The Business of Giving

Kevin Krall 0:00
You're listening to special programming sponsored by the cars marketing Chamber of Commerce. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jazz and more, the University of Nevada Las Vegas or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Speaker 1 0:25
What's wrong with the world? Maamar people live in lightning got the whole world addicted to the drama only attract good things and bring the Trump overseas. Yep. Hello, everyone.

Speaker 2 0:36
And welcome to the business of giving podcast. My name is Guy Dawson. I am the Executive Director of the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce. And the business of giving podcast was designed to bring businesses and nonprofit organizations together to create relationships that strengthen both sides and improve the community. And we are just greatly appreciative of this opportunity to partner with KU envy 91.5 to broadcast things that we are doing at the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce. And I've got my good friend Carlton Amaya like he is the chairman of the board of the cause marketing chamber. Hey, we're back for another month. Carl, how's everything going with you?

Unknown Speaker 1:15
It's great. Busy in a great way. Love it.

Speaker 2 1:18
Yeah. So tell us about the business that you are in how you are contributing through service to the world.

Speaker 3 1:24
So the business, I'm a managing member of crypto technologists, we help with those with crypto assets become exempt from capital gains tax using what's called the private family foundation. All we ask is that yes, there is a tax exempt organization, we just ask that you donate 5% to causes you care about annually. That ties directly in with cause marketing, because it makes people aware about the causes that you care about, because you're giving them money every year. And you just share that with people, especially if you're a business owner, you say hey, you know what our Foundation gave to this cause that cause and now they're wondering, I didn't know that cost exists. Tell me more about it. So you sort of market for these charities? indirectly?

Speaker 2 2:10
Yeah, I really, really appreciate Carl, your, your emphasis on the importance of educating people about the resources that are available out there that can help them with cause marketing and in partnering up with a business like yours. It's a business that stands out in the community because of your willingness to contribute to the lives of others to help others. And is, is this a lifelong passion for you? Or is this something that you just recently discovered the value of cause marketing?

Speaker 3 2:39
I have been involved with charities for as long as I can recall, my family would, you know, give to their church, I would walk around town selling chocolates. As a fundraiser to my school later, I volunteered for a team and training and it just stuck in my mind that you know, this is really fun. And I feel good doing this. So it's just a part of my life.

Speaker 2 3:02
Yes, definitely. It's sort of it gets in your blood. And I know again, I met crawl a couple of years ago, we put on our businesses with heart event, which is one of the big events that we put on at the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce. And Carl was an attendee. And we've been fast friends ever since we've been on quite a few journeys together, haven't we over these few years, Carl?

Speaker 3 3:20
Yeah, it's funny. The days are long, but the years are short,

Speaker 2 3:25
doesn't it? We got through the pandemic together, reorganized our board, and I mean, established our our 501 C six, during all this time put on so many events together with wonderful nonprofits that we've supported great businesses that we've supported. Yeah, what arrived?

Speaker 3 3:44
Yes, especially, I'm glad you're brought up that we've meet, we've met lots of nonprofits, because again, they don't have a marketing budget, which is why this whole cause marketing concept is so powerful. Yes,

Speaker 2 3:54
and one of the big emphasis that we have with the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce. By the way, if you want to learn more about our organization, please visit our website cause marketing chamber.com, all kinds of information on that site about upcoming events and things that we do. But yes, Carl, that is a great point. The marketing aspect of the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce is something that cannot be overemphasized, especially for, specifically for smaller nonprofit organizations and small businesses. One of the elements that sometimes they are lacking in is exposure. And our chamber is designed to to help bring more exposure to these organizations that are doing great things for the community, both small businesses and professionals as well as some of the great nonprofit organizations such as prison families Alliance, which we're going to be talking to Julia Lazarus in a couple of minutes about but there are so many wonderful nonprofit organizations in Las Vegas and across the country that are helping a lot of people that just don't get the exposure. So yes, these events that we put on, they're outstanding. doing low cost marketing tools that can be very helpful for a nonprofit or a small business. Yes. And so I want to get into our pie. But first, I want to talk about our event that we spoke with at our last show that we did last month, businesses with heart, we put on our event, and it was a great opportunity to bring businesses and nonprofit organizations together. And what do you think, Carl, that's what your third or fourth that you've participated in now,

