In this nonprofit podcast story, I share about a personal experience and then tap into the beauty of matching rescueres with rescues! I am not sure who rescues whom! I don’t know about you, but I think about dog rescue as a really wonderful thing to do although it has its challenges; our dog, Molly is a rescue and I guess that she was not just abandoned, but abused, she probably had a set of puppies and we think was about 2 or 3 when we adopted her. I have never seen a dog eat as fast as Molly - you could feel the trauma in her frenzy as she inhaled her bowl of food - she’s only 12 lbs and she can eat. I’m guessing because she can’t talk that she’s thinking this could be her last meal. She is a love & simultaneously a heartache when you witness this fear in her approach to eating and pretty much everything else. She’s a challenge because she pees literally wherever she wants - hence few rugs in our house since she tends to like soft spots, but anywhere will do if she can’t get herself outside, and even if she can but feels something is in the way, she will resort to a way of life that is based on having lived outside, hence eat whatever you can find and pee wherever is convenient - she is fear-based and survival-based - I can’t say I blame her. She is now 12 1/2 years old and sadly, still eats as if she will never get another meal, eats whatever she can find outside, and has the most blood curdleing scream when anyone touches her backside or even when something, even a leaf brushes up against her without her knowledge- we’ve all gotten used to it over the years and it is only when a visitor comes over and she screeches with panic, that the visitor feels like she’s stepped on her and our response is always, Molly, you’re fine. I remember when we first got her and she would only go to our dog, Max, 2 years her senior - he seemed safe to her and thank goodness loved her - they became two peas in a pod and when a stranger would come by as long as Max would go up to the stranger with a sense of safety or comfort, would Molly follow. Her trauma has stayed with her and yet, I know in my heart that she is comforted by the life we’ve given her and that she knows she is wanted and loved - animals sense when you want to comfort them - they can be challenging when they have been in a world of pain and mistrust and we are asking them to trust us - in some ways, that’s like people - the more consistent I am with Molly, the more relaxed she generally is. Yet, that loud-pitched, blood-curdling scream is something she will never give up.      My guest today will share much more, but in reading about herders, I can see why the matching process has to be so targeted to ensure both a happy foster dog and a happy foster home. Here are a few interesting things to note if you are considering fostering or adopting a herder. Herders specifically Border Collies can clear a 5+ foot fence and are known as escape artists - my guess is that they may be escaping if their owner isn’t nearby as they tend to be very attached to their owners and become anxious when the owner isn’t present; they have a great deal of energy and are often misperceived as stubborn or even neurotic, and difficult to train due to their sensitive nature and desire to be connected to one person versus being part of a family. Some of these reasons are why many Border Collies are abandoned at shelters and elsewhere. Hence, the need arose and was filled by 3 women who joined together to start Helping Herders Rescue. Helping Herders Rescue’s mission is to match herders to humans in Southern California; they are a foster-based program dedicated to helping dogs recover, prepare for a family, and find great homes. This is particularly challenging with herding breeds, and they are often misunderstood.

For more information, check out their website: www.helpingherdersrescue.org

 

 

This podcasting story will resonate with anyone who is still living and wants to fully embrace life.

There are plenty of words in the English language that are disdainful, hurtful, nasty, & downright awful, but there are two words that are unavoidable and from which we often run: death & dying - no one enjoys grief, sadness, or loss - those words are so dam final! When I was in social work school, I read Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s book aptly titled On Death and Dying, seminal work at that time. Kubler-Ross introduced what is known as the 5 stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance; a 6th stage was more recently added by a colleague of Kubler-Ross’, David Kessler, Finding Meaning. It turns out that this concept may have been in Kubler-Ross' initial model, but her editor told her to remove it, as 5 stages are better than 6, although, as anyone who has experienced grief knows, this is not a linear process.

One incredibly gifted creator, producer, and writer decided to take on this subject, but not as a passive project, but a fully engaging, head-on discussion to move us, make us think, and maybe make us less afraid of the inevitable. 

