← Going Big! with Kevin Gentry
Going Big! with Kevin Gentry
Going Big with Christian Fischer and Chad Houser: Building Momentum for Second Chances
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- [00:01]
A
The staff inside the detention facility was not altogether excited for me to put knives in kids hands and put them in front of open flames. But it is actually kind of poetic and beautiful to hear. Some years later, the staff actually talking about their transformation in that time and what they began to recognize was that the kids were in no danger of hurting themselves or anybody else because the expectation was that they were. That they were incredible human beings and that when you treat them as incredible human beings, then they respond as incredible human beings. And it made the way that a lot of staff members engaged with the youth change. But for me, the experience was going in and working alongside the kids and listening and the staff talked a lot about consistency and stability and the kids would tell stories about in many cases they were committing crimes to access basic consistency in housing and food.
- [01:05]
B
Welcome to the Going Big Podcast. I'm your host, Kevin Gentry, and this is the place where we celebrate bold moves and big ideas. Each week I sit down with inspiring leaders, entrepreneurs and change makers who are making a significant impact in their careers and in their communities. Whether you're looking to level up your leadership, pursue your passion, or just get inspired to take your next big leap, this is where those stories come to life. Now if you're listening on iTunes, YouTube or anywhere else you tune into podcasts, be sure to hit that subscribe button so you'll never miss an episode. Now let's dive in to what it means to truly go big. Well, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of the Going Big podcast and I am Steve. So pleased to welcome today two remarkable leaders that really demonstrate the spirit of Going big. First is Chad Hauser, who is an award winning chef turned nonprofit entrepreneur. He has created Cafe Momentum starting in Dallas, Texas where he already had an outstanding restaurant. And he helps justice involved youth with culinary experience and internships through this novel approach. It's terrific. You're going to hear a lot about that. For his efforts, Chad Houser was just this year awarded the very prestigious James Beard Humanitarian of the Year award. And so a lot to learn from that and about Chad's story. Also joining me is Christian Fisher. Christian immigrated to the United States from Germany and spent over 35 years first starting in a sales position within different management positions, ultimately to be president and CEO for the last eight years of Georgia Pacific, which as you may know is a massive American manufacturing firm that focuses on paper and pulp and building materials and packaging based in Atlanta, Georgia. And Christian just retired from that role. And both Chad and Christian have their own personal Going Big stories from which we can learn a lot. But why I wanted to have them together is that they formed a partnership in recent years to bring the Cafe Momentum concept to Atlanta, Georgia. And Christian, using his relationships and really his leadership to reach out to a lot of the political and business leadership and others in Atlanta, helped bring Chad and his amazing restaurant concept to Atlanta. So there's a lot to talk about and I know you're going to enjoy this conversation. So Chad, I'd like to start with you. Tell us, if you would, where does your first. Where does your passion for food come from and how you found it connects with people?
- [04:04]
A
Yeah, I think I can answer both questions with the same story. You know, my passion for food came from going to my grandparents house every Sunday for Sunday supper with my mom and dad and aunts and uncles and cousins. And I'm not going to say that the quality of food was some, like, excellent standard, but it was the camaraderie. It was about food nurturing the soul more than it was about food nurturing the belly. But it was just at that very young age, connecting that, you know, power, breaking bread of togetherness. And that food was bringing us all together.
- [04:48]
B
Well, okay, this concept of the food nurturing the soul. And it's interesting, I had Will Guidera who the whole unreasonable hospitality concept on Love in Madison park several episodes ago, and he says a similar thing help us a little bit more about the food nurturing the soul concept for those who might not immediately grasp. But. But very importantly, how that connected to the founding of Cafe Momentum.
- [05:13]
A
Well, you know, Oscar Wilde once said that a good meal can make anything tolerable, even family. And the fact of the matter is, I think that there's a physical, emotional, psychological nurturement involved in eating. We sit down to eat not because we're bored, but because we're hungry. We sit down with people that we love when we're eating because we want to spend time with them. And so this act of taking care of yourself while being in the presence of others is simple but powerful.
- [05:58]
B
Tell us about Caffeine Momentum and how you got that idea and how it came to be what it is today. Today.
