816: From election loss to nonprofit IMPACT in the community w/ Ryan Arioli

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Hey, what is up? Welcome to this episode of the Wontropner to entrepreneur podcast.

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As always, I'm your host, brian Lofermento, and I'll tell you what.

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In today's episode, we've got an awesome entrepreneur that, just like most of us, is fueled by impact.

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This is someone who is an example of being the change that we wish to see in the world.

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I'm so excited for you to hear his story.

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His name is Ryan Arioli.

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Ryan's commitment to serving his community and driving positive change has been a lifelong calling.

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In 2020, Ryan, because he wanted to see that change, he actually embarked on a political journey, running for a state level position in government, specifically within the South Carolina House of Representatives, thinking this was his best avenue to enact change, fueled by a desire to better the lives of those in his community.

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Despite not winning, though, his determination to make a lasting impact remained Fast forward to 2022.

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So two years ago now, and the seeds of an idea began to take root, which is when Ryan started a nonprofit organization dedicated to affecting transformative change in his community.

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Motivated by a deep rooted belief in the transformative power of education, he embarked on this journey to create a nonprofit that would make a lasting impact, with a passion for fostering personal growth and wellbeing.

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His commitment to empowering individuals and building stronger communities is the driving force behind the R&R Projects, mission and initiatives which Ryan's gonna tell us all about here today.

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I'm so excited to hear all about it.

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Through innovative programs and compassionate support, ryan strives to inspire hope and create a brighter future for all.

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So we're all in for a treat today.

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It's not very often that we have nonprofit founders on here today.

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That's why I'm so excited to hear from Ryan, so I'm not gonna say anything else.

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Let's dive straight into my interview with Ryan Arioli.

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All right, ryan, I am so excited that you're here with us today.

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Welcome to the show.

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Oh, it's great being here, Brian.

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Thank you for having me.

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Heck yeah.

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So obviously I tease listeners a little bit.

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I honestly am so excited for you to be here.

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It's not all the time that we have nonprofit founders on, but I think that that is such a shining example of being the change that you wish to see in the world.

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So take us beyond the bio.

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Who the heck is Ryan? How did you get into here?

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All right.

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So, yeah, you know it all started with running for office.

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You know, 2020 was a very, very, very different year for everyone out there in the world.

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We had a lot of stuff going on.

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We had the pandemic, we had great political divide, we had this, just this whole atmosphere.

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That was just a change from what we were used to.

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You know, we were very divided.

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We had a lot of different, different thoughts on how, how we should fix things.

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So, you know, the pandemic really really showed, shown a light on education and how education is hurting, especially here in the state of South Carolina.

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We were trailing the nation on education.

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We pulled last when it comes to our quality of education we give our students.

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So I, you know I'm not an educator, but I have friends who are teachers.

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I was coaching a middle school soccer team at the time, so I was getting the view from a coach's perspective, along with getting more information from, you know, people who are working at the school and I was working with and there was just this need for something to be done in public education.

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You know, teachers just don't get the support that is needed.

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And you know I've got a bachelor's degree in chemistry.

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I'm first generation college student, so education is very important to me.

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I think it opens a lot of doors, whether it just be high school to college or just high school to the workforce.

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Being educated and having a good, solid foundation of education, I think it's important for us to be able to one contribute to society and have good, have good lives that we feel like we're having an impact in.

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And so I decided to run for office and my platform was bringing that resource to our teachers through the state level government.

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And that was my platform and you know it didn't work out.

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So I'm still sitting there two years later, going.

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I know I can make a difference.

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I know I can shine a light on this need and bring resources to this need.

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Whether it's through the state government or not, individuals can make a difference if we just Strive to do so, if we just get past that little, that fear of failure and just go for it.

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So I did.

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I started the process of starting the r&r project and the sole focus at the time I was education and it's branched out since then because there's so many other needs that go out beyond providing quality education to people.

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So we've, you know, we're still working on building our board.

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We're we're working on getting our name out there.

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We're working on getting our donations coming in.

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So you know it's been a building block.

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But what? What all started it was this view from Educators and how the pandemic really made the struggle so much more noticeable in our public school system.

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Yeah, I love that overview for so many reasons, ryan, first of which is you mentioned the fear of failure and that In a lot of ways, it can either drive us to to move forward and do things that we wouldn't otherwise be comfortable with, or it can be the very thing that stunts us.

