Lisa Bilodeau on Philanthropy | LAYC65

Isabel: 00:00:53

Welcome everyone, and today.

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I know I say this all the time, like I think this is gonna be my favorite

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interview, but I already really think that this one has some very special status

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because I love the fact that meeting Lisa and learning with her through her

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has allowed me to really be the student and admit, I know so very little about

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different ways and different opportunities that you and I can make a difference

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and Lift As We Climb and have an impact out there in the world, in ways that

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we don't even realize are possible Yet.

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Today with my guest Lisa Bilodeau we're gonna explore a couple of

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the ways and trust me, she has more than a few activities and ways

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that she is lifting and climbing!

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Welcome to the podcast, Lisa, and thank you.

Lisa: 00:02:02

Thank you so much, Isabel.

Lisa: 00:02:03

I'm so happy to be here.

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Happy to chat, with you and have people listening to this and

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hopefully, take some inspiration coming out of this on how capable

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every person is to do lots of things.

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It is just the best part of making friends and hanging out with

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people that inspire me is that I get to learn from them and with them

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and really enjoy that education cuz there's never anything better than

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hanging with a really cool girlfriend.

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I love that too!

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Speaking of girlfriends.

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I was very fortunate after moving back from the United States, I've been

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in the US for about a dozen years.

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Came back repatriated to Canada, and a friend welcomed me back and said, by

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the way, you've been away for a while.

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I think you need to meet some really cool people.

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I'd like to invite you to come as a guest to a group that I belong to.

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It's a Giving Circle.

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And I think you're really gonna like this.

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And I thought, what's a Giving Circle?

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I don't know.

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But that was , the beginning of meeting Lisa at 100 Women Who Care Burlington.

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And rather than me convoluted, I'm Ask Lisa to explain what's a Giving Circle and

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what does 100 Women Who Care Burlington do right now to make a difference?

Lisa: 00:03:33

Yes, it's, it was wonderful to meet you there and get connected.

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And I have to say, Giving Circles are amazing for so many reasons, but one

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of them is the connection to people meeting new like-minded individuals,

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but who might be very different than you and have different worlds than

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you basically circle in so it widens your own network and circle of people.

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Giving Circles have been around for a long time, but they've really become

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prominent in news and sharing with people in the last five years or so.

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Basically, a Giving Circle is literally just a group of people that are getting

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together to pool their resources.

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Could be money, could be things, could be time towards something.

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It doesn't have to be super organized or it can be.

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The group that we are a part of together is A Hundred Women Who Care Burlington.

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And this is an initiative that's been across North America and now into

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other countries for about 10, 12, 15 years, somewhere in that range.

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And basically the premise is very simple, which is wonderful and how

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it's simple is why I first got involved is that, we as our women's group meet

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four times a year for one hour meeting.

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That's it.

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Very simple.

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And what we do is the members have committed to donate

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to a charity of choice.

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And how we get to that point is the members nominate charities

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that serve our community.

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So this is the part that's really exciting to me too, is that when you do

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a Giving Circle that's directed to your community, you learn about your community.

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You meet people from your community.

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All these, national and provincial and, state organizations are amazing and

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they need our help, but this has really grassroots at the level where you are.

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So when our members nominate charities, we do a draw.

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So it's a luck of the draw.

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We choose three.

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The nominating member can bring the charity partner with them to present.

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They only present for five minutes.

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And trust me, they're not writing a grant.

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It's a very simple nomination form.

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We're trying to take out all the extra stuff that charities need

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often have to do to jump hoops to raise money, make it simple.

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And then the group votes on the charity of choice for that night, and then every

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member donates their a hundred dollars per meeting is what it is, or you can

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do it in teams, , to the chosen charity.

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So the goal is that at the end of the night, that charity gets $10,000 if you

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have a hundred women or if you have 150 women, $15,000, whatever it is for the

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number of people you have in the group.

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And that's an incredible impact.

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And we get to learn about all these people.

Isabel: 00:06:12

You're absolutely right.

