EYL #30 Everything A Band-Aid Can’t Fix

An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President Donald J.

Trump's leadership.

I'm Christy nom the United States Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted illegal border crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over one hundred thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you are here illegally, your next you will be fined nearly one thousand dollars a day, imprisoned, and deported.

You will never return.

But if you register using our CBP home app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally. Do what's right.

Leave now.

Under President Trump, America's laws, border and families will be protected.

Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security.

All right, guys, welcome back, Episode thirty thirty. We turned thirty.

Yes Steph Curry with the shot.

Thirty thirty thirty thirty, So thank you guys. Last week was a big week for us. We put out two episodes. We put out an episode on crypto and investment banking, and we also put out the episode on Africa.

Shout out to Fritz Charles.

Yeah, so that was Those were both tremendous episodes, done tremendously well for us. So thank you, Thank you guys. We appreciate it and we appreciate you all your support for rocking with us. Before we start, I want to break some news. So if you follow the podcast, you know that we are traveling.

All right.

We did network we're doing these networking events meeting greets, and we went to La. That's when the first one was in LA, and then we went to Brooklyn, and we recently went to Atlanta. So the fourth stop is Houston, Texas. Get ready, Houston, were on our way. We will be releasing dates very very but within the next couple of weeks, within the next couple of weeks.

With your help, with hopefully everybody that we've been saying that gets on that we wanted on the podcast, we'll make it on the podcast. We don't need a little bit of help from Houston.

We need we need some help from Houston. But more importantly, we just need to support, so make sure you come out. It's all of our first times in Texas. So we're looking forward to that here. There's gonna be a good energy, good vibe out there for sure, for sure, So I'm excited about that.

Yeah.

But more importantly, we have a very special guest with us today, Nicole Russell.

Thank you for joining us, Thank you for having me.

Yes.

So, Nicole does a lot of different things, but she is the co founder and executive director of Precious Dreams Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization. We're going to talk about it. So this episode we're going to talk about a lot of different things. But we haven't covered the nonprofit organization industry yet, and a lot of people want to start nonprofits or they work for nonprofits. They want to understand

She won that.

Yeah, lots of lots of awards that did not apply for it.

Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.

So all right, before we go into your work, now, I think it's important to tell your backstory. So you was telling us off camera, but I think it's interesting.

Yeah, solid drop out.

So do you have that? So can you talk about that?

Yeah? So before I do, I will say that my one year, because I did one, My one year in college was one of the best years of my life. And it wasn't because of the education that I received. It was because of the experiences and relationships that I developed. So I do think there's so many valuable things that can come out of going to school. However, I don't

Well, so what made you since you had such a good freshman Yeah, what made you drop out after.

Your first year?

Because I had other plans, you know, were there were things that I wanted to do that I couldn't do. Also, financially, my parents could not afford it. It's crazy. I'm actually still paying off my debt from college for the one year. Yes, because my parents didn't give me a dime to go to school. But I really wanted to move to California, so I took out a private loan, which was not

No, that's dope, and it's dope that you took the initiative and just said you didn't let fear ruin it, right, because a lot of times people move out of fear. And I think I'm a little Jada when it comes to college because I never I never did a job application. So like even when you're saying, you know, as far as on the job applications, they look at you funny if you don't have a college degree. And I'm just thinking to myself, like I feeled not a job application before,

For sure.

I mean I couldn't have had a career in education without it, Like, so you need it. Yeah, it's absolutely mandatory that I go to school for four years and didn't have a master's degree and pass all these certifications, so it was needed for me. It wasn't even an option. Like I truly feel like I could have done what I'm doing now without all the school But like I said, New York State mandated that I have to do these things, so I had to do them.

Yeah, And it really just depends on what you want to do, right, because now I'm teaching in schools and I do trainings for educators without a degree. But it's because I'm teaching social and emotional stuff, which is not which are the things that you can learn in school. But also I've been able to learn it through experience and working with the target audience. So last year they passed a law in New York and Virginia to require

So social emotional health is something that is just like completely overlooked in our community. Completely and more so over the past i'd say five to ten years. It's become more of the forefront for adults, but the kids in our community, it is not even a thing. Like I've had some experiences it was just like, wait, how are we to just ignore this?

Yeah, but I think that's changing too, honestly, Like in a few years, it's going to be just as popular to talk about self care for teens as it is for adults.

So all right, So gme me back up a little bit.

Because you worked at a restaurant, right, Well, you worked in a restaurant industry, and then you've worked your way up and then you got to a point where you ask for equity partnership, right, Can you explain that? Because we talked about equity partnership a lot, and so this.

Is after you came back from California.

Yes, So as soon as I got back, I had to get a job. I started waitressing in New York City, one of the most popular things you know, that anybody can do. And I was always very ambitious and wanted to do more, and I wanted to make the most money. In every space that I've gone to, I've always wanted to figure out, how do I get into the position to make the big money, how do I learn what's needed to make the big money. So I started waitressing. I very quickly asked if I could be trained to bartend.

