July 8, 2025 • 42 mins
Nicole Spencer has built a life around movement—not just as a runner, but as a nonprofit leader, coach, and now founder of Apex Strategy Partners. In this episode, she shares how a simple love of running became a tool for healing, leadership, and impact.
From organizing a 275-mile relay from Ground Zero to Cape Cod, to raising hundreds of thousands for veterans, to helping small organizations find their footing—Nicole shows us what it means to lead with heart. Her story is a reminder that in a noisy, complex world, purpose doesn’t have to be complicated.
Sometimes it just starts with putting on your shoes and walking out the door.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
In a world that feels more overwhelming by the day,
with big problems, brokensystems, too much noise, it's
easy to feel small, like nothingyou do really matters, but then
someone comes along and remindsus making an impact doesn't
have to be complicated.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I knew I wanted to help women get into the sport of
running, and that's kind ofwhat I did.
I said grab a pair of shoes, apair of socks and I'll meet you
somewhere and we'll get started.
So share your experiences withother people so you can make
this world a better place.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
That's today's guest, nicole Spencer, a runner,
nonprofit leader and now founderof Apex Strategy Partners.
She's led 275-mile relays forveterans, raised hundreds of
thousands for local causes andbuilt teams that kept giving
long after she's moved on.
Her story is a powerfulreminder that one person moving
with purpose can do more than wethink.
Got a great show for you today.
(00:49):
You think you'll find itrefreshing.
So take a deep breath, grab acup of coffee, sit back, relax
and welcome to Monkey BusinessRadio.
Hello everyone, welcome toMonkey Business Radio.
I'm Chris Collins.
I'm here with my businesspartner and good friend, dennis
(01:09):
Siggins, cape Cod Gutter Monkeys.
Hello Dennis.
Hey Chris, how are you?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
doing Good, I'm doing good.
You've been away for a littlewhile.
I miss you.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Yeah, yeah, I've been away.
I was down in Florida, texas,seeing my son, so, yeah, it was
a bit of a break for us.
But we're at episode 20, whichis kind of amazing.
We made it through 20 episodes.
That's good.
Yeah, it seems like yesterdaywe were doing the first one, so
Moneyball was our first one, buttoday we have a guest.
You always love having guestson a podcast Sure.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
One of my coworkers in my office, marianne Lally,
who's been virtually a lifelongfriend of mine we went to high
school together back in the 70s.
Her younger brother was afriend of mine she's been
telling me about this wonderfullady here in Cape Cod who's
doing some amazing things, andit's been many months.
She's been telling me aboutNicole, and Nicole's a busy girl
(01:55):
.
She's on the run, literally andfiguratively, and she landed in
our lap here about an hour agotoday.
So we have Nicole Spencer heretoday.
How you doing, nicole?
I'm doing great.
Thanks for having me today.
Thank you so much for visiting.
What a treat to have you here.
Nicole.
You're a lifelong runner andyou've used that running
personally, professionally andalso in nonprofits over the
(02:18):
years.
Tell us where it began.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Running.
It began on the track manyyears ago in high school
Sandwich.
I went to Sandwich.
I did Home of the Blue Knights.
They are still the Blue Knights.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
I think they are.
I do believe.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
And it was one of those things I started.
I wasn't sure how good I wasgoing to be.
I knew I was fast, but you knowfour years of just missing
states, or missing the bigthings, I think you know after
having my third child and mybrother being deployed to Iraq,
I needed to get back into it,but it wasn't going to be on the
(02:53):
track.
I knew that.
So who else decides to go fromhaving a baby and, eight months
later, deciding they're going torun a marathon?
I did.
I started training in May andran my first marathon in October
, and I really haven't lookedback Of what year.
So it was 2006.
She was born and I knew I had alittle bit of time to train and
I knew my first one was goingto be here on the Cape.
(03:14):
It was the Cape Cod Marathonand if you know anything about
marathons, that was not an easymarathon.
No, marathons easy.
None of them right, but miles 20to 24 in that marathon are not
fun, but I knew I had to do it.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
It was a thing and I was going to do that.
So over the years, this hastransitioned into something so
much more.
Before we went on the show here, you told us about Heroes in
Transition.
You talked about your brother,and so you used your love for
running to benefit nonprofitsand to benefit many, many people
.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
You know we talked earlier but before we got on the
air and running is one of thosesports that you need a pair of
shoes and a pair of socks.
Maybe sometimes you don't, butyou need a pair of shoes and a
pair of socks and you can go outand do it.
One of the biggest things thatwe hear all the time and all of
us sitting at the table arerunners is that I'm not a runner
.
I can't do that, and so I thinkthat was one of my biggest
(04:09):
assets to when I started mycoaching business.
When, again, my youngest was ingrade school, I knew I wanted
to help women get into the sportof running, and that's kind of
what I did.
I said grab a pair of shoes, apair of socks and I'll meet you
somewhere and we'll get started.
Running is one of those sportstoo.
(04:30):
I think that changes and,honestly, saves lives.
Dennis, you were telling meabout your story and Chris and
how the whole running industryhas changed over the years.
We were talking about the Hoytsand what the Hoyts have done for
the industry.
There are so many things, andyou know my in motion training
business.
We started a group in Mashpeefor years that ran the Cape Cod
Marathon as a relay and wehelped families in need here on
(04:50):
the Cape each year with hundredsof people that ran for Mashpee
Madness, and we just, you know,gave all the funds back to the
families for many, many yearssince 2012.
Started as a volunteer at thatorganization saved my brother's
life and I was lucky enough tobe a part of that organization
just until this last May.
It was something I'll rememberforever, but it will be in my
(05:13):
heart forever as well, and 10years ago we started our first
Ruck for Hit Relay event andthat was from Ground Zero in New
York to the Cape, and that'sreally how it started.
So, yeah, the love of runninghas turned into running to help
others, and that's really.
You know, running is one ofthose things that I don't know
that I could live without it.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, definitely true we were talking about before
saying that.
Even just if you look at, like,the amount of money I would
have spent on psychotherapy if Ihadn't had running, I don't
know.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Yeah, it's pretty amazing therapy, if I hadn't had
running, I don't know.
Yeah, it's pretty amazing.
One of the things that becamevery apparent before we turned
on the microphones was thatNicole takes on immense projects
, things that logistically seemalmost impossible.
And, nicole, you were tellingus about the first run from
ground zero to Cape Cod 220miles.
(06:04):
That one was 275.
275 miles.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
From ground zero to the Cape was 275.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
And you had 16 runners in two vans we did, and
you had police escorts from NewYork City and over the bridge
onto the Cape.
And how do you even wrap yourmind around something like that?
You're talking about three orfour states.
You're going through fourdifferent states.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
I don't think I've wrapped my head around it yet.
You just do it.
I don't know how to answer that.
Usually I'm one for words, butit was the team that we had to
this day with Heroes inTransition Ruck for Hit.
It's the team that you surroundyourself with right.
So we had those people.
At the time.
He was a chief in down Cape andhe was a police chief, and
(06:44):
that's Chief Kyle.
I still call him Chief Kyle.
He helped us get our police toescort.
We just had so many people thatwanted to help and you know,
with something of such magnitude, you have to find the people,
the helpers of the Cape Cod, ofthe state of the country.
You find the helpers and thosehelpers will do good.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Yeah, typically we see it out there too.
You see a lot of there's a lotof good people out there.
They just don't know what to do.
So you know, it's that part ofthat whole thing of asking once
you ask.
But it's hard to ask money andthat's one of my hardest thing
when I'm doing volunteer work isasking other people asking for
(07:24):
money.
I know as a kid growing up Ihated going door to door because
my neighbors would see theCollins kids coming down with
their seed boxes and I think itput in my brain this whole thing
of asking for money and askingpeople to help, like you said
before.
I think you mentioned beforethe people out there.
They want to help.
You just got to be able to askthem and you got to be good at
that and evidently you're prettygood at it because your track
record for running nonprofitorganizations and running events
(07:45):
is pretty impressive.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Thank, you for that.
Again, it's about the team.
You have to have the peoplearound you that understand what
you're doing and why you'redoing it.
And I can't tell you how manytimes in the nonprofit world
that we hear that, well, I can'tfundraise, I don't know how to.
And I always say from day one Idon't ask people for money.
I tell them the story of whywe're doing what we do and I
tell the stories of the peoplethat we help and that, I think,
(08:10):
changes the attitude of, well, Ican't do it to.
Oh, maybe I can tell a story ofwhy I signed up to run with 20
pounds on my back to raiseawareness and funds for an
organization that really do alot of great work for our
military population.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Yeah, you touched on Heroes in Transition a little
bit.
Well, can you go into that alittle more?
I mean, that was kind of camefrom your brother serving in
Iraq, is that correct?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
It was my brother.
Adam received the first PTSDdog on the Cape through Heroes
in Transition and literally, andfigured, quite literally it
saved his life.
Tracy actually just passed afew months ago and Adam came
back from Iraq and we didn'thave a lot of military in our
family when we were kids growingup and Adam was the first of us
(08:54):
, one of five, and I didn't knowhow to help him and I'm not his
mom, but I'm his only sisterand I knew I needed to help.
I didn't know what to do andthis is where I get emotional.
I walked up to Cindy Jones'sdoor and she opened the door and
she said come in.
And it was.
They were getting ready fortheir gala and she said we'll
(09:14):
help him.
And that was in October andNovember he received his PTSD
dog.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Oh, interesting, so they trained dogs.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
They, we did train dogs for a while.
The PTSD service dog programhas changed so much over the
years, especially with theinternet.
now that's a whole other talkshow on what's happened with
service dogs and service animalsnow, but that's really what did
save my brother's life and youknow, I knew that I was going to
do anything to help heroes intransition and I really did want
(09:41):
to help.
So, whether it was that I hadto find a way to fundraise or to
bring some people into thenonprofit to help, you were
teaching at the time too.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
So you kind of gave up, you kind of walked from your
teaching career.
You got a master's degree inteaching and you moved on to
nonprofits and in particular, Iliterally was old enough to hold
a pencil.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
My poor brothers used to sit with the stuffed animals
and I would teach them.
