June 12, 2025 • 37 mins
Have you ever wondered how small acts of kindness can transform lives? Lisa Demmi returns to the Kindness Matters podcast to share the incredible journey of her nonprofit, The Small Magic Foundation, which is creating pathways to success for underserved youth in the Tampa Bay area.
The foundation stems from Lisa's personal philosophy that meaningful change doesn't require grand gestures or substantial resources—just intentional acts of kindness she calls "small magic." What began as a concept for goal-setting has evolved into a structured nonprofit offering disadvantaged youth access to mentorship, creative expression, and practical life skills they might otherwise never experience.
Lisa shares heartwarming stories about the foundation's early initiatives: gifting musical instruments to committed students, hosting rock painting events where children discover their artistic talents, and planning workshops on everything from financial literacy to leadership skills. The joy in her voice is palpable as she describes the moment when a child realizes "I am an artist" after creating something beautiful with their own hands.
Beyond just teaching skills, the Small Magic Foundation aims to bridge generational gaps and show children that adults can be trusted allies in their development. By assembling a diverse board that reflects the communities they serve, Lisa ensures the foundation addresses genuine needs rather than making assumptions about what children require. Her approach emphasizes sustainability—older participants will eventually return as mentors, creating a continuous cycle of giving back.
Ready to witness how small actions can create profound change? Listen to this inspiring conversation about kindness, opportunity, and the magic that happens when someone simply believes in a child's potential. Then visit smallmagicfoundation.org to discover how you can contribute to this meaningful mission through volunteering, mentorship, or donation.
This podcast is a proud member of the Mayday Media Network. If you have an idea for a podcast and need some production assistance or have a podcast and are looking for a supportive network to join, check out maydaymedianetwork.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello there and welcome.
You are listening to theKindness Matters podcast and I
am your host, mike Rathbun.
What is this podcast all about?
It's about kindness.
It's a pushback againsteverything negative that we see
in the news and on social mediatoday, and it's a way to
(00:20):
highlight people, organizationsthat are simply striving to make
their little corner of theworld a little better place.
If you want to join in on theconversation, feel free, Go
ahead and follow us on all ofyour social media feeds.
We're on Facebook, instagram,tiktok.
We're even on LinkedIn underMike Rathbun.
(00:42):
Check us out.
We're even on LinkedIn underMike Rathbun.
Check us out and, in themeantime, sit back, relax, enjoy
and we'll get into the KindnessMatters podcast.
Hey, hi, everybody.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you so much for joiningin and for being here, for
(01:03):
choosing to listen to theKindness Matters podcast for 30
minutes out of your day.
It means the world to me and Ireally do appreciate it.
Please don't forget.
If you hear something here thatis uplifting to you or
motivating or inspiring and Idon't know how this episode
could be anything less than anyof those things make sure you
(01:27):
share it with your friends andfamily, your co-workers,
strangers on the street,neighbors, whoever Let them know
that.
Hey, I found this really greatpodcast and it makes me happy to
listen to it and, yeah, thatwould be awesome if you would do
that.
My guest today is she's so cool.
(01:52):
This person is the coolestperson I know and that's saying
a lot because I know a lot ofcool people.
But I've had her on the showbefore.
Her name is Lisa Demme and sheis a public speaker and I had
her on.
You were on last year.
(02:12):
I want to say yeah, and we weretalking about inclusion and
diversification and equitability.
See how I mix those up so thatthe haters don't hear yes, and
it was such a wonderful episodeand I really appreciate that and
(02:34):
I just feel like old friendsgetting together again.
Same, yeah, the only thingthat's missing is the wine.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Well, I've got water.
It's not the same but it'll dofor now.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
And I have coffee.
So there you go.
This is so great because youhave been up to so much since we
last spoke.
Yes, you wrote a book.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
I did.
Yeah, oh God, I had it writtendown, aunt boo-boo has a
girlfriend.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
I knew the boo-boo was in there, I just couldn't
remember I have a copy aroundhere somewhere.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
I don't know where it is, though.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah, aunt boo-boo has a girlfriend and that's done
amazing thank you um, and then,and now, now, but wait, you're
starting another.
Not you're starting anon-profit yes and that I I
really love the idea of thisbecause it's called the small
(03:40):
magic foundation, right yep talkto me about it, tell me all
about it, so I can stop talking.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Okay, First thing is I want to say my name is Lisa
Demme and I'm a repeat offenderon Mike's podcast.
Thanks for having me back on,Mike.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
I couldn't think of anybody I'd have on more.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, so I started this, the small magic
foundations.
I actually I registered it withthe irs in I want to say 2017
or 2018.
Oh, wow yeah, um, but smallmagic actually goes way further
back than that.
So small magic is thisphilosophy that I've used for
(04:27):
years and years and years.
About that you can be kind andit doesn't take any like
equipment or money or specialtraining or preparation or
anything like that, excuse me.
And I call it small magicbecause it's little, small
things that you can do to makepeople feel, you know, have a
better day and yourself, quitefrankly.
(04:47):
And so the way I talk about itis you know, you wake up in the
morning and you can start dolingout small magic right then and
there.
Because and I'll just speak forme is small magic is, um, you
know, we're, I'm, I'm very harshon myself, I'm hard on myself.
I think a lot of us are likethat.
(05:09):
Sometimes I don't speak verynice to myself and sometimes I
say things like oh, my God,you're so stupid or whatever it
might be.
So small magic can start rightwhen you open your eyes and get
out of bed and you can just bekind to yourself.
You can be kind when you walkout the door Hi, neighbor, you
can let someone in in traffic.
(05:30):
I live in Tampa.
I have a lot of opportunitiesto do that, um, you know, hold
doors open, help someone getsomething from the the high Well
, that wouldn't be me, cause I'mshort.
But you know, you don't, youcan do it.
Just smiling at someone issmall magic, and you have.
You don't know how you're goingto change someone's life by
doing these little teeny things.
(05:51):
So then I stepped it up and Istarted using small magic for
goal setting and I thought ohokay.
So small magic is, it's my, it'sone of my keynotes, and it was
called small magic for goalsetting, and it was breaking
your goals into these littletiny things that you can do to
get better, to get your goals.
Well then I started thinkingabout what if we put that
(06:15):
philosophy towards kids and 2018, I thought I'll create the
small magic foundation and whatwe'll do is we'll give away
gifts to children who are inhigh school, middle school, um,
you know, and they have to be infour categories, because there
(06:35):
are four things that changed mylife quite a bit.
It was music, art, fitness anddogs, and so we I assembled a
very tiny board and we didn't doanything for probably a year or
so, and then, right beforeCOVID, I kind of said you know
what?
the hell with this.
(06:56):
I'm just going to give stuffaway.
And so the first thing I didwas I gave away.
I was going to give away a bass.
I'm a bass player, and so I wasgoing to give away a bass.
I'm a bass player, and so I wasgoing to give away a bass
guitar and a little bass amp anda strap and strings and a tuner
and the whole, all the wholenine yards.
And so what I did was I reachedout to a bunch of my friends
(07:16):
who worked in the school systemhere in the Tampa Bay area.
