How Jennifer Mylenek Left Corporate Life to Lead a Nonprofit That Changes Lives

[0:00]  It's like when you're on the airplane and it's crashing and the oxygen mass falls out falls out of the ceiling. You have to put it on yourself first before you can help the person next to you. A lot of nonprofit leaders um drill themselves into the ground. They burn out. You know, they're a bright flame and then they're dust. And so we have to take care of ourselves. So take care of yourself so you can take care of others.

[0:41]  Welcome back to another episode of the Heart and Hustle Podcast. We're starting off with did you ever meet someone who actually left business world to follow their heart, actually build something that's changing lives? Well, today's guest did exactly that. Jennifer went from the for-profit hustle to leading one of the most impactful nonprofits out there. So, Jennifer, if you can kind of take us back, what was that moment you actually realized your work had to mean more than just profit?

[1:09]  Yeah. So, there were a lot of moments. Um, when I was in the for for-profit world, I always knew that it was sort of going against the grain of who I was. I had to do things and and I did them well, but that didn't feel altruistic to me. uh it felt more about the money than it did about the people. And in fact, sometimes I didn't do as well because I was more concerned about the people on the other end of my transaction uh than I was about making the dollar. And um when we moved to Eugene, Oregon uh in 1997, I got involved with a nonprofit there called CASA of Lane County. And I became a CASA. I went on the board. Um, I had such an amazing experience with that nonprofit and with others that I thought if if I could ever do this, this

[1:57]  would be the work I would want to do. In the meantime, I stayed in the for-profit world for another 10 years uh before this opportunity presented itself to me, which I thought was kind of amazing. I didn't go out looking for it. And the from the day one, as hard as it was, uh, to run a nonprofit, I knew it was the place I needed to be. And and you actually kind of didn't start just at the director role. You actually started to volunteer first, right? Yes. What was that thing that pulled you in so deep and said, "You know what? I don't want to just volunteer. I really want to get to this at a different level." Do you remember what that looked like? Was it a story? It was, you know, the interesting thing was is um I just knew I wanted to do something where I was giving back, where I could make a difference for people um and where my life wouldn't have felt so meaningless. But they

[2:44]  actually approached me with the position. I didn't even dream uh that I would hold this position only because I had no experience running a nonprofit agency. But it turns out that running a business is running a nonprofit agency. So my skills were completely transferable. It's much harder running a nonprofit in my opinion, but more rewarding. I do agree. Um it's that it's not about the money, right? It's about the purpose, about the impact that you're making. So yeah, you go home actually happy, not worrying about, oh, did I make all this money? No, but I changed lives. And I think that's what's so cool. And I I would actually say that there has to be something that you took for that from that for-profit life, sales, leadership, strategy that turned out to be uh your superpower nonprofit.

[3:30]  Do do you carry something from that for-profit world that you feel like, man, this is so good and I'm so happy I learned it so that I could utilize this in a nonprofit. Do you have that? I do. And you know, I had a lot of examples of leadership above me in the for-profit world. good examples and bad examples.

[3:47]  And it really helped me carve out my own example for others as a leader. So I it's hard for me to call myself a leader because I see without all the people that do this work, including our volunteers, it just wouldn't happen. It's not solely up to me. It's up to all of us. And everybody has to feel empowered, but they also have to feel appreciated. And they have to really know that you've got their back. And even if you've got to sit down and coach somebody through a situation, if they know you care about them, their jobs are just feel better to them and they do a better job. And those were some of the lessons I learned in the for-profit world. Um, I had some terrible bosses and I never wanted to be one of those.

[4:34]  I think we all have. I think that's what's so good about a good leader. You see all the negative that's going around and you just want to be the better version of it. And nine times out of 10, we are the better versions of those um issues. But let's be real, when it comes to the nonprofit world, you kind of mentioned a little bit um doesn't mean nonp problems. It becomes very some sometimes headaches, some challenges depending on how you took over the organization, what is happening within the organization, is it scaling? Um there's so many different things you have to donors, right? Donations is one of the most stressful things a lot of the time is how am I going to get money in? Were there some of those holy crap moments early on that made you second guessess the move? Um, yes. Uh, there was. I on on my first day. As a matter of fact, my predecessor after he gave me uh the two-hour overview, which was, you

[5:24]  know, he could have given me a 200 hour overview and he wouldn't have covered everything. But after the two-hour overview, and he was a great guy, he said, "Oh, and by the way, as he was leaving, he said, "Check the bank before you do payroll because we may not have enough money." Oh my god. And he was gone. And I knew I knew right then I had to pull up my big girl pants and, you know, get to it. No time to to to lang languish.