- [06:05]
A
Gosh, yes. I can't even believe it. But over 17 years ago, I was volunteered to go inside a Dallas county juvenile detention facility to make ice cream or teach eight young men that were in detention to make ice cream for an ice cream competition at the Farmer's Market where they would. They would be competing against college culinary students. And the moment that I met those eight young men, I felt such tremendous shame because I realized I had stereotyped them, labeled them, judged them. And it wasn't just that I was wrong. I thought I was a better human being, and I wasn't. I was confronted with the reality literally face to face. And so for a three and a half hour period, I taught eight young men to make ice cream. But what really happened is they taught me who they were, how they were, why they were. Two days later, the county bust them down to the farmer's market. They're standing in jail clothes, competing against college students that were in chef pants, chef coats. One of the young men won the entire contest. And when he won, he was so excited. He told me, I just love to make food and give it to people and put a smile on their face, which I think is such an incredible way to describe your heart. And he told me when he got released, he was going to get a job in a restaurant. Asked my chef opinion on whether he should work at Wendy's or Chili's. I professionally told him, whoever hires you first, and then whoever pays you the most money second. But it was the drive home that I went from being excited to sad, from being inspired to frustrated. Because I just started to reflect on his story and realized he was never going to make it to a Wendy's or Chili's. And that led me on a path of just kind of processing and thinking about his life and then comparing and contrasting his life at 16 to my life at 16. And realizing that for both of us, our lives have been dictated by choices that were made for us before we were born because of any and all combination of the color of our skin. The socioeconomic class were born in the part of town that we were born in, the educational resources or lack thereof, that we had access or in excess to food, health care, you know, basic needs. And I just real. Just remember thinking like, I never did anything to deserve all the opportunities I had been given in life to succeed, to fail and keep trying again until I got it right. And then this kid was given one chance to show the world what he was capable of when given the opportunity to walk in his greatness. And it wasn't even going to land him a job at Wendy's or Chili's. And I thought, if that's the way the world works, I don't want to participate in it. And decided that the best course of action was to just start volunteering more time in the detention facility, cooking alongside the kids and listening.
- [08:48]
B
Well, thank you for having a heart for that. Recently, I interviewed our mutual friend Darren Babcock from, from Dallas, who's done wonders through Bonton Farms. And you know, I, my sense is, because I, this, this is the case for me as well, just do not understand at all the magnitude of so many of the problems associated with our criminal justice system in the United States and just the consequences and those that have had any experience in it, and I've heard even the term with respect in juvenile situations, this throwaway kids thing, their lives are gone. And you have a heart for this. So tell us a little bit more about that and your decision to give these kids knives to work with in kitchens.
- [09:38]
C
Yeah.
- [09:39]
A
Well, I can tell you first and foremost that the staff inside the detention facility was not altogether excited for me to put knives in kids hands and put them in front of open floors flames. But it is actually kind of poetic and beautiful to hear some years later the staff actually talking about their transformation in that time and what they began to recognize was that the kids were in no danger of hurting themselves or anybody else because the expectation was that they were incredible human beings and that when you treat them as incredible human beings, then they respond as incredible human beings. And it made the way that a lot of staff members engaged with the youth change. But for me, the experience was going in and working alongside the kids and listening. And the staff talked a lot about consistency and stability and the kids would tell stories about, in many cases they were committing crimes to access basic consistency and housing and food, medication, clothing. And that's where the initial idea for Cafe Momentum came about, was how can I take my skills and what I know how to do to create a space where, where the kids would be provided with consistency and stability in the ways that they were seeking for it to, to show up in their lives. But you know, it was one thing to work with the folks in the detention center. It's another thing to go out into and tell people that you have this idea of opening up a restaurant, working with justice involved youth. And I was met with every egregious reason as to why it wouldn't work. I was asked what I was going to do when the kids stabbed each other in the kitchen. I was told over and over again, those kids don't want to work, they just want to collect a check. I was told those kids have never been to a nice restaurant, they can't cook your food. And the reality, going back to what you said, Kevin, about throwaway is this is the community found this acceptable things to say about children. And the worst part about it is. The children are listening and they hear the community say, this is who you are. And then they go into a system like the justice system that puts a scarlet letter on their chest that says this is who you are and that's who they become. And in fact, you know, just looking at data around this country, 60 to 80% of adult prisoners in this country started off with a record when they were 12, 13, 14 years old. It's not a system to lift people up. It's not a bottom up system. It's a system that's, that's meant to perpetuate the life cycle of children into adulthood.
- [12:31]
B
Well, for this chapter of our conversation today on how you came into this space, draw this chapter to a close. Before I shift to Christian, give us perhaps if you can, one example of somebody who went through this program and how it transformed their life. Look, I've witnessed this. I've been to your restaurant in Dallas. It's very meaningful, it's very inspiring. And God bless you for dinner doing this and continuing to do this and having this heart for it. But for those listening, can you bring it to life a little bit to just speak to an example of transformation?
- [13:15]
A
Gosh, you're asking me to tell stories about which child is my favorite.
- [13:19]
B
I know, just pick one comes to mind.
- [13:22]
A
You know what, I'm going to go back to the beginning. There was a young man that came into our program in 2015. He was, you know, long story short, family came over as, as immigrants and worked low paying jobs and they ended up getting divorced. And it divided the household into two households that were struggling to get by. And he was focused on helping make sure that his, he and his little brother had enough food to eat without making his parents feel bad. And, and that led him to, to make some. Sometimes they say, sometimes not. The choices you make as choices you're given and with given alternative. He made some poor choices, ended up in the juvenile justice system, went through our program and by the time he completed our program, he was the first ever high school graduate in his family and went on to work as a waiter while he worked his way through college. He won an internship with NASA, he won an award from NASA and he's now an engineer working for a big engineering firm here in Dallas. And he's also a dad. And I think that's what makes me most proud and excited about that story, is that it's no longer about him. It's about his children and them growing up with greater opportunity and greater resource to succeed, to get It. Right.
