How Marcus Johnson Uses Faith and Data to Transform 80,000 Lives in Florida

[0:00]  What got me through that was my son and I had a conversation two weeks before he passed. He was in the Middle East at the time. And um what helped me get through it was we had a conversation. He said, "Dad, I'm getting ready to do this and that and all that." And I said, "That's a Now I was a 20-year military veteran.

[0:14]  Been there a bunch of times." And the call the call ended with, "Son, I'm proud of you. I love you." And he said, "Dad, I love you, too." That was the last conversation we had. So remember, whoever you're speaking to, you never know what's going to happen to them a couple weeks later. But if it had not been for that conversation before he passed, I don't know where I would be today, but I have to reflect on that. So yeah, you know, for Yeah, you got to take care, you got to take care of your family, take care of your kids, and have the best relationship that you possibly can.

[1:00]  Welcome back to the episode here on the hard and hustle podcast where we speak to leaders that are truly making a difference and just impacts in their communities and around the world. And today we talk to Marcus. He has left a 20-year military career, worked in government, even SeaWorld. All right. And then walked away to serve Florida's youth. What was that real moment that made you say, Marcus, this is bigger than me? Oh, geez. You know, um when you start realizing the number of children and families that were impacting across Florida, you know, so you know, um our uh our strategic numbers and our annual reports will tell the story. You know, we're impacting, you know, anywhere from 50 to 80,000 80,000 children and families across the entire state of Florida. But you know the other thing is that when you get the report cards right when you're hearing the impact that

[1:47]  you're making on these kids and these families when they kind of graduate if you want to call it that from the programs and things that they participating with us um and the positive stories and then the impact that those folks are also making on the people around them you know so sometimes you're just in you know you're working with one family but that family is influencing other families around them right um about uh you know the the the positive things in life and you can overcome any obstacle that you're confronted with. You just got to persevere uh be patient and then have a positive attitude towards it. Right. And um yeah, so it's it's just when you see the numbers, not not I'm talking about numbers of of who you've served and who have graduated and succeeded from your programs, right?

[2:32]  That to me you should be looking at Yeah. Yeah. That's the data you should be looking at. Guys, we just this this is Marcus Johnson, the CIO officer at Children's Home Security of Florida. from military service to mission-driven leadership market is really just bring he's bridging that data you know that that tech the purpose in a way that's changing lives and I ask you the first question man you you've been able to wear a lot of hats whether that's military whether that's corporate public sector what did those early chapters actually teach you about purpose and and leadership oh yeah sure you know in in the military you're kind of thrust into leadership it sort of happens by by circumst circumstance, right? It's not something that you kind of move into. It just sort of happens and before you know it, you're you're either in in an in a

[3:19]  in in a formal leadership position or you're informally leading others one way or another, right? And um you know, I think that as I kind of reflect on my career since joining the military, which I joined right out of high school, um you know, young man, naive, immature, you know, the the military for me developed that out of me. you know, the military took me and they they instilled some values and some belief systems in me that I just didn't have, you know, growing up at home or anything like that. I mean, I don't fault anybody.

[3:48]  It's just the environment in which you in which you've grown, right? Um, and the military brought those things to me. The military instituted the pro the the idea of family, you know, and I don't mean, you know, you can be brothers or you can be sisters with others, and it doesn't it's not blood. It's about mission and a common cause. And as I have have grown, you know, over the last, you know, 30 years, you know, through all these things, I find that each experience layers in to the experience before it. And you find very things that are very difficult to work with um you know, 20 years ago are easier to deal with today. you know, the issues of pressure, you know, 25 years ago were were more substantial and uh would cause a lot of doubt and things of

[4:34]  like that when the pressure would kick in. Now pressure, I mean, yeah, they happen, but you're able to navigate those pressures a little bit more seamlessly than you were before. So, I find that that that some of those experiences just layer right on top of each other. And, you know, and I always say it's a lesson learned. I put it in my rucks sack. It's a proverbial rucksack. So every lesson learned goes into my rucks sack and I carry it around with me all the time, right? And so when I'm confronted with something, I pull that lesson out of the rucks sack and I apply it. I may have to adjust it. You know, you need to adjust your style. You need to adjust your approach, but you know, the the the the theme of what you're doing is consistent, you know, and then that allows me to be a much more authentic person because I'm using the same lessons all the time. So that's it. That's it. And it's good to be the

[5:21]  authentic your real self. That's what really truly makes a difference. Especially when you come into the world of um giving and you know nonprofit space. You have to be authentic self, right? That's what really makes a difference there. I want to take you back to 2019 though. 2019 hits, you walk away from corporate, you start writing, you're speaking, which in reality not a lot of people do because it takes guts.

