Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to the Authority Playbook. I'm Jeff Brandeis, and today we're talking about the strategies to help you stand out, be seen and be heard. You're watching now Media Television.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: Welcome to the Authority Playbook, the show where leaders, innovators and industry experts share what it takes to build influence, earn trust, and create sustainable business success.
I'm your host, Jeff Brandeis, and on this show we explore what makes communication work. When the stakes are high and you need to earn attention, inspire confidence. Along with moving people toward action, most leaders prepare their words. They build the deck, they sharpen the message, they rehearse their story and focus on what they want the audience to do.
Another layer enters the room before the first word is spoken.
Your internal state, stress, the fear, the self doubt, the unresolved emotion, and the need for approval can all influence how your message lands, even when the words are technically correct.
Today my guest is Katie Moore, founder and executive director of ABC Hopes, a nonprofit organization created to expand opportunity for people with intellectual disabilities. Katie's work began from a deeply personal place.
Her younger brother Christopher was born with down syndrome, and that experience helped shape a mission around empowerment, community participation, health, wellness, social development, and life skills. Katie, welcome to the Authority Playbook.
[00:01:42] Speaker C: Thanks, Jeff. Thank you.
[00:01:44] Speaker B: Great to have you here.
[00:01:46] Speaker C: Sorry, you said it all. Show's over.
[00:01:50] Speaker B: No, there's so much more to this story that I really love to dive into. So, Katie, obviously I talked about your brother, but really we all have our share of brothers, sisters, challenges, and you chose a different route to take with your passion, with your mission. What made you decide to form and begin working with ABC hopes and create it?
[00:02:16] Speaker C: So it's a funny question because I never planned to start a non profit and I was about nine years old when Christopher was born and I instantly fell in love with my little brother. I just thought, gosh, he's the coolest thing there is, and felt a pull in my heart that, you know, we're going to do something together.
I want to, I want to be around him. I want to do something with him and for him.
And honestly, it initially started thinking I was going to be working, you know, in the athletic world, in the sports world. I love basketball, I love sports. And that was my passion, to connect and stay in the collegiate world. And as I ventured through college and Christopher grew up and went on, on his educational route, it became evident to me and the family, you know, that there were some different programs available that my family just wasn't totally keen on as far as continuing his education.
And so one. One afternoon, my dad messaged me while I was back in New York and Queens, and he said, hey, I really think we should start a nonprofit. And, you know, you can run that. And I said, I have no idea what that means. I don't know what to do.
I was getting a. My master's in school counseling, and I said, okay, let's just try it. You know, whatever. Whatever I need to do. For Chris, at that point in Christopher's life, he.
He was out of school. He had already aged out. And like I said, the programs just weren't. Weren't where my family wanted to see and the opportunities. So I moved back to California and started doing research on how to create a nonprofit. What did that look like? And again, with my love for athletics, I was moving towards that direction rather than a different one. And my dad, who created and ran his own business, he wanted to focus on more of a business entrepreneurial side. And so his suggestion to get going was, let's have these participants with intellectual and developmental disabilities work at different farmers markets in the community.
And gosh darn it, by doing that for about four or five years, I said, wow.
To run and work at a farmer's market is. It's a lot of work. And I have so much respect and, and love and. And humility for. For farmers that work at those week in and week out, it was a definite opportunity for ABC hopes to get visibility.
And the participants, we call them hopers, they were learning skills, but my heart still sat with the health and the wellness side of things. And so I had an opportunity to partner with a local CrossFit gym in Corona. And this young man who ran this CrossFit just was totally ohana Hawaiian style, and what can I do? How can I make this work? And so we created our first fitness class, and it was once a week, and we had a good rotation of families that would come. And we kind of started to grow and get into different, different gyms, but again, just once a week. And I knew that there needed to be more.
And so it wasn't until maybe around Covid that we stopped doing the farmers markets. It allowed me to really push different with different gyms.
And that was a huge, huge gift of time for me because, you know, markets took a lot of our time.
And so about 2022, we were able to move into our own facility in Corona while still having some different, smaller partnerships with local gyms. We were able to create much more than just a health and a wellness program.
We were able to Create after school activities, social activities, recreational activities and hit more families on a more consistent basis. And this was the driving fuel for me, but also the fact that I was doing it alongside Christopher. He and I would go and work together. I mean, how fun is it to work with your own brother and take him to business meetings and go to activities and go to functions and things like that. And I love it.
