The Hidden Power of Relationships in Scaling a Nonprofit Mission

[0:16]  One. Welcome back to another episode here on the Heart and Hustle Podcast. We got Mr. Trace. Trace, where are we talking from, man? Where where are you located in this world of US? Alabama, born and raised? All right, all right, man. And what organization are you representing today?

[0:24]  Yes, sir. That was collaborative.

[0:33]  And this is something that is very special to you, isn't it?

[0:35]  Yes, this is something that I started this ministry and have really had walked it through multiple seasons. The the the Lord has used it in a lot of ways and grown me through it. It's been a it's been a a labor of love, but man, one that I wouldn't trade for the world for sure.

[0:54]  I love it, very different conversation that we're going to be having today as well. But I think it's also very needed. One, 'cause of the times that we're in today, but also for those that are that may be thinking that the shift from high school to college that maybe they will lose that or or maybe they need to find it, right? I think there's so many opportunities. Is this organization something that is tapping into multiple un multiple universities and colleges? Is something that it's off site? How does someone even get involved into this?

[1:21]  Yeah, so yeah, our ministry is at currently twenty five different cities around the nation. And those cities with you know, college towns for the most part, multiple have multiple college campuses that we represent there. So I'm here at Auburn, so obviously Auburn University, there's also a large you know, junior college here, but then there's also Tuskegee University that's just, you know, fifteen, twenty minutes down the road that we also serve. And so most of our schools are like that. So we're talking about, you know, a large number of universities that we serve and a large number of incoming college students that we're trying to and we're trying to bless them as they make this transition. So yeah, our goal is to try and help be that bridge to make that transition from high school to college one that can be done vibrantly. We are a Christ-centered ministry and so we are trying to help people. You know, the statistics says that people you know, sixty-seven percent of people that grew up in the church, grew up claiming Christianity will fall away from their faith in college. And so we're we're wanting to help prevent that. But also at the same time, Ephraim, we're just man, that's just a critical moment in anyone's life. And so we have lot of people coming that just they need friends as they're starting college because it's scary, you know, to move across the country or even just move across the state, go off to college

[1:21]  Yeah.

[2:38]  And you know, who are gonna be my people? Where do I fit? All those kind of things. And we exist to really serve them in that moment and and surround them with amazing people that'll walk with them through college.

[2:52]  And were you someone that had this growing up like before college? Did you grow up in the church or is this something that actually just came to you while at church? I mean while in college.

[2:52]  Yeah, I know, I mean so no, I did not grow up in the church. I I gave my life to Christ late in high school and and then I came off to college soon thereafters, very zealous for the Lord and wanting to serve him and wanting to make his name known, both my hometown, but then also when I went to college on my college campus. But I didn't have anything like this, and to be honest with you, I didn't I didn't fall away from my faith in college, but I did just waste a lot of time.

[2:52]  Yeah.

[3:26]  in spiritual immaturity and trying to find my way, trying to figure out who I was, trying to find my people, like those kind of things that if I had had something like this, I think it would have been a game changer for me. And so that's excent that's essentially why we started this. I'd I'd heard about a similar concept at a at another school, pretty far from here. And I was just like, this I I wanna start this at Auburn. So that's the that's where we started the first one back in twenty twelve. And then Since then it's just been growing and really having a profound impact on both individuals' lives but also on lives of like the you know, kind of across the the campus and across the you know, the churches in that in each campus.

[4:10]  If I'm a student at at a university, how do I get involved? Is this something that you guys are on site, I'm going to a website, how's that communication come across?

[4:20]  Yeah, so we are a ministry that's really like like powered by current college students. So when we started a new campus, we're immediately looking for a strong little band of college students that that see the need for this. You know, they kind of do the same thing I did, which is they hear the vision and they go, Lee, that's what I needed when I was a incoming freshman. And so we look for those students, they get on they get involved and they start planning the retreat for their campus. They start you know, laying it out how it needs to be. We have the systems, the infrastructure, but they start planning it out and then they start inviting the incoming freshmen and transfer students that are gonna, you know, get be on campus in the fall. So right now, you know, we're in this we're in June right now, as you and I are talking and and so we're doing a lot of promotion of this, wanting to let incoming students know about it before they get on campus. And so then yeah, an incoming student, if you know freshman or transfer student, hopefully they find out about it. through whatever means, word of mouth or their, you know, their hometown church or just, you know, through through a podcast like this, they find out about it and then they they can register through our wet website, show up. They can come by themselves. They can come with friends, but come and then just be a part of the the you know three day, two night event is what it is. That's that happens two or three weeks before classes start, but it introduces them to the people that really will be their community. on throughout college. You know what I'm saying? And and so it just that's how you that's how you kind of jump in. And then for us, a win like is is getting them connected to Christ centered community, local churches, campus ministries. That's a win for us. And and if they want to continue on and and be involved with us the next year by leading the next year's retreat, great. But if if that's if that's the main way we could bless and serve them, then we're happy with that.