- [15:04]
B
Wow, that's awesome. All right, so we're going to bring this back a little bit. Full circle in a minute. Now we're going to start. Christian, we're going to go back to sort of the beginning with you. You immigrated to the United States and you ultimately rose to the leadership position of one of the biggest companies in America before you recently retired. Can you give us a little perspective what it's like for an immigrant to come into something like that and to grow? I know you're a very humble guy, but I just want to bring. And look, you came from Germany, but I know you worked in Brazil, so you had to learn not only English, but Portuguese, I presume. So tell us a little bit of what it was like for you. And then I want to talk about how the two of you all came together.
- [15:49]
C
Yeah. Well, first of all, thanks again for having us today. Honored to be here with my friend Chad and with you, Kevin. Yeah. I mean, the immigrant story, if you will. I mean, I had plenty of practice. So it's a couple of more biographical details that might help for the audience to kind of connect and help me better answer. The question you asked is one. Yeah, I was born in Bavaria, a very, very small town. I, for simplicity, always refer to Munich, but it's a very small town. My family didn't come from there. My mother came from Brazil on the father's side from Germany, but nobody came from Bavaria. And, you know, for those that are familiar with Bavaria, we speak a very strong dialect there. None of my family even understood anything from there. But I grew up as a kid learning the dialect. And one evening my mom called me from the neighbors and she said, where's the boy? And she heard something that sounded like my voice, but she couldn't understand a word. Well, that was me speaking the dialect. But it just exemplifies how I, you know, I was like, not from there. When I moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil, at the age of 10. Yeah, I didn't speak the language, didn't know anybody had to go from small town to big town. But the memory that comes back to me is like, I had the privilege of going to a very good and expensive private school, dual language and all that. But my passion for soccer led me to play in the dirt field with the local team that was right behind our school. And I know I was the only non native Brazilian, and I'm pretty sure I was, if not the only white, white boy there, then one of the few. And. And still it still worked. And. And when I went back to Germany to study such great things like literature and philosophy, but I needed a job, which got me into this industry over 40 years ago. You know, I had the long hair, the big beard. For the work. For work I put on a jacket, and for. For university, I had the sneakers on. So I didn't fit into either scenarios. The guy at the college would think, what's he doing here? The guy at work is saying, oh, he's really a student, not a worker anyway. And when I came to United States after already having started to work for Georgia Pacific, one of the earliest feedbacks I get in this cycle of feedback that you get about yourself was like, the guy is always rocking the boat with trying to do different things. So, I mean, if it isn't clear by now, I will just say there's a little thread going through all of that, and it's a little bit of the thread of not being from here being somewhat different and not fitting into an easy description and. Well. And I think that what you had to do or what I had to do over time is just to embrace that, get comfortable with it, and ultimately demonstrate that, yeah, I'm different, but through that being different, we all add more value together than if we all think the same way. And if there's one thread that goes, I think through my life, that is. It doesn't mean that I always have the right answers, I certainly don't, or that I even know how to think different, but at least I always wanted to have somebody who thought differently in the room to help us come up with better answers. So that is the outsider's perspective, if you will, that was embedded in your question, Kevin, that ultimately, I think was really helpful to me in all aspects of my life, including work.
- [19:37]
B
Interesting. Well, you know, when I've. Since I've started the Going Big podcast and asked these questions, so often it comes up from guests that they talk about challenge and adversity was such a helpful tool. We tend to see it as something we want to avoid, but it helps us get so much better. And I'm sure you can both speak to that. I want to talk and switch gears a little bit to how you all came together and what you're doing in Atlanta. But, Christian, for the benefit of those listening, what is Georgia Pacific? How would you describe it? I know it's massive. I have a little bit of a sense, but I don't. I went into one paper plan. I toured it in Camas, Washington many years ago and was just overwhelmed by the magnitude of what Georgia Pacific does. But what is Georgia Pacific, for those who might not know?
- [20:22]
C
Yeah, I think the easiest way to, To. To describe it is as a. As a big manufacturing company company. And you alluded to some of the products we make from consumer goods, toilet paper, paper plates, consumer goods, as we call it, to all sorts of building products. On the wood side, osb, plywood, lumber, and also gypsum. And then on the packaging side, cellulose and packaging. Think about corrugated packaging. And Georgia Pacific has over 100 locations all over the United States. The factories today are all in the United States. 80% of the people work in these factories. And through the products that Georgia Pacific manufactures, they're actually in over two thirds of the American households one way or another. So, I mean, I describe Georgia Pacific very high level like that.
- [21:20]
B
Well, I think there's a high likelihood that anyone listening, frankly, all over the world, certainly United States, has probably been in contact with something the Georgia Pacific produced, probably true contact with just the past 24 hours or so. Okay. So if you're familiar with Atlanta, Georgia Pacific is a prominent building marked downtown. And you saw the opportunity, having met Chad and seen what Cafe Momentum was doing to bring this idea to Atlanta, and you went about, by doing it, by taking it to the mayor, talking it to others to say, hey, look, this is something that would be good for the people of this city. Tell us a little bit more about that, how you thought about it.