[5:42]  What was that mindset shift like during that time? Well, you know, I uh uh had uh you know, I'm I'm a man of faith. And so, you know, I'll I'll move out on faith even if things are a little bit more uncertain, you know, than others when you feel that this is the direction you need to go. Um and you can usually work past those fears and those insecurities of doing it when you know you're following the call when you're following the calling that you truly feel led to live. And the other thing is you look for those confirmations from others, right? and others unknowingly are making statements to you or observations about you that align with what it is that you're thinking you need to do which then just gives you more just boost your confidence even more you know so you know yeah and uh you know for me I'm a I I'm blessed um to to

[6:30]  carry forward a military pension which kind of can help you know me in in if any times of of challenges should arise um but it's you're you're leaving what you're accustomed to and doing something completely different than you have never done before. Scary. It is. It is scary. But, you know, it's also exciting and exhilarating at the same time. But, but, you know, for me, when I did that, um, there were there were a lot of, you know, internal and external factors that fed into that about why I decided in 2019 to walk away. Um, but the, um, it was the right decision at the right time. um did a lot of of of really cool things um and um built some additional experiences that I would never have gotten if I had continued the you know more tradition traditional corporate

[7:17]  work life right so you know um writing a book I wrote a book in about three and a half months whereas if I were working it would have taken me a year you know yeah true um you know I learned you know anyway and then uh you know developing your your speaking style um you're studying a little bit more on certain topics and So then when you're speaking to others in my world, I was speaking to um veterans that were suicidal. I was talking to su, you know, veterans that have survived suicide. Um talking with others that are part of gold star families and stuff like that. Uh men that are just struggling with life being a man in today's culture and you know and and everything when they talk about the struggles and things that they're having, you're fully prepared because been there, done that, you know, cross that off. Sure. Those always the best

[8:05]  conversations, you know, especially like that's what's so cool about the line of work of nonprofit. You you've come across it. You usually get into something because you had a family member, a friend, your own personal experiences that led you to an organization. And I actually want to ask you, what even got you when you when this organization? Was it that whisper that got louder in the ear or was it an aha moment like this is the organization I want to be a part of? How do you even get aligned after taking that leap of faith to then get here? So yeah, it's g this may come across. So I don't know how bizarre this is going to sound, but it it is what it is, right? So um you know, there's a you know, I I felt led to to help men that were struggling with with duties and responsibilities of manhood, etc. Military veterans that were struggling with their adaptation to

[8:53]  civilian life and military careers and things of that nature. Um, and it was always but it started to focus back on, you know, how we're how we're raising and dealing with our children, right? So, are you are you serving as a role model for your child that will then break those chains of bond, you know, those chains that is holding a child back? What example can you set that that child can break free from those proverbial chains and then and be successful in life? Um, and you know, there's a there's a a pastor that I followed and and I love following. I love listening to him is Tony Evans, right? And he has a book out called The Kingdom Man, you know, and he talks about how do you influence the nation?

[9:30]  The nation's in trouble. So, how you know, how do you deal with that? Well, first off, you start in the house. You start with the family. You get the family built up. Once you get the family built up, you work on your city block. Once you work on your city block, you get take care, you take care of the city block, you take care of your city, you then take care of the county. And so, you take care. And as you take care of each of these things, it then develops and before you know it, you've taken care of the nation. So, you know, I got that call. you know, it was started with a text message about Children's Home Society that they were in trouble from a technology perspective. I had turned down things for the previous couple of years, wasn't interested in it at all.

