Building Hope, One Brick at a Time: The Adam Petraglia Story

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Without further ado, I want to tell you that today we have an absolutely amazing story and we’ve got somebody that is unbelievably purpose driven, filled with principles. Has, uh, been at the very, very, very bottom of fighting for life and has been at the very, very, very top and continue to climb to show what life can actually be all about.

Right? Am I wrong? That’s right. And that would be the one and only Adam Petrolia. Did I do it right? I’ll take it. Paglia. Paglia. I knew I was gonna mess that up. Petrolia. See, never let an Irishman. Never let an Irishman. I’m even wearing my shirts with my cl my shirt with my clovers on here. Petrolia. There you go.

Right on. Boom. And there you go. Unbelievable. Alright, so we’re gonna edit that out. Uh, creator Spark. No, we won’t. We’ll leave it in. We’ll leave it in because it gives it a little character. Uh, and so Adam is, um, a purpose driven principled. Human being. He is a representative of an amazing, uh, partner to T-T-S-G-G-S-D technologies in 2020 design.

Uh, and you may have seen a previous episode with his fearless leader on that, but we’re here today to talk about what he has built and you’ll see his wonderful shirt. He has built an organization, a 5 0 1 C3, right, called Bricks of Hope, and we’re gonna get into that. Mm-hmm. Before we do, Adam, uh, thanks for coming on and I’d like to, uh, ask you a question if I may.

Right now I’m looking at your LinkedIn, which by the way, folks, uh, follow him on LinkedIn. He’s putting out some really nice content and, um, a lot of thought leadership and so on. And this is a guy who has a, uh, 40 hour a week job, plus has built his own brand. So that’s probably somebody you want to follow.

Uh, but I’m staring at a post here that has, uh, close to 90 likes and a whole bunch of impressions. And on the left side is a picture of a very handsome young man, probably about 7, 8, 9, 10 years old in that range, uh, that is, uh, laying in a hospital bed with tubes, uh, that, uh, are going into his mouth. And then on the right side is a picture of a very, very happy husband and wife duo, uh, that are smiling, holding an infinite I.

I’m guessing that picture of you in the hospital bed tells a whole lot of that story. So give us an understanding of kind of what childhood was like. Yeah. That, that picture is almost exactly 24 years ago. Um, you know, I, I think my childhood was probably a little bit different than a lot of kids. Um, I got a look at it in both directions.

The best and worst gift on my 11th birthday. Um, you know, hearing the words, Adam, you have cancer, uh, was my gift on my 11th birthday? Uh, well, that’s one way to look at it, Adam. You know, I, good lord. It is, uh, it’s, it’s been a, it’s been a, certainly a journey. Um, but that was the really, the 180 on life, um, as an 11-year-old.

And I had no idea what that truly meant for me. Um, I couldn’t, I. Too young to comprehend what cancer meant, um, what that was gonna do to alter my life and how that was gonna change things. Um, but that picture you’re looking at is really rock bottom. Wow. Um, you know, getting to a point where, uh, I had a six month hospital stay and I was, at that time in that picture, I was in a five week drug induced coma.

Um, because treatment was so painful and, um, it got to the point where if, if Adam’s gonna live, Adam has to pull through. Um. And thankfully I show the other picture is that’s where I am. Yeah. Uh, married and with a little 10 month old man, there’s always savings, but it’s about way more than savings alone.

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ttg.com. We’ve ruined the story because now people know what the outcome is already. So Adam did survive. Um, and you were diagnosed with leukemia, like, man, I tell you what, and by the way, 24 years ago, what the odds were of survival versus what they are now. Oh yeah. I mean, we’re talking about a big difference, but maybe it’s because of the way that you, um, analyze and look at life.

That perspective is really powerful. How does one arrive at that perspective? Um, you know, we’re all a product of our upbringing, our surroundings, uh, our mentors, our parents, um, and the situations and adversity that we overcome, it kind of creates us and defines us. But when you’re an 11-year-old, you haven’t lived enough life in order to think that way.

So you think that way now? Mm-hmm. What were you thinking then? You know, as an 11-year-old, and I, I am not ashamed to admit this, I was a very angry kid when I got sick. Um, you know, I was the, this isn’t fair and, uh, why is this happening to me? You know, as a, as a kid, that’s all I could think about. Um, I remember the question I asked my parents was, when can I go back to school and play soccer again?

Mm-hmm. Um, you know, in, in a matter of seconds, all of that got taken away. Um, and for a kid that just, that’s what it is. It’s, this is unfair. Why is this happening? Um, I think for me, and you know, I have, I come from a big family. I have five siblings. There are eight of us, uh, in the whole crew. And, you know, my mom never left my side, uh, during six months in a hospital bed.

Mm. Um, you know, and my parents, you know, hardworking and loving, and I. Nothing was gonna stop them from saving their little boy. Um, I think for me, you know, resonated started to resonate over the years that like this is the mentality to have there, there is no other option. Yeah. Like there is, there is no other option.

Living and surviving was the option. Um, and quite literally doing anything that we could to. Make sure that that happened. Um, you know, it took me a long time to realize to where we are right now. Now we’re gonna, we’re gonna get into that. But, um, you know, truly taking those values and really forging ahead and being a doer.

What were some of the values? Like I, you know, obviously mom staying with you, you certainly don’t know what she’s thinking or saying while you’re in a five month induced coma. But leading up to that, there are things that our parents say to us that we, that we probably recognize now. Yeah. Like I have moments where I’m like, oh, okay.

That’s what they meant by that. And I wish that I could have told them that I got it. Like, you nodded your head, you’re like, mm-hmm. You’re like, I have no idea what they’re talking about. And then 25 years later, yeah, it, it applies as a parent when you’re saying it to your child and you go, okay, that’s what the heck they meant.

So, prior to the diagnosis, which I would imagine would make any 11-year-old a. A bit angry, sad or angry. I mean, those are the two emotions that are likely coming. Um, what was it like prior to that? Like, you’re a soccer player. Yeah. So you have a bad game. What do mom and dad say to you right after the bad game?

Or you have a great game and man, you are on one. You’re, you are all into yourself after that really good game. Yeah. What are they saying? What type of principles are they instilling you to? Like, not get too high, not get too low kind of a thing? You know what? That, that is actually like what led me to, um, you know, kind of, this was a month prior to the diagnosis, um, played soccer year round.

Um, quite literally that story of when you’re playing soccer and your dad’s watching and he drives you home and you have the af the post game talk, right? Yeah. Um, and it was to a point where I was getting really sluggish on the field and that car ride home was like. What the hell’s the matter with you?

Why are you, you know, why are you playing poorly? Yeah. Um, you know, medical history aside and what was, what was gonna happen about a month later. Um, but I think for me it was, it was that message of always giving your best, always doing your best. Mm-hmm. And always be hardworking and everything that you’re trying to tackle, um, for my parents is action through action and showing that to their kids.

I mean, they got six kids. Um, you know, and all of us have different interests and, um, we’re all in different professions and I think the one thing that has stood true over the test of time is hardworking. Yeah. I mean, there’s, there’s truly like that is, that is the push, um, to get things done. It seems very hardworking.

Yeah. You know, the not things Yeah. To get shit done. To get shit, let’s go baby and to get shit done. I mean, to do, to be a doer, Uhhuh, um, you know, and to, to that be your, for that, to be your strength. Um, and I think I, I learned that. Very early on, pre-cancer diagnosis, like in school and, and playing sports.

Like you, you’re a hard worker. You show that effort, you show that work ethic. Yeah. Um, and everything that you’re, that you’re trying to accomplish. Where are you in the six? I’m number five of six, so I had a, a little sister. All right. Yeah. I’m the, I’m the youngest of six. Holy cow. So I know the feeling very well.

Yeah. Of, you know, watching parents, uh, raise six kids going in multiple directions. Yep. Uh, and how to balance that. And then watching six unbelievably different personalities, they’re true. Um, all go in different directions, but. Maintain very similar values and principles. That foundation, our parents were very found, you know, principle and value driven and set that foundation.

