August 1, 2023 • 34 mins
When he saw an elderly man struggling to mow his lawn, Rodney felt called to pull over and finish it for him. This single act of generosity transformed Rodney's life forever, inspiring him to challenge kids to cut 50 lawns for free for the elderly, single parents, veterans, and those with disabilities. And his "50 Yard Challenge" has been accepted by 4,948 kids from 8 countries!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Leaving school, senior of college. And it came across as
elderly man outside moving his lawn, and it looked like
he was struggling.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
And I don't why do you look like he was struggling.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
It was a hot sunny day, and you could just
tell that. You look like he's taking breaks in between
pushing and the stopping, pushing and stopping.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
And I'm driving home and you say this, yeah, And
I just.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Pulled over and helped him. But it was at that
moment I realized that a few years before that I
asked God to use me as his vessel and he
didn't give me answer at all, but it felt at
that moment and I came across the elderly man, he
was like, I was preparing you for that, this movement
right here. I pulled over, helped him out, and that
once more, the conness would eventually change my life forever.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Welcome to an army of normal folks. I'm built coordinating,
I'm normal guy. I'm a husband, I'm a father, I'm
an entrepreneur, and I've been a football coach in inner
city Memphis. And the last part unintentionally led to an
oscar for the film about our team. It's called undefeated.
I believe our country's problems will never be solved by
(01:17):
a bunch of fancy people and nice suits talking big
words that nobody understands on CNN and Fox, but rather
by an army of normal folks, US, just you and
me deciding hey, I can help. That's what Rodney Smith Junior,
the voice we just heard, has done. Rodney grew up
with a learning disability in Jamaica, and a teacher once
(01:40):
told him that he really would never amount to much.
But Rodney persevered. He found teachers who did believe in him.
He made it to college in Huntsville, Alabama, and his
one single act of love for an elderly man he
didn't even know inspired him to commit more acts of love.
(02:00):
And the next thing you know, He's got a nonprofit
called Raising Men and Women lawn Care Service that's inspired
four thousand kids to take what he calls the fifty
yard challenge to mow lawns for people in need and
get this part for free. That's two hundred thousand lawns.
(02:21):
I cannot wait for you to meet Rodney right after
these brief messages from our generals sponsors. Now, let's return
(02:44):
to Rodney on his first act of kindness at the
very beginning of helping one elderly man.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
That night, I went to Facebook and I told him
about my experience that day of helping this elder man.
And I want to start moving free loans for the elderly, disabled,
singaparents and veterans in Huntsville, Obama. And I made that
post and I tell people, at first, I'd have a lawnmower.
So the first ten loans that I don't going to do,
you know, at least have a lawnmower so I can
(03:15):
just move a lawn.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Well, let's let's get back to that first time you're
driving down the street and you see this old man
pushing a lawn more and he's taking a break between
each steps, and you've just felt for him. I mean,
do you know how many people we pass every day
struggling cutting grass or doing some housework, And I mean,
(03:38):
that's their house, that's their problem. Yeah, what made you
pull over?
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Just the feeling that that feeling I had to pull over,
that feeling God telling me do something. You know, that
was the beginning of my book. I believe you know,
everyone has it, So.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
You pull over yeah, and you get out of the
car and you walk up to this guy in his
front yard. Yeah, welk up to and all right, well,
he must have been thinking, yeah, this dude about to
come still my lawnmower. He's got to be looking at
you like you're half crazy.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Of course, and at first, you know, you he's like, no,
it's I'm okay, I'll get it done. But eventually, you know,
he let me. He said, what he will get it done.
You know, he get it done. And but eventually, you know,
after talking to him, you know, he let me finish
the law and form And what did you say to him?
Just saying, sir, you know it's real hot out here.
He's an oulderly man, mister Brown, the olderly man.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
His name was mister Brown. Mister Brown.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah, in this seven years or so, you know, seven
years old in the hot summer. Yeah, that's that's that's rough.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
That's rough.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
And I said, please let me finish. I'm not gonna leave.
And to let me finish, you know, I was persistent.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
And I just how long did it take?
Speaker 1 (04:47):
You take me?
Speaker 2 (04:49):
No time? In twenty minutes?
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yea, about twenty minutes for him. Yeah, And it's that
feeling you get, you know, helping someone, and that started everything.
That's small. If I never would have came across that
elder man, I probably would have finished stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Exactly. So you came across mister Brown and you had
some compassion for him, and you walked up and said, hey,
let me finish your grass for you. Looks like you're struggling.
Why didn't he have somebody cut it for him?
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I'm not sure. Probably couldn't ask him, but probably couldn't afford.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
It was this, Uh, this wasn't an overly nice house.
I don't guess.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yeah, I mean it was. You know you could tell that,
you know, he's struggling a little bit.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, And so you cut his grass. Yeah that was it.
And you go home and you just said that once
you got home, you you felt moved by the experience exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
I felt inspired and I felt I needed to do
something more. And it just made a post on Facebook.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
And so you made a post on Facebook. What did
it say? I'm Rodney, I'm gonna cut your grass and
just let me know. I mean what I mean, Rodney,
do you just really did you grow up loving? No?
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And that's the funny thing, you know, growing up, I
hated moving lawns. I hated it.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
You hated moa lawns as a kid. Yeah, so you
pull over and volunteer to cut some other man's law.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Exactly, it is because.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Your mom and dad. I'd be mad at to fight
you my whole life to get you cut the grass.
And you're doing this man's off for nothing.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
It's crazy. All my life work. God took something I
dislike and turned to something I love to do, and
I do it every single day for free.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
No. So you made a post on Facebook.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
And so just explaining my experience that day about moving
for the elderly man, and I'm going to move free
loans now for anyone in need in the community. And
that's whole.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
And what what was the demographic of the people that
you were willing to cut grass for?
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yes? So anyone elderly, disabled, a single parent, or a veteran.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Or a veteran yes, really Yeah, what I get elderly
who maybe can't afford it or don't can't do it physically.
The disabled just speaks for itself. And then you said
single parents, single parents, Yeah, And then but veterans, I
(07:09):
mean some are certainly disabled, but they fall under disabled
and all that, But why specifically veterans.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Because you know, I've realized you men coming up with
the groups to move for who can benefit from this?
And I just thought, you know, veterans have put their
lives on the line for this country, and it's only
right that we serve them and give back whichever way
we can.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
And I love to hear that. But Bermuda's your country,
the U States is not.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
I understand that. Yeah, but I've realized, you know, I've
come across veterans during my time and just realize the
importance of veterans. So that's that's one of the reasons
why I picked them.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
You know, Ronnie, something that strikes me as I'm talking
to you, buddy, there's compassion that uses out of you.