[10:03]  Um, and he said, "Yeah, it's it's a nonprofit dealing with children's, you know, dealing with children, families." He didn't have the full story, but he knew he knew enough that intrigued my attention. I researched CHS and, you know, my wife and I were sitting there on the couch and we were talking about it and then we both said at the same time that, "Yeah, this is something I think I need to do. It's time to go back." You know, and when I when you think about it, you know, we're dealing with a child, we're dealing with a family. And when you apply that to the kingdom principle, the kingdom man, where you take care of the family, take care of the block, take care of the city, right? Take care of one family, one child at a time, they then influence others around them, you then can take care of your communities, take care of your state, take care of the nation. And so, while I'm not going to impact the nation by any stretch, and I'm not even the one working with these kids and families, my ministry is now to our staff that support CHS. Now, we're a

[10:51]  non-faith-based organization. I do want to be clear about that. But my faith is what carries me through. And this is now my ministry is taking care of others in the conduct of their and helping them with their responsibilities. And your focus is always um never short term, but how do we continue to build long-term relationships, right? And you talk about that in the sense of schools and community. Um how important is it to really start thinking long term instead of short term? Well, you know, I think that that some of the what what I think CHS, you know, CHS has been around for 120 years, by the way, you know, so we're founded in 1902. So, we're well established and the biggest organization of this type within the state of Florida. And I think that they've learned a lot of valuable lessons over that, you know, c over century worth of of doing this type of work. And they've

[11:38]  evolved, right? They've evolved based on as cultural conditions change, as economic conditions change, as political climates change and you know, globalization started taking over, you know, things of that nature. Um the I think that that that the one common theme if you were to go back is that if you take care of the child you know you're you know whether it's a boy or a girl or whatever you know you're taking care of the future man the future the future woman the future husband the future wife who will then become you know uh uh leaders of their own families if you will of their own. So for us, you know, we kind of have that cradle to career mindset where um if we can get involved in lives that need it, that need it and require it. um you can then start instituting positive change early and then if you provide those changes

[12:25]  from cradle all through their lives up until they graduate high school and even potentially into their early college years or their first careers right you're there providing a support system for them as they navigate whatever challenges they're dealing with you know um to allow them to be you know successful and and productive adults you know whatever and however they personally define productive I love that and we're in a space now where AI is really changing the game.

[12:52]  You being in the seat that you're in, I can only imagine AI has come across the table plenty of times. Um, what does that look like for CHS? Are you guys implementing AI? Is that something that you even care for? So yeah, we are exploring we are exploring and piloting AI you know however the one thing that we're very sensitive to is that we're you know we're a humanentric organization and so you know we would never apply AI you know to that would replace you know any type of human activity if you will right I know some organizations are looking at things like that we we we view AI as a way to make us more productive to help us produce better quality products faster um help us to maybe even execute repetitive tasks which will then allow us to give us more time to focus on more value ad activities. But you know the other thing

[13:41]  that we're looking for as we think about the next couple of years for us you know looking at AI to do some of those machine learning and predictive analytics right so based on our history um we can look at economic conditions but down to a zip code level for example at least this is what our vision calls for and based on history based on trends based on lessons learned that we would then um that kind of make up our our database if you will um in a couple of years we'll be able to say if we do this in this zip code we predict this outcome if you invest into this program. This is how much this is how many dollars it's going to take. This is how much he I mean we can use AI to help us build the foundation to start a new program or a new initiative in a community and then be able to predict the outcome based off of what we have already learned in the

[14:28]  past. Those true valid success metrics those true and valid success measures and I think that that's the kind of thing that excites us. You know we just don't want to focus on the family. We want to focus on community, you know, and if you can take care of a family, that family will take end up taking care of the community. I mean, which which is 100% true, you know, starting from the child, getting some resources for the adult. Um, and what that actually looks like long term, really creating helping break cycles, per se, because that's really continues is is breaking the cycle, what we need to do, and how do you do that? As you mentioned, I got to go first to the individual to then help the community break the cycle of what it looked like for so many years. Sure.

[15:07]  Sure. You know, and we have a model too that with I mean we provide about 120 different programs throughout the entire state, you know, and one it's not a one program fits all. What we're looking at now is community hub models where depending on the need that that that a a community has or a family has or a child has or even adults. We also help out adults that are dealing with certain things. Um we can then navigate them and point them to the program that can take care of their issue. And for us, we're not even really interested in we're the ones providing the program. we'll partner with other organizations that offer programs and if they've mastered that if that be if that's their niche then we'll point you know those uh those candidates to that other program and um you know with another organization because our concern is taking care of the communities not that we're the ones doing it. Hey real quick if you enjoying

[15:56]  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. Whether 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.