It sounds a lot like that’s where you came from, right? Which is, hey, look beyond all things you’re gonna, you’re gonna put up and shut up, right? You’re gonna go after it, you’re gonna work hard, no doubt. Like, uh, what do they say? Um, hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. Right on. And so that’s, that’s, uh, 100%, that’s, that’s kind of a good message.

So you’re in the hospital bed, five months, uh, coma. Um. This is gonna be an interesting question, but I mean, are you just out, out like, or are you in kind of a, a, um, interesting state of mind that you wanna share? Like, is God talking to you? Are you going on some sort of a magical mystery tour journey? Like what’s happening?

It’s weird and I, I like still vividly remember you call ’em dreams if you want to, but, you know, things that were, that I was imagining in my head, um, when I was in a so five week drug induced coma. So I, five weeks, excuse me. Completely out of it. Completely out of it, right? Yeah. Um, the picture you saw is, is that moment, um, now this is, this may sound really weird, but it was, um.

Kind of like you’re, you’re locked in your hospital bed. You see everything that’s going on around you. Yeah. You see the people passing by, you hear the voices talking to you. So I, I, I stand at that as a very real thing when they tell you to talk to somebody who maybe unconscious or under, you know, in a coma or something like that, that they hear everything that you’re saying.

Oh, really? They do. Like I heard everything. My uncle came to visit and he read books to me like, I remember this stuff. So, okay. It’s just, it’s, it’s, it’s a cool uncle right there. Right. It’s, it’s wild in that sense. Like, I, I could imagine, but I couldn’t speak out to anybody. I could not reach out to anybody for, you know, for help or anything like that.

Um, you know, and then obviously slowly got out of my coma five weeks later. And, uh, but like, I, I remember vividly those, those dreams and what that imagination, I guess looked like, um, for me, um, it just, it’s hard to explain ’cause it almost seems kind of, so it was almost like you’re in a glass box, eh. And they can’t hear you can’t hear you.

You can’t reach out. And it’s like, like it’s maybe like a little blurred. Yeah, a little blurred. Like it’s in the, like Yeah. It’s kind of above you and just like you’re, see everything that’s happening around you. ’cause nurses and doctors are coming and going. I almost wonder if that’s like being what it’s like to be in another dimension.

Like, you know, you often hear, um, you know, I don’t know what your thoughts are on angels or whatever, but like, do they just leave their physical form and they’re actually in, like, is my, are my parents in this room right now? They’re just in another dimension. Right? And they’re looking through that glass box like, oh man, he shouldn’t have said that on the podcast.

Like, I wish you wouldn’t have said that. But the last never year, like, you know, they’re here and somehow they’re gonna communicate with me through some sort of a tap. They’re gonna send me right numbers or gonna, they’re gonna knock a, a, a cup off of a, a shelf and I’m gonna be, you know, so it makes me wonder about those things.

It was, yeah, it’s a, it’s a story I tell when people ask about it. It’s like, yeah, it, it’s. Truly exist. Like in my mind there was, there was presence. Yeah. Um, and I could hear things that were going on and what people were saying. Uh, but in a sense though, being locked, right, you’re in that box, you can’t escape it.

Okay. Um, because you are, you know, in a coma, so you come out of the five week coma, uh, what’s the first thing that you can’t wait to do that you want to eat? Like, are you petrified? Like what just happened? Are you groggy? Like kinda, what’s the reaction coming out of a coma? Uh, definitely groggy coming out of a coma.

Um, and honestly, I left the hospital very quickly after that, considering this was towards the end of my six month stay. Um, so. Had a big upswing, you know, start Okay. Medically doing better, responding to treatment. Um, I wanted a lobster dinner. Really? At 11 in the hospital. You’re a lobster guy at 11. Oh yeah.

Oh gosh. I wouldn’t have touched lobster. So it was scary. Death Odyssey. It was a terrible experience. I ended up throwing it up later. Uh, but the nurses made it happen. They got a, a lot, their dinner and, and had a candlelight in, uh, in my hospital room. Yeah. Uh, but made it happen. And that was like the one thing I was craving No, by hitting, but yeah, that was it.

And so, but I, I wanted the, I wanted to go home. I, um, that was my biggest thing was getting out. Um, you know, it’d been a long time. And, um, at that point I was, my muscles has, my muscles had a feet in my life. Sure. I was in a wheelchair. Uh, my hands were crippled shut. I had cast on them. Um, so I really, at that point, physically couldn’t do much on my own.

Okay. Um, when I was getting ready to leave the hospital, so. You go home? What’s, what does that care look like now? Are you in, are you in bed? Um, are you a, the boy in the bubble kind of a thing. Like, like what’s happening to your system? Are you, how close to a level of normality can you have as a 11-year-old nephew as you’re going through that?

At, at that point it was, um, it was more of just getting back on my feet, right? That was the goal is to start walking again. And, um, the challenges of getting out of a wheelchair and, um, I missed half of fifth grade and then half of sixth grade hanging in the new school year. I mean, the only thing that was important was, was there for you to physically get up and walking again, you know, before I was gonna get back to school.

Um, I started going to the Rehab Institute of Chicago, uh, five days a week, three hours every single day, um, for physical therapy and occupational therapy to. I literally just stand up Yeah. And start taking those first steps forward. And by Christmas of that, almost one whole year later, um, I was walking again with, you know, with, uh, supportive, uh, orthotics and stuff like that.

Nice. What are your siblings like through this? They’re, I’ve, I’ve heard things like this where like, like obviously your siblings are loving and supportive Yeah. And whatever, but they’re also, they’re also, I’m not sure what age, but if you were the second youngest, you’ve got some older siblings that are really probably get it and they understand what’s required.

You might have some siblings that are a little closer that are like, what the heck is happening right now? And then maybe the youngest is like, wait a minute, where’s my attention? Right. Like, and, and those are all natural things that I think. Are emotions that, that siblings would go through. Your mom and dad are obvious.

Your dad’s obviously doing everything in his power to keep working. Mm-hmm. Keep paying bills and, and doing this. Your mom’s probably doing that too. And, and then on top of that, your mom being the what moms do. Right. Okay. This is what moms do. Everything is poured into you at that point. Yeah. Like, so how is that affecting the family dynamic at that point?

I think for, you know, I, so when I got sick at 11, I had, my youngest sister was nine, and then my oldest brother was, uh, 21. Okay. In college. Yeah. Um, the rest in middle school, high school. Um, but I think it was, like you said, I mean, it was more, I say more alarming, impactful for the older ones. ’cause they realized like, oh, this shit, this is, this is bad.

Yeah. Like, this is really bad. Um, and then, you know, mom’s attention is 100% on me. So it’s the, it’s the. Support by committee. Mm-hmm. From, from extended family and friends to make sure kids are still getting, uh, you know, afterschool activities and things like that, that there’s still meals on the table. My dad is a self-employed carpenter, hardest working man out there.

Yeah. You know, working 60, 70 hours a week and, um, just making sure that life still carries on for everybody else. Right. It shouldn’t be something that stops, ev stops all of us. Um, you know, and, and I remember my sister, that picture that’s in the hospital where I’m in a coma. My sister’s playing Barbies in that same room.

Mm-hmm. Um, because Right. She’s, what else is she going do? Right? As a nine yearold. Yeah. You’re long for the ride. Yeah. So, you know, and I, I think for my siblings, there is a, there’s a deeper level of, um, of care and compassion just given my, my history and what I’ve gone through. Um, and I think just, I think we put more value on, you know, light needs to be a sibling Yeah.

The sibling’s life and, and how important it is and. You know, there’s six of us and I think now that we’re all, you know, the oldest is 45 and 33. So I mean, we’re married, a lot of us, most of us have kids. So I mean, it’s gotten to the point of like truly valuing life and, and growing up together, growing old together, um, that people necessarily don’t, you know, as we don’t force ourselves to think about, but the importance of that.