[5:20]  Got it. Is this a a for profit or a non profit?

[6:20]  Yeah, so we're a non profit and and man that is that is a world that, you know, I I've been figuring out for the past you know, we've been I've been doing this now full time for almost seven years. So kinda did it. I was a I was a pastor, I was a college pastor at a local church before this. That's when we started the first retreat and didn't do it very well and knew that I needed to step away from, you know, being a a a pastor to do this full time and And man, it has been a it has been a learning curve that that has it's been this the school of hard knocks, but man, it's been it's been sweet.

[6:56]  What is some of the things that you learned? 'Cause I people one, I think the nonprofit runs as a business. So if you have that business mindset, I think a nonprofit y you could really fit in. But what are some of the things that you learned that you didn't expect about a nonprofit, I would say, from that you didn't know because it doesn't happen in the for profit sector?

[7:15]  Yeah, that's a good question. So You know, you know the old saying, you don't know what you don't know? I learned that really quickly, r really, you know, really profoundly early. And so I think the first thing I learned is that there a like going back to what you said, there is a lot to learn from the for profit sector. And so, man, I've had I've had mentors in my life that were guys that were that were very successful. I just met with a guy this morning for breakfast and just was picking his brain on some things and he was super helpful. You know, he's a He kind of operates in the is he's in the for profit world and kind of in the franchise, you know, world. And so he was super helpful for me. So I learned there's a lot to learn from that, but then of course it has to be translated in into what it really means for the nonprofit world. So I think that some of the biggest things that I had to I had to learn is relationships are everything. You know, I think in for-profit. I I relationships are of course important in for for profit, but man, in nonprofit relationships are everything. Relationships with ev with every person that our ministry could touch. And and that's with the ministries we're trying to serve, with the students that we're trying to reach, with the students that are that are part of our leadership that development that we're doing with donors, with everybody. I I was I was one of these guys that I love to get stuff done. You know what I'm saying? Like For better for worse, I'm a doer. And and I realized like, no, like I need to slow down and prioritize relationships because relationships are where are where really the magic all happens for us as a nonprofit. I think that's the biggest thing. There's a lot of other I could I could you know, I could take all day telling you other things, but think that was the biggest thing for me.

[9:06]  No, I think relationships do matter. I I think I may have told you that I run an organization myself that is a nonprofit, and this is a 30 year old organization that has not really been built on relationships and you feel it now because we they haven't been able to fund. They haven't it's so hard to go and and say, Hey, where do we, you know, start? Because there was no relationship that were actually built. But then I speak to someone else that's very similar space and saying, Yeah, man, we're getting don you know ten thousand don ten thousand dollar donations from this company and this company. And I always say that you have to build those relationships. But the money's out there. Someone told me this is really, really young days, man. I started a nonprofit, I think maybe twenty-two years old. And I Young, seen this this real estate agent, had money, lived in a nice, you know, house, nice car. And I'm like, you know what? I should do real estate. So I said, Hey man, how do I get into real estate? And he says, E Frank, you're in the nonprofit world. You're in the asking business. You people are willing to give you a million dollars, but you haven't even found them to go ask, right? And it's but building those relationships because it's just not going to happen. People gotta understand who you are, what is your why, you know, who are you? Are you trustworthy? What are you doing with the finances? And I think just being yourself, Trace is what gotten you this far. I mean you go from just one to now twenty five schools, right? What is the goal? Like do you have a certain amount in your head that you're wanting to reach maybe by a certain time?