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The benefit of being part of a Giving Circle like the one that I am with you

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is that I am meeting people I haven't met yet, but we have something in common

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to start with; that we are interested in giving back and making a difference.

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, but we're all coming from different backgrounds, different professional,

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, experience, different ages.

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I loved this opportunity to be first virtually, when we were not meeting

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in person, but now in person to make new friends and they're already vetted

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cuz I know they have a good heart.

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And I love the fact that I, as I say, knew in this community after being away

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a long time, got to know what was going on, what was happening in the heart of

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the community, what organizations were serving, what needs, what populations.

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And really, for me, I should be paying you more because I just feel so good

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about participating in this, even when I don't have, a huge bank account.

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I'm not Melinda Gates, so knowing that my money added to the rest of the people in

Isabel: 00:07:34

the group really has a meaningful impact that week, and I think that's awesome.

Lisa: 00:07:40

Absolutely.

Lisa: 00:07:41

This is the other thing is that, a lot of people, talk about charity and

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the things that they might be connected to, but really anything that we do that

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is the act of giving back, promoting the welfare of others is philanthropy.

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And oftentimes people think of this idea of a philanthropist

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is a Melinda Gates or something?

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No, a philanthropist is a kid who puts together a lemonade stand

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to raise money for something.

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A philanthropist is somebody who gathers, their clothing together,

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extra clothing and stuff, and they donate it to a thrift store or to

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a compassion society or whatever.

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Philanthropy is anything that is empowering other people who

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have needs, and that's really what we are at our heart.

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So we, in this particular Giving Circle, have chosen dollars to be able to connect

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to them, but we don't want the dollar amount to, impede or anyone from joining

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us, which is why we also have teams.

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So it's either one member is a hundred dollars, they donate four times, or you

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can have a team of two; 50 bucks each time, or team of 4; 25 bucks each time.

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Also, if you're under 30, you can do $50 or a group of 25.

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We don't wanna make there be impediments to joining that because people are often

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choosing donations, but like you said, it's this impact together is incredible.

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Everyone uses something to help others, even when we may not recognize it.

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So this is a part where if somebody's thinking, "Hey,

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I am not sure what I can do.

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I don't know that I know enough people, or I don't have the money,

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or maybe I'm not skilled in that."

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Listen, everybody has Time, Talent, Treasure, Testimony,

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or Ties that they can use.

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Those are really the main "T's" of philanthropy, right?

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Time.

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You are researching about something, you're connecting with other people.

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You're volunteering.

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Perhaps you're taking stuff somewhere.

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Talent, you are skilled in some things.

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You can help somebody help a group, an organization, help one person,

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whatever your skill is there, right?

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Walking alongside somebody.

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Your Treasure can be, money, can be things.

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Your Testimony , is basically things like this.

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Sharing about the organizations or the places you hear or the

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people who have needs with others.

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Hey, this is also one of the things that's amazing in a

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Giving Circle is this network.

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We walk away and we tell our friends, we tell our family,

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Hey, I heard about this group.

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I had no idea this even existed.

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I didn't even know this was a problem here.

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And then somebody else says, "oh, I have something else I can give to that group.

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I have a connection.

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I have a resource, I have an item."

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It's more than just the money and that's where our Ties are, right, where

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we really connect to people as well.

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And those are all very important for all of us.

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They're part of how I live my life, but honestly, I think most people actually

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live their life with those things too.

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They might just not recognize it.

Isabel: 00:10:34

How fabulous are you that you make us aware that we

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are philanthropists already.

Lisa: 00:10:46

Yes.

Isabel: 00:10:47

And that there are more ways to make a contribution

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than to write a big check.

Lisa: 00:10:54

Absolutely.

Isabel: 00:10:54

I love this perspective, and that's a whole purpose behind

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this podcast, Lisa, is to give people ideas and give them the

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courage, , and sort of the impetus on where to start and how to start.

Isabel: 00:11:09

And if I understood you correctly, anybody could start their

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version of a Giving Circle.

Lisa: 00:11:17

A hundred percent.