And obviously we got challenged and tested early, um, but we’re, you know, we’re all doing very well now and it’s, it’s, I think, made our sibling relationship stronger. Do you think it’s also made, um, the way that your siblings look at their spouses and the children that they’ve created a little bit different, do you feel like people love a little bit deeper when there’s the threat of something that you love potentially being lost?

Yeah. Do you think that that has caused a, because obviously within the family dynamic, it’s like. I would imagine the family parties are already pretty kick ass. Oh yeah. But to probably have stepped up to an even higher level, I would imagine. Like if you have to move families helping out to do the move right there.

Oh yeah. But that loving a little deeper thing coming from this. Right. What has that been like? How has, how, how has that reflected, uh, now that you can look back and say, man, we got through this together. I think it gives you a sense of, you know, yeah. Together we can do anything. We can accomplish anything.

We can quite literally run through a brick wall, like together as a family, as a group, we could do that. Yeah. Um, you know, and there’s nothing that’s gonna stop us. And I, I was gonna say, I feel like I walk with that, like superpower now, having a child, having a 10 month old. Like I, I would take the lead that my parents showed me 25 years ago.

It’s like. Yeah, there’s one option is there’s survival. Like, should anything like that happen, it’s like, I’m not even worried about it. Like it’s, it’s not something that scares me. Mm-hmm. That’s something as life threatening that happened to me as a kid. If that would to happen to any niche or nephew that I have or my own son, like, I’m not worried.

Mm-hmm. Because I, I know we can do it. I know we can survive it. I know we can be stronger on the other side. Okay. So when do you turn the corner where it’s like you’re back to a level of normality? What age? 12. 12? Yeah. So boom. Like as you’re back in school. Okay. Yeah. Back in school, like, Hey, what’d you do this summer?

Yeah, right. Well, um, I spoke to Angels in a glass box. Um, you know, and I, I think for me it’s like that that person, that life changing experience that year was told me that things weren’t gonna be normal again. I mean, not normal in the sense that I knew normal the school. Yeah. You know, this is a new way of life.

Right. I’m a cancer survivor right now, and I’m still going through a lot of, you know, follow up appointments. I’m still getting treatment, treatment day. Yeah. Still got that. And you know, that one year out, I still had three years of treatment, still three years of chemotherapy. So I was still going to the doctors to get my treatment plans.

And so I mean, that, that was normal for me. Mm-hmm. You know, to be able to get to at least some point of normality, um, in my life, because otherwise it was taken away. I went back to school, walk or holding a or walking with a cane, and I had braces on my legs. Was there any other kid in school that had that?

No, you know, that was me. That was the new me. Um, to be able to, especially in sixth grade, you know, going back to school and, um, just trying to find comfort, um, in that new way of life. Okay. So you very quickly rebound and respond. Um, but how do people look at you now, like at, at 12 years old? Like, do they know, like, does a 12-year-old know how to to be around you?

Like, Hey dude, can we slap you five? Or is that like, are you in pain? Like, what, what, how, how are they responding to you? They, they don’t know how to respond. Yeah. They don’t know what to say. Right. ’cause what’s, what’s okay to say and how do they relate? Yeah. Like, right. What in the last year, especially just my medical history aside, like fifth to sixth grade, that’s a big time for a kid to grow up.

Yeah. Friendships and, and what you talk about, like, you know, just that is a, a very important time for a kid and for me, it’s like that spot got taken out, got taken away. It just disappeared. It wasn’t an opportunity for me to do that. And so when I came back, it’s like, you know, still had old friends that I asked in fifth grade, but they didn’t know what to say.

Because they didn’t know what was, what was okay to say or what was okay to ask. Um, you know, and I felt like it became a little bit of that bubble, that protective bubble around me. Right. Because I, I’m the kid with cancer in school. Mm-hmm. Right. There’s no other kid in my school that has cancer Yeah.

That’s going through the same thing. So it’s trying to find like, you know, the middle ground on how to communicate with people and not necessarily be so worried about my medical background and my medical, medical concerns, um, heading into the classroom again. Um, but I just don’t think, I don’t think any kids are really but mature enough to like, know how to have that conversation or ask about it or, or care about it.

Um, back then, at least when I was 12 years old. Yeah. So there’s a psychological part to this, because you’re going through the process of survival, you’re also getting massive amounts of attention. Hmm. And then. All of a sudden you’re kind of back to normal and the attention starts to wean off. Does that have an impact on you where it’s like, well, wait a minute guys.

Like where did everyone go? Like at one moment? Or, or is it a relief that you’re just not on everyone’s radar all the time? Like which, which one is it? Or does that waiver? Yeah. Or sometimes you’re like, wait a minute, now I’m super lonely. It used to be I had nurses, I had my mom and dad put me at the center.

Right? Like all of a sudden that kind of stops. Yeah. So when you have something so abnormal mm-hmm. And then you have to kind of fit back into normalcy, how does that impact your psyche? You know what? I think it, and it is, it happens in waves, right? ’cause there’s the big moment, right? 100% was the center of everything.

Right? ’cause it had to be for the purpose of survival. Um, I hated it though. I hated the, hated the, the constant attention. And, you know, are you feeling okay today? Like Yeah. Does your, does your foot hurt? Like, is anything bothering you? Like, did you take your meds? Like all of these things, it’s always a check.

I just wanna be a normal kid. Right. Right. You know, like it’s all of these things and I, new things I had to worry about that no other 12-year-old was worrying about. Yeah. Um, but it got to a point where it’s like, as I’m getting healthier and healthier, you turn 13 years old, 14 years old, we’re, we’re getting slowly back to that.

Mm-hmm. More normal spot. Um, that we were pre-diagnosis. And so for me it’s like, ah, so you starting to fit in a little more. Okay. You know, and it wasn’t that anymore. I’ve been, as a 30 5-year-old, I still get that. High end of that wave. Um, when something medical may come up, it’s like, is is, you know, how’s your heart doing?

How, how are your kidneys doing? But, um, that check-in is always there. It’s never gonna go away. Um, because I think long-term care for, for a survivor is, is it’s a lifetime sentence. Yeah. Um, you know, to always be thinking about those things. So this is, this is not going away. Right. This is a life thing. Oh yeah.

Never goes away. Wow. Alright. So is God using you? I feel like God uses us and sometimes we don’t know that we’re being used. And when I say used, I say that in the best possible usage of the word used. Um, some people don’t recognize it. Some people, um, it, it, it takes longer to get to them. Your calling starts at 11 years old.

Other people go through some stuff in life and it’s almost like how they react to it is, um. Is the test they have to pass, if you will. And if you pass that test, it’s almost like God kind of has you in in favor. Mm-hmm. And starts opening doors up for you and presenting things visually to you. Like you start to see things clear, like, this is my path.

Mm-hmm. Your purpose becomes clearer. Right. Um, so how long before you recognize, or is that something that was foundational in the family, but how long before you recognize, hey look, um, this wasn’t done to me. This was done for me. For me, I, you know, I 100% believe that I would’ve been on a different path in life had I not gotten cancer.

But because I got cancer and went through that, I. You know, very life changing experience, um, at a young age. And I think it took me a long time to realize that yes, there is a, there was a purpose for it. Um, you know, that there was, you know, a, a god driven purpose to have an outcome from the experience. Um, you know, I, that is the one thing I say I personally kind of, uh, hold close, is that I, I think I survived for a reason.

Um, you know, and I, I’m lucky in the sense that, you know, not all kids survive, um, whether they be, you know, the age I was or younger, a little bit older. Um, you understand that. And I, I think for me it’s um, you know, we carry that weight like we’re a survivor. We now have a greater purpose to do something.

To give that back, you know, to give back Everybody that helped me, you know, I, it was a long journey, you know, it’s not just nurses and doctors, but families and friends and, uh, child life specialists and, um, community organizations. Makea wish, uh, really for life was big back in, or the early two thousands.