Where does that compassion comes from? And I have a
I you know, I could be off base, but I'm
going to say it. I think if you grow up
(08:07):
the way you grew up, struggling academically and ending up
having to leave your family to work on your disability
to overcome your own challenges, my sense is that that
experience helps you to understand the plight of others better
(08:29):
than maybe somebody who hadn't experienced that much difficulty. And
as I hear you just this early in our conversation,
it's just not many twenty something year old people think
about I want to do something for the elderly. I
want to do something for our veterans, the veterans of
(08:50):
a country that I live in now that I love,
even though it's not my own country. I mean, where
do you think this compassion comes from in your heart?
I think I was brought up, you know, really tell
me about that.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
You know, parents always telling me get back when you can,
And I remember growing up and there were times where
you used to feed the humeless. You know, my dad
would take us to give out soup and stuff like
that and crack us.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Off the chair. Mother and father wealthy or.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
No, no, not wealthy at all. But there's something that's
just instilled in us growing up. I just remember, I
think it was in winter times you used to do that,
give out soup and stuff like that. And being brought
up in a church, you know.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
You're obviously a man of faith.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah yeah, but at that point of life, you know,
I wasn't strict about faith, but I just know if
you pray about something you know, God will show you,
will lead you, lead you the way he wants you
to go. And some just told me pray that night,
and you know, just changed my life. I don't I
can't explain it. It's one of those things like just
(09:56):
it just happened.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
So you post on Facebook, hey I just got this
dude mister Brown's yard. He almost shot me, but we
worked it out. And if you're disabled, single, elderly, or
veteran and you're struggling getting your yawn done, I'll come
cut it for you. Yeah, you just put it out there. Now.
(10:18):
I'm going to tell you something. In this world, when
you see something like that, you wonder if it's a scam,
you know, because there's always somebody sending out something on
email or Facebook or text or Instagram or whatever that says, hey,
you've won a free so and so, and you always
think what's the catch, right, And so some dudes saying, hey,
(10:40):
I just got this guy's yard. I want to cut
free people's yards. At first, I got to believe some
of that was met with some level of skepticism from
some people.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Yeah, I mean, of course.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
But you had some takers. Yeah, I mean, who is
the next one. Do you remember the very next one?
Speaker 1 (10:56):
I don't remember the very next one. It might have
been this lady, miss miss Hatch. It could have been
hurt because I still more her lawn today, but I
can't remember this.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
You're still more lawn today? How many years later?
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Seven years later?
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Okay? So you had people reach out and say, I'm elderly,
I'm disabled. My lawns a mess. I would love for
you to come mow with for free. Did you have
a lawnmower?
Speaker 1 (11:22):
No? At first I didn't have a lawnmore.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
So, so how you're going to cut their grass on?
Speaker 1 (11:26):
The requirement was is they had a lawnmore then, after
a while, I think off like the tenth lawn the
man got high. So that's when I went to Craigslist
and I was looking for a second hand lawnmower.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
So you were going to buy one, yeah, in order
to go cut people's lawns for free. Yeah, And you
realize this business is going in a negative direction on
the profit law state. My brother, now, I wasn't.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
It was I I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
So so you go to craigslist to you're going to
try to scrounge up and cheap used.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Lawnmower exactly, and I came across one for one hundred dollars.
I'm still looking for this guy to give it to
me today.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
One hundred dollars for a senior in college that's from
Bermuda whose parents aren't particularly wealthy. They're not hurting, but
theyor wealthy. I'm a hundred dollars a lot of money.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah, it's a lot of money, and but this is
something I wanted to do. So I went to Craiglist
and I came across one foe hundred dollars and I
wrote the guy. I told him what I wanted to do,
and he ended up giving it to me for free.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
He just gave you the long gave me the law more.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
I shook his head. I said, you're for real, shook
his hand. I'm trying to I go back on my
emails and stuff, trying to find that ood message from
way back then, just to find them, to thank him
and to show him how far if it wasn't for him,
you know, it could be in a different direction.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
And I can't don't even know who this guy is.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
I can't find his name. I can't find.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
If you are the guy, if you're listening to this show,
and you gave a goofy twenty something year old dude
in Huntsville a lawnmoard that he said he was going
to cut lawns for free with Please get in touch
with us because Rodney would like to thank you. Okay, there,
that was a public service announcement for you. Maybe maybe
(13:16):
we'll hear from them and now a few messages from
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We'll be right back. You're on about lawn ten at
(15:07):
this time, right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Long ten, and the lawnmower was a green The brand
was called weed Eater.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
You got green weed eater?
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Yeah, amore, Yeah, started using that and then that broke down.
So I took it to a took it to.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
A hard to gripe about a free lawnmower right down,
took it to a much warranty left it, I guess.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
So I took it to a mechanic trying to get
a fixed and they were taking forever to fix it,
and then someone donated me a brand new more Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Where did that come from? Just off Facebook?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah, people just show what I was doing. One lady
that I moved for, she she tricked me, said, can
you come home my lawn? She had the news, had
a segment, had a segment people doing good in the community,
and I'm just moving a lawn. She's a disabled lady.
And I saw the news drive up. Why are they
(16:01):
driving and they just pop out.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Start interviewing, Yeah, what's going on.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
I'm cutting this.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
I'm cutting some grass here.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I'm cutting in between class and the news is coming.
I have to go back to class. I go to time.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
I don't have time for your news things. Yeah, and
you're telling me you're still a student this time, and
in between your nine and eleven you're rolling out in
your car and cutting grass real quick and going back
to class. Exactly, you are absolutely committed to cutting lawns.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Oh nothing, yeah, yeah. And then they give me three
hundred dollars. Did the news.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
They gave you three hundred dollars? Yeah? What four?
Speaker 1 (16:41):
There is a segment more No, the segment that they have.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
I say, oh, it's like giving giving back. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
So they find out what I was doing, and they
shared my story and you know, so what you do
at the three.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Hundred bucks use it for guys for lawnmowers.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Okay, so Rodney, Yeah, this is crazy. So you're cutting
lawnmowers in between class, trying to graduate, having overcome a
learning disability, and clearly not making anything for yourself. Rodney,
and how many? And I've read somewhere that you challenge
(17:19):
yourself to do a certain amount of lawns Yeah, it
was a hunt by what Christmas? Is? That? What it
was like?
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Sixty and then I reached sixty so fast that I'm
gonna going to one hundred a month and a half
later reading one hundred flooring and then after reaching one
hundred floor That's been the idea of the organization CAMPBO.
