Podcasts about free bikes

[00:00:00] Tommy Thomas: Our guest today is Philanthropeneur Terry Esau. Terry spent most of his career writing and producing music for TV commercials. Target, McDonald's, Pepsi, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Dairy Queen, Golden Grahams, and everything in between. He worked with celebrities like Amy Grant, Jim Henson, Alice Cooper and Prince. After writing over a thousand commercial scoring films and writing for TV shows, he decided to take a break from the music business. And tried his hand at writing words. He's the author of three books and one novel.  Terry is a certified bike-a-holic. In 2010, he started a nonprofit organization called Free Bicycles for Kidz and has given away over 150,000 bicycles to kids in need. He holds the Guinness World Record for most bikes collected in one day, nearly 10,000, in Minneapolis. Free Bikes for Kidz is now active in 20 cities with a goal of being in a hundred cities and a million bikes given away in the next five years. Recently, Terry cofounded the new nonprofit Free Guitars for Kids.  They partner with music industry giants such as Gibson and Fender and other music leaders to put guitars in the hands of deserving young people. Before we get too deep into your music and professional career, take me back to your childhood or your upbringing. What was that like for you? [00:01:35] Terry Esau:  I grew up in a tiny little town of 2,000 people called Mountain Lake, where there's no mountain and a man-made lake in southern Minnesota. So yeah, small town. I don't know. It was a typical small-town upbringing, just hanging out, riding my bike everywhere after school and I had a paper route because I got paid to ride my bike. My brother and I would build ramps and we'd collect neighborhood kids and have them lie down on the street and we'd see how many kids we could jump over. [00:02:15] Tommy Thomas: Y'all must be pretty good salesmen to get somebody to do that. [00:02:17] Terry Esau:  Yeah we usually made it. So it was that, and then I went to college at a school here in Minneapolis, Christian Liberal Arts School, Northwestern. Got a music education degree, which technically I've never used. But I used the music aspect of it for the rest of my career, so we can talk about that when you're ready. [00:02:45] Tommy Thomas: How did you get into music?  What was your first instrument? [00:02:47] Terry Esau:  I got a guitar when I was, I don't know how old, probably in sixth or seventh grade, through Sears Roebuck. A Silver Tone guitar. It was not a great guitar, but it was all I needed and I played trumpet in in middle school and high school band. And then I just continued on that. When I got to college, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I was interested in music and I played in a few bands and stuff like that. So, I continued in the music degree and then, through a kind of interesting circumstances, I ended up discovering what my career would be in music, but it had nothing to do with music education. [00:03:35] Tommy Thomas: What's something that people might be surprised to know about you? [00:03:41] Terry Esau: Other than riding my bike across the country, I got to mix one of my songs with Prince. I did a Target Christmas campaign with Amy Grant. I did a Sam Goody campaign with Alice Cooper. I got to do some Sesame Street music with Jim Henson.  And then my nonprofits.  I started two nonprofits that have given away 150,000 bicycles and now we're doing the same thing with guitars. So yeah, I've gotten three books published. I have a very strange career trajectory. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. [00:04:27] Tommy Thomas: How did you get into making music for a living? When did you realize that, wow, I could make a living doing this? [00:04:31] Terry Esau: So here's an interesting story. My first day in college, my first day in music theory class, our professor said here's your assignment. Go home, write a jingle about milk, and come back tomorrow and perform it for the class. So, I did that. Never thought anything of it. Until three years later when I was completely out of money. So, I decided to take a year off of college and work. And I was teaching guitar lessons in a music store. Almost went insane. I had 55 lessons a week and all I did all day long was teach junior high boys how to play Smoke on the Water. Do you remember that song? [00:05:15] Tommy Thomas: That's a limited horizon. [00:05:16] Terry Esau: Yeah, but then I just, I walked in and quit one day, and I just said, I can't do this one more day. And I remembered back to that first assignment in music theory class, and I thought, huh. I wonder if anybody would pay me to do that. It's a long story, but I ended up in the jingle business, working, writing and producing music for TV commercials, mostly.  [00:05:45] Tommy Thomas: Do you remember your first big jingle? [00:05:49] Terry Esau: My first jingle was for a little flower shop called Whiting's Flowers. I wouldn't call that a big jingle by any means. I don't remember what my first big one was. Like I said, I've done jingles for McDonald's and Pepsi and Harley's and Hondas and Target and General Mills cereals and I've probably done over a thousand commercials, wow. It's a strange career. [00:06:19] Tommy Thomas: Have you had any mentors in your life? [00:06:23] Terry Esau: I've had a lot of mentors. One of the guys who really helped get me started, his name was Dick Wilson and he was he was probably in his late forties or fifties when I was in my twenties. I don't know if he saw potential in me or what, but he took me under his wing and he started giving me work and he was like the jingle king of Minneapolis in the 1940s and 50s, and that was when jingles were the deal. He took me under his wing and believed in me and convinced other ad agency people to believe in me. I'm not sure if you can make it in that business without somebody who's there who already believes in you a little bit. Yeah, so he was certainly a mentor. [00:07:21] Tommy Thomas: Anybody at the school, at the college? [00:07:25] Terry Esau: My theory professor, Maxine Woodbridge Postgate, it's funny because we had a love hate relationship. I think she recognized that I had potential, but she was very conservative, and she was a great composer of choral music, but she believed in following the musical rules very strictly. And I seem to have a bent to want to break the rules. I remember she called me in one day after it was a final composition I did for, I don't remember if it was music theory 101, or the second year theory class. And we had to compose something and then bring in musicians and perform it. So we did it. And the next day she called me in front of the music theory class, and she said, I just want you all to know that what Terry did was not music. And I'm giving him an F for that project. It was a little too avant garde for her. It was a little, like some of the more modern classical music, where it's a little atonal and experimental and she just goes, no. She had a very narrow definition of what music was supposed to be. Yet, she would keep trying to help me and give me opportunities because she believed in me. But she really wanted to make me into a composer like she was. And I've done some of that in my later years. I've composed some choral music that's gotten published. But I believe in all kinds of music, and that was the beauty about being in the jingle business. One day I would have to compose something that was operatic, and the next day was country western, and the next was rock and roll. You do all kinds of music. If you listen to enough TV commercials that have music, you're going to hear all kinds of music, right? [00:09:34] Tommy Thomas: What have you done relative to mentoring others? What does that look like in your life? [00:09:38] Terry Esau: I actually do a lot of that. I guess a lot of the mentoring that I do I don't see it as career mentoring. I see it as personal growth and development and spiritual mentoring. Because I feel I have some career paths in the music business, in the nonprofit business, in the book publishing business. So, I have experience there. So, if people want to talk about that, I'm obviously happy to do that. But I think it's more important that if you're mentoring young people, it's like, how do you get them to grow up to be people of integrity and character and generosity and kindness and compassion? And those are characteristics that will serve you through your life and make the world a better place. So, I meet with, especially a lot of young men who are in their twenties, maybe thirties. As I get older, it's like the young men are older too. Yes, they are. And my wife sometimes says to me, she goes, you're mentoring so many of these young guys. And I go, but you don't understand they're mentoring me too. I don't think mentoring is ever, well, mentoring shouldn't be a one-way street. It should be a two-way thing. I feel like I'm learning as much from the people I'm mentoring as the people, as they're getting from me. [00:11:15] Tommy Thomas: It's been said that probably most of us learn most from our failures or mistakes.  