I won't tell you that theyhated school probably all of
them but it was one of thosethings I knew I was going to do,
and so Cindy also.
She had a teaching career, andwhen she lost Eric in
Afghanistan in 2009, she knewthat she had to keep his memory
and keep his mission ofassisting the troops on the
(10:25):
ground alive.
So it's funny what one idea ofwhat your life was going to look
like and how that transitionsinto something else.
And just being with you guys,both of you, today to hear the
stories of your lives.
It's just you never know.
You don't know who you're goingto literally walk into or run
into, into, or run into, youknow, on the street and how you
(10:46):
can change someone's life.
But at the end of the day,we're all here to make this
place better than you know,better than when we leave it.
So Incredible.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
And so then you went from there.
I mean, you've been workingthere for 10 years or so, about
10 years.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Since 2012,.
I started volunteering andhelping Cindy write thank you
notes, kind of moved up andbecame the director of
development and then theexecutive director, and it's
quite an organization, I can'tsay enough.
It's been my heart and soul forthat many years and they do
such good work here on the Capeand beyond and it was time that
our team was ready to bring insome new leadership, and Celine
(11:22):
Gordon, who's our executivedirector now, is phenomenal.
We have a fantastic workingboard and now we have full-time
employees, which is a wonderfulthing.
So it's grown and that's reallyone of the reasons why I knew
it was time, because sometimeswhen you see something and
you're ready, it can grow evenfurther sometimes when you're
(11:43):
not there.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Yeah, and that's kind of one of the overlooked skills
that people don't realize isthat actually building
organizations that are goodenough that you can walk away
from, which is amazing?
We talk a lot about that here.
You know, if a franchise tryingto set a franchise up, that's
exactly what hopefully, you knowthe purpose of what they're
trying to do is trying to buildit up so they can walk away.
It's a very hard, hard skill.
You know, if you try to taketoo much on and try to do
everything yourself.
(12:03):
You know building a team.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
It's been and I say it all the time, but the reason
that I knew it was time wasbecause I knew we had the right
team in place, and you can't doanything without a team.
It's really hard to do it byyourself.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
The personnel is just so important.
No matter what you're doing,you just have to be surrounded
with wonderful people.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
So then the next thing is you kind of keep
referencing, you know it's timeto move on, time to move on.
I guess you've moved on, itsounds like, and you've moved on
to a new company, Apex.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
You know what Kind of the whole theme that, when I
look back at life you knowwanting to be a teacher, having
the in-motion training businessor the running business is.
You know being with heroes intransition.
I love to help people and whata better, you know, I can't
think of a better way to helpthan to be able to be there for
(12:53):
somebody, whether it's a startup, small business or a nonprofit,
that's looking to elevate towhere they are, to the next
level.
I'm so excited to be able tojust come in and see where I can
help somebody and say, hey,let's try this, or have you
thought of this, or let's sitdown as a group and see where
you think in five years youmight be.
I'm excited about that and it'sreally honestly just started.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
So in terms of running analogy.
You just put your sneakers onagain and you're going out for
that first run again.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
That first step out the door, out the door, I have
to say it's true, and my firststep out the door was being
lucky enough to be on here todaywith both of you and I can't
tell you how grateful I am forthat.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Nicole, you were involved in the Falmouth Road
Race for a few years.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
We keep talking about helping people and you know
volunteerism and I was luckyenough to be the volunteer
manager for quite a few yearsand when you talk about people
that want to help and findingways to help, that race takes an
enormous amount of volunteers.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Oh, I can't even imagine.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Oh, it's unbelievable and it's hard to say to
somebody.
I'm not sure if I can use youthere, but let's use you here
and it doesn't matter.
The whole town, I think ofFalmouth.
Most of the Cape volunteers forFalmouth Road Race and they do
such a great job on theirnumbers for nonprofits program
what they give back to theircommunity.
I was so lucky that was reallyone of my other nonprofits that
(14:11):
I started with.
That showed me so much of notonly teamwork but really what it
means to give back to thecommunity.
I still have volunteered forthem for years.
We do a lot of work at Heroesin Transition with them back and
forth and wow, what anorganization that gives back to
so many.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Yeah, it's amazing.
The Falmouth Road Race.
I think we ran it in 76, 77, Ithink.
Remember that.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
I know we ran a couple in the mid-70s.
By the time I got to college weused to hang out at the Elliott
Lounge, which is where TommyLeonard, the founder of the road
race, used to 10 bar for mostof the year, except in the
summer.
I didn't know him at the timethat the race was started.
I think it was 73 or four.
Was the first year.
What was the first year?
(14:54):
Right, one of those two?
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Yeah, I think one of the years we ran it was Rogers,
and Shorter was there, rogersand Shorter, I think, yeah, I
mean, you used to just walk upto the line back then, Well, you
show up, you pay five bucks andyou run.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Life was so simple.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
And we loved it because there was beer at the
end.
No one was paying any attention, we'd just walk up to the bar
and drink at the time.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
I remember that there was a road race in Framingham,
which is where I grew up, andafter the road race Will Cloney
was running the beer concession.
You know who Will Cloney is?
I don't.
He was a founder of one of theoriginal greater Boston track
club gurus.
He was the head of the BAA fora couple of years, a very, very
(15:40):
famous.
Well, anybody affiliated withthe Boston Marathon would
immediately become famousbecause it was the biggest,
largely the only marathon backat the time.
But I remember he said to myfather I think I was 14 or 15,
hey, wally, can Dennis have abeer?
And my dad goes yeah, give hima beer.
And he was serving beer to ushigh school kids after a road
race, which is something youcan't do that anymore.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
But life was different.
And the Falmouth road race?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not sureabout that.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
But life was different.
And the Falmouth Road Race,when Bill Rogers showed up
because he loved the Cape and heran it, and the following year
he brought Frank Shorter backwith him who was the two-time
well, one-time gold medalist andsoon-to-be silver medalist in
76.
And then it put it on the mapand then forget it.
It's been booming ever sinceand it is probably might be, one
(16:27):
of the top four or five mostpopular road races in the
country.
It has the appeal of BostonMarathon type legendary status
by now.
But the thing is it's so hardto get all those people into
Woods Hole yeah, it is.
I can't even imaginelogistically how they do it.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
10,500 runners.
They've capped at differentnumbers and we I say we because
I think I always say we I don'tknow why I say we all the time.
I feel like such a part ofthese organizations even still,
good leadership does that.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Again, it's that feeling of you know, seven miles
running along the coast, justbeing near the water and
listening to the storiesFalmouth always sells out.
It's just within seconds, ohyeah.
They do a lottery system andthen thank God for their Numbers
.
For Nonprofits program thathelps so many different local
charities.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Now?
Is it a nonprofit now?
Is it a fundraising event initself now, or is that just kind
of oh, it's still a world-classroad race.
It is First and foremost itreally is Does the Falmouth Road
Race funds or is there a bunchof organizations inside it just
kind of doing their own thing orrunning their own, raising
their own money?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Falmouth Road Race Inc is the actual nonprofit and
they give back hundreds and Imean millions over the years,
but hundreds of thousands ofdollars each year to local
organizations here on the Cape.
The scholarships Lucky enoughfor us, my daughter received a
scholarship through Falmouth.
She volunteered for them.
Take a look at the amount ofgive back that the road race
(17:55):
does.
So, yes, there's a number fornonprofits program.
So not only are they anonprofit, but they're bringing
in hundreds of local nonprofitsto help raise funds as well.
It's really a special group.
We talked about Boston MarathonOff-Air and how they have their
program, their charity program,and it's kind of a thing now
(18:16):
and I will say I'm not biased oranything, of course, but the
program there I know, for Heroesin Transition we've had one of
our biggest teams and upwards of35 people on that team.
That raised about $40,000 or$50,000 for us.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
And that's just one race seven miles.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
People can do it and we talk all the time about
nonprofits here on the Cape andbeyond and there are so many
people that want to help here onthe Cape and really anywhere.
That's our job to help others.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Yeah, so you're going to start a company basically to
help nonprofits, smallbusinesses.
So if I was coming into youroffice today and asking you what
was the first thing you wouldtell me to start thinking about
doing?
I want to help.
I've got this issue.
I've got this thing.
What do I do?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I think first sit down and really find out what
your why is.
Why are you doing?
Why are you starting something?
Or why do you want to get tothe next level?
What is it?
What is your why?
You know why start a newbusiness and then kind of your
(19:37):
team.
You have to build a team.
You can't have one person, youcan't have the expectation.
Presidents might not know how tostart a 501c3, not-for-profit
organization, but they know thatthey need to help others and
that serves two purposes.
One, it helps others, but two,it heals something in them.
And most recently Mashpee foundthat they've had their loss of
students and that gets meemotional too.
But so many of those parentsand families have started
(20:01):
nonprofits to keep their memoryalive.
And what a better way to helpsomebody keep their son or
daughter's memory alive than tobe a part of their organization.
So I think that's what I reallywanted to.
Why I wanted to start Apex isreally just to share my insights
and to help in any way that Ican.
I think you know, kind ofluckily I'm a jack of all trades
(20:22):
on so many things, but that'sbecause I've had so many
wonderful people in my life thathave shown me so much.
I learn every day, whether it'syou know, 12 years of working
with heroes in transition orwalking down the street or
coming in here today.
If you're not in my mind, ifyou're not learning, you're not
living.
So share that experience.
Share your experiences withother people so you can make
(20:43):
this world a better place.
Wow.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
That was great, thank you, thank you, thank you.
So how's your running going?
I'm back, it feels good to beback, did you?
So how's your running going?
I'm back, it feels good to beback.
Did you miss some?
Speaker 2 (20:57):
time I did.
I had some time where I just Iwas not mentally like ready to
get back out on that road.
And you know, the last fewyears I haven't taken part in
the Ruck for Hit event that Ihelped start and I was, you know
, on the course and that does alot to your mind when you're not
on a team.
But I'm back, I'm loving it.
It is something that I hope Ican do for a very long time.
(21:19):
I love to walk too, so walkinghas been a close second.