So I just a just moving as.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Right, jump ahead, Let's just get to the let's just
get to the ok you're going to class. Do you
have a job that you actually make money with?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
So international students you can work?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
So because you're not an American citizen, yeah, have a
green card? You're you're here on as an education visa, yes,
student visa. Okay, so you're honest, you're a student visa.
So you can't even work and you're literally going to
class probably getting by on pennies and nickels, yourself cutting
(18:09):
yawns in between class. Yeah, and from the day you
met mister Brown up to Christmas, you challenge yourself to
cut one hundred free lawns for people who desperately needed it,
and you achieved the goal.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Yeah, so I've actually reached my gool, like in November,
sometime before Christmas, of course. But yeah, that's how, that's how.
That's a story, how it all started.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
That's how it started. And then from there you started
thinking other people can do this or what I mean?
What was There's one thing to go out and do
something really kind and gracious and compassionate like you're doing,
all right, it's another thing to say I can turn
this into a movement. I mean, especially for a kid
(18:53):
with learning disability who'll never mounted anything. What gave you
the temerity, the the courage to think that you could
actually make this into something? And I keep saying the
learning disability, and I keep saying the Bermuda thing, and
I keep saying you didn't have a green card and
all of the things, because I want to emphasize there
(19:17):
are people every day born in this country with all
the features, advantages and benefits of being an American that
make all kinds of excuses why they can't overcome something.
And then there's you, Rodney, which is special. And I
(19:37):
keep emphasizing who you are and where you came from,
because I think you're a walking embodiment of if you've
got the will, there's a way. And so hundred lines
in three hundred dollars in gas money on lawn Moore
number two because the first free be broke down and
(19:58):
you say, I'm going to turn this into an organization, Well,
I mean that's kind of bold.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Well I didn't know it would become an organization. It
just I guess you could say, just encouraging kids, because
some parents were reaching out saying, can my son join?
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Can my son join?
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Join you? So at the time, so you had parents, Yeah,
a few parents, like one or two parents. They wanted
to get the kids to come out and move with me.
I remember one lady. I was mooing. It's like this
is like lorn eighty. She's like, I want my son
to come out to move with you. And this is
just when I was moving as Rodney Smith.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
How old of a kid did we talking about?
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Probably like fourteen fifteen, maybe there's.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
A triple body. Yeah, I used to get out from
behind the couch, get off the video games, get some
exercise exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
And yeah, I remember she was one of the first
to want her kid to come out and MO with
me was a fat No, really, no, it's just regular kids.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
All these kids these days sitting on the couches are fat,
drink too much kool aid, and watch too many video
game as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah, but yeah, just regular kid. She just wanted to
get out and get back to the community.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, And so I said, okay, And that's when I.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Would be a better story if it's fat.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
And and that's when I am trying to come up
with a name for it.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
You know, an for whatever exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
And I went to this website called custom Inc. The
T shirt website what custom Inc. And you can make
T shirts on there, and they have a bunch of
templates and different vectors. So I just typed in lawnmower,
typed in law more so see what it looked like
on a T shirt. And then different things with lawnmowers
(21:41):
came up. And that's when I came across this right here,
just that.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
What this right here is is for those listening, it's
it's called raising men lawn care and it is a
it's a takeoff of the image of what's the word
I'm looking for. It's a takeoff of the image of evolutions.
(22:07):
It's take off the image of evolution. And it's a
baby crawling, then what gooks to be a six or
seven year old, and then a fourteen or fifteen year old,
and then a grown man, and then a man pushing
a lawnmar and that kind of triangular looking thing. And
it's raising men lng care service. And so clearly, as
(22:30):
I'm looking at that image, I'm understanding that now you're
not just concerned with cutting people's laws who need it,
who are disadvantaged, but you see as an opportunity to
get kids and mentor kids to learn to do something
for someone other than themselves.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
And that was in other words, to adopt your compassion.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah, and just give back, just help people. So this
is I just saw this this at first, and then
as soon as I say so that the idea raising
men came up.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
So I had two ideas.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
It was either raising men or raising kings. I don't
know know why I keep like men better exactly. So
I gave this idea to a girl and said, what
do you like a bytter raising men or raising kings?
He said, raising men. So that's kept raising men. And
then I came up with a tech name giving back
to the community. And that's how I came up with
(23:26):
the idea of the organization's name.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And then but at this time, you've really only cut
a hundred lawns and have a couple of kids whose
mom sent them out to work with you. Yeah, I mean,
at this time, you're just you're still playing with the idea. Yeah. Right,
So now you got your T shirt, Now you got
your logo, now you got your name. Yeah, got one
hundred lawns cut, We got a couple of kids off
(23:52):
the couch, trying to teach them how to give back.
And then what happens the following.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Year, So twenty sixteen January twenty sixteen, it was when
it firstly officially started a kid's card coming up. The
first kid was named Ethan. No, his mom wanted to
come out. You know, he's a little chubby guy, and oh, very.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Eventually, but you.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Know, Ethan was first kid to come out and his
mom I remember he's about twelve thirteen at the time.
I remember when got to the lawn, his mom pulled
up with him in the car. She said she had
to force him to get up that morning. I guess
he's lazy and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Because he's fat breaking because he's been playing video games
all night.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Yeah, so we got Ethan out and drink. Yeah, and
they gave birth to a few other kids to follow
his footsteps in the community.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Really. Yeah, we'll be right back. So how many lawns
did you and these kids that you're mentoring end up
(25:07):
cutting that next year?
Speaker 1 (25:10):
I can't keep counk but about It's hard. Hard to say.
It's cutting in between classes still, of course, and the
weekends with the kids.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Are you going to class smelling like gasoline and covered
and grass? Oh? Oh yeah, nobody wanted to sit next
to you. Mane.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
It's all right. But yeah, I remember going class people
saying were you just come from? I met most of
the lawns.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
What's it look like? I've been cutting some grass.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
I would have a dormal T shirt on and sweatpants
and a New York huad and go cut grass.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
All right, So let's fast forward to twenty seventeen. In
twenty seventeen you had from Ethan and mister Brown and
this idea. You ended up with one hundred and fifty
(26:09):
kids mowing lawns in seven different states. Yeah, how do
you do that? There's only one of you. You can't
be all over the place with one hundred and fifty
kids cutting grass. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
So so sixteen it started, and then eventually around May
twenty sixteen, we went viral on the internet for what
we were doing in Huntsville.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
People. The story is getting around.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Yeah, the story went hirah. Remember so one particular post,
we was at a lawn mowing like six hundred likes
for some reason that they mowing had six hundred likes.
