← Going Big! with Kevin Gentry
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- [00:00]
Kevin Gentry
Hi there, I'm Kevin Gentry and welcome to the Going Big podcast where we'll explore some of the strategies that can help you transform your effectiveness by 10xing your fundraising. Each week we'll sit down with some of the most influential business leaders, CEOs and nonprofit visionaries to talk about leadership, the power of giving, and how you can make a real impact. If you want to make a transformational change to the cause you're working on, this is the place for that conversation. Also, take a Look at our website, 10xStrategies.com that's T E N X strategies.com for lots of free marketing and fundraising resources. And be sure to sign up for the free weekly fundraising tips. Now let's dive in. Well, what a treat to be with Jeff Frazee. Jeff is the founder and president of the phenomenal campus based organization, Young Americans for Liberty. Jeff, right out of the blocks, what is liberty to you and why, why do you get so excited about it?
- [01:07]
Jeff Frazee
Oh, wow. Well, Kevin, thank you so much for having me on. This is a real treat. Well, so simply, I mean liberty to me. And as we share with a lot of our students, it's the freedom to choose. But you have to take responsibility for your choices. I think that's central to what liberty is. And all this talk of make America great. Well, what are we making America great about? I think what we're making America great about, what makes America unique is the idea that we have placed liberty at the top of how we run our society. And so other than maybe, you know, saving your eternal soul, I don't know what's more of a worthy cause than fighting for and preserving for our liberties here in America. And so we have taken up this mantle of fighting for liberty and preserving those which were enshrined in our founding documents.
- [01:56]
Kevin Gentry
Well, with respect to the founding documents, you know, next year we're going to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry's famous give me liberty or give me death speech.
- [02:09]
Jeff Frazee
That's right.
- [02:09]
Kevin Gentry
And sometimes liberty and freedom can get overused and lose their meaning. But when you hear the word liberty, what does it mean to you? And how do you think our listeners should think about it when they hear the term?
- [02:24]
Jeff Frazee
Well, again, I'll try to make it simple. It's. I think Matt Kibbe had a great line about this. It's don't hurt people and don't take their stuff. Right. And I think most of society functions this way. Most normal people function in a way that preserve liberty and respects People's property rights and perspective, respect people's rights. The only real entity that exists in our society that violates this almost on a daily basis is the nature of government. And as government has grown, and this is what our founders warned us about, is the growth of government and the real threat it is to our liberties. And so I think the people, we the people act on a day to day basis in a very civil way. And that's all we're trying to preserve, is the ability for people to make free choices. Don't hurt people and don't take their stuff. It's a very simple motto.
- [03:13]
Kevin Gentry
I love the simplicity of that. And good for you for not overcomplicating it. So is that why you founded Young Americans for Liberty?
- [03:22]
Jeff Frazee
Oh, great question, Kevin. No, I founded Young Americans for Liberty. Yes, it is essence. Correct. But it was, you know, I worked for Ron Paul's presidential campaign in 2008. I was his national youth coordinator. I always believed that amongst the young people that there was a sense of rebellion, that there was a sense of need that was something different than what the two parties were offering. And especially in 2008, Ron Paul was the outsider. He was laughed at in many ways. And so the opportunity to work for his presidential campaign, I became his national youth coordinator and I was probably the fifth staffer. And our goal at the time was just to raise enough money to make it through the presidential debates. We just couldn't we get the message out there. And not only did we get the message out there, but it ignited an entire movement, especially on college campuses. Ron Paul traveled across the country and had a front row seat to the revolution. It was really exciting to be able to see the excitement on college campuses. And so from that campaign and from the Students for Ron Paul effort that I went to Ron Paul and said, look, I think that in order to restore the Constitution and fight for these liberties, it would take a generation. And so I want to create a youth movement. I want to create a youth organization that extends out to the next generation and gets them involved around these ideas. So yes, in essence, you know, Young Americans for Liberty. Liberty is very important and critical to what we do, but we have a very intentional way of going about it. And we want to make sure that this is not just an ideas based organization, but we're actually driving action and we're actually doing something about it because our country is in a very dangerous spot.
- [05:09]
Kevin Gentry
Well, that's awesome. Well, I want to dig a little bit more into what you're doing today with it. But let's go back a little bit further because. And you, you mentioned you. It was a, it was a movement for Ron Paul, especially on the campuses. I saw it, I saw it when I first got to know you and knew of you 2008, 2012, I met some of the outstanding people are very committed, very principled, very dedicated, who were motivated and mobilized by Ron Paul. What was the appeal? What were the. What, what, what generated this movement?
