October 22, 2024 • 37 mins
In this episode of Purpose Project, host Leslie Pagel interviews Don Wettrick, founder and CEO of STARTedUP and a former teacher. Don discusses his transition from teaching to promoting innovation and entrepreneurship among students. He shares how a TED Talk by Daniel Pink inspired him to integrate mastery, autonomy, and purpose into his teaching philosophy, leading to the creation of an Innovation and Open Source Learning class. This class culminated in the successful 'Innovate WithIN' program. Don highlights the importance of overcoming fear, taking calculated risks, and seeking support from loved ones. He emphasizes the need for self-discovery, problem-solving, and tackling real-world challenges to find one's purpose. Don also introduces reflective practices like the 3-2-1 video method to foster personal growth and accountability. The episode underscores the vital role of mentorship, social interaction, and addressing mental health in empowering students to achieve significant milestones.
00:00 Introduction to Purpose Project
00:45 Meet Don Wettrick
01:29 The Innovation Journey Begins
10:04 Facing Fear and Taking Risks
15:19 Discovering and Pursuing Purpose
19:35 Discovering Life's Purpose: A Personal Journey
23:10 Empowering Students: Real-World Problem Solving
25:06 The Impact of Technology on Purpose Discovery
28:27 Mentorship and the Hero's Journey
31:46 Practical Advice for Discovering Your Purpose
33:09 The 3-2-1 Reflection Technique
35:39 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Resources:
Don Wettrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donwettrick/
STARTedUP Foundation: https://www.startedupfoundation.org/
Purpose Project is a research study on the topic of life's purpose. You can follow along in the making of Purpose Project:
Instagram: @purpose.project
LinkedIn: @purposeproject-media
TikTok: @purpose.project
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
If you're a parent or a teacher,you're not going to want to miss
this episode.
Hi, my name is Leslie Pagel andthis is Purpose Project.
On the show, we have DonWettrick.
Don is a former teacher andcurrently the founder and CEO of
an organization calledSTARTedUP.
STARTedUP has a mission toempower students and teachers to
(00:30):
view the world through a lens ofinnovation and entrepreneurship
while building a life ofpurpose.
Isn't that beautiful?
It is such a privilege and honorto have Don on the show.
Let's take a listen.
Leslie (00:45):
Don, thank you so much for being here.
Before we get into the depths ofpurpose, let's start by learning
more about Don.
Who's Don Wettrick?
Don (00:56):
well, first of all, I'm grateful that you wouldn't have
me on here.
Cause I love talking aboutpurpose and, I feel like.
That's, that's something I'mdefinitely chasing as a teacher.
Uh, who is Don Wettrick?
Uh, I am the son of Chuck andSue Wettrick.
I was a teacher for 20 severalyears.
started to do other things inthe realm of entrepreneurship
and innovation.
(01:17):
but most importantly, Alicia'shusband.
Leslie (01:19):
So a husband, a son, a teacher,
Don (01:22):
father of three, father
Leslie (01:24):
of three.
Yeah.
focus on innovation andentrepreneurship.
Tell us a little bit more aboutwhat that is.
Don (01:31):
Yeah, I had this, second awakening.
I get bored easy.
And so I always had to haveeither side hustles.
I'd done some things and, owningrentals and some of these other
things.
but, I saw this Ted talk and itwas by a guy named Daniel Pink.
And, it's one of the more famousones.
And he was talking about whatmotivates people.
(01:51):
And it was mastery autonomy andpurpose mastery.
We have this desire to masterthings, whether that is to
complete a puzzle, to beat aboss on super Mario galaxy, to
do a kick flip, to do a linedance perfectly, whatever.
Autonomy.
I want to be left alone so I cando this, or I want to work in a
group to do these things that Iwant to do.
(02:11):
And lastly, purpose, like I wantto do this cause it feeds my
soul or I need to do this.
And so I started taking a lookof like, when do we do that in
education mastery?
I mean, mastering the timestables or, I mean, sure.
Autonomy and purpose.
No, no.
And so as Dan was explainingthis, I'm like.
(02:32):
It's because he went on to talkabout what Atlassian and then
more famously Google did withtheir Google time They gave you
one day back then when they weresmaller company trying to figure
it out They gave you one day aweek where you could do what you
wanted, but they wanted to knowwhat you worked on, it was your
passion project.
And so I was like, huh?
I should totally do that Andironically enough Leslie it was
(02:55):
pretty cool because I'd alreadyhad this class where it was FCTV
so Franklin Community TelevisionAnd we had levels of it to where
the juniors and seniors wereeither working on video shorts
And then we I discovered if youhave a public access cable
channel, you have to say yes topeople So my students were
working on on programming andshows for cable access and then
(03:17):
my seniors were working ondocumentary films So we already
had this sense of figuring itout and chasing things that you
wanted to learn more about.
So like, that's a, that is adocumentary film.
And so, I watch it and it'salready fitting to what I do
with the television side, butnot necessarily my language art
side.
So I thought, what would it looklike if I had that class and so
(03:37):
I'm like, Hey, I'll give youFriday to work on whatever you
want to work on.
Leslie (03:41):
Very cool.
Don (03:42):
And immediately My straight A students didn't know what to
think.
How am I going to get an A?
And my C and D students werelike, are you serious?
Cause I'll run with this.
And they were going to dobizarre things.
And so, uh, it went well enoughthat I asked my, principal,
that's a longer story, but couldI have my own class?
And, he jokingly said, sure, ifthere is a Daniel Pink course
(04:04):
description in the state ofIndiana catalog, yes.
And, you know, just like in dumband dumber, I'm like, so you're
saying there's a chance, andthere was a really vague course
description.
I affectionately called itinnovation and open source
learning.
And the students, ran with it.
And so the innovation partbecame the, I'm working on
(04:26):
something that is clever or I'mgoing to tackle a big problem
or, you know, even somethingsweet.
Like I want to learn how topatch quilt before my
grandmother passes away.
And then the open sourcelearning part is I don't know
how to patch quilt.
And some of these other studentswere like, I want to code a
basic game and put it on the itand store.
If I see if I can make a fewbucks, I don't know how to do
that either.
So we were taking to, and again,I'm, I'm at the right place,
(04:48):
right time.
YouTube just started tomonetize.
Leslie (04:50):
Okay.
When was this about?
Oh,
Don (04:52):
geez.
Uh, 2013.
Leslie (04:54):
Okay.
So about 11 years ago,
Don (04:56):
I'm, I'm, I'm ballparking that.
I've been a little bit earlier,but at any rate, the students
were starting to reach out topeople and they were getting
yeses and like impressive yeses,like
Leslie (05:08):
an example of an impressive yes.
Don (05:10):
Well, I mean, in some cases, some of these people may
not have, cause like if they'renot YouTubers, but, Zach King,
he's Final Cut King.
He's still like number, he wasnumber one on Vine for years
now.
He's, he's still huge.
Um, Casey Neistat, um, GaryVaynerchuk, um, so my favorite
one though, so this is when I, Ihad my students, start to think
(05:32):
about reaching out.
And so I had them read chapter,I think it's four of the four
hour work week by Tim Ferriss.
In this chapter, he challengesthese college students.
If you could reach out and, andnetwork and talk to and learn
from anybody, who would it be?
And he put up a$2,000 challenge.
And if I'm getting my factscorrect, hopefully your audience
will tell me.
(05:52):
But no one even tried.
Leslie (05:54):
Oh.
And,
Don (05:56):
and Tim kind of reflected on that in the book.
And so, anyway.
I'm having them read that justto get inspired.
And they're like, well, thenlet's reach out to Tim.
And Tim Ferris is a big deal.
And, uh, I was like, okay.
And so we would have the systemthat if I would tweet it out or
the students would tweet it out,like, Hey, we'd like for you to
meet my class.
(06:16):
We would all 25 of us retweet itand comment on it to up the
chances.
And so nothing.
Okay.
nothing.
And so finally I had these threegirls come up to me and they're
like, Mr.
Wettrick?
We got it.
Take a picture of us and theylooked really sad.
It's, and she says, put this,Hey, at T Ferris, we're so upset
(06:39):
that we're taking your adviceand you're ignoring us or
something along those lines.
And I'm like, Oh, that's good.
So I take the picture, send thetweet.
And it's like, And of course allthe minutes
Leslie (06:51):
later, right?
Don (06:52):
Like they all retweet it and comment.
Yeah.
Quit ignoring us.
And then five minutes later, Iget the little vibration in my
pocket.
Then Tim Ferris follows you.
I'm like, Oh, Oh, guys, it'shappening.
It's happening.
And then a couple seconds later,ding, ding, DM, ha ha.
You got me.
Let's set up a Skype call fortomorrow.
(07:12):
Yes.
And that was one of thosemoments where they're like, we
can get at anybody.
So I should say like, when westarted getting some of the real
a list, it was after the TimFerris moment.
Um, we still had some good luckwith like Zach King was still in
college.
He became like, seriously, ifyou haven't heard of him, he's
absolutely huge.
But, they were starting torealize that.