If that's the truth, why are most of us so afraid to fail? [00:11:27] Terry Esau: You know what, I've never, I don't think I've ever been too afraid to fail. But I've always believed that you should fail quickly, and you should learn from your failures. I always look at it this way, if you've never failed, you've probably never tried. Or you've never taken on something that was a little bigger than you. If you only attempt things that you know you can accomplish, I don't think that's a high enough degree of risk worthy of living a passionate life. So I've had plenty of failures. I've gotten three books published, but I have about four other books that I've started or even finished and haven't been published. You could look at those as failures or you could look at it as I learned something from them. And sometimes, my writing is part of how I process life and come to understand what I think and believe. So even if a book doesn't get published, it's served in my personal growth, right? [00:12:43] Tommy Thomas: What's the biggest risk you've ever taken? [00:12:53] Terry Esau: I would say when I quit the music business. I didn't really know what I was going to do. I'm actually doing a TED talk this summer and the title is the sharp elbow of restlessness. Some people say when God closes a door, he opens a window.  There's all these cliches. I feel like before doors are even closed for me; I start to feel restless. And restlessness is something I can't ignore, because often it's when I start to feel like I'm lacking in purpose. That's when I start to feel restless and without purpose, I always feel restless. So, in my music career, after 25 years, I could not ignore this feeling that I feel like this chapter of my life is supposed to be over. And I didn't know what I was going to go into. I didn't know what the next chapter was, but I felt very, I don't know. I felt very certain and willing to take a risk that I need to walk away from this and discover what is next. So, I did that and that was a pretty big risk, I think, at that time. Because I'm in my late 40s, probably peak earning career. And I just walked away. I sold my recording studio. And that led to my getting my first book published. Which then turned into a speaking career. So again, all of those things were a risk because I didn't know what I was going into. It was a risk because I've never made the kind of money doing all of these new things that I do that I did in the music career. I was risking some financial opportunity, but sometimes having purpose in your life and meaning pays bigger dividends than finances, right? [00:15:15] Tommy Thomas: Yeah, tell us more about the TED Talk. How does one get invited to give a TED Talk? [00:15:21] Terry Esau: So anybody can apply to be a TED speaker. Okay. But it had never occurred to me to even think about that. But I got an email one day from a guy who's the head of the acquisitions team that searches for speakers. And I got an email and I was scanning it and I was just about to click delete because I thought it was just another one of those scam things, hey, send us 200 and we'll put your name in this book of great entrepreneurs or whatever. I've seen so many of those things that I just delete them. But this guy, he said, hey, could you meet me for coffee? So, I'm going oh, so he's local and he actually wants to get together in person. So, then I read a little more and I go, he's part of the TED organization. I've always respected and enjoyed watching TED talks. So I went and met with him, had coffee and he goes, yeah we like what you've been doing in your career. And we think you might have an inspiring story to tell. So here I am next on August 12th. I'm doing a TED talk at Orchestra Hall here in Minneapolis.  [00:16:42] Tommy Thomas: Wow, congratulations. We'll have to look on that and see when it gets on the schedule. [00:16:47] Terry Esau: Yeah, they upload those things to YouTube and you can search them. And yeah, so I'm basically talking about the thing I've been telling you about is that how restlessness should not necessarily be viewed as a negative thing. I say you might want to look at restlessness as like a light on the dashboard of your life saying, hey, it might be time for you to change, to try something new, take a risk, so it's happened to me multiple times in my careers and so far I believe that restlessness is something I need to pay attention to because it's always led me into something really interesting. [00:17:34] Tommy Thomas: I know you've started two nonprofits, Free Bikes for Kids and Free Guitars for Kids. Take us into the early days of those. I get questions often from people who say, why don't you do a podcast on how to start a nonprofit? Tell us about the early days. [00:17:51] Terry Esau: Once again, I never intended to start a nonprofit. I started a hobby. I actually got a call from a friend and he said, hey there's this kid in our neighborhood who doesn't have a bicycle, his parents can't afford one and it was December, so Christmas is coming and so I just got together with some of my buddies and said, hey, why don't we collect bicycles this December, fix them up and we'll give them to kids who don't have a bicycle and can't afford one. And so that first year we gave away 250 bikes. And we all said, that was fun. Let's do it again next year. And that year we gave away 750 and the next year it was 1500. And that's when I said, okay, this has gone beyond the realm of hobby. This is like a second job for me. How about if we form a nonprofit, put together a board of directors, I'll go find a corporate sponsor. And we did. And that year we gave away 5,000 bikes. Sometimes you just, you follow your nose, and you do something that you think, oh, this, there's a need here. There are millions of kids in the U.S. who don't have a bicycle, can't afford one. Millions of kids who are unhealthy, diabetes, obesity. They're spending all their time in front of a screen. I thought, there are probably millions of bicycles sitting in garages that have been outgrown or aren't being used. What if we collect those, fix 'em up? So now we're in 22 cities. We've given away 150,000 bicycles. We're now partnering with Target. So Target is giving us all of their return bikes, 30 to 40,000 bikes every year. And now we have a goal of being in a hundred cities and giving away a million bikes by the year 2030. I don't know, I think we might be able to do it. Huh? [00:19:47] Tommy Thomas: Yeah. You said you formed a board, so what did that early board look like and how did it view itself? [00:19:56] Terry Esau: They always say there are two kinds of boards, like a working board or a governance board. Usually when you start something from scratch it's generally a working board, right? Yeah. So, most of that early board was made up of people who were my friends, who I would go out and ride my bike with. And they loved bicycles, and they thought every kid should have a bicycle too. So, the board was mainly made up of people who were passionate about it and wanted to actually volunteer and help make it happen. Then, over the course of several years, as the organization started to grow and blossom, now the board must transition from a working board and start becoming more of a governance board, to give direction and oversight to the organization as it gets bigger. But I think, if you're starting a nonprofit from scratch, you gotta have people who believe in the mission and are willing to invest some sweat equity in it, right? It's hard though, I will say that. It's hard to start. It's hard to start a nonprofit from scratch, because you're inventing everything. Yeah, it's just flat out a lot of work. [00:21:22] Tommy Thomas: So when you started Free Guitars for Kids, I guess you had a few learning lessons under your belt.  