Podcasts about give back hack

Foodies will love this one! Tanya Vora of SpiceUp advocates for people impacted by the immigrant experience through food events. Each event highlights the culture of a chef impacted by the immigrant experience. Typically, this means an immigrant or first-generation immigrant. Tanya shares the story of their event with Bonifacio, hosted by a mother-daughter duo. At this point, SpiceUp hosted food events with cultural themes connected to Mexico, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. These events were created to showcase people while giving them a proper platform to share stories of their culture. Tanya understands the immigrant experience first-hand from being the child of immigrants. Her family came from India, and even her older siblings were raised in India. She shared her experience of finding her place between two cultures. When Tanya goes to India, she tells me it’s clear that she is not fully Indian. Habits and certain cultural nuances she embodies are American. Of course this makes sense, she was raised in America. On the other side, she reflected on growing up in a predominantly caucasian environment, where there were more obvious differences between her and her peers. Her ability to understand others comes not only from her personal experience - but also her background in user experience and design. And then as she's expanded on that through events and accelerator programs such as Unreal Collective (where we met), Give Back Hack and Sea Change. For Tanya, the business side did not come easy. She does not have a background in the field, so she had a lot to learn. We began discussing the strain behind pursuing side hustle projects. Tanya admitted that her mental health did take a hit (I can relate!). Working tirelessly was hard on her and her team, especially since people were still working outside the project. She learned she needed to take more care of herself, and find an appropriate balance. “If your mental health isn't where it needs to be, then everything else is going to take an even harder hit.” - Tanya Vora SpiceUp talks to many chefs across communities - Tanya found that the city of Columbus is very separated between cultures and demographics. Access to other cultures showed barriers, but the people SpiceUp encountered did want exposure to other cultures. Tanya knows it’s good to hear from people who are part of the country the cuisine comes from, as food is heavily interconnected with culture. Later on, Tanya mentioned the chefs not being able to fully present their cultures in their restaurants. She brought an interesting learning point about the word “ethnic”. Tanya explained the negative connotation the label can have, thus adding a layer of separation to something as universal as food. Chefs find themselves tailoring the cuisine to fit western, or American, palates. SpiceUp is creating an environment encouraging chefs to truly provide their wonderful cultures. “We all eat.” - Tanya Vora If you want to connect with SpiceUp, or are interested in their upcoming events, you can check out their Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or the official site. Their next event is Sunday, February 16th for a Brunch at Mazah.

Jerry Valentine explains how Renter Mentor is transforming the search for affordable housing as a consulting service and tech platform. In a way, they streamlined the landlord-tenant relationship. While working through community partnerships, the organization is bringing accountability, clarity, and efficiency to the affordable housing market. Speaking from personal experience, this is not Jerry Valentine’s first run with low-income housing, and he only became more knowledgeable. He actually gives a simple description of the state of the affordable housing market. Section 8 developed into the Housing Choice Voucher Program. In the program, tenants can find housing anywhere within public housing authorities’ jurisdiction as long as the landlord is willing to accept. Jerry and I both agreed that the last part is the huge “catch” of the fine print. Low-income housing is not a simple process. Paperwork alone can create a progress hurdle. Once landlords have a glimpse of the procedures, they are more likely to back out of the process completely. Jerry also mentioned aspects like the inspection (which you only have two times to pass), bring more hurdles to the affordable housing market. He didn’t fail to admit the public sector is not exactly up to speed on tech advances either, consequently making processes slower. Facing difficulties and learning curves can turn people away, but Renter Mentor is sure this does not need to be the reality. “I'm not a developer by any means, but I do have an innovative mindset; because I do know innovation and technology is a big part of advancing into this decade.” - Jerry Valentine Similar to his housing market familiarity, Jerry is no stranger to forging his own path. He reflects on his momentum with Renter Mentor starting at Give Back Hack. Funnily, Renter Mentor did not begin as the most popular idea, but they got the three people they needed to form a team - and have gone on to be one of the successful startups launched from the Give Back Hack weekend launchpad. They followed their Give Back Hack success by joining SEA Change. SEA Change is a 14-week accelerator supporting social enterprises in the earlier stages of their journey. Renter mentor was 1 of the 6 winners to collectively gain funding towards their venture. Jerry reassured that everything isn’t perfect. He shared lessons the team learned along the way, such as not being established as a business in the beginning and having to rewind the process of incorporating. Fortunately, the positives outweigh the negatives overall. Columbus is a challenging city with fast growth: more people moving in, more displacement, and increasing homelessness. He explains the situation is not at the point where a change can’t be made, but that addressing the situation now is more beneficial. “That's why Renter Mentor is here. It's a disruptive solution to the problem, and trying to get ahead of things...” - Jerry Valentine You can connect with Renter Mentor on their website at joinrentermentor.wixsite.com/rentermentor or on LinkedIn. If you’re interested in learning more, attend one of their upcoming events.