I posted on social media and Isaid all right, here's what I'm
giving away.
If you're in this area andyou're between the ages of I
don't even remember what it wasat that point and you're in a
music program and you want towin this base, I want to know
how you're going to use it, whatdifferences it's going to make
(07:37):
in your life and how you'regoing to pay it forward.
And you have to be enrolled ina music program in school.
Like's not just.
I wasn't going to just giveaway a bass for someone who's
like oh, be cool to have a bassin my house.
And so I had um, a bunch ofkids wrote these.
Uh, they had to write an essayfor me, and, um, a bunch of them
also had their uh music, uh.
(08:01):
Directors write uh like aalmost a referral letter for
them, and so what happened was Igot a lot more than just one
really good letter, and so thenyou gotta choose right yeah.
So I was whining to my wife atthe time and she owned at the
time she owned a, a verysuccessful construction company,
(08:23):
and she said what, how many doyou have?
And I go I have three, I'venarrowed it down to three and
she said let's just give themall something.
So she underwrote the other two.
So we ended up giving awaythree bases and three kits and
the whole nine yards.
So we ended up giving awaythree bases and three kits and
the whole nine yards.
Then we ended up giving away aviolin and then we ended up
giving away the next one.
We gave away some some artsupplies and then we gave away a
(08:45):
scholarship for a kid whowanted to get to a special
school and could not afford theapplication fee.
So we paid the application feeand then we didn't do anything,
because COVID happened, right.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Yeah, wow, that's huge, so that's not small.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
That's huge.
It's huge magic.
Yeah yeah, small magic soundsso much better though, doesn't
it?
Huge magic makes it anyway.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
So that's expectations kind of high.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah, so.
So then COVID happened.
We all know what, you know kindof what that happened, what
that did to all of us, and itkind of sucked the wind out of
our sails and, um, I didn't doanything with it again until, um
, I won't make this political.
But when the election happenedlast year, the writing was on
the wall and I thought you know,I.
(09:39):
So I created this organizationfor kids to be able to get the
tools, the resources, thementors, the, the money, the
whatever it is they needed toget to the next level.
And when the election happened,I was like, okay, these guys
programs, music programs aregoing to get cut, art programs
are going to get get cut.
Yeah, kids who are in thecommunities who need it most are
going to get the funding cut.
(09:59):
And I said you know what?
I?
I can't change the world, but Ican do something in my
community here.
So I said I've got my 501.
I actually didn't have my 501c3yet.
I was just registered throughthe irs.
So I called a friend of mine.
Jamie clingman, who's a verygood friend of mine, has been
someone who's helped me witheverything throughout the years
(10:21):
and I said I want you to be myboard chair and I explained it
to her and she was like to hereither she's either crazy or she
is a very nice human being, andit might be a little bit of
both.
But she said yes, to me.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
And so we I can't see anybody saying no to you at all
, lisa, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
A few people have.
Okay, all right, yeah, a fewpeople have, and that's okay
because they weren't supposed tobe involved.
But basically what we're doingnow is so we've put together
this group, we've got five boardmembers, we've got four
advisory board members, um, somepeople I know, some people I
don't know, people who I trustand um have worked with before
(11:07):
in many different ways, and sowe're right now we're in the
stages of I mean, this is allnew.
I just got my 501 C three.
I just got my what is it called?
Your uh permission to be ableto solicit for donations, and so
now Is that separate?
Oh yeah, I mean, oh my God,mike, there's all kinds of stuff
(11:29):
that I didn't even know you hadto get.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I know, and starting an actual 501c3 is so
time-consuming and there'spaperwork up the wazoo.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Yes, and thank God to ChatGPT because it's helped me
take a little bit off my plate.
I'm not letting ChatGPT writeit all, but it's helping me with
some of the research and thegrunt work and stuff.
Yeah, so we've put together thispretty diverse group.
I wanted a diverse groupbecause we're going to be
serving, by and large, theunderserved population in the
(12:01):
Tampa Bay area and so we'regoing to start off small and um.
We had a couple of pop-upevents where, um, we did uh, I
wish I had one on me Um, these,you know, those big garden rocks
, the big flat black gardenrocks that people use in there.
So I got these big flat blackgarden rocks.
(12:23):
And I'm also an artist, so Ihad a bunch of acrylic markers.
And there was a school herelocally, learning Gate Community
Charter School, and they werehaving an eco-fest.
And I said, oh what, what do Ineed to do to be involved in
this eco-fest?
(12:43):
Because I want to put up a tent.
I'll bring a ton of rocks, aton of markers, and I want to
have the kids paint, paint rocks.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Love that.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
And we did it and it was was so fun and the kids were
so excited and I found sometruly talented children and so
that's kind of like our callingcard now is this rock painting
thing.
I don't even know, we don't evenhave a name for it yet, but
(13:13):
we're working on.
Um, we're going to, probably,um, we're talking to, the Y.
Some local YMCA is here rightnow to do the rock painting with
the kids, um, before schoolstarts.
Um, we'll be.
Uh, hopefully we're.
We're going to partner with acouple other local centers in
the area.
Um, we're talking with, um, um,oh gosh, what is it?
(13:34):
Fostering hearts is anothernonprofit here.
That that, um, we're going tobe doing some work with.
They work with primarily, well,with foster children but, okay,
there's such a big group ofpeople in the tampa bay area who
have these non-profits and weall lap over each other, and so
I'm like I'm not a gatekeeper.
I'm like, listen, what do youneed from me?
(13:56):
I'll help you.
How can I not reinvent thewheel?
Let's do something together.
And I've been so fortunate tomeet Katie Ray and and and Effie
Santos and Jamie Klingman, andI mean just so many people.
It's ridiculous.
There's so many people in theTampa Bay area who are like,
yeah, let's do it.
So.
(14:16):
So we're, we're, we're workingon the bylaws, we're working on
the you know all the unfun stuffthat you have to do in the
nonprofit.
But I'm having I told you I washaving knee surgery next week,
so I'm going to be laid up for alittle while.
So we're going to be doing somezoom meetings and like laying
out the programs.
I've got some people.
You know I feel like I'm talkinga lot mike, so you can tell me
(14:38):
to shut up no, you, just you gogirl so, um, the, the like, the,
some of the first few thingswe'll be doing is, um, we're
gonna do a, a big um, like aalmost like a focus group with
the kids, because what I thinkthey need and what they actually
need are probably two differentthings.
Yeah, so we want to do a focusgroup with the kids, because
what I think they need and whatthey actually need are probably
(14:58):
two different things.
Yeah, so we want to do a focusgroup with the kids.
Um, we want to see what it isthey need to to have a better
community that supports them, orwhat they need to have to be
able to get to the next level.
And, um, we're going to havementors and workshops.
So we'll like have a financialliteracy workshop.
We'll have a how do I do aninterview workshop.
How do I write a resume?
(15:20):
How do I network?
How do I communicate with Pete,with other people, how can I be
a better leader?
And you know, like the five yearolds, it's five to 19,.
The five year olds probablywon't be doing those classes,
but the older will be.
With the promise of that, themcome back and they're the
teachers for the next group ofkids.
So it's like, absolutely it's.