How has that one gone? [00:21:31] Terry Esau: It's interesting. So yeah, it was like, okay we figured out how to do this with bicycles. So, what if we just translate that to guitars? Because we go, I bet there are millions of guitars sitting in people's homes collecting dust that never come out of their case too. So, we were going, okay we'll start this and we'll get some celebrities to do a pro bono concert and we'll say, you can't buy a ticket to the concert. The only way to get in is you have to bring a guitar to donate. And we thought, oh, that's a great idea. Then you go, okay, now we have to get celebrities to do this. And then where are we going to put the guitars and who's going to help us restring them? And then we ended up going, okay it's not exactly apples to apples comparison with bikes and with guitars. So, we went out and we started talking with Fender and Gibson, guitar manufacturers, and said, would you want to partner with us? Would you want to help us make sure that they're under resourced kids who get a guitar? And they were like yeah, we'd like to be part of that. So now we're finding we're getting people who are donating dollars. And they're helping us fund and Gibson and Fender are either giving us screaming deals on guitars. And sometimes like they just gave us 200 free guitars. Gibson did, which we gave away in Nashville a couple of weeks ago. And last week we gave away 150 some guitars in Alaska. And now we're going to be doing it in Las Vegas. Going to be doing an event with a TV show down in Austin, Texas. In September, November, I can't remember. But yeah, so we learned a few things. So, with Free Bikes for Kids, there's the Mothership nonprofit, and then all the cities are like, they're independent nonprofits. It's like a franchise model. So when we started Free Guitars for Kids, I go, I don't want to do that franchise model. It's just complicated. Yeah. And it doesn't make as much sense with the guitar thing anyhow. So it's just one nonprofit. But we're starting what we're calling our sounding boards in various cities. So we're getting people together. Right now, we're just doing it in music cities. We have a sounding board in Nashville and one here in Minneapolis and Portland and, we'll be doing it in Chicago and LA and Austin and New York and wherever else. And those sounding boards, they're not board members, but they're advocates in the city who are going to help us put on events and give guitars away in those cities. We're continuing to learn and like you said, we've realized with free bikes for kids, we made some mistakes and we're trying to remedy those and then with free guitars, we're trying to not make any of those mistakes and I'm sure we will, but whenever you try something big, you make mistakes, right? It's not mistakes. Those things don't bother me that much. I figured everybody makes mistakes. We just keep trying, keep doing better, and yeah, we're making kids happy and healthy. Good. [00:25:01] Tommy Thomas: If you had deep pockets, and you were on a nonprofit version of Shark Tank, and you had people like yourself presenting their case for nonprofit funding, what questions have you got to have solid answers for before you open your checkbook? [00:25:23] Terry Esau: First of all, whatever you're pitching, it has to solve a problem and there has to be a resource to help solve that problem. Like for us, it was like, here's the problem. Kids in America are unhealthy, they're obese, there's poverty, so they can't afford a bicycle. Can help solve some of their health issues, not just physical health issues, but mental health issues, right? I call my bike my carbon fiber therapist because, you're a cyclist. It's like I get on my bike, and I go for a ride. I could be having a bad day, but by the time I get done with my ride, all that stress has just been washed away. Yeah. So I'm Shark Tank. I think you'd have to go. What's the problem? What's the solution? And then on top of that you have to go what's your strategy to bring the solution to the problem? What are the logistics? What are the resources that you need? People who give money to causes they really have to sell them on the fact that you are going to change the world in some small way, at least that's in the nonprofit world. In the for profit world, then you have to prove to them, hey, you can make your money back on this investment. For us, we say, yeah, you're not making money back on us, but you should feel really good about what you're doing to change the lives of children. [00:27:06] Tommy Thomas: What's the best piece of advice anybody ever gave you? [00:27:11] Terry Esau: One thing I would say is persistence is greater than talent. There are a lot of talented people in the world who don't accomplish anything. And there are a lot of people who are marginally talented who accomplish great things because they just don't give up. Here's something my dad said to me when he was on his deathbed at 92. He pointed to himself, and he goes, Terry, up here, I'm 92. And then he pointed at his head, and he goes, in here, I'm 17. And I think that was true of my dad. Some people get old and they go, I've got nothing to offer. They get grumpy and they get ornery and, get off my lawn. I think what my dad was saying is, if you want to stay young, first of all you can stay young mentally. You can't do that physically, but you can stay young mentally. And I think you do that primarily by staying a curious person. Curious people continue to learn all the way through their life into their old age. So I think in some way, my dad was saying, don't settle, stay curious. Because life is too interesting to just go into autopilot mode, keep seeking for the adventure of life, keep learning, keep growing. My dad never said those words, but I think in some sort of way, I think that's what he was saying. [00:29:02] Tommy Thomas: If you could go back in time and tell a younger version of yourself one thing, what would you tell? [00:29:08] Terry Esau: Oh, what would I tell myself?  I think I would say don't be afraid of failing. Failure is not the worst thing that can happen to you. It's not trying is the worst thing. I don't think I was ever too afraid of failing. But I think I worried a little bit more when I was younger. What do people think of us? Or if I do this, what will people think? That's one of the great beauties of getting older. I don't really care that much anymore. This is who I am, this is what I believe, this is what I think, this is how I'm choosing to live my life. You can disagree with it, and you have every right to, and I won't judge you for it, but I'm not going to let your view of me change what I think or how I choose to live my life and I think our culture has a lot of that going on, with social media and stuff, it's the comparison thing, yeah. I think comparison is not a very useful concept, because everybody compares up, nobody compares down. Like, I've talked to my family about this a few times. Look at so and so, they just went on this vacation, and they just bought this or they bought that and go, yeah, you're comparing up. Now let's compare down. We have so much more than so many other people. So I think in America, maybe it's part of a characteristic of capitalism. You have to have more and you have to have better. And so we always compare up. And I think if we compared down a little bit more often, we would have more gratitude, we would be more grateful for what it is that we do have. We don't have as much as that guy who's the CEO of some Fortune 500 company, but we live better than most of the people in the world, right? [00:31:23] Tommy Thomas: I want to thank Terry for taking time to be with us from what is obviously a very busy schedule. John Somerville, who was our guest for episodes 109 and 110 suggested Terry as a guest. I had no idea of the treat we were in for. Thank you for joining us today. If you are a first-time listener, I hope you will subscribe and become a regular. You can find links to all the episodes at our website: www.jobfitmatters.com/podcast. If there are topics you'd like for me to explore my email address is tthomas@jobfitmatters.com.   Word of mouth has been identified as the most valuable form of marketing. Surveys tell us that consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all other forms of advertising. If you've heard something today that's worth passing on, please share it with others. You're already helping me make something special for the next generation of nonprofit leaders. I'll be back next week with a new episode. Until then, stay the course on our journey to help make the nonprofit sector more effective and sustainable. Links & Resources JobfitMatters Website Next Gen Nonprofit Leadership with Tommy Thomas The Perfect Search – What every board needs to know about hiring their next CEO Be the Surprise – Spontaneous Elements of Faith Blue Collar God / White Collar God Free Bikes for Kidz  Free Guitars for Kids TEDx Talks - Harnessing the power of restlessness | Terry Esau | TEDxMinneapolis   Connect tthomas@jobfitmatters.com Follow Tommy on LinkedIn  

