From Minimum Wage to $80K: CJ Calderon Shows Goodwill's True Mission

[0:16]  Welcome back to another episode here on the Heart and Hustle Podcast. Our next guest, she's been called misunderstood, but today CJ runs the show at Goodwill in Orange County, turning second chances into fullblown revolutions. And all started right here in Orange County. So I ask you CJ, we got to get straight into it. You spent 20 years in the nonprofit leadership. What moment made you say this is what I was born to do?

[0:40]  Well, I'd say I just graduated college. I took a I took a job in like sales and marketing. I worked with a bunch of men, the only girl on the team. Everybody was heavily motivated by money. High fives and everything. And I just thought this cannot be the rest of my life. And I quit my job, you know, to my dad's dismay. I just moved out and bought my first car by myself. And he's like, "You you don't do it that way. That's not the way you do it, right?" I answered a job that paid 30% less than I was making. And it was at a food bank in Orange County. The Second Harvest Food Bank was my very first nonprofit job. And I remember them walking me back to the office where I was going to interview. And the warehouse was just piled with pallets of food. And my heart just kind of skipped a beat for a minute and was like, I can't believe that there's people in Orange County, you know, that need this food and this is an organization that's feeding people every day. And I realized at that moment that I had to believe in the values and the purpose of an organization I worked for for the rest of my life. That was part of what I wanted to do.

[1:44]  Doing what you love. You know, I it's so hard for people to

[1:49]  do that. You know, earlier I was having a conversation. And it's like a lot of times people would tell you um what to do like your parents would say, "Hey, don't be a teacher because there's no money in it, right? Go here."

[2:00]  And a lot of times people follow that exact path. But there's people like yourself, CJ, like no, I don't I don't know. Like this is my life. I'm going to do a little different here. Yeah.

[2:09]  Which I'm pretty sure 15 years ago you also had a complete different belief in what leadership looked like for you.

[2:14]  Oh, for sure.

[2:15]  Um what do you now know that completely flips the script about leadership? I think that a good leader really sets the culture of the organization. And I've had great leaders and not so great leaders or perhaps leaders that don't even know that their culture is bad or know how to fix it. And I think that is really the number besides doing something that you're passionate about that you have to work for every day that the culture and the values of the organization are probably as important as as what their values are and what they do in the organization or for the community.

[2:52]  Yeah, I've learned from some bad leaders, CJ.

[2:55]  Me too. Me too.

[2:56]  Obviously, he's a bad leader. CJ, I'm the one to um always called them out. to my last job. The guy was great, but when he got into the leadership position, it just became a different person.

[3:07]  Yeah.

[3:08]  And I remember saying, man, hey, I had a lot of respect for you and and the way that you ran things, but up until you became a leader, I felt like you just you weren't the same person anymore.

[3:16]  Yeah.

[3:16]  You know, I get it. We're not going to be the same person, but you forgot like all these values that I felt you've carried, you no longer have. Right. It's almost like you forgot where you came from. Yeah. Um, so when I see those leaders, it's very, very irritating because I'm a leader that, hey, just because I'm a CEO, a president doesn't mean that I won't get on the, you know, floor and scrub some toilets. Absolutely.

[3:37]  And I think people lose that within themselves.

[3:39]  I think so, too. And I think that's probably one of the biggest compliments I've had on the different teams that I've led before of saying that you would never ask us to do something that you wouldn't do yourself. You just don't have the time, probably.

[3:52]  Yeah. Yeah. For sure. I mean, you're building this organization, not so much building, it was probably already great and you're just enhancing it to be even better. Um, but you're also a mom. You have your little ones at home. How important is it to be a leader and show your kids what a strong woman, what a what a woman as a leader looks like?

[4:14]  I think I've been really lucky to be able to be in the nonprofit space and raise children. They're 18 and 19 now, so they're not little little anymore.

[4:23]  But they've always took an interest in whatever organization I've been in. I've brought them to work with me. You know, sometimes I had to, sometimes my husband had to drop them off after school because there wasn't the daycare. And they would, you know, learn and they would learn about how do you help other people and why does your organization exist? And this really good example, I worked for a organization that did colear implants on babies, right? And I remember bringing my daughter, she had to come to work with me and seeing the hearing get turned on for the first time in like an 18-month-old.