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And the other thing that I hear in your story that I think stunts way too many people or sparks amazing entrepreneurial stories, and a nonprofit story like yours is a concept I heard of years ago from one of my favorite authors, seth Godin, where he talked about the tyranny of being picked, and he said that there's so many occasions in life where we are victims of the tyranny of being picked.

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When we try out for a Soccer team, we're hoping that somebody else picks us.

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When we're applying for a job, we are, our application is one in a million and we're hoping that they magically pick ours.

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We are at the mercy of being picked, and in Ryan, I think you entered the ultimate tyranny of being picked by running for office, and that's extraordinarily difficult, of course, because you're appealing to thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of People, depending on what the office is that you're running for, and with that in mind, I love the fact that, when you weren't picked, you said I'm gonna pick me, and I think that's something that makes us, as entrepreneurs and founders, so different from the rest of society.

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Is that, ryan, you didn't view your opportunity to make a change, as I can make a change if I get picked? You then move forward, picked yourself and now you're out there being the positive change in the world.

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Talk just about the mindset behind that, because I'm sure there was a point after you didn't win your election where you were like man, that's, that's it, like that's the end of it.

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Or was that the spark? Immediately walk us through those mindset thoughts.

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Yeah.

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So you know you get there, it's election night and you, you don't win.

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So what do you do from there? So and that was where I was at for a minute was what do I do? I didn't win, I wasn't chosen.

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You know I didn't appeal to enough people that they wanted me to be, to be their voice, be their change.

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So what, what do you do from there? And you know it took a couple months of just a lot of Looking back at it, a lot of what could have gone differently.

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And then it goes into well, do you make another run, do you try it again? And you know you look at it and go.

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You know you put all this effort in and when you don't win, you know there's not much you get on the return.

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So it was more of a return on investment.

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I can invest all this time raising money, spending money, and then not get chosen again.

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Or I can flip that into something where you know I can still invest that time of raising money and then, instead of investing that money into a campaign, invest that money into Projects, which is what we're called, which is the R&R projects namesake.

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But we fund different projects.

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So that's what started.

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It was what can I raise money for? And then what can I turn that money into? And that gave us the R&R.

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Well, gave me the R&R project, so we're sit it's.

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It was literally after a An actually great performance by the Carolina Panthers.

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I went to the game and it was after that.

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I was sitting there at dinner and that's when I said, you know, screw it, we're just gonna do it, I'm just gonna.

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I'm gonna start the process.

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So I started all the paperwork that night, filed it all the next day and waited on the approval from the IRS and everything for the tax exempt status.

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Yeah, I love that Seriously taking action that is.

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It puts a big smile on my face because that's the name of the game for entrepreneurs.

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And, ryan, it's funny how you say you sat in it for a minute and of course we all have a tendency to do that and it's it's the right time to reflect and it's the right time to take inventory, but then you rolled that straight into action.

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And one thing that I love about your story is you've already alluded to it's constantly evolving, it's constantly growing, it's there's pivots and there's transitions along the way.

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You talked about your background as a chemist and people are probably thinking Ryan, a chemist who's now the founder of a nonprofit, who's out there doing community based enterprise projects.

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Talk to us about those pivots, because I'm sure the R&R project from that very day you know, going to the Carolina Panthers game, to now today, you're, you're in it, you've got projects what have those, some of those transitions looked like? How has maybe your message, your mission, how has that pivoted versus the projects that you're actually tackling?

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Yeah.

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So, um, this isn't the first nonprofit I attempted to start.

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This is just the one that's that's been successful.

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Um, before this, when I tried to start one that was solely focused on education and it just never gained the traction I just didn't get the, there wasn't a spark in it for me to keep pursuing that one, so that one kind of fell off, and that's what kept me thinking and what led me to this one.

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But, um, the pivot was for me is focusing more on education and social issues and community efforts.

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So, you know, making the pivot from chemistry to to this, my background, yes, is in chemistry, but I also minored in political science while I was in college, so I already had this deep rooted um instinct to serve community, this, this.

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I want to make a difference and you know, yeah, I was majoring in chemistry.

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I left, I got a job as a chemist, but you know, I still wasn't getting that fulfillment.