Francis is back, and this week we're chatting about Mark Cavendish's new hopes for a record-breaking Tour, UCI controversy at the Gravel World Championships and expensive but cool bike stuff that we love. Plus we play more overrated or underrated, and answer your questions. If you'd like to support Free Bikes 4 Kids, you can do that here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/raising-money-for-mike-puffajones?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customerAlso check out Francis' Zwift Double Everest here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV17fgB-bkQAnd his BMX Everest here:https://youtu.be/3EsyyvfzU7U?si=hHDQNVePUW05n9rHIf you'd like us to send in a question, story, some good news, things you'd like us to discuss or anything else, email us at wildonespodcast@cademedia.co.ukThanks and see you next time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's show featured Dave Vankat with Catholic Charities providing details about the upcoming Tackle Hunger Food Drive, Terri Larson and Cari Smith with Muddy Paws Second Chance Animal Rescue promoting their annual Wag-o-Ween fundraising event, and Steph Dorland with Free Bikes 4 Kidz Omaha discussing their work to accept bicycle donations to provide to local children-in-need.

Civil rights advocates are protesting proposed utility rate increases, Urban Triage's second annual harvest festival is coming Saturday and Free Bikes 4 Kidz fall donation drive is coming at the end of the month.

Civil rights advocates are protesting proposed utility rate increases, Urban Triage's second annual harvest festival is coming Saturday and Free Bikes 4 Kidz fall donation drive is coming at the end of the month.