Um, but it’s really having that purpose, like this is a second chance. Quite, quite literally a second chance. And, um, I need to do something with it. I’m, I’m being told to do something with it. Yeah. How are you told, you know, it’s just, do you feel it or just feel it? Like I, and I think that’s kind of what led me currently in my, my career path is, you know, graduating from college.

I. I was lost. ’cause I, I didn’t wanna just do something to just do it and get a paycheck. Um, I didn’t want, I didn’t want that. And for the first four or five years after graduating college, that’s what I did. Mm-hmm. I, it felt very empty. It felt very useless. Um, you know, got a paycheck. I, I, I lived, but I wanted more out of it mm-hmm.

Outta the work that I was doing. And I felt like I, okay, you know, Adam, you got it. You have a story. Like this is, this is what happened to you. Like, what can we do? And, um, got into fundraising, um, working at a fundraising agency here in Chicagoland area. Um, I’m like, oh, I love this. Like, I love this. We’re, we’re raising money for incredible organizations.

Mm-hmm. Um, and then, you know, I, I’m like, this is, this is purposeful, this is cool. Like this. We’re helping people, we’re making a difference. Um, we’re going beyond just what we’re doing in the office and what we’re talking about. And, and, you know, um, the papers we’re shuffling, but we’re, we’re having a greater impact beyond the office walls.

Okay. So. Again, the work that you’re doing is purpose-driven. It’s, it’s helping, uh, folks that have, you know, mental or physical disabilities or disablement and so on. Um, but I’m, I’m actually really curious about the fundraising part of that. Like, what, I mean asking people to contribute to something. Hmm.

Um, like asking somebody to buy a commodity, right. Because you know it’s gonna be a benefit to their organization. Mm-hmm. Um, and then it creates that value and benefit for them, and then you get compensated for that, right? And then you repeat that process and you keep going and benefiting. You create a great brand experience.

There’s a lot of fantastic validation and there’s, there’s, um, some wonderful things that could happen. You see people prosper because of whatever your product or service is. But I would imagine that there is a little bit different level when that product or service is, is, um, enriching the quality of life of other human beings.

Right on, on a different level. So tell me a little bit about the fundraising process. What is that like? Um, how do you go about that? Kind of, what’s the twinkle in your eye when you know that we are asking somebody to contribute something? Uh, you know, I’ve, for some reason somehow Tim Ward, who owns T-T-S-G-G-S-D Technologies, 2020 Design, that’s where we’re running this podcast out of the sponsor power of the podcast to get shit done, experience Get Shit Done, is a motto of Tim Ward.

Um, so there’s a lot of connection to that. Yeah. Somehow he’s become kind of the 5 0 1 C3 guy. Yeah. Um, his businesses support a ton of 5 0 1 c threes because of that. That’s kind of become something near and dear to me too. I feel like I really love to promote folks like you and the organizations that you represent.

I love to promote ’em on, on the podcast and through content creation. And another person I had on who has a 5 0 1 C3, uh, talked about, um, it’s one thing to be successful, it’s another thing, uh, to, uh, it, it’s one thing to create. Success. It’s another thing to create significance. And when you’re talking to people about fundraising and asking them to contribute their time, talent, treasure, it’s about significance, not success.

They already have success. That’s why they can give back and do something of significance. So talk to me a little bit about what the fundraising process looks like. You know, for us too at, um, at Little City in particular, um, you know, they’re working on the development team and, uh, data analytics and fundraising.

Um, it’s a focus on the, on the relationship, right? It’s, it’s in every instance. It’s a one-on-one, right? We’re trying to connect. One donor and one individual with a disability and what truly you can do and empower you to help that one single person achieve something that is a challenge in their life. In that, in that particular, that’s what we’re asking for.

Yeah. Uh, whether it be the resources or tools that you’re providing or whether it be an opportunity to, um, learn a new skill through job coaching or through, uh, a therapeutic day school, it’s pro, you know, communicating what that challenge is to the donor and them being the solution to provide for that one individual.

Mm-hmm. And then we obviously try to maximize that and then, and blow that up across our, uh, mass donor file. But it is always barrels down to that. Yeah. It’s not about the organization, it’s not about the specific programs or services that you have. It is the one-to-one relationship of connecting one donor to one person with a disability and how they can help them achieve.

Achieve or overcome a challenge. Yeah. So you see this on a day in, day out basis. So your life at a young age is impacted by the generosity of a lot of organizations and the, uh, science, the, the brilliant minds that practice medicine. Mm-hmm. Um, the amazing, uh, nurses who, let’s be honest, run the damn hospital and get shit done.

Okay. Um, and by the way, for like a third of what, you know, the, the, the big honchos at the hospital get paid. Right? Right. So, so these are the ones who really are purpose driven. They’re real, really running through walls. Um, so you have the benefit of that upbringing, of seeing that. Then you have the benefit of establishing a career, um, and working.

Side by side with other people. Like Little City is filled with not people with your exact story, but with a very common connective tissue of we’re gonna help people. A hundred percent. I mean, so, so you come up that way, mom and dad are that way. Then you go, you get this situation, you’re around people that are, that are brilliant and purpose driven.

And then you choose that as a career. And now you’re surrounded by people that, that have built and, and steward the little city foundation. Uh, and all kind of come to work, not necessarily for a paycheck, but to do great things. That equates to a paycheck. Right on. So all these things are just pouring into your being.

Mm-hmm. Oh, a hundred percent. Okay. So this has gotta get the wheels turning. Now you’re starting to think, how do I take this and this and smash them together? Oh yeah. I, uh, you know, and that. That was, you know, kind of the mentality of right surrounding yourself with the people that you, um, admire and, and not just ad admire as a person, but kind of their principles on how they are as a person.

Um, and I think that boiled down for me, um, about four years ago. And I am like, or I wanna mix two and two together. Um, I feel like I have gained a certain skillset in fundraising. Um, and I have a, I have a personal story, um, and I wanted to combine that and create my own nonprofit. Um, and I think for me it was the eyeopener of like, I think this is it.

I think this is, yeah, this is what I’m supposed to do. Um, you know, I think this is what kind of that second chance was meant for, um, to give back in a way that I felt a lot. Of giving towards me 20 plus years ago at that point. Mm-hmm. Um, and everything that I had given, and now it’s my turn to flip the switch you outta the way and push it back and give it back to everybody else.

Um, so that’s, that’s kind of what. Kickstarted Bricks of Hope. Yeah. Um, in the very beginning, IT decision makers, this might sting frustrated with IT issues, security threats, and the stress of your technology infrastructure. Your technology should blend seamlessly with your business objectives. Technology infrastructure management with limited resources can be exhausting and counterproductive.

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Uh, Adam, did we play a lot of Legos as a kid? Because I sure as hell did. We did. We did everything every day. It was Legos. I can recall growing up in Arlington Heights, my older brother would be getting ready. So I’m the youngest of six and much similar to you, I have older siblings, one that never lived in the same house as me, 18 years older.

Mm-hmm. But the one who’s 15 years older, my brother Bill, um, he would be getting ready and he had a friend named Nick Pappas. Hey Nick, what’s happening? Nick’s an ultra successful businessman in Atlanta now, and so, uh, Nick would, as a high school kid, you know, would, or even a college kid get down on the floor.

I had this really, uh, big red bucket of Legos. Yeah. And the Legos would go out on the floor and we would just be building stuff, man. Yeah. It was really cool to do that. And some of my fondest memories as a child are building Legos and, and doing those types of things. And um, so when does the connection happen for you?

If you’re founded in 2021, but leading up to that, the idea certainly is, is popping in your head. You’re certainly running the idea by friends and family. You’re certainly seeing visions in your sleep of what it could be. Yeah. You’re getting these little universal like energy hits where you’re like, oh my gosh.

Okay. So tell, walk us through like. Not just from 2021 and it’s founded, gimme like, leading up to that. What’s happening? Where are you? You’re, if you’re like me, you’re seeing things right? That are telling you, you have to go do this. And I, I think for me it’s like, you know, this was literally like three months prior to officially launching, uh, which is really became real.