[4:54]  And when she the American Girl doll phase was going on when she went for the American Girl doll, she got um hearing aids on her American Girl doll when everyone else got ears pierced.

[5:05]  So touched her so much, a friend, that she wants to be an aiologist. Like she's going to school to be an aiologist now. So, I feel lucky that they've got to see me kind of in a servant leadership role for a long time.

[5:17]  My kids are young, but that's what exactly what I'm hoping is um you know, they go to a room and see me speaking, they're just like, "What is dad doing up there?" Right? But when they really get to understand what dad is doing and the impact is being made, that's what I want my kids to to to take away from it. It's like listen, everyone has a story and we are very blessed and grateful for what we have and it's how do we continue to impact others and because you've put your kids around how to impact others now they just want to continue to impact on something that they just found love in and sometimes would have never known if it wasn't for a nonprofit.

[5:50]  Right. Right. Exactly. This is so cool.

[5:53]  And they've seen me hustle a lot, you know, and they they know it's not easy, but um I think they're proud of me to be honest.

[6:00]  I'm proud of you. What? Come on. This is raising kids and I can imagine you were an amazing mom. Um I think once I seen my wife be a stay at home mom, my wife give birth, different perspective of what it looks like to be a strong woman. Yeah.

[6:13]  Right. Like that is crazy. Um and to still be present because I've also been an adopted child. So I know what it looked like for a mom to be present.

[6:20]  Um so to see that you're present, you're doing your thing, you're inspiring your children but also impacting your community at the same time. Yeah.

[6:27]  That is very very strong of you. So yeah, kudos to you. Let's clear things up, man. People think Goodwill, and I think Goodwill, I'm just going to go shop, find some older things, some newer things. What What is actually Goodwill?

[6:41]  Well,

[6:42]  what are you guys doing on the back end?

[6:43]  The interesting thing is Goodwill has one of the most recognized brands in the in the globe. It's in the top 10, I think, right now. But very nobody really knows what we do. And it is a it is a little different because Goodwill really works in in each community and and is under Goodwill International but but works within the community to to use and solve the specific needs all around workforce development training people upskilling them helping them get maybe their first job or they haven't had a job for quite some time. Maybe they've been justice involved. Maybe they have a barrier like a mental health diagnosis or something like that. And Goodwill takes them and and wants to know what their goals are and how to help them and puts them on a path to success with whatever whatever type of services they need. We can hook them up in the community. And you know, sometimes we give second and third chances and that's why we're here. It's like it's it's a totally different structure than most any organization or for-profit company. And so when someone's buying something or donating their goods, you know, most people think about the bags in the back of their car that sit there for a week or two and they don't get donated right away. You donate something to Goodwill. We're hiring somebody to take that from you from your car. Thank you. We hire somebody who puts that on a hanger, puts a price tag on it. We hire somebody who is out in the store doing the merchandising and hire someone to ring you up for that. And so we're providing all of these jobs in this really safe space and providing them some stability and then asking them what do they want to do next? Do you want to be a manager? Do you want to stay at Goodwill? We have a kind of a slogan that we say you come to Goodwill for a job, but you can stay or leave with a career. And so that's really what your dollars are going to if you donate financially when you buy something in our stores or you donate your year's goods so we can process those, give people jobs, and sell them and make money to go toward the mission.

[8:42]  I'll tell you what, with kids now, we're always at Goodwill because we're um I tell my wife, "Put in the garage. I'm going to take a picture and post it on Facebook Marketplace." Yeah.

[8:51]  And you know, it sits and she just starts to load it up and she's like, "I'm just taking all this to Goodwill." And then so that's where it ends up. Everything ends up at Goodwill. But we also find great things at Goodwill. So you just letting me know what it actually looks like for us, you know, the consumer, but also that person is donating, it does it does make me feel good on knowing that, yeah, I'm I'm doing good service even though I don't even realize it, right? That it's actually truly amazing. And and Goodwill's been around for a long time, but there's also a stigma that I think until you told me last time that that Goodwill was not a nonprofit. It did. It wasn't a 501c3, but you said it is.