But clearing your head and Imean it's hard.
What did we say in thebeginning when we were off air?
There is something so specialabout running that when you talk
about running to other runnersthey understand.
But somebody that hasn't pickedup the sport of running may not
get it.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
If somebody is not a runner, then no explanation will
do and if somebody is a runner,then no explanation is needed
and there's so much truth tothat.
The benefits are just thephysical benefits is obvious,
but the mental and the emotionalbenefits.
The physical benefits isobvious, but the mental and the
emotional benefits.
But obviously you'vedemonstrated that the benefits
(21:59):
can move on into business andnonprofits and that type of
thing, which I think is probablythe ultimate benefit of running
or anything, is the impact thatit has on other people.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
I got lucky.
You know I was given two legsthat really have done a lot of
wonderful things in the sport ofrunning, and I'm not the
fastest by far.
Speed doesn't matter to meanymore At a time it did.
I think for all of us sittingat this table.
It did.
Chris, you had said somethingabout your marathon and how it
changed your life when you wereyounger.
And Dennis, we were talkingabout your championship.
(22:31):
High school teams, you andChris together.
It's that piece.
But then what do you do withthat?
After you know, we can't allwin championships every year, so
how do we take the sport andbring it to other people and say
, hey, this has changed my life.
You know, tell your story.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Yeah, and the other thing about running I always
thought was special too is ifyou play basketball and things
like that, you might go to apickup game once a week or twice
a week, but it's thatconsistency, and that
consistency kind of gets underyour skin after a while.
Well, running is a lifelongsport and it transitions to
other things you do, thisability, this consistency, the
ability to get up and do itevery day or every other day or
whatever, but it's not like.
It's more than just a sport.
(23:05):
You know, I go out and play,pick up basketball or something
like that no-transcript.
Growing up, you know, I wasseven kids in my family.
(23:25):
I wasn't quite, you know, Iwasn't the brightest, I wasn't
the fastest, smartest, I wasn'tyou know whatever.
But the one thing I did onetime is I went out and ran
marathons.
We used to run marathons toraise money for our jackets.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Yeah, we did that.
I remember that we used to win.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Every year we'd win a championship or something like
that and we had to go out andget jackets.
We paid for them by fundraising.
Unfortunately, I had to goknock on doors, which I hated.
But then one day someone saidto me wow, you's the only time
anyone's ever said that to me,you know, because I was just a
kid of one of seven, you know,just an ordinary kid, and that
kind of clicked with me.
(23:58):
I thought, oh, my God, you knowI can do things, I can do
something.
That's really special.
Yeah, that is pretty special.
I did do a marathon, you know,and it kind of translated into
the rest of my life.
Yeah, I can do those things.
Oh, that's of thing, andrunning is a little bit like
that and you don't get that fromany other sport.
I can't imagine coming off abasketball court thinking it
will sort of turn, maybe fromMichael Jordan or something.
(24:19):
But so, yeah, yeah, it reallyhas changed so many lives and
everyone I talk to has a storylike that about running.
There's some sort of story ofyou know how it changed your
life.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Certainly your story today was interested in, but
yeah, I can think of 10, 15, 20ruckers that I could bring in
here, and you would literallysit here and say wow, and that's
.
I mean again, the people thatrun the ruck for hit.
You know that maybe have neverput shoes on before.
We talked about that.
You know what's the hardestpart of running is putting your
(24:47):
shoes on and getting out thedoor.
The stories, and it's just.
You know you listen to marathonrunners who are raising money
or doing you know this good work.
It's that revolves aroundrunning right, self-confidence
building and to go back to that,I mean how lucky are we to be
able to do it?
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Yeah, we came up at a time too.
I mean, running was exploding.
When we came out, running justwas exploding.
It was booming in the 70s, andone of the most amazing things I
remember is when you used tosee a woman running.
It would be special.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
It'd be very rare You'd be like wow, look right
here in New England.
I mean, joni Benoit is fromMaine, who's Lynn Jennings from
Bromfield Mass?
She was a year behind us inschool.
Lynn didn't have a girls teamto run on.
She would end up making the 86,I mean, I'm sorry, the 88
Olympic team in the 10K and shewon a couple of world cross
(25:34):
country championships too.
She went to Princeton and shedidn't have the opportunity to
compete in high school sports asa girl.
There was no girls team backthen.
And we've come a long way.
I just finished reading.
I read at Christmas time my songave me the book the Long Road
to Glory.
Nicole, have you read it?
No, but I've got a.
(25:54):
Is that the Joan Bonoite story?
Yeah story.
Nicole, have you read it?
No, but I have.
Is that the Joan Bonoite story?
Yeah, it's about Joanie andIngrid Christensen and Rosa
Motor and Catherine Switzer allthe ladies that started with
Jock Semple trying to throw herout of the race in 67 to Joanie
crossing the finish line in 84in the LA Olympics with the
inaugural women's marathon.
Phenomenal story, and as I readit I knew some of these ladies
(26:17):
back in the day and it wasamazing.
The author he's a track andfield coach at Concord Carlisle
High School.
He did an amazing job writingthis book.
Hundreds and hundreds of peoplethat he interviewed, 10,000
hours of interviews it's amazing.
10,000 hours of interviews,it's amazing.
And it's just all about theladies and what they went
(26:39):
through to put the Olympicmarathon on the map.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
And how recent it was .
I mean, you're talking the 80s.
They weren't allowed to run Inthe 80s, they were thinking that
women should run marathonsbecause it was bad for their
health.
No, no, no, chris, it was worsethan that.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
It was only in 800 meters in the Olympics up until
68.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Incredible, and they had all kinds of myths about
ladies going to destroy yourreproductive system.
It's going to, you know, but butyou know everything was run by
grumpy old men back then likeJacques Semple, and that's a
story for another time.
I heard very recently from afriend that Joni is now running
with her grandkids.
I know she famously has runsome 5Ks with her children.
(27:19):
She has a house here on theCape.
She blew past my brother andhis son a couple of summers ago.
They were running down in WestDennis Beach and my brother
asked me about this and I saidoh yeah, I heard Joni does have
a house over that way he goes.
Yeah, because it was a womanwho's much older than me but
just went right past me andConnor when we were running the
other day and he said I knew ithad to be Joni.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
She's something so special.
Oh my goodness, it'sunbelievable the changes that
these women made for other women.
Everybody in all sports, notjust yeah, just that was I can't
imagine.
I've been lucky enough to meether through the road race and
she has the Beach to Beacon.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Yeah, she does.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
yeah, the week before , two weeks before the road race
here in Falmouth.
Running is a thing.
It's a thing that you know.
People say to me all the timethrough my in motion training
business I can't do it.
You know that's the biggestthing.
You know that's the biggestthing.
You run fast.
No, I don't.
You've run distance before, butthat's what did we say about 30
years on our legs, you know30,000 miles did you say?
(28:19):
Yeah, you know you.
Just everyone puts their shoeson the same way you know, and
you walk out the door and you go.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Yes, we really hadn't touched on that.
That's the other business thatyou kind of created.
It's in in motion training forwomen's sports, getting women in
, particularly women who've hadbabies or whatever,
transitioning in their lives.
So they're trying to startsomething new and they need some
sort of outlet, some sort ofsupport, and you offer running
as in particular.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I did.
That was started a while backwhen my youngest I got the
daughter at the end and it waslike one of those things I said
I love this sport so much, buthow can I bring it to other
people?
And I remember that first groupit was, they were all moms of
very different ages and theywere scared to death to walk,
(29:05):
walk, run.
We walked for four minutes andran for 45 seconds and the one
thing that I remember at thatgroup at the last interval said
that's it.
And I said yes, and they'relike well, we want to do it
again.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
We can do that back again.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
And it was something that you know, back in 2011,.
I think I started.
I'd done for so many years andit's always been there.
You know it's been my running,it's been my constant and I'm
excited to get back into thecoaching.
It was hard to do that and workfull time at Heroes in
Transition, do all the things Iwas doing there.
So there are so many things I'mgetting back into and finding,
(29:41):
you know, kind of going back tomy roots a little bit and I'm
excited for all the things tocome.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yeah, it's amazing because you keep talking about I
loved it.
It really struck me, it was awonderful thing, and so now I
need to bring it to other peopleand let other people experience
.
This is kind of oppressive.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
There's a book that I read the Go-Giver it was a
while back.
A friend of mine, a Coast Guardfriend of mine, sent it to me a
few years back after she moved.
It was on a table in my roomfor two years before I picked it
up and it's probably about 100pages.
If that, so good.
And I learned so much from that.
And I guess you know, at theend of the day, we're all here
(30:23):
for a short period of time andif we can continue to share the
things that the secrets to oursuccess whether it be in running
or in business, or in nonprofitwork or in family life, you
know, help somebody that's whatwe're here for, you know make
this world a better place.
And I think through you know,all the things that I've been
blessed enough to be able to doso far in life, so many more
(30:45):
things that I'm looking forwardto doing it's that it's just to
give back and to make this worlda better place.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
It's an interesting message to be hearing today,
because I work with a groupcalled Julius Foundation in
Uganda.
We have a school over there andwe're going through a really
tough time right now.
It's really, really strugglingto keep it together and we just
had a board meeting last week.
I'm actually thinking ofleaving the board because I just
say I'm just, I don't know thatI can do anything else.
You know, it's just, I'mreaching the absolute limit here
.
But hearing your message here,maybe I'm back in my mind
(31:14):
thinking, well, maybe this isjust.
You know, I'm taking a pausefrom running for a little bit
here before I walk away, becauseit's a very hard thing to walk
away from, but it's very hard tokeep going.
So, yeah, so it's a bit of astruggle.
So it's interesting hearingthis message here from you today
about this.
You today about this.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
I love that and I hope it helps and if there's
anything I can do to help, justyou know, chris and I were
really blessed.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
In high school we had a very dedicated coach, mr
O'Rourke.
I've been accused of beingextremely organized, you know,
very well put together,sometimes even intelligent.
I was a lost cause in middleschool.
I really was.
