#57 Innovative Business Development & Growth | Ryan Dewey Smith - Impact Masters Podcast

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
and within africa.
What I see personally is acollaborative space where we can
create value across multipledifferent sectors and across
multiple different countries,when what does that require?
Requires each individual toplay their part, and more so
than that.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
It's also for us to be able to collaborate to make
sure that we are maximizing thevalue that exists among a lot of
people founders here and a lotof developers here can attest
that sometimes we build mvps foreven four months and six months
only to put it in the marketand realize it's not going to
work.
People don't like it, it can'tdo anything, and then you have
to build again for six monthsbefore you know it does one year

(00:42):
the best gift you can give to ahuman is a chance exactly.

Speaker 5 (00:48):
A child that does not cry will die in the career
there are too many problems inthe world for us not to be the
solutions to them.
There are too many of uspointing fingers, looking for
other people just for for thingsthat we know innately.
We have a piece of the puzzle.

Speaker 6 (01:08):
Think about the failures you've had in your life
.
Don't you learn more fromfailure than you do from success
?
I have Absolutely.
That's where the biggestlessons are.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
And within Africa.
What I see personally is acollaborative space where we can
take value across multipledifferent sectors and across
multiple different countries.
And what does that require?
Requires each individual toplay their part, and more so
than that is also for us to beable to collaborate to make sure
that we are maximizing thevalue that exists amongst us.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
A lot of people founders here and a lot of
developers here can attest thatsometimes we build MVPs for even
four months and six months onlyto put it in the market and
realize it's not going to work.
People don't like it, it can'tdo anything.

Speaker 4 (02:12):
And then you have to build again for six months
before you know it does one yearthe best gift you can give to a
human is on charts exactly.

Speaker 5 (02:16):
A child that does not cry will die in the carrier.
There are too many problems inthe world for us not to be the
solutions to them.
other people to solve for thingsthat we know Innately.

Speaker 6 (02:31):
.
?
I have Absolutely.
That's where the biggestlessons are.

Speaker 8 (03:00):
Yeah, with Retail Podcasts.
I'm your host, michael Kimathi,passionate about building
communities, driving innovationand creating meaningful change
at the intersection oftechnology and knowledge society
.
At Impact Masters, we focus onthe tech ecosystem by creating
and disseminating knowledge.
We tell authentic stories,acknowledging and preserving

(03:21):
history, embracing civilizationand encouraging innovation.
In all of this, we point outthe impact and, most importantly
, the actionable steps.
Here we are not juststorytellers.
We are disruptors of status quoin body, mind and spirit.
This episode is also part ofAfrica's Talking Retail Podcast,
powered by Africa's Talking.

(03:41):
Africa's Talking is a leadingdeveloper platform.
This show amplifies voicesshaping the future of business
and technology across continentand beyond.
Our mission is to retell thestories behind innovation and
transformation while equippingbuilders, leaders and dreamers
with knowledge they can apply.
Today we have a really, reallyspecial guests.

(04:13):
Last time there was a technicalpitch, but today we are here.
We will be joining us livesomeone who has dedicated over
three decades of businessdevelopment, organization
leadership and strategic growth.
Ryan Dewey-Smith is the founderand CEO of Imperium Inc.
A nonprofit organization thatconnects businesses and
nonprofits into a powerful,resource-rich network.

(04:34):
Since founding Imperium in 2016, ryan has led its affiliates to
deliver life-changing servicesacross 20 states in the United
States, covering intellectualand developmental disability
support, co-occurring disorderservices and health-related care
.
Ryan's leadership has beenabout more than growth.
It's about promoting qualityservice delivery, efficient use

(04:57):
of funding and ensuringcontinuity of care, all while
preserving the identity andmission of organization under
the Imperium Network.
His philosophy of buildingstrong peer relationships,
supporting affiliates andguiding organization through
change management has created ablueprint for innovative,
mission-driven growth.
Ryan, welcome to the show.

(05:19):
It's an honor to have you hereand it's been a while coming.

Speaker 9 (05:25):
How are you?
I'm fine, Michael.
Thank you for the opportunity.
It's nice to spend some timewith you today.
I really appreciate it.
I apologize for the technicalglitch last time, but I think we
have that worked out andnavigated today.

Speaker 8 (05:38):
Amazing, amazing.
It's good to see you, man.
Good to see you, man.
It's always refreshing to seemovers and shakers in different
sectors of economy, in differentsectors of the world, uh, whom
their stories needs to berecorded, their lesson needs to
be learned, and having to hearfrom you, um, you know, uh,
given your busy schedule andwhat you do every day, is quite
an honor for impact masters, uh,followers and global ecosystem

(06:03):
that really needs this change.
You know, what I just read isjust the official.
You know what is there.
Someone can find it if you findout Rayan or Imperium Inc.
But definitely I would like toreally tell on the story where
you know you were born beforeyou became, you know this
innovator, there was a growing,and I've realized that over time

(06:23):
, this growth, you know thisinnovator, there was a growing
and I've realized that over time, this growth you know normal
growth of human being contributea lot to what they do later in
life and the influence that theyhave and even the path they
take in life.
If you don't mind, you can giveus maybe a background of who is
Ryan before, ryan that we knowtoday, and how was that?
How was school?
How was the?
You know high that we knowtoday and I was that.

(06:45):
I was cool, I was the you knowhigh school university, you know
.
Just be as detailed as possible.

Speaker 9 (06:50):
Understood, michael.
So I was born in the early1970s in a little town called
Muncie, pennsylvania, so Muncieis near Williamsport.
Williamsport, pennsylvaniamight be fresh on people's minds
because of the little leagueworld series happens in
williamsport, pennsylvania,every year.
Uh live in in central pa?