What's doing? Something is happening, Something is happening. And then
(26:50):
by the next Loran it was like at a thousand
something likes.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Wow, by the.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
End of the night was at two one hundred and
fifty thousand likes.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Two hundred and fifty thousand.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Yeah, and by the end of the night the next
day it was at almost a million likes.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Because you're cutting some grass.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Cutting some grass, and because each loan we do, we
cut the grass and shure the story like sure, we
take a picture of the horme owner. Yeah, and then
we moved mister example, mister Brown's lawn, you know. And
then every time we do a loan we post it
and then yeah, so that this one particular post went
viral and today it has like four million likes, and
(27:28):
every every year, about three or four times each each year,
it will go viral again and people will see that
and then we'll donate. So it comes comes in handy
when it comes to organization. But and then eventually a
lady by the name of Shannon, she lived in Richita, Kansas.
And a lady by the name of Lorii, she lived
in Marion, Ohio.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Shanna, stop stop Kansas and Ohio, Bro, you're in Huntsville.
Are you still taking classes?
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Okay, so Ohio and Kansas call you up and say yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
So Shannon had us son by the name Andre. Laurie
had a son, a grandson by the name of Quentin,
and they saw what we were doing Huntsville because they
went viral and they wanted to get their kids involved.
So they gave me the idea right on the spot.
Say look, if your son and grandson can move fifty
lawns I'll come out there and get them a brand
new more.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Who are you gonna get the money for the mower?
Speaker 1 (28:22):
I don't know, but if they do it, yeah yeah.
So something just told me give them a challenge him
and we sent them the T shirts.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Because so you really did you just threw down the gauntlets.
I'll tell you what if you're for real, yeah, because
you do fifty, I'll I'll come meet you in person.
I'll drive my car in person and give you a
long one. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
And because when we first started the organization in Huntsville,
every ten loans kids will get a different colored T shirt.
So they start with a white T shirt. It's like
charter Boat. Once they moved ten wants to get an
orange shirt, twenty a green, dirty of blue, and forty
of red, and fifty yearns a black T shirt and
then you know they literally like karate bell exactly. And
they've finished the program for their kids in Huntsville. But
(29:06):
when there's two people from Ohio and uh in Kansas,
they said they want to get their kids involved. I said, look,
you guys do that, I'll come out and give you
a brand new lawnmower. And that gave birth to something
we call the fifty yard Challenge, and today we have
a four thousand plus kids nationwide taking part in this
fifty yard challenge, and we have at least one kid.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
And you say a thousand kids have done fifty yards.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
That's twenty some thousand loans. But that's how many kids
on the program right now taking part in the fifty
yard challenge. So if all four thousand completed, that's twenty
something thousand loans moved for free.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
That's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
I know.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Okay, So how do the kids find the lawns to
go cut? How does that work?
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Yeah, so we leave it up to the kids to
find the people that move on and we found that
that gets them to get out in their community and
meet people they probably normally wouldn't have met, and built
friendships and relationships with different people.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
So you don't you don't use your social media account
to direct the kids to lawns to people that need
their lawns, Scott. You make them do their own outreach.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Do the own outreach, and do kids make signs that
go on doors. I'm going to fifty yard challenge. I'm
more in free lawns. Can I more your laws for free?
And the meeting people you know they normally wouldn't have met,
and they're starting friendships relationships. But there are times when
you know, people come to us saying, oh, I live
in Texas, I live in Arizona. Oh, my parents lives here.
(30:38):
And the struggle with the lawn do you have a
kid in in the area that can help more? That happens,
and if we're able to connect a kid and a
person that way, we do. But otherwisean that we leave
it out to the kids to get out there and
take it.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
So I just dawned on me. These kids are often
thirteen or fourteen years old, you want to cut free lawns.
Do their parents end up sometimes driving across town?
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Yeah, so that it becomes a parent too exactly. And
we recently last two or three years. So when the
kids finished and they get the black T shirts, the
parents get their T shirts as well, because.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
They invested in their kids.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
They invested, they invested their in kids to do that.
And if it wasn't for the parent, a lot of
these kids probably wouldn't have got to those lawns. So
it's it's a team effort. And there's grandparents that even
take their kids around, and we're finding that listening getting
the feedback from the grandparents and the parents saying that
when they're taking their kids to these lawns, they're bonding,
they're spending that quality time together because otherwise they might
(31:36):
have been inside just playing video games. But now they're
taking the kid around, they're meeting people in their community,
they're bonding strong.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Well. Plus it I don't know. I worked hard with
my four children, but I can't tell you how many
times I meet kids that I think are just damn
near anti social. Yeah. I mean, they're seventy eight, that
their interaction is behind a computer screen or or a
stupid iPhone and they don't even know how to go
(32:06):
out look somebody in the eye and shake their hand.
And maybe I'm old school. No, I know I'm old school,
but I still think you need to be able to
interact personally with people. And so this also is giving
those kids a chance to go learn how to speak
to people, approach a stranger, speak to people, and look
them in the eye, and act like they got some
(32:27):
sense rather than just a robot sitting behind a computer screen.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
Yeah, it's stuff like that, and it's beneficial for these
kids to get out there.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
And so I mean, we're benefiting people that need grass
cut benefits so women learning.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Yeah, so it's win for the people that were helping
and also for the kids and the parents and the
parents and the grandparents. So it's a it's a win win,
and the idea is to keep ruining it and eventually
put like the Big Brothers, a big citizens organization where
we can have chapters in each state and then get
more kids and all.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
This from the simple effort of cutting grass. It's just
such a reminder that you don't have to be a
concert pianist or a no ballet or whatever. Pick some
discipline and go into the inner city and teach kids
(33:23):
all this stuff. You don't have to have that those
disciplines to be able to make a massive different You
can make a massive difference with something as simple it's
cutting grass.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
And people come to me all the time and saying, well,
I had the same idea, asking what happened. I don't
know it. And that's the thing. People people think you
need a bunch of stuff to get started. You don't.
You just need to start, like I figured out along
the way, like.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
You never won't get there if you don't take the.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Exactly you have to take the first step. Don't worry
about how you're going to get just take the first step.
Just take it, and then everything will.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
For him too and for you. The first step was
walking up speaking to mister Brown. Yeah, phenomenal. That concludes
Part one of our conversation with Rodney Smith Jr. And
I hope you'll listen to Part two that's now available
(34:22):
as this dude is as inspiring and genuine as it gets.
But if you don't, make sure you join the Army
of Normal Folks at normal Folks dot us and sign
up to become a member of our movement. By signing up,
you'll receive a weekly email with short episode summaries in
case you happen to miss an episode or if you
(34:43):
prefer reading about our incredible guests. Together, y'all, we can
change this country, and it starts with you. I'll see
in part two.