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There was, there was something missing and that's what led me to run for office was I thought that was, that was the missing piece, that's, that's what we were missing.

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And then I didn't win, and I was.

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I'm still missing something.

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Even if I would have won, I don't know if I would have still got that fulfillment.

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That was that missing piece.

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And then I started what was the uh, the river foundation, which didn't make it out of inception, basically, and I felt something that I was like I think this is it, this is, this is what I want to pursue.

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It just wasn't that concept, it wasn't that that particular thing.

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So then I got involved with Rock Hill Pride, which is the Pride Festival for York County, basically, and it's completely independently funded and independently held.

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So they get no local support, it's done with private dollars.

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And I saw that and I go well, you know what? You don't, you don't need the help from the state to make a positive change.

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So they're, they're a part of the R and R project now.

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Well, we will be supporting them and it kind of you know it started growing from that.

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That's the.

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So the biggest pivot was going into trying to find, find, found a nonprofit which didn't make out of inception, to finding one that's made out, made it out of inception.

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We've got a board, we've got all the, all the stuff a nonprofit needs to be successful and we're just working on, you know, our branding, getting our name out there and getting support.

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So the biggest pivot was going from I need to do something because I'm not getting any fulfillment out of my career as a chemist, to doing something where I'm finally getting that fulfillment.

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Yeah, I love that overview, ryan, especially because it's kind of the way that you talk about both politics and the nonprofit world which is you said it a little bit earlier on in our conversation today which is how can I raise money and how can I spend money, because ultimately, money makes the world go round.

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It's something that we hear so frequently.

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In the reality is, money obviously is just an indicator of how much impact we're able to make.

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Ryan, if you and I were sitting on a billion dollars today, then there's a heck of a lot of good that we could do in the world right now, and so I think that this is a topic that so many people are afraid to talk about.

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Money has this this evil connotation? But the reality is that it's also a positive impact for change, of course, when it's used that way.

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So I think it's fascinating to get inside of your head and hear your attitude towards money, because, as nonprofits, I feel like a lot of people want to just, you know, picture the Girl Scouts of America.

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I only say that because I just bought Girl Scout cookies last.

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I caved.

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Last time I was at the grocery store and with that in mind, like we see, kind of that feel good.

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You know kids doing this fun thing on a Wednesday night.

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They get together and they do whatever it is that Girl Scouts do and we forget that there's a whole business operation behind that.

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You talk about having a board.

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You talk about having the structure in place.

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Obviously, a nonprofit is not something that is loosey-goosey.

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In fact, I would argue that a nonprofit has even more business demands and strategic demands than for-profit, because there is that making side, but there's also that strategic impact and spending side.

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Walk us through that.

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For a lot of people who have always thought maybe I do want to start a nonprofit, what's the psyche behind the business of a nonprofit?

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Yeah, so the business side is a lot different than a for-profit company.

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I mean, you've still got to bring in money.

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You've still got expenses like website, your email, all bank account and payment processes and all that good stuff, so you've still got the same.

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Fundamentally, you've got a lot of expenses a for-profit business has.

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The issue is, though, a lot of the work that we're doing right now is it's labors of love.

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We're not getting paid to do what we're doing right now, because my focus for this nonprofit is to get to a point where, yes, we will have paid members when we grow, but I don't want our business operations to exceed 25% of our revenue.

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So, whatever we're bringing in, I want to make sure that 75% of that money is going back out into the community, which is a lot different than other nonprofits.

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Some have a different split, but mine's more driven on that community impact.

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I want to make sure that any dollar that comes in the bulk of that is going back out into the community and into our projects.

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So looking at it as a business standpoint is you know, you're recruiting people for me at this point.

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I'm recruiting people who are going to be doing this for free, and it's not a little bit of work.

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I mean, it takes a lot of work to get out there.

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It takes a lot of drive and it's something you've got to be passionate about and you want to really do before you see a personal return.

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But you know, the people I'm looking for are people who are not really concerned about seeing that, seeing income from this.

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They want to make an impact, they want to put good out into the world, and so I'm taking it a little bit different than most nonprofits do.

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But my focus is to build a business that puts the majority of our dollars back out there into our communities and takes very little for ourselves, because I want to make sure that we can run efficiently, effectively, and I want to make sure that we can have the most impact possible.