So at twenty four years old and one year of college, right, how did you develop enough courage to act un established you in Times Square that's an established restaurant? How do you get enough courage to act established restaurant owners where I'm assuming that much older than you and don't look like you for ownership in their business? Like, how did how did that conversation develop in your brain?

So in everything that I do, because I'm an introverted person, and some people can walk into a room and verbally share you know what they're going to do and how people need them, and I just I've never known how to do that. So I've always quietly and very humbly worked my butt off, knowing that I can be the best at everything as long as I work very hard. And so I was very aware of my worth, very aware of what I can bring to the table, and

Because that's important what you just said, as far as you realize that they needed your worth, you have to know your worth, right, and that's true with anything in business, relationships, person relationships, whatever.

But it's so hard.

People struggle with that all the time, right, people struggle with that all the time where they don't know their work, they don't realize that how valuable they are.

Right, So.

As far as like what would be your advice, as far as for people to say, okay, look, this is something that I think I'm worth, This is I need to ask for a raise I need to ask for a partnership, because it's not easy to do that. It's very difficult, especially especially like if you as you get older and you have a family, and you know a lot of times we just you just kind of become set and it's say, okay, I just know.

The risk becomes a lot higher when it's allowed on the lunch.

Yeah, you develop less courage as you get older. I feel, so, Yeah, like, what's the advice for people to go out there and just really take charge of their destiny?

For that, I would say prove your why, because you know, in the corporate world, there are people who complain about doing things that are outside of their roles and responsibilities. And if you ask someone to do something that they're not supposed to do, they'll give up and say, well, I'm not supposed to do that. And then there are those who will do it and complain probably internally, but not say anything. They'll do it, and they'll show you that they can do more than you've hired them for.

I think communication is important too, because even in like relationships, I think a lot of times people don't communicate properly. And that's a problem, right. It happens in business all the time. Where you don't say what you want, people can't reach your mind, and people are never gonna go out their way to give you something extra. A closed mouth doesn't get fit.

It's like I'm gonna keep poling on till you finally say something, and when you do, I'll say, all right, well, good job. Right, It's like the know you're worth it's key, like we I like to think of it as like it'll take something happened happen for people to learn, Like as you're getting these tasks, they don't realize that you're learning more and more, like now I feel like I can do these jobs. Like when you prove it to them, it's like, yeah, I've been doing it. Now pay us like you always.

Now it's like me and you more. Have this conversation a lot. I'll show you jam a soon. I referenced him last episode in this episode as well. But he's coming, don't worry. But you gotta have uncomfortable conversations. Yes, nobody wants to have the uncomfortable conversations, right, nobody. It's human nature. Nobody really nobody wants to have an uncomfortable conversation. But

Yeah, it's more uncomfortable, be unhappy. So you might as well ask.

I said, Jim, So all right, can we jump to Masive Square Garden.

Yep?

So you you you realized that they wasn't going to give you equity in the restaurant business, and you you've.

Reached the level where you felt that you.

You couldn't do any more and not get compensated as you should get compensated. So you you took a leap of faith and you quit, right yep. Okay, so then you then you start VIP services in Masters Square.

Guarden, right.

So no, I didn't start it. H So I quit my job without having a backup plan, which everyone tells you not to do. They always say, never leave a position until you get another one. But I, you know, leaned on faith and I just felt very confident that well one was Like I said, earlier. If you're it's it's more uncomfortable to be unhappy. So I had become unhappy in that position. And yes, I had to take care of my financial needs, but I need to take care of my mental needs too, so I knew that

And how long were you got as Square.

Garden seven years?

So then you leave Madison Square Garden, right, m hm.

So we're going to talk about that in the next segment as far as starting the nonprofit. But before you talk about that, what made you decide to even want to start a nonprofit?

So it's deep. I always wanted to help children, and I always wanted to live in service of others.

Right.

So that's when you're working in the hospitality industry, that is to serve people, period. It doesn't matter if it's in a hotel setting, if you're a cashier at a sneaker store, You're in service of others at all times. I wanted to do that and I wanted to help children. I just didn't know how. My mother actually took in a foster child and she suffered from nightmare seven nights

Changed, all right, all right, So in the next siven, we're going to talk about the business and nonprofit, how to start one and how to get off the ground. All right, So now we're going to go into the business of nonprofit. I'm setting up nonprofits because we haven't spoke about that. We spoke a little bit about charities with Derk Ferguson, but not really in depth about how to start one because he's he's the head of a charity,

Okay, So the first thing is you don't have to have a five oh one C three.

Can you just explain what a five oh one C three is?

So a five on one C three allows you, according to the IRS, to be tax exempt, which then allows all donors to write off anything that they contribute to your organization. It's very important if you need large amounts of funding. If you don't and what you're trying to do can get by on like a fifteen hundred dollars budget or a two thousand dollar budget, you don't need the five on one C three.