I was born way before ADD wasinvented, so I was just a
diagnosis waiting to happen.
I couldn't remember my middleschool locker combination.
(32:00):
I couldn't even get to classeson time.
I was lost.
But I used to read about thishigh school team, marion High
School in Framingham, and thesekids were winning championships.
They were conferencechampionships.
Every year they were statechampionships.
Every two, three, four yearsthey'd win a state title.
And I remember thinking I wantto be one of those guys.
(32:23):
And Chris and I had a teammateseveral years ahead of us, joe
Kolb, who I still see to thisday.
He was just a perennialconference champ, state champ.
He was just a local hero, stillis and I was in middle school.
I was a goofball and I said Iwant to be one of those guys and
I saw Jack O'Rourke at,unfortunately, a funeral here a
(32:45):
couple of years ago and I tookhim aside.
I was back in Framingham and wetalked in a, a group.
I don't know if you were in thegroup.
It was at my brother, walter'sfuneral, chris.
I don't know if you were inthat group, but my kids were
there and they'd met my highschool coach a couple of times.
But we were sitting in a groupand I said everything that I am
in life I owe to running becauseI was so disorganized and I
(33:09):
remember the first race freshmanyear, I wasn't going to impact
the score.
I was so disorganized and Iremember, like the first race
freshman year, I wasn't going toimpact the score.
I was just a freshman and Iforgot my running shoes.
I had to run in my trainingshoes.
I left my racing shoes at homeand then another day I had a
race and I forgot something else.
And the lesson learned is packyour stuff the night before, you
(33:30):
know.
And I remember I was startingto emerge as a very, very good
runner by like toward the end ofmy freshman year and I was in a
freshman, all freshman meet.
I said, okay, finally, I canactually maybe win a meet here.
And one of my shoes came untied.
And I learned another valuablelesson just double knot your
shoes every day, and I don'tmean literally double knot your
(33:54):
shoes, which I do, buteverything else in life you know
.
Double knot the rest of yourthing, and I talked to my coach
about this.
You know, 40 years after thefact, everything.
Don't be an idiot.
Don't be a moron.
Your teammates aren't going towant to hang out with you.
Be a good teammate, be a goodtraining partner.
Everything I learned in life Ilearned through running and
(34:16):
through another thing Crosscountry.
It's not a fall sport, it's alifestyle.
You know.
You just don't show upSeptember 1st and make it happen
.
Cross country is something thatdemonstrates what you've been
doing the other eight and a halfmonths of the year.
And it's so true.
It's so true.
It doesn't.
We're roofers.
I don't care if it's raining,we're doing something today.
(34:37):
We're not going to strip open aroof, but we're going to do
something.
I've got a team of 25 or 30gutter monkeys here under this
roof where we work right now andwe do gutters.
It doesn't matter if theweather's perfect or the
weather's bad.
Yesterday wasn't such a good dayto be out in it but that's what
we do, and a lot of the youngkids today, I think, need a
(34:59):
little more discipline than weneeded because we had our
fathers that were a lot tougherthan fathers are today.
And this is what we do.
We're gutter monkeys.
We're gutter monkeys every day.
Even if we're not, you know,we're runners every day.
Even if, even today, I only runtwo or three days a week, I'm
still a runner on those otherdays and you still act like a
(35:20):
runner, you still behave like arunner, you still think like a
runner and it drives everything.
And it really did change mylife and, um, I would be remiss
if I didn't tell mr o''Rourkethat on that day.
So I've made a point Whenever Isee one of my college coaches
or one of my high school coaches, I let them know that it turned
me into an athlete, whichturned me into a young man, yeah
(35:43):
, yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
It's really special.
I've been listening to yourpodcasts the Monkey Business.
I love this, I think it's greatand I think, if we can get the
younger generation and again, Ihave children from 18, almost 19
to 22, it's if we can get themto listen and to just understand
that.
And we were 18 and 22 at onetime and we didn't understand
(36:05):
and we didn't listen.
Right, that's kind of the waywe learn.
But if we could put somethingin their hands, tangible, that
they, instead of just you know,like that, they can understand,
this can change your life.
You know, and I think so muchof what you're doing here with
your business and in teaching,that it's an invaluable lesson.
And yeah, life's changed somuch, you know, since we were in
(36:28):
school and all of these things.
But this world's still here andwe still have more good to do.
So how do we teach thatgeneration that?
You know?
We teach by leading, we teachby example.
We, you know we all makemistakes.
I've made many, my share ofthem, but we all learn from
those and you know, best thingabout learning about the mistake
is you hope you don't.
(36:49):
You know you learn from itenough that you don't do it
again and you hope that youtaught somebody else something
so they learn from it.
And I guess you know, throughrunning both of you had said it
today and I think I said it aswell you learn something every
day because it really isn't.
You know.
It's not something that youneed a lot of equipment for, but
it takes a lot more brain power.
Speaker 3 (37:09):
And you don't need anyone.
You can run with 10,500 peoplein August in Falmouth or you can
run alone in your neighborhood,and it's true.
A pair of shorts, a t-shirt andsome running shoes and you're
good to go.
It's the least expensiveactivity that you can do.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
And you don't know who's going to watch you or who
is watching you.
You know, and that's the thing,I can't tell you how many times
someone said hey.
I saw you in the snow the otherday.
What the heck were you doing?
I don't.
You know I'm training forBoston, so I'm doing this.
Or I'm training for the Rock.
You know I'm doing my coaching.
It doesn't stop.
Just like you said with guttermonkeys, you don't stop what
your business is because it'snot perfect conditions.
(37:48):
Life doesn't stop because ofunperfect conditions.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Yesterday was a hot day.
It hit a hundred and not all ofour gutter cleanings got done.
There was just there was aboutfour jobs or five jobs.
It was just too hot to get themdone.
Sometimes in January it's justcold and we tell the guys you
know we have a full schedule, goout and do what you can do
today.
You have to give it 100% ofyour best effort today.
That's all you can ask on anygiven day.
And you know what we plug thosejobs in that we didn't get done
(38:21):
.
Yet.
We do it all the time in thewinter we go a whole week.
We never get all of our jobsdone in a one-week time frame.
In January you got some snow,you.
In a one-week time frame inJanuary you got some snow, you
got some cold.
You know what?
We push it off.
We do it on Saturday.
We catch up.
You just go out and do the bestyou can.
Same thing with running.
Some days you got it and youfinish up.
I don't run that far anymore.
(38:42):
The furthest I go these days isfive miles.
But some days you finish up andyou say, boy, that felt really
good and I'm going to takeanother loop around the
neighborhood and some days youjust say I feel terrible and
that's the best I had today.
But if you get through thoseawful days, the good days are
(39:02):
easy.
And it's true with everything.
It's so true with everythingRunners are.
My brother used to say that hewas a non-runner.
He would say my high school andcollege teammates everybody
still runs.
And he would say my high schooland college teammates everybody
still runs, you know.
And he would say none of yourfriends have grown up, they
still act the same.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
And I said well, that's a good thing.
It is kind of weird.
I thought about that the otherday because I'm getting up there
in age and I'm running down myneighborhood and I had my shirt
off and I was just kind ofrunning along and I'm like, oh
my God, I shouldn't be out herelooking, I'm too old to be
running down the street withoutmy shirt, you know, because it
was so hot.
And I'm thinking to myself andI'm like, screw that.
I'm 18 years old, still Look atme running.
(39:38):
And I remember thinking that inthe back of my mind Like screw
that, I'm not that old, I'mstill 18.
I'm still running down thestreet and then some kids, those
guys, groups of guys, will goby us and he'll go by me like
I'm standing still.
I think, oh my God, I used torun like that, but yeah yeah
(40:00):
it's an amazing thing and itkind of tied back to kind of
sort of you know the fundraisingand whatnot.
You know what good comes from.
You know, just putting yourshoes on, going out the door and
doing that.
You know what can I do to help.
You know all these problems inthe world, oh my God, you know
it's hopeless.
You know what can I do to goout and do anything and kind of
(40:21):
tie it back to that.
Just putting your shoes on andgetting out the door.
And yeah, sir, you're 70 yearsold or whatever you are.
You know, yeah, you can stillgo out and do.
It be consistent in yourthought process of you know,
this is something I want to do.
I'm going to be consistent ifI'm going to go out and do it.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Isn't that business though?
Speaker 3 (40:36):
you know it's life, nicole.
You've impacted a lot of peopleand there's only so much we can
do as one person in one life.
And you know, sometimes you canlook at the war in Iraq, or you
can look at the war in theUkraine or what's going on.
You know, on all the parts ofthe world and you've chosen a
few things that you can impactand that's the best we can do.
(40:59):
Look around locally and you say, what can I do?
And you've done it.
You've done more than yourshare.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
So thank you, yep.
We're coming to the end of theshow here, wrapping up about our
time frame here, but good luckwith your new business.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
Apex Thank you.
Yep Apex Strategy PartnersThank you.
Speaker 3 (41:16):
And thank you for having me on today.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
And good luck with your move out to Oklahoma.
Speaker 3 (41:18):
Thank you, you're moving to Oklahoma.
Speaker 2 (41:20):
It's been a slow move to Oklahoma, but yes.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
Oh, wow, I didn't know about that one.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
That's the way we'll end that show.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
All right yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
It's been a definite you never know which life path
you're going to be led to.
Yeah, and this one's movingover the bridge and out to
Oklahoma with my fiance anddoing lots of good in many
different places.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
Yeah, so you just spread your goodness out there?
I guess I hope so.
Okay, well, best of luck.
Thank you, all right.
Well, dennis, you're going totake us out.
Speaker 3 (41:46):
No, monkeys were in the making of this podcast.
Catch you guys next time.
Bye.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
Thank you for tuning in to Monkey Business Radio.
If you enjoyed today's episode,please make sure to subscribe,
like and follow us wherever youget your podcasts.
It really helps us reach moreaspiring entrepreneurs like you,
and if you got a question ortopic you'd like us to cover,
leave a comment or reach out tous on social media.
We'd love to hear your thoughtsand keep the conversation going
.