(07:11):
Uh for the first five years ofmy life with my paternal
grandmother.
I was a only child, son toteenage parents, so we lived uh
with my nan I affectionatelycalled her until 1976 when we
moved to the PhiladelphiaPennsylvania area.
And then I spent the remainingpart of my youth in and around

(07:36):
Philadelphia and ReddingPennsylvania.
Hunt, played baseball, was intomotorcycles and cars.
As a kid growing up those weremy hobbies.
Studied psychology and businessin undergrad, graduated from

(07:57):
Alvernia University, which islocated in Redding Pennsylvania,
in the early 90s and thenstarted with my first company,
supportive Concepts for Families, based there in Redding
Pennsylvania, where we serveindividuals who were adults with
intellectual disabilities thatwere living at home with their
parents, and we provided theirparents relief services so that

(08:20):
they could go on trips, go outto dinner, engage in social
activities, basically throughovernight respite and
babysitting services.
I did spend one year in Elkins,west Virginia, playing baseball
as a freshman in college.
When I realized that thatcareer was headed nowhere,

(08:40):
michael, I pivoted to my studiesand was happy to move back to
Pennsylvania and complete myundergraduate degree.
That's very helpful in mybusiness today.
Today I am married.
I have two adoptive sons.
One is 19.
He's a sophomore in CoastalCarolina University in Conway,

(09:03):
south Carolina.
The other, seth, is 16.
He's a sophomore at JohnsIsland School in Charleston
County, south Carolina, where Ilive now.
In my free time I like hangingout with my wife still, and my
boys and also my dogs, and I dolike to ride motorcycles with my

(09:25):
friends, occasionally, pick upa golf club here or there.
Would like to do that a wholelot more, but just can't seem to
have the time to do that.
Michael, is that a deep enoughdive on me for you that you were
looking for?

Speaker 8 (09:39):
Yeah, I mean that really paints a picture.
But of course I'll ask a fewquestions here and there, and we
share a lot.
Man, like you know, when I wasalso growing up, I chose not to
really indulge in most sports,just because I found, like you
know, in Kenya if you're not amarathon runner, I did most of
my education in Kenya.
There's no other sport thatreally has shown that you can

(10:04):
actually make a life out of it.
And of course, we'll get toknow some of these details as we
go on.
But let's start from thebeginning.
Before Imperium, you ledsupportive concepts which later
became one of Imperium's largestefforts.
Could you share with us whatinspired your journey into human
services and ultimately led tothe creation of Imperium's

(10:25):
largest athletes?
Could you share with us whatinspired your journey into human
services and ultimately led tothe creation of Imperium?

Speaker 9 (10:30):
Sure, I always had a love of helping people, michael,
from the time that I was ayoung child, adolescent, through
young adulthood and intoadulthood.
It was very important to me tohelp those that were less
fortunate or in need, thatstruggled to meet their

(10:50):
day-to-day aspirations anddesires.
So I was always attracted tohelping people.
I thought when I was anundergrad that I wanted to be a
licensed psychologist or aclinician where I could do
therapeutic counseling forindividuals, families.
I learned pretty early on aftergraduation that I couldn't see

(11:13):
myself doing that on a long-termbasis.
It really wasn't suited for mycareer goals or aspirations.
But I did then pivot to thisservices space where you receive
funding to provide tomarginalized populations or the
disadvantaged, homeless, peoplewith intellectual disabilities,

(11:35):
foster children.
That really struck a chord withme, so started doing that work
in the early 90s with my firstcompany.
Supportive Concepts Built thatbusiness for nearly two decades
to a middle-sized not-for-profitbusiness and then had an
awakening that I was not goingto be able to have the profound

(11:59):
impacts and advance the missionthat I was hoping, being a small
standalone entity.
So I went out and tried to finda larger company that might
have interest in partnering withme where I could leverage their
technology and officeinfrastructure and

(12:19):
administrative acumen so that Icould focus on the mission, have
the greatest impacts to thepeople that needed my services
and not have to worry about thecosts associated with being a
smaller company in amongst abunch of big fish who could do
it a whole lot more efficientlythan what I could.

(12:40):
Michael, what I found was theoptions that were out there
didn't really appeal to mebecause there was a sense of
loss of mission, loss ofautonomy and loss of purpose.
When you become part ofsomething larger, you lose that
family based, homegrown feelthat was so important to me.
So that's why I createdImperium as an alternative to

(13:03):
those other options that wereavailable.

Speaker 8 (13:06):
Interesting.
Basically, when I listen to you, I hear some personal values
that really shaped you to reallyeven make these decisions.
So you know, what are thesevalues and experiences that
shaped your decision that youcould build an organization that
focuses on both mission andgrowth at the same time and

(13:27):
balance it.

Speaker 9 (13:30):
I really think being an only child, michael, is a big
driver in who I am and how Ibehave and act.
Only children are a uniquebreed because we're often alone
to our own devices.
We don't really have brothersand sisters to help us learn and
grow and you have to lookexternally for those connections

(13:51):
.
And as you're looking for thoseconnections you become real
aware of people's struggles andwhat they really need help with.
And I think that being an onlychild helps to really focus my
energies around never giving up,not accepting, no, wanting to
perform be the best possible.

(14:13):
So I think that drives a lot ofwhat I do.
I changed schools, sokindergarten through eighth
grade I went to eight differentschools.
So we were always on the moveas a family, either for my
mother's job or my father's.
So having to adapt to thosesudden changes year over year,
get acclimated with new friends,meet new people, new teachers,

(14:38):
new school layouts, I thinkreally builds a degree of
character in you.
That then helps to kind ofshape your purpose and focus.
And along the way you run intoand meet a lot of people that
that need help and assistanceand in you know, in the
seventies and eighties oursupport systems aren't what they
are today.
So it was.

(14:59):
It was very different.
The family had to provide moreof the care.
There wasn't, you know, thisdependence on services that were
available.
So I would find myself beingthe person that would be out
offering assistance to friends,neighbor, family, and that just
continued through my career.
And when I went into college, Iwanted to study psychology to

(15:21):
understand what made all of ustick.
Psychology to understand whatmade all of us tick and, for
those that were making poordecisions, why that was?
Because I believe everyone isinherently good and no one wakes
up in the morning, michael,setting out to fail or not be
successful.
I just don't believe thatthat's mankind's desire.
So I wanted to try to unpackand understand that.