That budget be monthly or annually.

Annually, there's you know, it just depends on what you're budgeting for. You know, some people have a plant project and they just want to plant things a couple of times a year. You know, it just depends on what you're doing.

Yeah, I was told something like that. The process is very long, like and dependent on how much you need. So like, you can apply for the five one C three if you're making if you're anticipating having ten thousand dollars or less, yeah, that's the initial one. But if you're planning more that that process takes a lot longer.

It does, and I actually so we incorporated the organization and then we filed for the five on one C three at the same time, and it was about three or four months later I planned our first annual fundraiser because we needed the funding to really get started on what we were trying to accomplish. And in my mind, I'm thinking, if you look online, it tells you you can get approved for a five O one C three

So, all right, what's the process to get a five oh one C three?

Like, what do you have to do together?

There's a long application. There's a long application, and you have to be organized and have everything you have to You have to answer with as many details as possible if you want to get approved without questions first from the IRS. A right, So, mission statement. You need a mission statement. You need the name everything that you would need to do to start a business. You have to be very clear about what you're doing. And when I

Is it something that you did yourself or did you have lawyers involved?

I hired help, Yeah, definitely hired help. And I would recommend if anybody doesn't already have that experience in the nonprofit sector. Hire where you need, especially when it comes to accounting, get the support so that the first time around you're not making those mistakes.

So when you had the narrow dal your mission statement, like what was your revised mission statement?

So now the mission statement is helping foster and homeless youth self comfort by providing comfort items for bedtime and programs that inspires them to self soothe.

And that was okay, all right, So you have that, you have to set it up as a business like you have like an.

LLC setup, not an LLC, but it's the same steps of like having to You don't have to trademark, but I highly recommend it because the work of a nonprofit easily inspires someone else to want to do similar work, and they can. They can take your name and do it in another state if they want to, So trademarking, I highly recommend filing for the setup for the nonprofit the same way you would with the LLC for your state, and then applying for that five on one C three early.

It's a fee for that.

Yes, there's a fee. There's a fee for every application, so you have to have some funds to get started. When I applied in twenty twelve, I think that the five on one S three application was like eight hundred dollars. I'm not sure if it's increased since then, but yes, you definitely need something in order to get started.

Okay, So you do the application, you get well as the five oh one C three is going through the process, because it could take up to a year. What what else do you need to get off the ground to start the actual charity everything?

So you need a website, you need a marketing plan, you need a business plan.

Marketing plan. Can can we talk about that?

Yeah?

Because all right, how do you.

Before you even go into that, like, this is you and someone else? Like the like who else is doing this?

So the co founder was my mother, but no she she was living her best life in Florida. So my mom was not involved in, you know, actually getting the organization started. I was doing this on my own with the help of friends who believed in me and the organization. So that's the next step in like, and I'll get back to marketing. But you need you need a marketing plan, you need a business plan. You need a board of directors. You need people that are going to hold you accountable,

You have to have a boarder director, Yes, how many people?

Three?

Non negotiable, You have to you have to they have to have titles or they just boarded director.

Yes, and they need titles. So you need a president, you need a treasurer. You need a secretary.

That's New York State's stand it a federal New York state.

Okay, so all right, you have those three people. Those people have to actually be active.

They should be actors. So here's the thing. It's like it kindly recommended because they're putting themselves on the line by signing that paperwork. Right, So if you have someone signed as a secretary and it's your cousin, but they're not actually doing the work work. If you get audited or there is an issue, they're going to come looking for you and your cousin. So everybody should understand how serious it is when they are signing that paperwork.

Okay, can we talk about marketing? Yeah, so how do you put together marketing plan for a nonprofit organization? Because it's different, right, Like we're marketing let's say we want to market our podcast, right, or you're marketing a product. Right, it's a little different than marketing for a nonprofit because.

It's it's charity.

Yeah, so it's like you got to it's kind of in my opinion, it's it's a little delicate walk because you don't want to make it seem like you're selling something. But obviously you need funds. We're gonna talk about fundraising, but you need funds. So how do you how do you how do you do that?

Like, how do you market for a charity?

I think the two most important things to consider when marketing is who is your target audience? And then also what do your donors need to see and understand in order to give, So the more your donors know, the more they will give. Period making sure that in everything that you do, whether it's just utilizing social media, that every image, every caption, every meme, everything that you're sharing explains the mission clearly. Transparency is the number one thing

So you're pretty much now I mean, you're not selling in the sense of an item, but you're selling your vision and your passion in the sense right yeah.

And making it clear. I mean, there's another nonprofit friend of mine runs an organization called Kicks for the City. It's a very simple mission. They give shoes to the homeless. So when all of their packaging, they're showing photos, images of sneakers, images of homeless. So people can just simply connect the dots. Here's the mission, there's the value, and here's what it looks like if you give.

It's easy.

So all right, So the biggest part of charity nonprofit organization is that you have to have money.