[00:06:43] Speaker B: It's amazing, Katie. And for our listeners, I've known Katie now for, we've been working together for almost five years at this point and this is the first time I've heard this story. So Katie, thank you so much for sharing that with, not only with myself but with our listeners because I've always wondered where that passion of yours came from because starting with a non profit, building it to where you built it, there's always a story at the beginning.
And I obviously, I don't think there's an end to this at this point, but it's great for me to finally hear that beginning. So thank you for sharing all that.
[00:07:23] Speaker C: Yeah, of course, of course. I mean, a few beers in, in New York and at school kind of propelled some of the ideas and the thoughts and things like that. But I think what it comes down to is as a family, we just have so much fun with Christopher and we wanted to open up those doors and opportunities for other, other families and to share what our population of friends with disabilities can bring to the community. And it's pretty neat, Jeff, but I think you might know this.
A lot of my staff and a lot of my team members, they've never worked with people with disabilities. And some people can be, well, what the heck, why would you do something like that? Well, for us and for me, my perspective is I want to open up their eyes to a whole different community that they've never been a part of. And it's pretty unique because they have the passion and the love to do these classes. You know, like our fitness coaches love working out and they want to get kids healthy and things like that. But you can't build passion, you know, you can't build that. And so, but what we can do is we can teach them how to work with our population.
It's pretty unique. It's pretty, it's pretty awesome to watch.
[00:08:31] Speaker B: So Kay, when you founded ABC Hopes, what did you want the community to really understand differently about people with intellectual disabilities and what they think about now?
[00:08:42] Speaker C: Well, as much as we might think they are different, we're actually a lot more similar than, than not. And it's Just opening our eyes and giving them a chance, giving them an opportunity and connecting. Connection is huge.
You know, Christopher. I use Christopher as an example a lot. He just has a way of connecting people in the community. He has a way of just, you know, bringing. Bringing a smile out of somebody or, you know, bridging that gap where a lot of our, you know, families that we've served, they. They don't share their internal lives, you know, oh, I have a. We learned from being in a gym one time that, you know, one of their longtime members had a son that had autism that, you know, for five years. These other members that have worked out with him never knew that. And so it's really just showing people that it's okay to talk, it's okay to share your story.
And, you know, we can treat our friends with intellectual disabilities just like our friends, you know, out at a ball game. You know, we're all very similar. We all just want to. We just all want to connect and belong.
[00:09:47] Speaker B: So shouldn't look at somebody differently just because they have a disability or of any sort or any kind. It doesn't really matter.
[00:09:56] Speaker C: Jeff. It has certainly opened my eyes. Absolutely. I would. I say this a lot. I would not be the person I am without Christopher in my life.
And I'm very thankful and blessed that he is part of our family and that I have the opportunity to work so closely with him and for him.
[00:10:12] Speaker B: So a quick question before we go to take our first break here, Katie. What has Christopher taught you about the difference between speaking for people and creating space for people to show what they can do?
[00:10:26] Speaker C: Until you create the space, you can't articulate for them because you don't know.
And, you know, when you open up those doors and you create an opportunity and an atmosphere that allows somebody who is differently able to be themselves.
I mean, they just blossom. You know, we're.
We have some friends here that are. Speak very loudly, and, you know, they might have some funny quirks, and that's okay, but we just let them be. And we can, you know, we teach them, you know, different P's and Q's, but at the end of the day, it's okay to have. Have a different quirk and just opening up the space for, you know, empowering them. Empowering them to be them in a safe space. And that's, I think, what ABC Helps has definitely created.
[00:11:16] Speaker B: I think that's awesome. And I also think the bond that you created between yourself and Christopher, brother and sister, is something totally unique. And honestly, a lot of brothers and sisters, you know, we don't have.
Don't have that kind of relationship that you have with your brother. So I think that is a Christopher thing.
[00:11:34] Speaker C: That is a Christopher thing for sure. He is. He's the glue to my family. You know, all of our siblings, you know, we all have a unique relationship with him. I have two other siblings that work with me.
[00:11:43] Speaker B: Right.
[00:11:44] Speaker C: And it's. It's really Christopher that keeps that glue together.
[00:11:47] Speaker B: So that's awesome. So as we close out our first segment, what we learned here is authority begins with clarity.
Leaders know exactly why the work matters, and they can communicate it in a way people can feel. They feel a message becomes much more than information.
