Let's Give A Damn

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...

Thomas Doochin was still in college when he decided to proactively give a damn. While doing his undergrad at UNC, Thomas and some of his closest friends started Daymaker. Daymaker exists to help cultivate the art of giving in the lives of children. They’re using this unique platform to teach children that is truly is better to give than to receive. Over 9000 children have chosen to give to other c...

Cortney Gusick is an amazing human that cares so much about how people live and how they die. You won’t find a shortage of people wanting to inspire you to live well. You won’t, on the other hand, find too many conversations happening around dying well. As a result of the death of her father and the experiences she and her family went through during that tough time, Cortney decided to start Pāhiki...

I met Stephen Keppel on Twitter a few months back. I knew right away that I needed to have Stephen on. I’m always intrigued to see someone making a difference within a world that is known for its red tape and bureaucracy—the corporate world. Stephen is the Vice President of Social Impact at Univision, the General Manager of Rise Up, the Executive Director of the Univision Foundation, and the Co-Fo...

I met Jen Lewis over a decade ago when she was teaching at a school in Honduras—the same school my father taught at. After leaving Honduras and getting another degree from John Brown, she started Purse & Clutch—a company that is about art, about connection, and about sustainability. They work directly with artisans in Guatemala & Ethiopia, providing thoughtfully designed, and ethically made handba...

Ben’s story involves prison, it involves homelessness, and it involves Ben being getting shot at as he narrowly escaped from communist Romania. I told Ben during our convo that parts of his story remind me of The Great Escape—you know, the WWII movie with Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson. Ben is an amazing man who has fought hard to raise a money, start a church, run Vital Solutions, and so much...

Jeremy and I attended a fundraiser a few weeks ago and we got talking about our current political climate. We text all the time about it but hadn’t had the opportunity to chat in person about it in quite some time. He mentioned that no one ever asks him about that. Most people only want to know about the celebrities he has photographed or the hotel he is building. So, I asked him if he wanted to h...

Is there anything Amy Jo Martin hasn’t done? She is a successful CEO, a speaker, a best-selling author, an investor, and a podcast host. I, for one, am very glad my daughters will have women like Amy Jo to look up to as they grow up and aspire for greatness. I loved chatting with Amy Jo about a number of things—about her life, her career, working with celebrities like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, ho...

It all started for Jeremy when he was on a leisurely trip to India. A couple abolitionists introduced him to the horrors of the red light district—women and children being sold into sex slavery. That day changed him forever. He went on to start Climb For Captives—an initiative he started which has raised over $750,000 so far! Later, he founded Rescue:Freedom International—an amazing group of human...

Elena and I first met over FaceTime months ago. Minutes into our conversation, I knew I needed to have her on the podcast. Elena grew up as the child of humanitarian aid workers overseas so she was able to see firsthand what it looks like to give a damn. Among her many accomplishments, she has been awarded the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship. That’s kind of a big deal. She is also a Rhodes...

Heide is a sustainable fashion model from NYC. She uses her voice and platform to champion the work Deux Mains and so many others are doing in the sustainable and ethical fashion world. Heide is good friends with Julie, the founder of Deux Mains. In this podcast chapter, I speak with both of these women about their lives, their vision for giving meaningful work to so many in the developing world,...

Jamie Sivrais is an amazing person. He’s displays resilience and strength in so many ways. During the first few years of his life, he experienced a significant amount of pain and trauma from a family member. Years later, he is using all that he has gone through as a launching pad for helping, loving, and serving those who has experienced similar things in their lives.  Follow Jamie on Twitter. Fol...

Eryn Eddy is a social entrepreneur, speaker, art director, and the founder of So Worth Loving– a lifestyle clothing brand based in Atlanta, Georgia. Eryn and her work have been featured in publications such as CNN headline news, MSNBC, Mashable, Jezebel Magazine, Southern Living, and Atlanta Magazine. Eryn hopes to empower others to use their voice for good in whatever avenue they are serving in....

Rich has spent 29 of his 33 years of life living in the same neighborhood—Washington Heights, Manhattan. He’s a husband, father, pastor, and a neighbor. And he’s committed to seeing people thrive in every way—physically, financially, emotionally, & spiritually. He—along with his family, church family, and community—are very involved in caring for the needs of the people around them. An all-around...

Kareem Manuel grew up in Chicago. He has pastored churches, performed for thousands as a hip hop artist, started companies, and everything in between. Now? He lives in Atlanta growing the We. Society, loving his neighbors, spending time with his family, managing artists, and always dreaming up new ways to help people rally around good causes. Kareem is wildly passionate about empowering people to...

This week’s conversation is live! Yup. We recorded this in front of a live audience in Nashville. Along with hearing from Barrett Ward, you’ll also get to hear from Miles Adcox, Ashley Real, and Alex Masters. These three humans are amazing and I can’t wait for you to hear what they have to say! Or sing, in Alex’s case:) OK, back to Barrett. It wasn’t until later in life that Barrett figured out wh...

Miles Adcox is the CEO of Onsite. He speaks nationally on topics such as Emotional Leadership, Inspiration, Communication, Organizational health, Creative Flow, Family Systems, Trauma, and Emotional Wellness. He is also a frequent guest on Dr. Phil and he’s been featured on A&E’s Intervention.  So, what’s Onsite? “Onsite provides a safe, loving, family environment where guests can break the cycles...

Like some of you, Beth Mathews is a graphic and web designer by trade. She’s a damn good one, too! What makes Beth so special is that she has chosen to proactively use her skillset and experiences to love and serve so many people. Whether we look at The Mom Bag or Immigrant Run Eateries, she continues to kill it.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Beth. She exudes humility and genuine love for peo...

John Cotton Richmond has been helping, loving, and serving people for quite some time. He started out working to free people from human slavery with the International Justice Mission. He then serve das the Special Litigation Counsel with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He went on to start the Human Trafficking Institute. If you haven’t figured out by now, John loves pe...

You may know Leon from his iconic yellow motor bike. Or you may know him from his Netflix show, The Kindness Diaries. Or maybe from his National Geographic show called The Amazing Adventures of a Nobody. Either way, you’re going to enjoy my conversation with a man who takes risks for a living with the hope of sharing love and kindness with as many people as possible. It’s not all fun and games, th...

David is a powerhouse. No, seriously. His voice and passion command your attention and his fitness regimen makes most of us look undisciplined and straight-up lazy. David spent a few years playing for the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks. He was “Mr. Irrelevant” (the last pick) in the 2008 NFL Draft. He didn’t get discouraged by this, however. He used this opportunity to prove everyone wr...

I met Clint in the back of a coffeeshop and bookstore to record our conversation (please excuse the chatter you’ll hear in the background!). Clint has impacted me deeply so it was an honor to get a few minutes of his time on a beautiful Sunday morning in D.C. Clint uses poetry, public speaking, social media, books, and many other mediums to address important issues like systemic racism, mass incar...