Right. It's actually a business. Right.

That's something that people need to understand too. If you think about running a nonprofit successful NOLA is that you have to run it like a business because it is a business.

Right.

So we're going to talk about funding. So nonprofits get majority of their funding from donors. Right, how do you really.

Spend what way? Yeah? It depends. You can get a majority through individual donors, through state funding, through federal funding. Those are the three main ways.

Yeah, let's let's talk about donors.

Yeah, how does how would some what's the one on one blueprint to attract individual donors, real the.

Men so that they understand the cause and make sure that you are speaking to people who care about that mission, that specific mission. So with Precious Dreams, I had to find a way how do I connect the issues of foster and homeless youth and make it relatable to someone who's never been in those shoes. So the first thing that we did was target parents, because parents understand the

It's a commonality, like we were all children at some point, Yeah, and we probably all have going through some experience as a child, whether it was like somebody putting you to bed or the time routine. I want to go to the fact of state funding and federal funding, so like how does that work and are there acts or initiatives that the state provides that just like you know what I should target them or how do you go about it?

It depends on what you're doing. Again with the nonprofit, so if you're providing a service for schools or for educators, it's very easy to go after state funding. If you are providing sneakers to the homeless, it's a little harder to get those grants approved because they might not see the importance in that work. So yeah, it just depends on what you're doing. But those applications are available online.

So how important is grant writers?

Grant writers are very important. They're very very important, especially if you don't have relationships with a lot of individual donors because you need one or the other. Grant writers and also researchers are another a whole nother animal because a lot of times, and we learned this the hard way, I thought, you know, let's find a grant writer. You find the grant writer and they're like, okay, so who's doing the grant research? Because that's a whole nother job.

Yeah, I'm not even heard of that side. What's their job to.

Do to research? Yes, and it takes hours because there are so many grants available, but there could be one small thing in that grant, one requirement, and your organization just doesn't fall under it. So making sure before you waste anybody's time and they're writing this full proposal that you fall in on all of the requirements that are listed for that one specific grant.

And most of these grants government or private or like a mixture of a mix.

Yeah, private, public, state, federal.

And it's you could just google and probably find a lot as far as different.

Yeah, a lot of them are very public. Some are invite only, which are harder to apply for. But so there's a lot of private especially like family foundations, where they've set up to give finances annually to different organizations, but they don't want to have thousands of applications coming in. They are over one point five million nonprofits in the

So where where does your funding come from?

Most of a majority of our funding comes from individual donors, and that is a gift that I've been able to receive because of the work that I've done. So in having that history, that job history at places like Madison Square Garden, where I've been able to develop relationships with the one percent in New York City, or you know the athletes and artists that come through and they're invited

So do you have because I like, I think Derek ferguson Robinhood Dinner is like five thousand dollars minimum, It's like five thousand dollars per plate to end. Yeah, and it sold out. You can't get in and that's crazy. But like how do you price? How do you ask for money? And like do you do it in galas? How do you know how much to ask for?

There's so many ways to fundraise, so many ways. So one thing that's very important we talk. We go back and talk about boards. Right, your board of directors should be very diverse, and they should have a network far beyond your reach so that they can go out as ambassadors and promote your organization to receive funding from anyone that they're connected to. Then you can utilize social media. There's a lot of ways that you can raise money

So on the business side, how do you know? All right, you run an organization, not you, but just anybody, right, and that's your job. So you have to make a living, You have to you know, provide for yourself, right, So how do you know or what's the rule of thumb, like how much money should you be taking for your own personal It never really seems like it's right because it's like a charity you don't want to take, but it's still a job. But you're doing something, you know,

So I think the most important word when it comes to thriving in the nonprofit space is transparency, and annual reports are important. An annual report is more than just the nine to ninety which you need to fill out every year so that the government knows how you're spending your money. But an annual report will break down exactly how much money went to operational costs, to programming, to

This episode is brought to you by P and C Bank. A lot of people think podcasts about work are boring, and sure, they definitely can be, but understanding a professionals routine shows us how they achieve their success little by little, day after day. It's like banking with P and C Bank. It might seem boring to safe plan and make calculated decisions with your bank, but keeping your money boring is what helps you live or more happily fulfilled life. P

You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates fast? Easy? Just use Indeed stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites. With Indeed sponsored jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates, so you can reach the people you want faster. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed have

A cost so that this is this is how much would go towards operational costs, and then this is how much that you give to the organization every year. And they voted, because voting is another thing that must happen on your board. They voted, it was approved, and they actually cover my salary. So when people donate to Precious Dreams, none of that money goes to operational costs my board, my boarder directors pocket out of their pocket. Yeah, which

So if rule it THEMB, like if we're starting a nonprofit, what would you say that percentage would be for a nonprofit to have an operational course.