Don't forget to leave us afive-star review if you found
(42:17):
the episode valuable, and makesure to share it with anyone who
might benefit from our tips andstories.
We'll see you next time.
This podcast is produced byAmerican Gutter Monkeys LLC.
Build real wealth throughbusiness ownership.
For details, visit us atAmericanGutterMonkeyscom.
In a world that feels more overwhelming by the day,
with big problems, brokensystems, too much noise, it's
easy to feel small, like nothingyou do really matters, but then
someone comes along and remindsus making an impact doesn't
have to be complicated.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I knew I wanted to help women get into the sport of
running, and that's kind ofwhat I did.
I said grab a pair of shoes, apair of socks and I'll meet you
somewhere and we'll get started.
So share your experiences withother people so you can make
this world a better place.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
That's today's guest, nicole Spencer, a runner,
nonprofit leader and now founderof Apex Strategy Partners.
She's led 275-mile relays forveterans, raised hundreds of
thousands for local causes andbuilt teams that kept giving
long after she's moved on.
Her story is a powerfulreminder that one person moving
with purpose can do more than wethink.
Got a great show for you today.
(00:49):
You think you'll find itrefreshing.
So take a deep breath, grab acup of coffee, sit back, relax
and welcome to Monkey BusinessRadio.
Hello everyone, welcome toMonkey Business Radio.
I'm Chris Collins.
I'm here with my businesspartner and good friend, dennis
(01:09):
Siggins, cape Cod Gutter Monkeys.
Hello Dennis.
Hey Chris, how are you?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
doing Good, I'm doing good.
You've been away for a littlewhile.
I miss you.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Yeah, yeah, I've been away.
I was down in Florida, texas,seeing my son, so, yeah, it was
a bit of a break for us.
But we're at episode 20, whichis kind of amazing.
We made it through 20 episodes.
That's good.
Yeah, it seems like yesterdaywe were doing the first one, so
Moneyball was our first one, buttoday we have a guest.
You always love having guestson a podcast Sure.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
One of my coworkers in my office, marianne Lally,
who's been virtually a lifelongfriend of mine we went to high
school together back in the 70s.
Her younger brother was afriend of mine she's been
telling me about this wonderfullady here in Cape Cod who's
doing some amazing things, andit's been many months.
She's been telling me aboutNicole, and Nicole's a busy girl
(01:55):
.
She's on the run, literally andfiguratively, and she landed in
our lap here about an hour agotoday.
So we have Nicole Spencer heretoday.
How you doing, nicole?
I'm doing great.
Thanks for having me today.
Thank you so much for visiting.
What a treat to have you here.
Nicole.
You're a lifelong runner andyou've used that running
personally, professionally andalso in nonprofits over the
(02:18):
years.
Tell us where it began.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Running.
It began on the track manyyears ago in high school
Sandwich.
I went to Sandwich.
I did Home of the Blue Knights.
They are still the Blue Knights.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
I think they are.
I do believe.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
And it was one of those things I started.
I wasn't sure how good I wasgoing to be.
I knew I was fast, but you knowfour years of just missing
states, or missing the bigthings, I think you know after
having my third child and mybrother being deployed to Iraq,
I needed to get back into it,but it wasn't going to be on the
(02:53):
track.
I knew that.
So who else decides to go fromhaving a baby and, eight months
later, deciding they're going torun a marathon?
I did.
I started training in May andran my first marathon in October
, and I really haven't lookedback Of what year.
So it was 2006.
She was born and I knew I had alittle bit of time to train and
I knew my first one was goingto be here on the Cape.
(03:14):
It was the Cape Cod Marathonand if you know anything about
marathons, that was not an easymarathon.
No, marathons easy.
None of them right, but miles 20to 24 in that marathon are not
fun, but I knew I had to do it.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
It was a thing and I was going to do that.
So over the years, this hastransitioned into something so
much more.
Before we went on the show here, you told us about Heroes in
Transition.
You talked about your brother,and so you used your love for
running to benefit nonprofitsand to benefit many, many people
.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
You know we talked earlier but before we got on the
air and running is one of thosesports that you need a pair of
shoes and a pair of socks.
Maybe sometimes you don't, butyou need a pair of shoes and a
pair of socks and you can go outand do it.
One of the biggest things thatwe hear all the time and all of
us sitting at the table arerunners is that I'm not a runner
.
I can't do that, and so I thinkthat was one of my biggest
(04:09):
assets to when I started mycoaching business.
When, again, my youngest was ingrade school, I knew I wanted
to help women get into the sportof running, and that's kind of
what I did.
I said grab a pair of shoes, apair of socks and I'll meet you
somewhere and we'll get started.
Running is one of those sportstoo.
(04:30):
I think that changes and,honestly, saves lives.
Dennis, you were telling meabout your story and Chris and
how the whole running industryhas changed over the years.
We were talking about the Hoytsand what the Hoyts have done for
the industry.
There are so many things, andyou know my in motion training
business.
We started a group in Mashpeefor years that ran the Cape Cod
Marathon as a relay and wehelped families in need here on
(04:50):
the Cape each year with hundredsof people that ran for Mashpee
Madness, and we just, you know,gave all the funds back to the
families for many, many yearssince 2012.
Started as a volunteer at thatorganization saved my brother's
life and I was lucky enough tobe a part of that organization
just until this last May.
It was something I'll rememberforever, but it will be in my
(05:13):
heart forever as well, and 10years ago we started our first
Ruck for Hit Relay event andthat was from Ground Zero in New
York to the Cape, and that'sreally how it started.
So, yeah, the love of runninghas turned into running to help
others, and that's really.
You know, running is one ofthose things that I don't know
that I could live without it.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, definitely true we were talking about before
saying that.
Even just if you look at, like,the amount of money I would
have spent on psychotherapy if Ihadn't had running, I don't
know.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Yeah, it's pretty amazing therapy, if I hadn't had
running, I don't know.
Yeah, it's pretty amazing.
One of the things that becamevery apparent before we turned
on the microphones was thatNicole takes on immense projects
, things that logistically seemalmost impossible.
And, nicole, you were tellingus about the first run from
ground zero to Cape Cod 220miles.
(06:04):
That one was 275.
275 miles.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
From ground zero to the Cape was 275.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
And you had 16 runners in two vans we did, and
you had police escorts from NewYork City and over the bridge
onto the Cape.
And how do you even wrap yourmind around something like that?
You're talking about three orfour states.
You're going through fourdifferent states.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
I don't think I've wrapped my head around it yet.
You just do it.
I don't know how to answer that.
Usually I'm one for words, butit was the team that we had to
this day with Heroes inTransition Ruck for Hit.
It's the team that you surroundyourself with right.
So we had those people.
At the time.
He was a chief in down Cape andhe was a police chief, and
(06:44):
that's Chief Kyle.
I still call him Chief Kyle.
He helped us get our police toescort.
We just had so many people thatwanted to help and you know,
with something of such magnitude, you have to find the people,
the helpers of the Cape Cod, ofthe state of the country.
You find the helpers and thosehelpers will do good.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Yeah, typically we see it out there too.
You see a lot of there's a lotof good people out there.
They just don't know what to do.
So you know, it's that part ofthat whole thing of asking once
you ask.
But it's hard to ask money andthat's one of my hardest thing
when I'm doing volunteer work isasking other people asking for
(07:24):
money.
I know as a kid growing up Ihated going door to door because
my neighbors would see theCollins kids coming down with
their seed boxes and I think itput in my brain this whole thing
of asking for money and askingpeople to help, like you said
before.
I think you mentioned beforethe people out there.
They want to help.
You just got to be able to askthem and you got to be good at
that and evidently you're prettygood at it because your track
record for running nonprofitorganizations and running events
(07:45):
is pretty impressive.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Thank, you for that.
Again, it's about the team.
You have to have the peoplearound you that understand what
you're doing and why you'redoing it.
And I can't tell you how manytimes in the nonprofit world
that we hear that, well, I can'tfundraise, I don't know how to.
And I always say from day one Idon't ask people for money.
I tell them the story of whywe're doing what we do and I
tell the stories of the peoplethat we help and that, I think,
(08:10):
changes the attitude of, well, Ican't do it to.
Oh, maybe I can tell a story ofwhy I signed up to run with 20
pounds on my back to raiseawareness and funds for an
organization that really do alot of great work for our
military population.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Yeah, you touched on Heroes in Transition a little
bit.
Well, can you go into that alittle more?
I mean, that was kind of camefrom your brother serving in
Iraq, is that correct?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
It was my brother.
Adam received the first PTSDdog on the Cape through Heroes
in Transition and literally, andfigured, quite literally it
saved his life.
Tracy actually just passed afew months ago and Adam came
back from Iraq and we didn'thave a lot of military in our
family when we were kids growingup and Adam was the first of us
(08:54):
, one of five, and I didn't knowhow to help him and I'm not his
mom, but I'm his only sisterand I knew I needed to help.
I didn't know what to do andthis is where I get emotional.
I walked up to Cindy Jones'sdoor and she opened the door and
she said come in.
And it was.
They were getting ready fortheir gala and she said we'll
(09:14):
help him.
And that was in October andNovember he received his PTSD
dog.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Oh, interesting, so they trained dogs.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
They, we did train dogs for a while.
The PTSD service dog programhas changed so much over the
years, especially with theinternet.
now that's a whole other talkshow on what's happened with
service dogs and service animalsnow, but that's really what did
save my brother's life and youknow, I knew that I was going to
do anything to help heroes intransition and I really did want
(09:41):
to help.
So, whether it was that I hadto find a way to fundraise or to
bring some people into thenonprofit to help, you were
teaching at the time too.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
So you kind of gave up, you kind of walked from your
teaching career.
You got a master's degree inteaching and you moved on to
nonprofits and in particular, Iliterally was old enough to hold
a pencil.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
My poor brothers used to sit with the stuffed animals
and I would teach them.
I won't tell you that theyhated school probably all of
them but it was one of thosethings I knew I was going to do,
and so Cindy also.
She had a teaching career, andwhen she lost Eric in
Afghanistan in 2009, she knewthat she had to keep his memory
and keep his mission ofassisting the troops on the
(10:25):
ground alive.
