been bettered as

413
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,520
Speaker 1: a result of all the money raised from your idea

414
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:16,600
Speaker 1: twenty years ago. But it is true that you personally

415
00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:20,320
Speaker 1: get more out of seeing the strength and power of

416
00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,159
Speaker 1: women and the relationships fostered. You get so much more

417
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 1: out of that than you ever thought you'd put into

418
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:28,280
Speaker 1: it twenty years ago. Absolutely, And then that the payoff

419
00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:29,960
Speaker 1: to getting out in your community and going to work.

420
00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:32,679
Speaker 1: Is what you get out of it too, is so

421
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:38,840
Speaker 1: much more what you put into it. We'll be right back.

422
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:58,679
Speaker 1: You know, it's an army of normal folks, and what

423
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:03,199
Speaker 1: could be more normal than one hundred women, none of

424
00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:06,159
Speaker 1: which are We're not talking about multi millionaires or whatever,

425
00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:09,439
Speaker 1: but one hundred women getting together and write in a

426
00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:15,040
Speaker 1: check for one thousand dollars democratizing philanthropy, which is a

427
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:17,679
Speaker 1: phenomenal idea. That's very cool that you came up with

428
00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:21,320
Speaker 1: it and then affecting change in their neighborhoods. I read

429
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:27,879
Speaker 1: that some of your chapters have now two hundred women,

430
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:32,040
Speaker 1: and three hundred women, and then four hundred women, and

431
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:35,160
Speaker 1: you would hear that and you would think, well, yeah,

432
00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:40,679
Speaker 1: Dallas or Houston or San Francisco or La or Chicago,

433
00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:44,720
Speaker 1: or well, now that I know, maybe Sydney or London

434
00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:49,760
Speaker 1: where you got these huge population centers, that that's doable.

435
00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:54,800
Speaker 1: But if I'm sitting around listening and making Georgia, it'd

436
00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:56,680
Speaker 1: be hard to pull one hundred women together, which it

437
00:26:56,760 --> 00:27:03,080
Speaker 1: might be read about a chapter in the Panhandle, and

438
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:07,040
Speaker 1: I want you to share that story because it to

439
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:12,240
Speaker 1: me illustrates that You don't have to be in New

440
00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,800
Speaker 1: York surrounded by an immense amount of wealth to pull

441
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:16,359
Speaker 1: this off.

442
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:17,879
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely not.

443
00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:24,480
Speaker 2: My goal is if an Impact chapter can grow to

444
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:27,560
Speaker 2: five hundred women, then they give one grant and each

445
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:33,959
Speaker 2: of those five focused areas every single year. That that

446
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,199
Speaker 2: would be my goal for any chapters. And not all

447
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:41,040
Speaker 2: chapters can do it, for sure, and honestly, not all chapters.

448
00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,680
Speaker 2: They're all run by volunteers, so not all chapters want

449
00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,800
Speaker 2: to do it, and not all communities you know, will

450
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:51,680
Speaker 2: support that. But you can't judge a book by its cover,

451
00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:56,160
Speaker 2: as you are alluding to. In Pensacola, Florida.

452
00:27:57,760 --> 00:27:59,479
Speaker 1: First of all, not all of our listeners know much

453
00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,240
Speaker 1: about pencil Call of Florida. I mean people from my

454
00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:05,320
Speaker 1: Necka Woods do because we all vacation the Panhona of

455
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:06,800
Speaker 1: Florida because it's close to speech.

456
00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:12,120
Speaker 2: But Pittsacaolla, Florida is demographically it's probably the second porest

457
00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:13,360
Speaker 2: county in all of Florida.

458
00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:14,240
Speaker 1: It is.

459
00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:16,360
Speaker 2: It's shunningly beautiful.

460
00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,480
Speaker 1: It is beautiful, but it's it's also a military town.

461
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:22,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, the navyes there, the Blue Angels make their home there.

462
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:25,440
Speaker 2: It's if you like that which we do. I mean,

463
00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:28,119
Speaker 2: watching those blue angels fly is incredible.