- [22:02]
C
Well, first of all, you know, I always. Not always, but for a long time, I thought I wanted to own a restaurant. Well, I mean, you know, today I think a little bit differently about owning restaurants since I learned a little bit around it. That's really hard work. But anyway, so there's a little bit of an overlap there. But quite frankly, I mean, I think this was just several factors coming together. And clearly when I met Chad and his team, they always made a few things clear that you can't just import or export this model to a city, pluck it down or fly in and put it on the ground. And it shall work. No, it doesn't work like that at all. In fact, what you've got to do. And I think the word Cafe Momentum is actually a great term for that. You've got to build the appetite, realize the need and fuel the passion and conviction of the local community. Yeah, this is what we need and want and we want to support. So that being clear, it was abundantly clear that you needed to build that support from somewhere. The first place I went to since was, quite frankly, my Wife and said, are we both in or not? And she said, yes. And from there we said, okay, let's check with two of our really good friends here in town. They are philanthropically aligned, they're friends, they are good thinkers, and they're restaurateurs, Alan and Cindy LeBlanc. So I met, we met them at the restaurant over time, and we ran this concept by them. And as good friends and challenges and thinkers, they tried to talk us out of it for two hours and ultimately said, okay, so how can we help? So that was hurdle number one that we crossed. Then I went into, into, into, into the company because this Cafe Momentum idea and what it does actually checks many of the things that the company, from a community work and philanthropics support, was embracing and supporting anyway. So criminal justice reform, youth, youth development, entrepreneurship, all of these things. Check all the boxes. So that was an easy platform, but I needed a real good support. So talk to a handful of people, but amongst them, Curly Dosman, the head of the foundation, and Ty Darland, chief counsel. It's probably obvious why I talked to these two people, but it's not just for the roles, but also about their connections in town, the relationship they have, and would they be willing to roll up the sleeves and would they see benefit in there, not just for the community, but also for the company in actually bringing Cafe Momentum to town? And they said, yes. And, well, okay, great. And then we expanded the circles because, I mean, my role and visibility and context. Yes, of course, I mean, they were good, but they were not sufficient. You needed to build a more robust network. And I started with those two and more people jump on the bandwagon. And then we organized the first official dinner where we said, hey, this is the concept. We want to bring you to town. We got nothing yet, but here we are. And we organized it at the time together with Chad and some of the ambassadors, which are the youth that went through the program. And we had the mayor there, we had business people there, we had philanthropic leaders on there, some employees in there, reasonably small still, but the start of it. And well, after that we said, well, we felt emboldened and we said, let's get going. We got enough support out of this dinner that we can do the work. So in the end, I mean, one thing leads to other. The work is still not done, right, Chad? I mean, we're still trying to solidify and grow that network of support, but we also got some really staunch supporters and relationships in town that are helping us do that. It doesn't just rest on a couple of people's efforts.
- [26:18]
B
Well, this is terrific. And that actually then begs a question now to you, Chad, because Christian mentioned you can't just drop this in on a city. And I know that, for example, the NFL, many players have had, once they've seen what you've done in Dallas, had a heart for bringing it to every NFL city. And you've been working on how do you expand this and you have a full time thing just keeping this going and building in Dallas. How did you evaluate a conversation with Christian to say, okay, well, let's. What are some of the steps that you have to take? Because my sense is, especially in the sort of nonprofit, we want to do good stuff. We say, okay, I've got this big vision, let's just go do it. Yeah, well, it's not that easy.
- [27:06]
C
No.
- [27:06]
A
And I'm a ready, fire, aim kind of person too. So a lot of life lessons I've learned in, in the growth of, of Cafe Momentum. But I think for me, in, in. In Christian's Ride, we believe that communities are not monolithic. So just because we've successfully built a program in Dallas doesn't necessarily mean that it's vis a vis what is needed in Atlanta. And we want to be mindful of that going in also taking the same approach that we do with our kids. You know, our belief is that it's, we must earn the trust of the kids in the program, not the other way around. And it's the same thing going into a new community. It's on us to earn the trust of the community, not the other way around. And I think Christian was the perfect person to have the conversation with. And I'll never forget the first time I ever met Christian. We were in a conference room with Christian and Curly Dossman, and it was myself and our chief strategy officer and one of our ambassadors. And we went through the whole like, this is Cafe Momentum. This is the model and everything. And then when the attention finally turned to the ambassador, it might as well have just been Christian and the ambassador in the room. And they spent like a good 30, 45 minutes having a really authentic, genuine conversation that meant you could see that it meant everything to Christian just as much as it did to this young man. And that for me was so wonderful, important, critical, profound, because it spoke to who. Who Christian was as a human being and underscores why he's so respected in the Atlantic community.