- [05:42]
Jeff Frazee
It was authenticity in principle. I think those are the best ways to say it. He was genuine in what he said. There was no special interest behind him. I remember at times we would go into an Iowa rally, for example, right? You're going to a rally with farmers and social conservatives and folks who are from middle America. And we would put up on the board, Ron, here are the key talking points. This is what you need to speak about. He had none of it. He had no interest in that. He had his rally. He was there and speaking off the cuff. And I think that was the genuineness of what really excited people. It was the authenticity of where he came from. It was the decades and decades of, of a principled voting record and fighting for what he believed in. And I think that came through and what galvanized so many people. He was not your standard politician.
- [06:29]
Kevin Gentry
All right, so Students for Ron Paul was overwhelmingly about the ideas and the action was to nominate Ron Paul. You're still motivated by the ideas, but, but what exactly is Young Americans for Liberty? You were touching on it with respect to the action component. How do the ideas get converted into something consequential?
- [06:51]
Jeff Frazee
Right. Well, unfortunately you're right. He did not win the nomination and did not win the presidency. That would have changed the trajectory of history, I think, in many ways, but either that one. But he inspired a movement. And what has been central to Young Americans for Liberty is this phrase of winning on principle. And this is from the beginning, I thought that was what we really needed to enforce. It was like, it was great, this idea. We had an ideas based movement for decades. We knew the ideas were right. We knew the ideas brought a society of freedom and peace and prosperity, but the reality of which we lived in was not aligned. And so what we really tried to do is, all right, how can we come up with a strategy to take these principles that we believe in, that we know, advance people's lives and win with them in the political process? So this kind of idea of winning on principle was what has always driven Young Americans for Liberty. To get young people inspired by the ideas, but then to Mobilize them into the political process. So with this goal of being able to cast the leaders of tomorrow and the direction and policy of our government could be changed. So yeah, so that was. But I think what is differentiates Yaof maybe from other organizations or what I thought was really central to what we're about. It's not just an ideas based group. We're not just here to talk about them and have a book club and say, oh yes, we all agree this is exactly how the world should exist, but not do anything to actually make that difference. And so we've been an activist based organization to get people involved with this idea of winning. We want to win with these ideas. And too many times our ideas have been losers. So we've been fighting hard to figure out how can we win on principle.
- [08:31]
Kevin Gentry
Well, that's awesome. And you know, I think the world is hungry for leadership and they want authenticity, they want truth, they want to know what's right, they want principled behavior. I think you're really onto something. So what's the big hairy, audacious goal of Young Americans for Liberty? I mean, you're, you really. You talk in big terms. You want to go big, but what does it mean to go big?
- [08:57]
Jeff Frazee
Well, it's a big challenge, right? I mean, just look at around us and how the world exists and the size of government. We're not talking about tinkering, we're talking about revolutionary change in many ways. So you have to think big, you have to go big. And where we have been as an organization has evolved over the past 15 years. We founded the organization in 2009 and what we're focused on today and what we're really driving towards, we've been doing this for the past few election cycles is this idea of building liberty lighthouse states. We want to make sure we transform our states. Kevin, you give me a billion dollars and I couldn't tell you how to change Washington D.C. but at a state level, there are some really incredible things happening with liberty legislators who are principled getting elected to office and actually passing real reforms. And so our focus has been our big hairy, audacious goal is to transform our states into beacons of liberty and to set that example and have a ripple effect across the country and across the world to show a pathway and to be that beacon of light towards freedom and liberty. And so that's what we've been working on for the past, really the past four to six years. We've been focused on building a bench of liberty legislators who will go on to pass liberty legislation. And on the trajectory that we're on, our goal was to form these lighthouse states to be, as Reagan says, the shiny city, the hill, to be that example. How can we build this example and build a true free state? That's where we're heading. And that's the, that's the big hairy, audacious goal for young Americans for liberty.
- [10:28]
Kevin Gentry
Wow. Superb. Well, I was with you, of course. You invited me to come to Nashville for what you call the Hazlet policy summit. Over 400 liberty legislators that have been elected this year, 2024. I mean, it's really extraordinary, impressive. And in some places your, your legislators are, are in the lead, are the leadership in the, in the legislature. It's extraordinary. So let's say they get to an operational majority and drive forward on phenomenal policy. What is that phenomenal policy? What's the benefit to the people if a state becomes a liberty lighthouse?