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And in today's world, the most impact is going to come from having the money to put back out there, whether it be in our teacher grants or book scholarships or it being our community fund that we're working with Rockhill Pride for their site to give out micro grants and do community projects.

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If we can dump more money into that, that's more impact, that's more change, that's more stuff we'll be able to accomplish.

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So, looking at our businesses, how can we maximize dollars donated and minimize what's going to cost us to raise those dollars and to keep operations going?

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Yeah, gosh Ryan, the way you talk about this, I mean I'm really excited to see the R&R project continue to grow into the future, because the way you talk about this is from such a it's an impact driven approach, and I can hear that in your answers, because so many of your answers come back to the community.

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So many of your answers come back to the impact, and when you tie dollars into that, you're directly.

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It almost feels like you're detached from the dollars because you view them as I mean.

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I think you said the magic word that explains your thought process here, which is you view them as vehicles towards the projects.

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It's actually about the projects.

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The dollars are simply the enablers there.

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Talk to us about some of those ways, because a lot of people, that's where they get hung up.

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Whether they're a for-profit or non-profit, they get hung up on how do I get money in the door, and I think that you've such an interesting perspective coming from the world of running for office.

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Obviously, we've all seen examples of how different politicians and candidates raise money there.

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But talk to us about your attitude towards and some of those strategies that you turn to when it comes to getting dollars in the door to actually fund those projects.

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Yeah.

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So right now we are starting to ramp up that section.

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We're starting to focus on raising money.

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So we're using our personal connections in the world.

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So a lot of my the two other members of my board we're currently a member.

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We're yeah, we're a board of four.

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So three of those board members, including myself, are all part of the same fraternity.

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We're fraternity brothers.

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So we're using our fraternal connections and the connections we made during our time in college and one is still a active employee of the national fraternity.

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So we're using those connections now to raise some money.

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Because, you know, it's easier to ask for money when you already have a personal connection with somebody and I don't think there's many personal connections out there, quite like a fraternal bond that you have with someone.

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So we're using that as leverage now.

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So we're reaching out to ones that we know already give to the fraternity and in turn, asking them if they want to.

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Hey, give us some money.

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You want us.

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You know we're fellow brothers.

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This is our, this is our endeavor.

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Would you like to support us?

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So, you know, using your sphere of influence as a way to start the process and start donations and then it turns into how can you turn community events into fundraising opportunities.

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So I brought up Rock Hill Pride before, will be a sponsor of the event this year and we'll be out there at the event as well.

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So it'll be a great marketing opportunity and also be a great opportunity to raise donations, collect funds from there, because you know we've got a platform, we can take donations there on the spot and we're not out there seeking right out of the bat $1,000 donation.

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You know, if you want to give us $5, if you want to give us 10 or 20, well, we want that because small donations add up and that helps you do stuff.

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It doesn't matter how small it is.

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Any donation is vital and it's a pivotal donation and it can and it can help you change the way that you're doing.

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It can help you fund those projects and make that change.

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And we also are gonna promote monthly giving.

00:20:42,214 --> 00:20:47,291
Whether it's you wanna just throw us five dollars a month, that's awesome.

00:20:47,291 --> 00:20:52,883
Will take it because, like I said, any donation is great and every donation is important.

00:20:53,951 --> 00:21:08,873
Yeah, really well said, and it's something that we hear on nonprofit commercials where they say every donation matters, but then tying that into your commitment to that operational expenses not exceeding 25% it really does start to add up when every donation counts.

00:21:08,873 --> 00:21:10,615
And, ryan, I love the fact.

00:21:10,615 --> 00:21:25,273
I want to call it out for listeners, listeners how frequently do we hear it from guests? Ryan summed it up really eloquently with your sphere of influence when you're right out of the gates, those immediate people that you already have Connections with and that you can tap into your personal network.

00:21:25,273 --> 00:21:33,801
It's why we talk about so frequently your LinkedIn, your Facebook, your own personal social media, your own personal Rolodex is that's a great place to start.

00:21:33,801 --> 00:21:40,969
Ryan, starting with his frat brothers like that is an amazing place to start because a lot of them are community driven, impact driven.

00:21:40,969 --> 00:21:43,932
So he's tapping into, as he said, that sphere of influence.