Terry Esau Founder & Executive Director of Free Bikes for Kidz tells us about his upcoming Ted Talk.  Get tickets here.  https://tedxminneapolis.com/

Anne Hed, a lifetime resident of Minnesota, began her career as a worldwide professional triathlete. Through the sport, she met her late husband, Steve. Together, they shared a vision to create and innovate some of the fastest, most aerodynamic bike wheels in the world. In 1984, from Steve's garage and funded in part by Anne's race winnings, HED Cycling Products was born. In this episode, we learn just how this company was founded out of passion over a love for a sport. Upon losing her husband, Anne took it upon herself, with an incredible team of people, to continue to innovate. Hed Cycling is now a certified woman owned business. From competing in the Ironman and the Tour de France to being awarded with several significant patents, HED Cycling is widely regarded as a pioneer in the bike industry. This episode is full of vulnerability, encouragement, inspiration, and womanhood. You may be riding a HED wheel bike, and not even know it. We also get a sneak peek into one of Anne's new patent-pending ideas outside of the cycling space. Our Non Profit Spotlight is Free Bikes 4 Kidz ____ Connect with Katie Harms @ katie@katieharms.com or Lisa Rubin @ lisa@wardrobeconsulting.net. Please take a moment to rate our podcast wherever you are reading or listening to this! Thank you! We are thankful to our sponsors Continental Diamond, Renae Keller and Scherer Bros Closets

Life is full of teaching moments and too often missed milestones as a result of poverty. Jennifer Collins, Principal at Sherwood Elementary talks about how the All Kid's Bike program teaches kindergarteners lasting life lessons—independence, balance, safety, compassion, resilience and success. You'll also hear what it was like for Sherwood to be one of the two schools in Escambia county chosen by the foundation to receive a donation funded by the local branch of HDR Engineering. Guest: Jennifer Collins https://striderbikes.com/news/strider-announces-education-foundation/ Learn more about Escambia County School District: https://ecsd-fl.schoolloop.com/ Host:  Meredith Hackwith Edwards 

This week's show featured Steph Dorland with Free Bikes 4 Kids, Kristi LeGrand of Midwest Dog Rescue Network, Terri Larson with Muddy Paws Second Chance Rescue, and Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse.

Terry Esau stops by the show to talk about how and why he founded Free Bikes for Kids and then Free Guitars for Kids. Free Bikes for Kids is on track to give away 1 million bikes to under-resourced kids in the next couple years. Terry Esau has over 10 years in the non-profit sector, having exercised his leadership as the founder of FB4K in 2010. In addition, Terry has been instrumental in catalyzing the move from a Minnesota-only platform to the 12 US cities that FB4K currently calls home. Terry has been recognized for his societal contributions both nationally (USA Today Make A Difference award) and internationally (Guinness World Records). In his spare time, Terry is a published author and speaker on various topics, including the ‘Wellbeing of under-resourced kids in America.' In addition to his bicycle advocacy, Terry is an avid cyclist, musician and artist.   Doug Pagitt is the Executive Director and one of the founders of Vote Common Good. He is also a pastor, author, and social activist.  @pagitt   The Common Good Podcast is produced and edited by Daniel Deitrich. @danieldeitrich Our theme music is composed by Ben Grace. @bengracemusic   votecommongood.com votecommongood.com/podcast facebook.com/votecommongood twitter.com/votecommon    

The Timber Industry is under attack and they want you to know what's going on. The Oregon Loggers Conference Kicks off in Eugene today and we'll find out what's on the minds of their members and why you should plus a rally in Salem with trucks, timber workers, contractors, you name it....They are very concerned with a few bills threatening their jobs and the state economy, plus Kim Stark join us with free bikes and Derrick Roser Real Estate Group highlights a small business Coburg Candy and some sweet treats.

Terry Esau is a composer, producer, author, biking enthusiast and guitar-giver. Terry has written and produced thousands of pieces of music used in TV commercials for companies such as McDonalds, Target, Pepsi and Harley Davidson. Terry has also founded two non-profit organizations, Free Bikes 4 Kidz and Free Guitars 4 Kids. In this episode of Flip Your Script with Kristi Piehl, Terry shares his love for biking and music and how he has used his passions to make a difference in children's lives. 

Katie Couric returns to DC on Saturday night for an appearance at the Anthem to promote her new book “Going There”. In her time as a local TV reporter in DC at WRC Channel 4, she talks about her former colleagues including Barbara Harrison, Wendy Rieger and Pat Collins. Halloween decorations at a house in Friendship Heights, shows off how many businesses are “RIP” in this NW neighborhood including Neiman Marcus, AMC, and Lord and Taylor. The High Heel race is tonight on 17th Street with a parade at 6:30 pm and the race at 9:00 pm. D.C. residents are eligible for a free one-month membership to Capital Bike Share to help ease transportation issues caused by WMATA delays. The Virginia Governor race continues to capture attention. A local foundation hopes it can also capture dollars for charity, by people picking the candidate they believe will win. Again this year, the Washington Regional Alcohol Program is partnering with Lyft to provide free rides for Halloween. Links: Katie Couric Dishes on Local Reporters: Katie Couric Talks Local Reporters Halloween in Friendship Heights: Halloween in Friendship Heights High Heel Race: High Heel Race Free Rides on Halloween: Free Rides on Halloween Capital Bike Share: Capital Bike Share From Real.Fun.DC. “The Tommy and Kelly Show” is produced in Washington, DC providing news, culture, playful conversation, positive energy, and a dose of morning fun any time. Download the Real.Fun.DC. APP to check out our wide array of programming app.RealFunDC.com Follow Kelly Collis Twitter: @CityShopGirl Instagram: @CityShopGirl LinkedIN: Kelly Collis Follow Tommy McFLY Twitter: @TommyMcFLY Instagram: @MrTommyMcFLY LinkedIN: Tommy McFLY