Grief Dialogues: The Experience brings timely conversations about death, dying, and grief to the stage in innovative, humorous, and touching ways. Part theatre, part therapy, this “edutainment” love that creative name, project began in 2016 with an open call for short plays and was developed from nearly 200 submissions. The original performance was composed of 6 short plays from playwrights across the country. It is a thought-provoking and honest look at the subject of death that invites audiences to reconsider some of the rhetoric and stigmas around the topic. As one of my guests shares: Theatre is the great empathy generator, and out of grief comes art. Grief Dialogues is also committed to offering accessible and affordable training in compassion for health care providers, counselors and therapists, end-of-life specialists, funeral homes, and at-home caregivers. 

Let's Write a Musical was born out of this concept of 'out of grief, comes art.'

A Musical About Love, Loss, and the Power of Storytelling. A joyous celebration of the power of love and an ode to classic musicals.

A heartfelt and inspiring journey that follows David Hamilton and his wife, Lucy (based on Ben and Lawrie), as they write a romantic comedy in the wake of David’s cancer diagnosis. As their real-life challenges unfold, so does the story of Olive and Blake, a young couple in the 1950s navigating love, laughter, and misadventures.

For more information, check out their website: https://www.griefdialogues.com/

Tickets for Let's Write a Musical are on sale now:

https://www.griefdialogues.com/lets-write-a-musical/

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has been an honor and a privilege to host this nonprofit podcast to benefit nonprofits and social enterprises

Our 100th episode is a montage of what our interviewees shared with us about their experience on Small & Gutsy, as well as some advice for those yet to be interviewed. We are grateful for the opportunity to have interviewed the most amazing organizations over the past 4 1/2 years and look forward to many more interviews, celebrating the work of smaller nonprofits and social enterprises. From Small & Gutsy to Big with Impact!

www.smallandgutsy.org

Tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, second only to water. It comes in many varieties: black, green, white, oolong, and herbal. Tea is celebrated for its health benefits, from antioxidants to its calming effects, and it continues to play a major role in global culture and commerce.

In recent decades, tea has experienced a revival in interest, with a growing market for specialty teas, such as artisanal blends, organic teas, and matcha. The modern-day global tea market is vast, and tea continues to evolve as both a daily beverage and a symbol of tradition, health, and innovation. It can solve 3 key problems, particularly in the Himalayas:

• Urban migration - young folks are moving to megacities in search of work which fragments the family and drives unsustainable urban growth

• Land degradation - abandoned farmland due to the fragmented family deteriorates into unusable dirt

• Climate change - increased droughts and floods trigger catastrophic landslides

Tea is one clear solution:

• Tea creates rural jobs and reverses urban migration

• Tea revitalizes wasted farmland and is an anchor crop for biodiversity

• Tea leaves drink CO2 which gets stored in their roots and removed from the atmosphere

• Tea is a gender economic equalizer - 

• And the outcome of what my guest has started is aligned with many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Their Vision is to create a sustainable future for Himalayan farmers and their families.  Their Mission is to partner with Himalayan communities to raise the quality of their tea, so farmers can earn more and raise the quality of their lives. 

Young Mountain Tea partners with farmers in North India to get a new factory up and running. Tea farmers, 90% being women, will launch their region’s first community-owned tea factory. This factory will be a blueprint for a model of sustainable change in the tea industry, eventually throughout the Himalayas and the world. 

 Building A Sustainable Future For Himalayan Farmers And Their Families is truly a social enterprise.

For more information, go to:

www.youngmountaintea.com

 

Finding inner peace is a process that leads to a practice; there are important rituals that guide us in self-discovery. Derived from the Sanskrit word for “circle”, the Mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the universe. It is a sacred art form that connects us to our inner selves and the world around us. Their profound wisdom and tranquil messages, serve as a powerful medium to contemplate and find peace within.

Mandalas are typically circles with repeating symmetrical shapes, and are considered a sacred symbol. In Sanskrit, mandala translates to “sacred center” or “circle.” Mandalas symbolize harmony and unity, and represent that everything is connected.