[5:52]  And how do you handle that stress, right, when there's not enough money for payroll? that pressure most people don't see behind the mission, especially on a first day of work, you know, I pray to God, you know, I have faith. I have to know that he's walking alongside of me, but I also you just I have sort of a battle mode that I've I've sort of had to um employ in my throughout my career where it's just like I know somebody else isn't going to do this. I have to do it. and I get into my I put my armor on and I get in my battle mode and I make it happen. Um and then I collapse somewhere else along the line towards the end of the night. It's just I'm going to bed, we'll do this again tomorrow. Yeah. Um you know what's also tricky about the nonprofit is that

[6:40]  you you you answer to boards, you answer to donors and the community. So it's not really ever that solo gig. How did you kind of change the approach as a leader getting into a space that is a little bit different than what you were experiencing in the for-profit? Well, you know, I was very fortunate. Um my board of directors really supported me and that is so key for any nonprofit executive director or leader is if you need to have a very functional board of directors and they need to understand that their job is also to help fulfill the mission to support the mission of the organization but to support the executive director and I had those people around me um to this day they are some of them have actually passed on now I've I've given eulogies I've um still

[7:28]  friends with their families. Um we became family and that's what really helped me get through my first two critical years. I say it's a two-year learning curve once you become an executive director. I uh it's fun times. I'm pretty sure through those challenges, you're finding um some some good things. What are some of the good things? I don't want people to think that nonprofits are just challenging. It's actually really rewarding. What are some of those rewarding moments that you had through the time leading this organization? Um, there were so many kids that I was able to encounter because we advocate for children um in the child welfare system and so many kids who were examples to me of resilience of they didn't lose their love no matter what had happened to them

[8:16]  and they loved this one volunteer who was coming out, you know, our volunteer. They just bonded with them. They loved them. They appreciated them. And it made me know a thousand% I was in the right place. We were making a difference. And that's what keeps you doing it. Um I don't think anybody would do this job for the paycheck. I think you've got to do it for more than that. That is true. We go back to it, right? That purpose and that passion. I'd spoken to plenty of leaders and say, "Man, I walked away from, you know, big six-f figureure incomes and took huge hits." You know, my family took a big hit, but the time that I get plus the things that me and my family are able to do, which is cool, right? In the nonprofit space, your family also

[9:03]  comes along on that journey to to these events to see what you're doing, uh, volunteering because we still even volunteer at times when we don't need to be volunteering, right? You still go out there and do it, but you're also doing something unique. I think that you're keeping the small smaller organizations to really kind of step into their boldness and and own their value. So, you're not just helping community members, you're also helping other organizations. Like, how are you helping these people? If we can kind of talk about how are you helping these organizations kind of step into that?

[9:33]  Yeah, we hope that we're helping um other people sort of get the word out in some cases is what we do. We started a a group called Foster the Valley. Uh we have a shortage of foster homes. most communities do. And so we sort of started to have a meeting uh once a month with a group of foster care providers in the area to find out how can we share their information? How can we help them recruit more foster parents? How can we support their efforts? Um it's just making a bigger voice for the need. And we work with a lot of nonprofits when we're out there uh trying to get resources for our children. and we have them into our office um once a week or once a month to sort of highlight what their organization does to our volunteers so there's greater awareness and we

[10:22]  sometimes are partnering on different projects or in bringing a voice legislatively uh for on behalf of our kids. So our nonprofit community is really close. We do compete for some of the same dollars, but we all really care about each other and support each other. That's actually really it's you don't see it often, but it should be more of that. It should be more nonprofits coming together because all we want to do is make that impact. What happens when great leaders come together? You make a bigger impact. So, I love that you've taken that initiative to kind of build that within your own community and and I'm pretty sure you're seeing it actually, you know, work as well. I I do want to also talk about something else that you mentioned last time that I feel has been a gamecher and it's possibly working for you. could tell us a little

[11:08]  bit more about it, but you dropped this AI assistant um into your grant writing process, which is so cool. Believe it or not, I I tell leaders um about using AI to write grants like a chat DBT, but you created something. How did that come about and what's been the reaction? Well, you know, I'm in a a group of uh female executive directors and um and leaders in our community. It's a very small group, and I really learned about using AI through this group. And uh they even gave us a whole cheat sheet on it.