[10:31]  Yeah. Well, you know, well I okay, hold on. Let me answer I'm gonna answer that question, but I wanna go back. One more profound lesson that I do want to share. Go because you mentioned the fundraising, right? The fundraising, I think early on I saw fundraising as a necessary evil to like do the ministry that we wanted to do, like to fulfill the mission. And and I had I had to learn no fundraising is is actually a part of the mission, right? Like bringing other people in that do have resources and that do believe in what you're doing.

[10:46]  Let's go. Yeah. Yep.

[11:01]  And they want to use their resources in a way that they don't have time to, but but they can do it through you by by supporting. That was a big another big lesson for me to learn of like that's a huge part of it. Like fundraising is a part of the mission, not just something you have to do to to fund the mission. So that going back to your question of like where do we see this going and where we see it growing, you know, like I was mentioning our our ministry has a has a mission of changing that statistic. of how many people fall away from their faith between high school and college. And we also just have the mission of we want to just be a blessing to anyone entering into college, be that bridge for them, serve them. And and we do want to kind of change the collegiate landscape from from what it currently is to one that's just more healthy specifically for like, you know, state colleges have always been known as a place of like spiritual decline. We want them to be known as a place of like spiritual thriving. Like You know, we're par parents aren't so worried of like, man, if I send my kid off to a state school, they're gonna go crazy. And then you know, it's like, no, no, like that could be a great place for them to grow. And you know, so all those kind of things. So with that w that kind of audacious goal that we have, we're at twenty f we have twenty-five retreats across the nation now, spread as far north as Minnesota to, you know, south of Florida and LSU. and so Our our heart and our plan right now is to keep expanding to every major university in in our nation. You know, I I look at the stat you know, this year Ephraim, we'll have four thousand incoming freshmen come to our retreats. That's exciting. I love that. And I also look at the number that there's on average each year two million students will be entering into a you know, into into college right after high school. And so that two million, man, that's that's re

[11:58]  Well, that's lot. Yeah. Yeah.

[12:55]  we want to get to. So that means spreading across the nation, creating more of these on more campuses. And so yeah, that's that's where we're going. And so right now the big thing that I'm learning and and trying to grow in and is just how to scale. How to scale with wisdom, right? Like not growth for the sake of growth, but growth in a way that is serving our is furthering our mission, but is also wise And isn't gonna cripple our mission because we tried to grow too fast. Th those are kinda some of the things I'm learning as we try to expand now.

[13:30]  I have two questions. I love this. I love that you're an entrepreneur, that you're doing this, that you've scaled as as you had. I guess one is for those that maybe okay, how how can I donate what's my funds goes to? So we can kind of talk about what those funds go to. But also you being in the space of an entrepreneur, like how are you feeling? You know, because I think that it it is a very sometimes a lonely world out there when there's not enough people in your circle that may have the same mindset of entrepreneurship.

[13:59]  Yeah. Well I'll start with the entrepreneurship thing, man, is that you know, we use some we use the terms in our in our ministry of creator. There there are creators, there are cultivators, and they're curators. you know, so a curator, th like think about a museum curator, those are the people that just they know how to put peop things in the right place for the greatest effectiveness, right? Cultivators know how to take what's there and get even more growth out of it, even more fruitfulness out of it. And the creators are the ones who They get joy out of starting things up. I am a creator. but I operate like I'm a I have a co-executive director. And that has been a key to the health of our ministry because I'm a creator. She is a cultivator. So she knows how to take what I've started and then bring even greater fruitfulness out of it. she probably leads our staff more so than I do because she's so great with like investing in our staff team. So I think one of the biggest things about entrepreneurs is that I I can have this like excitement about creating more, starting up new campuses, but you gotta have the right people around you that are then going to take what you started and and bring it to what it really needs to be is to further it, to cultivate it so that more growth comes out of it and so that it's healthy. Because if I didn't have those people around me, all the things that I'd started would be would be withering away right now. You know? So I think it's getting those right people around you so that once you start they're healthy. So that's but I love it, man. I'm I I have always been kind of entrepreneurially minded, even though the Lord called me into ministry. I I I that this entrepreneurial thing. So now essentially I'm just a I'm just an entrepreneur, you know, for Jesus, I guess. Like I love starting up these things. and so it's great. So what would intimidate some people of going to a new college campus and meeting with these people to start up this new thing, to me that's like

[15:35]  I love it.