Good News: The Scottish Government is trialling a plan to provide bicycles to disadvantaged youths in the area, Link HERE. The Good Word: A truly vital quote from Dr. Albert Schweitzer. Good To Know: The reason behind why bubble gum is pink. Good News: Germany has planted a biodiverse forest near Cologne in an effort […]

dadAWESOME   We're on a mission to add LIFE to the dad life. We're passionate about helping dads live fully alive as they lead their kids to God's awesomeness.  | YouTube |  Instagram | Facebook | Twitter   Terry Esau   Terry has over 10 years in the non-profit sector, having exercised his leadership as the founder of FB4K in 2010. In addition, Terry has been instrumental in catalyzing the move from a Minnesota-only platform to the 12 US cities that FB4K currently calls home. Terry has been recognized for his societal contributions both nationally (USA Today Make A Difference award) and internationally (Guinness World Records). In his spare time, Terry is a published author and speaker on various topics, including the ‘Wellbeing of under-resourced kids in America.' In addition to his bicycle advocacy, Terry is an avid cyclist, musician and artist.   FATHERS FOR THE FATHERLESS   —MINNEAPOLIS, MN — August 28th, 2021 — DENVER, CO — September 18th, 2021 — PHILADELPHIA, PA — October 2nd, 2021 — NEW YORK, NY — October 16th, 2021 — PHOENIX, AZ — November 20th, 2021 Register Here: https://f4f.bike/   Show Notes:   1:50 - Text “DAD” to 651-370-8618 to join the text list.  2:16 -  Monday, June 21st. Just write down DadAWESOME day 2:53 - Free Bikes for Kids 4:44 - How to teach kids to ride a bike with a balance bike 5:58 - I kind of feel like we should live our lives with this adventure and hope and excitement. You know, it's like instead of instead of living cautiously, it's just it's just not a great way to live.  '7:18 - Sharing his dad's story of being on his own at age 16 and then serving on MN Legislature for 16 years. “He didn't let the problem of not having that education hold him back. You know, he kind of took things into his own hand and he said, I can educate myself by reading books, you know, so. So he did that. And he was you know, he was a flawed man, and a flawed father, just like I am. But you know what he he modeled? He modeled boldness and courage, and I think that's what has helped me." 12:20 -  “I look at the Holy Spirit not as a dove, but as a sharp elbow. And, you know, and our job is to keep tender ribs so that we feel the nudge of that sharp elbow.” 19:35 -  Terry's book: Surprise Me: A 30-Day Faith Experiment & Be the Surprise: Experiments in Spontaneous 25:11 - Free Bikes for Kids website - (picture of the smiling girl) 26:17 - Setting the Guinness World Record for most bikes collected in a day (5,512 bikes on year, then 10,000 the next year)   Episode Links:   Free Bikes For Kids Terry's book: Surprise Me: A 30-Day Faith Experiment & Be the Surprise: Experiments in Spontaneous Make a Donation to dadAWESOME Join the dadAWESOME Prayer Team   Conversation Transcript:  

We DIG Community tells the stories of the people and organizations behind Community Bucket's Service Made Social mission. In this episode, we have a conversation with Linde Parcels, one of our Atlanta Host Team captains.    Linde has been a great addition to the Host Team in Atlanta in recent years. She found Community Bucket in 2018 after moving to Atlanta and not knowing too many people in the city. She brings a great energy to our Atlanta events and has a unique perspective of finding Community Bucket farther along in our journey.    In this episode, we discuss… How Linde found Community Bucket  How her experience has been since joining  What else she loves to do when she's not volunteering    Resources discussed in this episode: If you're in Atlanta on May 15th, we invite you to sign up to volunteer with our crew at the Parks & Pizza event - bit.ly/parkmay   Shoutout to her favorite orgs: Aluma Farm, Concrete Jungle, Historic Westside Gardens, Free Bikes 4 Kids, Urban Sprout Farm   About Community Bucket We DIG Community is put together by the folks at Community Bucket -- and we can't wait to share some of the personalities behind the brand. Community Bucket is a nonprofit dedicated to cultivating local community through social volunteering. Connect with like-minded neighbors who share a passion for giving back and having fun.   How you can get involved:  Visit communitybucket.com/ if you're interested in experiencing Service Made Social!   Where you can find us: Website: communitybucket.com/ Atlanta Instagram: @communitybucket_atl Austin Instagram: @communitybucket_atx Denver Instagram: @communitybucket_den Facebook: @CommunityBucket Twitter: @communitybucket LinkedIn: /company/communitybucket Subscribe to the newsletter here.  Donate to our cause here.   

Kevin Meyer, lead pastor of Wayzata Free Church, has a conversation about taking risks with Terry Esau, author, speaker, musician and founder of Free Bikes 4 Kidz.

SLO County Sheriff's Dept. Public Information Officer Tony Cipolla called in to talk about the Sheriff's Bike Program for local Kids.