- [11:12]
Jeff Frazee
Oh, wow. So you are talking about realization of our vision. This is exactly where we're heading so well. I mean the benefit is freedom, peace and prosperity to basically all citizens should have a higher standard of living. They should be able to be in a more peaceful, prosperous society. So I think that's what we're trying to build is to remove government out of the way to allow people to operate in a more free and robust society. So where we're driving and where we're trying to head is across a range of issues, but at a state level where we can make the biggest impact. What we try to digest is into five kind of key categories. It's free market economics, it's education freedom, it's healthcare freedom, it's constitutional government and civil liberties. So across the range of issues that you can make an impact at the state level, that's how we categorize dozens and dozens of policies up to now. Our liberty legislators have now sponsored or co sponsored more than 750 pro liberty bills that have been elected that have been passed and signed into law. So, and this is the past six years. Look at Washington. Can you name a single bill that you can point to to be like, ah, that is our crowning achievement as a movement? There's very little to none that you can possibly speak to. But in the states like school choice is having a moment right now, you are seeing school choice legislation passed by now nearly the. There's more than 12 states next year that have the opportunity to either pass school choice for the first time or expand it. So across these five issue sets, what we tear is liberty issues. We are passing bills by the dozens, by the hundreds at this point. And it all flows from the fact that we have these principal legislators who are elected to office who are willing to fight not just the Democrats, but in many ways fight the Republicans in their own party. You're in these deep red states and you would think they would be prime examples of liberty and freedom, but they're not. They are. The Republican establishment in these states are what's holding them back. And so this issue set is what drives us. But it's this idea of can you stick to principle? And that's what that ultimately is what motivates the organization.
- [13:24]
Kevin Gentry
Well, kudos to you all. I mean, just what has happened with respect to education reform and increasing opportunities. These universal education savings accounts, just putting money in the hands of the parent to decide what, how to educate their child. It's extraordinary. Really. Hats off to you. Well, your, your enthusiasm, Jeff, is infectious. You're really, you could, I can see how you motivate so many young people to get involved for these principles. What's holding you back?
- [13:58]
Jeff Frazee
Oh, geez. The big question, what's holding us back? I'm sure it's many things, myself included, I feel like in some ways, but I'll give you the somewhat boring answer, but it's a truthful answer. I mean it's in many ways funding. Right. Like I feel like we have this grand vision. We've painted out a plan from now to 2030. Right. Of how we're election over the next two, three election cycles, of how we're going to build the bench, how we're going to build densities of legislators in the state all tearing up to this vision of building liberty lighthouse states. I think we can do that by 2030. It's going to take a couple more election cycles, but we have the densities before we can drive a legislative agenda. But we need donor partners to come alongside us to work with us to fund what we're doing. And we have a grand vision. Today our budget's around $20 million. I think we need to be more than 30 million to be able to drive what we're doing. And it might be bigger than that. So to answer your question, I guess in simplest terms is if you told me today, Jeff, anything that on top of your list, if I could, if you could solve for me, it's really finding those donor partners to be able to come alongside us and align with this vision. I don't, we don't want any donor that's to drive us money people Go to Elon Musk. Why can't Elon Musk fund what you're doing? He must be aligned. I'm not sure that he is entirely, first of all. But second of all, like, I want donor partners that can live in the trenches with us that are actually going to believe in these ideas that are looking to save American Republic. So that, what I say, is our biggest hurdle now. We have other operational things and things we're trying to overcome and achieve at all times. But I think we have a really sound plan that has already been established and proven. It's now. Can you scale it? And so scaling takes funding, and that's where we're heading.
- [15:41]
Kevin Gentry
Well, sounds like you've got a sound plan and you're doing something right. If you. If you've got a budget of $20 million currently, that's. That's really incredible. All right, so tell us, for the benefit of people who are listening, how did you get involved in this stuff? What's your path to? I mean, I know you're. You're very capable, very talented person. You could do a lot of stuff in your life, but you have a calling, obviously, to lead this nonprofit organization, this. This movement. How did. How did you get involved in this?