(07:32):
That whole, it's not what youknow, it's who, you know, and
I'm like, well, then don't getmad, like do something.
And it's easier at your age toimpress people.
You know, at the time I was onlike, as in my forties, early
forties, and I'm like, no onewants to talk to a 40 year old
guy, but if you're 16 and youhave a purpose, they wouldn't
talk to you.
So at any rate, um, so the, the,the class then took an
(07:53):
entrepreneurial slant because itwas called innovation and open
source learning innovation meansyou're onto something.
Once you're onto something,you're like, this is really
cool.
But, um, so it just took a turnand, one thing led to another
and I ended up writing a bookabout it and the book did better
than I thought.
And then, um, we had someinfluencers out there talking
(08:14):
about what we did, um, which gotsome attention.
And then the IEDC and thegovernor Holcomb's team, um, Had
an idea of wanting to do like ashark tank for kids.
And I shot down that idea causeI, I didn't like the, the
approach.
So they go, all right, whatwould you do different if, if we
want to do this?
And so was lucky and blessedenough that I was a behind the
(08:35):
scenes person for a thing calledInnovate WithIN year one.
Um, and in year one, it wasabout a hundred students, about
33 of which were mine.
and then in year two, I camealongside and did it with them.
And in year three, the IEDC saidan education initiative should
be ran by an educator.
We'll just get out of your way.
It's yours.
Smart.
So we run Innovate WithIN, amonga lot of other things.
(08:58):
But, um, yeah, I just, thenstudents start getting a lot of
success.
We had over 3000 students, uh,serve last year and now we have
this eye candy of, we havestudents that have had.
Sales in all 50 states.
We have this year's Forbes 30under 30.
We have two of them.
Leslie (09:16):
Congratulations to
Don (09:18):
them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's just, it's nuts.
And so that's Don Wettrick.
Leslie (09:23):
Yeah.
here's what I hear in yourstory.
I hear.
Action.
I hear, uh, no fear.
Don (09:34):
We'll get into that later.
Leslie (09:35):
Okay.
Okay.
Because what I just heard thereis you get inspired by watching
a Ted Talk and you respond toit.
It's, almost like instinct foryou to just go and do and figure
it out.
Call the media on a slow day.
(09:56):
Um, blow up on tick tock to getattention from, from the
audience.
So I love that I do want to getinto fear.
Let's just go straight to fear.
Um, because I, I believe.
That fear is something thatholds people back from achieving
their purpose.
Yeah, it gets in the way and itcauses us to freeze.
Don (10:21):
Yeah,
Leslie (10:21):
so tell me about fear Why did you have that reaction
when I talk?
Well, I mean because it's
Don (10:26):
just not I'm not being honest with myself I mean like
there's two kinds of fear,right?
There's there's realistic fearand then there's fear of the
unknown and that's usually YouLike once you can get over that
you realize that it's not sobad.
Leslie (10:38):
Okay.
Don (10:39):
Authentic fear is and let me state like how lucky I am.
I have a spouse that has a goodjob.
And so I, you know, I, I hadcalculated fear at times.
Um, you know, if, if, if mywife's not carrying our
insurance, I don't do this.
I started taking risks when Iwas in my forties.
(11:00):
That's stupid, but it wasmeasured, so the irrational fear
I got over pretty quick.
And, and plus, you know, there'sthis perspectives, right?
What is that, that Confuciussaying, uh, a healthy man has a
thousand wishes and unhealthyman has one.
Okay.
So I realized I'm like, like I'mcovered.
(11:21):
I'm good.
Like, you know, Alicia, likemedical care is covered.
And, and, um, Everything elsecan fall into place.
So there was fear.
Now I will say my other fear waswhat if I don't, like, I really
loved my job.
Leslie (11:36):
Okay.
Don (11:37):
Um,
Leslie (11:37):
as a teacher, as a teacher,
Don (11:39):
like I had the coolest class ever.
And even before then I was, Itaught like one section of
language arts and then I taughtbroadcasting, documentary,
filmmaking, and video editing.
How to create a cool YouTubechannel.
Like I'm living a dream and wegot into stuff.
Like I did a TED talk about howwe basically snuck into the NFL
(12:00):
media day on Super Bowl.
It was, like, I, we had, I'm, Idon't think many people had more
fun than me teaching.
And I don't want to make that acompetition.
Like I did, I had, but I mean,like, I had fun.
And so there was a fear of like,I'm going to leave.
Because the people that helpedme get this off the ground and
sponsor this, they were like,you have a decision to make.
(12:21):
You either can be a greatteacher, And run a, a really
pretty mediocre nonprofit.
Or you can run a great nonprofitand.
Be a mediocre teacher.
And so I tried it in, in thatlast year and apologies to my
students, but like I wasn'tgiving it my all.
I was half in half in bothworlds.
And no bueno, man.
(12:42):
Um, so yeah, I mean the, thefear of what if I hate this and
it's hard to get your job backas a teacher.
You get priced out of themarket.
If you have 15 plus years, it'slike, they don't.
You're expensive.
Yeah.
So, at any rate, um, so yeah, Igot over that and I'm having
more fun now.
over that?
Fun.
What I'm doing now is, I mean,Non profits can also be soul
(13:02):
crushing and terrible because,says every non profit ever, but
um, But the fear of like, well,if we want to get into some real
fun, humble brag stuff of whatwe've gotten to do over the last
couple of years, you've seensome of those things.
I can't get over it.
I'm like, no way.
Yeah.
And so we have created a lot ofinteresting times and travel and
(13:25):
meeting people and gettingstudents to do incredible
things.
So those fears are now gone too.
Leslie (13:30):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I still want to go back tothe, to when you are facing your
fear, how did you push through?
Cause you pushed through Alicia.
Okay.
You re you leaned on support,your support.
Yeah.
Don (13:42):
Yeah.
I Alicia, my dad, um, my, myteam Hunter Allie, Kristen, I
mean like those people for sure.
But I think first and foremostthat the real fear, again, the
irrational fear, I could justdeal with like, it's never as
bad, but the real fear is like,how are we financially?
(14:03):
You know, the safest, steadiestjob is teaching.
And contrary to a lot ofpeople's beliefs, it doesn't pay
that bad.
It's not great.
It's not that bad.
And so I'm like, I'm going towalk away from that.
To a thing that could go under.
So there was that.
So, you know, I like, and onceAlicia's like, go for it.
And she's gotta be the steadyone.
Thank God.
Like Alicia doesn't, she's like,you do these things.
(14:26):
Me, I'm gonna, I'm going to dowhat I do.
But like, Somebody has got tobe, and I think that's
important.
I mean, and so if you'rewatching this, I'm like, well,
I'm not married.
Well, it looks different foryou.
Although I will say, if you'regoing to take risks, man, like
do it.
When your number is still in theones or twos,
Leslie (14:41):
okay.
Don (14:42):
You're in your threes.
It's a little bit tougher.
Leslie (14:44):
Yeah.
Don (14:44):
Um, and then ironically life gets, as we know, life gets
even a little easier Like whenthe kids are gone.
Leslie (14:50):
Yeah, I mean, I'm not
Don (14:52):
quite done yet.
Yeah, like it's easier now.
Yeah.
Leslie (14:54):
Yeah.
Okay, so One thing to help pushthrough the fear is to find your
support group.
Yeah Ask them for help supportyou cuz cuz you are taking a
risk.
It's an unknown Venture and youdon't know what's gonna happen
on the other side, but you'regonna go for it and you need
(15:16):
someone there
Don (15:16):
Yeah, and
Leslie (15:17):
Awesome.
Okay, Don, we've gotten to knowyou a little bit.
How would you finish thissentence?
My purpose is
Don (15:27):
helping people find theirs.
Leslie (15:29):
Helping people find their purpose.
Unpack that for us.
So I
Don (15:33):
mean, like, this is the one of the things that drove me nuts
about, as I later found outabout school.
This class, I'm going to go backto the class.
We had so many students go.
I was about ready to go tocollege for this.
I hate it.
Said like 75 percent of everycollege major, you change it,
you start discovering yourself.
(15:53):
Um, one of the things that Iloved is start doing that.
You know, I think that we're atan absolute mental health crisis
of identifying what we hate.
Well, I changed my profilepicture.
You didn't do anything.
You changed your profilepicture.
And so if you're like, I hatethis thing in society, well,
hating on it all day is notgoing to change anything.
And if all of a sudden you findout that you enjoy being the
(16:14):
solution to it, that's positivemental health, man.
And I liked getting students,adults of like, Life is brief,
you you don't like some of thehappiest people.
I know don't make great money,but they do what they want, they
do what makes them like feelawesome And then I also know
some of the most miserablepeople that are making great
(16:35):
money They can't can't seem togive it up because they're
attached to that status and thatsalary So I'm, I'm kind of
transitioning adults and Iapologize, but like with, with
the students, like, I wouldrather you figure out now on
chasing purpose, on you chasing,understanding what your skillset
is and then pursuing, solvingproblems, you know, throughout
(16:57):
our curriculum, we don't sayentrepreneurship for a long
time.
