Let's Give A Damn

I rarely watch TV but I definitely make time for Queer Eye. Season 2 came out this summer and I was first introduced to my guest today in the season 2 finale called Make Ted Great Again. The Fab 5 were tasked with helping the Mayor of Clarkston GA…well, look more the part of a Mayor. It was a deeply impactful episode as we got a peek into how diverse, accepting, and unified Clarkston, GA is.  Mayo...

Becca Heller is the co-founder of IRAP—the International Refugee Assistance Project. They organize law students and lawyers to, essentially, help refugees and displaced persons.  “IRAP serves the world’s most persecuted individuals and empowers the next generation of human rights leaders.” Do you remember just a few days after Trump became President when he issued the first version of his Muslim t...

Ruthie Lindsey has experienced a lot of loss and pain in her life—including daily chronic pain from a threatening accident she was in several years ago. Additionally, she has learned how to find beauty and joy in the midst of pain and suffering. I’m terrible at this most of the time, to be honest. When things aren’t right in our society or in politics, I let it affect me way too much. I was eager...

Jason Adkins raises chickens, goats, pigs in the middle of Nashville! No joke. He also grows mushrooms, many types of vegetables, and many types of plants right in the middle of Nashville. Essentially, he and his team at Trevecca University have created a food oasis in the middle of a food desert. Truly amazing! You see, Jason teaches environmental justice, urban farming, and so much more to under...

Tori Samples got a degree in Harp. Yep—harp! But that is not what she’s doing today. I mean, I wouldn’t mind if she made a living being a harpist cuz I love me some harp. BUT she went on to co-found Leaf Global Fintech—Virtual Banking Beyond Borders. There are 70m refugees around the world at this moment and 100m more people on the brink of becoming refugees. Tori and her team at Leaf envision a f...

Clara Daly is a teenager from Calabasas, CA. She was recently returning from an East Coast trip with her mother, Jane, when the flight attendant asked if anyone knew sign language. You see, there was a blind and deaf man on the flight with whom the flight attendants were having a difficult time communicating. Clara’s willingness to help changed everything on that flight. Several passengers took ph...

“Every child deserves to be warmly greeted, to have their name used positively, and to be hugged, high-fived, hand-shaked, or at least smiled at by their teacher, daily. This is the bare minimum.” My guest today tweeted these words recently. I, a father of 3 children, couldn’t agree more. Dwayne Reed is a teacher in Chicago. While most teachers were preparing their beginning-of-the-school-year let...

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” — Aesop During a not-so-great season of work over 9 years ago, Ashley Reale began leaving notes of encouragement inside magazine covers, inside public restrooms, and a variety of other public spaces. Several years later and a thousand notes later, she realized she was onto something and wanted to share her vision with a larger community. S...

You know how when bad things happen around the world and you decide to say something about it on social media, express concern, or raise some money for that cause? Then along comes a troll that says, “If you care so much about it, why don’t you move there?” Has that ever happened to you? It happens to me quite often. Well, my guest this week did just that.  Today, you’ll get to hear my convo with...

Zach served two tours in Iraq and engaged in other military assignments throughout Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. Zach has seen and done it all. Upon returning from deployments, he noticed that veterans are not served well as they try to integrate back into civilian life. He decided to do something about it. Years later, the results of his resolve to do something are Hirepurpose, HeadSt...

After witnessing little girls being sold for sex with her very two eyes, Amber decided she must do something about this horrible evil.  Amber founded Eleventh Candle Co—a social enterprise company that makes quality products and does so much good in the world. She also runs Legacy—a nonprofit working globally to redeem, restore, empower, and equip those vulnerable to human trafficking, abuse, expl...

On 9/22/17, President Trump said the following to a crowd in Alabama: “"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners when somebody disrespects our flag to say get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he's fired, he's fired.’ The next day, he tweeted, “If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL, or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disr...

When Violet was just a few weeks old, her parent—Jen and Mike Anderson—found out she was blind. They also found out that 80% of blindness is treatable and preventable. Through proper medical care and attention, Violet received her eyesight back! During our conversation, Jen shares what it was like to go through that experience and how that season of life pushed her toward starting Violet Sees—a no...

