Scaling Impact

From sketching animals as a teenager to founding Harvest107, Gracie shares the journey that turned creativity, family influence, and a little righteous anger into a mission-driven nonprofit fighting hunger through urban gardens, sustainability, and community impact.Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact Podcast.How a children’s book inspired Gracie to fight hunger at age 12The birth of Harvest107 and its first community projectsNavigating challenges as a young, foreign female leader in HaitiThe role of education and organic farming in battling malnutritionHarvest107’s resilience after adversity and its future global goalsResources:Harvest107DevNoodleNxtStepConnect with Gracie Pfaff:LinkedInConnect with our hosts:Josh Hoffman - LinkedInAlex Garashchenko - LinkedInQuotables:07:59 - I have an entire pantry and fridge full of food, yet there are kids just like me down the street and across the country who don't have that. And I was like, that's just unacceptable. Everyone deserves access to healthy and nutritious food, and food in general.27:54 - And it also taught me to kind of like have a backbone and be a leader and you know, stand up for myself in those spaces. And then I think, especially as we started transitioning to work with primarily women and children, that a lot of that went away.35:42 - We are, we are healthy, so let's just keep going. I wasn't gonna let it truly set us back. And so we raised enough money to get a plot for a test farm. 'Cause that's always been really important to us to make sure that we have space where we also do a lot of projects with trees.45:07 - I've always loved, I mean, my dad was an entertainer, so it's like I've always kind of loved that creative side and being able to use that is really fun. Plus, being a nonprofit founder, there were many times in my life where I felt like I was always giving, and I love to give, but at some point, I was like, I need to also like take care of me and do something that fills me up, and creating content was that for me.46:54 - I think I've never really believed in the whole niche down thing. I, I'm multihyphenate, and I fully embrace that. I love being a nonprofit founder and sharing about giving back. I love being a content creator and a model. I love, you know, just being creative in general. So, as my personal brand, I think the number one thing I go for is just being a good person and being authentic and sharing the things that I love and trying to make the world a better, brighter place. If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.

In this episode, we sit down with Christian LeFer, founder of Instant Nonprofit, to explore the intersection of culture, festivals, and customer love, and how these elements shape a brand that truly connects. Christian shares the highs, challenges, and unexpected turns of launching and scaling a purpose-driven company, offering a candid look at what works (and what doesn’t) along the way.Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast.Creating a company culture rooted in love and self-understandingLessons from festivals and psychedelics applied to building teamsSimplifying nonprofit formation and avoiding legal pitfallsTurning customer complaints into “refunds to raving fans”Innovative approaches to cash flow and personal growthResources:Instant NonprofitDevNoodlePodcast ChefNxtStepConnect with Christian LeFer:LinkedInConnecting with our hostsJosh Hoffman - LinkedInAlex Garashchenko - LinkedInSean Boyce - LinkedInQuotables:13:20 - If you've ever read Simon Sinek, for example, you know, we believe that the world is not lacking for information. People are not broke because they can't do simple addition and subtraction. People aren't ineffective in what they want to do. Or maybe in switching careers to doing something more meaningful or they don't have the lack, they might not lack the relationship that they desire because of a lack of information. It's really a lack of understanding oneself. And really, to me that starts with self-love because 10 years ago, almost to the day, I lost absolutely everything. My entire life was in a conflagration. And the harder I worked, the worse things got. And I was literally brought down to my knees to where I, nothing that I could do with all my cleverness and ideas and information that I had at that time could help me, and I let go in a way that allowed me to relearn how to be a human.15:58 - And I believe everyone has something inside this divine spark inside them that makes them great, beau beautiful, and unique. And so if you can create a space of safety for that thing to be able to blossom a little bit, you'll get a hundred or a thousand X out of that person, whether it's the guy on the street, your lover, your employee, team member, whatever. And so I started to play with that idea, and that's really how I've built a culture of love at this company, is first and foremost to really try to help everybody have an opportunity to understand everyone else and feel safe in that space in the company.18:07 - I have this thing called refunds to raving fans. And that's something that everybody in on the team has embraced. And it's about just listening to that person. That person might be having a really tough time. They might have a tough board, they might have a tough home life, they might just find it really difficult to start their nonprofit and get through all the stuff, even though we make it so easy. And so listening to them first to diffuse that emotional balloon and create some understanding, appreciation, and just acceptance of that person does at least half the job. And then we go over and above to satisfy whatever it is that, you know, that they might be worked up about.35:03 - My light bulb came on because I had that free space of being disengaged with all these things that had just been taken over my life, and made life just look very impossible. And I said, you know, if we start with process and just do these few simple things, I think we can pull this out and turn this into a juggernaut. And so we threw away the custom software we spent a lot of money on, and I had to let go of that, and I had a lot of letting go to do at that time.52:22 - And I was able to tie that to the specific challenges that we were dealing with at that time. And that concept never left me. And that's just how I look at cash flow now, and it helps me so much on the tough months, right? Or the months where we have a dip or we broke something on the website, and it caused issues. We launched a huge new site, funnels, brand customer portal last year, and our little upward trajectory got knocked off a little bit. And this was really helpful for to me to say, look, it's okay because we just did spent a whole bunch of time beautifying and making this river flow more beautifully. And so when that rain comes, boy is it just gonna flow so nicely through there, and now we're getting the results of that.