- [16:15]
Jeff Frazee
Well, you said it right, Kevin. It starts with a calling, I guess, really feel. I truly feel called to advance freedom, peace, and prosperity. And every time I have gone off that path, I have been quickly reminded that it's not why you were placed on this earth, but it started back in college. I'm a graduate of Texas A and M. I worked for our community radio station. This was left of npr, so it was the communist commune of College Station, Texas. And these were the George Bush years. Right. So you had a Republican in the presidency. And I was not heavily politically oriented. My parents. I grew up in a conservative Christian household. And you would hear the challenges and the problems they would present around the Iraq war and big government. But their solution was always more government. We should be better government. And to me, that didn't make sense. So a friend of mine said, you know, you sound like a libertarian. You should look into this Libertarian stuff. And I'm like, what? I don't know what that is. You know, I'll. I'll look into it. Well, they had the. The Libertarian Party had the Texas State convention come through College Station, and Michael Badenarik, who was the Libertarian presidential candidate in 2004, came through, and I went to that to cover it for our radio station. And I was just amazed. Like, the world is Making sense. These people are talking in logical terms and pointing out problems and solutions that make sense. So I said, hey, I'll go try, see if I can volunteer for the campaign and learn more. Well, sure enough, next thing I know, he became his national media coordinator in college. And as a college student, you think you're big time because you're booking. He wasn't doing national tv, but you're booking local events and producers are calling you and you're getting a presidential candidate booked on tv. And so that's where I started to get my exposure to politics and understanding of what this was. And my main takeaways after that campaign were, well, one is you can't win as a libertarian presidential candidate at a federal level. That was. Seemed to be somewhat of a fruitless cause. But two, like, you needed to build a movement around these ideas. These ideas were powerful. We should get more people engaged. And so I took that kind of notion and those ideas from college and I went and got an internship with Congressman Ron Paul. And from that internship, I met his staff assistant, who's now my wife. So, as I think I've shared with you before, Kevin, like, I owe my, my life in many ways to Ron Paul, but I worked for his presidential campaign. The rest is history. So it was very early on, as I talk to young people sometime ask, hey, what should I do in my career? I mean, the best advice I have is, you know, every. Everything in your career, stepping stones. You got to see opportunity and seek opportunity and pursue it. You might have a vision, you might have a goal of what you want to achieve, and you can orient yourself toward that direction. But be aware and take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. And so from working on a third party presidential campaign, to being an intern in a congressional office, to being a national youth coordinator, to now running an organization that's making a tremendous impact. I could have never scripted it from the beginning, but I've always been oriented around this calling of advancing freedom, peace and prosperity. And so, as I said, I thought at one point I was going to take my nonprofit knowledge and translate it into for profit experience and enrich myself and my family. But quickly realized that was not my calling. And I was quickly slapped back into what is really, I believe, what I can make the biggest impact in this world. And so that's where I'm focused. And probably more than my story you wanted to hear, but yes, that's where we are today.
- [19:50]
Kevin Gentry
That's terrific. Well, you've answered this to some degree already, but let me ask Again, what excites you the most about what you're doing?
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Jeff Frazee
Geez, that's a. That's a heavy question, Kevin. There's a lot of different ways I could go with that too. Today. What really excites me the most is the momentum that we have. Like, as someone who is in college, where you were viewed as always, even the Ron Paul Campbell, you were viewed as outsiders, right? Oh, you sure you're principled? I understand you guys have all the ideas, you have it all figured out, but you know, leave it to the adults. We have it all. We know how to run things up here. And so you're. We've always been as outsiders as a movement, even the conservative, true conservatives, of which I count myself as a constitutional conservative. Like, we've been outsiders. And so now, and what happened after this last election cycle, I think there's real momentum on our side that we've really never had and there's real excitement around the ideas and people are awakened to these ideas. I think Covid had amazing impact on people. Like the people understood, hey, from education, right? Of what. What. What am I taught in the. From what are my kids being taught and what's actually happening with my education to nowadays with no one believes what the government puts out anymore. Covid is a. Was a very discrediting moment moment for. For institutions and specifically for government that I think more and more people, as you alluded to earlier, Kevin, are yearning for principle and leadership and these ideas and they know something is wrong in our country. They know that this debt is going to catch up to us and the lack of privacy we have these days in these foreign wars and everything that's going on. This is a really scary time historically of what's happening. And so what gives me the greatest hope and to your question of what excites me is like we have momentum on our side. We are no longer on the sidelines hoping and wishing and complaining about what's going on. But there are actually legislators elected and a state level who believe these ideas, who are fighting this same fight. And we're no longer isolated and alone. We are. We are building a real movement. And I think that's what's most exciting today is if you would have asked me 10 years ago, I would have said the ideas, Kevin, the fact that we are. Know that we have principled ideas that lead to a better society, which are exactly right. But what I think is different between the past and today is that we have momentum on our side. And so I'll bring it back to the idea of winning on principle. We are winning right now on principle. And that's something that, as we started, the organization was very much a vision and not so much a reality. And today it's a reality. And so now it's. Where do you take it from here?