After the break, we will look at how Katie turns that mission into stories and experiences that help audiences see the ability, possibilities, and belonging differently. We'll be right back.
[00:12:19] Speaker A: We'll be right back with more insights and frameworks to help you elevate your brand and your influence. Stay tuned.
And we're back. I'm Jeff Brandeis, and this is the Authority Playbook on NOW Media Television. Let's dive deeper.
[00:12:35] Speaker B: Welcome back to the Authority Playbook. Stay connected to this show and every NOW Media TV favorite live or on demand, anytime you like. Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or on iOS and unlock nonstop bilingual programming in English and in Spanish. You're on the move. Catch the podcast version at www.nowmedia tv. From business and leadership to culture, communication, lifestyle and beyond, NOW Media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are.
And welcome back to the Authority Playbook. I'm Jeff Brandeis, and before the break, Katie Moore and I talked about the personal conviction behind ABC hopes and the importance of communicating a mission clearly. Now I want to focus on one of the most powerful tools a leader has a story for. An organization like ABC hopes storytelling can shape how a community understands disability, the ability and the contribution and belonging that they have.
Katie, how do you tell your stories about your hope is in a way that inspires, reducing without them reducing to a stereotype or using their lives simply as an emotional content.
[00:13:54] Speaker C: Yeah, the storytelling is huge, Jeff.
It's really a funny thing because there's a donor that started supporting us heavily. And, you know, she said, hey, you know your website, I go to your website, it's like, yeah, it's okay. You know, it's like any other website. Right? But until Kate, I actually came and I visited your location and sat with Christopher or hung out with you guys, I. I had no idea, you know, how impactful and Powerful. It was.
The stories come through experience and being connected and involved with our participants and those little opportunities where we do go out in the community.
One of the really neat things that I took away from some of the farmers market experiences were which I always look back and say, dang. I guess my dad had something figured out right by us going into those markets.
There was a man who was starting a barbecue business out in Anaheim, California, and Christopher happened to walk down to his booth one day. He liked to, you know, go and visit the different vendors. He walked down there one day and. And he stuck out his hand and said, hi, I'm Christopher. And the man looks at him and he says, hi, you know, and so they have a little conversation and whatnot, and Christopher comes back and starts doing his thing. And maybe about a month or two later, the barbecue guy comes up to me and says, hey, I don't think you know me, but I know your brother. And I said, oh, boy, what did he do? You know, what happened now?
[00:15:23] Speaker B: Uhoh.
[00:15:24] Speaker C: Says, no, your brother saved my life.
I said, well, how did that happen?
And he says, well, I met your brother about two months ago. And that morning or that week, I might not have every single detail correctly, but that morning of that week, the man and his wife got word that they were going to be having a child with down syndrome, and they were advised to not go through with it.
And that morning when he met Christopher, he immediately called his wife and said, nope, we're doing this. I just met a young man who's. Who has down syndrome, and we're going to go through with it. We're going to have our kid. If this kid can be anything like Christopher, we have, you know, something totally to look forward to. And more often than not, Jeff, those things happen because we're not in closed walls. Christopher's not in closed walls. Our friends at ABC Hopes aren't in just closed walls. They're out.
We provide them with responsibilities, and we treat them just like any other person. And that allows the community to see how we interact with our participants. It's pretty beautiful.
[00:16:37] Speaker B: It is really beautiful, Katie. And, you know, like I said, you and I have been communicating and talking for many, many years, but I also follow you on Facebook, and I see the posts, I see the kids in action. I see what they're doing. I see their. Their exercises, and they're no different than anyone else that goes to a gym. And that's a great part of what you're providing to these children is an opportunity to do something that Everyone else does. And I think that's a great mission and a great accomplishment. And, you know, I commend you for taking this on. So thank you for doing what you do.
[00:17:13] Speaker C: Thank you. Thank you.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: So when you speak with donors, businesses, volunteers, or community leaders, how do you adapt that same core mission without really trying to dilute?
[00:17:26] Speaker C: I just. I'm real, Jeff.
Like you said, you've known me for a long time. I'm super real and raw with people.
You know, I share an example. I share how Christopher's changed my life. I share maybe how a young adult with autism has changed my life, or I've been able to touch their life in an opportunity for growth and expansion.
A young man has been coming with his brother. They both have autism, and they've been coming for. Since we started our fitness classes. And I knew I had a breakthrough with this young, young guy when he came up and put his arm around me in the middle of a workout and said, well, how many rounds did you get?
