Opportunity to Impact: The Power of Helping Others | OM019

Hey rockstars so good to see you so awesome to be able to be back to share some more time with you. And I hope you're taking advantage of all of the amazing opportunities there are to help as many people as you can in your world, every single day, Jim pedia here and happy to be your guide on this journey to opportunity creation. And if you listen into these episodes at all, the word opportunity sure seems to come up an awful lot. And that's just really the lens that I see things through through the world through everything that goes on is opportunities for people, for people to take advantage of, to be able to serve, and engage and support other people's success while on the path to your own. And one thing that opportunity making opportunity makers, if you're an opportunity maker, which you are, it's not just about the business that you're running, it's about the causes you support it, it's about the causes you create, it's about the ways that we give back the ways that we serve the differences we make for people that quite honestly, most of the time just don't have any other opportunities for themselves. There's people who pursue us, because we're leaders and we're servants and we can, and we can, you know, we can sell we have the products are what they need. And then there's other people that are just not in a position to be thinking about buying anything. They're just simply trying to get through their life, and get from one station to the next. And because of all the benefits and the blessings that we've been able to create, we continually give out of our surplus. And then there's people who just create an opportunity that to purely give as the heartbeat of your business or venture. And you know, as we have our opportunity cities that we are pulling together to put call centers and sales support and entrepreneurial engagement for ex cons and ease out foster teens be able to give them purpose and impact and revenue and means to be able to stay off the streets and stay out of trouble. And our mission is to literally obliterate recidivism so that people aren't going back into the revolving door of our prison systems. And we want to give him some place else to go. Because too many times it's we try to tell people what not to do. And that doesn't ever work. Because last time you tried to not do something, what you need to have is a clear definitive path and place to go something to do so that you it's easier to do something than it is to not do something. So we need to give them good environments, good support, good guidance, good next steps so they know what is happening and give them a clear meaning and a clear reason to be. And Corbin Cowan, who is interviewed today. He's a powerful, successful entrepreneur in a mastermind environment that I'm a part of, and I've watched this guy, be part of some great conversations, be in the investing world and tech world and just a smart quality business owner who really understands what it means to be able to deliver great outcomes for people. And when, when he when he shared this message at one of our mastermind retreats, I was just man immediately God was just grabbing my heart and pull me in because we are serving the same people we are doing we are all in for the throwaway society, people that just kind of cast the glands but don't really want to go out of the way to help these people. And when you're dealing with aged out foster teens, as you're gonna hear Corbin talk about they're not cute, cuddly little kids. Nobody wants to adopt them. Nobody wants to support them. Everybody wants a little cute cuddly kids little cute furry dogs. And nobody wants to do the things for a troublesome teen or somebody who's been experiencing a lot of hardship. And now that's a lot to take on. Right. So we want to make sure that they're getting the kind of support that people like you and making give. And so I want you to hear the story. Because this is not just about the opportunity for you to contribute and give and serve. But I want you to be inspired by the ideas by what's happening here by this conversation by what you see. And I want you to just take it all in and be able to look around and say how can this affect how can this impact me? How can this affect me? Who can I reach out to how can I create my own opportunity to be able to give back and serve and make a difference like that. So be inspired, be challenged, be ignited, be convicted, but lean in be interested to what's going on so that you can make a difference, right and be a true opportunity maker like Corbyn count. Enjoy the interview was the on an excellent, so we just did the formal interview. You know, Corbin wants you to tell everybody in your own words, who's Corbin and you know, why are you relevant in this conversation?

Well, my name is Corbin Cowen I've been around the entrepreneurial world most of my career started out in financial planning and and then kind of ventured into creating investment opportunities for for clients and and, you know, most recently have have kind of turned my skill set and efforts towards solving and solving a problem in the world of kids that that are Turning 18 and ageing out of the foster system with no with no support. And so I've created a foundation for that. But I've also created a, a for profit enterprise, you know, pulling in my other passion, which is, which is golf, and connecting, you know, passionate, competitive golfers throughout the country to not only a very unique opportunity to compete alongside side of celebrities and professional athletes and things like that, but connecting them to this cause and, you know, allowing them to get behind, you know, some of these young adults that are that are coming out of the system. And, and so, you know, using the networks that you and I have, have, have been around for years, to try to, you know, you know, better the lives of some of these young adults.