[16:22]  Mhm. I you really sat at so many different tables when I sit here and think about and and when I was reviewing for this podcast, you led both in the boardrooms and and mission rooms. What's one thing the corporate world um that could like what could corporate learn from the nonprofit leadership? Because I think there's a stigma on nonprofits as well and I'm pretty sure you can also attest to that, but what can people learn? Sure. You know, you know, I wrote a I wrote an article recently about what how it and philanthropy teams work together in the nonprofits, you know, um, and having been on the for in the for-profit world, as you stated earlier, as well for nonfor-profit, there's sort of a different paradigm. You know, when you're working in a for-profit organization, it's about profits and margins, right? And and that's what you're trying to gear towards.

[17:09]  Everything's got a revenue tied to it. either you're in increasing revenue or you're reducing operation operating expenses which then you know increases your margins. For example, in the for-profit world, we're not concerned with profits and margins. We're talking about the degree of impact that you're having on the communities and the families that you're serving. And everything that we do is vested in that direction. Um, you know, the one thing that I would say is, you know, nonprofits might tend to be a little bit more change averse than for-profits. Uh, for-profits are always excited about, I mean, they're they're concerned about the customer experience. When I was at SeaWorld, you know, there was uh the mission was to ensure that your visitors, your guests had a wonderful experience um that they could take back and cherish memories, right, with them and then go back and then want to come back or word of mouth, share with a neighbor, cousin, friend, whatever about

[17:56]  their experience. Um you know, so you always focused on the guest experience and that is true, but it was always focused why' you want them to come back. Well, because you know, you want to make more money, right? You want to have repeat guests. You know, for us, I don't know that we're so excited about having repeat guests. You know, we want people to graduate and and succeed and and get through whatever program we're offering for them and then and then move on. And then word of mouth, hey, you're having troubles. Let me tell you about who I work with. Come back over here. And then we can then make a a more, you know, we can keep keep increasing the impact on on additional folks that require it, right? Um, you know, and but anyway, for profits love change, nonprofits not so much. um because they've learned to work with less, you know, they've learned to work with little, they've learned to work with reduced resources. And so when

[18:44]  you come in in my world and and and we're now applying kind of that value optimization that we I brought that into CHS is value optimizing, b building value, right? Um and you know, it is not a cost center. We're that value optimizer. We make we make your lives better. We make your lives more efficient. I'm talking about the staff, the work staff, right? We my job is to help you be successful in your job. I don't I want you to spend again just from just to, you know, for for conversation, I'd rather have our our our counselors and our workers spend 90% of their time with the families, 10% of the time catching up on data, reporting, capturing, and all that, you know, as opposed to I can only spend 60% of my time with the families because the other 40% I'm working with, you know,

[19:31]  technology that's not efficient, doesn't work. So, it's taken me longer to to take care of my administrative staff steps and things of that nature. So, so you you kind of are in a unique spot because one, as you mentioned, nonprofits could be allergic to to change. We see that all the time. How do you lead through that resistance, especially when you're trying to implement on the back end, uh, tech, HR, and finance, really helping them with these backend investments when everyone really wants to focus on the front lines? How do you kind of break through all that? Yeah. So, we we map everything that we do. How does whatever initiative we're doing, how do we map it back to the families we're serving, finance, you I can I can tie an accounting system in an accounting process back to the families we're providing services for. I can tie talent stuff. I can tie philanthropy things. I could tie

[20:18]  anything back, but how you map it back to the families we serve. And how is the at the end of the day, how is the family served going to be better with whatever it is that we're implementing? And then that gives you your vi that that's where your vision, you know, you're establishing that vision. You're estab you're setting a goalpost. You're you're establishing a different picture in the lives of those that you're working with.

[20:40]  So my peers, my colleagues, and others. And so I focus on the outcome, not necessarily so much on the path getting there. Because if I talk about the path getting there, then they they get a little nervous. They get a little concerned. It's a lot of work, right? Oh, I got to do this with data. I got to change it. I got to learn something new.

[20:55]  That kind of thing. And so I always maintain a kind of more of a a positive approach, but think about the outcome. Think focus on the outcome. Why are we do it's the why. Why are we doing this? And when you keep folks folks focused on the why, you can generally deflect their mind from the challenge of what the of the change that we're implementing towards the why. Why are we doing this?