See a problem as an opportunity.
And, and like, it's funny, I hadthis conversation with Anna last
night.
She's, She's got this into it.
She's my middle child.
Okay.
So she's, in this internship.
She's like, I don't know if Ilike it, which I'm now I'm a
little scared because this is mymajor.
And I'm like, you don't want,you don't like one segment of
it.
But we start talking about thatand unpacking it.
(17:19):
And I'm like, go to yoursupervisor and ask him, what do
you not like about your job?
And then go and try to figurethose things out.
Matter of fact, in any, anyprofession, um, um, If you're
going headstrong into the thingsthat people don't like, you're
either going to find out reallyfast that that industry does
suck.
Or, and by the way, you buildingup a reputation that you know
(17:41):
how to solve problems.
You're gold, like, like, you'regold.
Uh, I either could like complainabout my work conditions and
take my smoke break, or I couldsay, you know, I've got a better
idea.
Hey, the guys back here arecomplaining about blah, blah,
blah, blah.
I think I got a solution.
gold, I want more people to havethat mindset.
(18:01):
As opposed to the world owes youthe favors and everything's
against you and nothing's fair.
Leslie (18:07):
Well, and it starts with identifying what you hate and
being real with it and sayingit, naming it.
And then And then saying, I havea choice.
I can either keep doing this or,solve this problem.
Yeah.
So connect this to your purpose.
Don (18:27):
I, I was having this conversation the other day with
the lady and I said, um, itoccurred to me and I said it out
loud.
I'm like, I'm saving myself.
I'm creating solutions that Iwanted when I was 15 and aren't
we all?
(18:48):
And so my purpose was, was atthe time to make school a little
bit more tailored to you andyour needs and discovering what
your skillset is.
But I'm also trying to then getthem to transition and leave
high school or leave college andalso identify What would be a
little bit more fulfilling tothem?
(19:09):
And fulfilling can look like,man, fulfilling doesn't have to
be entrepreneurship.
And I think that's also wherewe've on some of our messaging.
People think that we only workon entrepreneurship.
We work on entrepreneurialthinking.
We have students that go throughthis and they realize this is
tougher than I thought.
I would much rather work for alarge company and solve problems
(19:30):
than go on my own.
And that's fine too.
Leslie (19:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
So your purpose is to helpothers discover theirs.
When did you realize this isyour life's purpose?
Don (19:43):
You know, I, I don't know if I've ever really like, it's
just evolved.
I mean, I do have to think thatwatching the Dan Pink Ted talk I
think that was one of theawakenings, but I also felt like
this has always been.
a part of me.
Um, the other part of it wasjust like, I was not gonna be a
(20:04):
teacher'cause my dad was ateacher.
Okay.
And my sister, I knew she wasgonna be a teacher, and it was
like, just don't be a teacher.
But, um, there was severalencounters like this, but there
was one in particular, it was atthe Greenwood Park Mall, um,
when I was young.
Um.
And so there was a group ofstudents that were shocked to
see my dad because, you know, ifyou're a teacher, you live at
(20:25):
the school, oh my gosh, you'reat the mall.
Um, so anyway.
Some students were talking to mydad and so this guy looked at me
goes your dad and they saidthese great things about my dad
and You know, my chest kind ofstuck out and I was, I was
proud.
And I think that like, so when Iwas in my first career, cause I
wasn't always a teacher, I thinkI always knew that I, at minimum
(20:48):
I wanted people to say that,like I knew my dad had an impact
on somebody.
I think that's cool.
So I think that was early on,but I just didn't know how to
put my finger on it.
And as I was going through andbeing a middle school teacher, I
had, if you ask my middle schoolkids, We had a different kind of
class.
I centered it around a lotabout, there was a lot of
discussions and, uh, so yeah, Iguess it's, it's been an
(21:11):
evolving thing.
Leslie (21:12):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, and one of the things thatI've been interested in
understanding is, are we, bornwith our purpose or is it
something does purpose find us?
And one of the things I heardyou say is it's, it's always
been in me, you know, but it'sbeen this process of discovery
(21:33):
and exploring those feelingsthat you're feeling.
You knew you wanted to have thatreaction from someone that you
saw your father have at themall.
And it's, it sounds like it wasa process of exploring what that
could be for you.
Don (21:49):
Absolutely.
I think like it could be thatyou're born with it, but I've
met so many people that havecreated something beautiful out
of something tragic.
So of course it was never likethere from the beginning.
Terrible was at the beginning.
So I think that a lot of timesfinding purpose is an evolving
thing.
If you were lucky enough to beborn in a loving, nurturing
(22:12):
home, which I was, I think itmay be easier to understand what
your purpose is early on.
Yeah.
It's probably like to preservethis, like.
This loving nurturing thing isfreaking like amazing.
You know, your girls areprobably pretty well set on the
dude.
I'm loved.
They're pretty confident becausethey're like, everything's good.
Um, but the people that didn't,they're, they're trying to
(22:33):
figure that out.
That's an evolving.
Leslie (22:34):
Well, and that is one of the things that I'm seeing as
I've been, asking people abouttheir purpose is that it can be
discovered through trauma.
I'm thinking specifically of awoman named Sela who I met at
the Indianapolis airport.
And I just randomly, I didn'tknow her, but just said, what's
your purpose?
And she said, my purpose is togive the love that I never had
(22:57):
as a child.
So that's an example of, of whatI'm saying.
Okay, Don, we've talked aboutyour purpose, how you've
discovered it.
and would love to speak a littlebit about the students that you,
are around today and would loveto understand if you could do
(23:21):
just a little bit of descriptionabout who they are.
Sure.
But then also if you could speakinto What you see in terms of
purpose for them.
Don (23:31):
Yeah.
I'd say like the students thatbecome the most known with our
program are, because they wontheir regional or state.
We have a pitch competition andwe asked them to solve a
problem, please no more foodtrucks or no more cool t shirt
designs.
Okay.
Not that those are bad.
We're just we're wanting you tothink about solving problems.
(23:53):
Um, okay.
And so problems can come inshape, several shape or form.
So like we had one, we had agroup of two young men in rural
Indiana that their problem wasfishing lures.
Don't come the right colorconsistency for croppie fishing
in the fall.
Okay.
Pretty niche.
Yeah.
They sold well.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They're great.
(24:13):
Um, we've had, uh, another, somestudents are like, Our No Kill
Humane Society shelter lacksmoney and we wanna make money
for it.
Mm-Hmm.
right.
And there's a thousand otherthings.
And like I said, we had somestudents get into Forbes 30,
under 30.
So some impressive things atthe.
beginning level, I like even thefact that one of my favorite
(24:35):
moments is round one.
Um, and it's one student, fromhere in inner city,
Indianapolis, and he had that1000 yard stare.
And he, cause he said, you know,I've been listening to people
complain.
And I think that I'm ontosomething that was gold because
he had listened to see a problemas an opportunity.
(24:58):
And he was taking the time tolisten to people complain.
And he was reframing it as.
What could I do?
I want every high school studentto go through this.
Honestly.
And so I think where a lot ofour students are is that they're
in a, a mind control game thatthe odds are stacked against the
fact that they can't get offtheir phone.
Yeah.
Dude, I'm 52.
(25:21):
TikTok has figured out that atnight I like to watch stupid
videos of kittens and dogs.
You know, I like, and I'm like,stop.
Leslie (25:28):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Don (25:29):
But I also know that, you know, rage bait.
so I like, and I'm, when I sayyoung people, I mean adults too,
well, I, I know that thispolitician does this'cause I saw
it.
You know, you saw a bias sourcetry to feed it.
And we're being manipulated.
And so my, my, I know this is alittle bit of a left turn, but
like, I want them to seepurpose.
(25:50):
I want them to take two stepsbackwards.
And I, I have fear.
That there is not enoughmentorship in their life.
And my biggest fear is there'snot a lot of socialization.
Think that we're coming to anunderstanding of how toxic this
is.
I think that a lot of educationschools like, and I hate to say
banning phones because this isstill a valuable tool.
(26:11):
There's a lot of things you cando on it, but.
At the same time, if I had tochoose between absolutely no
phones and, and began to talkand communicate versus having a
great, highly skilledsupercomputer in your pocket,
probably at this point thinkingabout going backwards and
saying, it's like people aren'tcommunicating well.
Leslie (26:29):
Well, connect that to discovering your purpose.
Don (26:32):
How can you discover your purpose if you're always
constantly fed a feed of thingsthat will just entertain you?
Like, I'm guilty of this too.
I was trying to watch a moviethat I liked from the 80s and I
realized, My gosh, this, thismovie takes forever to develop.
Like, come on, move it faster.
Because I just realized I'm usedto 90 second videos.
It's me.
(26:53):
I'm running out of patience andI'm like, stop.
So.
I've got a fairly developedbrain, these 30 second videos
constantly.
And like, of course the studentsare bored to death.
And then how are they going tofind purpose?
If they can, it's endlessscroll, how are they going to
find purpose?
Now they can find things thatthey're inspired by.
But if you feel like you're apart of something, they need to
(27:14):
feel social interaction.