[9:24]  100%. It always has been. It's it started on the east coast over 125 years ago um of trying to give people jobs instead of just a handout of saying like hey like they used to like fix or sew clothes together and then sell those clothes to give people some type of a job. And in Orange County here we've celebrated our 100th anniversary last year. So we've been around quite quite a while too.

[9:47]  And it it is a it is a nonprofit and you know it has a social we do have a social enterprise model and that's really what the retail stores are. But there's so many misconceptions that are floating around on the internet and um you know we there there's quite a bit of backlash and I just like if I could like get on a soap box for a second just not just with Goodwill but in general of of before you make a comment that's untrue do do your research if if you know if you're going to say there's a CEO that makes three or four million dollars at Goodwill that is untrue do your research because you might be hurting somebody getting a job or finding like helping goodwill you know further its mission by by putting things out there that aren't true. And if we could do a better job, if I could do a better job, tell me. If you want constructive criticism all day long, but don't post things that you that you don't know are true. And I'll tell you that across the whole internet, actually.

[10:39]  No, I love it. And I think it's even harder now because we already had social, but now we're having AI things look so real sometimes and you just like, wait, is this real or is this not real? So I I asked that question because that's AI used for bad,

[10:53]  but we also feel that there is AI used for good if used correctly that nonprofits can actually um scale with. Is there anything that you guys are doing at Goodwill that people wouldn't have thought AI could actually be assistance in?

[11:06]  Yeah. At at Goodwill County, we actually own and operate something called shopgoodwill.com. There's an app. Go to the app store. So, if you can imagine if if you guys you and your family shop at Goodwill, Ephine, you can shop at 130 Goodwills on this app. And usually it's it's, you know, the Louis Vuitton bags or it's, you know, some designer things or collectibles, jewelry, tons of jewelry are on there.

[11:28]  And um we worked with Microsoft a while ago to create um a a app on a phone that can do the listing. So, what Shop Goodwill is kind of like an eBay, you know, it has that type of um model, a bidding model, you know, auction model that eBay has. Um, and so, but to list the product is kind of time consuming. You have to take the pictures, you have to write the description down, you have to put figure out what the pricing is and all of that. And actually, with three pictures, it will do the entire posting for you. three pictures of the item, a tag or the barcode and you know, whatever, depending if it's like a bobblehead or a piece of clothing. And what we've, you know, one, it's good because everybody across the country, all the 130 plus Goodwills that are posting on Shop Goodwill can put more product on. So that's great for them because the money goes back into their community.

[12:19]  But then what we also realize is that this is going to be able to be a tool for people who quite honestly have been marginalized because of maybe a disability, maybe they English is not their first language. um maybe they um you know aren't really techsavvy, haven't even used an iPad before and we can teach them how to have a job in tech

[12:41]  and and just by having you know taking a couple pictures. So we feel like this is really going to like break open a new um technology knowledge and I think you know equity of technology to people in jobs for um Orange County and across the country.

[12:58]  This is cool. So the people that could upload, is it that uh you guys are uploading as an organization or this is even individuals that can upload some of the things? What what is the

[13:07]  Yeah. Well, it's actually specifically for Shop Goodwill because it works for the platform. So normally it would be a picture that they would normally have to take a picture with a camera and upload it onto the platform and then hand write out the description. So this works on the Shop Goodwill platform. So it's just for that. But I we have so many smart people on the shop Goodwill site that are thinking of how to how can they scale this into other ways and what they can do with this technology. But it's it's pretty exciting what we're going to be able to do with it.

[13:35]  So an individual wouldn't be able to upload was being uploaded by a member. Okay.

[13:40]  Yeah. People who work for Shop Goodwill.

[13:42]  No, that that's actually really cool. I mean I'm an eBay person, you know, sometimes you can find really good things that Listen, I found really good things, especially the one that I had here. And it's so funny that Goodwill always feels like a conversation people have. I was at my mom's house yesterday and she's like, "I went to the biggest Goodwill in Daytona Beach and you should go buy it. It's so big and I didn't even get to see the whole Goodwill was so big." And I'm sitting here like it it we just spend time at Goodwill nowadays, especially as a when you have a family, you know, you want to be a little budget friendly. Totally.