[15:58]  That's so exciting. So I think if that's you, like do it. If that's not you, maybe you're the cultivator. Maybe you need to find someone that's the creator that would get excited and and bring them around you because I just I'm really mindful of where I'm gifted and where I'm weak. And I think and and I I think our American mindset often is like we're we're not supposed to have weaknesses, but I I d I so it's like focus on your weaknesses and turn them into strengths. It's like, no. I wanna really lean into my strengths and just manage my weaknesses. And the way I manage my weaknesses is by the amazing people I have around me. So I think that's a that's the big thing I'd say about that entrepreneurship and and growth mindset.

[16:40]  Real quick, Trace, before you move on to the other part, you know, I actually was having this conversation with maybe my wife, I can't remember exactly who, but as men, right, is the strengths and weaknesses and it is fine, you know, like you said, okay, understanding what my strengths and weaknesses are and making sure that I can find people for those weaknesses. 'Cause I think at some point we wanted to do it all. When does Trace say, you know what, I cannot do it all. I need to lean into other people that can help me 'cause I I can imagine that there was that ego sometimes that said I'm gonna do it I'm gonna and you're probably running and r wearing all the hats but at some point you had to say nah this this can't be possible.

[17:16]  Yeah. Man, I think I this I think this is probably the most important thing I've learned in leadership. and it's that and this is a core value of our ministry. It's the first core value and it's humility. As I think that any leader that's actually gonna do something worth doing, it's actually gonna serve people well. And this can and this is true for prof not for for profit and for non profit. this is true in Christian ministry and this is true in in secular business worlds, you know, anything. So it's that humility. it's that willingness to recognize who you know, who you are, how you were made, and and admit where you are are weak. I think th that can and and then of course how can I serve others too? So I I think that as a As a male specifically, like you asked, yeah, there we are encouraged towards pride, essentially, is w we would never call it that, but it's almost like we're pushed towards that. Like show yourself strong, so yourself so yours show yourself able to do anything. But man, humility I think is where is where true like leadership starts. I I really believe that. And and so Yeah, I don't does that answer your question?

[18:43]  Yeah. No, yeah. I actually and I the only reason I say that is I find myself doing that recently. Like I I I'm I told you I lead this organization. We have this organization for the last five years probably has not done well. So the next event that we do that it's a fundraiser has to be done well, right? From a leadership perspective, but also as that rebranding, the the reenergize. And I I was just talking to an event planner. I'm like, you know, we have to hire an event planner. Clearly our team cannot we cannot do that. It stressed us out last time. Let's not stress ourselves out this time. Let's find that person. Then as I'm talking to the event planner, and she's just like, I'm already thinking on who is her the go-to before and who's the go-to the day of. It can't be me. You know, because I already know where I'm going to be mentally. I know where I'm going to be at physically, because I've done this. Emotionally, I know where I'm going to be at. So I cannot and then I gotta speak at this event. Then I gotta you know, there's so many different hats that you wear. So it's understanding who to put in what places, understanding what people's strengths are themselves. Like that's why I think relationships, you talked about relationships, are so important. Is because we got to understand who we are working with. So we know what they can do and what they can't do. And I've been able to kind of figure that out. But it took some time and I always remember this one gentleman when I was super young. He says, Ephraim, I cannot work with you. He says one day you'll find a team and when you do it would you're going to be a force to be working with. I never knew what he meant by that. And now I feel like, the people that really compliment me, you know, 'cause not everyone's going to compliment you. so nah man, I I think you kinda hit it on the head and and I I'm glad that you're just we're just learning, right? Every day as entrepreneurship is a very learning day. It is difficult for those that think it it's easy, it's not. if it was easy, everyone would do it. But it is so rewarding when you just figure it out as well, right? I feel like all the pieces of the puzzles are there. You just gotta put together.