And I said, well, I got this many. And he's like, well, I got one more than you, so I beat you. If you know anything about many young adults with autism, they're not going to necessarily touch you and they're not necessarily going to strike up a conversation. Correct. And so this was like a mind blow for me, is like, wow, okay, I'm getting there. I'm getting somewhere. He's in a setting that he's comfortable with. And these are the stories I share with donors. I invite donors to come down and be a part of our everyday activities. I invite them to come down and be a part of our workouts, and we just show them the real us.
You know, there's. There's no. There's no shiny stuff that we covered up with. And, you know, we draw them pictures and send them greetings, and that's. That's how we are.
[00:18:51] Speaker B: I think that's, again, totally awesome that you do that. What have you learned about the difference between the story that truly gets attention and the story that actually moves people to take action? Do you see a difference?
[00:19:04] Speaker C: Yeah, you know, when you get a story that's maybe articulated from the actual participant or the actual. The parent.
I'm still moved when I hear a win from a parent. I got one, actually, a couple weeks ago where a parent was saying, you know, I've been really working on my independence with my kid, and. And, you know, I'm letting them work on showering and washing their hair themselves, you know, and that might sound really trivial and Weird. Like, you know, they can do it on their own, but, you know, we all need some help.
And so the mom said, you know, hey, I'm not sure if you're getting all the shampoo out. Do you want help? And this is, she's asking her daughter that has down syndrome who is not as verbal, but since coming to ABC Hopes three to four times a week, she has gotten a ton more verbal and able to say, no, mom, I've got it. And the mom, when she's sharing this, she's in tears.
And that's, that's the special part. That's the trigger right there where you see a mom that's getting wins, you know, or, or you know, one of their kids is advocating for themselves, you know, or no, thank you, I don't want that. Rather than being non verbal or throwing a fit and things like that, it's, it's pretty neat to see the different wins that, that families are, are sending back and articulating. So when it comes straight from their mouth, that's when you get, that's when you get the heartstrings tugged at for sure.
[00:20:32] Speaker B: Yeah, that's, that definitely tugs at your heart, but it also gives you that satisfaction of knowing what you're doing has an impact on, on people, on families, and obviously on having an impact on the child forever. That's going to grow with them and show some independence in their own life. So that's awesome.
[00:20:53] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:20:54] Speaker B: Absolutely.
So what we learned in this segment here is the strongest stories do more than create emotion. They change the frame through which people see an issue.
Next, we will look at what happens after the story works, how leaders convert attention into partnerships, volunteers, resources and sustain community participation.
We'll take a break and we'll be right back.
[00:21:23] Speaker A: We'll be right back with more insights and frameworks to help you elevate your brand and your influence. Stay tuned.
And we're back. I'm Jeff Brandeis and this is the Authority Playbook on NOW Media Television. Let's dive deeper.
[00:21:39] Speaker B: Welcome back to the Authority Playbook. I'm here with Katie Moore, founder and executive director of ABC Hopes.
We have talked about mission and storytelling. Now we're going to move into the part that every leader eventually faces. A compelling message is not enough unless people trust the organization enough to participate, contribute, partner, volunteer and stay involved.
Katie, what makes a business like yours and the donor, the volunteering community, partner say yes to a mission like ABC hopes?
[00:22:17] Speaker C: We say what we're doing.
We, we, you know, hey, we look, we're Looking to build our programs or, you know, when we were looking to build and get into a facility, it was a goal, and we got there.
[00:22:29] Speaker B: We.
[00:22:30] Speaker C: We showed our donors, hey, what we say we're going for, what we want to do is what we do.
I truly believe that we are, you know, growing exponentially, and our donors are seeing that we are offering and empowering our participants with intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities through new services, new programming.
How can we shape the needs that they're looking for and convey that to our donors that we're doing what we say we do?
[00:23:01] Speaker B: Yeah, I know over the years, you've done some very creative fundraising events that gets the community involved, gets your other companies that are willing to donate things. I'd love to have you talk about maybe one of your piano events or something that really had a true impact not only on you, but also on abc, folks.
[00:23:26] Speaker C: So one of our big, big pushes is our involvement in having our participants involved.
So you will not see a fundraiser that we host where they're not there.
That just goes to show from segment to the true. The trueness of them and getting it connected. So we will be having our third dueling pianos in March of 2027, and we're super excited. We switched up from having casino nights or Monte Carlo nights for several years, and we just needed a fresh start.