[14:09]  You can find things at Goodwill that are damn near brand new

[14:12]  and sometimes,

[14:12]  you know, and as you mentioned,

[14:14]  Yeah. with tags on I've seen it and and like you mentioned, you're buying from Goodwill and it's actually going to a really good cause. Um, so people should look up into Goodwill more often. I mean, clothing, all these different things. So, I love I love that we're getting to know a little bit more. Is there anything else that we should know about Goodwill and the things that are being done on the back end that people don't know exist?

[14:34]  I would say of that um, you know, Goodwill really does a different they they really focus on the communities that they're in. For example, like the Kentucky Goodwill is really about overcoming poverty and they have a pretty substantial drug um drug addiction issue that really results into poverty, right? So that that's a really deep focus where where they ever what we're dealing with in Orange County here is that the cost of living is so expensive

[15:02]  and our our minimum wage is, you know, upwards of almost $18 an hour. That's the minimum wage in the state of California, but it's still not enough for people to have an apartment where it's, you know, $2 or $3,000 a month. So, we're trying to figure out how to really find jobs and upskill jobs for people who um can make re make a good living and be able to afford to stay here in Orange County because we're seeing quite a bit exodus. There's really one thing that we're really excited about that we're piloting now that it's it's clean tech. So, so you know, I don't know where everyone else is in the country, but it seems like half the people in Orange County drive an electric vehicle of some type here. You know, it's it's kind of obnoxious to be honest, but um so they have to plug them in, right? So now there's all these like, you know, pl you know, electric filling stations basically where they plug in their cars. Well, we there's a there's a huge need for these because the car everyone's buying these cars. There's a huge need for these electric um filling stations. And so we've there's a the Atlantic Goodwill had has already started this program and we're doing a feasibility study right here in Orange County of how do we train people to maintain those or fix them, right? And so what Atlanta is finding is that they can take somebody with a high school degree and it here in Orange County if they don't have a high school degree, we can get help them get their GED, no problem. And after it's like six to eight weeks training, this is upwards of $80,000 a year job.

[16:32]  Wow.

[16:32]  Yeah. Right out of high school, you know, maybe, you know, and sometimes maybe six months if they need to like have a little bit more, you know, training and some things that they're not they're not sure of. Um, but I mean, that's the that's the type of thing that we're looking at is it's not just we don't want people to stay in our retail stores making $18 or $20 an hour if that's not what they want to do. if they want to have a family or they need to give back to their family, you know, or, you know, move up and get to an apartment or something like that. That's what we want for the people who come and work for Goodwill.

[17:03]  Hey, real quick. Have you enjoying the podcast? We first want to say thank you. And we also just want to give you a little insight of what we're up to at Francis. Some don't even realize that we're working with organizations to help them use AI to create that real human communication experiences where that's actually supporting your your families, those patients or the entire community. We're actually creating tech that connects. Check it out. Francis.ai.

[17:29]  That's really good. Yeah. Learning a trade, making 80 grand. That's that's phenomenal. And a lot of times those opportunities are spoken about. So that's really cool that that's what you guys are actually doing. And like you mentioned, it's not every single one of them. And if you guys are watching this, figure out there's so many goodwills in the area. Figure out that Goodwill that could help you out in in ways that you may need assistance. Now,