Find out how to get involved in ride to school Day with a free bikes and the importance of giving it a go from Bicycle Qld's Andrew Demack

Terry Esau is the founder of Free Bikes 4 Kids, a non-profit based in Minneapolis that collects and distributes tens of thousands of bikes to needy children every year around the holiday season. He’s not as well-known as some of our guests, but his story will engage even the savviest marketers and HR executives. Terry realized early on that growing the organization would require meaningful marketing, smooth operations, and a phalanx of well-trained volunteers. To streamline these functions, he turned to Kaizen / Lean analysis and employed a host of behavioral science tools, without all the terminology. As a result, he is maximizing the organization’s mission to bring FREE bikes to kids. Terry is what we call an Accidental Behavioral Scientist. His work clearly demonstrates the application of foundational behavioral science principles, yet he is unaware of the principles by name or theory. He has applied behavioral science principles to how kids (and their parents) shop for their free bikes and how volunteers are vetted and trained. In roughly 8 weeks, more than 20,000 volunteer hours are put into the collection, repair and distribution of bikes in each city. And it all happens with remarkably high satisfaction for both the riders and the volunteers. Terry is an avid bicyclist, and he is also a published author and speaker. However, he spent most of his career composing music for documentary films, television and radio advertising. He composed and produced music for over 2,000 TV commercials for clients including Target, McDonalds, Pepsi, Harley Davidson, Honda, Subway, Perkins, Golden Grahams and even Kitty Litter. He’s even has won a Clio award for his work in advertising. In our grooving session, Kurt and Tim suss out the ways Terry leverages the endowment effect and uses choice architecture to guide kids and parents on the journey of getting a new bike. We also talked about the psychological effects that music has on the taste of food. Not just another rabbit hole, but a very interesting discussion! We hope you enjoy the discussion with Terry Esau. If you would like to learn about how to bring Free Bikes for Kids to your city, please contact him directly: terry@fb4k.org Links Terry Esau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-esau-8692042/ Terry Esau email: terry@fb4k.org  and on Twitter: @FB4K Free Bikes for Kids: http://fb4k.org/ Feed My Starving Children: https://www.fmsc.org/ Kaizen / Lean: https://asq.org/training/lean-kaizen-a-simplified-approach-to-process-improvement-kaizen QBP (Quality Bike Parts): https://qbp.com/ Guthrie Theater: https://www.guthrietheater.org/ British Advertising Awards (Arrows): https://www.britisharrows.com/british-arrows-2018/ The Current (radio): https://www.thecurrent.org/ “Differentiate or Die” by Jack Trout: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/105146.Differentiate_or_Die “This is Your Brain on Music” by Dan Levitin: http://daniellevitin.com/publicpage/books/this-is-your-brain-on-music/ Autotune: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-Tune “The Service Profit Chain” by James Heskett: https://hbr.org/2008/07/putting-the-service-profit-chain-to-work   Kurt Nelson: @motivationguru and https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurtwnelson/ Tim Houlihan: @THoulihan and https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-houlihan-b-e/ Check out the Behavioral Grooves website: https://behavioralgrooves.com/   Artists Crosby, Stills & Nash: https://www.csny.com/ Blood Sweat & Tears: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood,_Sweat_%26_Tears Alice Cooper: https://alicecooper.com/ Amy Grant: https://amygrant.com/ Keith Richards: http://www.keithrichards.com/  

Terry Esau has composed and produced music for over 2000 TV commercials including Target, McDonalds, Pepsi, Harleys, Hondas, Subway, Perkins, Golden Grahams...Kitty Litter. He has won a Clio and a few dozen other awards. He is also the founder and executive director of Free Bikes 4 Kidz, a non profit that gives bicycles to kids in need, and the author of the recently released novel, “Je2us.”   This week, Terry sits down with Rob over coffee and pastries to talk about Terry's new novel and why Rob will never play music in church again.   Recording Location: The Lynhall, South Minneapolis          ------------------------------   GUEST LINKS: Terry’s Website: www.terryesau.com Read “Je2us” FOR FREE: https://www.je2us.com/ Free Bikes For Kidz: http://fb4k.org/   Jesus asks America to kindly 'cease and desist' in using hisname: http://www.citypages.com/news/jesus-asks-america-to-kindly-cease-and-desist-in-using-his-name/505521821     ------------------------------ Call The Official Podcast Hotline: (612) 584-9330  Visit Recording Locations: www.thecuriouspod.com/map Subscribe on iTunes: www.thecuriouspod.com/itunes Subscribe via RSS: www.thecuriouspod.com/rss Like us on Facebook: www.thecuriouspod.com/facebook Follow us on Instagram: www.thecuriouspod.com/instagram   ------------------------------ We’re so glad we don’t have to deal with sponsors or else we would feel compelled to tell you that Guinness is THE GREATEST beer ever made and "Clearly Made Of More.”  www.thecuriouspod.com/guinness We'd also feel like we should tell you about our incredibly talented friends at Narrate Films who took all the press photos for the podcast. You can visit them online at: www.narratefilms.com/ 