Speaker 3 5:29
at least third, maybe the fourth, it was just a great event because it was a military themed event. Also on St. Patrick's Day, and we no military like to drink beer. But besides that, we had bunker Labs is our feature nonprofit, and we raised over $500. For them.

Speaker 2 5:48
Yes, a fantastic nonprofit organization, we got to learn about their contribution to the community and how they are helping so many veterans who want to be entrepreneurs. Plenty of networking, of course, we had the nonprofit organizations that were there, we had a military entry of the show, I thought that that was just amazing to have those young people participating in our event in that way. And every time we put on one of these businesses with heart events, Carl, it's great to see new audiences that we develop because there are people who've never attended the events they attend. Now they know about the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce, they know about the nonprofit organizations that participated in it. And they make business connections that sometimes produce great results. I mean, through the years, if we could track the amount of business that we've generated through businesses with our wish we could the amount of real estate that's been sold or that transactions that have happened as a result of that. I mean, you just be astounded small groups of people can make a big difference. And of course, just like bunker labs benefited financially from that event, because proceeds from the event go directly to that particular nonprofit organization is just everyone wins. We have a great time. And it was, it's just great to put on another one. That was our eighth presentation of businesses with heart. Yes, it

Speaker 3 7:12
was great to have the color guard and the Coast Guard auxilary. They told me they had several more people interested. They were asking questions about why is there a Coast Guard exhilarate not on the coast, you know, in Nevada, so they had a couple of inquiries with that, which is always great.

Speaker 2 7:28
Yes. And so we've already scheduled our next businesses with heart of it, it will be on September the eighth from 4pm to 8pm. We're going to go back to Emerald at Queen's Ridge, I just think that's an outstanding facility for our event. We feel like we're going to really grow into that facility. And I'm just looking forward to getting together with all the business people and nonprofit organizations. Again, the nonprofit organization that we will support at that event is called Spread the Word Nevada. And I had the opportunity to interview the executive director of that organization on the radio probably 10 or 12 years ago. I mean, it was in the very beginning of my career on the radio. Her name is Lisa habit, Horst and she came on and she talked about the things that Spread the Word Nevada does for the youth. They're all about literacy amongst the youth. And of course, school will be starting at that time. So it's a perfect season to promote a nonprofit organization that really wants to help the youth here in Nevada. So you'll be as we do these podcasts every month, we'll be talking about that upcoming event, of course, we're always showcasing nonprofits that are doing great work. And we have a nonprofit organization in the studio today. That is certainly doing some great works. And Cara, we want to speak with Julia Lazarus with prison families Alliance and learn more about what she does. Yes,

Speaker 3 8:53
Julia plethoric. With prison financial Lyons, welcome to the show.

Unknown Speaker 8:57
Thank you, Carl. It's wonderful to be here. I really appreciate you guys having me on.

Speaker 3 9:00
And she was also at the business with heart Expo, and she's here today with us to share more about her organization. Julia, could you tell us when prison families Alliance was formed and how it benefits the community?

Unknown Speaker 9:13
I sure can thank you. You know, it's all about the family. And about a couple years ago, right when the pandemic hit, we found that people that had loved ones that were in the prison system couldn't visit them. And there was people all over the United States that were suffering because they couldn't see their loved ones. And another woman and I joined together to form prison families Alliance. Her name is Barbara Allen. And she started a group in the 60s. So between Barbara who has over 50 years of experience helping and supporting families, and myself who was involved with friends and family of incarcerated persons prior to this, that started in 2000 And we have over 70 years of experience in working with and helping families.