[21:21]  And you know that tends to be the most it doesn't work with everybody, right? But that tends to to kind of uh motivate and and kind of instill a certain degree of discipline in folks, you know, with whatever it is that we're implementing. You you've really mentioned through this all, which I kind of got from your leadership, is that you blend faith and leadership in a way that really feels real, not preachy, which is what people, I'm pretty sure, enjoy about you. How has faith really shaped your leadership style? If it if it if it has or if it's not, I don't know if it's always been like this. Is it over the years? How did we get here? Well, you know, sure. You know, I think the one witness to all that could definitely be my wife because I you know, I came to Christ later in life. You know, I was pushing 40 years old when I came. So, I had built up 40

[22:08]  years worth of behaviors and the way I conducted myself, etc. And, you know, but I I I would say that um you know, and again, it's not a perfect science, right? you go through your you go through your es and flows just like anything else. But when it circles back is it has it has allowed me to be more patient, more you know a little bit more resilient. Um and and again I'm not going to call myself a master of all of this stuff by any stretch, but um you know how to apply empathy and compassion with what you're doing. So if I'm if if we're instituting a technology change, having empathy and compassion for the person that's going to be influenced by that change that you're, you know, I understand, you know, um and you know, just helping them navigate whatever their fears are. Again, it's not a it's

[22:56]  not perfect because you whenever you bring people into it, you know, people are always going to, you know, influence things one way or another. But no, I think it's allowed me to be more patient, more empathetic. um the uh a little bit more controlled. I do like to work really really fast. Um that's just my style. And so it it also helps me to adapt to the different folks that are around me. And I think it also in you know there's certain values that I carry with me all the time. I don't even have to think about them. They're just a natural part of my conduct. Faith-based values. There's some military values.

[23:33]  There's seven of them that I like to follow as well. Um, and all of those things, as long as I hold true to my values and hold true to my faith, it'll all come out fine in the end, one way or another. I want to talk about this book, man. You mentioned the book a little bit. Um, my personal desert storms. Is that correct? Yeah. The title alone is just a very deep title. What was the healing process like? Because I can imagine that there was things that was coming out that you probably even know you're dealing with. Like putting that experience on paper, kind of speak to that, man. What was that healing process? you you know so um you know there's a pro some people go through it a lot of folks do it whe you whether you're a faith-based person or not everyone a lot of folks like to journal and so you know journaling is sort of a heal is sort of a healing process right whatever is grieving you whatever is giving you concern whatever you're

[24:20]  afraid of or whatever journaling about it and just talk like you're you know you know in a journal just kind of helps you know it's a little therapeutic in its own um so when I in 2019 when I walked away I'd already decided I had maintained a journal during Operation Desert Storm. And and so I had always kind of felt that someday I was going to take that journal and just kind of transcribe it into some form of a book.

[24:42]  I didn't know what it would look like, how I would do it or anything like that. And so what I what I felt that call to do was to take my journal, write it down in a book, and then contrast that um with the the man that I am today. So when I wrote that book, I was 20, 21 years old, something like that. very immature. I was going to say that's a whole different that's a whole different life right there. Oh yeah. Very immature. Um but a lot of weird and odd things occurred to me. And the one thing that I've always said is the the when I left Saudi Arabia, you know, in 1991, I went through a life pivot, you know, and it wasn't a faith-based change, but it was the beginning towards my odyssey, you know, the odyssey that I was about to undertake. And uh but a lot of weird things happened to me during that

[25:30]  conflict. you know I was there for about 6 months you know um and it it it changed me it uh I became more professional more focused um I was investing started that's when I started going to college so that that that war changed me um and uh it was sort of the start so but but anyway and then it kind of fast forward to 2008 when I got born again in Labor Labor Day weekend of 2008 so that was what 17 years later I guess after Desert Storm I'm definitely I Look, age matures you by itself, don't get me wrong. But anyway, so so I I took I I blogged a lot and so I took some of the articles I was writing and then as I would write down one day one day experience in Desert Storm for my journal, I would then include an article that I wrote today. And so you can see

[26:18]  the way I wrote in 1991, you know, and then and so each day of my Desert Storm journal, I then inserted a journal each day in my Christian life, compares and contrasts. Um, that was the first book I wrote. I told you early on that when I walked away in 2019, I just felt that call to do that. And that was the very first book. I've written three.