So it's funny what one idea ofwhat your life was going to look
like and how that transitionsinto something else.
And just being with you guys,both of you, today to hear the
stories of your lives.
It's just you never know.
You don't know who you're goingto literally walk into or run
into, into, or run into, youknow, on the street and how you
(10:46):
can change someone's life.
But at the end of the day,we're all here to make this
place better than you know,better than when we leave it.
So Incredible.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
And so then you went from there.
I mean, you've been workingthere for 10 years or so, about
10 years.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Since 2012,.
I started volunteering andhelping Cindy write thank you
notes, kind of moved up andbecame the director of
development and then theexecutive director, and it's
quite an organization, I can'tsay enough.
It's been my heart and soul forthat many years and they do
such good work here on the Capeand beyond and it was time that
our team was ready to bring insome new leadership, and Celine
(11:22):
Gordon, who's our executivedirector now, is phenomenal.
We have a fantastic workingboard and now we have full-time
employees, which is a wonderfulthing.
So it's grown and that's reallyone of the reasons why I knew
it was time, because sometimeswhen you see something and
you're ready, it can grow evenfurther sometimes when you're
(11:43):
not there.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Yeah, and that's kind of one of the overlooked skills
that people don't realize isthat actually building
organizations that are goodenough that you can walk away
from, which is amazing?
We talk a lot about that here.
You know, if a franchise tryingto set a franchise up, that's
exactly what hopefully, you knowthe purpose of what they're
trying to do is trying to buildit up so they can walk away.
It's a very hard, hard skill.
You know, if you try to taketoo much on and try to do
everything yourself.
(12:03):
You know building a team.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
It's been and I say it all the time, but the reason
that I knew it was time wasbecause I knew we had the right
team in place, and you can't doanything without a team.
It's really hard to do it byyourself.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
The personnel is just so important.
No matter what you're doing,you just have to be surrounded
with wonderful people.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
So then the next thing is you kind of keep
referencing, you know it's timeto move on, time to move on.
I guess you've moved on, itsounds like, and you've moved on
to a new company, Apex.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
You know what Kind of the whole theme that, when I
look back at life you knowwanting to be a teacher, having
the in-motion training businessor the running business is.
You know being with heroes intransition.
I love to help people and whata better, you know, I can't
think of a better way to helpthan to be able to be there for
(12:53):
somebody, whether it's a startup, small business or a nonprofit,
that's looking to elevate towhere they are, to the next
level.
I'm so excited to be able tojust come in and see where I can
help somebody and say, hey,let's try this, or have you
thought of this, or let's sitdown as a group and see where
you think in five years youmight be.
I'm excited about that and it'sreally honestly just started.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
So in terms of running analogy.
You just put your sneakers onagain and you're going out for
that first run again.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
That first step out the door, out the door, I have
to say it's true, and my firststep out the door was being
lucky enough to be on here todaywith both of you and I can't
tell you how grateful I am forthat.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Nicole, you were involved in the Falmouth Road
Race for a few years.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
We keep talking about helping people and you know
volunteerism and I was luckyenough to be the volunteer
manager for quite a few yearsand when you talk about people
that want to help and findingways to help, that race takes an
enormous amount of volunteers.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Oh, I can't even imagine.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Oh, it's unbelievable and it's hard to say to
somebody.
I'm not sure if I can use youthere, but let's use you here
and it doesn't matter.
The whole town, I think ofFalmouth.
Most of the Cape volunteers forFalmouth Road Race and they do
such a great job on theirnumbers for nonprofits program
what they give back to theircommunity.
I was so lucky that was reallyone of my other nonprofits that
(14:11):
I started with.
That showed me so much of notonly teamwork but really what it
means to give back to thecommunity.
I still have volunteered forthem for years.
We do a lot of work at Heroesin Transition with them back and
forth and wow, what anorganization that gives back to
so many.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Yeah, it's amazing.
The Falmouth Road Race.
I think we ran it in 76, 77, Ithink.
Remember that.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
I know we ran a couple in the mid-70s.
By the time I got to college weused to hang out at the Elliott
Lounge, which is where TommyLeonard, the founder of the road
race, used to 10 bar for mostof the year, except in the
summer.
I didn't know him at the timethat the race was started.
I think it was 73 or four.
Was the first year.
What was the first year?
(14:54):
Right, one of those two?
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Yeah, I think one of the years we ran it was Rogers,
and Shorter was there, rogersand Shorter, I think, yeah, I
mean, you used to just walk upto the line back then, Well, you
show up, you pay five bucks andyou run.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Life was so simple.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
And we loved it because there was beer at the
end.
No one was paying any attention, we'd just walk up to the bar
and drink at the time.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
I remember that there was a road race in Framingham,
which is where I grew up, andafter the road race Will Cloney
was running the beer concession.
You know who Will Cloney is?
I don't.
He was a founder of one of theoriginal greater Boston track
club gurus.
He was the head of the BAA fora couple of years, a very, very
(15:40):
famous.
Well, anybody affiliated withthe Boston Marathon would
immediately become famousbecause it was the biggest,
largely the only marathon backat the time.
But I remember he said to myfather I think I was 14 or 15,
hey, wally, can Dennis have abeer?
And my dad goes yeah, give hima beer.
And he was serving beer to ushigh school kids after a road
race, which is something youcan't do that anymore.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
But life was different.
And the Falmouth road race?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not sureabout that.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
But life was different.
And the Falmouth Road Race,when Bill Rogers showed up
because he loved the Cape and heran it, and the following year
he brought Frank Shorter backwith him who was the two-time
well, one-time gold medalist andsoon-to-be silver medalist in
76.
And then it put it on the mapand then forget it.
It's been booming ever sinceand it is probably might be, one
(16:27):
of the top four or five mostpopular road races in the
country.
It has the appeal of BostonMarathon type legendary status
by now.
But the thing is it's so hardto get all those people into
Woods Hole yeah, it is.
I can't even imaginelogistically how they do it.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
10,500 runners.
They've capped at differentnumbers and we I say we because
I think I always say we I don'tknow why I say we all the time.
I feel like such a part ofthese organizations even still,
good leadership does that.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Again, it's that feeling of you know, seven miles
running along the coast, justbeing near the water and
listening to the storiesFalmouth always sells out.
It's just within seconds, ohyeah.
They do a lottery system andthen thank God for their Numbers
.
For Nonprofits program thathelps so many different local
charities.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Now?
Is it a nonprofit now?
Is it a fundraising event initself now, or is that just kind
of oh, it's still a world-classroad race.
It is First and foremost itreally is Does the Falmouth Road
Race funds or is there a bunchof organizations inside it just
kind of doing their own thing orrunning their own, raising
their own money?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Falmouth Road Race Inc is the actual nonprofit and
they give back hundreds and Imean millions over the years,
but hundreds of thousands ofdollars each year to local
organizations here on the Cape.
The scholarships Lucky enoughfor us, my daughter received a
scholarship through Falmouth.
She volunteered for them.
Take a look at the amount ofgive back that the road race
(17:55):
does.
So, yes, there's a number fornonprofits program.
So not only are they anonprofit, but they're bringing
in hundreds of local nonprofitsto help raise funds as well.
It's really a special group.
We talked about Boston MarathonOff-Air and how they have their
program, their charity program,and it's kind of a thing now
(18:16):
and I will say I'm not biased oranything, of course, but the
program there I know, for Heroesin Transition we've had one of
our biggest teams and upwards of35 people on that team.
That raised about $40,000 or$50,000 for us.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
And that's just one race seven miles.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
People can do it and we talk all the time about
nonprofits here on the Cape andbeyond and there are so many
people that want to help here onthe Cape and really anywhere.
That's our job to help others.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Yeah, so you're going to start a company basically to
help nonprofits, smallbusinesses.
So if I was coming into youroffice today and asking you what
was the first thing you wouldtell me to start thinking about
doing?
I want to help.
I've got this issue.
I've got this thing.
What do I do?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I think first sit down and really find out what
your why is.
Why are you doing?
Why are you starting something?
Or why do you want to get tothe next level?
What is it?
What is your why?
You know why start a newbusiness and then kind of your
(19:37):
team.
You have to build a team.
You can't have one person, youcan't have the expectation.
Presidents might not know how tostart a 501c3, not-for-profit
organization, but they know thatthey need to help others and
that serves two purposes.
One, it helps others, but two,it heals something in them.
And most recently Mashpee foundthat they've had their loss of
students and that gets meemotional too.
But so many of those parentsand families have started
(20:01):
nonprofits to keep their memoryalive.
And what a better way to helpsomebody keep their son or
daughter's memory alive than tobe a part of their organization.
So I think that's what I reallywanted to.
Why I wanted to start Apex isreally just to share my insights
and to help in any way that Ican.
I think you know, kind ofluckily I'm a jack of all trades
(20:22):
on so many things, but that'sbecause I've had so many
wonderful people in my life thathave shown me so much.
I learn every day, whether it'syou know, 12 years of working
with heroes in transition orwalking down the street or
coming in here today.
If you're not in my mind, ifyou're not learning, you're not
living.
So share that experience.
Share your experiences withother people so you can make
(20:43):
this world a better place.
Wow.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
That was great, thank you, thank you, thank you.
So how's your running going?
I'm back, it feels good to beback, did you?
So how's your running going?
I'm back, it feels good to beback.
Did you miss some?
Speaker 2 (20:57):
time I did.
I had some time where I just Iwas not mentally like ready to
get back out on that road.
And you know, the last fewyears I haven't taken part in
the Ruck for Hit event that Ihelped start and I was, you know
, on the course and that does alot to your mind when you're not
on a team.
But I'm back, I'm loving it.
It is something that I hope Ican do for a very long time.
(21:19):
I love to walk too, so walkinghas been a close second.
But clearing your head and Imean it's hard.
What did we say in thebeginning when we were off air?
There is something so specialabout running that when you talk
about running to other runnersthey understand.
But somebody that hasn't pickedup the sport of running may not
get it.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
If somebody is not a runner, then no explanation will
do and if somebody is a runner,then no explanation is needed
and there's so much truth tothat.