[11:39]  You know, these are the things to to look forward to do to make sure you do. And I brought it back to my office and I was so excited to try it. And I sort of fancy myself a good writer. I I was an English major. I mean, I I think I'm a good writer, but I don't compare to AI, I have to say. But what I loved about if when I would put something in AI is I may not use the whole thing, but there's always a spark of something that I get from it that changes everything um that I'm writing and it's made things quicker for me. If especially if I'm at the end of a long day and I have to turn on my brain power and and get something crafted, AI is my buddy. And I even thank you AI and it always says, "Oh, you're so welcome. Thank you for the work you do on behalf of the children.

[12:27]  Exactly. Right. You're still doing the work. Like there's still work to be done. Yeah. Um I like that it does make life easier. I've been using it for some some pretty un neat things. Like I just took over a nonprofit myself and um there's data all over the place, but it's not really organized or or centralized. So I there there was things that were sent to me from other Google drives. is then I've realized, oh wait, this whole time there's actually an email to the foundation that hasn't been used in 5 years. Oh, there's stuff in here too. So I took all this and I've just fed it to uh to AI and then literally give me a list. So when we thought we had no data, we now have almost 700 names of you know former alumni, former donors that we can start to reach out to because in the last 5 years we haven't really been raising money. And I've took it over in one year and started to just make these changes.

[13:15]  But I must say AI has played a huge role in a lot of these things. Sometimes even to become an assistant of mine. Um I've had to be a CPA for me. You know when I was felt like I was taken advantage by a CPA. Like there's just so many cool things. I'm a very intelligent smart person. But I what I'm feel that's happening with AI is that I'm just getting even smarter. Like I I I I'm getting more creative. These ideas that you didn't even think of like you know what I can make that happen. Thank you Chad DBC. You mentioned you talk to it nice. I what I'm finding funny is that it's almost talking to me as a person and the way that I talk and it's just now it's like cracking me up. So now I'm laughing. I'm having a good time here at GBT. So I'm loving that you're having that good time as well. Yeah, you g you just gave me some more ideas. So thank you. Absolutely. And listen, I'm sharing them with all other leaders. I think

[14:02]  it's so cool. Um but there's some fear about it, right? There's some fear that people have on AI. And I think for me what's funny, I was just talking to a friend. And I'm like, man, I remember when you told me about Chat TBT like 3 years ago, and I was that person like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." And I brushed it off. Where would have I been if I would have started to drop in so early? But it was fear. It was that that change. It was us being so comfortable as, you know, as a nation. What's the mindset shifts small nonprofits need to make to just not get left behind? Because I think that's what's going to happen. A lot of people being scared will get left behind. What is that mindset shift you think they should make? Well, I think that um for me, I can speak for myself is I felt like I was cheating uh when I used AI to help me to write something and I sort of had to get over that because it's it's not it's not I'm

[14:50]  giving it my words, it's recrafting them and I am using parts of that. You do have to make sure that when you're reading what AI has sent back to you that it's accurate because it will take it will take some reasonable liberties with what you're saying. So, it's just making sure that it's saying what you really mean to say. Also, um I mean AI is used in in grammatical corrections.

[15:15]  You know, when you're typing an email, AI is in there telling you you spelled this wrong. So, we're already using it, but we just are not using it to the depth and and the breadth of of how it can be used. So, I think it's it's not cheating. It's it's a wonderful tool, and I love what you said. It is. I think it is making me smarter and I can use that.