Leaving school, senior of college. And it came across as
elderly man outside moving his lawn, and it looked like
he was struggling.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
And I don't why do you look like he was struggling.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
It was a hot sunny day, and you could just
tell that. You look like he's taking breaks in between
pushing and the stopping, pushing and stopping.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
And I'm driving home and you say this, yeah, And
I just.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Pulled over and helped him. But it was at that
moment I realized that a few years before that I
asked God to use me as his vessel and he
didn't give me answer at all, but it felt at
that moment and I came across the elderly man, he
was like, I was preparing you for that, this movement
right here. I pulled over, helped him out, and that
once more, the conness would eventually change my life forever.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Welcome to an army of normal folks. I'm built coordinating,
I'm normal guy. I'm a husband, I'm a father, I'm
an entrepreneur, and I've been a football coach in inner
city Memphis. And the last part unintentionally led to an
oscar for the film about our team. It's called undefeated.
I believe our country's problems will never be solved by
(01:17):
a bunch of fancy people and nice suits talking big
words that nobody understands on CNN and Fox, but rather
by an army of normal folks, US, just you and
me deciding hey, I can help. That's what Rodney Smith Junior,
the voice we just heard, has done. Rodney grew up
with a learning disability in Jamaica, and a teacher once
(01:40):
told him that he really would never amount to much.
But Rodney persevered. He found teachers who did believe in him.
He made it to college in Huntsville, Alabama, and his
one single act of love for an elderly man he
didn't even know inspired him to commit more acts of love.
(02:00):
And the next thing you know, He's got a nonprofit
called Raising Men and Women lawn Care Service that's inspired
four thousand kids to take what he calls the fifty
yard challenge to mow lawns for people in need and
get this part for free. That's two hundred thousand lawns.
(02:21):
I cannot wait for you to meet Rodney right after
these brief messages from our generals sponsors. Now, let's return
(02:44):
to Rodney on his first act of kindness at the
very beginning of helping one elderly man.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
That night, I went to Facebook and I told him
about my experience that day of helping this elder man.
And I want to start moving free loans for the elderly, disabled,
singaparents and veterans in Huntsville, Obama. And I made that
post and I tell people, at first, I'd have a lawnmower.
So the first ten loans that I don't going to do,
you know, at least have a lawnmower so I can
(03:15):
just move a lawn.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Well, let's let's get back to that first time you're
driving down the street and you see this old man
pushing a lawn more and he's taking a break between
each steps, and you've just felt for him. I mean,
do you know how many people we pass every day
struggling cutting grass or doing some housework, And I mean,
(03:38):
that's their house, that's their problem. Yeah, what made you
pull over?
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Just the feeling that that feeling I had to pull over,
that feeling God telling me do something. You know, that
was the beginning of my book. I believe you know,
everyone has it, So.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
You pull over yeah, and you get out of the
car and you walk up to this guy in his
front yard. Yeah, welk up to and all right, well,
he must have been thinking, yeah, this dude about to
come still my lawnmower. He's got to be looking at
you like you're half crazy.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Of course, and at first, you know, you he's like, no,
it's I'm okay, I'll get it done. But eventually, you know,
he let me. He said, what he will get it done.
You know, he get it done. And but eventually, you know,
after talking to him, you know, he let me finish
the law and form And what did you say to him?
Just saying, sir, you know it's real hot out here.
He's an oulderly man, mister Brown, the olderly man.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
His name was mister Brown. Mister Brown.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah, in this seven years or so, you know, seven
years old in the hot summer. Yeah, that's that's that's rough.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
That's rough.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
And I said, please let me finish. I'm not gonna leave.
And to let me finish, you know, I was persistent.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
And I just how long did it take?
Speaker 1 (04:47):
You take me?
Speaker 2 (04:49):
No time? In twenty minutes?
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yea, about twenty minutes for him. Yeah, And it's that
feeling you get, you know, helping someone, and that started everything.
That's small. If I never would have came across that
elder man, I probably would have finished stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Exactly. So you came across mister Brown and you had
some compassion for him, and you walked up and said, hey,
let me finish your grass for you. Looks like you're struggling.
Why didn't he have somebody cut it for him?
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I'm not sure. Probably couldn't ask him, but probably couldn't afford.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
It was this, Uh, this wasn't an overly nice house.
I don't guess.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yeah, I mean it was. You know you could tell that,
you know, he's struggling a little bit.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, And so you cut his grass. Yeah that was it.
And you go home and you just said that once
you got home, you you felt moved by the experience exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
I felt inspired and I felt I needed to do
something more. And it just made a post on Facebook.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
And so you made a post on Facebook. What did
it say? I'm Rodney, I'm gonna cut your grass and
just let me know. I mean what I mean, Rodney,
do you just really did you grow up loving? No?
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And that's the funny thing, you know, growing up, I
hated moving lawns. I hated it.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
You hated moa lawns as a kid. Yeah, so you
pull over and volunteer to cut some other man's law.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Exactly, it is because.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Your mom and dad. I'd be mad at to fight
you my whole life to get you cut the grass.
And you're doing this man's off for nothing.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
It's crazy. All my life work. God took something I
dislike and turned to something I love to do, and
I do it every single day for free.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
No. So you made a post on Facebook.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
And so just explaining my experience that day about moving
for the elderly man, and I'm going to move free
loans now for anyone in need in the community. And
that's whole.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
And what what was the demographic of the people that
you were willing to cut grass for?
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yes? So anyone elderly, disabled, a single parent, or a veteran.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Or a veteran yes, really Yeah, what I get elderly
who maybe can't afford it or don't can't do it physically.
The disabled just speaks for itself. And then you said
single parents, single parents, Yeah, And then but veterans, I
(07:09):
mean some are certainly disabled, but they fall under disabled
and all that, But why specifically veterans.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Because you know, I've realized you men coming up with
the groups to move for who can benefit from this?
And I just thought, you know, veterans have put their
lives on the line for this country, and it's only
right that we serve them and give back whichever way
we can.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
And I love to hear that. But Bermuda's your country,
the U States is not.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
I understand that. Yeah, but I've realized, you know, I've
come across veterans during my time and just realize the
importance of veterans. So that's that's one of the reasons
why I picked them.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
You know, Ronnie, something that strikes me as I'm talking
to you, buddy, there's compassion that uses out of you.
