Launch Youniversity

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

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090: Turning Pain into Purpose

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The Launch Youniversity Podcast
The Launch Youniversity Podcast
090: Turning Pain into Purpose
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Summary:

For many people looking to start a business, most of their ideas come from a place of need or desire. But sometimes, in the most unfortunate cases, the idea is born from an experience of pain.

After losing her daughter, Skylar, to a terminal illness when Skylar was three months shy of her second birthday, Ashley Jones created Love Not Lost, a non-profit organization that photographs people facing a terminal diagnosis to help preserve the memory of their loved ones. In today’s episode, Ashley shares with hosts Shane Benson and Kevin Jennings how she went from a painful idea to a successfully-launched non-profit organization that helps spread love to people during life’s darkest times.

Welcome to episode 90 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

Links + Resources:

Love Not Lost | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Plywood Presents

Dana Spinola of fab’rik

Headspace app

Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine documentary

Three Takeaways:

  • Do your research. Most people have an idea, but not sure where to start. The first step to any successful launch is seeing what’s out there. Find someone who’s doing something similar to your idea and take notes. What are they doing well? What are they doing that could use a bit of improvement? Then, apply what you’ve learned to your idea.
  • Tap into strategic resources. Feeling stuck? Reach out to people for help — most won’t turn you down for a coffee date to discuss your idea and answer any questions you may have.
  • Take breaks to be mindful. Whether you’re doing emotional work like Ashley or something else altogether, our bodies are meant to handle only so much. Check in with yourself regularly. How are you doing mentally, emotionally, and physically? Listen to what your body is telling you and make sure you’re being intentional about breaks and boundaries in your personal life and work.

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!

082: Leading People with Passion and Purpose

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Laura Whitaker of ESP on The Launch Youniversity Podcast
The Launch Youniversity Podcast
082: Leading People with Passion and Purpose
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Summary:

If you had been chosen to run an organization at 19-years-old, how would you have managed? Scary for most of us to think about, right? But that’s what happened to Laura Whitaker when she became the Executive Director of Extra Special People, Inc.

13 years later, Laura is still ESP’s Executive Director. Today on the podcast, she’s sitting down with Kevin and sharing her greatest lessons and advice from her years in the trenches.

Welcome to episode 82 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

Links + Resources:

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor

ExtraSpecialPeople.com

Laura’s Blog HopeSweetHome.com

Ask us a question! 

Three Takeaways:

1. Hope Dealers + Priority Givers

As the leader of a team, company or organization… your job is to be a hope dealer and priority giver. Being a hope dealer means constantly reminding people of the vision, the why, and how it’s possible. People rally around passion. Being a priority giver means guiding your team on what they should be working on, when. If you come to work each day with a plan to provide hope and clarify priorities, you might be the best leader they’ll ever have.

2. View your organization as its own person

Leading people is hard, hard work. And finding the balance between serving your team well and serving the company well can feel like a perpetual tightrope walk. One piece of advice Laura shared was: View your organization like it’s a person. It’s a person who has the highest value of anyone on your team. So when you make decisions about the team, think: Does this positively or negatively impact our highest value person?

3. You are not your organization

You have unique value outside of who you are at work. You are more than a people leader, entrepreneur, intrapreneur, director, etc. To be the best leader you can be, you need to know that you are much more than just a leader.

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.

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.