Don’t miss out on this episode where non-profit expertise meets entrepreneurial spirit as Catalina Parker unravels her journey from burnout to brilliance. Learn how non-profit professionals are transforming their passion into profitable consulting businesses, combatting common industry challenges, and leveraging AI for operational efficiency. Whether you're in the non-profit sector Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast.Non-profit burnout triggers consulting pivotStrength training as a mental health toolAI fills in busy work, opens strategic roomFractional work is a growing non-profit trendStructuring services for non-profit consultingResources:Relatable NonprofitDevNoodlePodcast ChefNxtStepConnect with Catalina Parker:LinkedInConnecting with our hostsJosh Hoffman - LinkedInAlex Garashchenko - LinkedInSean Boyce - LinkedInQuotables:09:30: I had found myself having panic attacks in my office every day. I was not a good mother, not a present wife, not a great friend. My whole life was really consumed by work and trying to make a situation that wasn't right for me work. And eventually, I couldn't stop ignoring the signs that my body was sending me, which were these panic attacks. I would have a lot of anger outbursts because I was just so overwhelmed with the emotions. I didn't know how to process emotions. So that's really what made me realize that there was a problem and something needed to change. 13:04 - I think because I was doing what I thought other people wanted me to do growing up, I was always told that, you know, you have to achieve a lot. So there was a lot of pressure put on me at an early age to just push yourself, do better, do better. You're never enough was always the message I was given. So when I did all the things you're supposed to do, you know, I was a straight-A student, graduated college early, did my master's in an Ivy League school, I got my dream job, this was all before I was 30. And it was just because I realized kind, I was just doing what everybody told me to do. Others, what society tells you to do. And I never really asked myself like, what do you wanna do? What makes you happy? 19:38 - I started reading a book by Keith Cunningham, and he mentioned this concept of thinking time, which he took from someone else. But essentially, scheduling time for yourself to just stop and think and going into that meeting with yourself with the right question in mind, like a very specific, narrow question that's an important one for you to answer. I haven't yet worked it into a ritual, but the couple of times that I've done it, I mean it's been, it's had a profound change on my business.34:32 -  I really do believe that the future of the nonprofit sector, because the system really is not built in a sustainable way to support the people working inside nonprofits, right? Like donors believe that people are overhead and we need all of the funding to go just to the mission, but donors sometimes forget, well, who's gonna actually implement that mission work, right? So there are just a lot of issues with the nonprofit, just the system, the sector as a whole, systemic issues that are just going to take a while to be addressed. And that's why we see a lot of people choose consulting or fractional work as an option because it's like, what else do you do? Right? And again, I mean, the nonprofit sector pays people not well, just all of these various issues. 38:04 - Catalina:  I have a sales bot trained on our script and everything. It's just incredible how much time you can save if you're using it correctly. I've seen it used incorrectly a lot as well.Josh: Yeah, I think just to kinda repeat that, I think it does a good job filling in the busy work that we were just sitting there typing a brief or something like that. And it leaves more time for strategy, which I think is where we get the human involved and let the AI do what it does best, and then we do what we do best. 