00:21:43,932 --> 00:21:45,315
I love that you use that term with us.

00:21:45,394 --> 00:21:56,670
Ryan, along those lines, I want to ask you this because obviously your mindset you went from running for office to now making a positive community change through a nonprofit, through your own vehicle.

00:21:56,670 --> 00:21:59,778
Talk to us about what that's been like.

00:21:59,778 --> 00:22:04,150
You obviously shared with us that one of the projects that you're supporting is Rockhill pride.

00:22:04,150 --> 00:22:08,074
What are some of the? I don't even know the right way to ask it.

00:22:08,074 --> 00:22:24,170
Are there bureaucratic barriers that you have to break through? Are there bridges that you have to connect within the local community, between organizations? Talk to us about what it actually looks, looks like to, on your own, through your own nonprofit, go into the community and make those positive differences.

00:22:26,313 --> 00:22:26,554
Yes.

00:22:26,554 --> 00:22:34,125
So I mean the biggest difference from running for office and running a nonprofit is running for office.

00:22:34,125 --> 00:22:37,170
You have to make sure your messaging aligns with enough people to get support.

00:22:37,170 --> 00:22:44,121
You know you gotta make sure your messaging aligns with the majority of the people so you can win, which means there's trade off.

00:22:44,121 --> 00:22:49,170
You know you're gonna give up stuff and you're gonna pick up stuff you don't really support because you want to gain voters.

00:22:49,170 --> 00:22:52,973
Now with a nonprofit, that doesn't matter.

00:22:52,973 --> 00:22:55,257
You can build it exactly how you want.

00:22:55,257 --> 00:23:07,170
You can say what you want and you can support what you want to do, because now you're driven by something you need to believe in and something you need to support 100% to make it successful.

00:23:08,592 --> 00:23:16,980
And what I found out is that me doing what I believe in me doing, what I want to see is what people want.

00:23:16,980 --> 00:23:24,170
It might not be what, it wasn't what voters wanted in my district, but by and large, is what people want, what people want to support.

00:23:24,170 --> 00:23:30,166
So when it comes to making those connections in the community, there's you know, there's no real bureaucratic red tape.

00:23:30,166 --> 00:23:31,049
You just gotta know who to talk to.

00:23:31,049 --> 00:23:38,563
So for Rock Hill Pride, since I already had that connection before starting this and I was already one of their supporters.

00:23:38,563 --> 00:23:45,038
I just simply reached out to my contact and set up a meeting, said, hey, here's what I'm doing.

00:23:45,038 --> 00:23:46,539
I'm starting this nonprofit.

00:23:46,539 --> 00:23:47,902
I want to support you.

00:23:47,902 --> 00:23:53,753
What's the best way we can support you? And she went in to go.

00:23:53,753 --> 00:23:57,298
And you know, part of Rock Hill Pride is raising money to have the event.

00:23:57,298 --> 00:24:01,830
It's raising money, it's getting donations just to host the event and she goes.

00:24:01,871 --> 00:24:06,434
You know there's a, there's a missing piece that we don't feel like we're doing enough for community.

00:24:06,434 --> 00:24:07,915
You know, pride's great.

00:24:07,915 --> 00:24:15,383
It's great for those who, like myself, at one point didn't see it and we're afraid to be who we were because we didn't.

00:24:15,383 --> 00:24:19,666
We didn't see it before, we didn't feel accepted, we didn't see it being accepted.

00:24:19,666 --> 00:24:21,913
So she knows, so she's going.

00:24:21,913 --> 00:24:23,674
You know this is very important and it is.

00:24:23,674 --> 00:24:25,037
I support 100% that.

00:24:25,076 --> 00:24:30,546
It is important for people to see that it is normal to be a part of the LGBT community.

00:24:30,546 --> 00:24:31,467
It's normal to be.

00:24:31,467 --> 00:24:35,032
If that is who you are, it's normal to be that and pride shows that.

00:24:35,032 --> 00:24:41,584
But she, but she goes on to say that the missing pieces, we don't feel like we're doing enough to support the community.

00:24:41,584 --> 00:24:45,150
Outside of that, we raise money and we have a party and that's what it feels like.

00:24:45,150 --> 00:24:47,613
So we talked when I go.