Pema Chodron, the incredible American-born Tibetan Buddist and ordained nun who is soulful and wise shared, “Each person’s life is like a mandala – a vast, limitless circle. We stand in the center of our own circle, and everything we see, hear, and think forms the mandala of our life.”

I love that imagery.

One organization has discovered that bringing in the concept of inner peace through an evidenced-based curriculum using the Mandala as a cornerstone enables youth to build and strengthen their capacity to manage stress and conflict in new ways, giving them lifelong skills that serve to build a more compassionate society. Building that society begins with our youth.

Tools for Peace is a mental wellness program for youth that provides curricula to grow compassionate minds.

   Their Mission is to inspire kindness and compassion in everyday life. Their mindfulness-based social-emotional learning programs support mental health, academic and professional success, and community health and wellbeing. Studies show that the Tools for Peace curriculum improves focus, conflict resolution skills, and confidence, and reduces stress in participants. 

For more information, please check their website for more information:

www.toolsforpeace.org

 

Investing in youth and education aligns directly with Sustainable Development Goal # 4 (Quality Education) and indirectly fuels several others like Decent Work and Economic Growth (goal # 8) and Reduced Inequalities (goal # 10). This perspective reinforces how crucial it is to view sustainability as not just environmental, but deeply tied to social and economic development.

It takes a village is a common expression, used by so many to essentially mean…we all need to lift one another up to attain the most robust society for long-term sustainability

Lifting up any society often begins with opportunities that offer economic sustainability - those opportunities can only be realized when individuals are schooled and trained. If we don’t invest in our youth, we are essentially saying that the next generation isn’t worth the investment…what does that say about sustainability? What does that say about building competition that creates a landscape of creativity and forward-thinking products and services?

Domestic violence and Early pregnancies among young girls are rampant in communities and are caused by poverty and unemployment forcing families to lack basic needs. 

Dependable Youth Initiative Uganda is a registered Community non-governmental organization committed to empowering youth and women through vocational skill building, agri-business, Gender rights and equality, environment conservation, and reproductive health education.

Please check out their website: https://dyinitiative.org/

 

Two very smart women saw a pattern developing in their midwestern city of St. Louis, my hometown actually, after one attended a meet-up group organized by  Susan Gobbo one of these smart women, who is Brazilian, and who experienced the loneliness of a trailing spouse, herself when she moved to St. Louis in 2008. Years later, she formed a meetup group for other foreign wives. Annie Schlafly, the other very smart woman, who is active in various community groups, heard about the meetup group through the St. Louis Mosaic Project, a regional initiative within the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership and the World Trade Center St. Louis, formed to attract more immigrants to St. Louis, invigorating the region with rich culture and intellectual stimulus. Annie  convinced Susan that the international spouses would benefit from meeting more St. Louisans, and the two founded the International Mentoring Program also known as IMP in 2017.

Over the last seven years, the program has paired over 600 international newcomers with local mentors. They meet one-on-one, in small groups and for larger events such as sports games and other local fare.

Beyond fostering human connections, the program aims to solve a real business problem: According to a Harvard Business Review study, a large percentage of expatriate business postings fail. Many executives ask to return home earlier than planned; others underperform on the job or leave the company.

Mentors are a gift and they can be very rare; they’re rare, because they’re intentional - I use the word, intentional, because that is what it takes to be a great mentor and a great mentee - yes, it’s a two-way street, a commitment that can take on a  journey of its  own - meaning there is a structure that has some flexibility and creativity that works for both parties. Mentors can be a surprise or can be set up through a network of connections - what makes it sometimes difficult is for a mentee to find or ask someone to serve as their mentor unless their is a designed program. Now, let’s complicate the situation a tad bit, what if you were moving to a foreign country and knew no one, but your spouse or partner who just received an incredible opportunity to earn a living and contribute to the host’s country’s intellectual  community - so your partner automatically has a network - built-in through their new work life, but what about YOU. You might think…well, I will just support my partner, but what if a year’s opportunity turns into much longer and you have remained an expatriot without a network of support… how might you feel and what is the risk to your marriage or partnership or even your family if there are children involved? Personal contentment can count for a great deal in determining longevity in a new environment.