Speaker 3 10:06
Now, assuming that you had a career before this, could you share why you got involved with this particular organization, I

Unknown Speaker 10:13
really appreciate that because I still have a career. And my brother was incarcerated in the late 90s. And he actually passed away in prison about 10 years ago from hepatitis C. And after he passed, I realized that I had been living a hidden sentence, that all those years that he was incarcerated that I didn't have anybody to talk to, I didn't know what to do, I didn't have the information. And I wanted everybody that goes through this before, during and after to have the information that they need, so that they can support not only themselves, their family, but their loved one that's incarcerated, because when somebody goes into the prison system, they don't go alone. They take their whole family with them, they take their friends in the community.

Speaker 3 11:00
It's fascinating that you bring that up, because most people think, oh, that person is incarcerated, and they forget that there's a family they're leaving behind. And the family is suffering in a different way. And yes, I imagine there aren't very many people that will just want to share that around the world, or just in their community. But the family doesn't need someone to talk to about that. What successes can you share with the organization and, and these families, our

Unknown Speaker 11:29
group has over 10 meetings a month. And these are all online. And we support people all over the United States that are alone and don't have anybody to talk to. We also have one meeting that's in Spanish, we have a monthly meeting with a speaker that talks about interesting and pertinent topics to our families. We have a library at a series at the Clark County Library, where we have speakers come in. So and then we also have workshops, because there's just so many things that people need to know. And so by doing this, we're meeting people that are like, I wish I had this information, when my loved one was first arrested. And a lot of people read my book prison the hidden sentence, and say that they wish that they had that before their loved one was taken into the criminal justice system. So I think everybody, first of all, should read that book prison, the hidden sentence. And second of all, if you know anybody that's been affected, to definitely attend one of the support meetings, because they're compassionate, they're supportive, and they're with people that understand and some of our success success stories. Some of our success stories are when people come in, and they don't know that they have to schedule an appointment to see their loved one, that they should bring extra clothes. Because if you're not wearing the right clothes, when you go to see your loved one, you could be turned away. We have one story where a woman who's the CEO of a organization, and she comes to the meetings and says this is the only place I can be myself. This is the only place that I can come where people understand. And my favorite story is there's a woman that's been coming that was really distraught because she couldn't talk to her son. And when she did, he was very evasive. And at this particular meeting, there was a gentleman that had just been released from prison. And actually having people come in that we call them returning citizens is beneficial because they do help the families. Well, she was talking about her son and where he was incarcerated. And she said that I just came out of there, and is your son, so and so? And she said, Yes. And he said, Oh, well, I've been facilitating groups, and he's helped me facilitate. And he also brings meals to people that are sick, that can't get their meals. And this woman just just like started just crying tears of joy, just to be able to know that her son was okay.

Speaker 3 14:04
Well, that's great that you have returning citizens, as he called it help with the emotional coping of how this works. Do you have any other community partners that helps with this?

Unknown Speaker 14:14
There's a lot of organizations here in Las Vegas that we partner with that we talk to that we support each other. We also work with an organization called Prison visitation fund. And they're providing transportation and lodging to families that have to travel a long way. And it's just really important to realize that when somebody's taken into the prison system, that it's what they did and not who they are. And if you've been affected I want to have sensitivity to people that have been affected by crime that are victims. Whoever I want to focus on the prison family, on the family on the outside has been affected. That has stigma that has shame that has guilt And it's not because of no fault of their own. It's the collateral damage because of the system. And we also support the children, we have a monthly meeting with children. And we'll be rolling out some workshops for children because the children have a lot of guilt. There's a stigma, there is children whose parents won't let them play with them because their parents incarcerated. So it's really important that we take care of the children because children with an incarcerated parent are twice as likely to offend.

