Lessons - How One Man's Mission Transformed Global Water Access | Scott Harrison - charity: water Founder

Summary

Success Story Podcast Episode Summary

Title: Lessons - How One Man's Mission Transformed Global Water Access | Scott Harrison - charity: water Founder
Host: Success Story Media (Scott D. Clary)
Guest: Scott Harrison, Founder of charity: water
Release Date: April 14, 2025

Introduction

In this compelling episode of the Success Story Podcast, host Scott D. Clary delves into the transformative journey of Scott Harrison, the founder of charity: water. The discussion highlights Scott's personal evolution from a life immersed in addictive pursuits to dedicating himself to humanitarian efforts that have significantly impacted global water access.

From Addictive Pursuits to Seeking Purpose

Scott Harrison opens up about his past filled with what he describes as "addictive pursuits"—including drugs, alcohol, gambling, and fleeting relationships. Despite indulging in these activities, he found himself perpetually unsatisfied, constantly seeking a deeper sense of purpose.

Notable Quote:

“It was always about seeking purpose. And I'm curious how after seeking purpose in all these, you know, traditional vices, how none of it paid off and none of it really gave you what you needed.”
— Host, [00:00]

The Turning Point: A Spiritual Awakening

The pivotal moment in Scott's life occurred during a trip to South America. He describes this experience as a "spiritual awakening," where he realized the futility of chasing endless material gains. Surrounded by affluent yet unhappy individuals, Scott understood that "the endless pursuit of more would never bring happiness."

Notable Quote:

“I realized there will never be enough, someone will always have more.”
— Scott Harrison, [01:25]

This epiphany led Scott to rediscover his faith, drawing inspiration from the teachings of Jesus, whom he admired for his commitment to service and his defiance of religious establishments. Scott connected deeply with the Biblical verse from James about true religion being about caring for widows and orphans, which resonated with his sense of inadequacy in contributing to society.

Transition to Humanitarian Work

Inspired by the concept of tithing, Scott decided to dedicate a decade of his life to service. However, he encountered significant challenges in securing a volunteer position, as most humanitarian organizations were hesitant to accept someone with his background in nightclub promotion.

Notable Quote:

“It became incredibly frustrating because I now had the desire to try something different, to serve, and nobody would take me.”
— Scott Harrison, [04:10]

Eventually, he connected with Mercy Ships, an organization that operates floating hospitals along the African coast. Despite the unconventional entry—requiring a $500 monthly contribution and relocation to a poverty-stricken region—Scott embraced the opportunity to contribute as a volunteer photojournalist.

Leveraging Personal Skills for Global Change

Scott utilized his expertise in storytelling and photography to document the impactful work of Mercy Ships. By sharing compelling images and narratives of life-changing surgeries, he successfully engaged his extensive network of 15,000 contacts, many of whom were former nightclub attendees.

Notable Quote:

“I realized maybe the same skills that I had developed... could be used in a compassionate, redemptive way to actually save people's lives.”
— Scott Harrison, [06:48]

His efforts resulted in significant fundraising and heightened awareness for Mercy Ships, allowing the organization to expand its capacity to assist more individuals in need.

Confronting the Root Cause: Dirty Water Access

During his second year in Liberia, Scott identified a critical issue contributing to widespread illness: lack of access to clean water. Observing that half of the country's population relied on contaminated water sources, he recognized that addressing waterborne diseases was essential for sustainable health improvements.

Notable Quote:

“Half of the people were drinking dirty water. Half of the disease in the country was waterborne.”
— Scott Harrison, [09:30]

Motivated by this discovery, Scott dedicated himself to creating charity: water, an organization aimed at providing clean water to every human on Earth. Despite facing personal financial challenges upon returning to New York City, including $30,000 in debt, Scott remained resolute in his mission.

Overcoming Challenges and Building charity: water

Scott's journey was fraught with obstacles, including initial rejection from humanitarian organizations and personal financial setbacks. However, his unwavering commitment to addressing the fundamental need for clean water drove him to establish charity: water. The organization's innovative approach, focusing on transparency and direct impact, has since revolutionized how humanitarian aid is provided and funded.

Notable Quote:

“I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve in life, and that would be to try to bring clean water to every human being on planet Earth before I died.”
— Scott Harrison, [12:10]

Conclusion

In this inspiring episode, Scott Harrison shares his remarkable transformation from a life of excess to one dedicated to global humanitarian efforts. His story underscores the importance of finding true purpose beyond material gains and demonstrates how personal skills can be harnessed to effect meaningful change. Scott's mission with charity: water exemplifies how addressing fundamental human needs can lead to profound and lasting impact.