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If you know, let's say for example, you're a bunch of moms who are at

Lisa: 00:11:22

your kids', , hockey event every week you're sitting, you're watching

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the game, everybody, you're chatting together and one of you knows of a

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family that needs new hockey equipment.

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Can't afford it.

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All the women, all the moms there, perhaps dad's, sorry, could be whatever.

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and parents sitting there, grandparents, they could decide, Hey,

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we're gonna pool our money together.

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We're just gonna give 20 bucks or something, and gift this

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family to give them a need.

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That is a Giving Circle!

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One shot done!

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It's literally that easy.

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Now, that, of course, I said was a monetary thing, but any kind of stuff.

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That's what that is.

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You can make it as organized as you want or not.

Lisa: 00:12:02

It's basically pooling your resources together to make an impact.

Isabel: 00:12:08

Wow, this is really great because it's opening up for me.

Isabel: 00:12:11

I, I grew up on a farm in Western Quebec, it was very common.

Isabel: 00:12:15

It was just a way of life there that the neighbors would get together if

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somebody was putting up a new barn or if there was an illness and they

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needed people to take off the crop.

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One of my favorites was as a child, standing observing women gathered around

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a quilting frame, having a quilting bee.

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And the finished beautiful work of art, was donated to be raffled

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to raise money for something.

Isabel: 00:12:43

So I see where you're going here.

Isabel: 00:12:45

We don't have to just put it in a little box.

Lisa: 00:12:48

No.

Isabel: 00:12:48

Say it has to have a registered charitable 501C whatever kinda thing.

Lisa: 00:12:55

Correct.

Isabel: 00:12:55

And that there are other ways and don't let anything stop you from giving.

Lisa: 00:13:02

That's the wonderful thing too, is like giving is

Lisa: 00:13:05

is what you have at the moment.

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And it constantly changes based on your stage of life, your interests,

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and what you're capable of.

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So for example, I'm involved in several volunteer endeavors.

Lisa: 00:13:16

, and That's great.

Lisa: 00:13:18

, but part of the reason I am in that now is I'm actually disabled, but

Lisa: 00:13:22

I am in a very good health place.

Lisa: 00:13:23

I was in advertising for 20 plus years and loved my job is very

Lisa: 00:13:28

demanding, exciting, everything.

Lisa: 00:13:30

And then, I discovered through a series of tests, being

Lisa: 00:13:34

very ill that I have lupus.

Lisa: 00:13:35

So lupus is an autoimmune disease and it's systemic.

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So basically, I can't turn it off and something triggered it.

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Usually stress related.

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So some significant events of my life.

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And what my body does is it produces all these extra antibodies that then

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my body thinks, oh, , they're like antibodies, like a virus, you know, like

Lisa: 00:13:54

when you have the flu or you get covid or something and it wants to attack them?

Lisa: 00:13:58

The only thing is that those antibodies are actually not bad and my body attacks

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itself, so attacks my organs, so my lungs, my heart, skin, other stuff.

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So it's pretty shitty to be honest.

Lisa: 00:14:08

It's not a great thing and I'm much better about it now.

Lisa: 00:14:12

But in getting that it stopped me cold.

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I had to give up my career.

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I had to stay at home.

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I had to basically make my job every day was to stay alive,

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and that was really hard.

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Really hard.

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So when I was doing that, I couldn't participate in groups.

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I didn't get to participate in family events.

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I literally had to see doctors and specialists and get medication and teach

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myself and figure out advocacy and I got amazing people and that's great.

Lisa: 00:14:43

And I got better.

Lisa: 00:14:43

So during that time, I couldn't give of myself in other ways.

Lisa: 00:14:48

Right?

Lisa: 00:14:48

We all have periods in life where shit happens.

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Or you know, you got young kids at home, or you're helping with aging parents,

Lisa: 00:14:56

or you're moving and making a major life change what you know, what have you.

Lisa: 00:15:02

As I got better and healthier and I tried to go return back to that work life.

Lisa: 00:15:08

It's not conducive for my illness to be able to be in that crazy setting.

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So I realized I couldn't do that.

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And so I am permanently disabled.

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I have some mobility issues, , a lot of pain and stuff.