Speaker 8 (15:43):
Absolutely so.
When you look back at the earlydays, what was the biggest
challenge in balancing servicedelivery with sustainable
business development?

Speaker 9 (16:07):
of the engagement and the relationships that have to
exist if we're going to besuccessful in meeting people's
unmet needs.
Some folks view jobs in healthand human services as that just
a job.
That is not what our jobs are.
Our jobs are to partner, friend, become confidants.
Our jobs are to partner, friend, become confidants and assist

(16:29):
people to be successful.
That takes a special type ofperson, michael, to work in our
business and our industry, andit's hard to find people that
truly want to do good and riseup to do good and align to what
you see and the potential inothers that they could achieve.
I think that's today probablyone of the largest struggles in

(16:50):
all of our businesses is findingthose workers that are closest
to the people that need theservices and having them be
excited about pulling for,honoring and respecting the
people that we're trying tosupport now.

Speaker 8 (17:06):
Wonderful and you know, back in the days there was
no these interconnectednetworks where you could just
call someone and email them andall this and still things work
as fast as they are workingright now, and I'm sure most of
the founders of this technologyone of the key things they
thought they would do is improvethose relationships.

(17:27):
But we have seen actually thesedigital realities with more
access that people have and, forsure, having experienced both
worlds, I'm super, superfascinated to see and learn what
actually this means to you,because you have lived both
worlds.
But before that, definitely,you launched Imperium in 2016.
Many leaders would stop atsuccessfully running one

(17:51):
organization, but you created anetwork model, essentially a
growth engine for non-profits.
What is this gap that you'retrying to fill and that you saw
in 2016?
That could really be fueled byImperium in the long term.

Speaker 9 (18:07):
So, michael, I wanted to create a opportunity for
mission-based nonprofits to beable to focus their ability,
capabilities and funding onhaving the greatest impact to
the people they were servinghaving the greatest impact to
the people they were serving andI wanted to create a network

(18:28):
where we could leverage thescale of educated staff and
subject matter experts, as wellas back office service offerings
that are behind the curtain inany business right your IT, your
cybersecurity, your finance andaccounting, who processes your
payroll?
Who onboards your staff?

(18:50):
I wanted to create a network ofcompanies that could remain
independent and autonomous, havetheir own cultures, their own
missions, their own servicedelivery systems in their own
geographies, but benefit, in away, profoundly, from the mass
of 30 of those companies comingtogether to create meaningful

(19:12):
impacts to the people who needthe services.
And that's what Imperium does.
We are behind the curtain,providing all the back office
services and support and thevehicle for the network to
interconnect and interconnect tosolve problems in a way that
doesn't jeopardize mission orautonomy.

Speaker 8 (19:35):
Interesting and you mentioned really something
interesting because definitelyrunning a nonprofit I'm building
one, actually so Impact Mastersis like part of it is for
profit and the other part islike what can we do to keep the
impact going and accommodateother like minded?
So ideally most of these impactcompanies they either lose

(20:04):
their identity or collapse underpressure, especially if the
fund is not coming.
And you know what happened withthe USAID just after the new
administration came in.
How did you design Imperium tohelp affiliates grow without
sacrificing their mission orvalues?
Because also again, youmentioned earlier that the more
you join a larger organization,the more you lose the touch with

(20:25):
the ecosystem or what themission was.

Speaker 9 (20:29):
So, michael, if you are part of a larger network,
you can stretch your costs muchthinner, that you have to pay
for the services that aren'timpacting your mission or vision
.
So by colluding that scaletogether, you're able to get
more value out of your funding.
So when there are funding cuts,funding reductions or funding

(20:53):
eliminations, the insulation ofthe network from those cuts
helps you to manage the pivotsnecessary to replace those funds
in other services areas, sothat you don't lose the
sustainability or mission of theentities as a standalone
organization.

(21:14):
If you're dependent on yourrevenues and your funding
individually and those cutsoccur, it can be detrimental.
The organizations can end.
If you're able to endure thosecuts because you can lever and
lean on your other peers in anetwork, then your
sustainability ratchets up quitea bit interesting.

Speaker 8 (21:39):
So, of course, in the earlier days, like any other
entrepreneur or any otherfounder um, they're always
moment of doubt is there this,uh, you know, pivotal moments or
business decision in thoseearly years that you know
confirmed you in the right track?
It's like 10 years later, oralmost 10 years later, that now

(21:59):
you say, in fact, by year two,there is this, what happened in
in between?

Speaker 9 (22:03):
and you like, I'm on the right track, man, I'm not
backing down, I'm not doing itso, michael, isn't life about
moments of doubt every day, andthen your success or failures
and going forward right?
So so there were many momentsof doubt.
They continue, continue today,almost 10 years later, around
certain decisions, certaincompanies that have joined the

(22:26):
network.
Were they necessarily an idealfit with the others?
So yeah, riddled with doubt,but that's life, right, all of
us experience doubt in ourdecisions.
We reflect back Some days itwas good, some days it was bad.
No-transcript, real, firstlitmus test of our network to

(23:12):
truly see okay, now we'reexperiencing funding cuts,
moratoriums and reductions.
Does the model actually work?
So, having consequences andreal-life situations to test
some of your doubts that thengive you a yes or no to your
success, I think is also healthy, as you are an entrepreneur and

(23:34):
have ideas and beliefs on howthings are going to occur and
what's going to work and what'snot going to work.

Speaker 8 (23:41):
Yeah, definitely.
Let's talk a bit about businessdevelopment and growth
framework.
Since you have an experience of30 years, spanning very
successfully, in this realm ofgrowth and at Impact Masters we
love to pull out actionableinsight that people can take and
really implement or evenlocalize.