I’m like, you know, I have this, I have this skill set and then I have the passion for Lego. Even, even as a, you know, 30-year-old. Um, this is a safe space. You can admit that you play with Lego still. It’s okay. I still play with my bricks. Um, but you know, I think for me it was just like, this is something I have to do and I, I, it kept, I kept repeating it in my head, like, if I don’t do it, I’m gonna regret it.

Mm-hmm. If I don’t do it, I’m gonna regret it. And I, I’m like, I just have to jump all in on it. And that, that became the thing. It’s like, I’m just gonna do it. I’m just gonna do it. I know the steps I need to take in order to accomplish that. I actually did it in kind of like in private is kind of planning this out and how I wanted it to be.

’cause I think there are certain. Aspects of what our, our true purpose is, is I wanted to make sure that those priorities stood clear, um, for the mission and that, um, you know, and that that was not a distraction in any way, and that, that was always gonna be our driving force moving forward as soon as we launched from day one.

So in December of 2021, that was, we kicked it off with a single Facebook page and that was it. And just told my story and asked for, asked for help. Mm-hmm. Ask for support. Um, but it was, it was really that though, and I, I circled back on the, you know, second chance ’cause that’s what it was for me. I think the, the dark time of Tacoma is, is was the eyeopener for me.

Um, you know, getting out of that and kind of realizing where I had been, my mom took that picture as kind of a never forget moment. Mm-hmm. You know, like this, this was, this was the bottom. Mm-hmm. Then, I mean, there’s, you really couldn’t go any further. Um, you know, and so I, I have that physical picture, um, at home and so I use that as a reminder, like, this is.

This is the purpose of, of why I am doing it like I’m doing right now. Um, to survive from that and to get here 24 years later, um, you know, we’re all put on this earth first and then there’s thousands of 11 year olds. Right. That, uh, want to become 35 year olds. Exactly. Exactly. And so that picture is a reminder that you did that so that you can remind all of them that they can too.

Yeah. Oh, 100%. That’s pretty freaking cool. Yeah. So, um, our adversity is thrown in our way so that we can overcome it so that we can tell the people about it so we can tell the story so that we can inspire, so we can motivate, so we can encourage and, um, it would’ve been a shame if you would’ve missed your moment to do that.

So you heard your calling. Uh, and you said, let’s go. You, you do a little stealth, then you start doing the thing that I wish far more people would do, which is just to ask for help. Asking for help is probably one of the strongest things that any human could be, whether it’s in their business or to achieve a goal, or if they’re struggling mentally or healthfully and uh, or, or physically, and they need help.

To ask for help is one of the strongest things that you could do. And it’s very human. Right? So you ask for some help. What’s the help that you ask for and, and why? And well, not why, but more for your why. Yeah. You know, and I. Putting out that first post, like literally we didn’t have a website. We, it was just a Facebook post.

It was to our home address, you know, I mean, and, and keeping it as simple as that, right? Because it was heading into it. It was, if we donate 20 new Lego sets a month, that’s, that’s cool. We donate 200 a month. That’s really cool. Like, I was okay at that point, starting off. ’cause I wasn’t sure where it was gonna go.

Mm-hmm. Right. How much, how much, how many people was gonna inspire and motivate to truly want to help. So, you know, I, I posted a long post and I said, this is my story. A lot of these people, friends and family know who I am, you know, and they know my story. Um, but getting raw with it, getting real with it.

Um, but connecting it back to what this, this new purpose was, is to gift a new Lego set to a sick kid during your hospital stay. And then what that physically, mentally, spiritually. Psychologically can do for a child that’s going through quite literally some of their toughest days mm-hmm. In their entire life.

Um, to bring that little bit of hope with just distraction, with play with joy, put a smile back on their face. Give them, for me was a big thing, was restoring a sense of control and often very choiceless environment when you’re in a hospital. Wow. That’s interesting. Yeah. You know, because it they they have what they have Exactly.

They have the, they have this kit in front, in front of them and they have the control to build what they want to build. Right. Yeah. They could build the instruc what’s in the instructions if it’s a Star Wars space ship. And you weren’t into Mermaid Barbie at the time, like you wanted your Lego Oh yeah.

Oh yeah. Um, but I, you know, I think that for me, that was the big, you know, that was the big piece of it was. I was stuck in a hospital bed. I did not have a choice. Right. No. I, I was in a choiceless environment and a lot of decisions were being made for me. Right. As an 11-year-old and going through your treatment plan and your, your chemotherapy, I’m like, you gotta go do this today.

You gotta do that. You have therapy. So playing with Lego was something that restored, you could go have an imagination. Exactly. It brought that back so it, it, something as simple as a Lego kit just was able to restore that power for me. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, and I think just really just giving a sense of childhood for these kids.

Yeah. Because they, they do, they have to grow up super fast and have adult thoughts and adult strength Right on and, and, uh, an adult mindset. Mm-hmm. Which, I mean, man makes me choke up just thinking about that. Like, no 11-year-old should have to think like a, a grown man that’s, you know, facing death like that.

But this is, this is life, this new life. And I, so yeah. I can see how the idea of. Giving, um, giving a healthy distraction to allow the imagination to, to go to a safer, more childlike place. Right. How that could be fantastic for the therapy mm-hmm. Of don’t they say like, if you’re stressed out, it actually can cause cancer, like the cortisol and all that.

So like if a child is super stressed out mm-hmm. It’s actually counterproductive to the treatment they’re having. Yeah. So the more, the more you can get them into a child, like state of mind mm-hmm. Of hope, of, of joy, of imagination, I would think that that would be better for the medical practice. I 100%.

Yeah. And the outcomes, it’s for these kids to cope. I mean, and I actually learned this along the way, and it was actually from the child life, uh, child life specialist that we make our deliveries with, that one of our hospital partners, and she said. Um, one, how do you learn as a child when, when you’re, when you’re born, right?

As an infant, as a baby, as a toddler, how are you learning? You’re learning through play. Mm-hmm. You, you understand things through play, whether it be sharing or, or building something you, you learn through play. So trial and error. Yeah. When kids are in this situation where they’re in a hospital bed and they’re facing a life-threatening diagnosis and they lost that sense of childhood, how do they learn to cope?

Yeah. They play, they play with, you know, for us they play with Lego set. Yeah. But that’s how they begin to get on that path towards hope and, and, and finding the end. Okay. So how the hell does the process work, man? Um, obviously you got a Facebook page, you send it out, you ask, here’s my story. I need your help.

People start, do they donate money? Do they, do they actually go buy a set and send it to you? Like, walk us through how we can, how anyone listening easily. Mm-hmm. Could play a part in this, like how easy is it to play a part in, in helping, honestly, the easiest thing to do, um, is to go to our website, bricks of hope.org and start a monthly donation.

I know subscriptions are the big thing, but $10 a month Yeah. Helps deliver one Lego set to one kid every single month. Um, we’ve, we’ve been able to establish some, um, partnerships with Lego wholesalers to buy Lego in bulk at a fair, a fair discount, um, so that we can try to maximize every dollar that’s given to us.

Um, otherwise we do, we do take Lego in kind donations. Mm-hmm. Um, as well as it as, that’s been a fun way to, for me, it was a huge, huge eyeopener in the first three or four months. We actually partnered with our first elementary school and we did a Lego drive. Um, and it was so cool to see kids get so excited about collecting Lego sets that were gonna be donated to Brooks of hope that, you know, eventually distributed to, uh, sick kids during their hospital stays.

But. For me, it’s like this, bricks of Hope is a, is a, is a tool to practice generosity for, for kids, right? They know what this toy is, they love this toy, they know the joy it brings them. Um, here’s an opportunity for them to, you know, kids helping kids and, and practice their generosity and, and giving, uh, for others in need.

Alright, the Lego Group, I just followed you on LinkedIn. We’re waiting for, you know, some sponsorship here. I know you’re going to the wholesalers, but Yeah. Hey, the Lego group, the whole manufacturing team, right? Maybe that would be a good thing to jump in on. That’d be awesome. Let’s go put that big beautiful red logo on some of the, the bricks of Hope, uh, content.