[26:40]  That was the first book I wrote. Um, that book is still to this day sells the most. Um, it won a first place award for 2020 as the best memoir for 2020. Um, and it uh, so it really took off. It's not my favorite, ironically. Um, because I was I really did it to learn the publishing game, right? Um but it's it is it continues to this day to be the the most so it so my personal Desert Storm is sort of an analogy on Operation Desert Storm that I was a part of but then the internal conflict that I fought and struggled with for another 20 years.

[27:17]  So my personal Desert Storm coinciding with the war operation Desert Storm and that's where my personal Desert Storm came out of that. I like it man and it really helps on the mindset space you know and I I think that's the the place that people need to tap into. There's there's a thing that changes when you're you just mentally are in a better place when you understand yourself, right?

[27:38]  When you understand patience and I I would tell you it's probably having kids is what kind of got me into one patience. I learned a lot of patience becoming a dad, right? because these kids but um I'm in a space where I decided uh what I was realizing is that a mindset journal was needed and because of my audience being the seauite execs and the leaders and you know entrepreneurs business owners I also realize that we get into a space sometimes of holding a title almost forgetting who we are because we show up you know 50 60 hours a week as a CEO as a you know vice president and forgetting what what really got you to that level you know so I created this 30-day journey talk about journaling because it helps when you write it helps when you you have these prompts. So, you know, just and listen, I'm doing my first one.

[28:20]  You say you say, you know, this is not your favorite. I'm like, oh my god, I can't even believe I'm doing this. So, I can I can imagine you felt the same way like, oh my god, am I really writing a book? Well, my wife was a little bit worried at the beginning because I was very I'm I'm very vulnerable in the book, you know, but you know, the other thing I want to show men is I I grew up, look, I was special ops in the military, you know, and there was a certain way that you had to conduct yourself and carry yourself, you know, in the military. And you could be vulnerable with your brother, military brother, but you can't be vulnerable with anybody else, you know. And I think that it's the idea that men feel like they can't be vulnerable is sort of holding us back. And sometimes when you're vulnerable, it's it's like a pressure release, right, when you're sharing. And that's what I found when I was doing a lot of the celebrate recovery speeches and when you're talking to folks that are suicidal or surviving surviving

[29:07]  suicide or that have survived suicide attempts. Um that it's Yeah. It's it's just the abil just people just want to they just want someone to listen, but they want someone to listen that understands, right? It's different when you're talking to somebody that understands than when you're like I can't talk about work with my wife. I could talk to her about work all day long, but she doesn't understand. But what I can do is talk to a colleague.

[29:34]  Yeah. A colleague understands. And sometimes you're just looking for someone to listen. That's it. That's it. That's it. I have to tell that to my wife sometimes because I'm pretty sure like your wife, they always have the answers, right? They just That's it. So I I tell my wife some things and she starts to give me the answer. I'm like, "Wait, wait." I was just venting love.

[29:51]  as much as I would love, I just wanted to get this off my chest just to speak about it because sometimes she could go down the rabbit hole and it's like, what are you talking about? That's not that's, you know, that's not how it goes or that's not how the So, I 100% hear you on that. Um, if there's a leader out there who's got a story but is scared to share it.

[30:11]  What would you say to them? I I would tell if they've got a story, whether you're, you know, it doesn't hurt you to start writing it down, you know, just start writing it down, you know. um the um I can't remember the but the you know one of the things about you know when you're talk in in Christian journaling you know it's it's in the book of Hosea I can't remember the chapter or verse but it talks about you know he went to the mountaintop and wrote it down how do how do we have the words of the prophets today because they wrote it down you know so I think write it down and then maybe you'll overcome your fear a little bit later or write it down and share it with somebody get their feedback and thoughts on it but if they've got a story to tell I think that the I think that's how we heal others by sharing our testimonials, by sharing our sto stories, but it's who you give devotion to, right? At the end of the

[30:59]  day, that who is it that got you through the testimonial? That's the Yeah, that's that's always huge to really think about. I love life, man. You talk about how, you know, you you you get uh wiser with age, but through life experiences, you also get wiser and you get better, you know, hope and hopes. Not everyone, you know, takes life experiences and sees the good in them. Um, you know, good or bad. You see, there's a benefit in there. Even when you're down and you fail, there's a good in there. You got to figure out what that looks like. Um, and you've just knocked them out the park every single time, man. Try, you know, you know, at the end of the day, at the end of the day, I can tell the Lord, I ran the race. It's, you know, and there you go. Right. Yeah. You're right. You're right, man. if you could um if people that are listening right now, they're