(24:03):
From the experience you haveled organizations through change
management and strategic growth, can you break down for our
listeners what your frameworkfor growth looks like,
especially in the impact world?

Speaker 9 (24:15):
So growth is an interesting aspect because you
have to have an appetite, for itis the first change management
issue that we have to strugglewith.
Sometimes Some organizationsare comfortable being who they
are, at the size they are, andthen they are able to manage

(24:36):
their cost structures in a waythat keeps them sustainable and
efficient.
Most organizations have to usegrowth as a means to be
sustainable when the costs ofdoing business are outpacing the
reimbursements received forproviding the business services.

(24:57):
So it's an interesting paradigm.
Those that want to not grow andthose that want to grow can
both be successful, but indifferent areas and ways.
Growing is riddled with risk.
As you increase your services,go into a new services area or a
new geography, state or country, there are new risks that

(25:22):
you're exposed to as anorganization.
That puts in jeopardy your newrevenues and your legacy
revenues.
So there has to be an appetitefor managing risk.
There also has to be anappetite for acknowledging when
the road you took to growth mayhave been a wrong one and not
staying in that decision toolong that it becomes too

(25:45):
detrimental to your base.
That you have that's solid athome and that ability to be
aware, identify the tippingpoints, the positives, the
negatives and then pivot in atimely fashion are all essential
for the success of agrowth-oriented organization.
You can grow throughaffiliations or business

(26:08):
partnerships, you can go throughacquiring other companies, you
can grow through de novo startupprograms, and all those are
also met with different risks,but they all result in the end
product of growth and if that'sthe appetite and that's the
mission and vision, we can helpfacilitate any and all of those

(26:30):
options through our Imperiummodel.

Speaker 8 (26:33):
Wonderful.
That's quite something that youknow.
Someone can take and break itdown and localize it and
localize it.
There's always an element ofsustainability and scale, and
all these touches on thefinancial diversity that you
receive as a nonprofit orimpact-led organization.
Could you share how nonprofitsor businesses can structure

(26:55):
funding models that are bothsustainable and scalable at the
same time?

Speaker 9 (27:01):
In today's world.
Michael, that's a tough, tough,boring question to answer.
We're not really sure what'ssustainable today with regard to
funding and services becausethere's no real clear
explanation that's been putforward by the new
administration on what the keypriorities are going to be With

(27:23):
each administration.
Obviously, in the United Statesthere are different priorities
that are identified.
Those priorities are addressedthrough budget allocations.
Those allocations then trickledown to the services
organizations so as not profitsthat receive federal, state and
local taxpayer dollars.
We're very equipped to managethose fluctuations in priorities

(27:46):
across certain administrationsand when there's turnover in
Washington, when we don't knowwhat the priorities are going to
be, it's really hard toidentify what's going to be
sustainable or not and what weshould be looking at pivoting
away from or into to keep andmaintain that sustainability.
Philanthropic donations, michael, are an eighth of what they

(28:10):
were five years ago and probablya 20th 120th of what they were
15 years ago.
So we don't see donors comingforward and making large gifts
to our nonprofits throughfundraising efforts.
So we've had to find othermeans and other ways to replace
those revenues, and that'sthrough diversified business

(28:31):
payers and arrangements.
So entrepreneurial serviceslike telehealth, some IT and
cyber or employee health recorddevelopment that you can then
sell as a subject matter expertthat drives in other payer
revenues are really key tocreating some of that

(28:52):
sustainability.
Looking for government to bailus out or new government monies
to be put forward is really away of the old and not the new
guard, so we really have topivot in some of our thinking.

Speaker 8 (29:08):
Interesting and in your experience, do you think
maybe an impact organizationcreating a revenue stream
through innovative co-creationwith a participant of the impact
is the way to go going forwardand on the same breath, you can
actually, because governmentactually changes according to
their priorities as an avidexpert in the world of impact is

(29:32):
there, if today Donald Trumpcalled you up and said, ryan,
you know, I know your work and Ithink you have something to
contribute, would there bedifferent strategies you would
advise, or any other worldleader for that matter, country
leader for that matter, thatreally change the spectrum of
how impact organizations shouldrun in a better way?

(29:55):
Because, you've seen, also,despite the cuts and the change
of tact is because also, some ofthe impact organizations have
always taken advantage of.
You know, here is the funding,you are free to use it, but some
of the time, or most of thetime, the funding doesn't
actually go to the needy or thepurpose that you know it was
asked for.

(30:15):
And 90% you've seen some of theorganizations using 90% or 70%
for administration you knowmatters as opposed to the other
way, where over 70% goes to thepeople or the purpose that it
was intended for and that goesto administration.
So are there some experiencesthat you have that could really

(30:36):
help even advise a policy?
Because the truth of the matteris we need purposeful
organization, we need impactrealization.

Speaker 9 (30:45):
So, michael, just as a side note, imperium's
companies' administrative costsare near 10% of their funding,
so nearly 90% of all of thedollars received by our
companies actually go to the enduser service recipients.

(31:07):
So, while other entitiesoperate in the teens or 20s, or
we've seen some, to your earlierpoint, as high as 30 across our
network, 38 companies, 20states, nearly a billion dollars
in annual revenues.
The general administrative is10% or less for those companies.

(31:29):
So we're driving the monies towhere it needs to be through
those back office scalesynergies.
I probably won't tell DonaldTrump anything.
I would do a lot of listening,michael.
Wouldn't tell Donald Trumpanything and would do a lot of
listening, michael.
But if I could make arecommendation to him and all
politicians, it would be astrategy that is clear, cut and

(31:50):
long term, that doesn't changeadministration to administration
, is going to have the greatestimpacts to the people in our
country who need the servicesand have them be the most
successful.
There's nothing moredetrimental to nonprofits
providing service as to whenfluctuations occur and you have

(32:12):
service disruptions because of ashift in the monies that are
being allocated for thoseservices and the abruptness of
having to change when thoseservices are shuttered or
reduced.
That is really detrimental andwe may not see it in the
services returns, but where wesee it is crime, drug use.

