April 22, 2025 • 34 mins
What if unlocking a child’s full potential began with something as simple as a clean, well-fitting set of clothes?
In this inspiring episode, host Nicole Jansen sits down with Lynn Margherio, the visionary founder of Cradles to Crayons. Each year, Lynn’s organization provides over a million packages of essentials—clothing, shoes, diapers, school supplies—to children living in poverty or crisis, completely free of charge. But this isn’t just about meeting material needs; it’s about addressing the often-ignored crisis of clothing insecurity, which impacts over 20 million children across the U.S.
Join us as Lynn shares her compelling journey from the world of business consulting and public policy to launching a nonprofit that’s become a national movement. She reveals how clothing insecurity affects a child’s ability to learn, grow, and feel confident—and why she chose to step down as CEO after 23 years to ensure the organization thrives beyond her leadership.
Whether you’re passionate about social entrepreneurship, building sustainable impact, or simply want to make a difference, this episode is packed with insights and practical ways to get involved.
In This Episode, You’ll Discover:
- What inspired Lynn to pivot from consulting and the White House to social impact
- The true definition of clothing insecurity—and why it matters
- How Cradles to Crayons serves over a million kids each year with remarkable efficiency
- The vital role of volunteers and community partners in scaling the mission
- What it takes to transition leadership and build an enduring legacy
- How you can support children in need—locally or virtually
- The educational and emotional toll of lacking basic clothing
- Why awareness is just as critical as giving
- How Giving Factory Direct empowers anyone to make an impact from anywhere
- How to discern if your idea is meant for your neighborhood—or the nation
Tune in and be inspired by how one woman’s simple idea, fueled by compassion and community, has transformed millions of young lives—and learn how you can be part of the solution.
Episode Timestamps:
0:00 – The Hidden Crisis: Clothing Insecurity in America
1:31 – From Business Consulting to Purpose-Driven Impact: Lynn’s Backstory
4:45 – Turning an Idea into a Scalable Movement
7:01 – Unpacking the Real Need: What Families and Teachers Experience
9:24 – The Ripple Effect: Clothing, Confidence & Classroom Learning
12:40 – How Cradles to Crayons Works: Supply Chain & Distribution
15:39 – Mobilizing 50,000 Volunteers: Systems & Culture
18:02 – Vision for Expansion: From Local to National Impact
20:24 – Leadership Transition: Planning for a Mission Beyond the Founder
24:05 – Navigating the Emotional Journey of Letting Go
28:56 – The Relay Race of Leadership: Timing and Legacy
3
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the leaders of transformation podcast. The number one
show for business leaders and entrepreneurs passionate about uplifting
others and making a greater impact in the world. Now here's
your host, transformational coach, speaker, and business
advisor, Nicole Jansen.
(00:20):
Did you know that twenty million children in The US
are struggling with having the proper clothing and necessities that
they need? Well, our guest today is Lynn Magario. She is the
visionary founder of Cradles to Crayons, and over the past
two decades has been fighting to change this. C two c provides
children living in crisis, homeless kids, or low
(00:43):
income situations with the outfits and the essentials that they
need distributing more than 1,000,000 packages every year
of clothing, shoes, diapers, school supplies,
and more, all free of charge. And so today, we're gonna talk about
the underlying issues. We're gonna talk about what they do, how they solve them, and
I know it's gonna be really inspirational. So Lynn, welcome to the video's transformation.
(01:06):
We're glad you're here today. Thanks so much, Nicole. My pleasure. Well, before we go
any further, let's do a shout out to Teak Media. I always like
to acknowledge those that support this show with amazing guests, and
they introduced us. So thank you to Jackie and her amazing
team at Teak Media. So let's talk about what
inspired you, Lynn, to start this initiative
(01:28):
because I know you had another career before. Maybe talk about that leading up to
what made you launch it. Yeah, Nicole. Well, my background is business
consulting, and I also worked in the Clinton White
House on healthcare reform. And about
twenty three years ago, I was visiting my niece
in Michigan, which is where I grew up, and I was helping her get dressed.
(01:50):
And she was probably two at the time. And I
was digging through drawers and looking for clothes that
would fit her, and I was pulling out onesies
and tops that still had tags on them, but she'd
clearly outgrown them. And then I visited my brother just down
the street and saw that his kids were growing really
(02:12):
quickly. And so the clothing, the books, and the
other essentials that they had had no longer
worked for them. And it's just the case that
kids grow really quickly, that in three to six months,
they're outgrowing their clothes. In three to six months,
they're no longer reading books that made
(02:34):
them happy just a few months earlier. And so what
happens to those items? Oftentimes, they just get
stuck where they are. So they're stuck in bureaus
and in drawers. They might be stuck on
store shelves. And so I had this idea that
there is this ever recharging source of supply,
(02:56):
and if I could just harness it and move it from
where it wasn't helping a child anymore, wasn't giving
that child joy, if I could move that into a home
where a child was at that developmental stage
to really benefit from that sweater, that
winter coat, that pair of shoes. And so that was
(03:20):
really the impetus for Cradles to Crayons.
And twenty three years later, we're providing more than a million
packages each year to kids in several
cities across the country. Amazing. You know what? It's funny because a lot of those
things, yes, they like you said, they end up on the shelves, so they get
passed down maybe to another sibling. But if it's the last sibling, then who else
(03:42):
is gonna get it? Or even, like, I've noticed, like, even with some
of my friends when they have their second, third, fourth
child, they don't wanna have the same things and pass it down. So they
get new stuff or you have a baby shower and you're getting new
stuff. And so then, yeah, like, what do you do with all this? You know?
And I know churches oftentimes will do bazaars and we'll
(04:03):
repurpose that and so forth. But by and large, a lot of that stuff is
getting wasted or it's ending up in landfills where it's I mean, it's like the
same thing happens as adults. Right? We get tired of something. When we do, we
throw it out. We may give it to the goodwill, but a lot of times
it just gets chucked. And so there's so much wastage there. Now
there's acknowledging the issue, and there's
(04:24):
doing something a little bit in your community. And then there's taking it to
where you took it, which is creating an organization. This is what you do.
This is your life's work. There's a big jump between one and the other. So,
like, what really was the impetus for you to say, or
maybe that process that you went through to say, this isn't just something I'm
gonna do in my community for a few people. But this is something I want
(04:46):
to take to another level. Because I know there's a lot of people that are
listening, like, that are thinking about doing something and deciding is this a
little thing? Or is this a big thing? And how do I do that? Yeah.
And, Nicole, I had no idea if anybody was
even gonna be interested in this, if there was truly a need,
if other people had already solved the need.
(05:08):
And so what I did was start talking to people.