- [28:55]
B
All right, so this is not just bringing a restaurant by any means, and this is not just expanding a nonprofit organization by Any means, Christian. What was it about what you saw in Chad and the young men and women that serve as apprentices and the whole Cafe Momentum concept that said, wow, this is right for Atlanta, because let's face it, I mean, as both the CEO of Georgia Pacific and just in your own right, you know, you have a sense of being a business leader, a corporate citizen, a social leader. I mean, there's a lot going on in somebody in your role. Why did you see that as a fit for Atlanta?
- [29:40]
C
Well, you know, I can approach you from different angles. I mean, first of all, I'll just say this. My first knowledge about the work the Cafe Momentum did came through exposure to Cafe Momentum and hearing about Cafe Momentum at Stand Together, an organization all of us and many listeners are familiar with, and amongst each, amongst many things, they work with social entrepreneurs like Chad and then expose them to a broader network to help them scale their efforts. And so getting to know about Cafe Momentum through Stand Together already established a different basis. Right. You have a trust. Okay? This organization's been vetted. They are known. They got a support system. The concept's good, et cetera. Second meeting, Chad and his team, I mean, their professionalism, their passion, and their commitment was abundantly clear. And then they're just lovable people. I mean, you want to work with people that you like, if all things being equal. So that was an easy one, too. So that's it. And the other thing, I don't want to repeat everything that Chad said, but I had numerous instances along the way in different settings of actually getting to know more of the youth. And when you get to know them and their stories and the persistence and the grit and the willingness to make progress and improve their own lives, et cetera. Boy, you just sold. I mean, and you say, how can I support that with the best of my ability. So that's that. And, you know, inside of that is the fact of. Through that exposure, you yourself change. You shed some of your preconceived notions of your biases, of your restriction, maybe of your fear, etc. And you open your hearts. So that's on that, call it personal side, if you will, but in Atlanta, I mean, do we have a crime and the safety issues? Yes. Is lots of the problem also involving youth? Yes. Is the mayor and the whole community focused on getting youth to have a purposeful existence rather than fall into bad circumstances? Yes, absolutely. Are we trying to also revitalize the downtown of Atlanta? Yes. So a restaurant in that spot would. That is accessible to the youth, but also in downtown checks that box as well. So there were so many boxes that this checked, including efforts again, as I may have mentioned before, the Georgia Pacific was involved in on the criminal justice, for example, just in the exercise. Exercise or the approach of banning the box when people apply for jobs at the company. And two, being open to and looking to employ people that deserve a second chance. I mean all this fit on so many levels. It was actually a no brainer, Kevin, to want to support that. And personally also I was trying to find something where quite frankly, I could roll up my sleeves more and get closer to the real action rather than just stroking a check or going to a meeting. So found all that and Cafe Momentum.
- [33:16]
B
Ah, awesome. Well, for the benefit of those listening, yes, we're not meeting each other for the first time on this podcast today. I knew Chad for many years for what he was doing in Dallas. I knew you separately, Christian and I may have it, this may be the way I remember it, but I think I had sent an email out about Cafe Momentum and I believe you responded. You were already familiar, but responded and said, how can we bring this to Atlanta? And then you all connected and you all did all the heavy lifting, obviously, which is amazing and it's a great outgrowth of what Stand Together tries to accomplish. Well, Chad, Capping Momentum Atlanta opened in March of this year. Paint us a picture of what opening day was like.
- [34:02]
A
A mixture of emotions. I think there's this. On the one end you're, you're celebrating, we're here, but on the other end you're acknowledging the work is just beginning. You know, just, just all the, a lot of work by a lot of people was put into getting the doors open, building the relationships with the youth, getting the core team trained in the Momentum model, building relationships with other organizations so that we have necessary resources for them. But you know, so there's a great like all that's been done, but now it all has to go into play. So it's just this. Maybe it's kind of like giving birth to a child or becoming a parent. You're so exhilarated and excited the baby's in the world and you're like, oh, but I got to figure out how to take care of this thing.
- [35:00]
B
Well, so this is just such easy stuff, right? Hahaha. So I mean this is for those listening. This is you take on this kind of big, hairy, audacious goal. It's a lot. So if you would just, both of you jump in. What have been some of the biggest challenges that you've had to tackle, maybe you're continuing to tackle. And obviously, this is an invitation to anyone in the Atlanta area that wants to. To become involved. You can help maybe paint a path to how they can become involved. Chad. But tell us a little bit about some of the challenges that you face. Who. Who. I mean, they're stakeholders that you have to meet with and ensure that they're on board. I'll just say, as an aside, it's interesting. I interviewed Reverend John Yates for the Going Big podcast a few episodes ago when he was talking about every time a new idea or project came up in his church, he would say, okay, that sounds nice. Find some others in the church that agree with you and let's have a conversation. Because he wanted to test out to make sure there was really something there. And, you know, it's not just like, let's have an idea. Let's do this. Tell us a little bit more about the challenges you faced.
- [36:15]
C
Chad, are you starting?