They don't know why they'reupset.
They're just upset.
And we're so easily manipulatedand yeah, that rate, that
constant rage, that constant,that you should be outraged on.
It's, it's toxic, man.
So.
Leslie (27:30):
Yeah.
So going back to your students.
So I'm hearing that todaylargely with the phone, but not
just the phone, there's constantkind of manipulation of our time
and distraction of our time andspeed and patience.
Mhm.
I also know that you spend a lotof time teaching innovation and
(27:53):
entrepreneurship.
And one of the things that youtalked about is identifying the
problems and, solving those
Don (28:00):
yeah.
Leslie (28:01):
Do you find that the students that start with that
problem identification.
Are they drawn to problems thatare meaningful to them that
align with their purpose or, oris it not?
Don (28:14):
If they have a good guide, not only are they drawn to it,
they can see their way throughit.
Anybody can be drawn bysomething that pisses them off.
It's the sustainability ofseeing the highs and lows.
This is why we have, I didn'treally talk about it, which is
funny because it's our NorthStar, but we have a teacher
fellowship where we find, like,Trojan horse teachers that have
(28:35):
this mindset, no matter whatthey teach, and be the epicenter
of that.
Love that.
That a student in, a student inany part of the building knows
that they can go to, Ms.
Mr.
So and so's class.
To get this kind of feedback andadvice.
Could you take a look at mypitch?
Could you take a look at myproposal?
And then having the trust thatwhen Mr.
Schultz goes, it sucks.
I mean, he may say it nicer, butlike, it's not good.
(28:58):
That they're like, oh, okay.
Like, how do I fix it?
Because right now a lot ofstudents are.
I'm upset with you or you mean Ididn't get an A on this.
And how, what is this going todo to my GPA?
How am I going to get into thatfamous college?
So the ability for having amentor to help them see through,
it's really important.
Everybody's inspired.
Inspiration is very brief.
I was inspired to lose 15pounds.
(29:18):
And I did.
And then it went back.
God.
So I'm not very, I'm notperfect.
Leslie.
Oy.
Um, yeah.
I, which by the way, is like whyI like Joseph Campbell's work so
much.
Um, Joseph Campbell was thisexpert on world mythologies and
religions and he broke down thehero's journey and every single
(29:39):
adventure movie ever follows thesame pattern.
Um, which is why, like, I, like,I, I truly, and people always
laugh when I say this, I trulythink one of the best movies
that I've ever identified withwas Kung Fu Panda.
Okay.
Leslie (29:51):
Okay.
I thought you were gonna sayStar Wars, because I knew it
followed the Hero's Journey,
Don (29:56):
right.
Well, I mean, technicallyspeaking, yeah.
I mean, Joseph Campbell wasthere as Mm-Hmm.
George Lucas's muses.
He wrote that.
Um, but yeah, I mean, it's likewhen you start watching more
movies, you're like, Oh my gosh,it's there.
It is the departure.
Yeah, there it is.
They found their Obi Wan Kenobi.
There it is.
They got basically killed andreborn.
There it is.
(30:16):
They conquer that.
It's beautiful.
And I think that I used to teachthat in class.
And the sense that I would askmy students, if your life was a
book, would anyone read it?
And that can be crippling.
But like your book doesn't haveto be, you slayed dragons, it's
(30:37):
that you're on an interestingjourney.
The reason why I asked that iflike, yeah, I got up, I pushed
my snooze alarm, watched 20minutes of tick tocks, brushed
my teeth, watching some YouTube,want to work at a job that I
don't like, came home, watchedsome videos, went to bed.
No one reads that book.
Leslie (30:56):
No, they don't.
Don (30:58):
I want to, a job that I don't really like, but I
volunteered at my local Humanesociety.
Helped foster five animals.
Spent time at a youth.
So like, like that's a book Iwanna read.
Leslie (31:09):
Yeah.
You know what this is making methink of?
Daniel Pink Mastery Au Autonomyand Purpose.
Yeah.
I'd read the book of the personthat's living that.
Don (31:21):
Mm-Hmm.
Mm-Hmm.
True.
You're right.
Like even on people that haveweird mastery, I watched the,
watch the documentary wants ofhero dreams of sushi.
And it was this on this guy thatwas obsessed with creating the
perfect sushi.
I'm like, that's a really goodfilm you're right.
Like even people that have weirdmasteries were attracted to it
because you're like, the factthat you're that dedicated is
(31:42):
pretty cool.
Leslie (31:42):
Okay.
That brings us full circle.
Don.
I'm thinking of all the peopleout there who are listening or
watching this and they're intheir process of discovering
their purpose.
What advice do you have forthem?
Don (31:58):
Go through the hero's journey.
You know, find your Obi WanKenobi.
Find the genre or the era youwant to be in and find someone
that is mildly successful.
If they're too successful,they're too busy.
Or even reach out to the peoplethat helped them be successful,
right?
Um, do not offer to pick theirbrain because you are taking
(32:19):
from their time.
Find those people and offer themmay I help you assist you in
some way?
And they'll say, why you'vetaken a journey that I want to
take, but I don't want to wasteyour time.
I want to provide you value.
You've upped the likelihood ofthem saying yes by a hundred
percent.
Um, if you can't get a yes outof those people, take that
journey with your spouse.
(32:39):
If you are not married or have asignificant other.
Find a group, man.
Going alone is just a bad idea.
You're not going to, it's, it's.
Leslie (32:46):
Yeah.
Which also brings us back toearlier, where you talked about
going through your fear, youreally needing that support
group to help.
So find your tribe, Join it in away that's productive and
helpful to the tribe.
Yeah.
Not taking from, but giving to.
Don (33:06):
Right.
Leslie (33:06):
And, um, go for it.
Don (33:09):
And lastly, I used to do, I used to journal a lot.
And at the end of the year, Iwould culminate this thing this
year in review.
And I'm borderline gettingemotional thinking about the
fact that I don't do thisbecause, you know, I can go back
for my first year of marriageall the way up to maybe 2012.
That's how long it's been sinceI've done it.
But I could tell you everythingabout that year.
I'd have maybe like writtenjournals.
(33:31):
but I, I saw the evolution of myfamily and myself.
And then I used to also do thisand I'm again, man, life gets in
the way.
And I should do this.
I used to do a three, two, onevideo to myself.
And a three, two, one video wasbasically, three things that
didn't go right this week.
Two things that that did go wellor that I improved on and one
(33:55):
piece of advice for my futureself And future self could be
the next video post or thefuture self is because I have a
series of private videos onYouTube but I watch it and I'm
like I used to worry about that,oh, I remember, gosh, that was a
low point.
Oh my gosh.
I forgot about that.
And, um, I almost think I likedit better than journaling
(34:15):
because it took less time.
I mean, it's literally gettingyour phone, here's three things
this week that just didn't.
And I started off deliberatelywith things that didn't go well,
because I knew that I was goingto appreciate that more.
And you
Leslie (34:26):
did this once a week,
Don (34:27):
at least.
Leslie (34:28):
And then you would periodically go back and I'm
going to start
Don (34:31):
tomorrow today.
Okay.
Leslie (34:33):
All right.
Don (34:34):
But no, I, this
Leslie (34:35):
airs.
Don (34:35):
Yeah, no, I will.
I've, I will promise.
I'll,
Leslie (34:38):
I'll reach out and ask how your three, two ones going.
Don (34:41):
But anyone should do that.
Leslie (34:42):
Okay.
It's really healthy.
It's cathartic.
Reach out to Don Wettrick.
Ask him about your three, two
Don (34:47):
ones.
We can hold
Leslie (34:49):
each other accountable.
That's what we need.
Don (34:51):
Yeah.
And you will just the therapy ofyourself talking out loud of the
things because you're beinghonest with yourself, three
things that I told myself isgonna do or I just didn't
accomplish and it's on yourmind.
You said it out loud.
You're saying it to yourself.
You're going to watch thisagain.
And then the two things isyou're on this one uptick.
And that's, that's why I likethe format of it because that
(35:11):
one piece of advice, you've justwaxed poetic now for a couple of
minutes.
You're being honest.
You're being a little criticalon yourself of like daggone it.
Why didn't I?
But I did do.
And then the, all right, futureDon, hearing myself talk, I need
to do like, ironically enough, Ijust kind of went through my own
three, two, one.
Leslie (35:28):
Well, and you end in action, which I love that too,
cause it is about taking actionand taking the, the one next
step that you can do, Don, howcan we find you and hold you
accountable?
But also Support you and yeah,
Don (35:42):
I, I guess LinkedIn is probably the best place.
Leslie (35:44):
Okay.
Don Wettrick on LinkedIn.
Don (35:46):
Don Wetterick on LinkedIn.
Um, our website, should you feelso compelled to want to get
involved?
Or if you have a student.
Or if you want to nominate ateacher that should be in our
fellowship, if you know thatteacher for right now, we only,
we're only, um, accepting highschool teachers.
Um, but startedupfoundation.Org.
So I'll put it in the notes.
Yes.
(36:06):
Start with ed,startedupfoundation.Org.