And whenever I have questions, whenever I'm trying to do something
new, I try to go to the experts, people who will have
information that can help give me the
answers. And you know, so I started out by going
to organizations that were providing supports
(05:30):
to kids and families who were struggling financially
to see, is this a need? Do they have a need for
clothing? What other kinds of supplies do they have a need
for? Is it for little kids? Is it for big kids? Is it for everybody
in between? And are they already solving that?
Do they already have a system in place that's taking care of
(05:53):
this need? And what I was hearing from social workers
and case managers, from teachers, was
that it is a need every day. Teachers are
seeing kids who are showing up on a snowy
winter day with sneakers that are sopping wet
because they didn't have winter boots, or they would have a
(06:16):
child who wasn't showing up to school because he didn't have a winter coat and
couldn't wait for the school bus out on a 20 degree day.
And so I would hear about teachers paying
for the supplies the students in their classes
needed to the point where they just didn't have
any more funds to do it, and because the problem was too
(06:38):
large, or for kids who were in preschool age
who didn't have diapers. And so what I was
learning was that families had to make a
really tough decision between putting food on the table,
paying rent, and getting kids these everyday
essentials of a warm sweater, a pair of pants,
(07:01):
or diapers. And oftentimes, they
just didn't have enough to do all of it. And so the
children were going without. And you have really well
meaning, very dedicated case managers, and
nurses, and teachers, but they have full time
jobs. And their job is not to try to
(07:23):
clothe these kids, but their job is really to try
to get the kids in a situation
where they are able to realize their potential, where
they're able to learn, and not having this need
met is a big barrier to that.
So I was hearing time and again. So I was hearing time and
(07:44):
again, I am faced with this situation every day.
I don't have the time to do it. I don't have any
storage in my head start center or
in the shelter to store items as they might
come in, but it would be a really important service
if I could rely on an organization and
(08:07):
reach out to them when there was a five year old
boy who needed a pair of shoes that
fit and who needed a week's worth of matched
outfits or that I could reach
out and order for an entire classroom.
Those that type of support would be really valuable.
(08:29):
It wasn't something that the agencies
that I was speaking with back twenty years ago, they didn't have
those resources available in their community. So it was really
left to chance. And it was left to the individual
caseworker or teacher to try to fill what is
a really, really large gap across our country.
(08:52):
Yeah. I mean, a lot of times we think about those things, right? Food
shelter, but it's food, shelter, clothing, and all the things that go
with that talk about this idea of, and I
never heard the term before clothing insecurity. And that's
not Oh, I'm not wearing the fanciest latest designer
brands. This is clothing insecurity. Like, when you talked about potential
(09:14):
and teachers being there to help kids
realize their potential, talk about the connection between
that psychologically, what happens? When you ask that
question, I think about this little girl who is six years
old, and she was in her classroom, and she
was fidgeting. She asked her teacher to
(09:36):
be excused to go to the bathroom, And the teacher
escorted her to the bathroom and waited
for her. And the little girl said, can you help
me? And the teacher went in, and she said, well, what do you
need? She said, well, my mom always helps to
snap the top button of my pants. And when
(09:58):
the teacher looked to do it, the little girl had
to literally suck in her stomach so that the
pants would snap shut. And the teacher in that
moment realized this little girl's fidgeting in
the classroom wasn't because she
was trying to Act out or whatever. Yeah. Act
(10:21):
out exactly, or wasn't paying attention was because
she was really uncomfortable. She was wearing pants that actually
hurt her. They were digging into her because they didn't
fit. So she ordered the teacher ordered clothing
from us, and it was like a light switch went off for that
little girl. She showed up to class, and she was
(10:43):
raising her hand. She has a smile on her face.
She was paying attention, And she was, you know, like the
other kids in the classroom, just they're wanting to
learn and have friends in her class. And it just
took that teacher being in a situation to notice that this
girl didn't have clothes that fit her and making that change
(11:05):
for her? Well, it again, it's the things that we take for granted, right? That
we don't think about that can have a really big impact. It's
on somebody's attention span. It's like now they obviously, when we
come up with food, if they're hungry, they can't pay attention. But
yeah, if their clothes are not fitting, they can't pay attention. If they're too
cold, they can't pay attention. If they're too hot, you know. And cold too,
(11:28):
they can also be the subject of bullying. You know,
if there is a child who's showing up to class wearing the
same outfit day after day, the kids
notice and they make fun of that child. Yeah. Or the pants are
too short or the whatever. Yeah. Yep. Or a
boy's wearing his mom's sweater because that's the
(11:50):
warmest article of clothing in the house. It can even
be so bad that, you know, you'll get
calls into child protective services if
someone notices that a child is wearing the same
clothing day after day because you can
have someone think that there is neglect happening. Yeah.
(12:11):
And we hear that over and over again. It's
not because these parents don't love their kids. It's not
because they don't wanna do what's best for them. It's because
they can't afford to provide
them with the basics. And clothing is that
very visible sign of poverty and very visible sign
(12:33):
that this child's basic needs aren't being met.
So talk about the process, even from a
supply chain standpoint of like, okay, you're where do these clothes come
from? How do you gather them? And then how do you distribute them? You
mentioned teachers, you work with different organizations. Talk about
how that process actually works. So we have a few
(12:55):
different models. We've got what we call our giving factory
locations. We've got three of them, one in the Boston area, one
in Philadelphia, and one in Chicago. And in
those communities, we'll have schools and faith
based organizations and corporations who are
holding drives for us throughout the year.
(13:17):
And so they will collect items and then they will deliver
them to our Giving Factory location. We
have an army of volunteers who come in every day, and
they help us to sort through bags and
boxes of random stuff and turn it into
matched outfits that will last a child for a week,
(13:40):
or they will put together an order for a child
that takes into account their age, their size,
their gender. And then once the order is ready to
be picked up, it will be a case manager
or a teacher, a social worker, maybe a nurse
who comes from that partner agency
(14:02):
and who collects the orders for the kids in their program
and does that last mile distribution. We've got another
program that is virtual. It's online. We call it Giving Factory
Direct, and you can be anywhere in the country. And you can
say, I have clothes that I would like to donate because my kids have
outgrown them. You go on and you tell us, I've got clothes
(14:24):
in for a child who wears boys size two tee.
And we give you information about what you should put
in the bag and what our quality standards are.
And we match you to a child who wears that size gender
combination. We give you a shipping label. You put it in
a box, you take it to UPS, and it will
(14:47):
go to an agency that's providing direct support to
that little boy who wears size two. And so you can know that
the clothes that you are donating are going directly to a
child who could really use them at no charge to
that child. So there are different ways you can engage
with us and make a difference in your own
(15:09):
community, or you could make a difference in a community that's a bit
further away, maybe a place where you grew up. Yeah. I love that.