Lisa: 00:15:19

So I love having Zoom calls like, this is great, but I realized as I got

Lisa: 00:15:24

healthier, while, I couldn't do some of those other things I had done before,

Lisa: 00:15:29

I could now invest my time in the volunteer endeavors that I'm a part of.

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So I have a couple of three different things that I'm involved in, but all

Lisa: 00:15:36

of them, I do the majority from home.

Lisa: 00:15:39

So I work with who I am and what I have access to.

Lisa: 00:15:47

This is, , so appropriate for my audience, It's not appropriate you

Lisa: 00:15:54

have to go through this difficulty, but how you've risen above it

Lisa: 00:15:58

and lifted yourself actually, I guess, is that in our vernacular.

Lisa: 00:16:03

, but most of my audience are b aby boomers who are in that

Lisa: 00:16:09

transitional period of their life.

Lisa: 00:16:11

They're reinventing.

Lisa: 00:16:13

They are - and I wrote the book , literally I published

Lisa: 00:16:17

for my 65th birthday.

Lisa: 00:16:19

"Who Am I Now?

Lisa: 00:16:21

Feminine Wisdom.

Lisa: 00:16:22

Unmasked and Uncensored."

Lisa: 00:16:25

and so this is exactly the message that what we did before and how we did

Lisa: 00:16:30

it and how we thought we were valued in the world continues to change as we

Lisa: 00:16:37

continue to evolve and grow, and it's up to us to seize that and figure out.

Lisa: 00:16:46

I'm not saying it's easy, right?

Lisa: 00:16:48

Oh, no,

Lisa: 00:16:49

I'm not, you know, making light of that.

Lisa: 00:16:51

But it's, it is a choice.

Lisa: 00:16:53

You made a choice that you wanted to find a different way to

Lisa: 00:16:58

lead a robust, fulfilling life.

Lisa: 00:17:02

And judging by, the beauty behind you, your art and the smile on

Lisa: 00:17:07

your face, you have succeeded!

Lisa: 00:17:10

As you and I talked off air before we started the interview,

Lisa: 00:17:15

I have a fondness and you have a fondness for the letters pH.

Lisa: 00:17:19

In your case, philanthropy.

Lisa: 00:17:22

In my case.

Lisa: 00:17:23

pHuck.

Lisa: 00:17:24

PHuck Lupus!

Lisa: 00:17:26

Oh, a hundred percent.

Isabel: 00:17:28

But thank you.

Isabel: 00:17:30

For fighting it and, winning.

. Lisa: 00:17:33

Well, yeah.

. Lisa: 00:17:34

And I feel like I'm winning today, which is amazing.

. Lisa: 00:17:36

But I have to tell you, like, just even in the ways that I'm doing so much better

. Lisa: 00:17:39

than I was, there are days where I swear all day long and other days where I cry

. Lisa: 00:17:44

all day long, like we, we all have that.

. Lisa: 00:17:47

And those are valid and important.

. Lisa: 00:17:50

The struggle that I had, and I think this really relates to what you're saying

. Lisa: 00:17:53

about, particularly your audience here.

. Lisa: 00:17:55

I felt so much purpose in my career and I loved it, and I did find purpose

. Lisa: 00:18:01

and suddenly when I had to stop, not by my choice especially, although

. Lisa: 00:18:05

I feel like it would be similar, especially as you retire, it is your

. Lisa: 00:18:09

choice, but it's such a massive change.

. Lisa: 00:18:11

I struggled to find my purpose and even when I was very ill and my purpose

. Lisa: 00:18:18

literally was to stay alive and get better, that was my purpose and I had

. Lisa: 00:18:24

to think about it like, this is my job, because otherwise I was feeling

. Lisa: 00:18:28

so lost and unworthy and I, so now I feel so much more purposeful in these

. Lisa: 00:18:37

philanthropy endeavors that I have.

. Lisa: 00:18:40

But I also remind myself all the time, I'm not defined by that.

. Lisa: 00:18:45

I still have purpose being me.

. Lisa: 00:18:46

It's hard sometimes to remind myself, but I do.