Key Takeaways

• Personal Transformation: Recognizing the emptiness of material pursuits can lead to meaningful life changes.
• Faith and Service: Rediscovering faith and a commitment to service can provide direction and purpose.
• Leveraging Skills for Good: Utilizing personal talents in storytelling and networking can amplify humanitarian efforts.
• Addressing Root Causes: Focusing on fundamental issues, such as clean water access, can create sustainable solutions for global health challenges.
• Resilience: Overcoming obstacles and maintaining focus on a clear mission are crucial for achieving long-term success.

Final Thoughts

Scott Harrison's journey is a testament to the power of self-reflection, faith, and dedicated action in transforming personal lives and creating positive global change. His work with charity: water continues to inspire individuals and organizations to prioritize humanitarian efforts and address the most pressing needs of our time.

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For more insights and inspirational stories, visit Success Story Podcast.

Transcript

[Host]

In this lessons episode, discover how a journey from addictive pursuits to humanitarian service can spark profound transformation. Learn why leaving self serving habits behind paves the way for true purpose and impact. And understand how leveraging storytelling and personal skills can mobilize global change. So I've heard you speak about how you were always trying things that would be considered addictive. So like drugs, alcohol, gambling, women, you would always all like, you try these things for a period of time, but then you'd get bored and you'd shut off and you go on to the next thing. And it was always about seeking purpose. And I'm curious how after seeking purpose in all these, you know, traditional vices, how none of it paid off and none of it really gave you what you needed. What prompted you to do that 180 where you realized, okay, outside, if somebody's from the outside looking in, life looks great, life looks like I'm fun, I'm king, I have a, a hot girl. I mean, I have influence, whatever. But what was that point that you realized that all these vices that you were trying to find purpose in were not really doing it?

[Guest]

Yeah, well, in many ways it was a spiritual awakening. So I hit that kind of moment in South America where I just remember it was almost like the game of musical chairs and for the first time the music stopped and I had nowhere to sit down. It was a jarring existential moment where I think if I put it in a sentence, I realized there will never be enough, someone will always have more. And I was actually surrounded with people who had more, who had planes, who had, you know, yachts, and they seemed unhappy too. So this endless pursuit of more would never bring the happiness. And so what is the opposite of that, you know, the self serving. So I looked to God and I remember reading the Bible again and, and you know, rediscovering that faith as a 28 year old without it being shoved down my throat, without being told what I must believe. I remember just thinking like, well, Jesus is kind of badass. He's, he's not religious. In fact, he was raging against so much of the religious establishment of the day. And you know, he was really all about service, you know, pouring your life out for others so that others could flourish, so that others can benefit. I remember coming across this, this book in the, this, this verse in the book of James where it said, you know, if you care about true religion, true religion is this, look after widows and orphans and just keep yourself from being polluted. I'm like, I'm friggin over too. I mean, I have done nothing to look after anyone in the widow and orphan category. And not only am I polluted, I actually pollute others for a living. And the more people I pollute in my clubs, the more money I make. So it was a lot of these things happening, you know, kind of reaching the end of rope, reeling this would. Realizing this would not make me happy. Kind of coming back to this lost faith and spirituality, morality, and then just needing an idea, which was actually, you know, went back to this concept of the tithe. When my parents were growing up, they would always give 10% of whatever they made to the church. I was like, well, what if I tithed time? I just blew 10 years. What if I gave one of the 10 years in service and just saw where that would take me? And, you know, interestingly, it was almost impossible to volunteer. So I remember applying to the first 10 humanitarian organizations, from the Red Cross to World Vision to Save the Children. And, you know, nobody wanted a nightclub promoter. These are serious, you know, Doctors Without Borders, it turns out, wants doctors to join their mission, you know, not club rats. So it became incredibly frustrating because I now had the desire to try something different, to serve, and nobody would take me. And then I was very fortunate that, you know, I call it the 11th organization, you know, wrote me back and said, hey, if you're willing to pay US$500 a month and if you're willing to go live in the poorest country in the world, you can join our mission. And I just remember thinking, I mean, that is really the opposite of my life, you know, going from clubs and Cristal champagne to a post war country in West Africa and actually having to pay money to be of service.

[Scott D. Clary]

Hey, everyone, Scott here. I just want to take a second and say thanks for listening to the podcast over the past couple of years. Obviously this wouldn't be possible without each and every one of you. I have a favor to ask, so I would love to get some more information about you and why you listen to the podcast and why you listen to the show and why you tune in every week. And I have put together a short survey and we are using this to help us sort of inform what type of content we want to create and the direction of the podcast going forward. This information is not shared with anyone else, so this is just for us internally and I put together a link so scottdclary.com survey where you can go and you can fill in some information so we can know what kind of content you love. Also for the first 100 people that respond to the survey, you will be entered into a draw for a hundred dollars Amazon gift card. So we'll be giving out one of those to the first people that respond. It should not take more than two minutes of your time to fill out the whole survey. It's really not that long. And it will help you shape the future of the podcast. So I really appreciate each and every one of you and thank you for listening.