They're recommended accorded to according to like Charity Navigator, would be forty percent should go towards operational costs and anything outside of programming, everything else should go towards programming. And then if it doesn't, they would they judge you. There's a lot of like grading systems online for nonprofits, so you you will get graded on a lower scale if you are taking that money and putting it.

So we have if like a million dollars comes in, four hundred thousand should go to operational costs, six hundred dollars should go to the proper.

Ye, right, and that the operational cost always if you have staff, which you obviously just a Plaska fall on that list too.

Yeah. And also it's like just accountability and being smart about how you spend that money because there's no rule that says that you have to. But if you get an audit from the I r S and they look at how you're spending, they can pull that five on one C three at any time.

Okay, all right, that was good. That was a lot of good information.

Obviously some stuff that we're going to take advantage of us hopefully.

Yeah. I mean that's that's the thing with our podcast. We try to provide information for people. It's like how to manual and then from NAR hopefully they'll be inspired if they want to, you know, be inspired to you know, seek more information.

But you know, it's like a It's like.

When your kid first rides a bike and you push them, then they got to start riding on their own. But sometimes what we lack, especially in our community, is the first push. So we just get on a bike and try to ride it, and then we just keep falling off because we never had momentum.

Right, So knowledge is momentum.

Yeah, so if you have the right knowledge, then that can propel you to heights unseen.

Absolutely. But even if your viewers don't want to start nonprofits, I'm sure a lot of people who tune in make donations, right, So, like there are certain things that you don't even know about giving just because it's not out there, like the FML, like the fair market no, the FMV the fair market

Depending on who's at that event, that FMV will go up obviously.

Right, No, who's in attendance doesn't matter.

I'm just thinking like, if I know, right, if I have Kanye there right, then.

If he's performing, yes, that's what I'm saying. So if there's a performance, there's a value to that. If there's food, there's a value to that, And then go.

Up to the sales that they're doing from their shows.

Yeah, and the nonprofits job is to be transparent and let their donors know ahead of time what they're going to get out of that experience, and then what is the difference of what they can write off educational.

I didn't know that. I'm a financial vise. I never knew that. My understanding, I thought, whatever you get the charity, you just write off and it's one hundred percent.

A lot of people do that, and a lot of people also don't even realize that they're not right. You know, you're filling it out that you're writing off that much money. But the I r S does a lot of checks, so if you.

Ever get ordered at the I r S, they can come back and say.

You absolutely wrote off one hundred.

For the dinner, but really you only get twenty five dollars because the dinner was worth seventy five dollars. But it's up to the charity to tell you to inform you on that. If the charity doesn't inform you on that, can that fall back on them?

It can. But the thing is most people don't know that they're being informed by the small print. It's the same way as you look at a website. I mean on a commercial, you see that fine print on the bottom that is not their responsibility if you don't read it.

Yeah, it's like the back of a ticket, like nobody ever looks at it. Well, nobody nobody reads well, nobody looks at the back of either it's it's like I'm here, here's my things.

Yeah.

Facebook, when you sign up, there's like a whole thing. We'll take it information will salt it?

Or the Apple update is like eleven pages wrong, nobody is going to read it. Learn page.

But what are you're not going to do it?

Yeah, exactly, you quit the altern your charity.

You can have Apple. What are you gonna say, No, I'm not gonna have an iPhone?

Yeah, and I hope I'm not discouraging people to give, but definitely pay attention to that's good information.

I appreciate that because, like I said, that's one of thing think of the podcast is that you know, even I learned every single podcast, I learned something from the podcast, so that something that I was.

Not aware of and I've learned something. So yeah.

But but any other form of like charity in the in the regular form that's one hundred percent write off, right, as long.

As there's nothing received in exchange. And that's why every receipt usually says that at the bottom of the letter.

What about if you give close? If you give close, it's like the value of the closes.

Right, It's not the value of when you purchase it unless it's still brand new and it has a tag on it.

It's the value of what it is now because like Salvation Army, like they give you like a ticket.

Yeah, like what's it worth. That's all self taught, right, you have to go through experience learning, yes.

And that plays in attack.

It's all all this stuff intertwined, so that plays into taxes as well as a tax play. And that's why a lot of wealthy people, you know, start foundations also.

Right, Yeah, can you talk about that briefly? We wasn't. I wasn't really playing on talking about that. I just thought about that.

A lot of athletes specifically, and entertainers and stuff, they start foundations because it's a it's a.

Way for them to lower the taxable coming. It's attack shelter, right, M.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely, it's also a way for them to This sounds terrible It's also a way for athletes to have their name on something that someone else's funding. You know, there's a lot of there's a lot of basketball clinics that happen, and just because you see that particular celebrities name on the clinic doesn't mean that there's not ten other sponsors that are coming in and actually paying for it. So of course you're going to get more support when

So how does that.

Help them personally as far as they start a charity? How does that help.

Them write offs?

It's a rite offs for them personally.