Global Gaming Initiative provides a suite of tools and services to make it easier for game developers and publishers to produce and monetize games for social good. Note: Between now and the end of the year, we’re counting down the top twelve popular podcast interviews of 2018. It is a people’s choice award, determined by the number of downloads. This interview originally aired on February 12, 2018. Elizabeth Sarquis was born in a small town along the Magdalena River in Colombia. When Elizabeth was five years old, her family moved to the US. Growing up, she went to school in the US and spent time her summers in Colombia. Elizabeth says “It struck me, when I would see children on the streets begging. Then I would go back home, and I would have everything. It didn’t make sense to me.” As an adult, Elizabeth worked in nonprofits focused on children’s issues. During the 2008 financial meltdown, Elizabeth observed how difficult it was for nonprofits to raise funds. And, after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, she noticed that there was a wide gap between the money raised and the impact of those funds. “I knew something had to change,” she says. “I wanted to create a model that used technology, which I love, and create an impact.” In 2010, Elizabeth’s 14-year-old son traveled to Ecuador to volunteer with a nonprofit. Her son told her a story about a boy he met. The boy did not have transportation, and therefore, did not attend school. Elizabeth’s son challenged her to help. Around this same time, Elizabeth found herself playing Angry Birds for hours. She thought, “Can’t we figure out a way to use games, tied to impact?” From this thought cam Global Gaming Initiative. Global Gaming Initiative is a mobile game company that creates games and aligns them with social impact. They are a cooperative. They work with game developer who wants to create social impact through their game. Global Gaming Initiative is a BCorporation. They have been selected as a “Best for the World” company two years in a row. Global Gaming Initiative was not successful right away. They hired eight engineers and animators, spent months on the game, but it was not commercially successful. “We didn’t bring marketing in soon enough,” Elizabeth explains. “At that time, it was a bit more of the wild west in the app store.”   One of Global Gaming Initiative’s first successful games was Sidekick Cycle, a competitive retro arcade game that positions players in a race against time. Profits from in-app purchases and advertisement go towards bicycles for kids. The game is popular and has provided lots of bikes. However, parents began to push back on the content of the advertisements. To help control the types of ads that are presented on their games, Elizabeth and her team created Jukko. Jukko connects game players with socially-conscious brands. Jukko is scheduled to launch around April of 2018. Social Entrepreneurship Quotes from Elizabeth Sarquis “You can make games and you can have an impact.” @elizabetsarquis, @GGInitiative “You have to surround yourself with a network of people who believe in what you’re doing.” @elizabetsarquis, @GGInitiative “Get involved in your community.” @elizabetsarquis, @GGInitiative Social Entrepreneurship Resources: Global Gaming Initiative: https://www.globalgaminginitiative.com/ Global Gaming Initiative on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlobalGamingInitiative Global Gaming Initiative on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gginitiative Jukko: https://jukko.com Jukko on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myjukko Jukko on Twitter: https://twitter.com/myjukko Free Bikes 4 Kids: http://fb4k.org Book: Crazy Good Advice: 10 Lessons Learned from 150 Leading Social Entrepreneurs: https://tonyloyd.com/book  

Free Bikes 4 Kids joins the show for a second time to talk about their upcoming annual bike drive. Then, Keith Crawford, Executive Director of the Young Executives Foundation, joins the show to talk about their work with high school and college-aged students on financial literacy, college prep and life skills.

Tia Martinson of Free Bikes 4 Kids drops by to talk about their mission, her favorite bike, RAGBRAI and building ramps for sweet, sweet jumps!

Global Gaming Initiative provides a suite of tools and services to make it easier for game developers and publishers to produce and monetize games for social good. Elizabeth Sarquis was born in a small town along the Magdalena River in Colombia. When Elizabeth was five years old, her family moved to the US. Growing up, she went to school in the US and spent time her summers in Colombia. Elizabeth says “It struck me when I would see children on the streets begging. Then I would go back home, and I would have everything. It didn’t make sense to me.” As an adult, Elizabeth worked in nonprofits focused on children’s issues. During the 2008 financial meltdown, Elizabeth observed how difficult it was for nonprofits to raise funds. And, after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, she noticed that there was a wide gap between the money raised and the impact of those funds. “I knew something had to change,” she says. “I wanted to create a model that used technology, which I love, and create an impact.” In 2010, Elizabeth’s 14-year-old son traveled to Ecuador to volunteer with a nonprofit. Her son told her a story about a boy he met. The boy did not have transportation, and therefore, did not attend school. Elizabeth’s son challenged her to help. Around this same time, Elizabeth found herself playing Angry Birds for hours. She thought, “Can’t we figure out a way to use games, tied to impact?” From this thought cam Global Gaming Initiative. Global Gaming Initiative is a mobile game company that creates games and aligns them with social impact. They are a cooperative. They work with game developers who want to create social impact through their game. Global Gaming Initiative is a BCorporation. They have been selected as a “Best for the World” company two years in a row. Global Gaming Initiative was not successful right away. They hired eight engineers and animators, spent months on the game, but it was not commercially successful. “We didn’t bring marketing in soon enough,” Elizabeth explains. “At that time, it was a bit more of the wild west in the app store.”   One of Global Gaming Initiative’s first successful games was Sidekick Cycle, a competitive retro arcade game that positions players in a race against time. Profits from in-app purchases and advertisement go towards bicycles for kids. The game is popular and has provided lots of bikes. However, parents began to push back on the content of the advertisements. To help control the types of ads that are presented on their games, Elizabeth and her team created Jukko. Jukko connects game players with socially-conscious brands. Jukko is scheduled to launch around April of 2018. Social Entrepreneurship Quotes from Elizabeth Sarquis “You can make games and you can have an impact.” @elizabetsarquis, @GGInitiative “You have to surround yourself with a network of people who believe in what you’re doing.” @elizabetsarquis, @GGInitiative “Get involved in your community.” @elizabetsarquis, @GGInitiative Social Entrepreneurship Resources: Global Gaming Initiative: https://www.globalgaminginitiative.com/ Global Gaming Initiative on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlobalGamingInitiative Global Gaming Initiative on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gginitiative Jukko: https://jukko.com Jukko on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myjukko Jukko on Twitter: https://twitter.com/myjukko Free Bikes 4 Kids: http://fb4k.org Book: Crazy Good Advice: 10 Lessons Learned from 150 Leading Social Entrepreneurs: https://tonyloyd.com/book  

We have a full house this week as the crew from Free Bikes 4 Kidz shares how they are working to create "bike Christmases" for kids in Atlanta. Also, representatives from Premier Academy talk about their annual golf tournament to help raise money to support early education for low income families.