Check out their website: www.imstl.org

Small & Gutsy was just named # 8 on Feedspot's top 30 podcasts for social impact! We are deeply honored!

What a beautiful and thoughtful reflection on places of connection and spiritual significance. It’s fascinating how certain spaces, whether physical or emotional, provide that sense of peace, clarity, or even healing, just like the one I described as a child under the bush in your yard. Weaving the idea of being open to the present moment, and to the connections we share with others can be spiritual in the deepest sense. There’s a profound connection between the self and nature, the present moment, and community, which can shape our personal growth.

The story of Leonard Knight and Salvation Mountain is such a powerful example of how dedication, belief, and passion can create something that transcends just a physical space. It’s inspiring to think of how Leonard’s life and work—something as personal as his devotion to his faith—turned into a public monument that has touched so many people across the world. The mountain isn’t just a structure; it represents years of persistence, love, and a desire to spread a message of faith, connection, and hope.

I also think it’s so moving that Bob Levesque is carrying forward Leonard’s work, ensuring that his vision continues. It reminds us how important it is to protect and nurture the things that matter deeply to us, even after we’re gone, and how communities can preserve these treasures for future generations. It’s amazing how these places of connection, healing, and spirituality are passed down through the dedication of individuals and communities.

It seems like a beautiful, spiritual journey for Bob to be part of this legacy. His role in preserving Leonard’s vision must be incredibly meaningful. Do you feel like there’s a specific lesson or message you’ve taken from Leonard Knight’s story and Salvation Mountain that resonates with your own journey or understanding of connection?

Check out their website: www.salvationmountain.org

 

Loss is something we all experience and I think if you ask the average person about loss, you may get an answer about missing someone who was very special to them, and is no longer here, but loss can take on so much more meaning; it can be loss of an opportunity, loss of an existing relationship, because that relationship has shifted or no longer exists in its original construct; it can be loss of abilities or faculties, Loss simply means no longer having something or having less of it than before; Oftentimes, we need to process that loss and hopefully with time, the pain or the sadness lessens and sometimes, the process of a loss turns into action to prevent further losses. When you meet my guest today, loss took on an incredible meaning in his life; potential and actual loss of nature and natural habitats that forced indigenous people and animals to find other ways to survive, loss of preserving indigenous peoples’ villages, loss of clean water for some, loss of environments that had been functioning well for generations, but due to deforestation and frankly greed or ignorance, those places are no longer what they once had been.

Imagine being a little boy where your playground is the curiosity of cultures and environments and where your day’s goal is to explore every indigenous reptile, spider, and furry animal that comes across your path. My guest today was fortunate enough to have a mother as a travel agent planning exotic vacations, and a father who had a huge number of airline miles, giving my guest and his sister the opportunity to travel to less known places that set the stage for his future professional and, I think, personal journey.

Some people are driven by threats - my guest is driven by the threat of loss of the most amazing ecosystems in our global environment; initially wishing to raise awareness about tropical rainforests by publishing his book on line, he established Mongabay in 1999 - the name is also an iteration of a place he loves in Madagascar which he can share with you in a moment. Mongabay has been going strong since its inception in 1999 as a vehicle to raise awareness of and interest in wildlife and wild lands; 25 years later, it has continued to gather momentum and has evolved from a website hosting his book, specific to rainforests with the aim of raising awareness to spark action in preserving these amazing ecosystems, to a comprehensive platform covering a wide range of environmental topics far beyond tropical forests. Mongabay is a nonprofit media platform with more than 90 staff across five bureaus and a network of approximately 1,000 correspondents in 80 countries, producing original reporting in five languages, and is read by millions of people a month. Mongabay pursues stories ranging from conventional news articles to deeply-reported investigative projects. One key goal of Mongabay is to increase transparency through targeted journalism which then influences change by driving greater accountability and supporting an enabling environment for a wide range of actors, from nongovernmental organizations to local communities to green entrepreneurs to take action. 