Speaker 3 15:31
That's really powerful. What they did is not who they are. So where can our listeners get in contact with you so they can learn more, they

Unknown Speaker 15:38
can go to our website, prison families, alliance.org. They can find us on Facebook at PFAN V. And also, I have another Facebook group called Hidden sentence. And they can also go to my podcast, which is prison, the hidden sentence, which is on every platform or go to prison, the hidden sentence.org. Again, they can also email me at Julia at prison families. alliance.org. Yeah, what

Speaker 2 16:12
an outstanding nonprofit organization. Julian, thank you, again, so much for stopping by we actually featured prison families Alliance at one of our monthly mixer events, I think it was back in the fall. And just your whole presentation. And the things that you talked about just gave me a whole different perspective, I had an uncle who died in prison, and I think I had shared that with you. And he was just such a great guy and to have in the last 25 years of his life, he was in prison and the families, I think that's a lot of times people just don't really understand if you've not had a family member that you've lost like that. You brought up definitely a greater understanding of that there's a bigger picture when someone's incarcerated. And so just keep doing the great work that you're doing. We we really need it in this community.

Unknown Speaker 16:59
Thank you so much. And yeah, I'm available to talk anywhere, if anybody has any questions or need somebody to present or understand better, I'm here. So thank you so much for this opportunity.

Speaker 2 17:09
All right, we really appreciate you stopping by Julia. And by the way, if you want to follow us on social media, you can follow the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, if you want to see updates about things that we're doing a within our organization, and we've got lots of events in Carlisle. And I will talk about some of the things that are going to be coming up in the coming months. However, with this business of giving show, we want to again highlight the successes of nonprofit organizations, as well as a for profit business people. And I have a good friend of mine who's in the studio today. His name is Jim Lordan. And he is with globe con, and Jim's got a lot of titles he'll share, share some of those titles with you. But the one title that I know he has is just a caring man who really believes in people. And I think that that's the basis of being able to have great relationships and success in business. And welcome to the business of giving show. Jim,

Unknown Speaker 18:11
thank you very much guy, and what a great introduction that was, and I'm really happy to be here. Appreciate the invitation, and nice to meet to Julia, who was just here and just spoken to and thank you for Carl as well. And just this opportunity to be at UNLV in this studio and talk about giving back. And there's all kinds of different ways to give back in Italy important to really have that sense of community. And I do and in my business partner, Dagmar we do have that sense of community, which is, I think, especially in these times really important. I mean, obviously, I've been a for profit, profit business. But it's important to take some of those funds and not only putting money where your mouth is, but also sweat equity, but be committed to help out and do what you can.

Speaker 2 19:13
Yes. And you know, there are some people Jim who dis concept of what cause marketing is, we introduce it to them, they show up at an event and they don't really know much about it. And they're in the learning phase of it. But for you and Dagmar the two of you, you really understand what this is all about how to integrate the practices that you have in your traditional business with with giving back to the community and again, like I had asked Carl earlier, is this something that you've acquired over time or did you have a background of giving back to your community? What is your story as relates to this? Well,

Unknown Speaker 19:52
I think it's it's certainly inbred like within Carl it's an inbred with us in my family. There has always been a charitable heart in my family. Going back to my grandparents, as far as I can remember, there was always something that you could do, there's always something that you could volunteer for, there was always something. And so I just didn't wake up one day, and have this whole epiphany about doing the right thing. It's just something that I've always had a heart for. And there's so many different things that I've done. Over the years, I built a nonprofit radio station up in Northern Nevada, Renegade, radio, giving, giving, giving all the time. Prison Ministry, all kinds of different ways of of giving back to the community, at this point in my life now, also in incorporating the conversation, of having our business owners be mindful of what it takes to be a good business owner, an individual that not only looks at the bottom line, but also looks at ways that they can improve not only their employees, but also improve their footprint with other other nonprofit organizations. And that's how we found you is we specifically, we didn't again, just wake up one day, let's give let's give, we Dagmar and I got together, and we found you, we found cause marketing. And we were one of the one of the folks that just kind of showed up and experienced cause marketing. And we haven't stopped yet. So what's really amazing to me is that it's not something that people would immediately think of bring businesses and nonprofits together. In allow that to blossom, you would think that that would have taken flight long time ago, but good for you guys. By taking that, that grassroots mentality to get businesses and, and nonprofits together and, and just give them the opportunity to connect. Because sometimes it's not about the talent, sometimes it's just the cog in the wheel coming together, and what makes people what speaks to them. And so for us, just being involved with horses, there was an opportunity to be involved. Spirit therapy, spirit therapy, yes. It just to get in Dagmar loves horses, I've been around horses all my life, it just made good sense. You know, it's interesting to be at the ripe old age of a lot. And now I'm cleaning stalls again, it's, it's, it's kind of an interesting concept to, to look at my life and go, Yeah, I'm right back to the training grounds. And my grandfather had me do, I'll leave it alone. But there's nothing like moving manure around.