(15:42):
You have to have some skin inthe game and I want them to
understand that this isn't ahandout for them.
They have it's.
It's, you know, like habitatfor humanity.
You have to help build your ownhouse.
It's the same thing.
You have to help build your ownfuture so.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
So talk to me more about the different um areas.
You said art music and then theone that I you know.
I wasn't even listening untilyou hit dogs.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Talk to me about those it's going to be quite a
bit expanded from those fourthings.
Now that was just when I wasthinking a lot smaller.
It was a part-time thing.
Now it will be.
You know, I've got someonewho's going to come in and teach
financial literacy.
I've got an art friend who willcome in and teach some art
classes.
You know, I know a lot ofpeople in construction, so I've
(16:32):
got some people who can come inand kids how to do little
projects or whatever.
Basically, it's limited to whatfunds I can get, what grants I
can get, what volunteers I canget.
If I can get more, then we canexpand more and my hope is that
one day we have our own buildingwith the classrooms and the
(16:54):
workshops and the kids come backand they take the classes and
we do the train the trainers forthe kids here locally and that
it's a safe place for kids.
Yeah, let's, let's, let's crosseverything, mike.
So that's my big, my big, hairy, audacious goal.
But for right now we're goingto start off with.
(17:16):
What do they need immediately?
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Sure, and what do you find the underserved kids in
your area needing most?
Because I just put out a callfor guests because you got me to
thinking about you know thereare so many.
I mean, here in Minneapolisit's been kind of a thing with
(17:42):
the carjackings lately and I'mpretty sure it was that way
everywhere, yeah, lately, andI'm pretty sure it was that way
everywhere.
But the people who are stealingthe cars are definitely not old
enough to be driving cars.
We're talking like 12, 13 yearold kids, and how do you reach
out to that kind of kid and getthem away from that type of
(18:06):
lifestyle?
This may not be related to yournonprofit at all, but it just
got me to thinking about it.
It's like how do we reach thosekids?
What do we need to do to breakthat cycle?
Speaker 2 (18:20):
I'll tell you the first thing I think needs to
happen, mike, is they need to beshown that it can happen.
They need to be shown what itlooks like.
They need to be shown that itis possible to happen for them.
They need to be shown thatthere are avenues for them to do
these things.
And I feel like you know, witha lot of funding being cut right
(18:41):
now, you know there's not artclasses in school anymore,
there's not music classes inschool anymore.
Art classes in school anymore.
There's not music classes inschool anymore.
Um, there certainly aren't.
Isn't financial literacy inmost schools?
Or?
Um, whatever it might be?
And I, you know, if there's akid who has a passion, and
whether it's science or music ormath or whatever it might be,
or they want to be a politician,or they want to be a policeman
(19:04):
or who, whatever, they want tobe a police officer I want to be
able to show them.
Hey, let's find someone.
You know these mentors aren'tgoing to be just like lisa, can
you mentor someone?
It's going to be like I couldmentor a kid who wants to paint,
but I'm not going to mentor akid who wants to do, you know,
(19:24):
photography or something.
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
So I really want to, I reallywant to put together.
You know, we've got a call forvolunteers out now.
We've got a call for mentorsout now.
The website just went live.
What's today, friday?
Speaker 1 (19:42):
I think it went live monday or tuesday and there'll
be a link for that in the shownotes.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Okay and uh, and we've got uh, facebook, uh
Instagram and LinkedIn and youknow, basically what I've been
trying to do right now is justshow, like, create some
excitement around what we'redoing, announcing the, the, the
board members, announcing someof the ideas that we have.
Um, you know, sharing themission, sharing the, sharing
(20:09):
the thought process, and youknow, kind of just getting
people like, hey, what is that?
You know, I've had a few peoplego.
What are you doing?
Which they ask me.
That a lot, let me tell you.
So, have a seat, exactly,exactly.
So we're setting up a lot ofmeetings with people right now.
We've had some, you know, somesome nice donations.
(20:31):
We've got a significant onecoming that I don't even want to
say anything about it yetbecause I don't want to jinx it,
but it's a.
It was a nice surprise to getthis donation to kind of kick
things off and, um, you know,I've been in the Tampa Bay area
for a long time, so I'll belooking at some of my friends
and colleagues and saying, hey,you know, let's talk, what do
(20:53):
you think, and see what we cando.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
And you were talking a little bit about like
carpenters and stuff like that.
So will there be like jobskills?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, so at some point I would like to be able to
do that.
At some point I'd like to beable to have you know.
I mean, like I said, certainlyI've been around the
construction world a long time.
Yeah, I know my wife and some ofthe guys that we've worked with
and some of the girls thatwe've worked with, and I
absolutely know that I could getthem to come out and teach a
class in you know how do youmeasure something.
(21:29):
I don't want them cutting stuffbecause I don't have the
insurance for that yet.
But you know, let's give them alittle piece, a little taste.
You know like, let's show themwhat you can build this by using
wood and nails and you knowscrews, and you know I want to
show them that they can makethings, that they with their
hands, that they can do it.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
So that might spark a lifetime of of passion for that
kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
You just never know.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
When you mentioned that type of thing and I was
thinking about how speaking ofdefunding the Job Corps is on
pause.
Yes and it's like the vastmajority of the participants in
that are kids that have aged outof the foster system right,
yeah, yeah so that's just crazy,and if, if you guys could step
(22:21):
in fill that need I'd let I meanmy big, big my big, big, big,
big, hairy, audacious goal isthat this would be a national
program, but I got to get itstarted here first.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
So, I feel like it's really early.
It is very.
I mean, this is like the babydays right now.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
So yeah, careful what you wish for, right I?
Speaker 2 (22:45):
know Right.
Right, I hope I have thatproblem.
I hope I do, mike.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
There are worse problems to have right For sure.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
I just I think it's so cool because I think a lot,
of, a lot of problems that wesee in the world today, these
are going to become the problemsof our kids at some point, or
hopefully, not.
I mean hopefully, if the kidswill fix these problems and we
(23:17):
won't have to go back to that.
But yeah, just getting kidsinvolved.
How are you going to teachsomebody how to be a politician?
That just popped into my head.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
I mean, maybe politician is not the right word
, but I want to teach the futureleaders.
Sure, because I feel like thisgeneration and the generations
behind us have done a reallygreat job of screwing up the
world.
And I think the kids, thegeneration who are the kids now,
are the ones who are going tostraighten everything out, or at
least I hope they are.
So I want to make sure theyhave the tools, I want to make
(23:50):
sure they have the opportunity,I want to make sure they have
every chance they can to be ableto live to their potential,
because I think those are theones that are going to make the
difference in the world.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
So yeah, and I mean it's what a great way You're
already setting that foundationwith this, because you're
reaching out and saying hey, Ican you know what do you need?
Let's make that happen for akid, because as they grow,
(24:27):
they'll go, they'll rememberthat.
That somebody cared about whatthey needed or wanted, if you
will and helped to make thatreal for them.
Just my two cents.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
I mean, I think that there's a big, a big chasm
between generations and you know, certainly there's a
communication issue, or I meanI'm sure when I was a kid and my
parents were like I have noidea what you're saying, but
whatever you know.