I’d call this driven, initially driven by loss and now driven by the impact Mongabay has surely had. Mongabay draws its inspiration from a global moral code and truly honors nature. Words cannot express my personal awe for Rhett Butler, founder of Mongabay - 

Rhett and his global team have forced the revision of laws to protect these environments and manage the global greed for resources that frankly belong to the indigenous people who could then have a sustainable existence by benefitting from these resources.

For more information, please check out their website: www.mongabay.org

 

Dr. Charity Dean, the public health leader who helped guide the strategic response to Covid-19 in California and elsewhere, shared her incredible personal story of being very poor, born on the side of the tracks in rural Oregon where the kids are never encouraged to seek college or any higher educational degree; in fact, Dr. Dean shared that she should have grown up to pump gas at the local station; she was regularly discouraged from seeking her dream of being a doctor and many doors were slammed in her face repeatedly. So, what drove her to succeed? She shares that there are at least two versions of everyone’s story, and both are 100% true. The first version is that she could have stayed in her small community, pumped gas with her friends and simmer with anger at the injustice in being born poor and in her situation where others had no expectations that she would succeed or that she should even try; then, there’s version number 2, being the hero of her circumstances became the guiding principle of that story - meaning her being born into poverty taught her to scavenger and scramble for everything including opportunities that looked out-of-reach including flunking out of college and still being determined to go back and finish. Every block and barrier became an opportunity for determination. Dr. Charity Dean wanted to belong, but belong as defined by her version of her story, not someone else’s. Belonging is an essential desire for most of us and certainly for young folks who are trying to find their way. Growing up in dysfunctional families, as many of us have, can sometimes push us into trying to belong to a group that may not be the best for our development, particularly for our character - but survival trumps good judgment at a young, vulnerable age and survival include needing, not wanting, but needing to belong somewhere. especially when you feel you don’t belong even in your own family. I shared these insights from Dr. Charity Dean, because my guest today experienced some of what she spoke about and had the determination to choose a path that moved him away from his past and encouraged him to believe in himself. Because of that, he is now in a position to help others who have experienced their own isolation or lack of acceptance. Do Something Cool is a Foundation, founded by Bryan Hawkins and his sister, Sarah Kawada, dedicated to supporting youth in reaching their full potential and they do this through the belief that sport, culture, and community are powerful tools for change.Their Vision is to help youth learn and develop skills that lead to social, emotional, academic, and physical well-being.Through their grant partnerships and initiatives and soon directly through their own programming, they aim to help young people to lead lives that are good for others as well as themselves. They want to inspire young individuals to accomplish audacious endeavors that will inform and inspire the rest of us. I need to say a few things about how Do Something Cool defines the word, “cool” - their interpretation of cool challenges the conventional label that you and I might have aspired to as a younger person or perhaps even as adults - it transcends a single definition and rather than being seen as hip or trendy - Do Something Cool defines cool as an ever-changing emblem of authentic individuality and collective action - could be play something cool, create something cool, learn something cool…I love this definition, because rather than cool meaning set apart to ‘show-off’ or self-subscribed, being better than others - it is actually, the ambition to lead, venturing into new territories while building self-confidence. Cool is the bravery to try something new, despite the fear that is often connected to the unknown - the courage to explore new paths and embrace challenges; cool is the willingness to embrace new experiences fearlessly and the boldness to push boundaries. Cool is the commitment to a greater cause, a community, a giving-back, and the humble gesture of supporting someone else’s climb towards overcoming adversity. The way I define cool is simply, Bryan Hawkins and Sarah Kawda. Do Something Cool, in my mind, is more like a movement; if we all subscribed to this concept of advancing our community by elevating its people in this way, just think of what a world we might have… To learn more: www.dosomethingcool.org