[Host]

What was the organization? And is that how like outside of all the ones you apply to, is that how they operate? They actually get you to pay?

[Guest]

They do, they do.

[Host]

You're subsidizing.

[Guest]

Exactly. It's a brilliant model. They're called Mercy ships. They sail a, well now a couple hospital ships up and down the coast of Africa. Very simple ideas. Let's recruit the best doctors and surgeons from around the world. Let's invite them, you know, on a, effectively a cruise liner that had been converted into the state of the art floating hospital. And then let's sail up and down the coast of Africa, pull into port and offer free life changing surgeries to people who can never afford them and who don't even have the medical facilities in their country. So what I joined as was the volunteer photojournalist for this.

[Host]

I was going to say, what, what, what was a promoter going to do on these boats?

[Guest]

And this is kind of funny because I was not technically a photojournalist, but I was a pretty good writer who. And I was a pretty good photographer. So I put up a blog with some of the stuff I'd written and I put up some of my hobby photographs in fashion and beautiful buildings in Prague, in Paris. And I don't even think I realized it at the time, but I was in so many ways uniquely qualified for this job because I brought with me a guest list of 15,000 people who I had emails of because I'd gotten them drunk over the last 10 years. So here I land as kind of the storyteller through pictures and words in West Africa for this medical ship and I get to work, you know, bombarding the 15,000 people that a few weeks earlier I had been inviting to come get drunk. And I start sharing photos of cleft lip surgeries and cleft palates and tumors being removed and cataracts being removed and people getting their sight for the first time. And I was so in awe of the work of these compassionate doctors who, like me, had flown into West Africa to pay, which, which all that money, like you said, helped the organization run and I'm just blitzing my list. And, you know, of course, there were some unsubscribes at first. You know, people didn't sign up for, you know, facial tumors in Africa being removed. But after that first wave, the list actually began to grow as people would forward these stories to their friends. And then they began to send money. And I. I started to realize maybe the same skills that I had developed, you know, filling up 40 different nightclubs over 10 years, you know, throwing the party, these skills could be used in a compassionate, redemptive way to actually save people's lives. And I wound up raising a lot of money for Mercy Ships that first year, raising a lot of awareness. And then when that year ended, I just didn't know what was next. So I just went back to Liberia for a second year. And that is really when I discovered why so many people were sick. And just to give you an example, you know, our third day on this mission, I remember waking up at five in the morning, putting them in hospital scrubs and jumping in this convoy of Land Rovers with doctors and surgeons and nurses. And I had two Nikon D1X cameras around my neck. And I learned that we're going to the patient screening, and this is where we receive all of the people who have heard about the coming of our doctors. It's kind of like a cattle call. It's like a big casting. It's an audition for surgery. And I knew we had 1500 available surgery slots to fill. We could hand out 1500 surgery cards. And I remember just thinking, you know, is it possible that there's 1500 people who need facial surgery or cleft lips or eye surgery? And it turns out the government had given us the soccer stadium, the football stadium in the center of the city to triage these patients. And as we approached the stadium, I'll never forget, there were more than 5,000 people standing in the parking lot waiting for our doctors to arrive, open the doors, and begin screening. And that hit me really hard, you know, realizing, oh, my gosh, we're going to send 3500 sick people home, 3500 people with deformities, because we just don't have enough doctors. We don't have enough time here in this country. And, you know, it was a really, really hard thing. I learned later that many of these people had walked for more than a month. Some of them had come from neighboring countries with their children, walking for a month just in the hope of getting their child to see a surgeon. And we didn't have Enough of them. So the first year was a lot of both sadness around the people we couldn't help, but then also learning the skill of focusing on the hope and focusing on the people who we could help and telling their stories, and hoping that by telling their stories, more people would want to contribute, more people would want to send money for surgeries, we could expand the capacity of the work and hopefully one day reach all 5,000 people. The second year was going into the villages and seeing how people were living in one of the poorest countries in the world. And I learned something very, very simple. Half of the people were drinking dirty water. Half of the people in the country were drinking from open swamps and ponds and muddy rivers. And I learned that half of the disease in the country, according to the World Health Organization, was waterborne. And in the second year, you know, so now I'm 29 years old, I'm back in Liberia. I just kind of feel like I have found the thing that I want to work on. You know, why not jump to the root cause of so much of this sickness? And for me, that was dirty water. And I finished that tour and I came back to New York City at 30 years old, completely broke, found myself actually $30,000 in debt because my club partner had not dissolved the business like he said he was going to do, nor had he paid taxes. So I had a big tax bill. But I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve in life, and that would be to try to bring clean water to every human being on planet Earth before I died.

[Host]

Thanks for tuning in. If you found this valuable, don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode. And if you want to dive deeper into this conversation, check out the links in the description to watch the full episode. See you in the next one.