[17:49]  um I do feel that nonprofits just don't innovate enough. And you're telling me about a lot of innovations right now? A lot of cool things that are happening uh with Goodwill. What What's the cost if people don't integrate a lot of these different technologies and adapt with the new times, especially as a nonprofit? cuz let's be honest, they usually fail to kind of adapt to technology and what's kind of going on in the world. But I think AI right now is especially when we're talking about the government level, what's happening that this is a tool that a lot of people could start to implement that really will help them still be present and do what they love and have a lot of admin and automation being done on the back on the back end. But what happens? What is your thoughts on that when nonprofits don't adapt early enough? I think at this at this time it's going so fast but that they have to I mean we are starting even just with our workforce. says we have a workforce that is, you know, all ages from 18 probably into their 60s. And so we do have some individuals who've never been exposed to tech, you know, when we have to put put messages out and they have to have an app on their phone or do certain things. And so we implement not only like at every level of the organization, we do have um trainings for all levels, even if it's just using an iPad or open word document or how do you print and you know all of these different things. So, we're trying to upskill our own workforce and just have that kind of tech equity, you know, here. But also, you know, I think nonprofits kind of have always had a little bit of a bad rap. Like they um people think like, oh, you work for a nonprofit, so maybe you weren't as good in your industry as you could have been. You couldn't get that tech job in the for-profit. And that's really not true. that I think, you know, I would challenge any for-profit company if they have a nonprofit applicant that has had that experience because they've done a lot with a lot less than than they could in the for-profit world. So, they're scrappy and they're going to get they're going to get it done. But I would encourage nonprofits to really look into tech. How can you be more efficient? It's not about it's not about um cutting your workforce. It's about making your workforce more efficient so they can do the things that are important. the mission side work. They don't have to be wrapped up in the admin things that I AI can do already. It's teach them how to be efficient so they can pour more into the mission side and the servant leadership port part of it versus the admin because AI is going to be able to take over a lot of that for you. But don't be scared of it.

[20:15]  Yeah, I I 100% agree. Don't be scared. Um we're all using AI already. Like if you're shopping online and you look at this dress, all of a sudden they can put you in the dress, you know, and it's like, wait a minute, that is AI, right? Uh text prediction is AI. And I think when we use the word AI, it just truly does bring a fear, but it's truly a tool. It's something that um we could utilize. And I want to go back to what you mentioned about the nonprofit for-profit sector. Um people are just so accustomed to chasing a paycheck,

[20:46]  but you decided I'm going to chase purpose, my passion.

[20:49]  Yeah.

[20:49]  Right. Is that what kept you in the nonprofit sector versus going to the for-profit where you know you can probably make twice the amount of money?

[20:57]  I went to the dark side for a year.

[21:01]  I cried my way home.

[21:03]  That's too far

[21:04]  for six months and then I decided I I'm now going back to it. But I think that there, you know, there's it that's really what it has kept me here. And I was born and raised here in Orange County and this is my community and it's but to be honest with you, I won't do any nonprofit. I have to love what they do, you know, like if there's hungry kids and people who are homeless and people who need help. I think that's important sometimes maybe than a new theater,

[21:30]  you know, like um and and so I I I

[21:34]  I feel like when I work for a nonprofit, I have to be their best like salesman and spokesperson. And if I don't believe in it, you're not going to believe me. You're not going to want to invest in whatever I would love for you to invest in unless you believe me.

[21:51]  Okay. All right. That's good. You have a love for this. Going back to that passion and purpose, you're chasing the the correct P's and not the wrong P paycheck. We don't just chase paychecks

[22:00]  because that comes with a lot of stress. And you know, I actually listened to someone earlier.

[22:05]  And what made her leave her job, her for-profit job, and get into nonprofit was that someone told her um she had just came back from like a uh she was in real estate, came back from a honeymoon. She said it was a quick honeymoon and I got home and um straight to work and it was very crazy. I look at my boss and says, "Wow, that was pretty busy, you know, for my first day back." And his response to her was, "That's why you don't take vacations."

[22:29]  Oh, wow.

[22:30]  And she quit.

[22:30]  Mhm.

[22:31]  And she ended up in the for-profit world. And she's like so much happier, you know, and and I hear that all the time, you know, it's that we are very talented individuals, very great leaders, but even sometimes in the for-profit space, we still get overlooked, undervalued. Um, but when you get to go work in the nonprofit space and you get the really the reward is everyone that you're able to impact on your way doing whatever you're doing for the day. It's not even work. We just love what we do. We show up, we get involved, we ask where is needed, we, you know, get our hands dirty. Um, so yeah, I do love the for-profit space and I tell anyone, as you mentioned, get into that for-profit space. There's so many I say this every episode, but I got to mention it because people don't realize anything and everything you can think of, there's probably a nonprofit that can utilize your talents.