[15:36]  If the Heart and Hustle podcast has ever sparked any idea or made you think differently, do us a favor. Make sure to guys share this, post it on LinkedIn, or even text that nonprofit friend that you just have. Whatever works. This is what keeps the conversation going and allows us to just grow this community together. Seriously, we appreciate you. Yeah, there you go. No, I I think I like I tell people all the time and I think uh Microsoft may own this actual verbiage, but it is that co-pilot, right? It's that it's that uh passenger in our in our in our car. You know, we are the driver. We're still driving everything, but now we're getting a little bit of assistance. Now we don't have to talk to ourselves, right? We don't have to think to ourselves. We don't have to spend a whole day thinking about that one thing.

[16:20]  We can get it in seconds and allows us to work faster. um it is a tool in our toolkit. You know, that's just how I look at it and and I'm happy that you've kind of gotten over that. And I I actually want to so say that you can actually create this AI tool. Um maybe a bot that you can put on the site or something. What does that look like for you? What are those pain points that you feel maybe most nonprofits or even your nonprofit is facing that you can get some assistance with? Well, it's definitely grant writing. Um, I just had to sadly lay somebody off yesterday because of some bud budget shortfalls that we're facing and that was somebody who helped me write grants. So, I'm going to have this uh back fully on my desk uh for an unforeseen time. So, um I'm I don't think that I could even do that if a if AI were not present. So,

[17:09]  definitely helping uh write grants and find funders, which I just learned from you. I think I can use it to find funders. Yeah. And I have other I have other software for that. But sometimes it comes up short. So this could be another way um for me to provide you know information and organize it for you. That's the best part. Yeah. you know, when it gave me it organized it and literally it gave me the name it gave me and I told it to organize it by those uh because what I realized back in the days they used to only get mailing addresses which I have a great idea on how we can kind of incorporate that but um I said hey I want to know all the ones that numbers and emails that's what I care for first and then we'll go and deal with the mailing and it broke it down just like that like okay these are ones okay this is how you got them these

[17:56]  are donors these are possibly past inductees into the hall of fame like it just these are the from the PayPal because there's so much information right if you're getting donations well PayPal if you have a website there's so much be data of people that have emailed you or submitted for some info okay I I need that data especially if it's years back and sometimes it's so hard to retrieve that if someone wasn't organized so I think the biggest thing is yeah utilize it you know kind of get back on that on track and figure out how could we tap into some you know more people and even talk about fundraisers I think that uh fundraisers kind got that old school reputation, the gallas, the mailers, the silent auctions. Is there any unsexy but effective move you've seen that actually drives donors to actually donate or to show up? Uh, you know what, the the the thing to donate

[18:46]  and show up is their peers. I mean, no matter what you do, you have to have the right people in the room. And we are still doing, you know, these fundraisers where it's very labor intensive. It's an auction, it's a dinner, we do a lunchon, we do a golf tournament. I mean, my gosh, you know, if we just had a little bit more money, we could actually get back to our mission and stop doing these parties. But it's getting the right people in the room. And, you know, we've tried like we tried to do a no event fundraiser and it was a few years ago and it it it did okay. It wasn't, you know, didn't couldn't replace anything that we were already doing, but we sent out a a no-show picnic invitation. You do not have to come to this picnic. Send in your money. Yeah. Let's be honest. We don't need you. No way. I just need the money.

[19:32]  Yeah. But you know that's people still want to go to the picnic it turns out. So um you know but having the right people in the room. I'll give you this good idea that just came across my table. Someone told me and I'm like you know what this is actually really good. U he he has a coffee shop but he also has a coffee cart. So he's like, "Hey, if um if you actually allow me to do a coffee cart, um I will raffle the coffee cart to as a silent auction item, but also what I'll do is that we'll hand out free coffee on behalf of your, you know, organization." However, we'll have a tip jar and that tip jar is like donate whatever you want for the coffee. It could be 50 cents, it could be a dollar, it could be $2. But what we're actually doing is that we're collecting data because they have to scan the app and in order to pay, they have to put in also their information. Right. Right. which probably that email. So, we'll get some

[20:20]  money, but the value was really in the data because now we can reach out to them. When we do have bigger events, when we do have more events, we want people to show up. And when people show up, then we can sell to them that story. Or maybe you when you do a marketing campaign, what I'm going to do actually with that 700 list is that we're going to create a marketing campaign and I can send an email that sends it to all 700 of them with a link for them to donate.

[20:44]  But I got to share that story because as nonprofit owners or leaders, not owners, leaders, we we sell the story. We sell the mission, right? So those are some of just some ideas you could even think of that you could implement at some of these events. It's like give something free, but how do I get your email back?