Speaker 2 23:03
Yes, if you show up out at the ranch, for Spirit therapies, you definitely have a good chance of moving some manure around, you do. And you've got an organization that I'm a part of called the alternative board, which is a peer counseling mastermind, maybe will share with the listeners about how that could benefit their business. So

Unknown Speaker 23:22
the 32nd commercial, if I could do that is we build advisory boards of four to 10, non competing local businesses, either the owners or the CEO. And we meet once a month for about four hours in a confidential environment, guided by the alternative board facilitator coach mentality, and the alternative board has been around for 3538 years, something like that their headquarters out of Colorado, and it is a worldwide organization. And as you said, we bring, as I said, as well bring owners together to talk about the challenges and opportunities for business owners usually, and I'll use you as an example, if you don't mind. You're so involved in making it grow and making it better and creating revenue for yourself and your family and trying to provide a service, trying to make payroll trying to do all the things that are required as a business, but you get to do it all by yourself. And so most organizations have a couple of three or four or five or 20 people to handle all the different aspects of the daily business. But as a business owner, you get to do that by yourself. And so with the alternative board under the helm of globechain Consulting, is there's an opportunity to sit with other business owners on a monthly basis. And then you get to sit with me once a month as well on an individual basis and talk about ways in what ways can we dot dot dot Fix, retain, change, look forward to cheer and chain exchange ideas. It's really fascinating to have that, that kind of conversation. And what's really good is the piece that I really enjoys the accountability. So when you guy or you other business person commits to something, I take those notes, and I come back as the group comes together the following month, and we have a lightning round and talk about, well, that commitment that you had last month, how's that going? And then there's a quick report, sometimes it's going really well, sometimes it's completely stalled. Sometimes it's, it's all fixed and taken care of, and we move on to another opportunity or another issue. So I love the model, when the pandemic hit, there was an opportunity for me to leave the corporate environment that I, I have 40 plus years involved with and for my business partner, my life partner, my fiance soon to be married at the end of the month, Dagmar she is also in that same position. And so we decided we wanted to give back, and that's our heart posture, that's our attitude, is to give back and share wisdom, and teach and do whatever we can to help others, especially business owners, because traditionally, there's not really a lot of opportunity for a business owner to be in a safe environment that they can talk about their issues, you can't tell your employees that this is a problem, or you can't tell your spouse, this is an issue that I'm dealing with, because they don't really as much as their heart is in it. And they're part of the situation, they don't really usually understand. Unless, of course, they're, you know, part of the organization. And so great question with a long winded answer.

Speaker 2 27:00
Well, there is a lot to tell. And, you know, one of the things that I greatly appreciate about the alternative board, Jim is, as you had mentioned before, when you're in business, sometimes you really are, you're so in your business, that you can't see the forest for the trees, as they say. And for me, the alternative board represents that opportunity to step out of my business out of my own way, because it's the owner, again, we're you know, you're you're the visionary, you're the person who who sees what you want to have happen, the result that you want to produce. But the challenges is that it's not just that aspect of your business, it's the day to day things that have to happen. And just having a group of peers, other people who are experiencing the same things that you're experiencing, trying to make our businesses work and you know, the good things, The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly, we share all that as a part of the alternative board. And it's very refreshing. It's just an excellent opportunity that I highly recommend Jim and I we want to let everyone out there know how they can get in contact with you for the alternative board, as well as many of your other consultation oriented services at globe con? Well, absolutely.