But, um, so you started five years ago. How fast are we scaled? So. We, so December of 21 was our first delivery of 70 new kits. Mm-hmm. Um, that was all in kind people shopped on Amazon, shipped them right to the house, and we packed ’em up and, um, sent them to Advocate Hospital, advocate Children’s Hospital in Park Ridge.

Um, right now, so we’re less than four years, less than four years out. Um, we deliver on average 800 a month. Let’s go. Um, how many kids does that reach? 800. Well, each kid I just needed Hear you say it. I mean, it’s logical. It’s one set per one kid. Yeah. So I, but just think about that for a second. 800 kids per month are positively impacted.

Tell me what the joy on their face looks like when they get that. Yeah, I’m gonna tell you a Bri’s story. Um, we had one of our, um, corporate partners come with us, uh, the landscaping company, uh, am Woodland in, um, they’re on Mundelein, yeah, yeah, yeah. In Mundelein. And, um. By the way, I’ve seen your white trucks.

I see your white. I’ve seen you used to live out in that stomping ground. You do great work, by the way. Uh, more people need to know about you. Right? They don’t. They’re a great, great company and they are all in on our mission and trying to, um, build it up and move it forward. And, um, they joined us for a quadruple delivery.

So they brought one of their trailers. Yeah. Um, we loaded it up with 25 boxes, 825 Lego sets. We zigzagged through Chicago, hit four different hospitals. We went to Advocate Children’s in Oak Lawn. We went to Rush, we went to Comer, and then we ended up at Advocate in Park Ridge. And, uh, in Park Ridge, we were able to actually to go inside and go bedside.

We went room to room, uh, pushing along a big kinda laundry cart filled with a bunch of Lego sets. Um, you know, being able to see the experience of that simple joy on a kid’s face and that smile. Um, but there was one kid in particular who was, um, he was in isolation, so we weren’t able to go into his room, but he actually came to the door, um, had to have been seven or eight years old little guy, and looked at.

The big bin that we had and like draw literally dropped. Yeah. I’m like, this is this your raw Savannah Plus this is like, this is all I needed for the month. Uh, holy cow. Santa Claus’s elves are bigger than I thought, right? Yeah. And he, like, we were just, you know, banter with him back and forth and the kid said he wanted to pick and he eventually said, this is the best day of my life.

Aw man. Come on man. And so for me, I’m like, you’re trying to kill me over here. Keep that, you know, keeping it into perspective. He’s literally in the hospital. I don’t know what illness he may have had or what, you know, treatment bad enough. He’s in isolation. Exactly right. He’s in the hospital. He just said, this is the best day of my life because of a Lego set.

That’s so amazing. You know, so he was trying to pull the whole, uh, laundry bin into his room so he could keep ’em all. But so here’s the problem I have. The problem I have is you went to four hospitals and you gave out 825 sets, which means that there was an average of 205 or 207 kids at each hospital.

Yeah. If they were in need of this. Right? I mean, that’s just gut wrenching when I think about that. Yeah. Yeah. I think of like, yeah, taking a step back, the reality, right? Like, what are we trying to do? And, and that’s part of what our long-term vision is, is to exist to a point where all sick kids, no matter where they are, you know, if they want a Lego set to, you know, bring them joy during a hospital so they can get one from Rick of Hope, um, I, I don’t think we truly understand what that volume is.

Like you think about how many children’s hospitals there are just in Chicago. I mean, right? I mean, we all, you know, we all know Ries. We all know Advocate, we know Rush. There’s La Ruba, there’s er, there’s, uh, Shriners, um, there are, uh, suburban hospitals that we go to that have inpatient, uh, pediatric units.

Uh, we travel out to Rockford, Springfield and Peoria to go to their children’s hospital. So the need unfortunately is tremendous how you manage all this. How are you working a 40 hour work week? And then, um, and by the way, good on the fact that the organization that, that you work for, um, supports you having this additional gig good for them.

Yeah. Because I think that right now in this world, I think that a lot of us not only wanna do things that are purpose driven, but I also think that a lot of us need to have side gigs. Mm-hmm. I don’t know. I got gas this morning, it wasn’t exactly awesome. Right. So, um, good on them. But how are you pulling this off with a newborn?

How are you pulling this off with a, um, a career that’s pretty successful in its own right? How are you pulling this off With multiple hospitals, fundraising, sponsorship partners? Mm. Of communicating through social media with the folks that need to be involved, like. You’ve dedicated your life to this. I, you know, it’s the name, man, get shit done.

Um, I just to be a doer, uh, this is morning nights and weekends. This is, uh, bricks of Hope is 100% volunteer run. Um, we operate out of a 775 square foot office basement unit, um, just for storage and our volunteer operations. Um, you know, I, I recruit our corporate partners to come, bring a group out to help us pack.

We just had one on, uh, on Tuesday this week. Uh, Edward Jones had eight volunteers join us and they helped pack 1200 Lego kits, um, that we’re gonna deliver in the next, uh, say six weeks. Um, but it’s at this point because it’s, it’s grown so fast, um, you know, it’s, it’s trying to get other people involved to make the.

System more efficient. Um Right. ’cause it’s, it’s not a full-time job for me. Right. It’s not 100% all of my, my time and effort. Mm-hmm. Um, so it, you know, trying to be very strategic and smart in how we do things, um, so that we can maximize, you know, the time that we are putting into it and, and essentially maximize the impact.

What’s the long-term vision? Do you have A-B-H-A-G? So big, hairy, audacious goal, uh, to fulfill the name, it’s Brix of Hopee, USA. So to, um, exist in every children’s hospital in America. Mm-hmm. Is the long-term goal now, um, not af win that hits, um, you know, I, whether or not I am. I’m still involved. Um, you know, I understand that we all have our own, uh, physical limitation or physical limitations, limitations and weaknesses, I think, as leaders.

So whatever it takes for this organization to get to that vision. Yeah, it’s not about that. You don’t need to sit at the top of the mountain or the top of the Lego pile. Right? Um, you, you, this is about outcomes, man. I mean, we’re, right now, we’re gonna hit 20,000 in less than four years. Next month. Um, 20,000, 20,000 Lego kits, um, have been delivered to sick kits during the hospital stays.

Um, you know, for us it’s, you know, one is all sick kids, right? We don’t discriminate if it’s kids with cancer, kids with brain tumors, kids with a certain type of illness. Any kid that goes to the hospital, they’re in the hospital considered sick. It’s, you know, it, it. A broken arm when you’re in the hospital.

It’s scary. It’s still scary. The hospital’s a scary place. Yeah. For a, for a seven Yearold, I try to stay away from girls Exactly. If I can. Unless I’m delivering Legos. Right. It’s children. Um, so you’re also providing a great reason to go to a hospital, right? Well, exactly. So I, I find enjoyed one of the hospital now.

There you go. Um, but, you know, to, to work to that purpose of all sick kids, to always be on making gear round deliveries. We have not missed a month, um, since starting in December of 2021, which I think is important for us, that I really try to stress that with people. Um, they ask about like, can I do a drive in May?

It’s like, yeah, that’s actually when we need to help the most. Yeah. Because all the holiday giving is gone by then, you know, and these hospitals are actually in more need than they are in the holiday season. Um, so to make sure that we’re truly living that piece out, you know, I the. Tagline I throw around is treatment isn’t seasonal, so we can’t be either.

And I mean, I experienced that personally that we just made deliveries a couple weeks ago in May. Like kids are still there, you know, all. So we need to exist, um, and then fulfill working to fulfill the need, um, getting into every children’s hospital and so that no matter what, what any sick kid anywhere is getting treatment or has an extended hospital stay and they want, Lego said it can come from bricks of health.

Is there, is there any resistance from a hospital? Like have you had a hospital resist and like, Hey, we’ve got something that we do that’s similar and we don’t want too much of something and you know, there’s another company let’s say, that brings socks or something like that, or, but which is nowhere near as cool as Legos, by the way.