. Lisa: 00:18:50

This is where I can also be thankful for the journey in my life.

. Lisa: 00:18:53

So, while I agree.

. Lisa: 00:18:55

Absolutely.

. Lisa: 00:18:55

pHuck Lupus, but I'm thankful for the process that I've been through for it

. Lisa: 00:18:59

because it still makes me who I am.

. Lisa: 00:19:02

And one of the things that's come out of that is I actually am on the

. Lisa: 00:19:05

board, I'm a director at large for Lupus Ontario, which is a, charity

. Lisa: 00:19:09

advocating for lupus warriors.

. Lisa: 00:19:12

We raise money for research, very significant research.

. Lisa: 00:19:16

We have support groups, we have lupus clinics.

. Lisa: 00:19:19

We support public awareness and advocacy basically.

. Lisa: 00:19:23

And I joined that just in the last year and I am using my marketing skills.

. Lisa: 00:19:28

So I'm getting back into the communication and marketing that I love,but I am with.

. Lisa: 00:19:33

again, like-minded people who understand my journey, my process, and I be

. Lisa: 00:19:39

able to advocate with them to Lift other lupus warriors up, to walk

. Lisa: 00:19:44

alongside them while they're unwell, to hear and learn from their stories.

. Lisa: 00:19:49

They Lift me up.

. Lisa: 00:19:49

I hear about their stories or I'm learning something

. Lisa: 00:19:52

new all the time from people.

. Lisa: 00:19:54

I love, love, love that I can be part of that group and I love

. Lisa: 00:19:58

that I can be on meetings in my bed, like, cuz let's just be real.

. Lisa: 00:20:03

. The accessibility of having

. Lisa: 00:20:08

Covid sucked.

. Lisa: 00:20:09

Totally.

. Lisa: 00:20:10

But some amazing things came out of the time.

. Lisa: 00:20:12

And accessibility for technology for those of us that are disabled or have

. Lisa: 00:20:17

mobility issues, something incredible.

. Lisa: 00:20:20

So some days I'm at my desk and I'm doing great things and I'm moving around

. Lisa: 00:20:23

and other days I'm in bed all day.

. Lisa: 00:20:25

And if I take a meeting, . That's how it is.

. Lisa: 00:20:28

Always look at least okay.

Isabel: 00:20:30

I love this fact because it's raining and kind of crappy here today,

Isabel: 00:20:34

where we are, for everybody listening in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, and

Isabel: 00:20:38

we're having a very mild winter, but it's a wet and kinda yuck one.

Isabel: 00:20:43

And I was thinking I wanted to stay in bed today, but I knew I had to get

Isabel: 00:20:47

up because I wanted to talk to you.

Isabel: 00:20:48

We could have done it

Isabel: 00:20:49

I just recently had this conversation with one of my guests where she said,

Isabel: 00:20:54

you know, the "P" that happened, the "P" for pandemic that happened, which we

Isabel: 00:20:59

thought was the most awful thing while we were in it, or many of us did, really

Isabel: 00:21:06

gave us more focus on two more important "Ps" and that's passion and purpose.

Lisa: 00:21:12

Absolutely.

Isabel: 00:21:13

And I thought, well, you are right, of course...

Isabel: 00:21:16

I'm kind of Pollyanna, another "P"....

Isabel: 00:21:17

I'm looking for...

Isabel: 00:21:19

I will dig to find that pony in the pile of horseshit.

Isabel: 00:21:22

I won't give up till I find it!

Lisa: 00:21:24

Amazing.

Lisa: 00:21:25

So I love that.

Isabel: 00:21:27

Well, hey, you're welcome to it please.

Isabel: 00:21:30

You reminded all of us that there are more ways to be a philanthropist than just

Isabel: 00:21:38

having a bank account with zeros in it.

Isabel: 00:21:41

You said time and talent and treasure and ties and I was just thinking what

Isabel: 00:21:47

you're doing now with Lupus, um, sorry, what is the organization called?

Lisa: 00:21:51

Lupus Ontario.

Lisa: 00:21:52

Lupus Ontario.