Unknown Speaker 28:16
They certainly can reach me at that gym, at globe con consulting.com. Or you can go on our website, obviously WWW dot globe con consulting.com. Or if you really want to, you can reach out to guy and Carl and they've got my Intel as well. So just search us on the internet at the interweb. And we'll be there.

Speaker 2 28:40
All right, Jim Lordan with globe con consulting, also a member of the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce. Again, thank you for stopping by and sharing your wisdom and we greatly appreciate your support and enthusiasm for what the cause marketing chamber is all about. Very

Unknown Speaker 28:55
easy to do that with you guys. Absolutely. Thanks for inviting me, and I do appreciate this time.

Speaker 2 28:59
All right. Well, Carl, we have a bunch of events that are coming up for the cause marketing chamber, the cause and business education series is going to be on the third Tuesday of the month. And who's our who's our presenters Rachel West,

Speaker 3 29:12
Rachel West. Rachel West is going to be there. What is her topic,

Speaker 2 29:16
she is going to talk about personal growth and she has got an amazing story. She's overcome a lot of hurdles in life, and she's going to be sharing a lot of techniques to build your self esteem.

Speaker 3 29:28
Excellent. And then following month, May 3 Tuesday, who do we have for that?

Speaker 2 29:33
We have Nadia Russo, who's also actually a member of the alternative board. We're waiting to hear what her presentation is going to be all about. But that third Tuesday, it's from 6pm to 7pm. And Carl is the facilitator of the event you can go to the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce website to get the link to be able to join that and Carl does a great job of moderating that. We have some room Really interesting guests that come on that cause in business education series.

Speaker 3 30:03
Yes, we do. And these are recorded, and we are putting together a library. So for those of you who have missed them in the past, you can catch them up, get caught up with them.

Speaker 2 30:12
And along with our cause and business education series, again, that is on the third Tuesday of every month from 6pm to 7pm. Go to the website for more information, we also do a monthly mixer event, and that is on the fourth Tuesday of every month from 6pm to 8pm. And we feature a nonprofit organization at all those events. It's a great networking opportunity. The featured nonprofit for this month, the event is going to be on the 26th. So the cause and business education series is on the 19th. And then we will be having the monthly mixer event that will be on the 26th from 6pm to 8pm at Mimi's cafe in Henderson, and the feature nonprofit for that event is lions habitat. And that is an organization it's really interesting nonprofit in that some of the animals, specifically the lions that are used on shows on the strip, they have a period of time when they appear in the shows. And then after they don't appear in the shows. They still have a lot of life. And so they have a specific place a habitat where they take the animals after they've appeared on the shows. It's just a great organization that, you know, we don't think about things like that a lot of times what happens to animals after they're not participating in shows on the strip anymore. And so looking forward to learning more about lions habitat. And that will be again on the 26th. It's going to be at Mimi's cafe. Again, if you go to the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce website, you can get all the details about that event, we'd love to see you come out. Again, if you're in business or even if you're not in business, you can come and participate in these events, learn about the nonprofit organization meet new people. That's what it's all about when we've got so many different programs and things that we are developing at the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce. Again, stay tuned for more details. The information is at the website cause marketing chamber.com. And of course the business of giving podcast is here on the second Sunday of every month from 7:30am to 8am. That's all for this show. Folks. Can't wait to get back together with you on the second Sunday of May. For another one of these broadcasts. Take care of yourselves and keep contributing. See you soon

Transcribed by https://otter.ai