[31:45]  still watching, how could someone make an impact? And I'm not just talking about donating, but how can they get involved the organization to truly make that big impact? Yeah. Yeah, sure. Well, yeah, we uh we have a a lot of volunteers that do work for us and they do a lot of things. They'll help, you know, um we we do food deliveries. We we collect food. We collect a lot of uh what we call gift in kind. So it's and but you've got to you've got to be able to pull those things together and then organize them and ensure that when you're giving them out to whatever family or child or whatever that is going to receive it. We need we need a lot of volunteers to help with that, right? Um and sometime it's it's sometimes it's just providing that assistance to the counselor or to the transporter or to the to the uh individual that's dealing with those, you know, those those kids and families.

[32:32]  And uh but yeah, we have a very big volunteer base throughout the whole state and we got volunteers doing all kinds of different things even doing things around the building so that you know um you know so that the the team members don't have to worry about doing that later you know whatever it is whatever maintenance activities or whatever is going on in that building at that time if that makes sense. So yeah, we have volunteers quite a bit and also sharing the message with their leaders, their community leaders and their legislators that we need to we need to push more um um into the services that provide these services to to the kids and families, right? So if if they're connected to political leaders um and they think that they've got a good relationship with them, great. Speak to them about the types of services that

[33:19]  CHS does, Children's Home Society. And again, we have we we're in schools. We're all over the place doing all kinds of things. Um whether it's us or about another organization, get the politicians involved so that they can institute legislative things or approve, you know, budgets or whatever it requires, right, to help facilitate these services so you can influence your community leaders and your political leaders. Yeah. Listen, I told you that by the time we were finishing, you wouldn't even realize that we were only doing this for 30 plus minutes. So, I got a couple of questions before we wrap this up. The first one is if you had to sum up on the why behind everything you do in one sentence, what would it would it be? The spirit of giving back. You know, for me, I've been blessed in my life. I've had I've done a lot of cool things, got paid to do a lot of fun

[34:06]  stuff. Um, but to me, it's the spirit the spirit of giving back. The spirit of making your community better. I know that's more than one sentence, but spirit of giving back. I like it. I like it. I like it. Um, I got the sentence and you just want to elaborate. That's all good. That's all good. So, this is the blind question, man. This is the the put it the the leader in the hot seat, figure out what they're going to say, and let's say that 10 years from now, a young adult walks up to you and says, "I'm one of the kids CHS has helped, and now I'm paying it forward." What do you hope they remember about how your work changed their life?

[34:41]  So, how Yeah. So, one more time. Yeah. Yeah. So, let's say young kids walks up, real recognizes you and says, "Hey, man. and I was one of the kids and now I'm paying it forward. What do you hope they remember about the work that you did to change their life? Oh, good lord. Yeah. So, you know what? What was it? Yeah.

[34:57]  So, I would like to What was it about my influence on you that has allowed you to become the positive influence you are today? What was the good? What was the bad? What would you do differently? We're not perfect. We're imperfect individuals. We don't always get it right. So, what did I do right? What did I do? What did I what did I do that was good that influenced you? But what did I do that might have missed the mark? And then how would you take that lesson and apply it to what you're going to do moving forward? That's a good, you know, I think it's actually a good leadership tactic. When I left um corporate, that's one of the things he asked me. He's like, "Man, I'm I'm I'm so bummed that you're leaving and you know what? I out of everybody that we had to forl um I think I don't worry about you. You do great things." But what was it about me

[35:44]  that, you know, cuz we bumped heads, he knew that. What was it about me that just didn't work out, you know, and and when someone asks that, it's actually a really good question in hopes that they actually take it for for for the good, right? But that was a really good question to be asking. You just mentioned it. Well, you know, in the military, you're confronted with a lot of leaders, good leaders and bad leaders. And you can learn from bad ones just like you can from good ones.

[36:03]  Because from the good ones, you're learning what to do. From the bad ones, you're learning what not to do. Right? So, you can learn from good ones and bad ones. You know what's funny is that I I feel like I I don't have uh my father in my life, but that's how I look at my father. It's like listen, he wasn't a great father, but he was, right? Because I get to learn everything he did not do.