And I love how you're making just even the way obviously you've been doing this
for a long time is how to make it most efficient in terms of how
to get it into the hands of the kids as quickly as possible as
well in that process rather than the extra step and all of that. But you
(15:31):
do have, like, 50,000 volunteers, I think you said,
annually. How do you manage all of that? Because that's a big
deal. Yes. And it really does take both
systems as well as staff to be able
to do outreach, to get the volunteers to come
in, identify, and let people know that we are a place where you can come
(15:54):
in and volunteer. And then we wanna use people's time really well.
So when you show up to one of our Giving
Factory locations, we want you to have
fun. We want you to know that you made a difference, and we
want you to come back and tell other people about your
experience so that we can keep serving more kids. And
(16:16):
so that's really how it works. So we've got a
database where you will register
and let us know what time and day you're able
to come in. And so we'll register you as an individual or
as a group. You come in at the time that you've signed
up for, and we do an orientation. We'll let you
(16:38):
know what our mission is, why your time is really valuable
to us, and then we'll get you off and working in one of our
stations in the giving factory. We've got music. That's a lot of
fun, always a full house. And so you just
see other people there. It might be a corporate group. It might be a group
of, you know, third grade class that's in. It might be
(17:00):
a church group that is in. And so you're really feeling like
you're a part of a community because you are. And then two
hours later, you wrap up, clean up your station, and then we bring
you back together and we share how much we accomplished
in that time. And so people will just call out from the different stations. Here's
what I did, and here's how many kids we were able to help. Well, I
(17:23):
love that. It reminds me of going to the food bank and
helping there and doing that, or we have locally here an
organization called Got Your Back, and they pack backpacks for
kids that don't have the food and whatever to go over the weekend
sometimes. And so it's very subtle. So they give them a backpack as opposed
to offering them the canned goods visibly. And
(17:44):
so, yeah, there's all these really awesome organizations out
there that are doing this. So you're in Boston,
Philadelphia, and Chicago, where you're giving factories
are. Are you looking at expanding? I know you're also transitioning. Right?
Like you this is even as a CEO. So maybe we can talk about Yeah.
The vision and where is it going? So through Giving Factory Direct,
(18:06):
we're also serving kids in New York City Different. And
San Francisco. Mhmm. And we are looking right
now to try to both raise awareness of clothing
and security as a basic need. That's one of those
obvious things when you have a conversation about it, people get it. Like, of
course, you need to have clothing to go out in the world
(18:28):
and project who you are and how you want others to think about
you, and also just to be warm and safe. So we wanna raise
awareness so that any organization out there who
wants to take up this mantle of ending clothing and
security in their own community, that there are others right
in their neighborhood who are starting to hear about this as a need and
(18:51):
starting to realize that, wow, I've got kids and my kids
are growing really quickly. And a lot of the things that I have in my
home are in beautiful like new condition that can make a
difference right here in my own neighborhood. So we
wanna educate people about this as a need, and
we wanna give people the tools to be able to make
(19:13):
a difference. And so whether that is coming in and volunteering in one of
our locations or finding an organization in their own
community that is addressing clothing insecurity,
we want people to take that action and then use
the Giving Factory Direct tool to just
make it so convenient for people. They don't even have to leave their own
(19:35):
house. They can just volunteer from the comfort of their
living room. Love that. And then yeah. So talk about the
vision of going forward. You already have that in place, and that
is amazing so that people from all over the country, wherever, can I
get involved? I was alluding to the fact that I know you and I were
talking beforehand, and you've been twenty three years as the
(19:58):
CEO that you are now looking for a successor and starting to
move into a new season. I don't know where you're at because we talked a
few months ago where you're at with that to maybe talk a little bit about
that journey, that process. Because at some point, yeah, whatever we
create, we want it to be able to last beyond us. And
there's a succession plan that needs to be in place to make that
(20:19):
happen, keeping the vision alive and the systems and all of that as as
well alive. Yeah. Nicole, you hit the nail on the head. You know,
any founder or any leader of an organization wants
to know that what they created
and the need that they are meeting is going to
continue to be met well after they move
(20:41):
on. So it was one of the hardest decisions I've ever
had to make to say that, you know what? The time is right for
me to move on. My kids are
teenagers. My daughter is going to be going to college
in a year and a half. And so I wanna be able to spend
more time with my family. And I also feel
(21:03):
like there's you know, the organization has it. We've got
an amazing group of people, amazing individuals who
are really dedicated to our mission and
really want to expand and do more
for the 20,000,000 kids across The US who are
facing clothing insecurity. And so when I did the balance of
(21:26):
saying, okay, is it feels like it's my time? Time. And I looked
at, you know, is the organization ready as well? And the answer to that
was yes. Now was it ready for me to leave tomorrow?
No. What I wanted to do and what I've been doing with our
board and with our leadership team is
really setting the stage for a smooth transition.
(21:50):
So I approached my board chair several months ago, and I
said I'm thinking about this is my last year
as CEO. And, you know, how can we do this?
This is brand new for me. It's really scary, but
let's talk through it. And he was amazing. We
started to really plot out what are the things
(22:12):
that need to be set up so that when
we have a new person in place, the organization
is ready for that handoff, and it's not coming as a
surprise. And so it involved creating a communications
plan. The board created a search committee
and, hired a search firm to lead the search.
(22:36):
And they got a lot of input from our
team and from our stakeholders. What's this
organization? What are the opportunities ahead? What
are some of the challenges? What do we need in
a next CEO? And so all that input
came together to create what the position description
(22:58):
was. And so, you know, the board's been leading that
search, and we're in the final stages. I
anticipate that shortly, I will be passing the
baton to a new leader, and I will be transitioning
into the role of an advisor. And what does that look
like? Well, that's gonna really depend on what's needed. What
(23:20):
does the new leader feel I can help
with? And how can I be there to continue to cheerlead
this organization and provide support? How can I provide
support in a way that empowers the new leader
and empowers our leadership team to take it
into the next chapter? Yeah. It's challenging as
(23:42):
someone who has created this thing. It's like having a baby and you
birth this baby and then it's like, wait a second, they're going off to
college now. I still wanna have influence and I wanna and then if you're
an advisor, then it's like, where's that balance
between, well, I wouldn't do it that way, but like letting
go but still being in love with it. It's an interesting
(24:04):
dynamic. And Nicole, it's been an emotional roller
coaster, particularly in the very early
kind of stages of this where, you know, I had made that
decision, like, okay, it's time, but
You can make the decision intellectually, but it's still decision until it's the
emotional impact. And it's like, wow, am
(24:27):
I really ready? Is this really what I want? Is the
team really, you know, you just start willing to let go of it. Listening. And
then am I willing to let go? And also
just the unknown. I've never done this before,
and so it'll be new. And then also, Cradles to Crowns has
been my first baby. So I will always love it, and
(24:50):
I will always want to be helpful, but I don't wanna overstep.