00:24:47,613 --> 00:25:13,170
But I think the best thing that we can do to help you is to set, establish a community fund that y'all will be in charge of doing for community projects or micro business grants for members of the LGBT community, and so you know it is easier to do what you want to do with a nonprofit, but you also have to know who to go to to get those connections established, to get get the ball rolling.

00:25:14,231 --> 00:25:21,542
Yeah, I'm not going to lie, almost want to say this is that and I think you might agree with me here, especially since you've been in it is that we have an unfair advantage.

00:25:21,603 --> 00:25:30,996
I actually think entrepreneurship for profit, nonprofit, whatever it may be us being those driving factors, we actually can move way quicker than, obviously, the political sphere.

00:25:31,036 --> 00:25:46,234
I know a lot of people you talk about 2020 was such a divisive year and I would just say, on the whole, politics has a tendency to be divisive rather than a force of unity, and so it's so cool that there are nonprofits like yours who can just say you know what? This is what the people want.

00:25:46,234 --> 00:25:53,503
Maybe not all the people, but we're going to focus on the people that we want to serve and we're going to go enact positive change, and I think that's so powerful.

00:25:53,503 --> 00:26:04,560
And along those lines, ryan, as we come towards the end of today's interview, I have to ask you about your team, because I think it's so cool how much of an emphasis you put on the people behind the nonprofit.

00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:11,772
Obviously, that is such a powerful component of the impact that you're looking to make that you've been looking to hire a director of communications.

00:26:11,772 --> 00:26:21,806
Talk to us about your methodology and what your maybe short term and long term vision is with regards to your team, the board that you've assembled and really where you want to take this.

00:26:23,490 --> 00:26:34,499
Yeah, so the board I've assembled, my, my chief operations officer, is a fraternity brother from the time I was in college.

00:26:34,499 --> 00:26:45,606
We we went in together, we graduated together, we were I was president and he was vice president and he was president, and so you know we had leadership roles.

00:26:45,606 --> 00:26:46,126
Within that.

00:26:46,126 --> 00:26:50,130
We share a very common vision of a common set of goals.

00:26:50,130 --> 00:26:55,997
So when I started this, he was one of the first people I reached out to him is like, hey, I'm starting this.

00:26:55,997 --> 00:27:08,854
Would you be interested in coming on as my chief operations officer? Would you, would you want to join me in this? You know, I went to the mission I went through I was looking to build and he was all in.

00:27:08,854 --> 00:27:12,435
And he's been all in since he, since he started.

00:27:12,435 --> 00:27:15,419
So that's, that was the first one.

00:27:15,419 --> 00:27:16,700
The second one was another.

00:27:16,700 --> 00:27:21,383
One was another one of my brothers in the chapter who came in a little after me.

00:27:21,383 --> 00:27:30,170
He was actually my, my campaign manager when I ran for office and he's he's now serving as our director of charitable giving.

00:27:30,170 --> 00:27:34,294
So I knew we had the same goals.

00:27:34,294 --> 00:27:39,578
We both wanted to see the same changes, since, you know, he served as my campaign manager.

00:27:39,578 --> 00:27:41,641
So I brought him on.

00:27:41,641 --> 00:27:47,288
And then my CGO, my Chief governance officer.

00:27:47,930 --> 00:27:51,577
I actually met her a little over a year ago now.

00:27:51,577 --> 00:27:59,887
We have season tickets to the Charlotte football club and they sit in the section in front of us and we met them.

00:27:59,887 --> 00:28:01,112
We hit it off.

00:28:01,112 --> 00:28:06,114
We've been good friends since and you know she's got great energy.

00:28:06,114 --> 00:28:12,944
She's just a wonderful person who who also wanted to make some do some good in the world.

00:28:12,944 --> 00:28:18,414
She she just left education because of those things you know.

00:28:18,414 --> 00:28:27,678
You, you're a teacher, you're under, underpaid, not really valued, and you're dealing with a lot, especially coming off the pandemic.

00:28:27,678 --> 00:28:36,765
So she left the field and she's been looking to Replace a missing bit, which is I don't feel like I'm doing enough good in the world.

00:28:36,765 --> 00:28:39,570
So I asked her to come on and she's.

00:28:39,570 --> 00:28:42,817
She's been a driving force behind us ever since.