Where does that compassion comes from? And I have a
I you know, I could be off base, but I'm
going to say it. I think if you grow up
(08:07):
the way you grew up, struggling academically and ending up
having to leave your family to work on your disability
to overcome your own challenges, my sense is that that
experience helps you to understand the plight of others better
(08:29):
than maybe somebody who hadn't experienced that much difficulty. And
as I hear you just this early in our conversation,
it's just not many twenty something year old people think
about I want to do something for the elderly. I
want to do something for our veterans, the veterans of
(08:50):
a country that I live in now that I love,
even though it's not my own country. I mean, where
do you think this compassion comes from in your heart?
I think I was brought up, you know, really tell
me about that.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
You know, parents always telling me get back when you can,
And I remember growing up and there were times where
you used to feed the humeless. You know, my dad
would take us to give out soup and stuff like
that and crack us.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Off the chair. Mother and father wealthy or.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
No, no, not wealthy at all. But there's something that's
just instilled in us growing up. I just remember, I
think it was in winter times you used to do that,
give out soup and stuff like that. And being brought
up in a church, you know.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
You're obviously a man of faith.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah yeah, but at that point of life, you know,
I wasn't strict about faith, but I just know if
you pray about something you know, God will show you,
will lead you, lead you the way he wants you
to go. And some just told me pray that night,
and you know, just changed my life. I don't I
can't explain it. It's one of those things like just
(09:56):
it just happened.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
So you post on Facebook, hey I just got this
dude mister Brown's yard. He almost shot me, but we
worked it out. And if you're disabled, single, elderly, or
veteran and you're struggling getting your yawn done, I'll come
cut it for you. Yeah, you just put it out there. Now.
(10:18):
I'm going to tell you something. In this world, when
you see something like that, you wonder if it's a scam,
you know, because there's always somebody sending out something on
email or Facebook or text or Instagram or whatever that says, hey,
you've won a free so and so, and you always
think what's the catch, right, And so some dudes saying, hey,
(10:40):
I just got this guy's yard. I want to cut
free people's yards. At first, I got to believe some
of that was met with some level of skepticism from
some people.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Yeah, I mean, of course.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
But you had some takers. Yeah, I mean, who is
the next one. Do you remember the very next one?
Speaker 1 (10:56):
I don't remember the very next one. It might have
been this lady, miss miss Hatch. It could have been
hurt because I still more her lawn today, but I
can't remember this.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
You're still more lawn today? How many years later?
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Seven years later?
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Okay? So you had people reach out and say, I'm elderly,
I'm disabled. My lawns a mess. I would love for
you to come mow with for free. Did you have
a lawnmower?
Speaker 1 (11:22):
No? At first I didn't have a lawnmore.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
So, so how you're going to cut their grass on?
Speaker 1 (11:26):
The requirement was is they had a lawnmore then, after
a while, I think off like the tenth lawn the
man got high. So that's when I went to Craigslist
and I was looking for a second hand lawnmower.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
So you were going to buy one, yeah, in order
to go cut people's lawns for free. Yeah, And you
realize this business is going in a negative direction on
the profit law state. My brother, now, I wasn't.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
It was I I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
So so you go to craigslist to you're going to
try to scrounge up and cheap used.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Lawnmower exactly, and I came across one for one hundred dollars.
I'm still looking for this guy to give it to
me today.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
One hundred dollars for a senior in college that's from
Bermuda whose parents aren't particularly wealthy. They're not hurting, but
theyor wealthy. I'm a hundred dollars a lot of money.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah, it's a lot of money, and but this is
something I wanted to do. So I went to Craiglist
and I came across one foe hundred dollars and I
wrote the guy. I told him what I wanted to do,
and he ended up giving it to me for free.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
He just gave you the long gave me the law more.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
I shook his head. I said, you're for real, shook
his hand. I'm trying to I go back on my
emails and stuff, trying to find that ood message from
way back then, just to find them, to thank him
and to show him how far if it wasn't for him,
you know, it could be in a different direction.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
And I can't don't even know who this guy is.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
I can't find his name. I can't find.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
If you are the guy, if you're listening to this show,
and you gave a goofy twenty something year old dude
in Huntsville a lawnmoard that he said he was going
to cut lawns for free with Please get in touch
with us because Rodney would like to thank you. Okay, there,
that was a public service announcement for you. Maybe maybe
(13:16):
we'll hear from them and now a few messages from
our general sponsors. But first, we're now offering premium memberships
for the Army of Normal Folks for ten bucks a month.
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(13:36):
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(14:00):
But the truth is we're trying to grow the Army
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(14:20):
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(14:42):
Premium if you're down to help. If not, just keep listening.
We'll be right back. You're on about lawn ten at
(15:07):
this time, right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Long ten, and the lawnmower was a green The brand
was called weed Eater.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
You got green weed eater?
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Yeah, amore, Yeah, started using that and then that broke down.
So I took it to a took it to.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
A hard to gripe about a free lawnmower right down,
took it to a much warranty left it, I guess.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
So I took it to a mechanic trying to get
a fixed and they were taking forever to fix it,
and then someone donated me a brand new more Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Where did that come from? Just off Facebook?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah, people just show what I was doing. One lady
that I moved for, she she tricked me, said, can
you come home my lawn? She had the news, had
a segment, had a segment people doing good in the community,
and I'm just moving a lawn. She's a disabled lady.
And I saw the news drive up. Why are they
(16:01):
driving and they just pop out.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Start interviewing, Yeah, what's going on.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
I'm cutting this.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
I'm cutting some grass here.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I'm cutting in between class and the news is coming.
I have to go back to class. I go to time.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
I don't have time for your news things. Yeah, and
you're telling me you're still a student this time, and
in between your nine and eleven you're rolling out in
your car and cutting grass real quick and going back
to class. Exactly, you are absolutely committed to cutting lawns.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Oh nothing, yeah, yeah. And then they give me three
hundred dollars. Did the news.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
They gave you three hundred dollars? Yeah? What four?
Speaker 1 (16:41):
There is a segment more No, the segment that they have.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
I say, oh, it's like giving giving back. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
So they find out what I was doing, and they
shared my story and you know, so what you do
at the three.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Hundred bucks use it for guys for lawnmowers.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Okay, so Rodney, Yeah, this is crazy. So you're cutting
lawnmowers in between class, trying to graduate, having overcome a
learning disability, and clearly not making anything for yourself. Rodney,
and how many? And I've read somewhere that you challenge
(17:19):
yourself to do a certain amount of lawns Yeah, it
was a hunt by what Christmas? Is? That? What it
was like?
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Sixty and then I reached sixty so fast that I'm
gonna going to one hundred a month and a half
later reading one hundred flooring and then after reaching one
hundred floor That's been the idea of the organization CAMPBO.