And then also just thinking about there will always be unfinished
business. Right? Any going concern
by definition has a lot of balls in the air. And
so just knowing when, okay, this
is as far as I can take
(25:12):
it, and then it's passing it off
and trusting that others will move it
forward. And so that's been very much a learning and a growth
experience for me over the last several months. Then as I
go into this next chapter, it's also
brand new. And I don't know what's ahead and it's both exciting, but it's
(25:34):
also kind of scary. Yeah. It's like, what are we gonna do after this? It's
like, well, wait a second. Just stay right here. Let's focus on this
first. Yeah. And I think you can always fall into that
trap like, well, I'm needed or this thing is something
we have to get past before I can move on. Well,
there's always going to be that thing. There's always
(25:57):
going to be whatever the crisis of the day is
or the opportunity or the
wonderful idea that someone puts
forward and you say, oh my God, I wanna be part of this. And so
it's just that release. It's the letting go and saying,
this is gonna be an exciting time for
(26:19):
the organization. And they'll figure it out. And they'll be
amazing in the process. Well, in bringing a new
leader in sometimes with a fresh set of eyes and
vision, they see it differently and that can be
good, that can be scary, but it can be really good where they're
like tag out, I got this and then I'm gonna take it to the next
(26:41):
leg of the relay. Yeah. So it'll be exciting to see
how it continues. Yeah. And what they do with it. And I have to
be okay with that. Yeah. And I am okay with that. I mean, I'm
sitting here today and I'm saying I'm okay with that. And I'm I'm sure there's
moments where you're like, Am I though? I'm not
sure. But you don't know until you get into it. You can't
(27:03):
plan for that. Like no amount of Yeah,
no. And it could be very much that. Like, yep. I've got it.
Thanks, Lynn. And now you go over here. Or it could be
there's something that it would be great to get your
insights on and the twenty years of history.
And can you help? And I have to be ready for
(27:25):
either, you know, either of those things. And maybe I'll and I suspect
there will be times where it feels joyful. And then there'll
be times when I feel like, Oh, my God, what did
I do? Yeah, well, especially if you're because a lot of times our identity
is wrapped up in what we do. And when we have something like this, so
we've hold so closely, when you take that away, then it's like,
(27:47):
well, who am I now? Right? So it's like, well, who is Lynn
without cradles to crayons? Who is Lynn without that CEO role and
all the responsibilities and all the people that look up to her and so forth?
Who is she without that? And what's next for you and your own season? So
yeah, a lot of times we can as a coach, I noticed like you can
run ahead and start worrying about those things or
(28:08):
dreaming about those things. And that's good to kinda, like, put
your foot in the water a little bit or, like, just kind of conceptualize, starting
to conceptualize it, letting it marinate, if you will, in terms of the
possibilities. And in the meantime, stay right in the
moment of what needs to happen right now
to make sure that that transition happens successfully.
(28:29):
Because, you know, I've seen that with leaders. Sometimes they're done
and they they're looking at and they're saying, hey, I wanna move on. But they're
then they start to check out before they've actually
passed the baton. And so there's the two sides. Either you don't wanna let go
of it or you let go of it too fast. I used to do relay
as a kid. I'm just like, yeah, it's a great analogy, right? It's like you
(28:49):
can't let go of it too soon and you can't hold on to it too
long. So there's this balance in between. So Yes. And it's
finding that balance, but it's being planful
and seeking alignment with
leadership and then doing your part. Then I say that, it
sounds easy. And and so far, what I would
(29:11):
say is I really feel great about where
we are, and I feel really great about
how I've been included in the
process to get to where we are. And I'm excited. I really
am excited about where our team and
where the new leader can take the organization
(29:33):
because I know we're needed, and I
know we've got a tremendous team and community
of supporters who care a lot about
the kids and who want to do more. And so
that gives me the permission to
let go. Knowing that it's in good hands. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that
(29:56):
happens in like, as an entrepreneur, whether you it's a nonprofit or
for profit or whatever, there's a point where, yeah, you gotta build
it. You know, there's a saying, right, build it with the intention of selling
it. So because not that you may, you may
not, but that you have the systems that you have the
mindset and the intentionality about developing the
(30:18):
systems so that it could run without you. Because what if something happens to
one of us? It's like, does what we created live beyond
us? I think there's a bigger question there. Like, what does it take to put
that in place? And it sounds like that's what you've done is create it, create
the team, create the structure, create the systems and all that so that it can
live beyond you. And we need to be thinking about
(30:39):
that early on in terms of how we create it. So this has been so
good, Lynn. Thank you. Thank you. And I'm excited for you. It's like, yeah, you
got all these possibilities, you know, even for yourself and, like, maybe take
some time off, but you're probably not gonna wanna sit still for too long. So
there'll be something else. So I'm excited for cradles
to crayons, and I'm excited for me. I think great
(31:01):
things are ahead. Yeah, that's great. We'll finish
off there. And we'll send everyone to your website. Let's talk about that. So
cradlestocrayons.org is your website. That's where people
can go if they have a need if they
have the opportunity where they want to be able to
give, whether if they're local. So Austin,
(31:23):
Philadelphia, Chicago, currently, those three locations where you
can actually go and volunteer or even virtually, you
can do the idea factory direct and send
it to a child in need. And so I just encourage I always say leaders
of transformation take action. So nothing happens until somebody
takes action. Just like Lynn with your story
(31:46):
in the beginning where you saw a need and you said, I gotta do
something about that. There's that decision, I'm gonna do something about this and then
there's the follow through, right? So there's mindset strategy,
execution. You gotta get out there and do something. And so I encourage our listeners,
do something with what you learn. Maybe it inspired you that you wanna start something
and you've seen a need to take action on that. What's that one,
(32:07):
that first step for you? Maybe starting to ask questions. Is
this a big need? Is this a small need? Is somebody else serving the need
already? Can I support them? Or is there a gap that needs to
be filled? Maybe it is supporting cradles to crayons if this
inspired you in that way. And you say, you know what? I actually have some
kids clothes in my house. So I can do that or in my
(32:28):
church, or maybe you can get your corporate team together and
saying, Hey, you know what, there's this great organization, why don't we support
them with and let's all look at what are we have in our houses, and
we can pull it together, whatever. So I just encourage you to do something
with what you learned here. And we'd love to hear your stories, how this has
impacted you, the actions that you take, how we can even support you
(32:50):
along the journey. And so you can go to leadersoftransformation.com. Reach out to
us there, and let us know how we can do that. So, again, Lynn,
thank you so much for being here. Thank you for the commitment that you've made
over the last twenty three years to just serve in this capacity
because everybody doing a little bit makes a big difference. And so
yeah. And I know that with that many kids and that many packages
(33:12):
that have been delivered, you've made a huge dent in that issue
that's out there. And there's, of course, more to come, but you've made a huge
dent with those million packages a year. That's amazing.