Check out what we do.
Leslie (36:12):
Awesome.
Thank you so much, Don.
I learned a lot from you and,looking forward to sharing with
others as well.
Thank you.
Thank
Don (36:19):
you.
Leslie (36:19):
Wasn't that incredible?
I love Don's energy.
I love his perspective.
And one of the things that I'mgoing to take away from this and
I'm going to put into myroutine.
is his tip on the 3 2 1 videorecording.
I'm thinking Friday's end ofday.
As I wrap up the work week, headinto the weekend, taking out my
(36:40):
phone, doing my 3 2 1 And overthe course of weeks, months, who
knows, maybe even years, beingable to see how that power of
weekly reflection allows me tomove my life's purpose forward.
Thank you all for listening.
(37:02):
Purpose Project is brought toyou for education and for
entertainment purposes.
This podcast is not intended toreplace the advice that you
would receive from a licensedtherapist or doctor or any other
qualified professional.
If you're a parent or a teacher,you're not going to want to miss
this episode.
Hi, my name is Leslie Pagel andthis is Purpose Project.
On the show, we have DonWettrick.
Don is a former teacher andcurrently the founder and CEO of
an organization calledSTARTedUP.
STARTedUP has a mission toempower students and teachers to
(00:30):
view the world through a lens ofinnovation and entrepreneurship
while building a life ofpurpose.
Isn't that beautiful?
It is such a privilege and honorto have Don on the show.
Let's take a listen.
Leslie (00:45):
Don, thank you so much for being here.
Before we get into the depths ofpurpose, let's start by learning
more about Don.
Who's Don Wettrick?
Don (00:56):
well, first of all, I'm grateful that you wouldn't have
me on here.
Cause I love talking aboutpurpose and, I feel like.
That's, that's something I'mdefinitely chasing as a teacher.
Uh, who is Don Wettrick?
Uh, I am the son of Chuck andSue Wettrick.
I was a teacher for 20 severalyears.
started to do other things inthe realm of entrepreneurship
and innovation.
(01:17):
but most importantly, Alicia'shusband.
Leslie (01:19):
So a husband, a son, a teacher,
Don (01:22):
father of three, father
Leslie (01:24):
of three.
Yeah.
focus on innovation andentrepreneurship.
Tell us a little bit more aboutwhat that is.
Don (01:31):
Yeah, I had this, second awakening.
I get bored easy.
And so I always had to haveeither side hustles.
I'd done some things and, owningrentals and some of these other
things.
but, I saw this Ted talk and itwas by a guy named Daniel Pink.
And, it's one of the more famousones.
And he was talking about whatmotivates people.
(01:51):
And it was mastery autonomy andpurpose mastery.
We have this desire to masterthings, whether that is to
complete a puzzle, to beat aboss on super Mario galaxy, to
do a kick flip, to do a linedance perfectly, whatever.
Autonomy.
I want to be left alone so I cando this, or I want to work in a
group to do these things that Iwant to do.
(02:11):
And lastly, purpose, like I wantto do this cause it feeds my
soul or I need to do this.
And so I started taking a lookof like, when do we do that in
education mastery?
I mean, mastering the timestables or, I mean, sure.
Autonomy and purpose.
No, no.
And so as Dan was explainingthis, I'm like.
(02:32):
It's because he went on to talkabout what Atlassian and then
more famously Google did withtheir Google time They gave you
one day back then when they weresmaller company trying to figure
it out They gave you one day aweek where you could do what you
wanted, but they wanted to knowwhat you worked on, it was your
passion project.
And so I was like, huh?
I should totally do that Andironically enough Leslie it was
(02:55):
pretty cool because I'd alreadyhad this class where it was FCTV
so Franklin Community TelevisionAnd we had levels of it to where
the juniors and seniors wereeither working on video shorts
And then we I discovered if youhave a public access cable
channel, you have to say yes topeople So my students were
working on on programming andshows for cable access and then
(03:17):
my seniors were working ondocumentary films So we already
had this sense of figuring itout and chasing things that you
wanted to learn more about.
So like, that's a, that is adocumentary film.
And so, I watch it and it'salready fitting to what I do
with the television side, butnot necessarily my language art
side.
So I thought, what would it looklike if I had that class and so
(03:37):
I'm like, Hey, I'll give youFriday to work on whatever you
want to work on.
Leslie (03:41):
Very cool.
Don (03:42):
And immediately My straight A students didn't know what to
think.
How am I going to get an A?
And my C and D students werelike, are you serious?
Cause I'll run with this.
And they were going to dobizarre things.
And so, uh, it went well enoughthat I asked my, principal,
that's a longer story, but couldI have my own class?
And, he jokingly said, sure, ifthere is a Daniel Pink course
(04:04):
description in the state ofIndiana catalog, yes.
And, you know, just like in dumband dumber, I'm like, so you're
saying there's a chance, andthere was a really vague course
description.
I affectionately called itinnovation and open source
learning.
And the students, ran with it.
And so the innovation partbecame the, I'm working on
(04:26):
something that is clever or I'mgoing to tackle a big problem
or, you know, even somethingsweet.
Like I want to learn how topatch quilt before my
grandmother passes away.
And then the open sourcelearning part is I don't know
how to patch quilt.
And some of these other studentswere like, I want to code a
basic game and put it on the itand store.
If I see if I can make a fewbucks, I don't know how to do
that either.
So we were taking to, and again,I'm, I'm at the right place,
(04:48):
right time.
YouTube just started tomonetize.
Leslie (04:50):
Okay.
When was this about?
Oh,
Don (04:52):
geez.
Uh, 2013.
Leslie (04:54):
Okay.
So about 11 years ago,
Don (04:56):
I'm, I'm, I'm ballparking that.
I've been a little bit earlier,but at any rate, the students
were starting to reach out topeople and they were getting
yeses and like impressive yeses,like
Leslie (05:08):
an example of an impressive yes.
Don (05:10):
Well, I mean, in some cases, some of these people may
not have, cause like if they'renot YouTubers, but, Zach King,
he's Final Cut King.
He's still like number, he wasnumber one on Vine for years
now.
He's, he's still huge.
Um, Casey Neistat, um, GaryVaynerchuk, um, so my favorite
one though, so this is when I, Ihad my students, start to think
(05:32):
about reaching out.
And so I had them read chapter,I think it's four of the four
hour work week by Tim Ferriss.
In this chapter, he challengesthese college students.
If you could reach out and, andnetwork and talk to and learn
from anybody, who would it be?
And he put up a$2,000 challenge.
And if I'm getting my factscorrect, hopefully your audience
will tell me.
(05:52):
But no one even tried.
Leslie (05:54):
Oh.
And,
Don (05:56):
and Tim kind of reflected on that in the book.
And so, anyway.
I'm having them read that justto get inspired.
And they're like, well, thenlet's reach out to Tim.
And Tim Ferris is a big deal.
And, uh, I was like, okay.
And so we would have the systemthat if I would tweet it out or
the students would tweet it out,like, Hey, we'd like for you to
meet my class.
(06:16):
We would all 25 of us retweet itand comment on it to up the
chances.
And so nothing.
Okay.
nothing.
And so finally I had these threegirls come up to me and they're
like, Mr.
Wettrick?
We got it.
Take a picture of us and theylooked really sad.
It's, and she says, put this,Hey, at T Ferris, we're so upset
(06:39):
that we're taking your adviceand you're ignoring us or
something along those lines.
And I'm like, Oh, that's good.
So I take the picture, send thetweet.
And it's like, And of course allthe minutes
Leslie (06:51):
later, right?
Don (06:52):
Like they all retweet it and comment.
Yeah.
Quit ignoring us.
And then five minutes later, Iget the little vibration in my
pocket.
Then Tim Ferris follows you.
I'm like, Oh, Oh, guys, it'shappening.
It's happening.
And then a couple seconds later,ding, ding, DM, ha ha.
You got me.
Let's set up a Skype call fortomorrow.
(07:12):
Yes.
And that was one of thosemoments where they're like, we
can get at anybody.
So I should say like, when westarted getting some of the real
a list, it was after the TimFerris moment.
Um, we still had some good luckwith like Zach King was still in
college.
He became like, seriously, ifyou haven't heard of him, he's
absolutely huge.
But, they were starting torealize that.
(07:32):
That whole, it's not what youknow, it's who, you know, and
I'm like, well, then don't getmad, like do something.
And it's easier at your age toimpress people.
You know, at the time I was onlike, as in my forties, early
forties, and I'm like, no onewants to talk to a 40 year old
guy, but if you're 16 and youhave a purpose, they wouldn't
talk to you.
So at any rate, um, so the, the,the class then took an
(07:53):
entrepreneurial slant because itwas called innovation and open
source learning innovation meansyou're onto something.
Once you're onto something,you're like, this is really
cool.
But, um, so it just took a turnand, one thing led to another
and I ended up writing a bookabout it and the book did better
than I thought.
And then, um, we had someinfluencers out there talking
(08:14):
about what we did, um, which gotsome attention.