Isabel: 00:21:53

Your talent is making such a significant difference

Isabel: 00:21:57

there, so that's fantastic.

Isabel: 00:21:59

Yeah.

Isabel: 00:22:00

I'm really loving it and I am getting quite a bit out of it as well.

Isabel: 00:22:03

I think that's

Lisa: 00:22:04

the interesting thing too, right?

Lisa: 00:22:05

Anytime we choose to do something to Lift up someone else...

Lisa: 00:22:10

Again, in a small way or a big way, whatever it is...

Lisa: 00:22:12

We often get so much back.

Lisa: 00:22:15

So we're not necessarily doing it for that, but we get so much

Lisa: 00:22:19

back, we get connections, we get lifted as we are climbing,

Lisa: 00:22:22

basically that is it all the time.

Lisa: 00:22:23

And then sometimes we do that to get lifted because we need the lift...

Lisa: 00:22:27

Right?

Lisa: 00:22:28

And that's not bad.

Lisa: 00:22:29

Because again, everybody's kind of going together and I love that, you know, I

Lisa: 00:22:36

can bring some knowledge or experience to something and then somebody gives

Lisa: 00:22:39

me a totally different insight and it makes me think about it differently

Lisa: 00:22:42

or then they encourage me further and like that lifting as we climb is huge.

Lisa: 00:22:47

And when we are doing things for and with others, we continually keep moving up.

Isabel: 00:22:55

You have just summed up why I actively pursue opportunities to be a

Isabel: 00:23:02

mentor , because the reciprocity is, you know, it's amazing, it's exponential.

Isabel: 00:23:10

I may start out with somebody coming to me saying, could you spend some time with me?

Isabel: 00:23:15

Could you teach me?

Isabel: 00:23:17

Could you help?

Isabel: 00:23:17

Can you guide me?

Isabel: 00:23:19

And I end up walking away with a ton of new ideas, new

Isabel: 00:23:25

inspiration, , new education.

Isabel: 00:23:27

You're right.

Isabel: 00:23:28

Reciprocity is part of philanthropy as well, right?

Isabel: 00:23:31

I just wanna let everybody know, don't worry, I'm gonna make sure

Isabel: 00:23:36

that in the show links, you'll have all the information for all

Isabel: 00:23:40

the organizations and opportunities that we're talking about today.

Isabel: 00:23:45

You can get the reciprocity of this ex experience and go out and

Isabel: 00:23:49

do some of these things yourself.

Isabel: 00:23:51

Get started.

Isabel: 00:23:52

Create a group, do something, right?

Isabel: 00:23:55

, if I might, I just wanna tell you about

Isabel: 00:23:58

think this also gives people other ideas.

Isabel: 00:24:01

I'm a Little Free Library steward, so what that means is I've created a little

Isabel: 00:24:05

library that's on my property at my, at the sidewalk right in front of my house.

Isabel: 00:24:09

. And I fill it with books that people can come by and take free books.

Isabel: 00:24:13

In doing this, I created an Instagram and Facebook page for it.

Isabel: 00:24:16

I'm an avid reader, so I just started reading and I wanted to

Isabel: 00:24:19

expand more of what I was reading.

Isabel: 00:24:21

So I started this with just a couple ideas of mind and then end

Isabel: 00:24:24

up creating quite a community.

Isabel: 00:24:26

I connect with other stewards, I connect with people who are looking to donate or

Isabel: 00:24:31

looking to read or I connect with authors and promote them and that kinda stuff.

Isabel: 00:24:36

But one of the greatest joys about it was one of the reasons I decided to do

Isabel: 00:24:39

was I'm at home so much of the time and I wanted to be able to do something from

Isabel: 00:24:44

here and be able to step outside my door cuz I can go some days and not leave my

Isabel: 00:24:48

house if I'm not well or I don't have appointments to get out in and stuff.

Isabel: 00:24:52

So I did that.

Isabel: 00:24:53

What I found is this incredible community that I didn't expect to find.

Isabel: 00:24:59

We launched it during Covid and people started coming.

Isabel: 00:25:02

They weren't going other places.