Yeah, it's a right offs. But so there's two parts to it. They get the rite offs by giving financially on their own, but then also it's a great marketing tool. You know, like I not only do this, but I also care and you don't have to be there to do it. So Usher, I'm just gonna throw that one out there again. Usher's New Luck. I've worked with that organization about three times. Now we've partnered on different things.

All right, Well, that was very good information. In the next segment, we're going to talk about mental health, something that is very important in our community. We're also going to talk about your book and some of the things you got going on as well. All right, So in the last segment we are going to talk about a few different things, but I want to start the conversation with mental health. Mental health is something that is in

So you wrote a book.

And it's about correct me if I'm wrong, but socially emotional disorder.

Yes, So it's actually a book for teens and it's a guide to all of the support both mental, physical, challenges that they might be facing in school every day things where they need support, and they might not feel comfortable talking to an adult about all of that content.

So working in charity, in the charity feld, especially with your foundation, where you're working with homeless youth and children and forth to care, right, obviously they have a lot of issues, right, So like the mental health effects, Like can you break that down?

Because it's difficult, right, even if you're.

From an environment that might not be the best namehood, it's still different if you have a family. It's hard for people to relate to somebody that doesn't have a family, Like that's one of the biggest things in life's family.

Yeah, So it's interesting because I wasn't taught that growing up that family is everything. There's actually a line in my book, which for me personally is the most important line because it helps people understand why I am walking in this lane of purpose and it is most days I felt invisible, and that forced me to see myself.

I think I liked the phrase that you used emotional independence, like that is so powerful.

Yeah, And so I think that I could relate to the youth that I'm serving, not because I've ever been homeless or in foster care, but I had similar experiences with some of the adversity that they've faced. And I felt abandoned at times and I felt alone at times. And so a lot of people start that discovery of self care and understanding why they need it in their mid twenties or their late thirties, and that's usually when like the parents start to let go and you realize

You know?

So we started early.

Yeah, I mean just working in the inner cities. It's tough, right like that there's not a lot of funding for social workers or school counselors, and you have populations of you know, school populations five thousand kids, right, and you have two social workers, like they can't personally touch every kid, and so it's really tough. And it makes me think of like last year when Meek put out that song Trauma, and he kind of said something during I think one

Yeah, So I had a very unique upbringing. I grew up in a single parent home with my father and my older brother. My mom left when I was about six, and there's a situation that I talk about in the book where there was a domestic violence that I had witnessed, and then shortly after that, my mom was forced out of the home. In most instances, you know, kids would

It was a colleague of mindset, something brilliant. I never even thought of it till he actually said it. He was like, when a kid enters school at kindergarten, we know they're upset because they cry, right, We know that you know they missed their mom because they'll cry or

Yeah, and it's from not having the experience of knowing that when you share, things can get better. I think that's what the fear is, you know, Like the fear is how will this information be received by others? But now we're seeing that when you speak and when you release, it's good for you and sometimes it can help you get out of the situation that you're in if it's necessary.

So you said something else interesting, so that you learned how to self comfort?

What does that mean?

Self comfort is so I say in my book, one example of that is we're taught to cry on the shoulder of someone else, but my tears, all of our tears fall where on you, they fall on us. And so the first person that you need to speak to is yourself, because that is the person you're going to have the most honest conversation with. Before you call someone else and tell your side of the story. You actually know the whole side, and there's no getting around that.

That's like one of one of the phrases that Shady always says to me. He was like, you're always gonna need other people, but you have yourself. Like, so start with yourself.

Yeah, start with yourself first. Love yourself first, and it makes everything else easier.

You always need somebody, but all you got is yourself. That's the phrase, because at the end of the day, the soul you really have, because it's not even like you, it's just respect to your friends and family. But you can't fully rely on another person.

Right.

I might really need Troy and he might have every full intention to help me, but he might just not be able to do it, yeah, for whatever reason. Right, So it's like at the end of the day, you know, at the very least, you're gonna be there. Everybody might not be there geographically, they just it just might be a situation where they might have all the great intentions in the world to be there, but they just can't

You do that in your teenage years? You do that?

Like as you graduated, well, as you left college, like, at what point did you start to realize, like maybe my upbringing wasn't the most beneficial and I, you know, kind of have to look at some things.

I actually didn't really think about it until I started the nonprofit. Unless you're comparing your situation to others, you don't really understand as a child what you should or shouldn't have, and so you know, yeah, there were days

You know, it's crazy.

It's crazy act you say that because I was telling somebody, like a few months ago, like I went to one of my good friends Indian and he had a wedding, and anybody's familiar with Indian wedding, it's like a whole week thing, Like it's like four days celebration, and it

Exactly. You might be in it yourself.

And it's like after a few bad relationships and you see all your friends in that type of relationship, you're thinking, you know, a curse out here, and fight are not that bad, you get cheated on it, it's normal, Like that's not really nothing really bad, And I at and then you see something from a totally different perspective and you're like, wait, this is not.