And then the IEDC and thegovernor Holcomb's team, um, Had
an idea of wanting to do like ashark tank for kids.
And I shot down that idea causeI, I didn't like the, the
approach.
So they go, all right, whatwould you do different if, if we
want to do this?
And so was lucky and blessedenough that I was a behind the
(08:35):
scenes person for a thing calledInnovate WithIN year one.
Um, and in year one, it wasabout a hundred students, about
33 of which were mine.
and then in year two, I camealongside and did it with them.
And in year three, the IEDC saidan education initiative should
be ran by an educator.
We'll just get out of your way.
It's yours.
Smart.
So we run Innovate WithIN, amonga lot of other things.
(08:58):
But, um, yeah, I just, thenstudents start getting a lot of
success.
We had over 3000 students, uh,serve last year and now we have
this eye candy of, we havestudents that have had.
Sales in all 50 states.
We have this year's Forbes 30under 30.
We have two of them.
Leslie (09:16):
Congratulations to
Don (09:18):
them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's just, it's nuts.
And so that's Don Wettrick.
Leslie (09:23):
Yeah.
here's what I hear in yourstory.
I hear.
Action.
I hear, uh, no fear.
Don (09:34):
We'll get into that later.
Leslie (09:35):
Okay.
Okay.
Because what I just heard thereis you get inspired by watching
a Ted Talk and you respond toit.
It's, almost like instinct foryou to just go and do and figure
it out.
Call the media on a slow day.
(09:56):
Um, blow up on tick tock to getattention from, from the
audience.
So I love that I do want to getinto fear.
Let's just go straight to fear.
Um, because I, I believe.
That fear is something thatholds people back from achieving
their purpose.
Yeah, it gets in the way and itcauses us to freeze.
Don (10:21):
Yeah,
Leslie (10:21):
so tell me about fear Why did you have that reaction
when I talk?
Well, I mean because it's
Don (10:26):
just not I'm not being honest with myself I mean like
there's two kinds of fear,right?
There's there's realistic fearand then there's fear of the
unknown and that's usually YouLike once you can get over that
you realize that it's not sobad.
Leslie (10:38):
Okay.
Don (10:39):
Authentic fear is and let me state like how lucky I am.
I have a spouse that has a goodjob.
And so I, you know, I, I hadcalculated fear at times.
Um, you know, if, if, if mywife's not carrying our
insurance, I don't do this.
I started taking risks when Iwas in my forties.
(11:00):
That's stupid, but it wasmeasured, so the irrational fear
I got over pretty quick.
And, and plus, you know, there'sthis perspectives, right?
What is that, that Confuciussaying, uh, a healthy man has a
thousand wishes and unhealthyman has one.
Okay.
So I realized I'm like, like I'mcovered.
(11:21):
I'm good.
Like, you know, Alicia, likemedical care is covered.
And, and, um, Everything elsecan fall into place.
So there was fear.
Now I will say my other fear waswhat if I don't, like, I really
loved my job.
Leslie (11:36):
Okay.
Don (11:37):
Um,
Leslie (11:37):
as a teacher, as a teacher,
Don (11:39):
like I had the coolest class ever.
And even before then I was, Itaught like one section of
language arts and then I taughtbroadcasting, documentary,
filmmaking, and video editing.
How to create a cool YouTubechannel.
Like I'm living a dream and wegot into stuff.
Like I did a TED talk about howwe basically snuck into the NFL
(12:00):
media day on Super Bowl.
It was, like, I, we had, I'm, Idon't think many people had more
fun than me teaching.
And I don't want to make that acompetition.
Like I did, I had, but I mean,like, I had fun.
And so there was a fear of like,I'm going to leave.
Because the people that helpedme get this off the ground and
sponsor this, they were like,you have a decision to make.
(12:21):
You either can be a greatteacher, And run a, a really
pretty mediocre nonprofit.
Or you can run a great nonprofitand.
Be a mediocre teacher.
And so I tried it in, in thatlast year and apologies to my
students, but like I wasn'tgiving it my all.
I was half in half in bothworlds.
And no bueno, man.
(12:42):
Um, so yeah, I mean the, thefear of what if I hate this and
it's hard to get your job backas a teacher.
You get priced out of themarket.
If you have 15 plus years, it'slike, they don't.
You're expensive.
Yeah.
So, at any rate, um, so yeah, Igot over that and I'm having
more fun now.
over that?
Fun.
What I'm doing now is, I mean,Non profits can also be soul
(13:02):
crushing and terrible because,says every non profit ever, but
um, But the fear of like, well,if we want to get into some real
fun, humble brag stuff of whatwe've gotten to do over the last
couple of years, you've seensome of those things.
I can't get over it.
I'm like, no way.
Yeah.
And so we have created a lot ofinteresting times and travel and
(13:25):
meeting people and gettingstudents to do incredible
things.
So those fears are now gone too.
Leslie (13:30):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I still want to go back tothe, to when you are facing your
fear, how did you push through?
Cause you pushed through Alicia.
Okay.
You re you leaned on support,your support.
Yeah.
Don (13:42):
Yeah.
I Alicia, my dad, um, my, myteam Hunter Allie, Kristen, I
mean like those people for sure.
But I think first and foremostthat the real fear, again, the
irrational fear, I could justdeal with like, it's never as
bad, but the real fear is like,how are we financially?
(14:03):
You know, the safest, steadiestjob is teaching.
And contrary to a lot ofpeople's beliefs, it doesn't pay
that bad.
It's not great.
It's not that bad.
And so I'm like, I'm going towalk away from that.
To a thing that could go under.
So there was that.
So, you know, I like, and onceAlicia's like, go for it.
And she's gotta be the steadyone.
Thank God.
Like Alicia doesn't, she's like,you do these things.
(14:26):
Me, I'm gonna, I'm going to dowhat I do.
But like, Somebody has got tobe, and I think that's
important.
I mean, and so if you'rewatching this, I'm like, well,
I'm not married.
Well, it looks different foryou.
Although I will say, if you'regoing to take risks, man, like
do it.
When your number is still in theones or twos,
Leslie (14:41):
okay.
Don (14:42):
You're in your threes.
It's a little bit tougher.
Leslie (14:44):
Yeah.
Don (14:44):
Um, and then ironically life gets, as we know, life gets
even a little easier Like whenthe kids are gone.
Leslie (14:50):
Yeah, I mean, I'm not
Don (14:52):
quite done yet.
Yeah, like it's easier now.
Yeah.
Leslie (14:54):
Yeah.
Okay, so One thing to help pushthrough the fear is to find your
support group.
Yeah Ask them for help supportyou cuz cuz you are taking a
risk.
It's an unknown Venture and youdon't know what's gonna happen
on the other side, but you'regonna go for it and you need
(15:16):
someone there
Don (15:16):
Yeah, and
Leslie (15:17):
Awesome.
Okay, Don, we've gotten to knowyou a little bit.
How would you finish thissentence?
My purpose is
Don (15:27):
helping people find theirs.
Leslie (15:29):
Helping people find their purpose.
Unpack that for us.
So I
Don (15:33):
mean, like, this is the one of the things that drove me nuts
about, as I later found outabout school.
This class, I'm going to go backto the class.
We had so many students go.
I was about ready to go tocollege for this.
I hate it.
Said like 75 percent of everycollege major, you change it,
you start discovering yourself.
(15:53):
Um, one of the things that Iloved is start doing that.
You know, I think that we're atan absolute mental health crisis
of identifying what we hate.
Well, I changed my profilepicture.
You didn't do anything.
You changed your profilepicture.
And so if you're like, I hatethis thing in society, well,
hating on it all day is notgoing to change anything.
And if all of a sudden you findout that you enjoy being the
(16:14):
solution to it, that's positivemental health, man.
And I liked getting students,adults of like, Life is brief,
you you don't like some of thehappiest people.
I know don't make great money,but they do what they want, they
do what makes them like feelawesome And then I also know
some of the most miserablepeople that are making great
(16:35):
money They can't can't seem togive it up because they're
attached to that status and thatsalary So I'm, I'm kind of
transitioning adults and Iapologize, but like with, with
the students, like, I wouldrather you figure out now on
chasing purpose, on you chasing,understanding what your skillset
is and then pursuing, solvingproblems, you know, throughout
(16:57):
our curriculum, we don't sayentrepreneurship for a long
time.
See a problem as an opportunity.
And, and like, it's funny, I hadthis conversation with Anna last
night.
She's, She's got this into it.
She's my middle child.
Okay.
So she's, in this internship.
She's like, I don't know if Ilike it, which I'm now I'm a
little scared because this is mymajor.
And I'm like, you don't want,you don't like one segment of
it.
But we start talking about thatand unpacking it.
(17:19):
And I'm like, go to yoursupervisor and ask him, what do
you not like about your job?
And then go and try to figurethose things out.
Matter of fact, in any, anyprofession, um, um, If you're
going headstrong into the thingsthat people don't like, you're
either going to find out reallyfast that that industry does
suck.
Or, and by the way, you buildingup a reputation that you know
(17:41):
how to solve problems.
You're gold, like, like, you'regold.