(32:37):
All of this point, homelessness, all of it points back to some
of those other drivers.
When we disrupt the socialservices, interesting.

Speaker 8 (32:50):
um, that's quite something, because some of these
factors are not really, uh,visible, uh, from the people who
make decision, becausesometimes it's either driven by
the party agenda and all that,and it's kind of murky water,
because also there's politics inthere.
There's a lot of stuff going onthere, so I won't go deep on

(33:10):
that side.
But, of course, partnership andpair relationships seem to be
at the core of your success.
For leaders listening, how canthey build strong, trust-based
partnership that can lead togrowth?

Speaker 9 (33:23):
I think you have to have a seat at the table,
Michael.
I believe in a true partnership.
Everyone has a voice and it'smore of a constellation than a
top-down approach.
So everyone has a seat at thetable, Everyone's opinions are

(33:44):
heard.
Control must be checked at thedoor, meaning it needs to be
decisions by collaboration thathave the least negative impact
to the people we're serving, andyou have to be open to feedback
.
You have to listen to respectand honor when you receive

(34:08):
feedback that you may not wantto hear, that may be opposite of
what good you think you'redoing, and then respond to it
not by retaliating, but bychanging course and having open
and transparent dialogue withall of those that are at the
table.

Speaker 8 (34:29):
Interesting.
So let's change a gear a bitand talk about innovation,
technology and disruption,because it's very evident in the
imperial world of operating,where you have real management
to keep the percentage low and Ican see our listeners saying
that 90% is absolutely amazingbecause it's quite
understandable Now you have 90%to work with From David Innocent

(34:52):
, who is following through thisconversation.
So one thing that stands outabout Imperium is how disruptive
.
You know the traditionalnonprofit model.
You are going about it.
Instead of being limited, youhave created a partner network
that shares services andresources.
How do you see this asinnovation in nonprofit and
business space?

Speaker 9 (35:14):
Nonprofits are probably among the worst
businesses to collaborate,michael.
Most nonprofits don't sit downat a table and share their
secrets or their successesbecause they're fearful.
Look, I was one of thosenonprofit leaders 20 years ago.
I wasn't going to sit in a roomand share with my peers what
was working for me to recruitstaff, because we're all trying

(35:36):
to get at the same staff, thesame piece of funding, the same
donation from the same donor.
But if we're going to besuccessful, we have to figure
out how to do thatcollaboratively as a group, and
leveraging the back office isthe simplest way to not have to
share your trade secrets.

(36:26):
Create the cost savings so youcan reinvest in your business
through taking off of theshoulders of the nonprofit are
things generally nonprofitsaren't good at, nor do they want
to spend their days doing.
By using the scale of a groupthrough a partnership, an
affiliation, a collaboration totick off those most expensive
drivers of costs that you cankludge together.
Give you that savings to beable to be more sustainable as a

(36:47):
nonprofit.
One of the biggest ones todayis IT right Two-factor
authentication to deal withcybercrime.
How your backup is dealt with.
We're all dealing withprotected health information, so
there are multiple cyberrequirements around how it's
maintained, who can access it, alog of how it's accessed, how

(37:07):
long we store records.
All that costs a good bit ofmoney for folks and doing it
standalone versus in a groupwhere the scale can be leveraged
, the savings is incredible.

Speaker 8 (37:21):
Amazing, amazing and actually.
This leads me to the nextquestion around the technology
At Africa Stalking.
Our mission is empoweringdevelopers across Africa to
build sustainable and scalablebusinesses and at Impact Masters
, we also provide a skill-basedinnovation and approach to build

(37:45):
and disrupt the status quo.
So we are big believers, bothof us, and I believe also that
Imperium does the approach, thetechnology amplifies impact.
How has technology enabled yournetwork to scale, operate
efficiently and deliver betteroutcomes as opposed to
non-technical technologyapproach?

Speaker 9 (38:05):
Michael, ai has been remarkable for our business, for
our integration of our backoffices, the ability to leverage
vendors that can use datawarehouses to crosswalk
duplicative processes, theemployment of bots who can take

(38:32):
a manual operation like billinga claim right.
So entering a authorization,entering a data service,
entering a staff and thequalifications for the data
service, a data service,entering a staff and the
qualifications for the dataservice and then posting that
for payment can now be automatedthrough the technology we have,
with much higher levels ofefficiency and lower air rates,

(38:53):
for much less costs than havinga force of people doing it.
So technology has been veryinstrumental in having us be
able to see duplicative workacross individual businesses and
then duplicative workcollaborations by entities,
because we're all generallyperforming the same tasks and

(39:13):
the same nonprofit applicationthat we are.
You file your 990 and yourinformation around your tax
return or your federal reportingrequirements.

(39:48):
It's all the same documents,it's all the same requirements.
So that can really help us tostreamline costs and create
savings, and AI is reallyhelping with that.

Speaker 8 (40:03):
Interesting, and one thing that also we have noted is
that sometimes, yes, you wantto embrace the innovation and
tech and they're different,globally different ecosystem
where, if you come to Africa,one thing that we figure out is
that, as much as the world is in3G, we need to provide 2G

(40:24):
solutions, and this meansintegrating things like SMS,
voice, you know USSD to ensurethat you know people are able to
get the same service evenwithout internet.
Now, with the emergence of AI,we have a place where we are
integrating these with the 2G,still not leaving anyone out.
And even on the data center anddata lakes, sometimes they can

(40:48):
become super expensive fornonprofits to operate.
So what lesson can some of thisglobal ecosystem?
And even in the US, there areplaces where network proper
internet is not accessible asexpected.
So what are these?
You know lessons that you canshare.
You know leveraging innovationwhile staying on the

(41:10):
mission-driven and withoutreally spending most of the
funds that you raise towards theinnovation.
And you know leaving the peopleyou need to help out, leaving
the people you need to help out.