Normal, Like this is the same reason why you know people like you and I provide opportunities for you because a lot of people will never leave the neighborhood that they're comfortable in because they haven't experienced anything else. So they don't know that they should be traveling, or they don't know what can be offered if they leave this job and you know, try something new.

It's like I call it, We're like the real exposure programs, Like we are exposing them to things they've never seen. We just took some kids to the Wells Fargo trading desk, like I've never been there, you know what I mean. So like a kid at fourteen, I can imagine what that's going to do for his future. Or when we took him down to Morgan Stanley trading desk, it's like I actually knew the guy who was there. I'm like, I don't even know you worked here, you know what

So that exposure is so important.

Yeah, Like like we said the other day, like we did an episode, the last episode in Africa, but it was important that I took the kids to the Brooklyn Museum to see that Ancient and Jesus Ancient Egypt exhibit because it was like, they need to know this history, right. I don't know if this is going to be covered in social studies. I can't risk the fact that it might not be. So let's give it to him. Now what they'll do with it, who knows. Yeah, but the exposure is a key pieest h.

Yeah for sure. So all right, we'll talk about the book.

But you said something interesting as far as how you promoted your book and you want on a book tour, and you went to Barnes and Nobles and I think in LA and New York. And I asked you, I'm like, how did you Barnes and Noble. That's a big deal, Like how did you get a book to on Barnes and Nobles? So can you talk about how you did that?

Yeah? So I will say with New York pride this city. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. And I learned how to hustle at such a young age that when this book was coming out, I remember seeing a photo of the author Cleo Wade. I saw a photo of her online. She had her book release at Barnes and Noble, and there was an image of her with the Barnes and Noble Lobo logo in the back, and I was like, that's what I want when I released this book, I want to do it at Barnes

Concert.

Yeah you don't. You know, Barnes and Noble on Fifth Avenue, which is the place where I actually hosted my book release, they can only hold one hundred and twenty five people upstairs. So they want to know that if they purchase one hundred and twenty five books that you will sell them on that.

Day for your really what they purchase it.

Yes, and so if you don't have one hundred and twenty five people, you actually have to buy back the books. You have to pay the differs like the bar garan.

Yeah, so like they're buying them, you're signing them, and they're like, all right, whatever, it's leftovers.

It's just like a bar guarantee.

Same thing, yeah, which most people don't know about. You know, like just get one hundred and twenty five people in the room and you can do a book signing at Barnes and Noble.

Another gym good to know another gym.

All right, So the book, you got some you got some some big names in the book that contributed to In particular, I want to talk about Asap Ferd. Shout out to Asap Ferd, Asap Rocky. I believe they just released them. Yeah, so thankfully, Yeah, hopefully, I guess result. So Asaph ferk, he that was an interesting story. Can you talk about that?

Yeah. So in the book, at the beginning of every chapter, there's a small excerpt from not just celebrities, but people who have been guest speakers for the Precious Dreams Foundation, and they tell a small part of the adversity that they experienced in their teens, and then I just elaborate

That's what I said, like another inner city kid, that these things are happening every day and it's just like all right, well, move on, go back to school tomorrow.

Yeah, you know what I mean.

It's just completely overlooking shout.

And then Gary Vee, you think about Garvey?

Yeah, Gary Vee is one of my favorite people in this world. A lot of times people ask is he really liked that in person? And he is. He came to do a talk for fifty homeless youth in New York City. He didn't get paid for it. He had a meeting after, so we were working with a short deadline. He'd do one hour appearance, and he ended up canceling his dinner that he was supposed to do after the stay because so many kids had questions and they wanted to take pictures.

And who he was.

Some of them did and some of them didn't. But I will say and this caught me off guard. Gary talked to those kids the same way he talks to adults on his social media. He was cursing at them. He was like, your problems don't matter. It was I was in the back of the room just shaking my head like I was so afraid. I'm like, we're going to lose this with We're going to lose our partnership with DHS after this. Luckily, the kids loved him, so it went really well.

And then I've read I've seen something on your Instagram. I think it was on your Instagram where you emailed him, and he said, emailed me. Originally when you met him and you emailed him, he never responded. Then you emailed him again.

So I DMed Gary Vee and I asked him to come out and speak to the homeless youth at Precious streams and he didn't respond right away. So I DMed him again and he said, yeah, send of the information via email. So he gave me his email. I emailed, didn't reply. I emailed again, he didn't reply, So I went back to the first form of communication. I DMed him and said, hey, I've been sending those emails. Are you still interested? And he said, send another email, we'll

So yeah, So when he said that, and what he said was he said that most people would have stoped them through the first email.

The fact that you sent.

Three emails like because you know, he's just busy in a lot going on, so he didn't see it. And you know, he tries to answer as many emails as he can, but it's difficult. But the fact that you actually were persistent, Yeah, And that's one of the keys with any level of success in businesses, you have to be persistent.