- [36:18]
A
I was going to defer. Do you.
- [36:21]
B
Tackle this particular topic? I get a sense the work is not done.
- [36:27]
A
Never. I mean, I'll jump in really quick and just say, I think part of the. I think the challenge is you're.
- [36:37]
B
You're.
- [36:38]
A
You have a team full of institutional knowledge that's. That's attempting to impart it on a new team that's kind of learning everything all at once. And I think that that's something that needs probably an extended Runway, but you gotta run and go because everything's kind of launching. So I think that's been a big challenge, is making sure that, you know, everyone is well versed in the actual model and the operating principles of the organization. And I think what's observationally interesting to me is also realizing that we went through similar stuff in Pittsburgh, which is probably more helpful to know that that Cafe Momentum Pittsburgh just won the State Youth Impact Organization of the Year.
- [37:28]
B
Wow.
- [37:29]
A
Yeah. So. So it's like, okay, we just have, like, there are no shortcuts. We have to go through this until we, you know, make sure that we have the right team and the right culture and they're properly trained and all this stuff, and we get there, it's going to be okay. But, you know, it's what you go through, and it's not a. We haven't circumvented that yet.
- [37:48]
B
Well. Well, real quick, again, back to this vision that. That many of the NFL players had to bring it to every NFL city. Where is Cafe Momentum today?
- [37:57]
A
We have, obviously, locations in Dallas and Atlanta and Pittsburgh and will open in Denver next year.
- [38:05]
B
Wow. Wow. Wow. All right, Christian, what about the challenges that you saw to continually tackle?
- [38:11]
C
I think Chad said it pretty well. I mean, you gotta think about real mundane challenges. You gotta find the fundraising to get the fundraising done. You gotta find supporters. You gotta meet with them. You gotta explain the system. You gotta, you know, rope them in, answer the questions about the model, about the sustainability of the approach, how it works, and all that stuff. And, you know, Atlanta is a city where there's always lots of fundraising going on and money's being given, if you will. So, you know, when we thought, okay, well, it takes about 5 million or so dollars to get this thing off the ground and keep it running for the first half year. That doesn't sound like a hell of a lot of money. But the money doesn't come in million packages of millions either. You gotta have a lot of conversations, and sometimes it goes like $20,000, $50,000 and so forth. So you get the picture. So there's a lot of just boots to the ground work, fundraising, finding the right place, getting it under contract, hiring the people, training the people, then onboarding the youth. I mean, you know, from the inception to the startup, which Chad accurately called, like, that's day one, not the end of the story. It's the beginning of the story. It's just hard work, and it's never quite done. And going back to something we discussed earlier, this is. This is not a franchise model where you stamp out exactly the same operation in every little detail with every best practice, etcetera, like other franchises around the country do. That's not the model. And so there's a lot of, you know, hard work and discussions that need to take place for people to embrace all those guiding principles under which we operate. And some things are not negotiable and others are more freely implementable by Atlanta, Denver, etc. But there's a lot of art there. It's not just science. And that takes a lot of hard work, perseverance, optimism, and. Well, and, you know, I'd go back to the very beginning here, and then I'll stop. Kevin is, you know, and many people probably correctly saw this with a little bit of the eyes or the lens of this is a startup, although we've been operating in Dallas for 10 years, but it's still a startup. You know, you need a couple of people that stick their neck out in the beginning and make a commitment, because otherwise it doesn't. Doesn't happen. So we worked hard, and we found those People and organizations that did that, and they got the stone rolling, but it's not easy work, but it's fun work.
- [41:20]
B
Wow. Well, you know, again, as you say, it's not a franchisable thing, per se. I mean, there's the. There's the Chad concept. There's the. There's the Cafe Momentum concept. You've got to get the philanthropic support in many ways, the business community, and in many ways, for sure, the political community. And this is stuff, but there's another component. And Chad, if you could speak to. Do you reach out personally to the. To the juvenile court system? How does that. Because obviously they have to support it, right?
- [41:55]
A
Most definitely. And. And I. As silly as it may seem, they're the. They're the biggest advocates for a Cafe Momentum coming into their community because they. They know intimately who these young people are, how they came into the system, and what exactly they need to never. And they believe that caffeine minimum is a perfect plan of support for all of these young people. So we haven't met a juvenile justice official yet that hasn't been clamoring for us to expand in their community. And with Atlanta, it was a couple of one to two degrees of separation to get us connected with the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice. They had already heard of our model, so they were incredibly excited. And in fact, a member of their executive leadership team is on our board for Cafe Momentum Atlanta.
- [42:59]
B
Okay, so since I started this podcast, it's fascinating. As I've interviewed people about going big, two big things have come out. Everybody has said, like, you've got to find your. Your gift, your passion. Pursue it where you can contribute in a meaningful way. So by my assessment, I think I could say, Chad, you have found a way to take your passion for food and passion for helping young people in this situation, put the two together. Extraordinary. Christian, you have taken your passion in multiple ways and done this in a similar vein. Congratulations. That's awesome and kudos, and I hope that is a motivation to those listening. The other big thing that comes out in these conversations is the importance and value of mentors that we all benefit. There's that wonderful Sir Isaac Newton quote where he said, I see further when I stand on the shoulders of giants. That is to say, we benefit from the wisdom of those who come before us. This heavy momentum is a mentorship program. Each of you, Chad, you go first. How important is the concept of mentors in this?