[23:16]  Absolutely. Even Even here, like you think about good. Well, I kind of explained to you kind of like the secular manner of like the donating goods and the jobs that come along with it all the way to the sale. But I mean, we need a CFO, we need a VP of IT, we need HR, you know. So if you have something that you that you are specialized in that maybe not isn't the program the services that we're that that nonprofit's providing we need experts in all of that. Every nonprofit does. They need people you know the the best in their industry to take care of whatever's happening on the business side.

[23:53]  CJ, do you know a leader I it's so you're so good but I was there a leadership lesson that you had to learn the hard way? Like I can imagine everything didn't just come so easy.

[24:03]  No, I I mean honestly I've learned a few lessons like you and I talked about from probably bad leaders, you know, to the point that that's I did leave the nonprofit I left the nonprofit space thinking I'm never going to do this again, right? But I think I think being a leader, the hardest thing when I first became a leader and people reported to me is I never realized how much time it takes to just like to talk to your team and when they walk in the door and I I just remember like the first week or two after I had a whole team that was reporting to me and thinking like when am I supposed to get my my to-do list done? But that's when I realized that's the part of being the leader, right? and and I remember sitting with um a young woman who works here today and um talking to her and she said, "CJ, I just am so impressed and I feel so grateful because you always seem present when I'm here." And I thought, like I'm grateful that that's how she feels, but sometimes that's not what my mind's saying. And so I think as a leader when someone is sitting in your office whether they're telling you about their dog or their day or their hardest problem or something that happened to them here at work and you have to fix it for them is really really try and remain present because I don't think I was as good at that in the beginning.

[25:20]  No, for sure being present. But you know what? That's so cool that somebody called that out because sometimes we don't even know that we're doing the right things until someone calls it out. Um, I just received a message earlier and I was just talking to a virtual assistant of mine and I told her, "Hey, I don't want you to ever feel like um, you're just a service to me. I want you to know that you're an asset to to me. You know, you truly do help me become better

[25:42]  and I just kind of let her know I don't ever want cuz I've I have clients where I've worked in them for a long time and still felt like a stranger." And how weird is that, right? So, just because I sat there with her for an hour and just got to learn a little bit about her, what situation she is, is there anything I can help? She sends me a text message right after like, wow, I've never felt valued or seen ever. She's 22 years old.

[26:05]  And she's like, and for you, like, I'm so happy working like all my life I've had to do something someone else told me to do. And now that I'm doing something on my own, like I'm just so happy. But it's just that it's just hearing them out. It's just listening to them, talking to them, let them feel seen, get their ideas because as a leader, we know we're not the smartest in the room.

[26:24]  Far from it, actually.

[26:25]  That's should be.

[26:28]  But we're great leaders. We understand how to really work with others. We we never forget where we come from. And I think that's what's so good is that we never lose that, oh, um, I'm here now, so I don't have to do all these extra things. No,

[26:41]  listen. Actually, I would love to still do those things that I started off doing because that's what got me to where I'm at today,

[26:47]  right?

[26:47]  Um,

[26:48]  you're truly just building right now a future. You know, what what do you want to continue to do when you think about what you're doing for Orange County at the Goodwill level? What is that future look like? I mean, it's already bright, but if you can think about it, CJ, two, three years, what is what is your plans? I kind of have this philosophy of nonprofits and it's kind of a little bit out there but I've been in it in the space for so long um that you know you think about all the people and all the nonprofits that are trying to do all this great work who are also vying for resources whe financial resources and I was thinking what if you know at a community level and this could scale this kind of a crazy idea friend stay with me what if there was like a think tank of the most like the smartest people, the CEOs of top companies, the CEOs, and why don't we focus on one issue a year like like homelessness and resources and how do we fix this and we have the people who are, you know, builders and we have people who are have affordable housing and the people who have to pass the laws to get affordable housing in your backyard who don't want it. But we figure out that and the next year we go to people who are food insecure and the next year we go to mental health and we just chip away at everything that's that all these nonprofits are running at 100 miles an hour with no resources basically to fix. But why don't what if we come around them? I think that I think that that could like change everything.