So I just a just moving as.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Right, jump ahead, Let's just get to the let's just
get to the ok you're going to class. Do you
have a job that you actually make money with?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
So international students you can work?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
So because you're not an American citizen, yeah, have a
green card? You're you're here on as an education visa, yes,
student visa. Okay, so you're honest, you're a student visa.
So you can't even work and you're literally going to
class probably getting by on pennies and nickels, yourself cutting
(18:09):
yawns in between class. Yeah, and from the day you
met mister Brown up to Christmas, you challenge yourself to
cut one hundred free lawns for people who desperately needed it,
and you achieved the goal.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Yeah, so I've actually reached my gool, like in November,
sometime before Christmas, of course. But yeah, that's how, that's how.
That's a story, how it all started.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
That's how it started. And then from there you started
thinking other people can do this or what I mean?
What was There's one thing to go out and do
something really kind and gracious and compassionate like you're doing,
all right, it's another thing to say I can turn
this into a movement. I mean, especially for a kid
(18:53):
with learning disability who'll never mounted anything. What gave you
the temerity, the the courage to think that you could
actually make this into something? And I keep saying the
learning disability, and I keep saying the Bermuda thing, and
I keep saying you didn't have a green card and
all of the things, because I want to emphasize there
(19:17):
are people every day born in this country with all
the features, advantages and benefits of being an American that
make all kinds of excuses why they can't overcome something.
And then there's you, Rodney, which is special. And I
(19:37):
keep emphasizing who you are and where you came from,
because I think you're a walking embodiment of if you've
got the will, there's a way. And so hundred lines
in three hundred dollars in gas money on lawn Moore
number two because the first free be broke down and
(19:58):
you say, I'm going to turn this into an organization, Well,
I mean that's kind of bold.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Well I didn't know it would become an organization. It
just I guess you could say, just encouraging kids, because
some parents were reaching out saying, can my son join?
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Can my son join?
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Join you? So at the time, so you had parents, Yeah,
a few parents, like one or two parents. They wanted
to get the kids to come out and move with me.
I remember one lady. I was mooing. It's like this
is like lorn eighty. She's like, I want my son
to come out to move with you. And this is
just when I was moving as Rodney Smith.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
How old of a kid did we talking about?
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Probably like fourteen fifteen, maybe there's.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
A triple body. Yeah, I used to get out from
behind the couch, get off the video games, get some
exercise exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
And yeah, I remember she was one of the first
to want her kid to come out and MO with
me was a fat No, really, no, it's just regular kids.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
All these kids these days sitting on the couches are fat,
drink too much kool aid, and watch too many video
game as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah, but yeah, just regular kid. She just wanted to
get out and get back to the community.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, And so I said, okay, And that's when I.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Would be a better story if it's fat.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
And and that's when I am trying to come up
with a name for it.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
You know, an for whatever exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
And I went to this website called custom Inc. The
T shirt website what custom Inc. And you can make
T shirts on there, and they have a bunch of
templates and different vectors. So I just typed in lawnmower,
typed in law more so see what it looked like
on a T shirt. And then different things with lawnmowers
(21:41):
came up. And that's when I came across this right here,
just that.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
What this right here is is for those listening, it's
it's called raising men lawn care and it is a
it's a takeoff of the image of what's the word
I'm looking for. It's a takeoff of the image of evolutions.
(22:07):
It's take off the image of evolution. And it's a
baby crawling, then what gooks to be a six or
seven year old, and then a fourteen or fifteen year old,
and then a grown man, and then a man pushing
a lawnmar and that kind of triangular looking thing. And
it's raising men lng care service. And so clearly, as
(22:30):
I'm looking at that image, I'm understanding that now you're
not just concerned with cutting people's laws who need it,
who are disadvantaged, but you see as an opportunity to
get kids and mentor kids to learn to do something
for someone other than themselves.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
And that was in other words, to adopt your compassion.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah, and just give back, just help people. So this
is I just saw this this at first, and then
as soon as I say so that the idea raising
men came up.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
So I had two ideas.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
It was either raising men or raising kings. I don't
know know why I keep like men better exactly. So
I gave this idea to a girl and said, what
do you like a bytter raising men or raising kings?
He said, raising men. So that's kept raising men. And
then I came up with a tech name giving back
to the community. And that's how I came up with
(23:26):
the idea of the organization's name.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And then but at this time, you've really only cut
a hundred lawns and have a couple of kids whose
mom sent them out to work with you. Yeah, I mean,
at this time, you're just you're still playing with the idea. Yeah. Right,
So now you got your T shirt, Now you got
your logo, now you got your name. Yeah, got one
hundred lawns cut, We got a couple of kids off
(23:52):
the couch, trying to teach them how to give back.
And then what happens the following.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Year, So twenty sixteen January twenty sixteen, it was when
it firstly officially started a kid's card coming up. The
first kid was named Ethan. No, his mom wanted to
come out. You know, he's a little chubby guy, and oh, very.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Eventually, but you.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Know, Ethan was first kid to come out and his
mom I remember he's about twelve thirteen at the time.
I remember when got to the lawn, his mom pulled
up with him in the car. She said she had
to force him to get up that morning. I guess
he's lazy and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Because he's fat breaking because he's been playing video games
all night.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Yeah, so we got Ethan out and drink. Yeah, and
they gave birth to a few other kids to follow
his footsteps in the community.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Really. Yeah, we'll be right back. So how many lawns
did you and these kids that you're mentoring end up
(25:07):
cutting that next year?
Speaker 1 (25:10):
I can't keep counk but about It's hard. Hard to say.
It's cutting in between classes still, of course, and the
weekends with the kids.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Are you going to class smelling like gasoline and covered
and grass? Oh? Oh yeah, nobody wanted to sit next
to you. Mane.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
It's all right. But yeah, I remember going class people
saying were you just come from? I met most of
the lawns.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
What's it look like? I've been cutting some grass.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
I would have a dormal T shirt on and sweatpants
and a New York huad and go cut grass.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
All right, So let's fast forward to twenty seventeen. In
twenty seventeen you had from Ethan and mister Brown and
this idea. You ended up with one hundred and fifty
(26:09):
kids mowing lawns in seven different states. Yeah, how do
you do that? There's only one of you. You can't
be all over the place with one hundred and fifty
kids cutting grass. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
So so sixteen it started, and then eventually around May
twenty sixteen, we went viral on the internet for what
we were doing in Huntsville.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
People. The story is getting around.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Yeah, the story went hirah. Remember so one particular post,
we was at a lawn mowing like six hundred likes
for some reason that they mowing had six hundred likes.