Join us in the dynamic world of nonprofit leadership with a seasoned expert who shares the ins and outs of organizational growth, retention challenges, and collaborative solutions. From scaling operations to forming strategic partnerships, get actionable insights that empower mission-driven executives to amplify their impact.Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast.Retention and recruiting in modern nonprofitsAutomation's role in nonprofit evolutionCorporate partnerships bolster nonprofit missionsStrategies to address nonprofit funding decreasesThe importance of mission-driven leadershipResources:Rob Harter Coaching and ConsultingDevNoodlePodcast ChefNxtStepConnect with Rob Harter:LinkedInConnecting with our hostsJosh Hoffman - LinkedInAlex Garashchenko - LinkedInSean Boyce - LinkedInQuotables:31:44 - I'm a big believer that every organization, it either rises or falls based on their leadership. So if you want an organization to improve, and this could be a company, a business, a nonprofit, deal with that to improve you, improve the leadership. So if you improve the leader, you're gonna improve the entire organization. So that's kind of my, what drives me and what gets me excited too is that if I have some time to meet with that leader and or the leadership team or the board who has the really can move the needle for an organization, that organization gets healthier. When that leader gets healthier, that organization gets better when that leader gets better. And so that's a lot of what drives me in my consulting business16:05 - We didn't have this in our budget to provide all this rent assistance. And so really it was a community thing. So it was mostly individual gifts, but the more people got excited about, Hey, I could do something, I'll send a check. And, and it literally just came in and we just sent it right back out. So it was an in-and-out gift. And so the more we were able to report back on that, on who we were helping, who we were serving, and Park City's not that big of a community, even though we have a two county region, the word spread pretty quickly, I guess is what I'm saying. And so people found out real examples of, oh, that's my friend, or that's my people that normally I employ. Those are the people I just, I can't employ anymore. We had to let 'em go or temporarily furlough them because we, there's no work to be had. So they knew that we were helping their, you know, helpers and their employees and whatnot. So the money was not hard to ask for, I guess, long story short.39:07 -  I've had some people on the show that actually are part of these corporate foundations, right? And they, I've actually asked that exact question, and what they tell me, and so I'll pass that on. 'Cause I think it's really good advice is when it comes to corporate donors, and let alone, this is the same for state, you know, government, federal government, and local government. It's all about relationships. It's really building an honest and like a positive relationship with folks that are decision makers when it comes to potential funding, potential collaboration, getting in front of the right people to ask, Hey, would you think about collaborating on this project or supporting this project through your finances? You know, so I think that relationship starts the whole process. So if you just only go to corporate partners or if corporate foundations just go to nonprofits and it's just a money transaction, it's not gonna go very far.24:08 - And I know it sounds so simple, we all know that. But if you don't put that literally into how you make decisions, it needs to become a funnel. So when things come at you, you run it through your, okay, does this match your mission? Yes. Does 'cause it matches your vision? Yeah. Is it according to of values? That's where I think sometimes people miss or organizations miss. When you make decisions, you start realizing and don't, not thinking through, well this is really not the values of our culture. This is not our DNA, this is not what we do.40:52 - So now you're coming with more. Hey, this is an issue we all share in this community. How can we come together and actually address the issue as opposed to, Hey, I know you've got a little extra money in your budget, could you gimme some money for a food pantry? You know, it's just that the approach and really coming at it with much more of a broader perspective than just, I need money for my nonprofit, right? Or the corporate coming and saying, I just need a partner, 'cause I've gotta check that box on my foundation list. You know, it's like, let's really come together and look at these issues and what can we do together collaboratively. Because overall, when that has happened, and I've had multiple cases of people on my show, they've had some real success of bringing together government, for-profit, and nonprofits together to deal with really big issues in their city or their community or their country internationally, and have had great results. But it really starts with that relationship and that collaboration building. If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.

Join us as Chika Nwaogu shares his revolutionary journey, infusing comic books and tech into menstrual health education. Discover how this coder turned advocate is championing young African girls' lives, one period at a time. Tune in for laughs, insights, and an uplifting saga of empathy and innovation.Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast.Chika Nwaogu path from coder to advocateCombatting period poverty with creativityEmpowering girls with comic books and techCreating a sticky learning experienceBridging gaps with the Pather e-learning platformResources:PadHerDevNoodlePodcast ChefNxtStepConnect with Chika Nwaogu:LinkedInConnecting with our hostsJosh Hoffman - LinkedInAlex Garashchenko - LinkedInSean Boyce - LinkedInQuotables:09:32 - I'm not a parent yet, but I think there is such a value in getting, when you're a kid or your kid getting as many skills as possible. One, you just don't know what their future's gonna look like. And it's just good to have. But a lot of times success is found when you pull a skill from, and this is exactly what you did, right? You pull skill from something else, whether it's another job, another industry, another project, and you pull it into what you're currently working on. And it's having those skills, whether you realize that at the time or not, that says, oh, like I'm actually doing something a little bit different here, and these skills work really well in this field. So I think it's, it's really cool that kind of, whether it's an accident or not,17:21 - We are always looking for innovative ways. You know, we first started with comic books. We, we, we are scaled to animations. We are, most recently trying to scale into digital games and then to e-learning platforms. So it basically, we are going to be always looking for more innovative ways and mediums to present menstrual and sexual health education to young African slogans.I always want to listen. I want to know how best can I do this? And I feel like it has also changed my entire outlook on life. It has allowed me to be someone who listens more, who gives people opportunities, like to, okay, can I hear what you have to say? And this is not this, this is never, never my style of leadership in the past. My style of leadership in the past was always like a top down planning. I just  have something, I just say that's what is gonna happen. But with Partha, it just taught me to listen to every person, every matter, no matter how little the person is in the group, in the team, their voice matters. I feel like. And I feel that's not only changed me as a person, but it has changed my leadership style. So yeah.33:00 - They're like pointing at her, they're making fun of her, they're insulting her. And this is as a result of this is the period of stigma we are talking about is a result of society that does not build boys to show empathy towards their female counterparts. They are thought that periods are are something to shy about, to be embarrassed about. So we are trying to make sure that we change that narrative. One comic book at a time for boys. One of the thing we are also trying to do is wherever we go to a school, we always want to have that ongoing relearning. 49:32 -  I had the passion, I have the passion for it, and I still have the passion for it. I just wanna see a future where period education is an essential part of a girl's education. It's not just something on the side, it's something being taught in schools like mathematics, physics, chemistry, where the girls are being taught about this, where also boys, these things are also boys, is also introduced to boys in a way that it can foster empathy and reduces period stigma.