So myself and a former coworker stumbled on a dueling piano event, and we thought, wow, this is definitely something that our families can get behind.
I've gone to a lot of fundraisers, love them all, but I have a hard time sitting still for that long. And I like ours to be pretty interactive and engaging. And so this company that does these are dueling pianos.
They put on a phenomenal show. They get the entire crowd excited. They get our participants moving and active and engaged, and it's firsthand visual excitement from our donors. Our donors are engaged. They see our participants and they see the story that we're sharing just through the eyes of the excitement of our participants. We also have a cornhole tournament that we do every year that's coming up next month, October.
And as community oriented as ABC hopes is, and how important it is for our participants to connect with the community. This year, we're partnering with the Corona Fire Safety foundation to host the cornhole tournament. So we're super excited about connecting both organizations that are really enthralled and love the city of Corona.
[00:25:13] Speaker B: Again. I think it's totally awesome that besides just providing the outlet for the children, it's building the community around you to get them to support the organization. Because really, at the end of the day, the community is what contributes most to the outcome. And the success of ABC hopes so.
It's a great mission, great thing that you do, and maybe this year, maybe you'll see me in March.
[00:25:40] Speaker C: That would be nice. I don't know, Jeff. I don't think we've ever seen each other in person.
[00:25:45] Speaker B: No, we have never met. It's all been virtual.
[00:25:47] Speaker C: So there's a neat group, Jeff, I want to touch upon that are young sixth graders in our community. They're a leadership group and they actually volunteer with us several times a year.
And it's led by a 6th grade teacher for a local elementary school.
And she brings them down and I could cry. Just the connection that you see from these young sixth graders who maybe have never seen somebody with a disability to pair up and sit across from somebody or work with someone and initiate a conversation and say, hey, my name's so and so, what's your name? And to, to just be at an equal level of connection and support these, these young kiddos. They're from, like I said, a Corona Elementary School. They're called the Rocketeers. And having them come down and our participants, I mean, when we tell them ahead of time, oh, the Rocketeers are coming, our kids are. I'm signing up for that class. I want to be there, you know, and they just, they love the energy, they love the partnership. And, and it's, it's really a beautiful thing because I, I believe that, I mean, as these young sixth graders grow and get older, they're gonna more often than not be around somebody with a disability. And so to teach them that it's okay to high five someone, it's okay to have a conversation with someone that's different than you is. Is huge. And I love that opportunity that we have. So that goes beyond just donors and businesses that contribute, but that's bringing in young people that we're changing their lives just as much as they're impacting our friends with disabilities.
[00:27:24] Speaker B: I think sometimes we all take, we assume so much that everything is. We have everything that we need. We don't always look at others who are less fortunate. And having that interaction really builds some morals and some ethics around you of while there are other children that can actually help. And I think you've seen in your career at ABC even some of the children that come on board and they volunteer with ABC as they get older and able to help out as well.
[00:27:57] Speaker C: Yes, absolutely. We've even seen staff that have come on, that never plan to work with people with disabilities and end up turning their career paths into wanting to be teachers in the schools and work with that, our special population. I have somebody right now who's on staff and she's grown from her very first day four years ago to being the first one to graduate from her family. And now she's pursuing her credential and she wants to be a special ed teacher and she's going to be phenomenal at it. And that's just that one step of taking a chance or us giving somebody an opportunity that it's really hard for young people to get jobs. It's hard for anybody right now. And so to open up the doors for somebody that doesn't have experience and say, you know what, we can teach you some experience, but you look like you have a compassionate heart and you have a desire to work with this population.
Come on board, let's go, let's make it happen.
[00:28:56] Speaker B: And I know the training and the help and the guidance that you provide to them has an impact on not only their own lives, but on your, on your kids lives that are part of ABC hopes as well.
[00:29:06] Speaker C: Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, there's, there's times when some of our clients that we serve, they might come only once a week, others come more often than not. Several, several, several times than that. But that one time is an opportunity to impact that young, you know, young person and be present for that person.
Just, just being present for somebody, Jeff, makes a huge difference, you know, sitting and listening to them or playing a game, you know, but making sure that they're seen is a, is a huge thing. And I believe that sets us apart, that sets ABC hopes apart, that sets our team apart, where we make it so about them and such a space for them to be, just to be, you know, which is huge.