- [22:34]
Kevin Gentry
Well, first of all, really applaud your dedication and leadership. And I got to tell you, I mean, I travel all over the country, talk to people. There is a yearning for leadership, principled leadership, authentic leadership. What you're doing is extremely important. And I mean, talk about going big. I mean, you. You've got a big, hairy, audacious goal. You've got a big vision, and you're stepping into it. This is really very encouraging, Jeff. If somebody is listening and says, hey, this is. This is kind of intriguing, Whether they're a high school student or a college student or a young person, or maybe it's somebody later in life that stoves very supportive of what you're talking about. What. What could they do? How could they get involved with you?
- [23:15]
Jeff Frazee
Well, first and foremost, just join Yao. You can go to our website. For $10, you can join the organization. Right. I always say that's a great way to get started. You'll get our communications. You'll learn more about what we're doing. You can always reach out to me personally. I'm Jeff. Liberty.org I love hearing from supporters. I love hearing from partners and people who are fighting in the same fight that we are. They're looking that are vision, mission aligned. Those are the best two places to get started. Find yourself a way to get involved with young Americans for Liberty. Support us. If you can reach out to me, be happy to have a conversation, but get involved, like, take action. That's the key that we're trying to drive with all these young people, they're so easy to get distracted. It's so easy to get bogged down and depressed and what's going on. But you need to find hope in something, and I'm hoping we can provide that hope.
- [24:03]
Kevin Gentry
You're providing the hope. You definitely are. This is one of the most encouraging conversations I've had in a long time. And, you know, I'm very enthusiastic about what you're doing. Well, Jeff, Raisi, give us some parting words. I mean, you're already encouraging him. You're. You're. And you're motivating us just by the manner in which you bring so much energy to this fight. Would you get the parting word?
- [24:24]
Jeff Frazee
Well, thank you again, Kevin, for hosting me. You've been A tremendous mentor to me. We've known each other for a very long time and someone I've always looked up to and has done tremendous work for our movement at large. And so just being on this show, being on your podcast, I'm quite thrilled. But. But parting words, you know, I'm not a man of great wisdom or advice, so it's hard to provide anything that's too amazing. But I would say, as I said, go back to the idea of remain committed to the fight. I think what we're doing is trying to save the American constitutional republic. At the end of the day, that was the big question that I wrestle with, is how do you save the constitutional public? What's the strategy? How can you get involved in this? How can we actually turn around the direction of our government? And so many people put false hope in politicians or single politicians or single policy. But it starts at the end of the day, is you have to be committed to principle. You have to make sure. You have to understand what truly makes America great, what truly made this country unique, study history, study what makes America great, and then get involved, get involved in the fight. There's so many of us right now that are motivated and aligned and the organization continues to grow that I guess my parting words, which for hopefully are inspiring to others, is, you know, get off your seat, get on to our website, get involved, reach out. Like, find a place. Because that's where I think that's what makes the change is it's not going to be. We can't put our hope and faith in one single person. It's the ideas. And we've got to win on principle. That's the goal.
- [25:58]
Kevin Gentry
Well, Jeff Frazee, Young Americans for Liberty really admire and appreciate what you're doing. Just keep at it. Go, fight, win. We really are so encouraged by what you're doing. Thank you so much.
- [26:11]
Jeff Frazee
Thank you, Kevin.
- [26:14]
Kevin Gentry
Thanks for listening to today's Going Big podcast. Hopefully you were inspired to go big for your cause. Remember, this is all about transforming your effectiveness by 10xing your fundraising. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe or leave us a review at iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also catch this episode on YouTube and also there are lots of resources available to you at my website, which is 10xStrategies.com that's T E N X strategies dot com. You can sign up also for our free weekly fundraising tips. This is all about helping you get to the root causes of some of the biggest problems in society today by transforming your fundraising and your effectiveness. Thanks again. We'll see you again soon. Bye.