[21:00]  Because that's the value is in data. Yeah, love that. I love that. And you know, and it is telling the story, too. I mean, obviously, you know, you being a storyteller is a big part of this work. You have to be able to convey the story in a way that really hits people in their hearts and they can understand.

[21:19]  Our mission can get a little complex. Um people don't always understand what are you doing exactly right out of the gate. So we have to keep it short and sweet and then solicit questions uh from that short and sweet. Um but also those those real stories of the kids that they can hear. Um that that's what gets people.

[21:40]  they they may not know all of the nuts and bolts of everything you're doing, but if they can hear the story of your client, you know, that means a lot. But I love getting that information. At the end of one of our last events, we actually did an email survey and and said, you know, three questions. Did you like it? What would you have done differently? Will you come back again next year? Or would you like more information? The response we got from that was not o it was overwhelmingly good but most people answered the survey and so that gave us another connection with them after the event was over.

[22:16]  Yeah. Yeah. Uh is there any when you think about being consistent with donors and with you know those that show up? What's that one mindset you wish like every nonprofit leader would actually adopt when it comes to maintaining relationships? Because it's really important. I always tell people you you have to learn how to network and communicate. Um, is there something that you kind of live by that you feel all nonprofit people leaders should use to kind of maintain that relationship?

[22:42]  Well, you can't thank people too much. So, we thank people a lot of times and we thank them without asking them for anything else. Um, for certain donors at a certain level and above, our board members take that that list if we have a phone number, it's an email, whatever we have and they thank them. We just want to thank you so much for supporting our organization. If you want any more information, please reach out. And uh and I'm a board member, so I'm I'm a volunteer. And that's one thing we do.

[23:12]  We have um we want to segment our donors so that we have a starfish society for regular we solicit regular monthly donations. And we need to develop better communication around that. That's one of one of my things on my long list of to-dos right now. But also, we send a newsletter twice a year. uh we send an end of year uh appeal and um and then we just randomly try to reach out to people to say how you doing uh we just want to share this story with you this is where your dollars are working um and and you know you have to do that it's a whole other job to do that it is yeah I was just actually talking to uh the one of the ladies in charge of scholarships for the foundation that I'm on and when we went through that list I'm like hey there's so many people there are $10

[23:58]  donors and $15 donor ers, we can send them a nice pin, right? Everyone loves pins. So, let's we got a new logo. Let's send them a pin and maybe on a postcard. That forces them to open a package versus just looking at a card. And I think if we can get them to open up something and then you give them a little token, a little pin or a little sticker like, you know, it forces them to open versus just throw it out. They want to see what's inside this package.

[24:20]  So, I was saying that we could do those for those lower funders, but with those high funders, maybe $500 or more, that we need to get them on the phone and says, "Hey, we we love what you're doing. Would you love to create that legacy scholarship? You're already doing $500. Maybe we can, you know, up it to a thousand." And and again, how is it impacting the kids? Um, and again, that story that you're saying, but yes, you do have to call them because they forget sometimes. And that's how you get them to remember, you know, out of sight, out of mind. You know, I I if people forget because they're life is lifing a lot of the times. You're working, you're a parent, you're a grandparent, whatever that looks like, you're not remembering there's a nonprofit that needs your help because you're already so busy unless you're actually volunteering like consistently. But yeah, I think out of sight, out of mind is is a true thing.

[25:05]  And I love that you're still keeping that relationship alive. Keeping that relationship alive. And I love that you also have the CEO mindset of uh philanthropy meet strategy, but what does it actually look like behind the scenes when you're balancing the partnerships, the fundraising, and the mission? Yeah, there's there's a lot of moving pieces um to this work. So, I do have somebody in our um in our organization who's a development director. She doesn't write grants, but she does all of our events, all of our graphics, all of our mailing, all of our graphics for recruiting volunteers.

[25:39]  um news articles if we need them. Um and without her I I our organization wouldn't be the size it is. It would have had to shrink back enormously. So that's a hugely valuable position to have in your organization. And you also want to make sure that it's not your organization isn't too shortsighted to fund that position because without it one person I can't do it all. I'm doing budgeting and finances and HR and um partnerships with other, you know, nonprofits. I'm doing legislative work.