That's truly, truly amazing. Just from an idea, it's amazing what one person with
an idea can do. So again, thank you. Appreciate you. And
any final thoughts for our listeners? No, I think you nailed it on the head.
(33:34):
It's don't assume that others have it covered. If you've got
an idea, explore it and do something about it.
And volunteering, getting involved in your
community or in a cause that you care about, that's
how we run-in this sector. It's
through the support and commitment
(33:55):
of our neighbors and our community. So
nothing is too small. Yeah, absolutely. Lynn, thank you
again for being here. And thank you to our listeners for being here. Hope you
enjoyed this and inspired you to take action. And again, we look
forward to hearing how we can support you along that journey that you're on
to being a leader of transformation. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you
(34:18):
next week on another episode of the leaders of transformation. Have
a great day. Thank you for listening to
the leaders of transformation podcast with Nicole Jansen. If
you're enjoying the show, please click the follow or subscribe button and
leave a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcasts.
And remember to join us on social and get connected.
(34:40):
Together, we can make this world a better place for everyone.
We'll see you next time.
Welcome to the leaders of transformation podcast. The number one
show for business leaders and entrepreneurs passionate about uplifting
others and making a greater impact in the world. Now here's
your host, transformational coach, speaker, and business
advisor, Nicole Jansen.
(00:20):
Did you know that twenty million children in The US
are struggling with having the proper clothing and necessities that
they need? Well, our guest today is Lynn Magario. She is the
visionary founder of Cradles to Crayons, and over the past
two decades has been fighting to change this. C two c provides
children living in crisis, homeless kids, or low
(00:43):
income situations with the outfits and the essentials that they
need distributing more than 1,000,000 packages every year
of clothing, shoes, diapers, school supplies,
and more, all free of charge. And so today, we're gonna talk about
the underlying issues. We're gonna talk about what they do, how they solve them, and
I know it's gonna be really inspirational. So Lynn, welcome to the video's transformation.
(01:06):
We're glad you're here today. Thanks so much, Nicole. My pleasure. Well, before we go
any further, let's do a shout out to Teak Media. I always like
to acknowledge those that support this show with amazing guests, and
they introduced us. So thank you to Jackie and her amazing
team at Teak Media. So let's talk about what
inspired you, Lynn, to start this initiative
(01:28):
because I know you had another career before. Maybe talk about that leading up to
what made you launch it. Yeah, Nicole. Well, my background is business
consulting, and I also worked in the Clinton White
House on healthcare reform. And about
twenty three years ago, I was visiting my niece
in Michigan, which is where I grew up, and I was helping her get dressed.
(01:50):
And she was probably two at the time. And I
was digging through drawers and looking for clothes that
would fit her, and I was pulling out onesies
and tops that still had tags on them, but she'd
clearly outgrown them. And then I visited my brother just down
the street and saw that his kids were growing really
(02:12):
quickly. And so the clothing, the books, and the
other essentials that they had had no longer
worked for them. And it's just the case that
kids grow really quickly, that in three to six months,
they're outgrowing their clothes. In three to six months,
they're no longer reading books that made
(02:34):
them happy just a few months earlier. And so what
happens to those items? Oftentimes, they just get
stuck where they are. So they're stuck in bureaus
and in drawers. They might be stuck on
store shelves. And so I had this idea that
there is this ever recharging source of supply,
(02:56):
and if I could just harness it and move it from
where it wasn't helping a child anymore, wasn't giving
that child joy, if I could move that into a home
where a child was at that developmental stage
to really benefit from that sweater, that
winter coat, that pair of shoes. And so that was
(03:20):
really the impetus for Cradles to Crayons.
And twenty three years later, we're providing more than a million
packages each year to kids in several
cities across the country. Amazing. You know what? It's funny because a lot of those
things, yes, they like you said, they end up on the shelves, so they get
passed down maybe to another sibling. But if it's the last sibling, then who else
(03:42):
is gonna get it? Or even, like, I've noticed, like, even with some
of my friends when they have their second, third, fourth
child, they don't wanna have the same things and pass it down. So they
get new stuff or you have a baby shower and you're getting new
stuff. And so then, yeah, like, what do you do with all this? You know?
And I know churches oftentimes will do bazaars and we'll
(04:03):
repurpose that and so forth. But by and large, a lot of that stuff is
getting wasted or it's ending up in landfills where it's I mean, it's like the
same thing happens as adults. Right? We get tired of something. When we do, we
throw it out. We may give it to the goodwill, but a lot of times
it just gets chucked. And so there's so much wastage there. Now
there's acknowledging the issue, and there's
(04:24):
doing something a little bit in your community. And then there's taking it to
where you took it, which is creating an organization. This is what you do.
This is your life's work. There's a big jump between one and the other. So,
like, what really was the impetus for you to say, or
maybe that process that you went through to say, this isn't just something I'm
gonna do in my community for a few people. But this is something I want
(04:46):
to take to another level. Because I know there's a lot of people that are
listening, like, that are thinking about doing something and deciding is this a
little thing? Or is this a big thing? And how do I do that? Yeah.
And, Nicole, I had no idea if anybody was
even gonna be interested in this, if there was truly a need,
if other people had already solved the need.
(05:08):
And so what I did was start talking to people.
And whenever I have questions, whenever I'm trying to do something
new, I try to go to the experts, people who will have
information that can help give me the
answers. And you know, so I started out by going
to organizations that were providing supports
(05:30):
to kids and families who were struggling financially
to see, is this a need? Do they have a need for
clothing? What other kinds of supplies do they have a need
for? Is it for little kids? Is it for big kids? Is it for everybody
in between? And are they already solving that?
Do they already have a system in place that's taking care of
(05:53):
this need? And what I was hearing from social workers
and case managers, from teachers, was
that it is a need every day. Teachers are
seeing kids who are showing up on a snowy
winter day with sneakers that are sopping wet
because they didn't have winter boots, or they would have a
(06:16):
child who wasn't showing up to school because he didn't have a winter coat and
couldn't wait for the school bus out on a 20 degree day.
And so I would hear about teachers paying
for the supplies the students in their classes
needed to the point where they just didn't have
any more funds to do it, and because the problem was too
(06:38):
large, or for kids who were in preschool age
who didn't have diapers. And so what I was
learning was that families had to make a
really tough decision between putting food on the table,
paying rent, and getting kids these everyday
essentials of a warm sweater, a pair of pants,
(07:01):
or diapers. And oftentimes, they
just didn't have enough to do all of it. And so the
children were going without. And you have really well
meaning, very dedicated case managers, and
nurses, and teachers, but they have full time
jobs. And their job is not to try to
(07:23):
clothe these kids, but their job is really to try
to get the kids in a situation
where they are able to realize their potential, where
they're able to learn, and not having this need
met is a big barrier to that.