[28:17]  I do I also think that nonprofits have to be okay with partnering with other nonprofits. Totally. Because I do see um there's there's two organizations within the same school. So we have myself, we have the Edgewater High School Foundation, and then we have like the PTSO moms, which is also another foundation in its own. But I I never see collaboration. Instead, I I see them always trying to uh trying to I want all this money, so this person doesn't get it. But why don't we come together to make bigger impact,

[28:45]  more people, more great ideas, um more resources. That's it. Resources. people sometimes don't even know things exist until we start talking about them which is why we've done this podcast is to let people know who is good but I also think even at the nonprofit level what I've realized CJ is that no one is talking about like you were blessed in a situation because of early on and what it looks like for you in the nonprofit space but people don't learn nonprofits ever if any like at school we're not talking about hey go get a nonprofit you know go get into the world of nonprofit it just happens that we'd run into it somehow a friend may ask us to volunteer or sometimes you know usually companies volunteer work hours but um yeah I think there's just so much in this world of nonprofit and I love the idea CJ I mean why not why do we not get together as organizations that just focus on homelessness and what does that look like and and replicate the models that are working

[29:41]  I mentioned um uh not mentioned but I spoke to someone recently and he said when he took over his organization it was 70 million dollars.

[29:51]  Wow.

[29:51]  Now it's $400 and something million dollars. And I'm like, why are we not having And believe it or not, he's actually in California. He just became the He says he's was a very surprised the most, it was like the top 300 influential people in um California. And he was one of those.

[30:09]  Wow.

[30:10]  You know, and I'm thinking like, wow. And very humble about it. I said, what is the answers? Like, how did you do it? and he says, "Ephra, I just make sure that I invited business leaders to the table.

[30:21]  I'm I'm looking at the person in the bank that understands their way in through community engagement so we can get these funds. I'm looking for someone that understands marketing, someone that understands social media." And I think a lot of times we forget that it is a business. So, we need to get business leaders at our tables.

[30:34]  Yes.

[30:35]  Um, another thing he says, go to the chamber meetings. You know, if you're not part of the chambers, why are you not? That's where a lot of connections and partnerships. And I don't know that a nonprofits when I speak to nonprofits, they're not there yet.

[30:46]  Yeah.

[30:46]  But this is great information that I'm learning that I'm passing along to any nonprofit leader. Yeah.

[30:50]  Is doing those small things and seeing a big return down the line. I think there's so many different ways where nonprofits, as you mentioned, can come together and focus on what that one thing looks like.

[31:01]  But we got to get them to work together.

[31:02]  I agree with you.

[31:03]  And and that's I think that's where we

[31:06]  kind of got to fix is why do people think this is a competition? We're just trying to save the world.

[31:10]  Yeah, we're just trying to save the world. But I think too that what you said is that I think a lot of nonprofits off um operate with a a um a scarcity mentality, right? And you know sometimes rightfully so because if they don't raise the money or do the thing, they can't pay their people or you know do the mission work and that type of a thing. But it's not you against me, you know? It's like let's figure out a better way or let's, you know, like shout this mission from the rooftop so everybody realizes that it exists and why.

[31:44]  I mean, three years from now, CJ, I'll be looking for you to be changing the world one organization at a time. Okay. Or or one problem at a time, actually. No, I'm excited. when when we when you think about we just talked about the lessons um earlier um but let's talk about the lessons that you're still guiding you today that you picked up before you ever had a title. Now this is a blind question. So the last leader wanted to know what's one lesson that's still guiding you today that you picked up before you even ever had the CEO title.

[32:16]  Oh gosh, that's a good question. I really think it's looking at people and seeing the best in what they are and who they are and making them feel that way and they will be your champion for the rest of your relationship with them. And it's saying hi to everybody. I have the luxury of when I don't want to sit at my desk anymore of walking through a giant warehouse of people who are working hard and so happy to be here and loving their first job and I get to say hi to them and they say hi and they're excited that I get to see them working and it's just it refreshes my soul.