Isabel: 00:25:04

They were going for walks.

Isabel: 00:25:05

I met new neighbors I never would've met.

Isabel: 00:25:08

I get people dropping off notes with their books , and talking about stuff

Isabel: 00:25:13

or coming by and engaging with me.

Isabel: 00:25:15

I get to see outside my window.

Isabel: 00:25:16

People stop by with their dogs and their kids.

Isabel: 00:25:18

I have this little sticker basket and this one family, they come

Isabel: 00:25:21

by almost every day just so their kids can take one sticker out.

Isabel: 00:25:25

And I've gotten to know them and engage with them.

Isabel: 00:25:27

And this is the thing is I really thought I was just sharing books with

Isabel: 00:25:31

others, but I have gotten so much more from all of these people in this

Isabel: 00:25:37

community that I just hadn't anticipated.

Isabel: 00:25:40

And it's been so fulfilling and so lovely.

Isabel: 00:25:43

And again, I don't have to go out there every day.

Isabel: 00:25:46

I go out when I have time and I have energy and I engage

Isabel: 00:25:50

with people and I love it.

Isabel: 00:25:51

But this is something you have probably books on your house you could donate.

Isabel: 00:25:56

You probably have it, right, exactly.

Isabel: 00:25:58

Things that you can share with others.

Isabel: 00:26:00

Look for these kinds of things because cuz like public libraries

Isabel: 00:26:03

don't take those kind of donations.

Isabel: 00:26:05

I love public libraries.

Isabel: 00:26:06

Let me be clear.

Isabel: 00:26:07

Love, love, love them.

Isabel: 00:26:08

, but these kind of little boxes, and some people have little

Isabel: 00:26:11

pantry boxes or care things.

Isabel: 00:26:13

Just look for these opportunities around you.

Isabel: 00:26:16

When you're out walking in your neighborhood or you're driving by

Isabel: 00:26:19

somewhere, look for these little moments of where you might be able to make a

Isabel: 00:26:24

difference or partake with those things.

Isabel: 00:26:27

You might get those items or things.

Isabel: 00:26:30

It makes a huge difference in just our daily world.

Isabel: 00:26:35

I already know, Lisa, that I wanna ask you to come back again on the show, because

Isabel: 00:26:42

I think what you're opening up is an opportunity for people to be a little more

Isabel: 00:26:47

creative and have a, broader perspective on, philanthropy and giving back because

Isabel: 00:26:54

there are just so many different ways.

Isabel: 00:26:56

So to the audience, I invite you to please flood my email,

Isabel: 00:27:02

Hello@TheEncoreCatalyst.com with ideas or maybe something you've

Isabel: 00:27:08

seen, that you know went, oh, maybe someday I should do that.

Isabel: 00:27:13

Or, gee, my neighbor's doing this.

Isabel: 00:27:15

Whatever it is, let's get a library together of ideas of how

Isabel: 00:27:21

we can all use what we've got.

Isabel: 00:27:25

Like you said, use our time, use our talent.

Isabel: 00:27:28

Use our treasures.

Isabel: 00:27:29

Use our ties, and make this world a better place because God knows

Isabel: 00:27:36

there's been a lot of reasons to think the planet should implode

Isabel: 00:27:43

. Yes, but you know what?

Isabel: 00:27:46

I don't believe that's true.

Isabel: 00:27:48

, I think that's what we are fed by the media because it sells more advertising.

Isabel: 00:27:56

And you know, I love marketing and advertising.

Isabel: 00:27:59

It runs in my blood too.

Isabel: 00:28:00

But what I would like to hear is more of the good things that are

Isabel: 00:28:05

happening, the good deeds that are being done, and to Lift people's spirits.

Isabel: 00:28:12

So there's another way of lifting.

Isabel: 00:28:13

Right?

Lisa: 00:28:14

Absolutely.

Lisa: 00:28:15

Absolutely.

Isabel: 00:28:17

I had intended to ask you what philanthropy means to you.

Isabel: 00:28:23

I think we kind of indirectly got that, but is there anything

Isabel: 00:28:27

else you'd like to add to that?