Speaker 9 (41:21):
Again, michael, if you have access to capital at
rates that are competitive whichwe offer because we're a larger
network able to access capitalat rates that are less than what
a standalone entity could do,longer term or favorable annual
percentage rates and covenants,that allows you to invest in

(41:43):
that technology.
So look here the U?
S.
Depending upon the state, theCounty and the people that live
within that County, how youcommunicate with them varies
widely between knock County,indiana, and Philadelphia,
pennsylvania.
Those are two separate ways wehave to reach our staff and
we're able to, through oursystems, identify how they want

(42:05):
to be communicated with andwhat's going to work best for
them.
Is it an SMS text message?
Is it a voicemail that's donethrough a box?
Is it an email?
Is it a cold phone call?
Is it old school US postal mailPut the materials in the mail
and ship it off?
So going near audience andhaving the resources to

(42:29):
accommodate their demandsthrough the efficiencies is what
makes that communicationcapability very doable.
But we have multiple systems.
Again, it's by state state, bygeography within the state and
then, more importantly, thepeople working within that
business and their makeup andhow they prefer to be
communicated nice, um, I thinkthat makes a lot of sense the

(42:54):
feedback we're hearing now,michael, with the new.
the new the hiring of theyounger generations.
I'm 54, I say that.
So these are the 18, 19, 20year olds.
Yeah, they don't want to readanything, michael, they want to
have it dictated to them.
So when a form is put in frontof them, they want the TLDR too

(43:20):
long didn't read, they want theshort abbreviated.
Here's what this is about andwhy you should sign it.
They don't want to take thetime to look at the documents.
So we're now working based onthe new hires asked, to create
all of those mechanisms thatmeet this new generation of
employee who don't want theyonly don't want text messages,

(43:42):
phone calls or voicemails.
They want CliffsNotes on whatthe real issue is and as few
words as possible told to them.
They don't want to take thetime to read.
So, again, it's all aboutadapting to that technology.

Speaker 8 (43:56):
Wow, wow, yeah.
And there's emergence of TikTokone-minute, two-minute video
where you have to make a pointor you know someone scrolls or
swipes left or right andeveryone else is taken up on
that race and shots and whatnot,and and it's good you mentioned
this side of the world, becausethere's this generation that

(44:16):
really needs the help and andsupport and mentorship.
Uh, do you think also, you knowhood cuts for me, to use it
that way need to adopt and findbetter ways to really share this
.
And there's AI, where you knowyou can break a whole research
of like 900 pages within a fewminutes and these maybe took

(44:39):
years for people to reformalizeit.
So what is the strategy aroundthat?
Because, anyway, now you'reexperiencing these through
employees or organizationsthey're dealing with.

Speaker 9 (44:49):
Yeah, so one of the things we're trying to pilot is
a Gamify app, michael, becausewe've also found that the
younger generations like to beon their phones and they like
awards and rewards, so there aregamify apps that are very
popular in treatment approaches.
We're trying to pivot that overto employment.

(45:10):
So onboarding, recruiting hours, work success, you build
trophies, you get awards, soyou're actually working and
employed, but you're playing agame as well on your phone.
So that's one of the ways we'retrying to innovate around
keeping employees engaged.
You know we used to call it anelevator pitch.

(45:30):
Right For us old people,whatever you could say about
your company as you went fromthe first floor to the second
floor in an elevator withoutusing a tape.
In the old days, 60 seconds.
We now have what 20 beforepeople decide to move on.
So fast kicks right to thepoint, cut out the fluff.

Speaker 8 (45:50):
Very interesting approach to our world and what
people want, need and desire anamazing approach right there and
I've seen also even a corporateworld even take up the
challenge.
If it's a dance challenge orwhatever it is, just to send the
message that you know we canrelate.
But for me I find that a bitweird because he's trying to fit

(46:12):
in or offering any solutionthat really people can use.
But of course, you know, minewas yeah.

Speaker 9 (46:20):
It's a full-time, this TikTok, facebook, instagram
craze we have to hire full-timepeople who just manage it.
It creates jobs.
You have to be on top andrelevant and current isn't
posted one time this week.
Current is posted within thelast 15 minutes current Yep.

(46:43):
It's definitely a different wayof thinking.

Speaker 8 (46:49):
Absolutely, Absolutely.
So let's talk a bit aboutleadership and philosophy, Since
you have had a span of 30 yearsof different leadership roles
very successful.
What are the biggest lessonsyou have learned about leading
through uncertainty and changein the world of impact?

Speaker 9 (47:09):
So I like to use one of not the one is kind of my
phrase.
I use Michael as a leader, anyleader.
It takes more than the leaderto have impactful change and you
need a team and you needbelievers and supporters of your
mission and your change andyour leadership.

(47:31):
So it becomes a one of versusthe one that makes that happen.
So I believe that as a leader,it's our job to empower other
leaders in and around us inorder to be successful, and
that's a struggle Competingpersonalities, dominant thinkers
the more people you add to thatone-of group consensus becomes

(47:56):
more divergent, there's moreconflict, there's more confusion
that you have to navigate.
But being able to partner andlisten to feedback without
judging and recognizing thatinherently all people are good
and we're all driving towardsthe same end mission is
sometimes difficult to manage itTo your point, herding cats.

(48:17):
Sometimes that's probablyeasier than trying to get a team
to function together and pointin the right direction and go
for the goal, because of allthese outside forces that are
competing against that teamcollaboration and efficiency.
But in my experience, a leaderalone cannot be successful.
It takes all of the group andbeyond to be successful in

(48:41):
whatever change or issue you'retrying to accomplish.

Speaker 8 (48:45):
Absolutely.
On the other side, there'salways culture and people, and
as you scale, actually, werealize the diversity of culture
is quite realistic in every way, and when you work with
different organizations fromdifferent parts of the world,
this is a reality that you can'treally ignore.
But this is actually what is atthe center of an organization.