[32:52]  Yeah. I mean anytime you get to see a CEO just being so kind. I work for the airline industry and this person she she became the CEO of the um airline but I used to see her as a maybe she was vice president and she was in usually in New York but she came to the Orlando campus and she was always like you mentioned just walking around people asking questions she's saying hello it was never that she ran to the next office and hid from everybody

[33:18]  right

[33:18]  that is so cool when you get to see that person just walking around just so easy to access because that's what makes people want to come to They feel like someone cares. Like this is not a person just sitting at her desk calling, you know, shots. She's actually alongside with us trying to figure out, hey, what do these shots look like? Are we taking them correctly? Show me how to take these shots so I can help you guys take these shots.

[33:41]  Um, so

[33:42]  I'm lucky that I that I'm the chief of staff here, but I do have a CEO here and she does the same thing. And that's I think what she taught all of us to do is to like go and say hi, shake hands, go into the stores that you know might not have seen you for a while and just say hi and we appreciate you. And I love doing that because it's like sometimes they forget why they're there. And I said, you are our front line. You are our mission. You're the first people that people see. No one sees me. They walk into the store and they see your face and that you're happy to be here. Like you are the reason we're here. like it starts with you.

[34:18]  I love it. And and real quick, for those that may not know what a chief of staff is, can you um let us know what that that role includes?

[34:26]  Sure. So, I mean, it's it really kind of started in like the political arena where you really had to have somebody who was vying in the organization. And so, our CEO has probably four or five direct reports. Um, and they don't report to me, but I'm really spo my job really is to one make sure like I get to put out the fires before they go to her, right? For sure. Um, but also it's making sure that she has

[34:52]  the best. She never gets the first draft of anything. She gets the last draft of anything. And my job is to make her three times more productive.

[35:03]  And so I encourage all of the hery suite and anybody else like come to me, talk to me. Do you have a problem? Call me first. You know, we just had a fire on our campus on Father's Day. It was like a fire. Then it was a good thing. It was out in like the parking lot. But I was like the second call and told my husband and like go you guys go golfing. I'll be back in a little while. But you know saying you stay at home like you stay home. I got this because I'm also the VP of communications and marketing. So if there's media that showed up then I'd take care of it. So, so, but I do a lot of strategic planning. I work with our board of directors. We're super lucky. Just like you said, we have such great business leaders on our board that guide us so well in investments and banking and and real estate and all of the things. But, um, it's really about strategic planning. It's about getting to know the whole organization and trying to understand and solve for the problems before they become a problem.

[35:58]  I love that. I love that. Well, listen, we're going to start wrapping it up, but you have to have ask your blind question for next leader. What does that look like?

[36:04]  Question. And it's it's um not really leadership driven, but it's kind of curious driven. And so my question is, what everyday mundane thing do you find magical?

[36:19]  Okay, you getting deep with us here, CJ.

[36:23]  Desperate times call for desperate measures. Right now, we need a little magic in our life.

[36:29]  True. Listen, where can people find you? Where can they continue to connect with you? but not just yourself but the uh organization as a whole.

[36:35]  Well, um shopgoodwill.com for sure. Um ocgoodwill like look that up. Find me on LinkedIn for sure. And I would be happy like I take often I take calls for people who say they want to come into the nonprofit space and they want a little bit of of advice or where do you start? You know, that type of thing. I love those calls because I love to see brilliant minds come into the space and change the world.

[37:00]  You're watering everybody's seeds. They planting. you're just there watering them. CJ, we thank you so much for your time and your insight on Goodwill and things that people probably did not know and find out for the first time. So, we thank you. We thank you Goodwill for doing the amazing work you guys continue to do in the community. What you said 100 plus years. 100 years. Just hit 100 years.

[37:16]  That's a long time. All right. So, uh shout out to Goodwill. If you guys haven't already, make sure you guys check out your local Goodwill cuz now you know it's a huge impact. You just showing up, purchasing something or making a donation, volunteering your time. It all makes a great impact in our communities. Um guys, if you guys haven't already, like, comment, and share. My name is Ephrain. This is CJ. We'll catch you guys in the next one.