[00:29:54] Speaker B: Katie, you're a great leader. You're a young lady that has a passion. But many of our folks that are listening today are leaders, but they struggle to ask for support.
What have you learned about making the ask with confidence and without apologizing for asking?
[00:30:12] Speaker C: Jeff, I struggle too, as many years as I've been doing this, but I think if I'm able to just share them, share with them a true story about who I am and why I do what I do, that helps, you know, I have a why.
I think that anybody that's looking to ask for some support, you know, find out what your why is and, and pursue that and let that drive you in your ass and your questions and your. In your seeking of support.
I use Chris, I don't use Christopher, but I. I connect with Christopher and the people that, that come around and I show them, show them why we're here. And that's, that's what allows me to, to do the ask.
Also knowing that what we do is a good thing, you know, providing this space, providing these opportunities.
And if I didn't have the support economically from our major donors and the community and grants, you know, our team wouldn't be able to provide the services that we were able to provide. I'd have an empty building, you know, but just, you know, finding out what your why is, you know, and, and I have a lot of volunteers that will come through and they, they may come once or twice, but I tell them, I say it's okay. ABC Ops might not be your why, and that's okay, but to understand what your why is and what you're passionate about, whether it's animals or homeless or this or that, find that and let that drive you in any direction.
[00:31:41] Speaker B: So I think the why is so important for everybody. It's the reason of why people buy. Why will people contribute? Why will people do certain things? If you don't have that passion that.
It's the passion of why you're doing something for the good of your. Not only for yourself, but for your community and for the kids. That's what drives you the most. And you adopted that at a very early age, while a lot of other people realize what their why is until maybe they're in the late 20s or sometimes even when they're midlife. So it's fantastic that you learn that early.
[00:32:18] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, your wise can change, Jeff, you know, based upon situations that, that, you know, you're put in and, and that's okay too. And, you know, don't feel, don't feel stuck in something.
And it's okay to, it's okay to change even if your family doesn't have the same why as you. Right. Or, you know, your, your community might not have the same why as you. It just. We're fortunate in my family that our, our why is very similar. And Christopher is a blessing to our family.
And, you know, we do, we do us because of that.
[00:32:48] Speaker B: So that's, that's great to hear as we close out our third session here. Influence becomes durable when trust turns into participation.
The goal is not merely to persuade someone once, but to build a relationship that is strong enough to carry a mission forward.
After the break, Katie and I will bring together everything and Talk about leadership, dignity, what it means to use authority to expand possibility for other people. We'll be right back.
[00:33:19] Speaker A: We'll be right back with more insights and frameworks to help you elevate your brand and your influence. Stay tuned.
And we're back. I'm Jeff Brandeis and this is the Authority Playbook on NOW Media Television. Let's dive deeper.
[00:33:35] Speaker B: Welcome back to the Authority Playbook. Stay connected to this show and every NOW Media TV favorite, live or on demand, anytime you like. Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or on iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and in Spanish. You're on the move. Catch the podcast version at www.nowmeteor.tv.
from business and news to lifestyle, culture and beyond, Now Media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are.
Welcome back to the Authority Playbook. Katie Amour and I have been talking about mission, clarity, storytelling efficiency and community trust. In this final segment, I want to focus on leadership itself. How leaders use their voice and their authority not to make themselves the center of the story, but to create more opportunity, visibility and agency for the people they serve.
But before we get back to speaking with Katie, we have a special guest with us here at the moment. I want the audience to introduce everyone to Christopher. Christopher, welcome to the show.
Hi, Christopher. If you don't mind sharing what's it like to work at ABC hopes and have your sister be part of the whole event and organization?
[00:35:01] Speaker D: It's super fun.
[00:35:04] Speaker B: You love having it around. You two have built a great relationship together, haven't you?
[00:35:08] Speaker D: Yeah.
Double 24, I call her tournament on those lot goes.
[00:35:18] Speaker C: That's pretty good, buddy. It starts at 12.
[00:35:21] Speaker D: The second is 12 to 12 to 5. 12 to 12 to 5.
[00:35:27] Speaker C: He's way better at asking than I am.
[00:35:31] Speaker D: Tonight is Green Bay. Oh, football and mentor on Thursday night football.
You have to watch that game because I got one guy played tonight.
My fear Stop. No.
[00:35:47] Speaker B: Who's playing?