464
00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:33,000
Speaker 1: But don't hear Pensacola and think Fame, Miami or whatever

465
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,399
Speaker 1: it is. Like you said, I think it is the

466
00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,760
Speaker 1: second or third porest county in all of Florida, and.

467
00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:47,960
Speaker 2: Pensacola by their tenth anniversary reached a thousand members and

468
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,520
Speaker 2: they gave away in a single day that has become

469
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:55,040
Speaker 2: known as million Dollars Sunday, they gave away a million dollars.

470
00:28:55,080 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 2: They gave two grants in each of those five focus areas.

471
00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:03,959
Speaker 1: But they have the second poorest county in Florida.

472
00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:08,800
Speaker 2: But they didn't stop. So that was this year. Twenty

473
00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:13,480
Speaker 2: twenty three is their twentieth anniversary year. Every year from

474
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:15,880
Speaker 2: their tenth until twenty twenty two.

475
00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:17,160
Speaker 3: I don't know the numbers yet.

476
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:21,240
Speaker 2: For this year they have given away at least a

477
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:24,960
Speaker 2: million dollars. Most recently, for at least the past four

478
00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:29,360
Speaker 2: or five years, they've given away one point one million dollars.

479
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,840
Speaker 2: So they give away eleven grants of at least one

480
00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:37,560
Speaker 2: hundred thousand dollars in the two counties, which is Santa

481
00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:42,160
Speaker 2: Rosa and Escambia. I think counties in Pensacola, which is

482
00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:44,640
Speaker 2: just remarkable and.

483
00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:48,680
Speaker 1: Honestly, absolutely phenomenal.

484
00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:53,360
Speaker 2: I don't know what they're gonna do for their twentieth anniversary.

485
00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:56,720
Speaker 2: It's pretty hard to beat where they already are. They

486
00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:59,480
Speaker 2: are the world's largest Impact one hundred chapter.

487
00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:05,440
Speaker 1: Imagine in a community like what we just discussed, how

488
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:10,600
Speaker 1: far that money goes and what it's doing for some

489
00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:16,680
Speaker 1: some some amazing organizations. I mean, that's a lot of money.

490
00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:19,160
Speaker 2: It's a lot of money. It is a lot of money,

491
00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:27,240
Speaker 2: and it's and yet I travel a lot, and when

492
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:31,400
Speaker 2: I'm on a plane to Pensacola, inevitably someone will say

493
00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:34,600
Speaker 2: what brings you there? And I will say, have you

494
00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:37,239
Speaker 2: ever heard of Impact one hundred? Now this is on

495
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:42,320
Speaker 2: a plane going to Pensacola and to your largest chapter,

496
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:46,160
Speaker 2: to the largest chapter that has done amazing things. And

497
00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:48,120
Speaker 2: they say no, and they say I've never heard of it.

498
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,840
Speaker 2: I say, really, So, if there are still people in

499
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:57,080
Speaker 2: Pensacola who've never heard of Impact one hundred, they haven't

500
00:30:57,120 --> 00:30:59,360
Speaker 2: reached their highest potential that I don't know what that

501
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:04,280
Speaker 2: looks like. But imagine those bigger cities, the Sydneys, the

502
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:08,320
Speaker 2: New York's, the Palm beach the Miamis.

503
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:10,840
Speaker 1: That's what has to drive you, is that.

504
00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:14,160
Speaker 2: There's so many people who still haven't heard.