The benefits are just thephysical benefits is obvious,
but the mental and the emotionalbenefits.
The physical benefits isobvious, but the mental and the
emotional benefits.
But obviously you'vedemonstrated that the benefits
(21:59):
can move on into business andnonprofits and that type of
thing, which I think is probablythe ultimate benefit of running
or anything, is the impact thatit has on other people.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
I got lucky.
You know I was given two legsthat really have done a lot of
wonderful things in the sport ofrunning, and I'm not the
fastest by far.
Speed doesn't matter to meanymore At a time it did.
I think for all of us sittingat this table.
It did.
Chris, you had said somethingabout your marathon and how it
changed your life when you wereyounger.
And Dennis, we were talkingabout your championship.
(22:31):
High school teams, you andChris together.
It's that piece.
But then what do you do withthat?
After you know, we can't allwin championships every year, so
how do we take the sport andbring it to other people and say
, hey, this has changed my life.
You know, tell your story.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Yeah, and the other thing about running I always
thought was special too is ifyou play basketball and things
like that, you might go to apickup game once a week or twice
a week, but it's thatconsistency, and that
consistency kind of gets underyour skin after a while.
Well, running is a lifelongsport and it transitions to
other things you do, thisability, this consistency, the
ability to get up and do itevery day or every other day or
whatever, but it's not like.
It's more than just a sport.
(23:05):
You know, I go out and play,pick up basketball or something
like that no-transcript.
Growing up, you know, I wasseven kids in my family.
(23:25):
I wasn't quite, you know, Iwasn't the brightest, I wasn't
the fastest, smartest, I wasn'tyou know whatever.
But the one thing I did onetime is I went out and ran
marathons.
We used to run marathons toraise money for our jackets.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Yeah, we did that.
I remember that we used to win.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Every year we'd win a championship or something like
that and we had to go out andget jackets.
We paid for them by fundraising.
Unfortunately, I had to goknock on doors, which I hated.
But then one day someone saidto me wow, you's the only time
anyone's ever said that to me,you know, because I was just a
kid of one of seven, you know,just an ordinary kid, and that
kind of clicked with me.
(23:58):
I thought, oh, my God, you knowI can do things, I can do
something.
That's really special.
Yeah, that is pretty special.
I did do a marathon, you know,and it kind of translated into
the rest of my life.
Yeah, I can do those things.
Oh, that's of thing, andrunning is a little bit like
that and you don't get that fromany other sport.
I can't imagine coming off abasketball court thinking it
will sort of turn, maybe fromMichael Jordan or something.
(24:19):
But so, yeah, yeah, it reallyhas changed so many lives and
everyone I talk to has a storylike that about running.
There's some sort of story ofyou know how it changed your
life.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Certainly your story today was interested in, but
yeah, I can think of 10, 15, 20ruckers that I could bring in
here, and you would literallysit here and say wow, and that's
.
I mean again, the people thatrun the ruck for hit.
You know that maybe have neverput shoes on before.
We talked about that.
You know what's the hardestpart of running is putting your
(24:47):
shoes on and getting out thedoor.
The stories, and it's just.
You know you listen to marathonrunners who are raising money
or doing you know this good work.
It's that revolves aroundrunning right, self-confidence
building and to go back to that,I mean how lucky are we to be
able to do it?
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Yeah, we came up at a time too.
I mean, running was exploding.
When we came out, running justwas exploding.
It was booming in the 70s, andone of the most amazing things I
remember is when you used tosee a woman running.
It would be special.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
It'd be very rare You'd be like wow, look right
here in New England.
I mean, joni Benoit is fromMaine, who's Lynn Jennings from
Bromfield Mass?
She was a year behind us inschool.
Lynn didn't have a girls teamto run on.
She would end up making the 86,I mean, I'm sorry, the 88
Olympic team in the 10K and shewon a couple of world cross
(25:34):
country championships too.
She went to Princeton and shedidn't have the opportunity to
compete in high school sports asa girl.
There was no girls team backthen.
And we've come a long way.
I just finished reading.
I read at Christmas time my songave me the book the Long Road
to Glory.
Nicole, have you read it?
No, but I've got a.
(25:54):
Is that the Joan Bonoite story?
Yeah story.
Nicole, have you read it?
No, but I have.
Is that the Joan Bonoite story?
Yeah, it's about Joanie andIngrid Christensen and Rosa
Motor and Catherine Switzer allthe ladies that started with
Jock Semple trying to throw herout of the race in 67 to Joanie
crossing the finish line in 84in the LA Olympics with the
inaugural women's marathon.
Phenomenal story, and as I readit I knew some of these ladies
(26:17):
back in the day and it wasamazing.
The author he's a track andfield coach at Concord Carlisle
High School.
He did an amazing job writingthis book.
Hundreds and hundreds of peoplethat he interviewed, 10,000
hours of interviews it's amazing.
10,000 hours of interviews,it's amazing.
And it's just all about theladies and what they went
(26:39):
through to put the Olympicmarathon on the map.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
And how recent it was .
I mean, you're talking the 80s.
They weren't allowed to run Inthe 80s, they were thinking that
women should run marathonsbecause it was bad for their
health.
No, no, no, chris, it was worsethan that.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
It was only in 800 meters in the Olympics up until
68.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Incredible, and they had all kinds of myths about
ladies going to destroy yourreproductive system.
It's going to, you know, but butyou know everything was run by
grumpy old men back then likeJacques Semple, and that's a
story for another time.
I heard very recently from afriend that Joni is now running
with her grandkids.
I know she famously has runsome 5Ks with her children.
(27:19):
She has a house here on theCape.
She blew past my brother andhis son a couple of summers ago.
They were running down in WestDennis Beach and my brother
asked me about this and I saidoh yeah, I heard Joni does have
a house over that way he goes.
Yeah, because it was a womanwho's much older than me but
just went right past me andConnor when we were running the
other day and he said I knew ithad to be Joni.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
She's something so special.
Oh my goodness, it'sunbelievable the changes that
these women made for other women.
Everybody in all sports, notjust yeah, just that was I can't
imagine.
I've been lucky enough to meether through the road race and
she has the Beach to Beacon.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Yeah, she does.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
yeah, the week before , two weeks before the road race
here in Falmouth.
Running is a thing.
It's a thing that you know.
People say to me all the timethrough my in motion training
business I can't do it.
You know that's the biggestthing.
You know that's the biggestthing.
You run fast.
No, I don't.
You've run distance before, butthat's what did we say about 30
years on our legs, you know30,000 miles did you say?
(28:19):
Yeah, you know you.
Just everyone puts their shoeson the same way you know, and
you walk out the door and you go.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Yes, we really hadn't touched on that.
That's the other business thatyou kind of created.
It's in in motion training forwomen's sports, getting women in
, particularly women who've hadbabies or whatever,
transitioning in their lives.
So they're trying to startsomething new and they need some
sort of outlet, some sort ofsupport, and you offer running
as in particular.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I did.
That was started a while backwhen my youngest I got the
daughter at the end and it waslike one of those things I said
I love this sport so much, buthow can I bring it to other
people?
And I remember that first groupit was, they were all moms of
very different ages and theywere scared to death to walk,
(29:05):
walk, run.
We walked for four minutes andran for 45 seconds and the one
thing that I remember at thatgroup at the last interval said
that's it.
And I said yes, and they'relike well, we want to do it
again.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
We can do that back again.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
And it was something that you know, back in 2011,.
I think I started.
I'd done for so many years andit's always been there.
You know it's been my running,it's been my constant and I'm
excited to get back into thecoaching.
It was hard to do that and workfull time at Heroes in
Transition, do all the things Iwas doing there.
So there are so many things I'mgetting back into and finding,
(29:41):
you know, kind of going back tomy roots a little bit and I'm
excited for all the things tocome.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yeah, it's amazing because you keep talking about I
loved it.
It really struck me, it was awonderful thing, and so now I
need to bring it to other peopleand let other people experience
.
This is kind of oppressive.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
There's a book that I read the Go-Giver it was a
while back.
A friend of mine, a Coast Guardfriend of mine, sent it to me a
few years back after she moved.
It was on a table in my roomfor two years before I picked it
up and it's probably about 100pages.
If that, so good.
And I learned so much from that.
And I guess you know, at theend of the day, we're all here
(30:23):
for a short period of time andif we can continue to share the
things that the secrets to oursuccess whether it be in running
or in business, or in nonprofitwork or in family life, you
know, help somebody that's whatwe're here for, you know make
this world a better place.
And I think through you know,all the things that I've been
blessed enough to be able to doso far in life, so many more
(30:45):
things that I'm looking forwardto doing it's that it's just to
give back and to make this worlda better place.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
It's an interesting message to be hearing today,
because I work with a groupcalled Julius Foundation in
Uganda.
We have a school over there andwe're going through a really
tough time right now.
It's really, really strugglingto keep it together and we just
had a board meeting last week.
I'm actually thinking ofleaving the board because I just
say I'm just, I don't know thatI can do anything else.
You know, it's just, I'mreaching the absolute limit here
.
But hearing your message here,maybe I'm back in my mind
(31:14):
thinking, well, maybe this isjust.
You know, I'm taking a pausefrom running for a little bit
here before I walk away, becauseit's a very hard thing to walk
away from, but it's very hard tokeep going.
So, yeah, so it's a bit of astruggle.
So it's interesting hearingthis message here from you today
about this.
You today about this.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
I love that and I hope it helps and if there's
anything I can do to help, justyou know, chris and I were
really blessed.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
In high school we had a very dedicated coach, mr
O'Rourke.
I've been accused of beingextremely organized, you know,
very well put together,sometimes even intelligent.
I was a lost cause in middleschool.
I really was.
I was born way before ADD wasinvented, so I was just a
diagnosis waiting to happen.
I couldn't remember my middleschool locker combination.
(32:00):
I couldn't even get to classeson time.
I was lost.
But I used to read about thishigh school team, marion High
School in Framingham, and thesekids were winning championships.
They were conferencechampionships.