Kevin and his family went to Uganda to adopt a child and they never left. Crazy, right? His story is fantastic. I loved my conversation with Kevin because he gets it and truly lives the life of a damn-giver. He is a wise leader that doesn’t just talk the talk. He, most definitely, walk the walk! He drops wisdom bombs left and right throughout our conversation. Pay attention, my friends! You won’t...

Rob “Rob Veggies” Horton was born in St. Louis in an area of the city where his family couldn’t find healthy food options so they resorted to eating nutrition-deficit foods. Later on, Rob moved to Nashville for college and was frustrated that he couldn’t find supermarkets close to him where he could buy fresh products. So, he started learning how to garden. The rest, as they say, is history! He we...

The #MeToo movement has given millions of people the courage and a voice to come out and share their own stories of sexual abuse. We’ve seen many powerful men be taken down by this movement. We’ve also witnessed the rise of the #ChurchToo movement—people using up to rightly state that there should be zero tolerance of any kind of sexual abuse within the Church. When Kenny was a teenager, he experi...

A few weeks ago, I spent a week in Honduras with my friends at World Vision. We met several incredible groups of people but I was especially impacted by the community that now has clean water after 7 years of working hard to get clean water to their community. You heard that right—SEVEN YEARS.  In this podcast episode, you’ll get to listen in on an audio clip between two World Vision team members...

Last week, I spent time in Memphis, TN for the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s death. At 6:01pm on April 4, I was at the Lorraine Motel for a moment of silence along with thousands of other people. Al Green was there. Bernie Sanders was there. Fr. Michael Pfleger was there. It was a beautiful, solemn moment. In this episode, I share a bit more about my time there. ICYMI, ICE raided a fact...

Last week, I sat down with Chelsea Clinton in an elementary school conference room while she was on tour to promote her most recent book, She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History. We briefly discussed a trip she and President Clinton took a few years ago with my friends at World Vision to see completed and uncompleted water projects in Rwanda and Myanmar. We chat...

This week’s podcast episode is short but not without substance. In this episode, Nick shares several ways you can give more damns and get involved: - Nick is creating a coaching experience in April for 20-25 people. Check out the details here and sign up if you think it’s something you’ll benefit from!  - On March 24, hundreds of thousands of people will take to the streets to march in the March F...

Anne lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with her husband and their children. From her website: “Anne is an oral history writer interested in people, their stories and making meaningful connections. She wrote her first book The Lucky Ones (winner of the Winnipeg Public Library's On The Same Page Book Award) because of her interest in refugees’ personal stories. Anne is excited that this book has enabled...

Many people would say Kevin Lyman is a legend. In fact, when I told one of my friends that he was going to be on the show, my friend texted me these words: “True legend, helped shape my youth.” I’m very sure so many young people share my friend’s sentiment!  Over the years, Kevin has started a production company and a consulting firm, he has received many awards, and he has put on some of the best...

Grace Theisen and Lauren Lancaster are Michigan natives now residing in Nashville, TN. A few years ago, they started Songs Against Slavery. SAS “empowers and inspires communities to join the fight against sex trafficking in the United States. We raise awareness and funds through benefit concerts and musician partnerships.” Essentially, they raise money through concerts and partnerships and they us...

Richard Lee is the Director of Church Mobilization at the International Justice Mission. IJM is a global organization that protects the poor from violence in the developing world. They are unique in their approach to eradicating human trafficking and helping vulnerable people. They don’t aim to just free the slave. Their aim is to arrest and convict the slave owner—the trafficker—so they can never...

Sheeza Shah is the Founder and CEO of UpEffect, a crowdfunding and support platform for companies dedicated to improving lives and the planet. Her company has become the go-to platform for entrepreneurs who are driven not by how much money they can make, but how many lives they can impact. UpEffect’s recent products have ranged from ethical fashion brands to solar cookstoves — from clean drinking...