But what I want to do is I wantto let the next, you know, the,
the guys who are younger now,know you could, we're not bad,
you can count on us.
You, you can trust us, we'regoing to help you.
We're not the enemy, we're theones who you know like.
(25:13):
I want to bridge that gap rightas well, because I think,
generationally, I've seen it inmy work experience where
sometimes the generations justdon't work together at all.
So I'm like, okay, what do Ihave?
I have the experience, I havethe connections, I have the,
dare I say, wisdom that you knowa 10 or 12 or even 19 year old
(25:36):
doesn't have.
So I want to be able to say andnot that I'm saying I'm better
than, but what I want to do?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
is what do you need?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
let me see what I have that I can give you, and if
I don don't have it, I want tofind someone who does, who can
give it to you, to help you getto the.
You know people helped me in mylife, people you know, took me
under their wing and and helpedme get to places where I
couldn't have gotten by myself,or at least not that quickly,
and it's made all the differencefor me and my life.
(26:04):
And I want to do the same,especially for the ones who who
feel like they don't seethemselves In the future.
They, you know, they you knowand I don't again, I don't want
to make this political but whitekids or kids with With, who
have privilege I mean, we're notgoing to exclude anybody but
(26:27):
they have opportunities, theyhave the financial wherewithal
In many cases, they have theconnections, they know where to
look and their families havealready modeled for them.
This is what it's going to looklike.
I want to make sure thateverybody gets to see that same
picture.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Yeah, see that same model.
Yes, absolutely, it's funny.
You were talking aboutgenerations.
I did an episode a while backwith a woman and she talks, she
coaches generations and she wassaying something that I never
even considered that in theworkforce today you have two
(27:10):
generations that actually havesomething in common.
It's the silent generation,which I mean, that's what my mom
was, I'm like they're stillworking and Gen Alpha, because
the silent generation grew upduring the Depression right.
(27:33):
And they scrimped and they saved.
They didn't buy new, they fixedwhat they had.
And now you've got Gen Alphawho's getting all their clothes
thrifting.
Hmm, hmm and they cancommunicate, and that's what
brings them together.
And I yeah, that has absolutelynothing to do with what you
were talking about.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
I just you mentioned generations and I thought it was
interesting.
You never know, Mike.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Just one of my tangents we're good, yeah, so I
wish you so much luck on this.
Thank you this is going to beso amazing.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Yeah, I mean, it's been a passion of mine for a
long time.
You know my mom raised me.
She was a single mother for avery long time.
When I was younger, you know,and you and I know, that I'm gay
and you know my mom was like mybiggest.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Wait what.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
I know, Mike you forgot already.
I'm shocked, and you know, mymom was my biggest um supporter,
my biggest cheerleader, myprotector, all of the things,
and so she raised all of herchildren to be of service.
Um, and this is something thatmy mom instilled in me when I
(28:49):
was very young, and I've always.
I realized that I've had somany jobs and every single one
of those jobs has been ofservice to someone in some way,
and so I have this, this callingto help.
You know, we've we.
I think you and I talked aboutthis last time.
You know I do it for free, butfree, but those things called
(29:11):
bills that you have to take careof, rent, mortgage.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Yeah, those little minor details.
Pesky little details, exactly.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
So I don't have the.
I'm not a rich person, I don'thave the fortune to be able to
fund this myself, sure, but likesmall magic, you know.
To fund this myself, sure, butlike small magic, you know it
doesn't take like I'm gonnastart there and see where it
goes.
You know, five thousand dollarscould make a big difference for
this group right now.
(29:40):
Oh my gosh, you know, a persondoing a, a class could make a
big difference for, for, forright now, you know, like me,
just taking some kids in andshowing them how to paint rocks.
I mean, if you would have seenthe faces on some of those kids
like they were like what?
And I'm like are you an artist?
They're like, no, I'm not anartist.
I'm like, yes, you are, look atwhat you just did.
(30:00):
And they're like I'm an artist.
You know, I am an artist.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Yeah, so yeah yeah, and isn't it such a great
feeling introducing kids tosomething and they're like they
had no idea, and then you letthem do it and they do it, and
that realization, when it hitsthem, I can do this.
Yeah, such a great feeling.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
I want to be able to like plug into their curiosities
no-transcript a bird box orgardening, or yeah, I mean
(31:00):
that's yes, that's one of theclasses that we have that we're
talking about, yeah, so yeah,that's amazing I'm really stoked
about it and I I'm I'm sorrythat I have this surgery coming
up, because I'm ready to likestart running it.
You know, 50 miles an hour and Ikind of can't with my leg, but
you know, I'm like I've got suchgreat people already lined up
(31:21):
and I'm just ready to to tostart doing stuff now.
So uh, good things come tothose who wait sometimes and
some other patient's quotes andgood things sometimes it's gonna
be amazing come to ItalianCubans, who push people to do
things that they didn't knowthey could do that's a couple of
(31:42):
strong personalitynationalities there.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
I'm telling you what yeah uh, lisa, thank you so much
for giving me the time.
Um, we'll throw in a a a linkto your book as well thank you,
show notes.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Do you want to talk about?
that or no, the book we can yeah, so the book is um, yeah, it's
the second book I wrote, mike Idon't know if you ever I'd ever
talked about the first one.
So the first one was calledthink small, the little book
with big impact, and that'sbasically the philosophy of
small magic.
And then the second book was Iactually wrote both of them
(32:19):
before COVID and then didnothing with them until after
COVID and like, I think, let'ssee, this one came out this year
and the other one came out twoyears ago, and I actually even
have a third book written thatI'm like, okay, you can't put
them all out at the same time,but this book is I'm Aunt Boo
Boo and I wrote a book about mycoming out and basically it is
(32:45):
the lessons I learned from thatjourney and realizing that me
coming out didn't just affect me, but it was my entire family
and how, again, my mom was theprotector.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Your biggest cheerleader.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Exactly and how she just made me feel okay about
being exactly who I am and nottrying to be anything else.
And the book was written inlike three settings once before
covid, once after covid and thenonce again at the beginning of
this year, when I was like Igotta put this book out now.
I mean because now it's like Ifeel, almost feel like it was
(33:21):
like fate the book didn't go outyet.
Because I feel like now it'seven more important for not just
gay kids but people who thinkthey're different, to realize
it's okay, there's nothing wrongwith you, you're not alone,
you're gonna be fine.
I'm relatively fine, you know.
Relatively speaking, I'm fine.
(33:41):
You know, we talked about thatand um and you know.
So I think it's just a piece,that that it's an easy, another
easy read.
Don't?
Evidently I don't know how towrite long books, um, but it
just is.
Um, it's just a yes, exactlyyes, and um, it's just a uh, you
(34:02):
know, uh, uh.
I hope it's something that willgive people both two different
sides of people.
I hope it will give the peoplewho feel different a place to
look at and go.
Okay, I am not alone, and Ihope it will be.
Give the people who love thosepeople a place to understand.
This is what we're all goingthrough, because it's not, it's
(34:25):
not.
I mean, I don't think it's.
I don't.
Honestly, I don't think it'schanged.