Every year they were statechampionships.
Every two, three, four yearsthey'd win a state title.
And I remember thinking I wantto be one of those guys.
(32:23):
And Chris and I had a teammateseveral years ahead of us, joe
Kolb, who I still see to thisday.
He was just a perennialconference champ, state champ.
He was just a local hero, stillis and I was in middle school.
I was a goofball and I said Iwant to be one of those guys and
I saw Jack O'Rourke at,unfortunately, a funeral here a
(32:45):
couple of years ago and I tookhim aside.
I was back in Framingham and wetalked in a, a group.
I don't know if you were in thegroup.
It was at my brother, walter'sfuneral, chris.
I don't know if you were inthat group, but my kids were
there and they'd met my highschool coach a couple of times.
But we were sitting in a groupand I said everything that I am
in life I owe to running becauseI was so disorganized and I
(33:09):
remember the first race freshmanyear, I wasn't going to impact
the score.
I was so disorganized and Iremember, like the first race
freshman year, I wasn't going toimpact the score.
I was just a freshman and Iforgot my running shoes.
I had to run in my trainingshoes.
I left my racing shoes at homeand then another day I had a
race and I forgot something else.
And the lesson learned is packyour stuff the night before, you
(33:30):
know.
And I remember I was startingto emerge as a very, very good
runner by like toward the end ofmy freshman year and I was in a
freshman, all freshman meet.
I said, okay, finally, I canactually maybe win a meet here.
And one of my shoes came untied.
And I learned another valuablelesson just double knot your
shoes every day, and I don'tmean literally double knot your
(33:54):
shoes, which I do, buteverything else in life you know
.
Double knot the rest of yourthing, and I talked to my coach
about this.
You know, 40 years after thefact, everything.
Don't be an idiot.
Don't be a moron.
Your teammates aren't going towant to hang out with you.
Be a good teammate, be a goodtraining partner.
Everything I learned in life Ilearned through running and
(34:16):
through another thing Crosscountry.
It's not a fall sport, it's alifestyle.
You know.
You just don't show upSeptember 1st and make it happen
.
Cross country is something thatdemonstrates what you've been
doing the other eight and a halfmonths of the year.
And it's so true.
It's so true.
It doesn't.
We're roofers.
I don't care if it's raining,we're doing something today.
(34:37):
We're not going to strip open aroof, but we're going to do
something.
I've got a team of 25 or 30gutter monkeys here under this
roof where we work right now andwe do gutters.
It doesn't matter if theweather's perfect or the
weather's bad.
Yesterday wasn't such a good dayto be out in it but that's what
we do, and a lot of the youngkids today, I think, need a
(34:59):
little more discipline than weneeded because we had our
fathers that were a lot tougherthan fathers are today.
And this is what we do.
We're gutter monkeys.
We're gutter monkeys every day.
Even if we're not, you know,we're runners every day.
Even if, even today, I only runtwo or three days a week, I'm
still a runner on those otherdays and you still act like a
(35:20):
runner, you still behave like arunner, you still think like a
runner and it drives everything.
And it really did change mylife and, um, I would be remiss
if I didn't tell mr o''Rourkethat on that day.
So I've made a point Whenever Isee one of my college coaches
or one of my high school coaches, I let them know that it turned
me into an athlete, whichturned me into a young man, yeah
(35:43):
, yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
It's really special.
I've been listening to yourpodcasts the Monkey Business.
I love this, I think it's greatand I think, if we can get the
younger generation and again, Ihave children from 18, almost 19
to 22, it's if we can get themto listen and to just understand
that.
And we were 18 and 22 at onetime and we didn't understand
(36:05):
and we didn't listen.
Right, that's kind of the waywe learn.
But if we could put somethingin their hands, tangible, that
they, instead of just you know,like that, they can understand,
this can change your life.
You know, and I think so muchof what you're doing here with
your business and in teaching,that it's an invaluable lesson.
And yeah, life's changed somuch, you know, since we were in
(36:28):
school and all of these things.
But this world's still here andwe still have more good to do.
So how do we teach thatgeneration that?
You know?
We teach by leading, we teachby example.
We, you know we all makemistakes.
I've made many, my share ofthem, but we all learn from
those and you know, best thingabout learning about the mistake
is you hope you don't.
(36:49):
You know you learn from itenough that you don't do it
again and you hope that youtaught somebody else something
so they learn from it.
And I guess you know, throughrunning both of you had said it
today and I think I said it aswell you learn something every
day because it really isn't.
You know.
It's not something that youneed a lot of equipment for, but
it takes a lot more brain power.
Speaker 3 (37:09):
And you don't need anyone.
You can run with 10,500 peoplein August in Falmouth or you can
run alone in your neighborhood,and it's true.
A pair of shorts, a t-shirt andsome running shoes and you're
good to go.
It's the least expensiveactivity that you can do.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
And you don't know who's going to watch you or who
is watching you.
You know, and that's the thing,I can't tell you how many times
someone said hey.
I saw you in the snow the otherday.
What the heck were you doing?
I don't.
You know I'm training forBoston, so I'm doing this.
Or I'm training for the Rock.
You know I'm doing my coaching.
It doesn't stop.
Just like you said with guttermonkeys, you don't stop what
your business is because it'snot perfect conditions.
(37:48):
Life doesn't stop because ofunperfect conditions.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Yesterday was a hot day.
It hit a hundred and not all ofour gutter cleanings got done.
There was just there was aboutfour jobs or five jobs.
It was just too hot to get themdone.
Sometimes in January it's justcold and we tell the guys you
know we have a full schedule, goout and do what you can do
today.
You have to give it 100% ofyour best effort today.
That's all you can ask on anygiven day.
And you know what we plug thosejobs in that we didn't get done
(38:21):
.
Yet.
We do it all the time in thewinter we go a whole week.
We never get all of our jobsdone in a one-week time frame.
In January you got some snow,you.
In a one-week time frame inJanuary you got some snow, you
got some cold.
You know what?
We push it off.
We do it on Saturday.
We catch up.
You just go out and do the bestyou can.
Same thing with running.
Some days you got it and youfinish up.
I don't run that far anymore.
(38:42):
The furthest I go these days isfive miles.
But some days you finish up andyou say, boy, that felt really
good and I'm going to takeanother loop around the
neighborhood and some days youjust say I feel terrible and
that's the best I had today.
But if you get through thoseawful days, the good days are
(39:02):
easy.
And it's true with everything.
It's so true with everythingRunners are.
My brother used to say that hewas a non-runner.
He would say my high school andcollege teammates everybody
still runs.
And he would say my high schooland college teammates everybody
still runs, you know.
And he would say none of yourfriends have grown up, they
still act the same.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
And I said well, that's a good thing.
It is kind of weird.
I thought about that the otherday because I'm getting up there
in age and I'm running down myneighborhood and I had my shirt
off and I was just kind ofrunning along and I'm like, oh
my God, I shouldn't be out herelooking, I'm too old to be
running down the street withoutmy shirt, you know, because it
was so hot.
And I'm thinking to myself andI'm like, screw that.
I'm 18 years old, still Look atme running.
(39:38):
And I remember thinking that inthe back of my mind Like screw
that, I'm not that old, I'mstill 18.
I'm still running down thestreet and then some kids, those
guys, groups of guys, will goby us and he'll go by me like
I'm standing still.
I think, oh my God, I used torun like that, but yeah yeah
(40:00):
it's an amazing thing and itkind of tied back to kind of
sort of you know the fundraisingand whatnot.
You know what good comes from.
You know, just putting yourshoes on, going out the door and
doing that.
You know what can I do to help.
You know all these problems inthe world, oh my God, you know
it's hopeless.
You know what can I do to goout and do anything and kind of
(40:21):
tie it back to that.
Just putting your shoes on andgetting out the door.
And yeah, sir, you're 70 yearsold or whatever you are.
You know, yeah, you can stillgo out and do.
It be consistent in yourthought process of you know,
this is something I want to do.
I'm going to be consistent ifI'm going to go out and do it.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Isn't that business though?
Speaker 3 (40:36):
you know it's life, nicole.
You've impacted a lot of peopleand there's only so much we can
do as one person in one life.
And you know, sometimes you canlook at the war in Iraq, or you
can look at the war in theUkraine or what's going on.
You know, on all the parts ofthe world and you've chosen a
few things that you can impactand that's the best we can do.
(40:59):
Look around locally and you say, what can I do?
And you've done it.
You've done more than yourshare.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
So thank you, yep.
We're coming to the end of theshow here, wrapping up about our
time frame here, but good luckwith your new business.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
Apex Thank you.
Yep Apex Strategy PartnersThank you.
Speaker 3 (41:16):
And thank you for having me on today.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
And good luck with your move out to Oklahoma.
Speaker 3 (41:18):
Thank you, you're moving to Oklahoma.
Speaker 2 (41:20):
It's been a slow move to Oklahoma, but yes.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
Oh, wow, I didn't know about that one.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
That's the way we'll end that show.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
All right yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
It's been a definite you never know which life path
you're going to be led to.
Yeah, and this one's movingover the bridge and out to
Oklahoma with my fiance anddoing lots of good in many
different places.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
Yeah, so you just spread your goodness out there?
I guess I hope so.
Okay, well, best of luck.
Thank you, all right.
Well, dennis, you're going totake us out.
Speaker 3 (41:46):
No, monkeys were in the making of this podcast.
Catch you guys next time.
Bye.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
Thank you for tuning in to Monkey Business Radio.
If you enjoyed today's episode,please make sure to subscribe,
like and follow us wherever youget your podcasts.
It really helps us reach moreaspiring entrepreneurs like you,
and if you got a question ortopic you'd like us to cover,
leave a comment or reach out tous on social media.
We'd love to hear your thoughtsand keep the conversation going
.
Don't forget to leave us afive-star review if you found
(42:17):
the episode valuable, and makesure to share it with anyone who
might benefit from our tips andstories.
We'll see you next time.
This podcast is produced byAmerican Gutter Monkeys LLC.
Build real wealth throughbusiness ownership.
For details, visit us atAmericanGutterMonkeyscom.
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