Today is special for more than a few reasons. One, you came to engage with the People Helping People podcast! Two, it’s a new year! Three, this is the 50th episode! I always have great discussions with impact-focused individuals on impact-driven initiatives. This episode was no different. Suzy Bureau and Louisa Lee flex their social impact muscles with Give Back Hack. At this event, ideas are put through a weekend of organizing, assessing, and presenting to establish a better vision for the idea’s relevance to the community. Here, you’ll find the tech and startup community being brought together. You can think of Give Back Hack as the launchpad for social innovation. You don’t need to be a full-on entrepreneur with years of experience. All ideas creating impact are welcomed. Give Back Hack is empowering the people who have a bit of knowledge regarding a problem they observed and gathering a set of resources to move solutions forward. “Connecting folks who have ideas with a team of people who can help work through that first design thinking cycle to create a business model and impact model is a really big piece.” - Suzy Actually, the event starts with pitching the idea to the fellow participants. Then, teams are formed for the top voted ideas. From there, the teams organize, plan, and validate the idea to create a minimally viable product. On Sunday, all ideas are presented to judges and community members to decide which great ideas will receive funding. Most focus is on building the solution and user validation. However, Suzy does mention that empathy comes first. Even after the initial idea stage, the event process gives the chance to look back and reevaluate before prototyping. Give Back Hack is placing more weight on understanding the problem. The event does encourage for ideas to be partially-vetted. Similarly, Give Back Hack started wondering if participants plan to take ideas to the next stage beyond the event. Suzy says they are constantly thinking of how to host an even better event. The entire event is built on collaboration. Everyone brings their best skills, questions, and suggestions forward! Reliving the six years of Give Back Hack, Suzy and Louisa discussed participant experiences and were not shy to express their reflection of past events. They flipped the script and even had me share an update about Wild Tiger Tees. “If you're coming just to see what it's all about, come with an open mind and be willing and ready to jump in to help out.” - Louisa Everything we discussed can’t be compacted into show notes, but there is one more thing I will share. Give Back Hack discovered that people who participated felt more comfortable with imperfect presentations after the event. That realization is tremendous for anyone, as “imperfection” can deter most people with ideas from ever sharing. The next Give Back Hack event is in Columbus, April 24 - 26. You can find out more, and about other upcoming events on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn!