(49:07):
So how do you yourself match atalent and leadership within
Imperium's network, you know,with Cognizant?
There are people involved andthere are different cultures
involved.

Speaker 9 (49:18):
That's the beauty of the network, Michael, because
we're not a merging entity wherewe're taking multiple
organizations, putting themtogether and one survives and
comes out on top and that's theleader.
We have 38 CEOs that run theircompanies within our network

(49:40):
under their authority as thechief executive and the highest
ranking employee of thoseorganizations.
So we are a CEO rich network ofthought leaders and experts
that then are able to leverageeach other's knowledge and
talent to become best in classleaders.
Because of the wealth ofknowledge that we can

(50:02):
collaborate and share.
We pull all those leaderstogether from all over the
country.
So our leadership hails from 38states, even though we operate
in 20 states, or some of ourleadership is living in states
where we don't operate.
We bring them together everymonth and we do a three-day

(50:22):
leadership series where we allget together, including me, and
we meet over two and a half tothree days and talk through all
of the issues that are ahead forus.
We provide updates on what hasoccurred from the last meeting,
we identify a work plan for thecoming four weeks to the next
meeting and we collaborateacross all the issues that folks

(50:46):
are having and struggling within their business.
Beauty of the model.

Speaker 8 (50:51):
Wonderful, wonderful.
So at Impact Masters, ourphilosophy is quite simple it's
all about body, mind and spirit.
Right, and this is one thingthat personally I experience.
Uh, if the mind is all right,the body always not cooperate.
If the body is all right, themind will not cooperate.

(51:12):
If the spirit is all right, youknow it has to be well aligned
and balanced in a way, and youknow the world we're living in
is a fast world.
You might get busy with otherthings, forget, you know one of
those aspects what practices orphilosophies guide you as a
leader, not just in business,but in life?

Speaker 9 (51:31):
I agree completely mind, mind, body, spirit.
I think you have to take careof, uh, all three of them.
I think you have to give themequal care in feeding, but it's
sometimes you need to give onepart of that a little bit more
when it starts to struggle andbeing aware of that.
Really, for me, life is aboutrelationships and partnerships.

(51:54):
No one wants to go through lifealone as an only child.
It can be awful lonely at timesand I think I loneliness.
As a child growing up withoutbrothers and sisters, in a home
where my parents were young andboth worked and I was left to my
own devices.
At a very early age I learned toquickly embrace the importance

(52:16):
of relationships andpartnerships and how to listen
to people, understand theirunmet needs, that they
communicate outwardly orcommunicate through nonverbal
and action, and you have tolisten to those and you have to
check in with people and youhave to make sure that what

(52:37):
you're trying to do and what youbelieve you're doing with your
best foot forward is having theconsequences and the result that
you believe it is by justasking and listening and
observing without judging.
So that's really my philosophy,michael, for business
relationships the network atImperium, all the leaders with

(52:58):
Imperium, my personal life, myboys, my wife that pretty much
drives who I am and how Iaddress situations.
Not everyone's going to like mefor who I am.
Not everyone's going to believemy answers are correct.
Not everyone is going tobelieve that my thinking or my
ideas are grounded in their bestinterests.
But if everyone understandsthat we all started a place of

(53:20):
good and that we all get upevery morning wanting to be our
best selves and we don't set outto be a bad person or yell at
the person driving next to uswho cuts us off, that we're
inherently good, I think we canachieve a lot as a society
wonderful.

Speaker 8 (53:36):
Well, that's that's, that's, that's quite really uh,
solid um, and I can see wherethe success actually you know
roots from, which is just quiteinteresting.
So for the, you know, lookahead and where we are and the
world we're living in and therealities of day to day, and
even you know how the world ischanging.

(53:57):
Where do you see the greatestopportunities for growth in the
nonprofit and businessdevelopment space over the next
decade, for growth in thenonprofit and business?

Speaker 9 (54:06):
development space over the next decade.
I believe that our populationis aging, michael, and we are
going to need to identifyservices for the elder
population that we have, babyboomers and such that are going

(54:34):
to not have extended familiesthat will be able to provide
them services.
So I see some opportunity inthat space business arrangements
and combinations of dissimilarservices, organizations that are
nonprofits, that have thosesame cost drivers that are
unrelated to what they're doing,that any business has, and

(54:55):
creating efficiencies in thatarea is how we're going to
navigate the future in ourfragmented segment.
We're not going to collaboratebetween like service providers
and like geographies, becauseit's not in our nature as
nonprofits to do that.
But if we can collaborate withthree in our area and leverage

(55:15):
that economy of scale becausewe're in different services
space and use what's commonbetween us to create the
efficiencies, I think that's therecipe.
Moving forward Obviously I would, because that's what Imperium's
doing and that's what weprovide.
But I really believe thatthat's going to be the future
the uncertainty of where thefunding's going to land, how

(55:38):
long the funding's going toexist.
Is it going to be through thisadministration and then go away
under the next, that uncertainty, I think the only way we
navigated as nonprofits is tocollaborate together, and that
collaboration shouldn't just bealigned by like service entities
.
It should be all nonprofitsthat can get together and find

(56:00):
any commonality to createsavings.

Speaker 8 (56:03):
Oh wonderful.
You know, one harm-wisefor-profit impact masters is
because we realize, with 1.56,whatever billion people in
Africa, one of the key thing isthat you know young people, like
most countries, their mediumage is like 17, 18 years old,

(56:27):
and they're super smart, superintelligent.
The only thing that is actuallymissing is the platform, and
one of the key things that weare trying to build between now
and the next two, three years isa platform that really upscales
this.
Upscale this because, also,there's a world where, you know,
the, the, the population isgrowing old.
Uh, the intellectuals are also,you know, retiring and all that

(56:50):
, and you know they need thissupport.
They need the economy to bedoing really fine, even to
afford the pension.
As you know, right now, most ofthe countries are struggling
that, given the population,majority of it is old, and I'm
an avid promoter of let's notlook at other countries as
liabilities.
Let's look at the way we canactually collaborate and empower

(57:13):
them to be able to offer valueand get value out of it, and we
live in one planet Earth whichis well sustainable.
So what you said, actually Ican relate with it 100%, even
from this point.
So, just for our listeners,many of whom are entrepreneurs,

(57:40):
innovators- and leaders indifferent sectors.