Yeah, and, you know, when I, when I heard you talking about it, at our, you know, the last event that but our mastermind, it just really struck my heart because, A, that that was me when I was a foster care teenager, and then I was on the streets in gangs, and then I was in jail by 19. And so and I've had a life of overcoming. And so, you know, being in prison ministry, and, you know, we're with our opportunity city project, we're focusing on helping ex cons and aged out foster teens, well, we kind of termed as the throwaway society, because that's liberal society does with them, they just kind of go someday we'll have a use for him. But you know, we can't find anything for you now. So, you know, with with this, this project, you have, you know, what kind of opportunities is that creating for golfers, for entrepreneurs, and for these teams,

you know, the golf community is, as one of the most philanthropic and, you know, heart centered communities around, there's a, an article and, and, and some publication about how much the golf community gives back. And so, you know, every time you turn around, there's a charity, golf tournament of some kind, but typically, they're there, they scramble formats, they're not very competitive, real competitive, golfers don't really enjoy charity golf that much. And now, you know, with the, you know, with the creation of this concept of name, image and likeness, that now allows for amateur golfers to, to create business contracts with, with companies, it's kind of changed the game a little bit. And so I came up with this concept to create this community of, of golfers that really want to compete. And not just super good golfers, right? But I mean, golfers of all skill levels, but even golfers, you know, that carry a 10, or 12, or 15 handicap still love the competition side of things, right. And so we're kind of changing the game a little bit and making the foundation, that kind of the benefactor of all these golf events. And, you know, the former professional athletes still love to compete as well, right. And so we're creating these kinds of one of a kind, on that one of the time but but just world class experiences to go and, and not just play in on the same golf course and hang around with a celebrity, but to actually compete head to head with them in a in a format that, you know, allows for handicaps and all that kind of thing. So, and ultimately, you know, my goal is to hook the golfers in with the competitive, you know, professional athlete angle. But But then, you know, really kind of expose them to this problem of the kids that are aging out of the foster system and, and how, like you said, they're just, they're kind of forgotten, right?

They're not cute and cuddly, nobody wants to take them in, and we wants to support them, if I trust him enough to work them hire him.

And, you know, it's interesting, since I've kind of started down this path. I mean, doors are opening of companies that are willing to do paid internships and, and, and so I think that as this vision unfolds, it'll really become a place where we're companies that have opportunities for young adults to come in and, and learn a skill set and get trained, have a place to go. And, you know, an opportunity to connect with these young adults that are really you know, starving for, for for this type of stuff.

So is this something that comes out just because you're just sitting around with a bunch of money and time to burn and you decide, hey, let me just go help the world? Or is this is you lean in to solve the problem?