Uh, I either could like complainabout my work conditions and
take my smoke break, or I couldsay, you know, I've got a better
idea.
Hey, the guys back here arecomplaining about blah, blah,
blah, blah.
I think I got a solution.
gold, I want more people to havethat mindset.
(18:01):
As opposed to the world owes youthe favors and everything's
against you and nothing's fair.
Leslie (18:07):
Well, and it starts with identifying what you hate and
being real with it and sayingit, naming it.
And then And then saying, I havea choice.
I can either keep doing this or,solve this problem.
Yeah.
So connect this to your purpose.
Don (18:27):
I, I was having this conversation the other day with
the lady and I said, um, itoccurred to me and I said it out
loud.
I'm like, I'm saving myself.
I'm creating solutions that Iwanted when I was 15 and aren't
we all?
(18:48):
And so my purpose was, was atthe time to make school a little
bit more tailored to you andyour needs and discovering what
your skillset is.
But I'm also trying to then getthem to transition and leave
high school or leave college andalso identify What would be a
little bit more fulfilling tothem?
(19:09):
And fulfilling can look like,man, fulfilling doesn't have to
be entrepreneurship.
And I think that's also wherewe've on some of our messaging.
People think that we only workon entrepreneurship.
We work on entrepreneurialthinking.
We have students that go throughthis and they realize this is
tougher than I thought.
I would much rather work for alarge company and solve problems
(19:30):
than go on my own.
And that's fine too.
Leslie (19:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
So your purpose is to helpothers discover theirs.
When did you realize this isyour life's purpose?
Don (19:43):
You know, I, I don't know if I've ever really like, it's
just evolved.
I mean, I do have to think thatwatching the Dan Pink Ted talk I
think that was one of theawakenings, but I also felt like
this has always been.
a part of me.
Um, the other part of it wasjust like, I was not gonna be a
(20:04):
teacher'cause my dad was ateacher.
Okay.
And my sister, I knew she wasgonna be a teacher, and it was
like, just don't be a teacher.
But, um, there was severalencounters like this, but there
was one in particular, it was atthe Greenwood Park Mall, um,
when I was young.
Um.
And so there was a group ofstudents that were shocked to
see my dad because, you know, ifyou're a teacher, you live at
(20:25):
the school, oh my gosh, you'reat the mall.
Um, so anyway.
Some students were talking to mydad and so this guy looked at me
goes your dad and they saidthese great things about my dad
and You know, my chest kind ofstuck out and I was, I was
proud.
And I think that like, so when Iwas in my first career, cause I
wasn't always a teacher, I thinkI always knew that I, at minimum
(20:48):
I wanted people to say that,like I knew my dad had an impact
on somebody.
I think that's cool.
So I think that was early on,but I just didn't know how to
put my finger on it.
And as I was going through andbeing a middle school teacher, I
had, if you ask my middle schoolkids, We had a different kind of
class.
I centered it around a lotabout, there was a lot of
discussions and, uh, so yeah, Iguess it's, it's been an
(21:11):
evolving thing.
Leslie (21:12):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, and one of the things thatI've been interested in
understanding is, are we, bornwith our purpose or is it
something does purpose find us?
And one of the things I heardyou say is it's, it's always
been in me, you know, but it'sbeen this process of discovery
(21:33):
and exploring those feelingsthat you're feeling.
You knew you wanted to have thatreaction from someone that you
saw your father have at themall.
And it's, it sounds like it wasa process of exploring what that
could be for you.
Don (21:49):
Absolutely.
I think like it could be thatyou're born with it, but I've
met so many people that havecreated something beautiful out
of something tragic.
So of course it was never likethere from the beginning.
Terrible was at the beginning.
So I think that a lot of timesfinding purpose is an evolving
thing.
If you were lucky enough to beborn in a loving, nurturing
(22:12):
home, which I was, I think itmay be easier to understand what
your purpose is early on.
Yeah.
It's probably like to preservethis, like.
This loving nurturing thing isfreaking like amazing.
You know, your girls areprobably pretty well set on the
dude.
I'm loved.
They're pretty confident becausethey're like, everything's good.
Um, but the people that didn't,they're, they're trying to
(22:33):
figure that out.
That's an evolving.
Leslie (22:34):
Well, and that is one of the things that I'm seeing as
I've been, asking people abouttheir purpose is that it can be
discovered through trauma.
I'm thinking specifically of awoman named Sela who I met at
the Indianapolis airport.
And I just randomly, I didn'tknow her, but just said, what's
your purpose?
And she said, my purpose is togive the love that I never had
(22:57):
as a child.
So that's an example of, of whatI'm saying.
Okay, Don, we've talked aboutyour purpose, how you've
discovered it.
and would love to speak a littlebit about the students that you,
are around today and would loveto understand if you could do
(23:21):
just a little bit of descriptionabout who they are.
Sure.
But then also if you could speakinto What you see in terms of
purpose for them.
Don (23:31):
Yeah.
I'd say like the students thatbecome the most known with our
program are, because they wontheir regional or state.
We have a pitch competition andwe asked them to solve a
problem, please no more foodtrucks or no more cool t shirt
designs.
Okay.
Not that those are bad.
We're just we're wanting you tothink about solving problems.
(23:53):
Um, okay.
And so problems can come inshape, several shape or form.
So like we had one, we had agroup of two young men in rural
Indiana that their problem wasfishing lures.
Don't come the right colorconsistency for croppie fishing
in the fall.
Okay.
Pretty niche.
Yeah.
They sold well.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They're great.
(24:13):
Um, we've had, uh, another, somestudents are like, Our No Kill
Humane Society shelter lacksmoney and we wanna make money
for it.
Mm-Hmm.
right.
And there's a thousand otherthings.
And like I said, we had somestudents get into Forbes 30,
under 30.
So some impressive things atthe.
beginning level, I like even thefact that one of my favorite
(24:35):
moments is round one.
Um, and it's one student, fromhere in inner city,
Indianapolis, and he had that1000 yard stare.
And he, cause he said, you know,I've been listening to people
complain.
And I think that I'm ontosomething that was gold because
he had listened to see a problemas an opportunity.
(24:58):
And he was taking the time tolisten to people complain.
And he was reframing it as.
What could I do?
I want every high school studentto go through this.
Honestly.
And so I think where a lot ofour students are is that they're
in a, a mind control game thatthe odds are stacked against the
fact that they can't get offtheir phone.
Yeah.
Dude, I'm 52.
(25:21):
TikTok has figured out that atnight I like to watch stupid
videos of kittens and dogs.
You know, I like, and I'm like,stop.
Leslie (25:28):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Don (25:29):
But I also know that, you know, rage bait.
so I like, and I'm, when I sayyoung people, I mean adults too,
well, I, I know that thispolitician does this'cause I saw
it.
You know, you saw a bias sourcetry to feed it.
And we're being manipulated.
And so my, my, I know this is alittle bit of a left turn, but
like, I want them to seepurpose.
(25:50):
I want them to take two stepsbackwards.
And I, I have fear.
That there is not enoughmentorship in their life.
And my biggest fear is there'snot a lot of socialization.
Think that we're coming to anunderstanding of how toxic this
is.
I think that a lot of educationschools like, and I hate to say
banning phones because this isstill a valuable tool.
(26:11):
There's a lot of things you cando on it, but.
At the same time, if I had tochoose between absolutely no
phones and, and began to talkand communicate versus having a
great, highly skilledsupercomputer in your pocket,
probably at this point thinkingabout going backwards and
saying, it's like people aren'tcommunicating well.
Leslie (26:29):
Well, connect that to discovering your purpose.
Don (26:32):
How can you discover your purpose if you're always
constantly fed a feed of thingsthat will just entertain you?
Like, I'm guilty of this too.
I was trying to watch a moviethat I liked from the 80s and I
realized, My gosh, this, thismovie takes forever to develop.
Like, come on, move it faster.
Because I just realized I'm usedto 90 second videos.
It's me.
(26:53):
I'm running out of patience andI'm like, stop.
So.
I've got a fairly developedbrain, these 30 second videos
constantly.
And like, of course the studentsare bored to death.
And then how are they going tofind purpose?
If they can, it's endlessscroll, how are they going to
find purpose?
Now they can find things thatthey're inspired by.
But if you feel like you're apart of something, they need to
(27:14):
feel social interaction.
They don't know why they'reupset.
They're just upset.
And we're so easily manipulatedand yeah, that rate, that
constant rage, that constant,that you should be outraged on.
It's, it's toxic, man.
So.
Leslie (27:30):
Yeah.
So going back to your students.
So I'm hearing that todaylargely with the phone, but not
just the phone, there's constantkind of manipulation of our time
and distraction of our time andspeed and patience.
Mhm.
I also know that you spend a lotof time teaching innovation and
(27:53):
entrepreneurship.
And one of the things that youtalked about is identifying the
problems and, solving those
Don (28:00):
yeah.
Leslie (28:01):
Do you find that the students that start with that
problem identification.
Are they drawn to problems thatare meaningful to them that
align with their purpose or, oris it not?