[26:15]  Um I'm with my board of directors. And so one, you have to know that one person can't do it all. You do need, like you say in in um the organization you're you're with is you have that person memberships or legacy or you know that fundraising person is critical. And it's it's sometimes the last thing an organization wants to fund. Foundations will fund it. Um they understand the value of it and they'll fund it for a year or two and then be before it's sustainable until you can get it going uh because they know it'll help you in your growth. And let's talk about your organization. Let's talk about the things that you're you're doing out in the community. If we can kind of listen, you know, tell the readers some of the resources that they can actually uh find within your organization.

[26:58]  um you know give us location where where could we find this information? Yeah. So we're so CASA programs are um all throughout the United States. I think it may be Nebraska. There's one state where they where they aren't, which is kind of odd. So we're in Oregon. We have 19 programs representing 36 counties. We're a dual county program ourselves. But on our website, uh jincountycasa.org or justountycasa.org or um you'll get a lot of information and you can even sign up for newsletters. Um you can you can see our annual report is posted on our um on our website and then you know the rest of the time for us it's very grassroots so we're out in the community. We're tableabling at events. Um we're we were just at the home show for three days. Um

[27:48]  we're at there's uh a Latina festival coming up that we're going to be in. Um, and that's really what works for us is getting out in our local community. There's also National CASA organization, which is National CASA Association, and you can go to their website, and there's even more information. I love it. And so, this is uh these are like different um like satellite locations to the main hub. Is that what it is? Or is it like a franchise or Well, yeah. So, we have so each of our nonprofits in Oregon, most of us are 501c3s. Most of us are, you know, IRS qualified nonprofits. Some of our programs are under the umbrella of another uh larger organization. Um, up until recently, some of our just one or

[28:36]  two of our programs were actually still run by the county. So, they were actually a governmentrun program. So, we're all structured a little bit differently. Um, we all have separate boards of directors. And then we have a state organization that has just 1.5 staff people essentially maybe 2.5 now. And our state organization helps us represent ourselves collectively um in Salem to the government um and to funders um broader funders. They also help us uh pass they pass through funding to us. Um they help us with compliance. So they're helping us just be a stronger network of programs. But then there's the National CASA organization which is where it all started in 1977. A judge started this program because he wanted more

[29:25]  information about the child that he was going to have to make a decision about and he wasn't getting it. So he thought, "Wow, if I take a volunteer and give them really good training and they go out there and visit that child in the placement wherever they are and get this information and bring it back to me, I'm better equipped to make a decision that considers the child's best interest." So that's how it all started and that's where our national organization started.

[29:48]  Now that's actually a a cool story. I didn't know that that's how the beginning was. Um and and what are some of the resources or what are some of the things you're you're doing to impact the community like if we can kind of talk to that so those that are watching or listening can actually take that in.

[30:05]  Well I I think you know our community is our children. It's also their parents. parents can be in recovery and working hard um to be reunified with their kids. We want to support them, too. We make sure that uh we have a huge closet full of uh brand new brand new everything, clothes, shoes, diapers, toys, books, school supplies, and we make sure that gets out uh to our kids and their families and also other community members who are in need. Um and we also have 250 volunteers. And and I don't talk about this a lot, but our volunteers overwhelmingly feel like they're getting something back from this. They are making such a difference in their community. So, we're leveraging all those people, all those fingers out

[30:54]  into our community um to make families lives better. Yeah. You know, a lot of the work um for for nonprofits are definitely done by volunteers and we can't even thank them enough and I know you experienced that as well. these people come, show up, don't get paid, but um as you mentioned, the reward at the end is just seeing the smile on some faces or or or just seeing how they can just help someone with their day. It's always so cool when you get so many volunteers and at the end of it, they're just so excited, you know, and they're staying there from beginning to end, even helping you clean up after.