So, interestingly enough, it definitely didn't come because I've got a bunch of money and I'm sitting around. I, that was my plan, right? My plan was, when I learned about this problem three or four years ago, it kind of stuck in my mind, and it's just kind of been in the, in the back of my mind for several years. And I was always going to do something about the problem when I became that, you know, wealthy uber successful entrepreneur when I had the big exit, and I had more money than time, right. And, and recently, about six months ago, I went to an event and they talked about, you know, what are you doing to, you know, in the area of fulfillment, you know, what are you doing to give back other than writing a check, you know, and as I, as I thought about it, after that, he kind of gave this, this talk and went out on this on a hike for for three or four hours in Moab, Utah, and I was just kind of out there and, and it was, like, God kind of spoke to me and said, You know, I can't wait for you to become wealthy, to be helping these kids, you know, you know, I've got I've raised tons of money for entrepreneurial ventures, and, and started companies and done a lot of things in my career. And that skill set of raising capital and, and attracting, you know, high net worth individuals is, is completely applicable to what we're doing here. And so, I just decided I was gonna start taking action, you know, and I started a foundation, and then I got a few people to help me and we've created a curriculum and a program. And then as I was thinking about the magnitude of this problem, you know, we're talking a magnitude of 480 $500 million a year, just, you know, to really, truly solve the problem on a national level. And I had had been thinking about creating this golf community, but I was going to limit it to like, 100 entrepreneurs, and we were going to, you know, go out and, and compete against each other, and, you know, it was going to be a, the whole focus of it was around wealth building and investments and all this kind of stuff. And, and, and I was sitting there thinking about the problem, this problem of the magnitude of it, and, and I'm, like, you know, the, if I could just leverage the golf community, you know, we could solve this problem, you know, on a national level, and that kind of led me down this path of really expanding my vision of this golf community to, to have it be focused on you know, doing and raising capital for, for the foundation. But still keeping that that competitive, you know, really, pressure building exciting opportunity, because, you know, with the way that we structure the community, there's going to be big money on the line, either big money for the foundation, or, you know, there's gonna be persons that you can can accept as a, what I'm gonna call a professional amateur, which is someone that doesn't care whether or not they're declared an amateur or professional, they're willing to, to, you know, forego playing in the state Amateur Championship or whatever, in order to compete for for the prize money, or, you know, just following the rules of golf and allowing, you know, keeping your amateur status and donating the money, or there's several different ways that you can still compete. And so it's, you know, since I made that pivot, doors are opening, and people are jumping on board, we've got, you know, a ton of celebrities that are just completely excited about getting behind it. And, and, and we've got our first event coming up in Puerto Rico at Dorado Beach, November 8.

Very cool. So So talk a little bit about the structure, like who, because part of what attracted me when you first started talking about this is, it's like it's the opportunity for the golfers. It's opportunity for people who want to contribute. It's opportunity for entrepreneurs to be able to contribute time and talent, if I'm not mistaken, right. So where are the places that people can can can participate?

So the, you know, kind of the entry point really Uh, is is just joining the community. So it'll be a membership type, you know, typical golf club type membership where, you know, you have an annual dues and you join the community and essentially, you know, connect with us, so that you can be invited to these, these, these major three and four day competitive golf events. And then at each one of those events will create like a, you know, fixed cut style point system, where, you know, the winners every year will earn these name image and likeness contracts for the next year. So the points though, will not just be be built around, you know, your golf score, and how many tournaments you, you won, or, you know, placed in, but around all those different components of building this community out, which is, you know, introducing others to the, to the community, or helping raising money for the foundation or holding a, you know, a friends and family event to expose them to, you know, to the needs to, to, you know, raising your hand and being willing to have one of the kids over for dinner, I say kids are, they're really young adults, you know, but when, when I thought about, you know, the, the challenges that I had in my life, right. You know, I always, I always had, and still to this day have that support structure, my family behind me. And, as I thought about these young adults coming out, they've got, they've got no real support structure, they've gotten nowhere to go. And so I think that we can become that, as a community of entrepreneurs, that are raising our hands and just saying, one, I'll have these kids over for dinner and get to know him, you know, to I'll, you know, potentially have internship opportunities, whether that be in sales, or accounting, or whatever different types of skill sets that that each entrepreneur has a need for, for help within their, in their company, we can connect these kids, and then part of the program is about mindset, right, we've got to provide the type of business, the type of personal development training that that you and I have had throughout the years, through, you know, being exposed to, you know, different, you know, gurus, if you will, so that they can understand that their, their, their past doesn't dictate their future, and that the everything that they can dream of, is ahead of them. And, and providing the, the mindset skills to, to kind of work through the trauma that they've experienced, and, and move forward in a way. And then of course, there's the component of the golf tournaments, where once they go through that program, then they'll they'll get invited to these golf tournaments, to work the tournaments, and to really be exposed to the network and the community of successful entrepreneurs. You know, I don't know about you, but one of the greatest decisions I ever made was joining board of advisors, where you and I met, and being in that room and connected to all those people has been an incredible blessing in my life. And so I'm wanting to build that environment in a way that these kids can essentially be exposed to it early. And, and then, you know, learn how to network with entrepreneurs and how to, you know, introduce themselves and be professional and, and set a good impression. So that as they're coming to these golf events and building their network, they pick up the phone and reach out to one of these, you know, business owners, they will be set up for success to be able to land a job or land an internship

do does somebody need to be a member of the golf society to be able to contribute content support education, whatever to the to the kids that are that are in need.