[00:35:51] Speaker C: Christopher is a big sports guy, so that's one area that he and I just have a huge passion for. And if you look at ABC hopes you'll understand that some of our names for our programs are revolved around sports. So extra innings.
We don't love when a baseball game ends. We'd like to see some extra innings, right?
[00:36:07] Speaker D: Yeah. Oh, and we did a workout, too.
[00:36:11] Speaker C: I do workouts.
[00:36:12] Speaker B: You do workouts? Yes.
I've seen you on Facebook, Chris.
[00:36:16] Speaker D: Yeah, we did on this class.
[00:36:23] Speaker C: We have dance and yoga. So these guys are not only getting that fitness piece, but they're Definitely getting the, the yoga, stretching and balance work and then obviously having some fun with dancing, right?
[00:36:33] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:36:34] Speaker B: Okay. You know, they, your brother has learned from you, have taken their passions that you have had with sports, and it's obviously hand me down to your brother, and he's following your footsteps and the passion that you've had most of your entire life. So.
[00:36:49] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:36:49] Speaker B: Yeah, that's great to see.
So, Katie, how has leading ABC hopes changed your own definition of authority and leadership?
[00:36:58] Speaker C: Okay, so I'm going to go back to college with this one.
[00:37:02] Speaker D: Here we go.
[00:37:02] Speaker C: Here we go.
College as an athlete, you know, I played sports all my life. Okay. And. And so when I went to college, I, I went to St. John's out in New York, and I needed something to be a part of, and I wasn't be on the team.
So I decided, you know, let me apply to be part of the manager team.
And that was a really hard thing for me to do, just to be a manager and wipe up sweat and clean up spills of people and clear their dirty laundry and all that stuff.
But what I realized is the vitality and the importance of every level of an organization.
I looked at how important being a manager was and how important every level of an organization is in order to have the whole organization as a whole be successful. And I've taken that into my leadership as a, as a leader of ABC hopes. Every level is important. Nobody's up here and nobody's down here. We all have an equal, you know, importance to this organization to, for it to function when there's a missing piece or when there's a missing link or when there's a missing, you know, contribution that, that makes a big difference in the overall abilities to function. And so that's one of the ways that I lead the team.
I want to know how we can do things. Not how you. Or how they. Or how I can do things, but how we can do things as a whole.
So that's my, my approach.
Okay.
[00:38:35] Speaker B: That's awesome. That's fantastic. Hey, Christopher, what's your favorite sport?
[00:38:40] Speaker C: What's your favorite sport?
[00:38:42] Speaker D: Basketball in hockey. And I like football, too.
[00:38:46] Speaker C: All of them.
[00:38:47] Speaker B: All of them.
Natural athlete.
[00:38:52] Speaker D: My high school, because the high school I went to, I went to San Diego.
[00:38:56] Speaker C: You went to Santiago. Something that Chris is very good at is golf, and he just had some golf lessons with the program. We partnered up with a.
A company and they do some virtual golf, and Christopher is a pretty good natural golfer.
[00:39:13] Speaker B: That's awesome. That's great.
Yeah.
[00:39:15] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:39:18] Speaker B: Thank you for Sharing that with us. That's. That's awesome.
[00:39:20] Speaker D: Thursday we go to Paris.
[00:39:22] Speaker C: Thursday you go to golf lesson.
[00:39:24] Speaker D: Where?
Why?
[00:39:26] Speaker C: Your coaches, Jimmy, Gay Ryan and Jimmy and Gabe, they coach you on how to hit the ball straight and how to hit it far, far.
[00:39:35] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:39:35] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:39:36] Speaker B: Maybe one day you can teach me that, too.
[00:39:38] Speaker C: Oh, we should teach Jeff.
[00:39:41] Speaker D: Monday I pick up with me Daniel, Ryan and other Ryan.
[00:39:49] Speaker C: Yeah, you went and played at a fundraiser.
[00:39:55] Speaker B: Okay, that was good.
[00:39:59] Speaker C: Jeff lives in Florida, so maybe we should go to Florida.
[00:40:02] Speaker D: Oh, I love Florida.
[00:40:05] Speaker B: One day we'll get to meet each other.
Katie, I'm curious. What would you like business leaders in community organizations to do differently when they think about people with intellectual disabilities?
[00:40:19] Speaker C: You have to go.
[00:40:20] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:40:20] Speaker C: Say bye.
[00:40:21] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:40:21] Speaker B: Bye, Chris.
[00:40:23] Speaker C: Mom's coming.