Isabel: 00:28:30

Your thoughts on what is philanthropy for you?

Lisa: 00:28:35

I think I have covered most of that, but there's just one aspect that

Lisa: 00:28:38

I think would be important for people to think about and it's more about

Lisa: 00:28:43

modeling it for young people especially.

Lisa: 00:28:48

When you model excitement for giving back and you're talking about it with

Lisa: 00:28:51

your family and friends, it helps sets the stage for lifelong philanthropy.

Lisa: 00:28:56

So the more , and again, you can start at any point in your life, right?

Lisa: 00:29:00

And again, I think everybody has started.

Lisa: 00:29:02

You just don't recognize it that way.

Lisa: 00:29:03

But when you model that, the younger people are who start to do

Lisa: 00:29:08

things to help others, the more it continues for the rest of your life.

Lisa: 00:29:12

And that's very important.

Lisa: 00:29:13

It's partly why I'm involved.

Lisa: 00:29:15

My mother, my aunt, my grandmother really modeled this giving back idea.

Lisa: 00:29:21

My sister does and it was through organizations and churches and friends.

Lisa: 00:29:26

If somebody needed a meal, there was always a place at our table.

Lisa: 00:29:29

Just seeing that it made sense that I would just do it because to me

Lisa: 00:29:34

it was just a part of who you are.

Lisa: 00:29:38

I'm so glad you brought that up because you flooded me with a memory of my mother.

Lisa: 00:29:43

Didn't matter what time in the meal it was happening, if somebody else

Lisa: 00:29:48

arrived, she always could make room.

Lisa: 00:29:50

She always had enough food and, people were welcome to stay and

Lisa: 00:29:55

eat as many meals as they needed.

Lisa: 00:29:57

You're right, it's an attitude that can be cultivated at an early stage and age.

Lisa: 00:30:05

, it's never too late.

Lisa: 00:30:06

Never too late to do it.

Lisa: 00:30:08

, as I like to say, you're not starting from scratch, you're starting from experience.

Lisa: 00:30:13

Yes.

Lisa: 00:30:14

That's great.

Lisa: 00:30:15

Absolutely.

Lisa: 00:30:16

Yeah.

Lisa: 00:30:17

And by your examples we all have a lot of experience and resources

Lisa: 00:30:21

through our lifetime education, careers and connections, that

Lisa: 00:30:28

if you really think about it, we got a lot from which to draw on.

Lisa: 00:30:34

And everybody has value.

Lisa: 00:30:36

Everybody has something in them to contribute to someone else.

Lisa: 00:30:41

So if you are listening and you think that, what could I do?

Lisa: 00:30:44

What could I give?

Lisa: 00:30:45

Who am I?

Lisa: 00:30:47

You are you.

Lisa: 00:30:48

You are valuable.

Lisa: 00:30:49

You have value to share with others.

Lisa: 00:30:53

Every single person does.'

Lisa: 00:30:57

I love you!

Lisa: 00:31:00

You are a new light in my life, and today I learned you have a lot of watts

Lisa: 00:31:08

shining brightly and touching a lot of darker corners and lighting them up.

Lisa: 00:31:14

Thank you for that, Lisa.

Lisa: 00:31:15

I'd like to, I think, give our audience some time to absorb this

Lisa: 00:31:23

and start to think about, Hmm, what have I got already to start with?

Lisa: 00:31:29

And then I'd really love to have you come back and let's continue this conversation

Lisa: 00:31:36

of about creating what I hope is a tsunami effect of good philanthropy in the world.

Lisa: 00:31:44

I don't think there's any bad philanthropy.

Lisa: 00:31:46

Is there?

Lisa: 00:31:46

I don't know.

Lisa: 00:31:47

No, I don't think so.

Lisa: 00:31:48

I'd love to come back.

Lisa: 00:31:49

Thank you.

Lisa: 00:31:50

Thank you so very much.

Lisa: 00:31:51

So don't forget everybody the show notes, follow, , and.

Lisa: 00:31:57

I just feel touched and blessed.