Launch Youniversity

Turning Good Intentions into Reality in Your Career, Business and Life

mission

096: Scott Harrison of charity: water Finds Purpose, Success Through His Non-Profit

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find purpose
The Launch Youniversity Podcast
096: Scott Harrison of charity: water Finds Purpose, Success Through His Non-Profit
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Summary:

In the world of charities, nonprofit organizations, and startups, there are plenty of success stories of someone’s “crazy” idea reaching meteoric success. But some rise to the top and find success according to the world’s standard is quite meaningless. This is the story of Scott Harrison, the founder and CEO of charity: water, a nonprofit organization that brings clean drinking water to developing countries.

Once a successful nightclub promoter, Scott found success driven by financial standards left him feeling unfulfilled, so he set out on a personal mission to find purpose. In today’s episode, he joins hosts, Jeff Henderson and Kevin Jennings, to talk about his transformational experience and how solid, communicated values drive any mission.

Welcome to episode 96 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

Links + Resources:

charity: water

charity: water spring subscription

Thirst

Three Takeaways:

1. Have a vision for your culture.
Be really clear on the culture you want to create. Then, carefully craft a team of people you not only want to work with, but whom you trust. These people will be on the front lines of your mission and you want to make sure they actually want to be there.

2. Be transparent about your values.
First, document your values immediately. Then, make sure you clearly communicate those values to your employees and potential new hires — this will make all the difference in your team’s investment in your mission.

3. Replicate what you admire.
Scott Harrison shared in today’s podcast how he looked to subscription-based business models such as Netflix, HBO, and Dropbox to model charity:water’s business model after. If you’re looking to make some changes to your business, you don’t always have to look to your competitor for ideas — fresh perspectives can be found anywhere you look.

Thank you for listening to the Launch Youniversity Podcast! If you have a question that you want to be answered on the podcast… ask us here!

049: When Mission and Good Business Collide: Brian Preston of Lamon Luther

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SUMMARY:

Can you be mission-focused but also profit-focused? Yes, and Lamon Luther is a really good example of it. When Brian Preston found himself wanting to help people who needed jobs, he realized that the best way to do that was to grow a healthy, profitable business. Brian is passionate about his mission, but in order to stay on mission… he has to stay in business. On today’s podcast, he shares his fascinating story and lessons he’s learned for any launcher looking to make a difference.

Welcome to episode 49 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

LINKS + RESOURCES:

Lamon Luther

Lamon Luther on Facebook

Lamon Luther on Instagram

Lamon Luther for West Elm

Tiny House Giveaway

THREE KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Just keep moving

Just as Brian was on his way to having one million dollars in his bank account, the recession hit and he lost everything. It’s easy to let that loss shut you down mentally and emotionally. But Brian persisted. He just kept moving and kept seeking opportunities to work on something he was passionate about. During this time, he even worked at a church for free for two years. It was at that church where the idea for Lamon Luther was born.

Mission and wise business need to collide

Brian started Lamon Luther out of a heart to help people. And keeping your mission central is important, but the business part of the job matters just as much. Don’t get so caught up in helping people that you don’t make wise business decisions. If you go out of business then you’re not going to help anyone.

Plan to win

Lamon Luther started as more of a mission and dream than an actual plan. While Brian has been successful in figuring out a plan, he would advise anyone starting to not ignore the need for a documented strategy. Remember, a plan isn’t a lifetime commitment, you can always change it if you need to. But what it does is force you to think about critical issues and find proactive solutions.

038: Brewing Beer and Business With Purpose: Joel Iverson of Monday Night Brewing

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Brewing Beer and Business With Purpose: Joel Iverson of Monday Night Brewing
The Launch Youniversity Podcast
038: Brewing Beer and Business With Purpose: Joel Iverson of Monday Night Brewing
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Summary:

Joel Iverson is one of the three founders of Monday Night Brewing, a top craft beer brewery in the Atlanta area. As the official Taste-Testing Ninja of Monday Night Brewing, Joel is joining Launch Youniversity on the podcast today to talk about how beer deepened relationships, relationships built a brewery and how the brewery is launching and thriving with purpose.

Welcome to episode 38 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

Links + Resources:

Monday Night Brewing

Monday Night Brewing blog

The 10% Entrepreneur by Patrick J. McGinnis

Three Takeaways:

1. What’s your purpose?
There are a variety of craft beer places in Atlanta, but what makes Monday Night Brewing special is it’s purpose: To deepen human relationships over some of the best beer in the country. Monday Night Brewing was built from relationships, so their goal is help facilitate and invest in relationships. Similar to a sticky statement, it’s powerful to be able to summarize your purpose in a single sentence. It’s your job to tell the marketplace what you want to be known for, and give them the words to communicate it.

2. It Takes Time.
Not every person can quit their job and launch headfirst into entrepreneurship. Joel and his partners had families and jobs and responsibilities to think about. So they started small and gradually grew. In time, through consistent efforts and producing a quality product, they were able to go full time and see their business thrive.

3. Do you need to hold on or let it go?
Joel credits learning how to discern this question to time. As the entrepreneur of your business or mastermind behind a project, it’s so instinctual to want to take the reins on any and every issue that needs to be fixed. But creating a culture of asking questions, learning, and problem-solving means that you need to not be the person to swoop in, but help your team figure things out along the way.

027: Channeling Your Passion to Change the Word: Justin Miller of CARE for AIDS

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Channeling Your Passion to Change the Word: Justin Miller of CARE for AIDS
The Launch Youniversity Podcast
027: Channeling Your Passion to Change the Word: Justin Miller of CARE for AIDS
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Summary:

At 18 years old, Justin Miller sat in a room listening to Bono talk about the AIDS crisis and knew that he had to be part of the solution. What started as an idea for a documentary has, 10 years later, grown into the incredible and impactful organization that is CARE for AIDS.

In David’s conversation with Justin, they talk about channeling passion, staying focused on your mission, how to scale your business and how to protect your time.

Welcome to episode 27 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

Links + Resources:

CARE for AIDS website

CARE for AIDS on Twitter

CARE for AIDS on Instagram

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeowen

Three Takeaways:

1. You don’t need to have it all figured out before you launch.
Justin was only 18 when he developed his passion for the AIDS crisis. He didn’t have the connections, time, experience or resources to launch an AIDS prevention organization, but he knew that he was meant to do something. So he did. Because sometimes you just have to take the first step.

2. Focus gets your further.
One of the keys to CARE for AIDS success has been their ability to focus on their mission: Preventing children from becoming orphans due to AIDS. It doesn’t mean that Justin or his team don’t see the many other needs in the communities they serve, but they know that staying focused—and saying yes and no to the right things—will allow them to have the most impact.

3. Even passion needs to take a back seat to personal care.
If you’re a passionate launcher, then you can absolutely relate to this. Passion is a special gift and a driving force, and one that some entrepreneurs can temporarily get swept away with. But the passion that fuels you can burn you if you stop caring for yourself in the process. For Justin, this means setting boundaries with his schedule. It means time blocking parts of his day to pour into his team. It means acknowledging that even though he is saving lives in Africa, his wife and child always come first. Passion is an incredible thing, but we need to steward it correctly to be successful with it.