[20:30]  Yeah. So true, man. And yeah, and it's like you said, it's being willing to s ask for help or just recognize, hey, I need something else. You know, I think, you know, like I said, I'm a Christian and so I learn a lot of I I think some people f neglect the leadership lessons that there are all across the scriptures. And one of the earliest is Moses when he's leading all the people of Israel, and it's this is Exodus eighteen, eighteen, I believe, and it says this is when his father in law showed up. And at the point At this point, everybody in Israel is coming to ask Moses what they should do about this. And hey, will you judge between my me and my neighbor over this thing? And and Moses' father-in-law shows up and he goes, W essentially, what are you doing? Like this is not sustainable. And and the quote is this. He says, You're gonna wear out both yourself and these people that are with you. You cannot do it alone. The task is too heavy. And so then he gave Moses the idea of like essentially a leadership team. Hey, you're gonna appoint these people who are gonna oversee these people who are then gonna care for all these people. And and it's like it was this kind of tiered system. And it's like that's what we need. We need to first recognize that we can't do it. It's not good for us and it's not good for the people that we're leading. And then we gotta come up with a system that'll make it where it's sustainable for us and it's the best and it's the best care for the people that we're leading. Both the people on our immediate team, but also for the people that we're serving.

[21:56]  I love that. And I actually wanna kinda go back 'cause you said you were a pastor and then you're at this point still leader but they're both leaderships, but you have a different way of even looking at the word pastor nowadays. Can you kind of explain that to those that are listening or watching?

[22:08]  Yeah, man, I you know I have a lot of thoughts on on that. But yeah, like I think pastor is me as is my role as a as a pastor, I always saw it as as what it truly is. It's it's a shepherd, right? That's what the that's what the term actually means, shepherd. Like, you know, and I think it's become such an office and such an authoritarian type of role in so many churches. But man, biblically And and the example that Jesus gave was that of a of a a shepherd willing to get down into the into the muck in the mire with his sheep to serve them, to care for them, to protect them. And and that's what I I learned there. I got the there is a there is a business side of churches too that I d that is a little bit can be a little bit you know, like gross at times. And some pastors dive into that unlike kind of unawares, you know, they're like and they become a CEO as opposed to a shepherd. They become this, you know, trying to build their mega church, their, you know, their big enterprise, their kingdom, as opposed to really just trying to serve people and build the Lord's kingdom. And so that's I think that's one of the biggest things for me as a pastor. And I think that's where a lot of church hurt has come from. is because our church has started to our ch not not all by any means, but s so many churches have modeled the business world and the structure of the business world, the, you know, the the C suite, you know, leaders and then the board of directors and all this, they've modeled that more than they modeled what the what the scriptures actually describe as the early church and the pastoral care and the oversight of souls, like really caring for souls and not just seeing people as numbers or cogs in a system to kind of further what they're trying to do. So I think that's one of the main things I think about with that. And and and to be honest with you, you know, I'm not a pastor anymore, but I do try to pastor the people that I lead, right? Like I want to care for their soul first. I want to think more about what I'm doing for someone than what I need from someone. Right? Because that's where we that's where we start to hurt people without knowing it. Because when we're looking to them for s for what we can get from them as opposed to what we can do for them. So

[24:42]  Yeah. No makes sense. I I can gr agree with a lot of the things that you're saying. it's probably what 'cause I have a business mindset. I do see that a lot of the times. That the church and and the pastor that it's more business than really, you know, separate as as you as you mentioned. and it it has left probably nasty taste in a lot of people's mouths. But I also think that being a pastor doesn't mean that you have to be in a church. Just kind of mention that as well. So I always had those arguments with my my wife 'cause it's like, you know, one day you're gonna be a pastor. I'm like Who said I'm not doing the work now? Like, right? Every single day I have these conversations out here. That that's exactly what we're doing. So I I appreciate you, you know, sharing that. Let's talk about those the fundraisers and how people can give and the sponsorship. So what are the w where do these funds go so that people that are watching right now and they do want to give, they have an understanding on where it all kind of ends up at.