Like, what are you bringing socks for anyways? Uh, if that’s your business, I’m just kidding. But why would No, anyways, um, so is, has there been a. A gatekeeping process for it, you to deliver Legos to sick children. Lego is, and we’ve heard this from I would say just about all of our hospital partners, is the number one requesting item from kids.

They’re battles legos, but because it’s expensive toy, it’s hard to acquire. If it’s not donated in kind, likely the hospital likely. Exactly. The hospital’s not gonna pay for, the hospital’s not gonna pay for it. Right. They, they, their marketing budget and things that they can do. I guess that would fall under more of a customer experience budget.

Personally, I prefer that they have really good food and medicine. I get that. Um, so yeah, so like the, the Lego part definitely needs to come from somebody, an organization like Breaks of Hope that is, um, USA eventually. That is, um, that is very inspired and um, and donating, but no hospital has been like. No, we won’t have you in.

Nope. I say yeah, there’s, there’s never been a no. Um, I have gotten hospitals that have reached out from New York and Texas and Florida, uh, California hearing about our program and seeing if they can benefit from it. Um, you know, I, that’s the part I hate, right? Because I, I say no. Um, just because we’re not at the, at the capacity, sustain capacity to be able to do that.

Yeah. Right. I wanna get there. So I, yeah. And that just tells you, shouldnt you say yes and then figure it out? Isn’t that so this is what I hear from, I’ve literally done that to a hospital in San Diego. My wife and I flew out to San Diego. I’m like, oh. Said, so we donated ’em. Yeah. Um, and then you were like, why do we do that?

Right. But you also were like, this is awesome. Well, and so for me it’s, it kind of like, right. Yeah. It’s like, I wanna say yes, but I’m, I’m stuck on making sure that we can fulfill the need and sustain where we are. I’m growing. Um, but as far as we can, um, because I think it. It’s deserving for every children’s hospital that reaches out.

And, um, doing what you can to, it’s gonna be interesting for you to balance your heart and your, and your brain. It is, I would imagine that very, very hard to say. No, very hard when this is such a purpose driven thing. Right? And you kind of feel invincible because you overcame leukemia. So you probably have like a little bit of a superman complex.

Like, I can pull it off, don’t worry, I can do it. I can do it. Which is, that’s a pretty cool way to go about living life as well. So we’ve talked about the why, we’ve talked about, you know, the what. Mm-hmm. Right. Um, let’s talk a little bit about the how. Mm-hmm. Like, uh, when I say the how, what I mean by that is like, um, uh, what do I mean by that?

When I say, when I say the how, I guess I’m talking about like. What are your principles for getting shit done? So this show has been a lot of founders, owners, Olympic gold medalists, right? Um, authors, um, and folks, you know, multiple, multiple business owners or people that have done spectacular things, builds huge, huge followings.

And here’s the cool thing, you’re right in there with them in all these different things, right? So, and, and I’m trying to be there, right? Right. So this is the cool part. So there’s a how to this, there’s principles, there’s foundations, there’s pillars of thought, of implementation, of action. What is your way?

Like how, how do you go about attacking a day to get shit done? How are you balancing all of this out? We know the, the purpose, we know the why is the fuel, right? What are you putting that fuel into? What’s the machine? The mechanism? So what’s your way of getting shit done? Uh, yeah. You know, so for me, especially, you know, balancing, um, what I call work, work and then Bricks of Hope, um, is prioritizing, especially what I have on my plate.

Um, and I think for me it’s a unique spot just because there is a, there is a full-time opportunity that I currently fulfill. Mm-hmm. Right? And that is my priority. That is always my path to be right. It has, it has to be until it’s not. Yeah. And that is, that always has my attention no matter what. Um, you know, but for me it’s finding the ways to continue to grow Bricks of hope.

Um, and, you know, I, I stress this for everything about Bricks of Hope and I, it it’s, the mission itself is, is it as well, is it’s simple. It’s easy. It’s not, it’s not supposed to be hard. Um, it’s not hard to help, it’s not hard to do these things. Like the mission is built on simplicity and. I’ve asked people, like, or people have asked me, I was like, can we, can we do this over here?

Can we try this over here? No. The mission is simple. It’s simple. This is the purpose. This is what we’re, people donate Le Legos, we take ’em to kids. Yeah. We get their reaction. We skip out of there with joy and then we go do it again, and we do it again a thousand times. Like, yeah. And it’s, it’s that approach, you know, and, and see that simplicity, right?

It’s kind of like the McDonald’s thing. Yeah. It’s like, make a cheeseburger, make it taste the same way every single time. Make it at a really easy value point and sell it. Right. I, you know, and I like, there’s no, there’s no magic fairy dust. Like there’s, there’s nothing, there’s nothing that I have in my back pocket that’s gonna make that, you know, bigger and better.

But like, it is that, it’s the simplicity of it and being a doer to accomplish that simplicity. So is that, is that how you approach other things in life? I’ve, I’ll give you an example. ’cause I, I play golf that way. Yeah. Um, I was, somebody re recognized the other day that I don’t take a practice swing. I literally don’t, I don’t take a practice swing.

I pick my distance, I stand behind the ball, I pick my target. Yeah. I line up the club face to the target. I set my feet. I swing and swing away. There is no other thought process. The swing is, and, and the swing that I know I’m gonna swing, uh, is you’re hitting a cut shot. Here’s your target. It needs to cut 10 yards.

Right. Or I’m hitting a draw. This is a slinger. Here’s how the grip should be. Here’s what the feet are, here’s why set it and go. There is no practice swing. Right. Um, so I’d really, for me, I’m not a very, I’m not an effective thinker, if you will. Right. So the less thinking I do, the better. Especially when I’m just trying to be an athlete.

Right, right. And just play so. I look at the beauty of that in business too. Mm-hmm. Make it super simple for the customer. Mm-hmm. Um, or the vendor or supplier. Yeah. Um, and, and if you’re running a sales organization, the more complicated your commission structure is, the less motivated your sales team is.

I’ll tell you that right now. If they have to literally get out and abacus to figure out how the hell they’re getting paid, they ain’t fighting hard for you. So like, make it super simple. So was there a lot of, was there a lot of thought to that like. I don’t wanna overcomplicate it or is that kind of how you’ve always done things?

Like just make it simple and master the simplicity? Honestly, that’s the way I, maybe I feel like I run. Um, you know, there’s always logic behind everything being a solution, uh, provider and trying to, you know, understand a problem. And that’s what it was. It was right. It was attacking this problem that I’m trying to, you know, or challenge that I’m trying to accomplish.

Um, what’s the simple way to go about this? Yeah. And quite literally, I say I can’t stop telling people that though, like the mission is met is intended, strategically intended to be simple. A two plus two equals four is, you know, the example you said though is like, donate, donate money or, or donate a Lego set.

We’re gonna take that Lego set, we’re gonna pack it in a box, put a sticker on it, and we’re gonna deliver it to a sick kid during the hospital stay. It’s gonna put a smile on their face and bring them joy and bring them hope. And then we’re gonna capture that reaction. Capture the reaction, put that on here to you Sure.

To you let you feel what your money or contribution did. And they’re gonna donate again. It’s gonna make your ba make you feel a little bit better. Yeah. You could tell all your friends, you should post it and get more friends to do it. Right. And you guys have something really beautiful to talk about amongst yourselves, right?

That you’re contributing to the, uh, mental health of somebody who’s fighting for their physical health. Right. Well, and that, you know, and you bring that up and it’s Right, the mission is simple, but it’s, it’s impact is complex. Can be complex in that sense, right. It’s the, it’s the mental impact, the mental health impact that it’s having on these kids and bringing them joy and, um, you know, restoring that sense of control and then often choices, environment, um, you know, it’s.

It’s these therapies that are coming together for a kid, again, through something that is so simple. It’s just a Lego said, right? And, and on the outside is just that. Right? But it’s everything that’s inside of that kid. And what, for us, what the Lego brand stands for? Um, the creativity, the imagination. Just the, the limitless and the analytic of it.