[36:21]  And I win by just showing up to be quite honest with you. But you know, I still get to see how Listen, as long as you show up, you're making a you're doing a difference. And now having to everything that I add on top of that, I'm good father. Well, you know, well, it's funny in two my father lived in Arizona. I lived in Tennessee and this was around 2009. I just bought a plane ticket, flew out to Arizona. My dad had no idea I was coming, showed up at the door, and he's like, "What? What are you doing here?"

[36:44]  And I said, "Dad, I just flew out here to tell you one thing." He said, "What's what's that?" I said, "Dad, I forgive you." That was it. I flew out there all the way out there to tell him face to face that I forgive him. And then we just had a weekend watching, you know, Gunm Smoke and different he was a western guy, so we watched westerns, you know, that weekend. I flew home. That's good. So, you and your dad still have relationship? My my dad passed away in 2017, but the uh but you know that was sort of a turnaround moment, you know, for us. And I lost my own son. My son was in the Air Force and he passed away in 2011. Oh man. Um but you know the what got me through that was my son and I had a conversation two weeks before he passed. He was in the Middle East at the time. And um what helped me get through it was we had a conversation. He said, "Dad, I'm getting ready to do this and that and all that." And I said, "That's a Now I was a 20-year military veteran.

[37:28]  been there a bunch of times. And the call the call ended with, "Son, I'm proud of you. I love you." And he said, "Dad, I love you, too." That was the last conversation we had. So, remember, whoever you're speaking to, you never know what's going to happen to them a couple weeks later. But if it had not been for that conversation before he passed, I don't know where I would be today. But I have to reflect on that.

[37:50]  So, yeah, you know, for Yeah, you got to take care, you got to take care of your family, take care of your kids, and have the best relationship that you possibly can. 100%. I do agree. I tell my wife all the time, man. We communication, being open, being yourself. Um, and I didn't experience that. So now being able to provide that to, you know, my young ones, that's all I care for, man.

[38:09]  I know it's not about me. You know, I as soon as you become a a parent, you know, it's not about you anymore, right? Your sleeve, nothing. They don't care about your money. They don't care about any of that. Um, so I I'm starting to really see that in my life that it's not about me, but it's about how what we do, not in just our homes, even on the outside, cuz our kids are watching. Well, remember your kids are your legacy.

[38:28]  Yeah, your kids are your legacy. Yeah. So, yeah. Well, listen, we could keep talking about this, Marcus. I I really I told you we were going to have a good time. We were What is your blind question for the next lady? How about that? Yeah. You know, so that was the one I was prepared for. Um, so this is my question is what is one innovative approach that you have implemented in your organization that has significantly improved your impact on the community?

[38:57]  That's a really good one and and and it's a good one because a lot when you talk about nonprofits um innovation just sometimes is not there. So I would I would love to see what Oh my god, you got to be creat you got to be creative in a nonprofit. You don't have the same resources. So yeah, you got to be innovative. I agree. Well, Marcus, I want to say thank you for your service.

[39:14]  Thank you for your son's service. Unfortunately, we did lose him, but thank you for um risking your lives, man. You've been a risk taker since day one. That that right there time someone signs up, it's it's a risk you take because you don't know you come back home. Um and you know, with God's graces, you did and your son wasn't. So, I'm I'm you know, it's it's kind of as a father, it's hard to even have this conversation, but um thank you. Thank you for everything that you do. Thank you for everything your son do. Thank you for having this time and pouring into us today, you know, and thank you for life happening the way it has. For now, you're in a nonprofit really changing lives, man. You've always been changing lives when you think about it.

[39:48]  You've been impacting lives since you were in the military, man. That's how life just came back. Um, we thank you for those that are watching, those that are still here. Please make sure you guys do share, comment, and like these stories that when we start to really speak about authentic selves, it's what we really walk you that's how we walk our lives. And I think you should do the same. Um, if you guys want to be a part of an organization, there's so many organizations that um that need people like yourself, volunteers, and if you love something, I can guarantee you there's an organization out there that is waiting for you to call them. So, we thank you here from the Heart and Hustle Podcast. We thank you, Marcus Johnson, for being here with us, another great leader on the Heart and Hustle Podcast.

[40:24]  We'll catch you guys on the next one. Thank you Christ.