What's doing? Something is happening, Something is happening. And then
(26:50):
by the next Loran it was like at a thousand
something likes.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Wow, by the.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
End of the night was at two one hundred and
fifty thousand likes.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Two hundred and fifty thousand.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Yeah, and by the end of the night the next
day it was at almost a million likes.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Because you're cutting some grass.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Cutting some grass, and because each loan we do, we
cut the grass and shure the story like sure, we
take a picture of the horme owner. Yeah, and then
we moved mister example, mister Brown's lawn, you know. And
then every time we do a loan we post it
and then yeah, so that this one particular post went
viral and today it has like four million likes, and
(27:28):
every every year, about three or four times each each year,
it will go viral again and people will see that
and then we'll donate. So it comes comes in handy
when it comes to organization. But and then eventually a
lady by the name of Shannon, she lived in Richita, Kansas.
And a lady by the name of Lorii, she lived
in Marion, Ohio.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Shanna, stop stop Kansas and Ohio, Bro, you're in Huntsville.
Are you still taking classes?
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Okay, so Ohio and Kansas call you up and say yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
So Shannon had us son by the name Andre. Laurie
had a son, a grandson by the name of Quentin,
and they saw what we were doing Huntsville because they
went viral and they wanted to get their kids involved.
So they gave me the idea right on the spot.
Say look, if your son and grandson can move fifty
lawns I'll come out there and get them a brand
new more.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Who are you gonna get the money for the mower?
Speaker 1 (28:22):
I don't know, but if they do it, yeah yeah.
So something just told me give them a challenge him
and we sent them the T shirts.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Because so you really did you just threw down the gauntlets.
I'll tell you what if you're for real, yeah, because
you do fifty, I'll I'll come meet you in person.
I'll drive my car in person and give you a
long one. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
And because when we first started the organization in Huntsville,
every ten loans kids will get a different colored T shirt.
So they start with a white T shirt. It's like
charter Boat. Once they moved ten wants to get an
orange shirt, twenty a green, dirty of blue, and forty
of red, and fifty yearns a black T shirt and
then you know they literally like karate bell exactly. And
they've finished the program for their kids in Huntsville. But
(29:06):
when there's two people from Ohio and uh in Kansas,
they said they want to get their kids involved. I said, look,
you guys do that, I'll come out and give you
a brand new lawnmower. And that gave birth to something
we call the fifty yard Challenge, and today we have
a four thousand plus kids nationwide taking part in this
fifty yard challenge, and we have at least one kid.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
And you say a thousand kids have done fifty yards.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
That's twenty some thousand loans. But that's how many kids
on the program right now taking part in the fifty
yard challenge. So if all four thousand completed, that's twenty
something thousand loans moved for free.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
That's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
I know.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Okay, So how do the kids find the lawns to
go cut? How does that work?
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Yeah, so we leave it up to the kids to
find the people that move on and we found that
that gets them to get out in their community and
meet people they probably normally wouldn't have met, and built
friendships and relationships with different people.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
So you don't you don't use your social media account
to direct the kids to lawns to people that need
their lawns, Scott. You make them do their own outreach.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Do the own outreach, and do kids make signs that
go on doors. I'm going to fifty yard challenge. I'm
more in free lawns. Can I more your laws for free?
And the meeting people you know they normally wouldn't have met,
and they're starting friendships relationships. But there are times when
you know, people come to us saying, oh, I live
in Texas, I live in Arizona. Oh, my parents lives here.
(30:38):
And the struggle with the lawn do you have a
kid in in the area that can help more? That happens,
and if we're able to connect a kid and a
person that way, we do. But otherwisean that we leave
it out to the kids to get out there and
take it.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
So I just dawned on me. These kids are often
thirteen or fourteen years old, you want to cut free lawns.
Do their parents end up sometimes driving across town?
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Yeah, so that it becomes a parent too exactly. And
we recently last two or three years. So when the
kids finished and they get the black T shirts, the
parents get their T shirts as well, because.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
They invested in their kids.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
They invested, they invested their in kids to do that.
And if it wasn't for the parent, a lot of
these kids probably wouldn't have got to those lawns. So
it's it's a team effort. And there's grandparents that even
take their kids around, and we're finding that listening getting
the feedback from the grandparents and the parents saying that
when they're taking their kids to these lawns, they're bonding,
they're spending that quality time together because otherwise they might
(31:36):
have been inside just playing video games. But now they're
taking the kid around, they're meeting people in their community,
they're bonding strong.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Well. Plus it I don't know. I worked hard with
my four children, but I can't tell you how many
times I meet kids that I think are just damn
near anti social. Yeah. I mean, they're seventy eight, that
their interaction is behind a computer screen or or a
stupid iPhone and they don't even know how to go
(32:06):
out look somebody in the eye and shake their hand.
And maybe I'm old school. No, I know I'm old school,
but I still think you need to be able to
interact personally with people. And so this also is giving
those kids a chance to go learn how to speak
to people, approach a stranger, speak to people, and look
them in the eye, and act like they got some
(32:27):
sense rather than just a robot sitting behind a computer screen.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
Yeah, it's stuff like that, and it's beneficial for these
kids to get out there.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
And so I mean, we're benefiting people that need grass
cut benefits so women learning.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Yeah, so it's win for the people that were helping
and also for the kids and the parents and the
parents and the grandparents. So it's a it's a win win,
and the idea is to keep ruining it and eventually
put like the Big Brothers, a big citizens organization where
we can have chapters in each state and then get
more kids and all.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
This from the simple effort of cutting grass. It's just
such a reminder that you don't have to be a
concert pianist or a no ballet or whatever. Pick some
discipline and go into the inner city and teach kids
(33:23):
all this stuff. You don't have to have that those
disciplines to be able to make a massive different You
can make a massive difference with something as simple it's
cutting grass.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
And people come to me all the time and saying, well,
I had the same idea, asking what happened. I don't
know it. And that's the thing. People people think you
need a bunch of stuff to get started. You don't.
You just need to start, like I figured out along
the way, like.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
You never won't get there if you don't take the.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Exactly you have to take the first step. Don't worry
about how you're going to get just take the first step.
Just take it, and then everything will.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
For him too and for you. The first step was
walking up speaking to mister Brown. Yeah, phenomenal. That concludes
Part one of our conversation with Rodney Smith Jr. And
I hope you'll listen to Part two that's now available
(34:22):
as this dude is as inspiring and genuine as it gets.
But if you don't, make sure you join the Army
of Normal Folks at normal Folks dot us and sign
up to become a member of our movement. By signing up,
you'll receive a weekly email with short episode summaries in
case you happen to miss an episode or if you
(34:43):
prefer reading about our incredible guests. Together, y'all, we can
change this country, and it starts with you. I'll see
in part two.
Host
Bill Courtney
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