So especially with running a nonprofit, you have to be persistent because that is the only way to thrive. And I am serving a population of youth who are often unnoticed and unheard because they don't have the platforms to tell their stories, and so they're counting on me to go out there into the world and share why it's so important for us to pay attention and to give to them. You know, like these kids would never have access to Gary v if I didn't go so hard.

One of the things that we're involved in, I know you're involved in too, is homos outreach, and we were supposed to do something, but you're doing it. You're working with complex to do something and that avenue.

So Pressure Streams actually serves foster and homeless youth. So we're partnered with DHS in New York City. We have local chapters in South Florida, Baltimore, and Los Angeles. If anybody wants to volunteer or give in those cities. Pressure

That's powerful. That's powerful. We want to thank you for coming on. Shout out to Complex. We need to be on that.

Complex Complex Community, which is the new initiative that we created out the.

Complex Community about you need to be on that.

Gary V. We need Gary you on the.

Podcast putting it out cod Welcome to alumni.

Yes, I'm an alumni. Now I get a sticker.

That's a fact.

So Troy some housekeeping items.

Yeah, Patreon dot com, Backslash and your Leisure. That's our Proud to Pay program. Thank you for everybody who's supporting that. We got some new members this week, John Jake and Shadia thank you. Like we said, we have five tears for you to join at feel free to enter any level. I want to give a shout out to Crystal. We spoke. She DMed us from Japan, but we actually spoke when she was in South Korea. So shout out to how we had a great conversation, and shout out to Brenda

Yeah, shout out to shout out to Oakland. Hopefully we'll be out there very soon. But as I said earlier, Houston, tex that's next. We We was in l l A. Every we're picking up momentum. L A was dope. Brooklyn was tremendous. It was like a rappers in store, Like there was too many people in the venue, so we had the whole street flooded. Likes like what's going on like an NBA's playing head And then Atlanta, judge, they have five hundred people in Atlanta. Atlanta was crazy. So Houston,

So YouTube was.

Another way to consume the content, but we're gonna have actually more content on YouTube. My book tip of this this week is Nicole's book. So you're the author. Every week I give a book tip, so I'm gonna let you give the book tip and explain your book, talk about your book, and yeah, I.

Was actually just listening to you speak and I was going to follow that up with a tip for you guys. And it's incredible seeing how this podcast is growing. But it's a reflection of what you're doing for others, and it's showing you that people are hungry for this information. So my tip, which is not necessarily a book tip, but I'm an author giving the tip, is legacy. Legacy

We actually put that on our merch legacy, legacy legacy.

Because that's what choice all the time. He was like, you can't what do you say?

I was because when people look at students, I always tell him from a population, right, like the principal, Yeah, he's in charge of the school, but the students are the real bosses, right, Like those are the legacy writers. When I'm going, they'll be able to tell how it made them feel, you know what I mean. They won't remember the things I'll say, but they remember how it made them feel. So like those are our legacy writers.

So that's a fact that somebody asked me.

I did an interview one time, they like, how do you want to be remembered, or like, what do you want your legacy to be?

Like, it's not up to me.

My job is just to do the work on earth. How I'm viewed is not up to me. That's up to the public, to the people that know me, my friends, my family. Hopefully I'm viewed in a good manner, but that's not up to me. You can't worry about that. You just got to do the best job that you possibly can. And then other people, like you said, is gonna write your story. Even if you write your own story, your story is gonna be written by other people that more than you write your.

Own sactly, So everybody's gonna have one right. So like every student that we encounter, every person we encounter, that's ten thousand chapters.

You you know what I'm saying, their own experience.

Everybody has their.

Owne But speaking of the book, ten thousand chapters, so we can we talk about your book?

Yes, seventeen chapters, twenty three chapters. Keep saying seventeen twenty three chapters.

Okay, everything a bandaid can't fix? Right, Yes, and what's it about?

It is a self help book for teens. It is touching on all of the social and emotional issues that they are dealing with on a daily basis, from bullying to peer pressure to family issues. Because parents aren't perfect. They are people.

And it takes a lot to discover.

Yeah, yeah, it does. And just how to use their voice and how to stand out in this world?

Dope?

How can people contact you? How can they get information on your charity? How can they what's your social media handle?

All at Instagram? Is at Nicole Russell. You can find the book at Target, Walmart or Nicole Russell dot com and Pressure Streams Foundation dot com. If anybody here is not considering starting a nonprofit but is in the in the in the mood to give, please lock online and make a donation. It only cost twenty five dollars to sponsor a foster or homeless child with the experience of a comfort drop and a comfort bag full of brand new comfort items for bedtime.

Come on it, there you have it, there you have it.

So yes, once again, thank you for joining us, Thank you guys for listening and we will be back next week.

Please please, You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates fast? Easy? Just use Indeed. Stop struggling to get your job post seen on other job sites. With Indeed sponsored jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates, so you can reach the people you want faster. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed have forty five percent more applications than non sponsored jobs.