[25:34]  Okay. Yeah. So and for us, the way we the way we're set up financially, so you know, we have these retreats and students do pay to come to them, but they just pay to cover their base costs. 'Cause we want to keep it as cheap as possible so that no student is is prohibited to come become to come because of finances, right? But but a wise wise mentor once told me once, he said, Trace, don't don't ask don't raise money, don't ask people to give for something that someone is willing to pay for. So we do, so a large part of our budget is covered by that. So we don't our events are not free because people are willing to pay for them. Of course, we offer scholarships and we raise money for that, but students cover the the direct cost that they're consuming. So they cover the cost of their where you know, the where they're staying, the venue and the you know, hotel or whatever, and they cover the cost of their food and you know, t-shirt, those kind of direct costs that they're consuming. Obviously there's a lot of overhead when you're doing something like this. And and a lot of again to shepherd, to care for, to pastor all of our people well, that that's that's overhead. You know, I I think some people turn away at that term overhead, but it's like, no, it's just it's just the necessary stuff that that that is there to do the work well. Like if we want to do the work well, there's there's a lot more than just the this the things you see on the surface, you know. And so You know, we are and and have been from the very beginning, continually, you know, we are a crowdfunded ministry, I guess you'd say. So we are I'm trying to grow in the area of of you know fundraising and specifically more people just seeing what what we do and why we do it and and seeing that it's that it's needed. But you know, for us, we have so many faithful monthly donors that that give. We have fundraising events and we have a handful of kind of larger donors, but even our larger donors are not what you know what some of some people might be used to. you know, but we but man, I it's been a sweet process of seeing this this growing because the here's the way I view fundraising. I I'm again Christian context here, so I'm gonna talk I'm I'm gonna go from what Paul, the Apostle Paul said of fundraising in Philippians four seventeen. He said Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. So that's how I view fundraising. I'm not looking for people that'll just give us money. I'm looking for people that when they hear our mission, they go, Man, I I I believe in that. I want to bear fruit in the lives of incoming college students that'll then bear fruit as they keep walking with Christ in college and as they like Or they, you know, it's somebody that connects and they go, gosh, like my me starting college, that was such a hard transition. And I want to help take care of people that are making that transition. So we're looking for people that want to kind of join in with us and be a part of that. Like, and so that's that's what fundraising looks like for us is is come not just thinking that we want your money, that we want the gift. We want to see the fruit that increases to your credit. We want you to get credit for it. and we want we want that fruit in the in in the lives of more and more college students. And so for that for us, yes, we do fundraising events, but the biggest thing for us is just that ongoing donor base. And so, you know, if if anyone ever is interested in giving, that's you know, Oates Collaborative dot com. The Oatscollaborative dot com is our website and we have, you know, donation there where you can give monthly or one time. But but even going back to our earlier conversation, Ephraim is I and our team want to have a relationship with all of our donors. because it again, it's all about relationship, is that though if money is just thrown at us and there's no relationship, of course, we'll use it and we'll we'll steward it well. But the biggest thing is we want we want partners in ministry. You know, that's that's our heart.

[27:57]  And I think it happens with true storytelling. all those fundraisers I always say we are in the business of telling stories because that's how people exact which mentioned Trace to say, Wow, I can see myself either being that child or I once was that child and I wanna help other kids to never have to live that or be a part of that or whatever that may look like, right? what is a story that that rings a bell to you, man, that if you were to tell someone you know that it just kind of gets people to To give. What is that story that you got, Choice?

[30:20]  man, there's so many different stories 'cause there's so many different s stories of students. You know, we have students coming in from so many different backgrounds and so many different things that they're walking through, all that, you know. but I'll tell I'll tell this story because I just had this conversation. Actually, there's one last night. I was talking to a dad whose whose son just came to one of our retreats last year. So he he you know, just finished his freshman year, but he came and and he's like it changed his life because he was going down a path that was really unhealthy. And he came to your retreat because he just he he was told he should, he was told he'd meet people, but it put him around the kind of community that he needed to be around and it's changed his trajectory in college. So I love that. But I but there's one story in particular. There was a guy I was talking with there was two friends eight years ago they came to one of our retreats. one of them, his name's Brock, he came not even really knowing what the retreat was about. And here's why he came. He was told that there was gonna be a lot of cute girls there. And and so he was like, All right, I'm in. He d he signed up for it not really knowing what it was gonna be and everything like this. But but man, he got there and he can't so yes, he came to meet girls, but again we are, you know, a Christ center ministry and he met Jesus there and his life has been changed since. So we're talking about

[33:19]  Love it.