Coming out now, you know, Ithink it's, it's, it's done like
a wave where when I came out,it was easier for me to come out
and then it got really easy.
Now it's getting bad again,because I think people are
afraid to be who they are and myhope is you know that the
pendulum swings again and thingsget easier.
(34:47):
And I, you know, I don't want tohave to write books like that,
I don't want to be a DEI speakerI don't want to have to help
kids in underserved communities.
I want us to just be people whohelp people, you know.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yeah.
So, yeah, all right.
Well, lisa, thank you so much.
I do appreciate it.
This will be out next week.
Okay, awesome, it's going to bea quick turnaround.
Okay, great.
So look for Lisa Demme, for theSmall Magic Foundation, and
Aunt Boo Boo has a girlfriend inyour favorite bookstore.
(35:22):
And, yeah, we'll talk againsoon.
Thanks, mike, thank you,bye-bye, bye.
We'll talk again soon.
Thanks, mike.
Thank you, bye-bye.
I want to thank you for takingthis time to listen to this
episode with my guest, lisaDemme.
I hope you were able to takesomething positive from the time
(35:44):
you spent with me.
I hope you'll be inspired,maybe you'll be motivated, maybe
you'll be inspired, maybeyou'll be motivated, maybe
you'll be moved.
If you experienced any of thosefeelings, please, please,
please, consider sharing thispodcast with your friends and
family.
I'm always striving to offeryou a better podcast, so give me
some feedback.
Let me know how you think I'mdoing.
(36:05):
Email me, leave me a message.
It would mean the world to meto have that input, that
engagement with you.
Also, feel free to follow us onour social media.
You'll find all those links inthe show notes.
And, yeah, come along for theride.
Let's talk about kindness.
(36:29):
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If you have an idea for apodcast and need some production
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We'll be back again next weekwith a brand new episode and we
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You've been listening to theKindness Matters Podcast.
(37:13):
I am your host, mike Rathbun.
Have a fantastic week.
Well, hello there and welcome.
You are listening to theKindness Matters podcast and I
am your host, mike Rathbun.
What is this podcast all about?
It's about kindness.
It's a pushback againsteverything negative that we see
in the news and on social mediatoday, and it's a way to
(00:20):
highlight people, organizationsthat are simply striving to make
their little corner of theworld a little better place.
If you want to join in on theconversation, feel free, Go
ahead and follow us on all ofyour social media feeds.
We're on Facebook, instagram,tiktok.
We're even on LinkedIn underMike Rathbun.
(00:42):
Check us out.
We're even on LinkedIn underMike Rathbun.
Check us out and, in themeantime, sit back, relax, enjoy
and we'll get into the KindnessMatters podcast.
Hey, hi, everybody.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you so much for joiningin and for being here, for
(01:03):
choosing to listen to theKindness Matters podcast for 30
minutes out of your day.
It means the world to me and Ireally do appreciate it.
Please don't forget.
If you hear something here thatis uplifting to you or
motivating or inspiring and Idon't know how this episode
could be anything less than anyof those things make sure you
(01:27):
share it with your friends andfamily, your co-workers,
strangers on the street,neighbors, whoever Let them know
that.
Hey, I found this really greatpodcast and it makes me happy to
listen to it and, yeah, thatwould be awesome if you would do
that.
My guest today is she's so cool.
(01:52):
This person is the coolestperson I know and that's saying
a lot because I know a lot ofcool people.
But I've had her on the showbefore.
Her name is Lisa Demme and sheis a public speaker and I had
her on.
You were on last year.
(02:12):
I want to say yeah, and we weretalking about inclusion and
diversification and equitability.
See how I mix those up so thatthe haters don't hear yes, and
it was such a wonderful episodeand I really appreciate that and
(02:34):
I just feel like old friendsgetting together again.
Same, yeah, the only thingthat's missing is the wine.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Well, I've got water.
It's not the same but it'll dofor now.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
And I have coffee.
So there you go.
This is so great because youhave been up to so much since we
last spoke.
Yes, you wrote a book.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
I did.
Yeah, oh God, I had it writtendown, aunt boo-boo has a
girlfriend.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
I knew the boo-boo was in there, I just couldn't
remember I have a copy aroundhere somewhere.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
I don't know where it is, though.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah, aunt boo-boo has a girlfriend and that's done
amazing thank you um, and then,and now, now, but wait, you're
starting another.
Not you're starting anon-profit yes and that I I
really love the idea of thisbecause it's called the small
(03:40):
magic foundation, right yep talkto me about it, tell me all
about it, so I can stop talking.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Okay, First thing is I want to say my name is Lisa
Demme and I'm a repeat offenderon Mike's podcast.
Thanks for having me back on,Mike.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
I couldn't think of anybody I'd have on more.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, so I started this, the small magic
foundations.
I actually I registered it withthe irs in I want to say 2017
or 2018.
Oh, wow yeah, um, but smallmagic actually goes way further
back than that.
So small magic is thisphilosophy that I've used for
(04:27):
years and years and years.
About that you can be kind andit doesn't take any like
equipment or money or specialtraining or preparation or
anything like that, excuse me.
And I call it small magicbecause it's little, small
things that you can do to makepeople feel, you know, have a
better day and yourself, quitefrankly.
(04:47):
And so the way I talk about itis you know, you wake up in the
morning and you can start dolingout small magic right then and
there.
Because and I'll just speak forme is small magic is, um, you
know, we're, I'm, I'm very harshon myself, I'm hard on myself.
I think a lot of us are likethat.
(05:09):
Sometimes I don't speak verynice to myself and sometimes I
say things like oh, my God,you're so stupid or whatever it
might be.
So small magic can start rightwhen you open your eyes and get
out of bed and you can just bekind to yourself.
You can be kind when you walkout the door Hi, neighbor, you
can let someone in in traffic.
(05:30):
I live in Tampa.
I have a lot of opportunitiesto do that, um, you know, hold
doors open, help someone getsomething from the the high Well
, that wouldn't be me, cause I'mshort.
But you know, you don't, youcan do it.
Just smiling at someone issmall magic, and you have.
You don't know how you're goingto change someone's life by
doing these little teeny things.
(05:51):
So then I stepped it up and Istarted using small magic for
goal setting and I thought ohokay.
So small magic is, it's my, it'sone of my keynotes, and it was
called small magic for goalsetting, and it was breaking
your goals into these littletiny things that you can do to
get better, to get your goals.
Well then I started thinkingabout what if we put that
(06:15):
philosophy towards kids and 2018, I thought I'll create the
small magic foundation and whatwe'll do is we'll give away
gifts to children who are inhigh school, middle school, um,
you know, and they have to be infour categories, because there
(06:35):
are four things that changed mylife quite a bit.
It was music, art, fitness anddogs, and so we I assembled a
very tiny board and we didn't doanything for probably a year or
so, and then, right beforeCOVID, I kind of said you know
what?
the hell with this.
(06:56):
I'm just going to give stuffaway.
And so the first thing I didwas I gave away.
I was going to give away a bass.
I'm a bass player, and so I wasgoing to give away a bass.