Speaker 9 (57:42):
What is one actionable step they can take
today to position themselves forsustainable growth and impact?
Call a peer at a competitor ora organization in your area and
have a conversation.
What are your cost drivers?
What's breaking your back?
What are you struggling with?
Don't ask what are your secrets.
How are you hiring staff?
Where are you getting yourdonors?
But ask how's your insurancerenewal going?

(58:02):
What are you doing for payroll?
Ask how's your insurancerenewal going?
What are you doing for payroll?
What are your retentionstrategies around retirement
benefits?
How could we maybe worktogether to create some
efficiency?
I think we live in very siloedworld here in particular I don't
know about in Africa, but inthe US we're very siloed in our
work lives and we don'tcollaborate a lot, and I think
that would be what I wouldencourage people to do Call

(58:24):
Imperium.
Reach out through our website.
Ask us to take a look at whatthey're doing and where their
cost drivers are and how wemight help.
You'd be surprised what youlearn when you ask.

Speaker 8 (58:36):
Absolutely, absolutely, in fact.
It's the word of collaboration.
In fact, tech could not bewhere it is in the shortest span
of time without collaboration,because one is providing cloud,
the other one is providing 2Gsolution, the other one is
providing, you know, businessgrowth and in that collaboration
you see proper growth whichreally fast-track the process.

(58:56):
So you couldn't be far awayfrom the fact of how things grow
crop, and for me also, I thinkalso there's a world where and
I've seen a couple of you knowbig tech do this like Google,
atlassian, where they are reallyintentional, like you know, can
you take 1% of your revenue andbe intentional about it in
investing in some of theseimpact-purposeful companies,

(59:21):
people dedicate hours to helpout, even build websites or even
help with the collaborationtools and whatnot.
For us, every month we havedevelopers gathered and we show
them the global standard way ofyou know, building scalable
software.
So also there is a world whereeven not purely impactful

(59:42):
companies could contribute indifferent ways to really,
because at the end of the day,not everything will really be
solved through for profit, butalso I feel like that side needs
to be touched on.
So, as we close, ryan, this hasbeen a masterclass in business
development, leadership andpurpose driven growth.
Thank you so much for sharingyour journey and insight with us

(01:00:05):
.
Uh, for those who are listening,uh, you can learn more about
ryan's work at imperiumorg, but,uh, for sure, we always give
our uh, you know, um guests achance to give a parting shot.
It could be a proverb, it couldbe a book, that if you read one
book the rest of your life,it's this one book that really

(01:00:26):
makes sense.
Or it could be just you knowdaddy jokes, or you know
whatever it is that really wouldyou feel like?
You know, I'm free, I can sharethis, so feel free.
This is your time.
Look at your camera, talk toour listeners and our fans.

Speaker 9 (01:00:42):
Okay, so I want to thank everybody who listened
today.
I want to thank you, michael,for hosting this, impact Masters
for hosting me.
I think most impactful bookthat would be helpful for any
only child or someone who'smarried to or has an only child
is a book called the Only Childbeing One, loving One, knowing

(01:01:03):
One.
It was written in the early 90s.
Easy read 100 pages Tells a lotabout only children and what
makes them tick.
I think it tells a lot about meand who I am.
So thank you again for yourtime.
If anyone wants to reach out toImperium, I would love to talk,
michael, with Impact MastersNonprofit that they're standing

(01:01:25):
up, see if we might be able tocollaborate with you as well in
some offerings.
Please reach out through thewebsite and again, I'm really
thankful to the listeners andyou for the opportunity.

Speaker 8 (01:01:36):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much, ryan, foryour time.
I know you are a very busyperson given your day-to-day,
but getting this time reallymeans a lot to what you're
trying to achieve.
Showcasing wasn't shake us,recording these stories and
sharing lessons that could go amile to help someone out there.
So at Impact Masters, ourmission is to tell stories that

(01:01:58):
spark change and encourageaction, and through Africa's
Talking, we continue to amplifyvoices shaping the future of
innovation and impact, not justin Africa, but globally.
But definitely I'm MichaelKemadi.
Thank you for joining us.
Until next time, keep strappingthe status quo and within

(01:02:31):
africa.

Speaker 1 (01:02:31):
What I see personally is a collaborative space where
we can create value acrossmultiple different sectors and
across multiple differentcountries.
And what does that require?
To rise each individual to playtheir part, and more so than
that, it's also for us to beable to collaborate to make sure
that we are maximizing thevalue that exists amongst us.

Speaker 2 (01:02:52):
A lot of people founders here and a lot of
developers here can attest thatsometimes we build MVPs for even
four months and six months,only to put it in the market and
realize it's not going to work.
People don't like it, it can'tdo anything, and then you have
to build again for six months.
Before you know it, that's oneyear.

Speaker 3 (01:03:09):
The best gift you can give to a human is insurance.

Speaker 4 (01:03:13):
Yeah, exactly, a child that does not cry will die
in the carrier.

Speaker 5 (01:03:18):
There are too many problems in the world for us not
to be the solutions to them.
other people to solve for thingsthat we know innately.

Speaker 6 (01:03:34):
.
?

Speaker 7 (01:03:41):
I have Absolutely, that's where the biggest lessons
are.
Yeah, I have.
Absolutely that's where thebiggest lessons are, yeah.

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#57 Innovative Business Development & Growth | Ryan Dewey Smith

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