Emily built the company Lilac Pack from the ground up - a true "moms helping moms" company, providing care packages to support women in their postpartum period (the first 6-8 weeks after childbirth), with their personal recovery and to help them get their best start nursing. It's a time when the attention is so focused on their newborn that quite often a new mother doesn't get the attention that they need. While they're in the hospital, there may be fantastic support and tons of information, but it's hard to take it all in, especially if you're medicated or otherwise overwhelmed from childbirth. Emily Lawrence, an engineer by trade, wanted to change this, so she brought her idea to an event called Give Back Hack. "It was insane." An introvert by nature, she gathered her wits and pitched her idea to a crowd of strangers, only to be surprised by such a supportive environment. Over a single weekend, she was able to form a team and flush out her project. "They pushed you to get out into the community… as in to put on your shoes and get on the ground and talk to people face-to-face to get their input on your idea." She was surprised at how much she accomplished over the weekend, but luckily her journey didn't end there. She went on to SEA Change - an accelerator for social enterprises, which provided her a 14-week deep dive into building her business model, connecting with experts, and further validating her idea. For Emily, it also gave her the opportunity to push herself to develop the social impact side of her business. As she puts it, it's easy to put this off until later, but you'll never get around to it -- instead, start with your impact and it gives you direction and a standard to live up to. So she built Lilac Pack as a social enterprise -- in addition to the core product, they are a living wage company that provides child care support. (Child daycare often creates a job barrier… the cost is too high for low wage jobs.) The third aspect to their social mission is resource matching -- they have a mommy map with locations of services for lactation consultants, doulas, and other similar services as an open directory of relevant services. Now she's up and running, and growing her business - learning how to tackle online marketing, and how to develop a presence on social media. I was so thankful that she shared some of her insight on the podcast. When asked what surprises she's had about starting a company, Emily responded: "I thought it was going to be harder. It is hard, and just like being a mom, it is relentless. It does not let up, but if you have an idea, and if you are passionate about that idea people will get behind you." Having Emily on the podcast is such a joy - we journeyed with her during SEA Change while we were building Wild Tiger Tees, our t-shirt screen printing social enterprise employing youth experiencing homelessness. She was one of the first to utilize our services to print t-shirts to helped us pilot our program - and she continues to openly share her business insight with us, magnifying the impact that she makes. I love what she’s doing with Lilac Pack, and if you know anyone about to give birth, her packages make for beautiful gifts - so go out and support her wonderful venture! Resources Lilac PackThe Mommy MapGive Back HackSEA Change

In this episode we dive deep into investment insight, on how to save for your future. The People Helping People podcast is back after a long break.  Over the last year, I went to Give Back Hack up in Cleveland, and pitched an idea to start a t-shirt screen printing company to employ youth experiencing homelessness.  The idea was selected, a team was formed, and we launched Wild Tiger Tees. Working in partnership with the Star House, we're helping mentor and employ youth in the Columbus area. The youth that we work with are amazing - they're all quite different with each navigating their own challenging situation - and usually without family or mentors giving them feedback or direction. So, I was excited to recored a podcast with a long-time friend, and New Yorker, Alan Grodin, founder of Northern State Financial.  He has a career in financial services, but has been giving back by teaching youth about finance and saving... so I was curious what he does. Alan started his financial services right on the precipice of the tech bubble... and weathered the storm in 2008, when the average stock lost 40% of its value.  He speaks about good savings habits -- but what struck me is that his core message was to build the habit.  In your 20s and 30s, even if you can just save $50 a month - it’s giving you the mindset you need to be successful later on.  On the flip side, he warns to never be fooled by credit cards, and to learn how to use them as tool to only spend what you have... never to accumulate debt with them, because their interest rates are so high that it becomes a very ineffective method of managing your money. I didn’t know this, but when selecting a financial advisor, you can search on FINRA -- (I even checked out Alan) and advisors with more complaints, or those that move between jobs more often, should be treated with suspect. The podcast is packed full of investment advice, and is a great starting point if you have no idea about saving for your future, so tune in!

Dan Rockwell is CEO and co-founder of Big Kitty Labs, a rapid prototyping digital agency based in Columbus, Ohio. The company was founded in 2009 after a series of events that led him to realize that building things should be easier, and that prototypes provide a ready foundation. Building Big Kitty was an act largely for himself and his partner Tushar Kulkarni to invent concepts, play with technologies and do everything that most people weren't doing - building things fast. Big Kitty serves startups in the region looking for rapid innovation. Previously, Dan worked as program manager of the Software Prototyping Center at The Ohio State University's Technology Commercialization Office. There he helped take numerous university ideas to market, launching several startups. Dan is an advocate for the innovation scene in Columbus. He helped form many tech-related events such as Ignite Columbus, Wakeup Startup, and is a speaker for Startup Weekend and Give Back Hack across the state. He's known for his loud laughs, ample mentoring time, futuristic thinking and belief that anyone can change what happens next. Key Topics: how rapid prototyping can help manufacturers, how to get a product to market faster, how to make the leap into digital.