00:28:43,707 --> 00:28:49,525
Yeah, I love that we're getting some bonus soccer references in here today, ryan, you're coaching a middle school soccer team.

00:28:49,525 --> 00:28:50,948
You brought up Charlotte FC.

00:28:50,948 --> 00:28:54,134
Lots of cool references there that I'm totally digging.

00:28:54,134 --> 00:29:03,644
And I also want to squeeze this question in because I think it's so interesting to hear the way that visionary leaders and impact-driven leaders like you think and looking forward.

00:29:03,644 --> 00:29:10,499
What is that roadmap? Because it sounds like you're putting the puzzle pieces together so intentionally at this point in your journey.

00:29:10,499 --> 00:29:19,537
What's that longer term vision for you? How far out when you think about the R&R project, are you looking a year from now, three years from now? Five years from now? What does that vision look like?

00:29:21,528 --> 00:29:23,845
So you know, I'm looking out five years.

00:29:23,845 --> 00:29:43,240
I think will be when we bring in the money we need to fund all our projects in the, in the amounts that I think they need to be funded, and I think Maybe five to ten years out, we'll be bringing in enough revenue that my board members will be full-time employees and this will be what we're solely focused on.

00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:53,888
So you know, the ten year plan basically is to get us to a point when that my board members and myself this is our full commitment.

00:29:53,888 --> 00:30:04,431
This is we don't have to worry about a nine to five, we can focus solely on this pay our bills and Do good in the world.

00:30:05,306 --> 00:30:09,318
Yeah, I love that, and I'll tell you what I so often say.

00:30:09,318 --> 00:30:11,365
It is that if you can dream it, you can do it.

00:30:11,365 --> 00:30:12,849
I love that Henry Ford quote.

00:30:12,849 --> 00:30:15,237
Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right.

00:30:15,337 --> 00:30:24,016
And Ryan, meeting you and hearing you here today, I think this is a mission that we can all see you Succeeding with and something that we can see you pushing on with.

00:30:24,016 --> 00:30:29,664
So I love hearing the way that you think about this, not only from a business perspective, but from an impact perspective.

00:30:29,664 --> 00:30:34,259
I think it's so powerful because you tie the two and I think that's what we need more of.

00:30:34,259 --> 00:30:43,019
I'm obviously very biased, but I think that entrepreneurship is the force of change in the world, so I love seeing the way that you think about these things and push them together.

00:30:43,342 --> 00:30:58,607
With that said, I always love asking my guests this final question, because I have no idea which direction You're gonna take it in and with so many listeners all over the world Maybe a lot of them are entrepreneurs, a lot of them are already entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses and really be that positive force Of change.

00:30:58,607 --> 00:31:04,292
Whether it's in the nonprofit sphere or the for-profit sphere, I like to think all of us want to make this world a better place.

00:31:04,292 --> 00:31:14,953
So, with all of that in mind, ryan, what's the takeaway? What's that one thing that you hope? Every listener walks away from today's session thinking you know what? That's a mindset shift for me, or maybe I need to think about that more.

00:31:14,953 --> 00:31:16,798
Maybe I need to do this thing more.

00:31:16,798 --> 00:31:18,130
What's that takeaway?

00:31:20,246 --> 00:31:21,855
Okay, I'm gonna leave it with another.

00:31:21,855 --> 00:31:22,297
I'm gonna.

00:31:22,297 --> 00:31:28,215
I'm gonna start with a quote From Ted lasso, which is one of my top-time favorite series.

00:31:28,215 --> 00:31:31,353
I think it's just Got a lot of good messaging.

00:31:32,006 --> 00:31:40,931
But it's never stop, no matter how many failures, when you know you're doing what you're meant to do, you have to try, and I think that's that that's the biggest thing.

00:31:40,931 --> 00:31:46,684
I mean that that one really gets me, because it's no matter, we're gonna get hang hung up on our failures.

00:31:46,684 --> 00:31:52,324
We're gonna get hung up on a fear of failure that's gonna prevent us from either doing it or taking the next step.

00:31:52,324 --> 00:31:59,459
And the biggest thing that I've learned is we learn a lot more from our failures than we learn from our successes.

00:31:59,459 --> 00:32:03,574
If I had been successful and got elected, the R&R project wouldn't have happened.