That's fine. Give me a hug. Say bye.
[00:40:27] Speaker D: Oh, bye, Jeff.
[00:40:28] Speaker B: Bye, Chris.
[00:40:30] Speaker D: Because. Because me and my mom going to see my cousin get married at Simulus Baseball.
[00:40:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:40:40] Speaker C: You're gonna go up on a road trip with your mom?
[00:40:42] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:40:43] Speaker B: Awesome. Have a great trip. Stay well, buddy. All right, Chris. You take care of yourself.
[00:40:49] Speaker D: Oh, and be happy.
[00:40:52] Speaker B: Thank you. We will be.
[00:40:55] Speaker C: Oh, man.
[00:40:56] Speaker B: Great.
[00:40:57] Speaker C: What. What do I want to see? I just.
Opportunity.
That's. That's what it comes down to. Giving someone a chance and being open to differences.
You know, a lot of our friends, they can do the same job we can do. It just might be at a different pace. And having that patience, and that's the biggest thing is just opportunity, patience and acceptance.
[00:41:26] Speaker B: So we have one person watching the show today and wants to help expand opportunity in their own community.
What's the most useful step, first step that they can take?
[00:41:36] Speaker C: Find. Find a program that works with young adults with intellectual disabilities and get involved, volunteer. Get to know those people and get to know that community.
Sometimes it just takes opening up and saying hello at a grocery store. Jeff, you know when you're walking down the aisle and you just see somebody that's. That's different or, you know, it. Just saying hello, that's all it takes. How often do we not even look up from many things? We're just stuck on our phones, right?
Just look away from your phone and just. Just say hello. People want to be seen.
[00:42:12] Speaker B: Okay. I'm just curious.
When you look back on your career at ABC Hopes, what do you think is the biggest accomplishment that you. An impact that you've had,
[00:42:30] Speaker D: Huh?
[00:42:32] Speaker C: Being intentional with what we do.
That's. Our families see us, and they see that we see their kid, and they trust us.
They.
They respect the process that we have. Because we respect them and we respect their kids.
And I think that that's a huge testament to what I've put into this organization and the time and the passion of how I want us to set ourselves apart.
Jeff, there's thousands of organizations that serve people with intellectual disabilities. But why. Why do I want people to connect with us? Because I think we're amazing. I think we do it right.
I think, like I said, I think we're intentional in how we work with our families.
And I think that we definitely treat each of our participants just like they're any other person.
[00:43:25] Speaker B: Katie, I don't think that you are amazing. I know you are amazing. And I know the kids that you do and things that you do and how you work with the children and how you work with the community is really an awesome thing to do that you do not only for your brother, but for the whole impact of everyone that joins and is part of ABC hopes.
[00:43:49] Speaker C: Well, it's definitely not just me, man. It takes a whole village. So I, I am thankful to have an amazing team or, you know, surrounded by.
[00:43:56] Speaker B: So yes, you've built a great team. That's also a great aspect of, of leadership that you've. That of how you lead. And it's a tribute of how you lead because hiring key people, especially in this type of environment is. It's a unique environment and it takes a special person to be part of that. That environment and, and to lead in that environment. So kudos to you.
[00:44:18] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:44:20] Speaker B: Katie. For viewers who want to learn more about your work, ABC hopes its programs or ways that they can support you and your organization, where should they go and how can they get involved?
[00:44:32] Speaker C: Abchopes.com is our website.
We do have social media. We're active on Instagram and active on Facebook. And I believe we just started a TikTok so. So that's something new that our hopers and team are getting behind and just going with that movement. But follow us on any of our social media platforms and you can definitely reach out to us on our website for sure.
[00:44:56] Speaker B: Katie, thank you so much for joining me on the authority playbook.
[00:44:59] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:45:00] Speaker B: Your story is a reminder that authority is not only about expertise or visibility. It's also about the ability to communicate a purpose clearly enough that other people can understand it, trust it, and can choose to act on it. I think today's show has been a little different than our normal authority playbook show because it brings the human side of what you do and how you do it to the world and to the people, our listeners as well. To everyone watching, whether you lead a company, a nonprofit, a team or a cause, your message has to do with more than sound that makes it sound good. It has to make that value visible, make the audience care, and give people a clear next step.
I'm Jeff Brandeis. Thank you so much for watching the Authority Playbook on NOW Media tv.
Have a great day, everyone. Enjoy being here with you today.