[34:05]  I was talking to him eight years after this had happened and here he is eight years later and now he is a you know, a husband and father and he is s the guy that I was talking, you know, w with Ben, they met there and their friendship has been solid. They've been brothers, you know, for eight years now and and it's changed his life and man and I didn't even know this un until I was having this conversation with him a few weeks back and it's like that's why we do it, man. That's That's why I do college ministry is because I believe that people, for the most part, become who they're gonna be for the rest of their lives while they're in college. Like they figure out who God made them to be. They f and they set in their lives priorities and practices and character traits that then they're gonna really walk out throughout the rest of life. Of course there's exceptions and of course there's many people that don't go to college, but I just do see college as such an instrumental time in someone's life, such a critical time. And so that's why we do it, man. And I could I could walk you through so many other stories, but those are some of my favorites. Just seeing that happen in someone's life and knowing that we got to play a little part in it. And again, really what we did is we just connected them. We we say we set the table and then we get everybody to the table that needs to know each other. Because the secret sauce of what we do is not actually an amazing event. The secret sauce is the relationships. That's the tagline to our ministry, cultivating Christ in a relationships. That's what we're trying to do is is serve people in that way. 'Cause that's what that's what we all need at the end of the day, right? Is relationships.

[34:51]  Yeah. Yeah, I I love it. And I give you up like to what you were just saying, the work that you're doing. I love to 'cause I love plants. I'm gonna put it back to perspective of plants, is that we are putting them in a good environment, feeding them good water. It's a seed that's been planted already. All we're doing is making sure that that seed continues to grow by you know, finding the right people, finding the right communities. And and so many people don't get to see that beautiful flower because maybe they're still in the wrong environments, maybe they're not being fed by the right people. So Trace, what you do is really pour into the next generation, fertilize the future as I like to say, so that they can continue to fertilize the future. And it and it's happening. I mean, you have twenty five locations and you don't have twenty five traces, right? You just have twenty five different leaders out there that are doing the work that that Trace just envisioned wanting to do on his own. But now he finds other people. So what you're doing is it's really tremendous, man. And I know we gotta start wrapping this up, but where can people find more information about what you guys are doing? Social websites, LinkedIn, what does that look like?

[35:37]  Yeah. Yeah, and so yeah, website the Oaks Collaborative dot com. All of our socials are the same. Just search the Oaks Collaborative. And and so yeah, that you know, we're on Instagram, Facebook, those kind of things. I think, you know, one of the things that we're also one of the biggest things for us, If I is people finding out about what we're doing. And even if, you know, if you're not in a place where you can give the the One of the biggest areas of generosity that we're wanting to ask people of is the generosity of helping us share this with people. Cause at the end of the day, like we just want more incoming freshmen to find out about it so that we can serve them. And so I'm sure a ton of your listeners are sitting there going, Well, I d I know a bunch of you know people that just graduated high school and are going off to college. So I would say get on our website, the Oates Collaborative dot com, you'll see a thing that says find a retreat, and you'll be able to click that link. And it'll show you all the different universities that we're on. And if if you're at a university and you go, hey, we need that here, then then reach out to us. You know, there there's also a link on there that says start a retreat. And you click on that and it kind of you know explains our process and says, you know, reach out, let's start a conversation about possi you know, possibly starting one at your school because we wanna we wanna serve every campus eventually. And and the way to do that is just through again relationships, through those connections. So that's what I'd that's what I'd say. Start following us on those socials, see where we're at, and the people that you know that are already going to those colleges, and tell them, hey, you need to do this. It'll be worth it for you. That that would be a huge blessing to us because it's a huge blessing to the people who don't know about it yet, but need to know about it. Because that's what breaks my heart the most. I w another conversation that I don't love to have is somebody just told me the other day, they're like, I didn't go to this because I didn't know about it. But I needed it so badly. And and they've kind of they've really become an advocate for us of spreading word because they they don't want other people to miss out on it like they did. So that's what we would love from from others. Just help us spread word about it.

[36:23]  I love it, Trace. Man, I appreciate your time and really your insight in a space that we normally don't talk about, but really aligns with a lot of our conversations because we do speak to those in the higher ed and hope that there's a lot more collaborations on the way. Twenty-five schools, man. The next time I'm talking to you, and there's probably 50, we're going to speak that into existence, Trace. So you get busy, all right? Get busy. for those that are still watching, continue to share, like, subscribe. Make sure you guys also check us what Trace is doing via socials, via the website. Trace, I thank you so much. We'll catch you on the next one. Latest