I'm a bass player, and so I wasgoing to give away a bass
guitar and a little bass amp anda strap and strings and a tuner
and the whole, all the wholenine yards.
And so what I did was I reachedout to a bunch of my friends
(07:16):
who worked in the school systemhere in the Tampa Bay area.
I posted on social media and Isaid all right, here's what I'm
giving away.
If you're in this area andyou're between the ages of I
don't even remember what it wasat that point and you're in a
music program and you want towin this base, I want to know
how you're going to use it, whatdifferences it's going to make
(07:37):
in your life and how you'regoing to pay it forward.
And you have to be enrolled ina music program in school.
Like's not just.
I wasn't going to just giveaway a bass for someone who's
like oh, be cool to have a bassin my house.
And so I had um, a bunch ofkids wrote these.
Uh, they had to write an essayfor me, and, um, a bunch of them
also had their uh music, uh.
(08:01):
Directors write uh like aalmost a referral letter for
them, and so what happened was Igot a lot more than just one
really good letter, and so thenyou gotta choose right yeah.
So I was whining to my wife atthe time and she owned at the
time she owned a, a verysuccessful construction company,
(08:23):
and she said what, how many doyou have?
And I go I have three, I'venarrowed it down to three and
she said let's just give themall something.
So she underwrote the other two.
So we ended up giving awaythree bases and three kits and
the whole nine yards.
So we ended up giving awaythree bases and three kits and
the whole nine yards.
Then we ended up giving away aviolin and then we ended up
giving away the next one.
We gave away some some artsupplies and then we gave away a
(08:45):
scholarship for a kid whowanted to get to a special
school and could not afford theapplication fee.
So we paid the application feeand then we didn't do anything,
because COVID happened, right.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Yeah, wow, that's huge, so that's not small.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
That's huge.
It's huge magic.
Yeah yeah, small magic soundsso much better though, doesn't
it?
Huge magic makes it anyway.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
So that's expectations kind of high.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah, so.
So then COVID happened.
We all know what, you know kindof what that happened, what
that did to all of us, and itkind of sucked the wind out of
our sails and, um, I didn't doanything with it again until, um
, I won't make this political.
But when the election happenedlast year, the writing was on
the wall and I thought you know,I.
(09:39):
So I created this organizationfor kids to be able to get the
tools, the resources, thementors, the, the money, the
whatever it is they needed toget to the next level.
And when the election happened,I was like, okay, these guys
programs, music programs aregoing to get cut, art programs
are going to get get cut.
Yeah, kids who are in thecommunities who need it most are
going to get the funding cut.
(09:59):
And I said you know what?
I?
I can't change the world, but Ican do something in my
community here.
So I said I've got my 501.
I actually didn't have my 501c3yet.
I was just registered throughthe irs.
So I called a friend of mine.
Jamie clingman, who's a verygood friend of mine, has been
someone who's helped me witheverything throughout the years
(10:21):
and I said I want you to be myboard chair and I explained it
to her and she was like to hereither she's either crazy or she
is a very nice human being, andit might be a little bit of
both.
But she said yes, to me.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
And so we I can't see anybody saying no to you at all
, lisa, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
A few people have.
Okay, all right, yeah, a fewpeople have, and that's okay
because they weren't supposed tobe involved.
But basically what we're doingnow is so we've put together
this group, we've got five boardmembers, we've got four
advisory board members, um, somepeople I know, some people I
don't know, people who I trustand um have worked with before
(11:07):
in many different ways, and sowe're right now we're in the
stages of I mean, this is allnew.
I just got my 501 C three.
I just got my what is it called?
Your uh permission to be ableto solicit for donations, and so
now Is that separate?
Oh yeah, I mean, oh my God,mike, there's all kinds of stuff
(11:29):
that I didn't even know you hadto get.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I know, and starting an actual 501c3 is so
time-consuming and there'spaperwork up the wazoo.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Yes, and thank God to ChatGPT because it's helped me
take a little bit off my plate.
I'm not letting ChatGPT writeit all, but it's helping me with
some of the research and thegrunt work and stuff.
Yeah, so we've put together thispretty diverse group.
I wanted a diverse groupbecause we're going to be
serving, by and large, theunderserved population in the
(12:01):
Tampa Bay area and so we'regoing to start off small and um.
We had a couple of pop-upevents where, um, we did uh, I
wish I had one on me Um, these,you know, those big garden rocks
, the big flat black gardenrocks that people use in there.
So I got these big flat blackgarden rocks.
(12:23):
And I'm also an artist, so Ihad a bunch of acrylic markers.
And there was a school herelocally, learning Gate Community
Charter School, and they werehaving an eco-fest.
And I said, oh what, what do Ineed to do to be involved in
this eco-fest?
(12:43):
Because I want to put up a tent.
I'll bring a ton of rocks, aton of markers, and I want to
have the kids paint, paint rocks.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Love that.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
And we did it and it was was so fun and the kids were
so excited and I found sometruly talented children and so
that's kind of like our callingcard now is this rock painting
thing.
I don't even know, we don't evenhave a name for it yet, but
(13:13):
we're working on.
Um, we're going to, probably,um, we're talking to, the Y.
Some local YMCA is here rightnow to do the rock painting with
the kids, um, before schoolstarts.
Um, we'll be.
Uh, hopefully we're.
We're going to partner with acouple other local centers in
the area.
Um, we're talking with, um, um,oh gosh, what is it?
(13:34):
Fostering hearts is anothernonprofit here.
That that, um, we're going tobe doing some work with.
They work with primarily, well,with foster children but, okay,
there's such a big group ofpeople in the tampa bay area who
have these non-profits and weall lap over each other, and so
I'm like I'm not a gatekeeper.
I'm like, listen, what do youneed from me?
(13:56):
I'll help you.
How can I not reinvent thewheel?
Let's do something together.
And I've been so fortunate tomeet Katie Ray and and and Effie
Santos and Jamie Klingman, andI mean just so many people.
It's ridiculous.
There's so many people in theTampa Bay area who are like,
yeah, let's do it.
So.
(14:16):
So we're, we're, we're workingon the bylaws, we're working on
the you know all the unfun stuffthat you have to do in the
nonprofit.
But I'm having I told you I washaving knee surgery next week,
so I'm going to be laid up for alittle while.
So we're going to be doing somezoom meetings and like laying
out the programs.
I've got some people.
You know I feel like I'm talkinga lot mike, so you can tell me
(14:38):
to shut up no, you, just you gogirl so, um, the, the like, the,
some of the first few thingswe'll be doing is, um, we're
gonna do a, a big um, like aalmost like a focus group with
the kids, because what I thinkthey need and what they actually
need are probably two differentthings.
Yeah, so we want to do a focusgroup with the kids, because
what I think they need and whatthey actually need are probably
(14:58):
two different things.
Yeah, so we want to do a focusgroup with the kids.
Um, we want to see what it isthey need to to have a better
community that supports them, orwhat they need to have to be
able to get to the next level.
And, um, we're going to havementors and workshops.
So we'll like have a financialliteracy workshop.
We'll have a how do I do aninterview workshop.
How do I write a resume?
(15:20):
How do I network?