Brook Kohn and Nathali Bertran brought their frustration with the DACA application process to the Columbus Give Back Hack -- a 54-hour hack-a-thon aimed at developing sustainable social enterprises. There, they put together a team and over a weekend built a wireframe and working prototype for a platform that would ease the process for dreamers applying for DACA. What was it like growing up as a dreamer? Nathali grew up in New York City - she moved there when she was just 9 and went to elementary school just like any other kid. She didn’t realize what her status as undocumented meant until she had to apply for college and applications kept requiring her social security numbers. So, she had to dig into the possibilities with her guidance counselors and family to figure out what she could do. Coming from a low-income background, her family couldn’t afford a full education, so her options were limited. This was 2010, and a common barrier that dreamers face. Today, there is a lot more awareness in education. Some institutions disregard the social security requirement if you’ve attended public school. Others treat you like a student from abroad. There are still challenges on scholarships -- Nathali was one of the lucky few who received a scholarship. What is DACA? In 2012, President Obama passed DACA, and that allowed Nathali to get a work permit, and allowed her to look for a job like anyone else. As Brook explained, DACA is really deferred action. It was created way back when we had the Beatles touring America, specifically for John Lennon. He was a British citizen, but he wanted to stay in the United States. So his smart immigration attorney said OK let's just defer his deportation because he has overstayed his artist visa but he's contributing so much to America. People wanted him to stay, because he made a lot of money for everyone -- sold out shows and all this artistic value and revenue. So they said, let's keep him here and just put him up at the bottom of the list, and focus our attention on people that are causing harm. It’s from this same deferred action that DACA was born in 2012. But the process is complicated. Complex forms. All to be done with pen and paper. Nathali was lucky that her parents were able to save enough to afford a lawyer - it was over $1,000, which is significant when you’re from a low-income background. She was also lucky that she didn’t miss school, and had records of her attendance because you have to show that you’ve never left the country after you arrived. She has to renew her application every two years - but now that she’s a working professional, that’s less of a burden. How did DACA Time come about? For many dreamers the process is both complicated and expensive, creating a huge barrier. After Nathali explained this to Brook, they decided they wanted to do something about it. So they brought this idea to Give Back Hack to build a platform that would help automate and simplify the process of filling out these forms, to make it more accessible to other dreamers. The response was fantastic. Derek Dehart, a product manager at Cover My Meds, joined their team, and Nicholas Tietz came onboard as their developer, as well as a couple of talented designers - Chriss Barr and Andy Jett. After Give Back Hack, they took their idea to Columbus Soup and APTE (Alleviating Poverty through Entrepreneurship) conference at OSU, which led them to SEA Change -- a Columbus program for helping develop social enterprises. Now through all of this, mind you, the entire team has full-time jobs, and yet they’re pouring their spare time into this passion, working fast to develop their platform and connections into the community. What happened when DACA was rescinded? In September/October of 2017, the current administration ended DACA. Nathali’s renewed her application right before it ended, so she has until 2019, but for those whose applications have expired before getting renewe...