- [44:19]
A
I think it's critical. I think, first and foremost, someone that signs up to be your mentor is someone that sees something in you and believes in you, see something in you that you don't even see in yourself or identify in yourself, and believes in you in ways that you don't, you know, believe in yourself. And I. I've heard somebody one time say that their mentor gave them his confidence until he had his own. And I thought, what a beautiful way to describe a critical role of a mentor, you know, in, I think, to know our young people. The constant feedback that you hear from guests is the profound impact it has on a guest when a young person goes from looking down and talking to them to having confidence and looking at them, looking them in the eye when they're speaking to them. Right. And I think that's something that we, probably a lot of us just take for granted, is that just simple act of confidence and how that translates into so many other pieces and parts of our life. And so whether it's a customer coming in the restaurant who is serving as a mentor for 90 minutes is mentoring a young person or a case manager that's helping them find stable housing or stable food, legal advocacy, it's somebody else walking alongside you in a way that makes you feel comfortable when you're vulnerable. And that is saying to you, it's not you got this, it's we've got this until you've got this. And I think that's really at the core, the power, the baseline power of mentorship.
- [46:10]
B
And, Christian, I'd like you to answer it, too, but also feel free to talk about how important mentors were to you in your life.
- [46:20]
C
Maybe on that angle. And then a couple of comments on what Chad said. First of all, you know, personally, I mean, very important is a long story short. Very important. Now, I had. I would say some people think that mentors pick you, and some people say, well, you pick mentors. They might not even know that you're. You know, that they've been selected by you. I think both of those are true. And I can think about a lot of people from the times back in school to in personal life, if you will, and in professional life who. Who were great mentors of. Of mine, and again, great help along the way. But I also can think about, like, an endless, endless list of people that they may not even have known that they're mentoring me. But I went there to say, I'm gonna. I'm gonna soak up. I'm going to seek. I'm going to soak up. I'm going to try to learn from the advice I'm being given. And so my whole life has been like that, defined by that. And I think it still will going forward. And I think maybe one more dimension that Chad didn't talk about is I do believe that the Chad's team, if you will, and the board that we have, and even people outside of the board that are all playing great advisors and mentors to our organization, and we frequently call each other up and say, let me seek your advice on something. The other party may not even know the answer, but they're going to help us help each other think through things. Through. And, Chad, correct me if I'm wrong. I think one thing that we.
- [48:16]
A
We.
- [48:17]
C
We have been doing pretty well is we don't see that as a weakness.
- [48:21]
A
That's right.
- [48:22]
C
But as a strength.
- [48:23]
A
That's right.
- [48:23]
C
And everybody is pretty comfortable in doing that. So I. That's the kind of environment that I want to be a part of and that I want to help create.
- [48:33]
B
All right, so the three of us, we're speaking in November. Thanksgiving is coming up. You know, those. There are many people who are listening, I'm sure, who have a session sense of service, may look for the opportunity in helping out of volunteering at a food pantry or a food kitchen or serving meals or something. But this is an amazing opportunity as well. You can dine at the restaurant, you can support them financially. You can become engaged. Chad, you have a real vision, and this is why you're so perfect for going big. It's a. I mean, what you're doing with caffeine momentum in Dallas and caffeine momentum in Pittsburgh and now cappie momentum in Atlanta and soon to be caffeine momentum in Denver is huge. But what to me is transformational is you have a vision for really, totally reshaping how America looks at youth justice and a whole way of just impacting people's lives, giving people second chances in a different way. How. How can people listening take your lead and become engaged in this in whatever way that you might recommend?
- [49:45]
A
Oh, Kevin, this is such a great question, because I think, you know, as we can talk about going big and building more and more cafe momentums and changing the model for juvenile justice. But, you know, what it really came down to is somebody asked me to teach eight kids to make ice cream, and I said yes. I mean, it's as simple as that. And I think sometimes people get it in their heads that I walked into that detention facility with a business plan. You know, I didn't. I just walked in with a. With an open heart and a listening ear and So I. I mentioned to a friend the other day, I can't think of a juvenile justice department in this country that would tell you, get out of here. If you called them and said, hey, do you have any volunteer opportunities? They would chomp at the bit for somebody to come in and volunteer to. To read a book, to tutor, to teach cooking, like, you know, the sky's the limit. But that. That type of engagement and interaction with the kids is. Is that. It's that baseline of mentorship. You know, it's. It's something when the world tells you this is who you are, and somebody walks in and says, I think you're something special, I think you're something bigger and better than that, the paradigm shifts, you start to listen and really important. And so I think anyone that wants to get involved. Yes, absolutely. First and foremost, dine at one of our Cafe Momentums. In fact, all three open Cafe Momentums right now are offering Thanksgiving meal takeaways. And you should definitely feed your family and Thanksgiving via Cafe Momentum. We also offer catering at all three locations. So you can always book us to cater a wedding or any type of event. We'll show up and show out. But otherwise, I think literally just something as simple as if it's specific to justice involved youth. Look at programs in your city that are working with the kids and just say, how do I volunteer? Or just literally call the juvenile department and say, hey, I've got a spare hour every week. Is there something you guys need that I could do with the youth? I guarantee you the answer will not be no.