So I guess the simple answer is yes, but there's that there's a membership if you will, specifically for people that either know they suck at golf and don't want to participate in the golf side, but just want to support right and so, we have you can be a member of the of the of the community as an artist. The printer and contribute all sorts of things

you can be just like at a country club, you can write, like, we can be a social member, right? See

exactly, yeah. So we have, we have the social membership. And we have, you know, a membership just for those that that want to be donors and, you know, want to maybe beyond the list of, of households that these kids could could, you know, call up for, for a dinner, I was, I was talking to a friend of ours, Mike Weiss, and telling him about the family dinner program. And he's like, man, you know, this sounds just like the Shabbat houses in Israel. So, you know, in Israel, all the all of the young adults go into the military. And so they have these Shabbat houses all over Israel, where when these kids are out, in different parts of the country being deployed, they can just call up one of these Shabbat houses and go over for dinner and, you know, hang out and get to know the family and they're there, they're, you know, kind of all over the place. So any city that they're in, they know that they've got someplace that they can go, you know, for a hot meal, and, you know, and whatever. So, that's, that's the kind of community involvement that I'm looking to build.

So how will if there's a kid listening to this right now, how can you get how can you reach out and say, Hey, how can I get support? How can I get encouragement from from the from the society?

So I mean, the easiest way right now is, is to just reach out to me directly. Corbin 20 one@gmail.com, or Corbin at albatross golf.org. So we're literally in the launch, launch phase. So we're going through all of the the website design and building for footprints forward, which is the name of the foundation, and, and albatross golf society. So all that infrastructure is being being built, literally as we speak.

Right. This is, you know, I mean, it's, it's such a needed thing, there's so many different foundations and ways out there for people to support. And so it's just making sure that we can get the message out to the right people who feel like this is the environment, they can contribute and participate. And I know, as an entrepreneur into who's very cost based myself and have our own missions that we're driving, I'm always looking for ways that I can contribute, just like you said, besides writing a check, how else, how else can we participate? If we can't donate content? If we do you have a central place and a location where entrepreneurs who are listening to this right now and say, Hey, I'd love to be able to support? I'm just not a golfer in any way. But I can do something like that.

Yeah, well, you know, that, in essence, we will be kind of a clearinghouse, right for for that kind of stuff. And so as we as we're building out the website, where we will, you know, have those those components where, where people can just connect with us, like you said, provide content, provide, you know, a mentoring session for, for, for the, for the youth and, and contribute in any way, and aggregate all that stuff, because that's, that's ultimately what you know, what we're trying to do on a big scale is his have have this kind of central place where, where we can all communicate, and provide different, you know, courses and material to give opportunities to the young adults that are aging out.

So what kind of encouragement would you give for somebody who's listening to right now in their heart leaning in with their heart, but they're like, I can't lean in with my wallet right now. The world's going crazy. I'm paying $8 for eggs, I'm paying $5 A gallon for gas. I don't have anything to give. How would you? What words would you have for people like that right now?