So I was hearing time and again. So I was hearing time and
(07:44):
again, I am faced with this situation every day.
I don't have the time to do it. I don't have any
storage in my head start center or
in the shelter to store items as they might
come in, but it would be a really important service
if I could rely on an organization and
(08:07):
reach out to them when there was a five year old
boy who needed a pair of shoes that
fit and who needed a week's worth of matched
outfits or that I could reach
out and order for an entire classroom.
Those that type of support would be really valuable.
(08:29):
It wasn't something that the agencies
that I was speaking with back twenty years ago, they didn't have
those resources available in their community. So it was really
left to chance. And it was left to the individual
caseworker or teacher to try to fill what is
a really, really large gap across our country.
(08:52):
Yeah. I mean, a lot of times we think about those things, right? Food
shelter, but it's food, shelter, clothing, and all the things that go
with that talk about this idea of, and I
never heard the term before clothing insecurity. And that's
not Oh, I'm not wearing the fanciest latest designer
brands. This is clothing insecurity. Like, when you talked about potential
(09:14):
and teachers being there to help kids
realize their potential, talk about the connection between
that psychologically, what happens? When you ask that
question, I think about this little girl who is six years
old, and she was in her classroom, and she
was fidgeting. She asked her teacher to
(09:36):
be excused to go to the bathroom, And the teacher
escorted her to the bathroom and waited
for her. And the little girl said, can you help
me? And the teacher went in, and she said, well, what do you
need? She said, well, my mom always helps to
snap the top button of my pants. And when
(09:58):
the teacher looked to do it, the little girl had
to literally suck in her stomach so that the
pants would snap shut. And the teacher in that
moment realized this little girl's fidgeting in
the classroom wasn't because she
was trying to Act out or whatever. Yeah. Act
(10:21):
out exactly, or wasn't paying attention was because
she was really uncomfortable. She was wearing pants that actually
hurt her. They were digging into her because they didn't
fit. So she ordered the teacher ordered clothing
from us, and it was like a light switch went off for that
little girl. She showed up to class, and she was
(10:43):
raising her hand. She has a smile on her face.
She was paying attention, And she was, you know, like the
other kids in the classroom, just they're wanting to
learn and have friends in her class. And it just
took that teacher being in a situation to notice that this
girl didn't have clothes that fit her and making that change
(11:05):
for her? Well, it again, it's the things that we take for granted, right? That
we don't think about that can have a really big impact. It's
on somebody's attention span. It's like now they obviously, when we
come up with food, if they're hungry, they can't pay attention. But
yeah, if their clothes are not fitting, they can't pay attention. If they're too
cold, they can't pay attention. If they're too hot, you know. And cold too,
(11:28):
they can also be the subject of bullying. You know,
if there is a child who's showing up to class wearing the
same outfit day after day, the kids
notice and they make fun of that child. Yeah. Or the pants are
too short or the whatever. Yeah. Yep. Or a
boy's wearing his mom's sweater because that's the
(11:50):
warmest article of clothing in the house. It can even
be so bad that, you know, you'll get
calls into child protective services if
someone notices that a child is wearing the same
clothing day after day because you can
have someone think that there is neglect happening. Yeah.
(12:11):
And we hear that over and over again. It's
not because these parents don't love their kids. It's not
because they don't wanna do what's best for them. It's because
they can't afford to provide
them with the basics. And clothing is that
very visible sign of poverty and very visible sign
(12:33):
that this child's basic needs aren't being met.
So talk about the process, even from a
supply chain standpoint of like, okay, you're where do these clothes come
from? How do you gather them? And then how do you distribute them? You
mentioned teachers, you work with different organizations. Talk about
how that process actually works. So we have a few
(12:55):
different models. We've got what we call our giving factory
locations. We've got three of them, one in the Boston area, one
in Philadelphia, and one in Chicago. And in
those communities, we'll have schools and faith
based organizations and corporations who are
holding drives for us throughout the year.
(13:17):
And so they will collect items and then they will deliver
them to our Giving Factory location. We
have an army of volunteers who come in every day, and
they help us to sort through bags and
boxes of random stuff and turn it into
matched outfits that will last a child for a week,
(13:40):
or they will put together an order for a child
that takes into account their age, their size,
their gender. And then once the order is ready to
be picked up, it will be a case manager
or a teacher, a social worker, maybe a nurse
who comes from that partner agency
(14:02):
and who collects the orders for the kids in their program
and does that last mile distribution. We've got another
program that is virtual. It's online. We call it Giving Factory
Direct, and you can be anywhere in the country. And you can
say, I have clothes that I would like to donate because my kids have
outgrown them. You go on and you tell us, I've got clothes
(14:24):
in for a child who wears boys size two tee.
And we give you information about what you should put
in the bag and what our quality standards are.
And we match you to a child who wears that size gender
combination. We give you a shipping label. You put it in
a box, you take it to UPS, and it will
(14:47):
go to an agency that's providing direct support to
that little boy who wears size two. And so you can know that
the clothes that you are donating are going directly to a
child who could really use them at no charge to
that child. So there are different ways you can engage
with us and make a difference in your own
(15:09):
community, or you could make a difference in a community that's a bit
further away, maybe a place where you grew up. Yeah. I love that.
And I love how you're making just even the way obviously you've been doing this
for a long time is how to make it most efficient in terms of how
to get it into the hands of the kids as quickly as possible as
well in that process rather than the extra step and all of that. But you
(15:31):
do have, like, 50,000 volunteers, I think you said,
annually. How do you manage all of that? Because that's a big
deal. Yes. And it really does take both
systems as well as staff to be able
to do outreach, to get the volunteers to come
in, identify, and let people know that we are a place where you can come
(15:54):
in and volunteer. And then we wanna use people's time really well.
So when you show up to one of our Giving
Factory locations, we want you to have
fun. We want you to know that you made a difference, and we
want you to come back and tell other people about your
experience so that we can keep serving more kids. And
(16:16):
so that's really how it works. So we've got a
database where you will register
and let us know what time and day you're able
to come in. And so we'll register you as an individual or
as a group. You come in at the time that you've signed
up for, and we do an orientation. We'll let you
(16:38):
know what our mission is, why your time is really valuable
to us, and then we'll get you off and working in one of our
stations in the giving factory. We've got music. That's a lot of
fun, always a full house. And so you just
see other people there. It might be a corporate group. It might be a group
of, you know, third grade class that's in. It might be
(17:00):
a church group that is in. And so you're really feeling like
you're a part of a community because you are. And then two
hours later, you wrap up, clean up your station, and then we bring
you back together and we share how much we accomplished
in that time. And so people will just call out from the different stations. Here's
what I did, and here's how many kids we were able to help. Well, I
(17:23):
love that. It reminds me of going to the food bank and
helping there and doing that, or we have locally here an
organization called Got Your Back, and they pack backpacks for
kids that don't have the food and whatever to go over the weekend
sometimes. And so it's very subtle. So they give them a backpack as opposed
to offering them the canned goods visibly. And
(17:44):
so, yeah, there's all these really awesome organizations out
there that are doing this. So you're in Boston,
Philadelphia, and Chicago, where you're giving factories
are. Are you looking at expanding? I know you're also transitioning. Right?