Jay Clouse & Unreal Collective So what is the Unreal Collective? Jay Clouse runs the Unreal Collective - he brings together talented individuals, entrepreneurs, freelancers... awesome people working on interesting projects, for a 12-week program for each to take their project to the next level by supporting each other. There are goals, clarity, and direction balanced with the support of peers that provides a catalyst for ideas and inspiration that help push progress forward. I mention the Unreal Collective often in the podcast - I participated in this program in October, and it propelled this podcast forward.  I was introduced to some great people, received feedback that reframed my approach, and the clarity and attention on the goals for this podcast helped me refine my process. It felt transformational, and it the productivity was tangible. How do you build a community? Jay’s always had an entrepreneurial streak from his days at OSU, which lead him to pitch ideas, and trying to find a developer for a project... which landed him at the Startup Weekend, and later with a startup called Tixers.  But Jay also has a talent for building communities and networking - for him, this is very intentional and wants to be known for this. In his own words: If you're going to build a network and build relationships it has to be based on giving. You have to be providing some sort of value to that person or it’s not a relationship that you can count on.  I would find people who you are genuinely interested in learning from - and perhaps what you’re providing is just genuine interest and gratitude. A lot of people will be happy to provide information if you ask them for advice ask them about their experience and what they've learned. People like to talk about what they've learned. But don't make it about yourself. I always try to talk the least in any interaction because if I'm talking I’m not learning. And Jay lives up to this, and his networking skills are a product of this very vision. We didn’t dive further into this in the podcast, but the notion of being of service is something I’ve heard consistently from a number of different leaders and coaches. We no longer live in a world where we “get ahead” in a world filled with lack. We make progress by helping each other achieve our dreams.  Further… I’d postulate that only by using our personal talents and joy to help others do we find our own fulfillment. In a world where you make a contribution, you can’t win or lose. You can only contribute more or less. What is the Give Back Hack and the Startup Weekend? We did dive into the Startup Weekend and the Give Back Hack. Startup Weekend is a hack-a-thon of sorts... people from diverse (not just technical) background coming together for a weekend to develop and launch a business. The experience is intense, but it opens your eyes to what is possible. The Give Back Hack was started by Suzy Bureau.  As the organizer of Startup Weekend here in Columbus she wanted to refine the structure to support developing and launching social enterprises... in a format that provided them more support to grow after the weekend event. Aunt Flow, DACA Time, and Abe’s Kitchen are some fantastic startups that have been through this. If you have entrepreneurial dreams, participate in one of these events. Should you check out the Unreal Collective? And if you ready to take the next step with your project… applications to join Unreal Collective are now open!  Some great projects you might bring to the Unreal Collective include: Starting your projectValidating your business ideaBuilding your MVPFinding your first customerOpening your online storeWriting a bookLaunching your podcast...and more I’ll testify that you’ll join a community of driven people like you, in a group you’ll meet with every week.  And by joining a community of action-oriented people invested in your success, you will achieve more than you can do alone.

Don Strasser moved to Columbus after living in New York until he was 40, and after a career serving those effected by mental health, he retired. But the idea of moving to Florida and spending his days playing golf on pristine golf courses just didn't sit with him. So what did he do? He got even further involved with the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless. He was working in mental health services when the housing boom in Columbus created a disparity of affordable housing.  The lack of affordable housing gave rise to homelessness in the city. Turns out, this is a complex issue, as the homeless are a very diverse population. Many are unemployable due to drugs, incarceration or mental health issues -- and fall outside society's normal structure. But job loss and other life situations lead to homelessness as well. There isn't enough shelter space, and even for those who are allowed in, the environment is restrictive with curfews, cots and strict rules. Don helps run Street Speech, the Columbus newspaper for the homeless. While he is quite humble about it strengths, Columbus is a difficult market for the newspaper's growth, as expanding to the suburbs requires authorization from each municipality, as well as means of travel.  What struck me though was when Don remarked that expanding the newspaper isn't what's needed. While it provides income for those who may be otherwise unemployable, what is needed is more opportunities and innovation. He relayed how the Give Back Hack raised $1,000 to explore a concept for mobile bathrooms -- on that could be used for the homeless, and then rented out to events on the weekend -- complete with janitor -- to earn a profit for the service. Tapping into Columbus's vibrant entrepreneurial community, and the blossoming social entrepreneurship may be best way to build opportunities for the homeless.  And with so much energy around fresh ideas, this may be our best hope for change. If you'd like to get involved with Street Speech or the coalition, you can find them at the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless! Also published on Medium. Are you on Pinterest?  Pin these and let's connect!