Don (28:14):
If they have a good guide, not only are they drawn to it,
they can see their way throughit.
Anybody can be drawn bysomething that pisses them off.
It's the sustainability ofseeing the highs and lows.
This is why we have, I didn'treally talk about it, which is
funny because it's our NorthStar, but we have a teacher
fellowship where we find, like,Trojan horse teachers that have
(28:35):
this mindset, no matter whatthey teach, and be the epicenter
of that.
Love that.
That a student in, a student inany part of the building knows
that they can go to, Ms.
Mr.
So and so's class.
To get this kind of feedback andadvice.
Could you take a look at mypitch?
Could you take a look at myproposal?
And then having the trust thatwhen Mr.
Schultz goes, it sucks.
I mean, he may say it nicer, butlike, it's not good.
(28:58):
That they're like, oh, okay.
Like, how do I fix it?
Because right now a lot ofstudents are.
I'm upset with you or you mean Ididn't get an A on this.
And how, what is this going todo to my GPA?
How am I going to get into thatfamous college?
So the ability for having amentor to help them see through,
it's really important.
Everybody's inspired.
Inspiration is very brief.
I was inspired to lose 15pounds.
(29:18):
And I did.
And then it went back.
God.
So I'm not very, I'm notperfect.
Leslie.
Oy.
Um, yeah.
I, which by the way, is like whyI like Joseph Campbell's work so
much.
Um, Joseph Campbell was thisexpert on world mythologies and
religions and he broke down thehero's journey and every single
(29:39):
adventure movie ever follows thesame pattern.
Um, which is why, like, I, like,I, I truly, and people always
laugh when I say this, I trulythink one of the best movies
that I've ever identified withwas Kung Fu Panda.
Okay.
Leslie (29:51):
Okay.
I thought you were gonna sayStar Wars, because I knew it
followed the Hero's Journey,
Don (29:56):
right.
Well, I mean, technicallyspeaking, yeah.
I mean, Joseph Campbell wasthere as Mm-Hmm.
George Lucas's muses.
He wrote that.
Um, but yeah, I mean, it's likewhen you start watching more
movies, you're like, Oh my gosh,it's there.
It is the departure.
Yeah, there it is.
They found their Obi Wan Kenobi.
There it is.
They got basically killed andreborn.
There it is.
(30:16):
They conquer that.
It's beautiful.
And I think that I used to teachthat in class.
And the sense that I would askmy students, if your life was a
book, would anyone read it?
And that can be crippling.
But like your book doesn't haveto be, you slayed dragons, it's
(30:37):
that you're on an interestingjourney.
The reason why I asked that iflike, yeah, I got up, I pushed
my snooze alarm, watched 20minutes of tick tocks, brushed
my teeth, watching some YouTube,want to work at a job that I
don't like, came home, watchedsome videos, went to bed.
No one reads that book.
Leslie (30:56):
No, they don't.
Don (30:58):
I want to, a job that I don't really like, but I
volunteered at my local Humanesociety.
Helped foster five animals.
Spent time at a youth.
So like, like that's a book Iwanna read.
Leslie (31:09):
Yeah.
You know what this is making methink of?
Daniel Pink Mastery Au Autonomyand Purpose.
Yeah.
I'd read the book of the personthat's living that.
Don (31:21):
Mm-Hmm.
Mm-Hmm.
True.
You're right.
Like even on people that haveweird mastery, I watched the,
watch the documentary wants ofhero dreams of sushi.
And it was this on this guy thatwas obsessed with creating the
perfect sushi.
I'm like, that's a really goodfilm you're right.
Like even people that have weirdmasteries were attracted to it
because you're like, the factthat you're that dedicated is
(31:42):
pretty cool.
Leslie (31:42):
Okay.
That brings us full circle.
Don.
I'm thinking of all the peopleout there who are listening or
watching this and they're intheir process of discovering
their purpose.
What advice do you have forthem?
Don (31:58):
Go through the hero's journey.
You know, find your Obi WanKenobi.
Find the genre or the era youwant to be in and find someone
that is mildly successful.
If they're too successful,they're too busy.
Or even reach out to the peoplethat helped them be successful,
right?
Um, do not offer to pick theirbrain because you are taking
(32:19):
from their time.
Find those people and offer themmay I help you assist you in
some way?
And they'll say, why you'vetaken a journey that I want to
take, but I don't want to wasteyour time.
I want to provide you value.
You've upped the likelihood ofthem saying yes by a hundred
percent.
Um, if you can't get a yes outof those people, take that
journey with your spouse.
(32:39):
If you are not married or have asignificant other.
Find a group, man.
Going alone is just a bad idea.
You're not going to, it's, it's.
Leslie (32:46):
Yeah.
Which also brings us back toearlier, where you talked about
going through your fear, youreally needing that support
group to help.
So find your tribe, Join it in away that's productive and
helpful to the tribe.
Yeah.
Not taking from, but giving to.
Don (33:06):
Right.
Leslie (33:06):
And, um, go for it.
Don (33:09):
And lastly, I used to do, I used to journal a lot.
And at the end of the year, Iwould culminate this thing this
year in review.
And I'm borderline gettingemotional thinking about the
fact that I don't do thisbecause, you know, I can go back
for my first year of marriageall the way up to maybe 2012.
That's how long it's been sinceI've done it.
But I could tell you everythingabout that year.
I'd have maybe like writtenjournals.
(33:31):
but I, I saw the evolution of myfamily and myself.
And then I used to also do thisand I'm again, man, life gets in
the way.
And I should do this.
I used to do a three, two, onevideo to myself.
And a three, two, one video wasbasically, three things that
didn't go right this week.
Two things that that did go wellor that I improved on and one
(33:55):
piece of advice for my futureself And future self could be
the next video post or thefuture self is because I have a
series of private videos onYouTube but I watch it and I'm
like I used to worry about that,oh, I remember, gosh, that was a
low point.
Oh my gosh.
I forgot about that.
And, um, I almost think I likedit better than journaling
(34:15):
because it took less time.
I mean, it's literally gettingyour phone, here's three things
this week that just didn't.
And I started off deliberatelywith things that didn't go well,
because I knew that I was goingto appreciate that more.
And you
Leslie (34:26):
did this once a week,
Don (34:27):
at least.
Leslie (34:28):
And then you would periodically go back and I'm
going to start
Don (34:31):
tomorrow today.
Okay.
Leslie (34:33):
All right.
Don (34:34):
But no, I, this
Leslie (34:35):
airs.
Don (34:35):
Yeah, no, I will.
I've, I will promise.
I'll,
Leslie (34:38):
I'll reach out and ask how your three, two ones going.
Don (34:41):
But anyone should do that.
Leslie (34:42):
Okay.
It's really healthy.
It's cathartic.
Reach out to Don Wettrick.
Ask him about your three, two
Don (34:47):
ones.
We can hold
Leslie (34:49):
each other accountable.
That's what we need.
Don (34:51):
Yeah.
And you will just the therapy ofyourself talking out loud of the
things because you're beinghonest with yourself, three
things that I told myself isgonna do or I just didn't
accomplish and it's on yourmind.
You said it out loud.
You're saying it to yourself.
You're going to watch thisagain.
And then the two things isyou're on this one uptick.
And that's, that's why I likethe format of it because that
(35:11):
one piece of advice, you've justwaxed poetic now for a couple of
minutes.
You're being honest.
You're being a little criticalon yourself of like daggone it.
Why didn't I?
But I did do.
And then the, all right, futureDon, hearing myself talk, I need
to do like, ironically enough, Ijust kind of went through my own
three, two, one.
Leslie (35:28):
Well, and you end in action, which I love that too,
cause it is about taking actionand taking the, the one next
step that you can do, Don, howcan we find you and hold you
accountable?
But also Support you and yeah,
Don (35:42):
I, I guess LinkedIn is probably the best place.
Leslie (35:44):
Okay.
Don Wettrick on LinkedIn.
Don (35:46):
Don Wetterick on LinkedIn.
Um, our website, should you feelso compelled to want to get
involved?
Or if you have a student.
Or if you want to nominate ateacher that should be in our
fellowship, if you know thatteacher for right now, we only,
we're only, um, accepting highschool teachers.
Um, but startedupfoundation.Org.
So I'll put it in the notes.
Yes.
(36:06):
Start with ed,startedupfoundation.Org.
Check out what we do.
Leslie (36:12):
Awesome.
Thank you so much, Don.
I learned a lot from you and,looking forward to sharing with
others as well.
Thank you.
Thank
Don (36:19):
you.
Leslie (36:19):
Wasn't that incredible?
I love Don's energy.
I love his perspective.
And one of the things that I'mgoing to take away from this and
I'm going to put into myroutine.
is his tip on the 3 2 1 videorecording.
I'm thinking Friday's end ofday.
As I wrap up the work week, headinto the weekend, taking out my
(36:40):
phone, doing my 3 2 1 And overthe course of weeks, months, who
knows, maybe even years, beingable to see how that power of
weekly reflection allows me tomove my life's purpose forward.
Thank you all for listening.
(37:02):
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