Yeah. Right. There’s, it is, it’s great for the creative mind. Yeah. But it’s also great for the, the analytical mind that it, you know, needs to see the blocks stack perfectly. And so it, the cool thing about Legos is they kind of hit every personality type of a child and kind of hit every sensory visually and stimulus wise and just the texture of them.

Like all those things kind of, kind of hit and. You know, we talked about the physical state of somebody is impacted by the mental state of somebody. Whether or not somebody’s gonna recover from something physically, uh, is a lot to do with how they are mentally and vice versa. Mm-hmm. People that struggle with mental health, if their physicality is right, they often improve mentally.

Like if, if, if you have mental struggles, go work out, it’ll help your mental state. Right. So they kind of, they go, they run hand in hand. Oh yeah. 100%. You can’t help somebody through, uh, what your, what, you know, the doctors have to help their physical Right. The medicine has to help. Right. Um, but what you can do is you can make that a little bit more peaceful for that child.

Right. And yeah. You know, it’s, it never did downplay that. Right. That Allego set is saving the day, but it’s, it’s that support. Um, I. That, that simple line of, of guidance for them to restore a sense of joy or happiness on their face. Yeah. Like you said, I mean that’s, that is part of the play for, for, for surviving.

Right? And, and getting through extremely challenging times for kids that in most cases don’t know how to handle mentally the situation that they’re going through. Well, what do they know? They know, they know play and they obviously, they may know Lego out. Mm-hmm. Um, but they know what that joy can do for them, and that’s what we’re, we’re igniting inside of them with a kit.

Okay. So how, uh, how do we get this to explode? Like how do we get this to the next level where it goes to multiple states? How do we get that USA behind the name? How are you, how are you focusing on doing that? Um, and doing it in a manner where you live up to all of the obligations that you have to. Not only the folks that you’re contributing this to, but also to the folks that are in your life currently.

You know, I think, and I, I’ve learned this, um, I feel like, you know, I’ve learned what my, my true role is at, you know, bricks of Hope. Sure. The individual who started it, who founded it, wear a lot of hats. I cleaned the clean the bathroom in our office space. Like I do all of the in between. Mm-hmm. But I think for me it’s, um, you know, the person that holds the door open, like for other people to see it and feel it.

Mm-hmm. And, and be inspired by it and be motivated by it to wanna help. And whether that be volunteering or donating or hosting an event, I mean, that is, right now the path forward is to get more people in the community, in the Bricks of Hope community. I mean, our community started again Facebook page like Right.

I shared it with family and friends and. Overnight, you have 150 followers, right? Back then, that’s not a ton. Right now we’ve got almost 4,000. So like it’s growing that, that community that follows the mission and at least believes in the mission and what we’re doing. Um, you know, and the simplicity of it and how we’re trying to accomplish it, and especially the year round impact.

It’s not just, you know, we dump all the gifts in November and December. Mm-hmm. Every single month you’re having pictures of these kids with Lego sets. ’cause unfortunately they’re at the hospital. But it’s, for me, being in a position to hold that door even more wide open for more people to get involved.

Especially, you know, corporations and businesses, schools, um, to do Lego drives, but just to serve as a catalyst for people to be empowered to help Bricks of Hope expand into more spaces. Alright, so folks, um, if you’re, if you’re running, uh, an organization, you’re a CEO, you’re an owner of a business, I. Um, and you’re looking for a way to contribute time, talent, treasure, to something that would probably inspire your employees, would probably uplift your culture, uh, would be great content that you could put out that you contributed to this.

Let’s be, let’s be honest here, right? We want to help children. We understand that we, we want to contribute to an amazing organization like Bricks of Hope that’s doing great things, but we’re also businessmen and women. And we also understand that if we’re going to contribute time, talent, treasure, and we’re gonna stamp our brand name onto another brand name, um, there needs to be some sort of a, um, uh, uh, ans there needs to be some sort of a additional, uh, reward to the organization.

So what are those additional awards to your organization? Well, you’re aligning with something that is simple. Mm-hmm. Uh, clearly defined and easy. Right. The ease of this, you’re, it, it’s not a, a ton of demand on your people or your organization. It’s pretty easy. Um, second the reaction. Go capture the reaction.

Go with Bricks of Hope on the donation. Bring your marketing team out. Capture the content, put it out on social media. Uh, boy, talk about something that’s gonna get your logo and your organization some attention for your brand. Um, and with the right call to action is gonna guide people from their heart to their mind to your organization.

By the way, if it starts with a heart. It typically is going to be better than if you think you’re gonna get people motivated to pay attention to your brand through, um, their brain, right? They need to have a real problem, want or challenge to be stimulated by the brain. They need to be actually dealing with that problem, which means that probably only two or 3% of the market is ready for your product or service at that point in time.

But our hearts are always open. So if you motivate ’em through the heart, you stay front of mind until they are ready, they’ll pay attention to your brand. Uh, and I would imagine this is a tax write off. So there’s some tax value to this too. So let’s be honest, like this is great PR for your brand. It’s great for your culture.

It’s great for you as a human being, and it’s great for you financially to be a part of something like this. It’s www.bricksofhope.org. We hope that you would contribute, and by the way, you’re also helping somebody who. Um, has had quite a life journey. Mm-hmm. Um, and has overcome a whole bunch to get to this point.

Recognize their purpose, much like you sitting in that seat right now as a business owner who’s living out your greater purpose to be able to contribute to another person who’s living out their greater purpose as something that is pretty phenomenal and spectacular. That being said, Adam, I will leave you with the final thought.

What’s the final message you want to get across to our audience? Is there anything, an event or anything like that coming up that you’d like to promote? Or do you want to just leave us somewhat amazing inspiration that we can take into our weekends? I’m gonna leave you with a couple. Um, we do have some upcoming events.

Um, we do a, uh, our third annual Bricks of Hope Ride for Kids is a motorcycle charity ride. On August 23rd. Um, you can find us on Facebook on our website as well. Um, our brick by brick donor fundraising luncheon is on November 8th. So, uh, any, uh, corporate corporations or businesses out there interested in, uh, seeing, honestly, firsthand hearing from families that have been impacted by our mission.

That is the place to be. Um, grab a ticket sponsor if you’re interested. Um, but that’s the place to see this up close and personal. Um, and then I, you know, my final thought, and I, I actually sign all of my, uh, letters. This way is, um, always give more. So it’s kind of a, a principle that I try to stand by, um, especially for Bricks of Hope.

And, um, you know, and anything that I do is, you know, we can give, but we should always be giving more. Um, you know, I in any capacity that you may have a, as a business leader, as an individual, as. You know, a stay at home spouse, whatever it may be, um, we always have an opportunity to give more. And I think that is oftentimes the difference, um, in, in changing the life of somebody else.

Yeah. I love that. Always give more and maybe stop keeping score. Right? Right. I think that that’s, you know, you look at any healthy marriage or relationship, right. Um, if they’re keeping score, it’s probably not very good. And I think that, I think that, um, we’re here to do things, um, out of gratitude and, uh, to do them without expectation mm-hmm.

Of something in return. Right. And it’s just amazing how that universe works when you work that way because you end up being enriched with everything in return. Mm-hmm. And that doesn’t necessarily mean financially. It means peace of mind. Right. And love in your heart smiles on your face. And it seems like you, when you live a life of gratitude and purpose, much like you are, and your team is, it seems like, um.

There’s a real peace. Mm-hmm. That kind of just follows you around. Uh, and I feel that when I’m, when I’m in the room with you, I, I see that, um, I see that you’re in a real position of peace because you’re giving other people peace and that’s a pretty freaking awesome. Right on. Adam, it’s been an absolute pleasure having you on.

Thank you for coming on the Get Shit Done Experience. Ladies and gentlemen. Uh, you’re just looking for a little bit of attention and awareness so that you can contribute. Uh, what a fantastic opportunity. Adam. I wanna remind you, sir, you got shit done. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it, Dan. Cheers. This is awesome.

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