How do I communicate with Pete,with other people, how can I be
a better leader?
And you know, like the five yearolds, it's five to 19,.
The five year olds probablywon't be doing those classes,
but the older will be.
With the promise of that, themcome back and they're the
teachers for the next group ofkids.
So it's like, absolutely it's.
(15:42):
You have to have some skin inthe game and I want them to
understand that this isn't ahandout for them.
They have it's.
It's, you know, like habitatfor humanity.
You have to help build your ownhouse.
It's the same thing.
You have to help build your ownfuture so.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
So talk to me more about the different um areas.
You said art music and then theone that I you know.
I wasn't even listening untilyou hit dogs.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Talk to me about those it's going to be quite a
bit expanded from those fourthings.
Now that was just when I wasthinking a lot smaller.
It was a part-time thing.
Now it will be.
You know, I've got someonewho's going to come in and teach
financial literacy.
I've got an art friend who willcome in and teach some art
classes.
You know, I know a lot ofpeople in construction, so I've
(16:32):
got some people who can come inand kids how to do little
projects or whatever.
Basically, it's limited to whatfunds I can get, what grants I
can get, what volunteers I canget.
If I can get more, then we canexpand more and my hope is that
one day we have our own buildingwith the classrooms and the
(16:54):
workshops and the kids come backand they take the classes and
we do the train the trainers forthe kids here locally and that
it's a safe place for kids.
Yeah, let's, let's, let's crosseverything, mike.
So that's my big, my big, hairy, audacious goal.
But for right now we're goingto start off with.
(17:16):
What do they need immediately?
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Sure, and what do you find the underserved kids in
your area needing most?
Because I just put out a callfor guests because you got me to
thinking about you know thereare so many.
I mean, here in Minneapolisit's been kind of a thing with
(17:42):
the carjackings lately and I'mpretty sure it was that way
everywhere, yeah, lately, andI'm pretty sure it was that way
everywhere.
But the people who are stealingthe cars are definitely not old
enough to be driving cars.
We're talking like 12, 13 yearold kids, and how do you reach
out to that kind of kid and getthem away from that type of
(18:06):
lifestyle?
This may not be related to yournonprofit at all, but it just
got me to thinking about it.
It's like how do we reach thosekids?
What do we need to do to breakthat cycle?
Speaker 2 (18:20):
I'll tell you the first thing I think needs to
happen, mike, is they need to beshown that it can happen.
They need to be shown what itlooks like.
They need to be shown that itis possible to happen for them.
They need to be shown thatthere are avenues for them to do
these things.
And I feel like you know, witha lot of funding being cut right
(18:41):
now, you know there's not artclasses in school anymore,
there's not music classes inschool anymore.
Art classes in school anymore.
There's not music classes inschool anymore.
Um, there certainly aren't.
Isn't financial literacy inmost schools?
Or?
Um, whatever it might be?
And I, you know, if there's akid who has a passion, and
whether it's science or music ormath or whatever it might be,
or they want to be a politician,or they want to be a policeman
(19:04):
or who, whatever, they want tobe a police officer I want to be
able to show them.
Hey, let's find someone.
You know these mentors aren'tgoing to be just like lisa, can
you mentor someone?
It's going to be like I couldmentor a kid who wants to paint,
but I'm not going to mentor akid who wants to do, you know,
(19:24):
photography or something.
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
So I really want to, I reallywant to put together.
You know, we've got a call forvolunteers out now.
We've got a call for mentorsout now.
The website just went live.
What's today, friday?
Speaker 1 (19:42):
I think it went live monday or tuesday and there'll
be a link for that in the shownotes.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Okay and uh, and we've got uh, facebook, uh
Instagram and LinkedIn and youknow, basically what I've been
trying to do right now is justshow, like, create some
excitement around what we'redoing, announcing the, the, the
board members, announcing someof the ideas that we have.
Um, you know, sharing themission, sharing the, sharing
(20:09):
the thought process, and youknow, kind of just getting
people like, hey, what is that?
You know, I've had a few peoplego.
What are you doing?
Which they ask me.
That a lot, let me tell you.
So, have a seat, exactly,exactly.
So we're setting up a lot ofmeetings with people right now.
We've had some, you know, somesome nice donations.
(20:31):
We've got a significant onecoming that I don't even want to
say anything about it yetbecause I don't want to jinx it,
but it's a.
It was a nice surprise to getthis donation to kind of kick
things off and, um, you know,I've been in the Tampa Bay area
for a long time, so I'll belooking at some of my friends
and colleagues and saying, hey,you know, let's talk, what do
(20:53):
you think, and see what we cando.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
And you were talking a little bit about like
carpenters and stuff like that.
So will there be like jobskills?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, so at some point I would like to be able to
do that.
At some point I'd like to beable to have you know.
I mean, like I said, certainlyI've been around the
construction world a long time.
Yeah, I know my wife and some ofthe guys that we've worked with
and some of the girls thatwe've worked with, and I
absolutely know that I could getthem to come out and teach a
class in you know how do youmeasure something.
(21:29):
I don't want them cutting stuffbecause I don't have the
insurance for that yet.
But you know, let's give them alittle piece, a little taste.
You know like, let's show themwhat you can build this by using
wood and nails and you knowscrews, and you know I want to
show them that they can makethings, that they with their
hands, that they can do it.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
So that might spark a lifetime of of passion for that
kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
You just never know.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
When you mentioned that type of thing and I was
thinking about how speaking ofdefunding the Job Corps is on
pause.
Yes and it's like the vastmajority of the participants in
that are kids that have aged outof the foster system right,
yeah, yeah so that's just crazy,and if, if you guys could step
(22:21):
in fill that need I'd let I meanmy big, big my big, big, big,
big, hairy, audacious goal isthat this would be a national
program, but I got to get itstarted here first.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
So, I feel like it's really early.
It is very.
I mean, this is like the babydays right now.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
So yeah, careful what you wish for, right I?
Speaker 2 (22:45):
know Right.
Right, I hope I have thatproblem.
I hope I do, mike.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
There are worse problems to have right For sure.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
I just I think it's so cool because I think a lot,
of, a lot of problems that wesee in the world today, these
are going to become the problemsof our kids at some point, or
hopefully, not.
I mean hopefully, if the kidswill fix these problems and we
(23:17):
won't have to go back to that.
But yeah, just getting kidsinvolved.
How are you going to teachsomebody how to be a politician?
That just popped into my head.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
I mean, maybe politician is not the right word
, but I want to teach the futureleaders.
Sure, because I feel like thisgeneration and the generations
behind us have done a reallygreat job of screwing up the
world.
And I think the kids, thegeneration who are the kids now,
are the ones who are going tostraighten everything out, or at
least I hope they are.
So I want to make sure theyhave the tools, I want to make
(23:50):
sure they have the opportunity,I want to make sure they have
every chance they can to be ableto live to their potential,
because I think those are theones that are going to make the
difference in the world.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
So yeah, and I mean it's what a great way You're
already setting that foundationwith this, because you're
reaching out and saying hey, Ican you know what do you need?
Let's make that happen for akid, because as they grow,
(24:27):
they'll go, they'll rememberthat.