[31:27]  Like, we can't do it without the volunteers. So, if you're a volunteer for any nonprofit, we just want to say thank you on behalf of all organizations because you guys do kind of keep that uh machine going. Without volunteers, how the heck do we get the work done, right? Yeah. Oh, we wouldn't even have an organization, you know? So, I love that you mentioned the volunteers. Well, we're about to get into the fun part of this here, but before we kind of get into it, um what does thinking big look like for the average nonprofit or community leader? And is there anything big on the horizon for um your organization? Yeah. So, I think thinking big is you've got to you've got to be involved in your strategic planning and your visioning. You've got to really think out of the box and you need people to help you with that. It's not just one person. It's really getting feedback from the people involved in your

[32:14]  organization and your board and sort of facilitating that all into what is what is the biggest idea you can imagine and even if it feels uh perhaps not immediately attainable if you're always looking towards that you're going to be moving towards it moving in that direction. um look thinking big for our organization is is right now making sure every child has a CASA once we can fulfill that mandate. We have a vision of finding ways to work with other nonprofits to prevent to do more prevention of child abuse and neglect.

[32:50]  And um our big thought is you eradicate this and yeah that may never happen but again if we're still working our way towards that supreme idea then we're making progress. I love that. Now is that time that you probably forgot about but it's a blind question time. So, I'm going to hit you with one that I did not prep you for, obviously, but if you could put a billboard up anywhere in the world with one bold message for nonprofit leaders everywhere, what would it actually say and why?

[33:22]  Ah, that's a good one. Making you think here. Yeah. Because there's so many things I say. Uh, the one thing I'd say is you can probably Let's get chat GPT on here. I I'd say you have It's like when you're on the airplane and it's crashing and the oxygen mass falls out falls out of the ceiling. You have to put it on yourself first before you can help the person next to you. A lot of nonprofit leaders um drill themselves into the ground. They burn out. You know, they're a bright flame and then they're dust.

[34:05]  And so, we have to take care of ourselves. So, take care of yourself so you can take care of others. I love it. That is so true. And and you know, it's what's crazy actually. I was listening to I can't remember who the leader was but they mentioned that and also brought me back into my earlier days when I started the nonprofit before I ever decided to um even start a nonprofit.

[34:29]  told my now wife, um, I was like 20 something years old. I wanted to start a nonprofit. And she says, this is this is when she started to learn about all the things I went through in my life, all the trauma and the things. And she's like, there's no way you help others if you haven't helped yourself. Like, I wanted to help young adults, but I was still that young kid, right? I was 20 something years old. And she's like, um, you got to help yourself first before you go help somebody. And I didn't even know what that meant, but she's like, you have to, I was going through sex, you know, I was I was being sexual abused. I'm telling it for the first time. And she's like, you have to go speak to that person. And and we're not saying that you got to be an angry person, but one, you got to let them know that you um forgive, but you didn't forget and and hopes that it's not happening to it's still happening, right? And I remember her telling me that I was like, "Oh, that's hard."

[35:13]  Like, you know, that's a people don't do that or don't have the opportunity. And and I did, you know, and I I felt like I almost was winning like an Oscar when I did it, you know, because I was and one of the things he says he's, "Man, does your wife know?" And I'm like, "Yeah, my wife is the reason I'm here." But that moment of helping myself, right, on on this thing that I was dealing with that was making me so emotional, maybe so angry that I was now able to go help somebody. And a lot of times is by telling just a story, you know, and you mentioned being a good storyteller.

[35:46]  That's the story that I tell is that we all go through something, but we got to make sure we help ourselves before we ever go help anybody. You mentioned it today and it's always that reminder for everyone to kind of keep going, right? but take care of you first. So, I I love that. I love that. Yeah. I I love your story, Efron. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. So, Jennifer, this has been a phenomenal time. I really do appreciate you coming on here talking about the organization. We got a little bit about the AI in here, but even just a leader like yourself that is made a decision that you wanted to chase your purpose and not a profit. And I'm so happy that you're in this space and making that difference. And we thank you for coming here on the Heart and Hustle Podcast. If you're still listening guys, make sure you guys check out Miss Jennifer. Check out the things that she's doing in the organization, in her community. Make sure you guys are sharing like that. Sometimes it's not

[36:32]  even the donation that we need. Just share this, share the story for someone else because a lot of the times that's how we continue to grow is by just sharing and showing love. So, we thank you for having, you know, thank you for jumping on here, Jennifer. Guys, if you're still watching, we thank you. Share, subscribe. We'll catch you guys on the next episode. It's a hard and hustle baby.