Like you this is even as a CEO. So maybe we can talk about Yeah.
The vision and where is it going? So through Giving Factory Direct,
(18:06):
we're also serving kids in New York City Different. And
San Francisco. Mhmm. And we are looking right
now to try to both raise awareness of clothing
and security as a basic need. That's one of those
obvious things when you have a conversation about it, people get it. Like, of
course, you need to have clothing to go out in the world
(18:28):
and project who you are and how you want others to think about
you, and also just to be warm and safe. So we wanna raise
awareness so that any organization out there who
wants to take up this mantle of ending clothing and
security in their own community, that there are others right
in their neighborhood who are starting to hear about this as a need and
(18:51):
starting to realize that, wow, I've got kids and my kids
are growing really quickly. And a lot of the things that I have in my
home are in beautiful like new condition that can make a
difference right here in my own neighborhood. So we
wanna educate people about this as a need, and
we wanna give people the tools to be able to make
(19:13):
a difference. And so whether that is coming in and volunteering in one of
our locations or finding an organization in their own
community that is addressing clothing insecurity,
we want people to take that action and then use
the Giving Factory Direct tool to just
make it so convenient for people. They don't even have to leave their own
(19:35):
house. They can just volunteer from the comfort of their
living room. Love that. And then yeah. So talk about the
vision of going forward. You already have that in place, and that
is amazing so that people from all over the country, wherever, can I
get involved? I was alluding to the fact that I know you and I were
talking beforehand, and you've been twenty three years as the
(19:58):
CEO that you are now looking for a successor and starting to
move into a new season. I don't know where you're at because we talked a
few months ago where you're at with that to maybe talk a little bit about
that journey, that process. Because at some point, yeah, whatever we
create, we want it to be able to last beyond us. And
there's a succession plan that needs to be in place to make that
(20:19):
happen, keeping the vision alive and the systems and all of that as as
well alive. Yeah. Nicole, you hit the nail on the head. You know,
any founder or any leader of an organization wants
to know that what they created
and the need that they are meeting is going to
continue to be met well after they move
(20:41):
on. So it was one of the hardest decisions I've ever
had to make to say that, you know what? The time is right for
me to move on. My kids are
teenagers. My daughter is going to be going to college
in a year and a half. And so I wanna be able to spend
more time with my family. And I also feel
(21:03):
like there's you know, the organization has it. We've got
an amazing group of people, amazing individuals who
are really dedicated to our mission and
really want to expand and do more
for the 20,000,000 kids across The US who are
facing clothing insecurity. And so when I did the balance of
(21:26):
saying, okay, is it feels like it's my time? Time. And I looked
at, you know, is the organization ready as well? And the answer to that
was yes. Now was it ready for me to leave tomorrow?
No. What I wanted to do and what I've been doing with our
board and with our leadership team is
really setting the stage for a smooth transition.
(21:50):
So I approached my board chair several months ago, and I
said I'm thinking about this is my last year
as CEO. And, you know, how can we do this?
This is brand new for me. It's really scary, but
let's talk through it. And he was amazing. We
started to really plot out what are the things
(22:12):
that need to be set up so that when
we have a new person in place, the organization
is ready for that handoff, and it's not coming as a
surprise. And so it involved creating a communications
plan. The board created a search committee
and, hired a search firm to lead the search.
(22:36):
And they got a lot of input from our
team and from our stakeholders. What's this
organization? What are the opportunities ahead? What
are some of the challenges? What do we need in
a next CEO? And so all that input
came together to create what the position description
(22:58):
was. And so, you know, the board's been leading that
search, and we're in the final stages. I
anticipate that shortly, I will be passing the
baton to a new leader, and I will be transitioning
into the role of an advisor. And what does that look
like? Well, that's gonna really depend on what's needed. What
(23:20):
does the new leader feel I can help
with? And how can I be there to continue to cheerlead
this organization and provide support? How can I provide
support in a way that empowers the new leader
and empowers our leadership team to take it
into the next chapter? Yeah. It's challenging as
(23:42):
someone who has created this thing. It's like having a baby and you
birth this baby and then it's like, wait a second, they're going off to
college now. I still wanna have influence and I wanna and then if you're
an advisor, then it's like, where's that balance
between, well, I wouldn't do it that way, but like letting
go but still being in love with it. It's an interesting
(24:04):
dynamic. And Nicole, it's been an emotional roller
coaster, particularly in the very early
kind of stages of this where, you know, I had made that
decision, like, okay, it's time, but
You can make the decision intellectually, but it's still decision until it's the
emotional impact. And it's like, wow, am
(24:27):
I really ready? Is this really what I want? Is the
team really, you know, you just start willing to let go of it. Listening. And
then am I willing to let go? And also
just the unknown. I've never done this before,
and so it'll be new. And then also, Cradles to Crowns has
been my first baby. So I will always love it, and
(24:50):
I will always want to be helpful, but I don't wanna overstep.
And then also just thinking about there will always be unfinished
business. Right? Any going concern
by definition has a lot of balls in the air. And
so just knowing when, okay, this
is as far as I can take
(25:12):
it, and then it's passing it off
and trusting that others will move it
forward. And so that's been very much a learning and a growth
experience for me over the last several months. Then as I
go into this next chapter, it's also
brand new. And I don't know what's ahead and it's both exciting, but it's
(25:34):
also kind of scary. Yeah. It's like, what are we gonna do after this? It's
like, well, wait a second. Just stay right here. Let's focus on this
first. Yeah. And I think you can always fall into that
trap like, well, I'm needed or this thing is something
we have to get past before I can move on. Well,
there's always going to be that thing. There's always
(25:57):
going to be whatever the crisis of the day is
or the opportunity or the
wonderful idea that someone puts
forward and you say, oh my God, I wanna be part of this. And so
it's just that release. It's the letting go and saying,
this is gonna be an exciting time for
(26:19):
the organization. And they'll figure it out. And they'll be
amazing in the process. Well, in bringing a new
leader in sometimes with a fresh set of eyes and
vision, they see it differently and that can be
good, that can be scary, but it can be really good where they're
like tag out, I got this and then I'm gonna take it to the next
(26:41):
leg of the relay. Yeah. So it'll be exciting to see
how it continues. Yeah. And what they do with it. And I have to
be okay with that. Yeah. And I am okay with that. I mean, I'm
sitting here today and I'm saying I'm okay with that. And I'm I'm sure there's
moments where you're like, Am I though? I'm not
sure. But you don't know until you get into it. You can't
(27:03):
plan for that. Like no amount of Yeah,
no. And it could be very much that. Like, yep. I've got it.