00:32:04,154 --> 00:32:18,365
If I'd have been successful With this, the first Round of nonprofit, the River Foundation the R&R project wouldn't have happened, and I'm way more passionate about the R&R project Then I am about holding office than I was about the River Foundation.

00:32:18,365 --> 00:32:34,310
So we we oftentimes see Failures as as a barrier, as this is where I need to stop, when it's when we need to push forward, when we need to keep driving, because you know failures.

00:32:34,310 --> 00:32:37,650
There for us to learn and we need to learn from it.

00:32:37,650 --> 00:32:39,958
Take what we learn and then apply it to the next step.

00:32:39,958 --> 00:32:44,211
And the failures are what led me to this.

00:32:44,211 --> 00:32:54,258
So I I look more at failures, then I look more at my success, because I don't feel like I got as much out of that.

00:32:55,806 --> 00:32:57,932
Yes, really well said.

00:32:57,932 --> 00:33:09,538
And another bonus soccer reference here with the Ted lasso quote gosh, am I loving that here today, ryan, I think it's such a poignant point from you there, which is failure is not the opposite of success.

00:33:09,538 --> 00:33:18,450
Failure is part of success, and I love the way that you've really illustrated with us on your non-linear path, because for none of us this has been a linear path.

00:33:18,450 --> 00:33:27,357
So I really love the way that you really you learn from every single pivot and turn Along your journey, because it's all getting you exactly where you're supposed to be.

00:33:27,357 --> 00:33:29,204
So, ryan, I love those insights.

00:33:29,204 --> 00:33:32,144
I know that listeners are gonna be keen to go deeper into your work.

00:33:32,144 --> 00:33:35,538
I'm also excited to follow your nonprofit's journey from here.

00:33:35,538 --> 00:33:37,025
So drop those links on us.

00:33:37,025 --> 00:33:44,134
Where should listeners go if they want to follow along with your work, if they want to make a donation? How can they keep in touch and stay in touch with you?

00:33:45,661 --> 00:33:50,631
Yeah, so the biggest one is going to be our website, the R&Rprojectorg.

00:33:50,631 --> 00:34:01,288
On there you'll find the links to our Facebook and Instagram, along with our contact information, and, if you want to, we have a donation link on there as well.

00:34:02,121 --> 00:34:03,988
Yes, listeners, you already know the drill.

00:34:03,988 --> 00:34:08,452
We are dropping down those links as well as a link to Ryan's personal LinkedIn profile.

00:34:08,452 --> 00:34:16,090
So if you want to connect with him thank him for coming on and sharing all of these thoughts with us here today on the show then find those links down below in the show notes.

00:34:16,090 --> 00:34:23,369
Otherwise, ryan, on behalf of myself and all the listeners, thanks for joining us here today on the Wantrippiner to Entrepreneur podcast.

00:34:25,101 --> 00:34:25,943
Oh, you're welcome again.

00:34:25,943 --> 00:34:26,786
Thank you for having me on.

00:34:28,500 --> 00:34:33,992
Hey, it's Brian here, and thanks for tuning in to yet another episode of the Wantrippiner to Entrepreneur podcast.

00:34:33,992 --> 00:34:38,010
If you haven't checked us out online, there's so much good stuff there.

00:34:38,010 --> 00:34:47,248
Check out the show's website and all the show notes that we talked about in today's episode at thewantrippinershowcom, and I just want to give a shout out to our amazing guests.

00:34:47,248 --> 00:34:56,009
There's a reason why we are ad free and have produced so many incredible episodes five days a week for you, and it's because our guests step up to the plate.

00:34:56,099 --> 00:34:58,088
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00:34:58,088 --> 00:34:59,666
These are not infomercials.

00:34:59,666 --> 00:35:03,170
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00:35:03,170 --> 00:35:14,099
They so deeply believe in the power of getting their message out in front of you, awesome Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs, that they contribute to help us make these productions possible.

00:35:14,099 --> 00:35:22,632
So thank you to not only today's guests, but all of our guests in general, and I just want to invite you check out our website because you can send us a voicemail there.

00:35:22,632 --> 00:35:23,945
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00:35:23,945 --> 00:35:27,809
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00:35:27,809 --> 00:35:29,985
Initiate a live chat.

00:35:29,985 --> 00:35:39,414
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