- [51:58]
B
Well, Christian, for any business leader or community leader in Seattle or Los Angeles or New York or Charlotte or wherever they may be listening, what encouragement would you have for them?
- [52:11]
C
It's along the lines of the sentiment and the suggestions that Chad spoke about. I think we can actually scale the impact of Cafe Momentum in the youth criminal justice system more and faster than we can ever build and expand restaurants across the country. By changing the dialogue, by making people more knowledgeable by. Well, they can contribute. They can. Should hopefully do contribute financially, even if we're not in that town. It's harder to dine at the place if you're not in one of those towns, but you can encourage others to do so. Spread the word, learn about it. And if you can engage through what we do specifically at Cafe Momentum, there are plenty of other opportunities to do that. And that way we can actually create waves and an impact that transcends what we could ever do at Cafe Momentum. Which is not to say that we don't want to take it to other places. We will, but we got also plenty of hard work to do in each of the places that we're operating, and we need everybody's help to do that.
- [53:25]
B
All right, well, this has been an awesome conversation. I have one final question that goes to both of you. And this is a question I almost always ask my guests. And that is for anyone listening around the world. And Christian, they can be in Bavaria or they can be in Brazil or they can be in Georgia. Chad, they can be in Dallas, wherever they might be. What advice would you have for anyone listening about how they should consider going big in their life in a meaningful and purposeful manner in which you're doing just by now, just by this one illustration with Cappy momentum. Who wants to go first?
- [54:05]
C
I can go first. And then we leave the founder.
- [54:08]
B
There you go.
- [54:10]
C
How about inverting things for a while? You know, I think we spoke about both of these things and I don't think they're at odds. In fact, I think they're complementary. I think to have the courage, imagination and passion to dream big, to have a big vision, to have a big ass goal, as some people call it, is really great. And I would not want to discourage anybody from doing that or having that. But I would also say, well, somehow you gotta translate these things into, you know, the next step taken, the next hill climbed, the next opportunity seized, or like Chad would say, the next kid that or youth that learns how to make ice cream. Because it boils down to that. Otherwise it might just be a beautiful vision and a big slogan, but not anything tangible. So I would just say, well, do both. And if you just say, well, it's hard for me to imagine doing all the big vision, but you can still be part of the big vision and 10x as you call it, by contributing to the best of your capability and whatever makes sense. So don't get discouraged. Just roll up your sleeves.
- [55:31]
B
Love it. Christian Fisher. Thank you. All right, Chad Hauser, take us out. Curious Forward.
- [55:37]
A
There's a reason why I tried to jump in and answer before Christian because I didn't want to follow him. But I'm just going to piggyback off of what he said, which is I think it's. It's beautiful and necessary to dream big and to think big. But you also have to realize that there are no shortcuts. So, you know, no, no person in the world said, you know, I think I'm going to be a billionaire. And they just snap their fingers and boom. You know, you have to put in the work and the time and the dedication, go through the frustrations that you know, the joy, the tribulation, all the things. There are no shortcuts. But I think what, what's most important to me is embrace the journey. There's so much to learn. There's so much growth that can take place. You know, it was 17 and a half years ago that I walked into a detention facility. And I think it's, I get excited when we're opening new programs and we're creating new relationships and partnerships with the NFL and all these things, but I think when I look back, it's the entire journey. It's the entirety of everything that's happened, the ways in which, the things I've learned, the ways I've grown that make the greatest impact for me. So to me, what I would have told myself 17 and a half years ago is don't blink and keep your ear to the ground and take copious amounts of notes because it's going to be one hell of a ride.
- [57:14]
B
Awesome. Well, kudos and congratulations to you both and for everything that Cap Momentum is doing. Ladies and gentlemen, be sure to check out these and also especially Atlanta Christian Fisher, Chad Hauser, thank you for going big, for thinking big and encouraging us all to do the same. Thanks again for joining us.
- [57:30]
C
Thank you.
- [57:31]
A
Thank you.
- [57:32]
B
Kevin, thanks for tuning in to the Going Big Podcast. I hope that today's conversation left you feeling energized and ready to tackle your biggest goals. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes, YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. It really helps spread the word and it gets these inspiring stories out to more people. You can also find more content, resources and updates at our website, goingbigpodcast.com Remember, the only limits are the ones you you don't challenge, the limits that you impose on yourself. Keep pushing, keep growing, and above all, keep going big. See you next time on the Going Big Podcast.