Thanks, Lynn. And now you go over here. Or it could be
there's something that it would be great to get your
insights on and the twenty years of history.
And can you help? And I have to be ready for
(27:25):
either, you know, either of those things. And maybe I'll and I suspect
there will be times where it feels joyful. And then there'll
be times when I feel like, Oh, my God, what did
I do? Yeah, well, especially if you're because a lot of times our identity
is wrapped up in what we do. And when we have something like this, so
we've hold so closely, when you take that away, then it's like,
(27:47):
well, who am I now? Right? So it's like, well, who is Lynn
without cradles to crayons? Who is Lynn without that CEO role and
all the responsibilities and all the people that look up to her and so forth?
Who is she without that? And what's next for you and your own season? So
yeah, a lot of times we can as a coach, I noticed like you can
run ahead and start worrying about those things or
(28:08):
dreaming about those things. And that's good to kinda, like, put
your foot in the water a little bit or, like, just kind of conceptualize, starting
to conceptualize it, letting it marinate, if you will, in terms of the
possibilities. And in the meantime, stay right in the
moment of what needs to happen right now
to make sure that that transition happens successfully.
(28:29):
Because, you know, I've seen that with leaders. Sometimes they're done
and they they're looking at and they're saying, hey, I wanna move on. But they're
then they start to check out before they've actually
passed the baton. And so there's the two sides. Either you don't wanna let go
of it or you let go of it too fast. I used to do relay
as a kid. I'm just like, yeah, it's a great analogy, right? It's like you
(28:49):
can't let go of it too soon and you can't hold on to it too
long. So there's this balance in between. So Yes. And it's
finding that balance, but it's being planful
and seeking alignment with
leadership and then doing your part. Then I say that, it
sounds easy. And and so far, what I would
(29:11):
say is I really feel great about where
we are, and I feel really great about
how I've been included in the
process to get to where we are. And I'm excited. I really
am excited about where our team and
where the new leader can take the organization
(29:33):
because I know we're needed, and I
know we've got a tremendous team and community
of supporters who care a lot about
the kids and who want to do more. And so
that gives me the permission to
let go. Knowing that it's in good hands. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that
(29:56):
happens in like, as an entrepreneur, whether you it's a nonprofit or
for profit or whatever, there's a point where, yeah, you gotta build
it. You know, there's a saying, right, build it with the intention of selling
it. So because not that you may, you may
not, but that you have the systems that you have the
mindset and the intentionality about developing the
(30:18):
systems so that it could run without you. Because what if something happens to
one of us? It's like, does what we created live beyond
us? I think there's a bigger question there. Like, what does it take to put
that in place? And it sounds like that's what you've done is create it, create
the team, create the structure, create the systems and all that so that it can
live beyond you. And we need to be thinking about
(30:39):
that early on in terms of how we create it. So this has been so
good, Lynn. Thank you. Thank you. And I'm excited for you. It's like, yeah, you
got all these possibilities, you know, even for yourself and, like, maybe take
some time off, but you're probably not gonna wanna sit still for too long. So
there'll be something else. So I'm excited for cradles
to crayons, and I'm excited for me. I think great
(31:01):
things are ahead. Yeah, that's great. We'll finish
off there. And we'll send everyone to your website. Let's talk about that. So
cradlestocrayons.org is your website. That's where people
can go if they have a need if they
have the opportunity where they want to be able to
give, whether if they're local. So Austin,
(31:23):
Philadelphia, Chicago, currently, those three locations where you
can actually go and volunteer or even virtually, you
can do the idea factory direct and send
it to a child in need. And so I just encourage I always say leaders
of transformation take action. So nothing happens until somebody
takes action. Just like Lynn with your story
(31:46):
in the beginning where you saw a need and you said, I gotta do
something about that. There's that decision, I'm gonna do something about this and then
there's the follow through, right? So there's mindset strategy,
execution. You gotta get out there and do something. And so I encourage our listeners,
do something with what you learn. Maybe it inspired you that you wanna start something
and you've seen a need to take action on that. What's that one,
(32:07):
that first step for you? Maybe starting to ask questions. Is
this a big need? Is this a small need? Is somebody else serving the need
already? Can I support them? Or is there a gap that needs to
be filled? Maybe it is supporting cradles to crayons if this
inspired you in that way. And you say, you know what? I actually have some
kids clothes in my house. So I can do that or in my
(32:28):
church, or maybe you can get your corporate team together and
saying, Hey, you know what, there's this great organization, why don't we support
them with and let's all look at what are we have in our houses, and
we can pull it together, whatever. So I just encourage you to do something
with what you learned here. And we'd love to hear your stories, how this has
impacted you, the actions that you take, how we can even support you
(32:50):
along the journey. And so you can go to leadersoftransformation.com. Reach out to
us there, and let us know how we can do that. So, again, Lynn,
thank you so much for being here. Thank you for the commitment that you've made
over the last twenty three years to just serve in this capacity
because everybody doing a little bit makes a big difference. And so
yeah. And I know that with that many kids and that many packages
(33:12):
that have been delivered, you've made a huge dent in that issue
that's out there. And there's, of course, more to come, but you've made a huge
dent with those million packages a year. That's amazing.
That's truly, truly amazing. Just from an idea, it's amazing what one person with
an idea can do. So again, thank you. Appreciate you. And
any final thoughts for our listeners? No, I think you nailed it on the head.
(33:34):
It's don't assume that others have it covered. If you've got
an idea, explore it and do something about it.
And volunteering, getting involved in your
community or in a cause that you care about, that's
how we run-in this sector. It's
through the support and commitment
(33:55):
of our neighbors and our community. So
nothing is too small. Yeah, absolutely. Lynn, thank you
again for being here. And thank you to our listeners for being here. Hope you
enjoyed this and inspired you to take action. And again, we look
forward to hearing how we can support you along that journey that you're on
to being a leader of transformation. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you
(34:18):
next week on another episode of the leaders of transformation. Have
a great day. Thank you for listening to
the leaders of transformation podcast with Nicole Jansen. If
you're enjoying the show, please click the follow or subscribe button and
leave a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcasts.
And remember to join us on social and get connected.
(34:40):
Together, we can make this world a better place for everyone.
We'll see you next time.
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