I would say that, that you're already going to be making dinner. Right? So if if, at the very least, you can raise your hand and you can say, hey, I'm willing to invite one of these young adults over for dinner, or take them out to dinner. And just get to know them a little bit. Give them some words of encouragement, let them know that there are people in the world that care enough to raise their hand and say, I want to have you over for dinner. That's enough, right? Because sometimes, there's sometimes it's something that's simple, that could can change completely changed the trajectory of somebody's life. And if if we build out this network of people, and that's the only thing that we accomplish, we just build this this national network of people that are having young adults that are aging out of the system over for To enter and giving them some some words of encouragement and support, then we have accomplished something that is monumental. Because ultimately, it was, it was having that support structure for myself, that allowed me to become successful as an entrepreneur. I always know I mean, the running joke, you know, in my family right now, to this day. Because my family knows the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur that I've gone through and the risks that we take as entrepreneurs, my mom just keeps a little bit of land, you know, on her property for me, in case I ever, you know, strike out and, and, and lose everything, I can just come and you know, you know, put up a tent and on that plot of land, and I have that, you know, in my back pocket, so, I know, I'm never gonna go without a roof over my head, even if I fail miserably and go bankrupt. And ultimately, if we can provide that for these for these, you know, they're still kids in my mind, you know, but if there's young adults that are, you know, stepping out into the world, then, you know, that is something that that cost next to nothing, nothing, but couldn't could be ultimately a huge stepping stone for him.

You know, it's funny, I was spending some time with my grandson this weekend. He's four years old. And he every time he talks to me, he starts every sentence with Hey, Papa. Hey, Papa, watch this. Hey, Papa, do you want some of this? Hey, Papa, give me some mac and cheese. Hey, Papa. And I love it. Because every time he's addressing me, it makes me feel like I'm like, Oh, this kid loves me, you know? And it's like, how many of these kids don't get that every day? They don't have somebody saying, hey, Corbin, right? Really appreciate you. Hey, Corbin, you're gonna be something. A Corbin. somebody cares? I took it you know, somebody who is you're talking to one. I was one of those guys. You know, you weren't grew up every day wondering who loves you? Yeah, that's a horrible feeling. It's a horrible place to

be. Yeah, and you know, it cost nothing to love somebody. Amen.

Amen. So I know, it's all in the forming stages. But we we've got well, in the show notes, guys, there's contact info, recording, as well as website and information. And as the, by the time this gets out, he'll have more resources and connection points and things going. It's once God gets involved in the thing is moving, it's gonna take it's taken a life of its own already. And so jump on board, you know, this massive opportunities being created for your golfer, if you're entrepreneur, if you want to have a membership, to contribute in ways outside of the golf course, if you just want to be in support of the community and of the network, right, it's just be one of those, you can have, you know, a window sticker on the window that says we support to help drive golf society, and then that lets every team know that they're a safe place for them to go. Right, that kind of that kind of vibe is a fantastic culture to be shooting for.

Yep, absolutely. And like you said, you know, God's opening doors, I mean, when you reach out to me, I mean, that there, there's, you know, no other explanation. So, you know, I appreciate the opportunity to get the word out and appreciate all you're doing for, for, you know, for your causes, and being willing to step up and help like, yeah,

absolutely. Looking forward to talking more about it and seeing where we can plug in. So you guys, make sure you go check out the show notes. Get the contact information, just reach out and ask questions, just reach out and find out how can you help because you'd be stunned at how much you know how many people you know who in your network, you're literally one degree of connection, and separation from somebody who can contribute even if you can't, so share, if this is if this means something to you, if this is making sense, if this feels like Man, this is a great cause you just don't know how to participate. Great. Reach out, ask Have a conversation plugin, so you can stay informed, get on their list and be in the know as things are coming up. Because I can tell you, the kind of person that Corbin is and the networks that were involved in, when stuff starts moving, it moves fast, and things happen. So you're going to want to be part of part of the process, or at least be in the spec to you know, be a spectator and stands watching this thing. Go so you can jump in when you're ready. For sure to jump. Awesome. All right, guys. So that's, that's a wrap for today. Thank you for spending the time here as we know you'd be spending it anyplace else. And thanks for trusting us to be part of your success team. I hope you're you're letting your heart be stirred. And you're challenging no limits and convictions right now and saying how can I make a difference? If not for this cause? Where's the cause that you are making a difference for who's the thing that moves you? What's the thing that's near and dear to your heart and how do you jump in and say I I can make a difference here and then just jump in and do it you don't have to have the resources you just got to have the intention and when you do the doors and the resources will show up right we'll see on the next episode you guys have a good one go make it happen