505
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:24,680
Speaker 1: So Wendy, here's the deal. I can't think of a

506
00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:29,520
Speaker 1: more appropriate person to be part of the Army of

507
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:34,000
Speaker 1: Normal Folks, because you're You're a kid who grew up

508
00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:39,280
Speaker 1: in Saint Louis and then ended up in Cincinnati. You

509
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:44,960
Speaker 1: know three kids, a dad who traveled and a mom

510
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:49,080
Speaker 1: who struggled, and everybody in the world has struggles. And

511
00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:52,080
Speaker 1: you go and get a degree and go into banking,

512
00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:54,920
Speaker 1: and get married and get divorced to get remarried, and

513
00:31:56,040 --> 00:32:01,760
Speaker 1: and you had an idea, and you've affected countless lives,

514
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:04,320
Speaker 1: not only of the people that your organization has given

515
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:11,719
Speaker 1: money to, but the people actually inside the organization operating it,

516
00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:15,400
Speaker 1: and the empowerment and the sense of self they get

517
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:19,640
Speaker 1: from it. It's an amazing story and you should be proud.

518
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:24,320
Speaker 1: And I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed our chat.

519
00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:26,840
Speaker 1: One of the things we do on an Army Normal

520
00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:31,080
Speaker 1: Folks is we all give our contact information. I have mine.

521
00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:35,240
Speaker 1: Our producer Alex he used to have it, but he

522
00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:41,440
Speaker 1: was in his car. So would you mind sharing if

523
00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:44,160
Speaker 1: anybody hears this and says, I want to do this

524
00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:46,800
Speaker 1: in my community. How do they find out more and

525
00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:47,360
Speaker 1: get in touch?

526
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:49,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you. It's very easy.

527
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:55,320
Speaker 2: Wendy at Impact one hundred global dot org. So it's

528
00:32:55,360 --> 00:33:01,040
Speaker 2: global one zero zero Impact one hundred global dot org.

529
00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:07,959
Speaker 2: Or you can reach me at Wendyhsteel dot com s

530
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:09,880
Speaker 2: T E E A L E.

531
00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:10,520
Speaker 3: Thank you.

532
00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:15,440
Speaker 2: My cell phone number is two three one six three

533
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:17,680
Speaker 2: two three five eight eight.

534
00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:20,560
Speaker 1: Now you've done it.

535
00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:23,360
Speaker 2: It's I'm pretty easy to find. I want to be

536
00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:24,440
Speaker 2: easy to find.

537
00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:28,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love it. Wendy, thank you so much for

538
00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:32,000
Speaker 1: coming to Memphis, and thanks for telling us your story.

539
00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:36,760
Speaker 1: It's it's uh, it's an amazing it's an amazing trip.

540
00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:39,960
Speaker 1: And the fun thing about it is you're still in it,

541
00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:42,400
Speaker 1: and God knows where you go from here. I guess

542
00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:45,120
Speaker 1: I guess it's time to tack. Is that what you do? Yeah?

543
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:46,840
Speaker 3: Look at you, look at me.

544
00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:48,800
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining me, Wendy.

545
00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:50,040
Speaker 3: Thank you so much. Bill.

546
00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:57,320
Speaker 1: It is a treat, and thank you for joining us

547
00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:02,440
Speaker 1: this week. Y'all. If Windy or any other guest has

548
00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:05,880
Speaker 1: inspired you in general, or better yet, to take action

549
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:11,160
Speaker 1: by joining an Impact one hundred chapter starting one buying

550
00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:16,560
Speaker 1: her book Invitation Impact, or donating to Wendy's organization, Impact

551
00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:20,200
Speaker 1: one hundred Global, which is advising all these chapters for

552
00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:24,560
Speaker 1: free and helping the movement grow, or something else entirely.

553
00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:27,359
Speaker 1: Please let me know I want to hear about it.

554
00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:32,360
Speaker 1: You can write me anytime at Bill at normalfolks dot us,

555
00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:36,680
Speaker 1: and I promise you I'll respond. And if you enjoyed

556
00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:40,440
Speaker 1: this episode, share it with friends that I'm social, subscribe

557
00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:43,880
Speaker 1: to the podcast, rate and review it, become a premium

558
00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:47,560
Speaker 1: member at normalfolks dot us, all these things that will

559
00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:52,200
Speaker 1: help grow an army of normal folks. I'm Bill Courtney.

560
00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:59,439
Speaker 1: I'll see you next week.