That somebody cared about whatthey needed or wanted, if you
will and helped to make thatreal for them.
Just my two cents.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
I mean, I think that there's a big, a big chasm
between generations and you know, certainly there's a
communication issue, or I meanI'm sure when I was a kid and my
parents were like I have noidea what you're saying, but
whatever you know.
But what I want to do is I wantto let the next, you know, the,
the guys who are younger now,know you could, we're not bad,
you can count on us.
You, you can trust us, we'regoing to help you.
We're not the enemy, we're theones who you know like.
(25:13):
I want to bridge that gap rightas well, because I think,
generationally, I've seen it inmy work experience where
sometimes the generations justdon't work together at all.
So I'm like, okay, what do Ihave?
I have the experience, I havethe connections, I have the,
dare I say, wisdom that you knowa 10 or 12 or even 19 year old
(25:36):
doesn't have.
So I want to be able to say andnot that I'm saying I'm better
than, but what I want to do?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
is what do you need?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
let me see what I have that I can give you, and if
I don don't have it, I want tofind someone who does, who can
give it to you, to help you getto the.
You know people helped me in mylife, people you know, took me
under their wing and and helpedme get to places where I
couldn't have gotten by myself,or at least not that quickly,
and it's made all the differencefor me and my life.
(26:04):
And I want to do the same,especially for the ones who who
feel like they don't seethemselves In the future.
They, you know, they you knowand I don't again, I don't want
to make this political but whitekids or kids with With, who
have privilege I mean, we're notgoing to exclude anybody but
(26:27):
they have opportunities, theyhave the financial wherewithal
In many cases, they have theconnections, they know where to
look and their families havealready modeled for them.
This is what it's going to looklike.
I want to make sure thateverybody gets to see that same
picture.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Yeah, see that same model.
Yes, absolutely, it's funny.
You were talking aboutgenerations.
I did an episode a while backwith a woman and she talks, she
coaches generations and she wassaying something that I never
even considered that in theworkforce today you have two
(27:10):
generations that actually havesomething in common.
It's the silent generation,which I mean, that's what my mom
was, I'm like they're stillworking and Gen Alpha, because
the silent generation grew upduring the Depression right.
(27:33):
And they scrimped and they saved.
They didn't buy new, they fixedwhat they had.
And now you've got Gen Alphawho's getting all their clothes
thrifting.
Hmm, hmm and they cancommunicate, and that's what
brings them together.
And I yeah, that has absolutelynothing to do with what you
were talking about.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
I just you mentioned generations and I thought it was
interesting.
You never know, Mike.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Just one of my tangents we're good, yeah, so I
wish you so much luck on this.
Thank you this is going to beso amazing.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Yeah, I mean, it's been a passion of mine for a
long time.
You know my mom raised me.
She was a single mother for avery long time.
When I was younger, you know,and you and I know, that I'm gay
and you know my mom was like mybiggest.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Wait what.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
I know, Mike you forgot already.
I'm shocked, and you know, mymom was my biggest um supporter,
my biggest cheerleader, myprotector, all of the things,
and so she raised all of herchildren to be of service.
Um, and this is something thatmy mom instilled in me when I
(28:49):
was very young, and I've always.
I realized that I've had somany jobs and every single one
of those jobs has been ofservice to someone in some way,
and so I have this, this callingto help.
You know, we've we.
I think you and I talked aboutthis last time.
You know I do it for free, butfree, but those things called
(29:11):
bills that you have to take careof, rent, mortgage.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Yeah, those little minor details.
Pesky little details, exactly.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
So I don't have the.
I'm not a rich person, I don'thave the fortune to be able to
fund this myself, sure, but likesmall magic, you know.
To fund this myself, sure, butlike small magic, you know it
doesn't take like I'm gonnastart there and see where it
goes.
You know, five thousand dollarscould make a big difference for
this group right now.
(29:40):
Oh my gosh, you know, a persondoing a, a class could make a
big difference for, for, forright now, you know, like me,
just taking some kids in andshowing them how to paint rocks.
I mean, if you would have seenthe faces on some of those kids
like they were like what?
And I'm like are you an artist?
They're like, no, I'm not anartist.
I'm like, yes, you are, look atwhat you just did.
(30:00):
And they're like I'm an artist.
You know, I am an artist.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Yeah, so yeah yeah, and isn't it such a great
feeling introducing kids tosomething and they're like they
had no idea, and then you letthem do it and they do it, and
that realization, when it hitsthem, I can do this.
Yeah, such a great feeling.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
I want to be able to like plug into their curiosities
no-transcript a bird box orgardening, or yeah, I mean
(31:00):
that's yes, that's one of theclasses that we have that we're
talking about, yeah, so yeah,that's amazing I'm really stoked
about it and I I'm I'm sorrythat I have this surgery coming
up, because I'm ready to likestart running it.
You know, 50 miles an hour and Ikind of can't with my leg, but
you know, I'm like I've got suchgreat people already lined up
(31:21):
and I'm just ready to to tostart doing stuff now.
So uh, good things come tothose who wait sometimes and
some other patient's quotes andgood things sometimes it's gonna
be amazing come to ItalianCubans, who push people to do
things that they didn't knowthey could do that's a couple of
(31:42):
strong personalitynationalities there.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
I'm telling you what yeah uh, lisa, thank you so much
for giving me the time.
Um, we'll throw in a a a linkto your book as well thank you,
show notes.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Do you want to talk about?
that or no, the book we can yeah, so the book is um, yeah, it's
the second book I wrote, mike Idon't know if you ever I'd ever
talked about the first one.
So the first one was calledthink small, the little book
with big impact, and that'sbasically the philosophy of
small magic.
And then the second book was Iactually wrote both of them
(32:19):
before COVID and then didnothing with them until after
COVID and like, I think, let'ssee, this one came out this year
and the other one came out twoyears ago, and I actually even
have a third book written thatI'm like, okay, you can't put
them all out at the same time,but this book is I'm Aunt Boo
Boo and I wrote a book about mycoming out and basically it is
(32:45):
the lessons I learned from thatjourney and realizing that me
coming out didn't just affect me, but it was my entire family
and how, again, my mom was theprotector.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Your biggest cheerleader.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Exactly and how she just made me feel okay about
being exactly who I am and nottrying to be anything else.
And the book was written inlike three settings once before
covid, once after covid and thenonce again at the beginning of
this year, when I was like Igotta put this book out now.
I mean because now it's like Ifeel, almost feel like it was
(33:21):
like fate the book didn't go outyet.
Because I feel like now it'seven more important for not just
gay kids but people who thinkthey're different, to realize
it's okay, there's nothing wrongwith you, you're not alone,
you're gonna be fine.
I'm relatively fine, you know.
Relatively speaking, I'm fine.
(33:41):
You know, we talked about thatand um and you know.
So I think it's just a piece,that that it's an easy, another
easy read.
Don't?
Evidently I don't know how towrite long books, um, but it
just is.
Um, it's just a yes, exactlyyes, and um, it's just a uh, you
(34:02):
know, uh, uh.
I hope it's something that willgive people both two different
sides of people.
I hope it will give the peoplewho feel different a place to
look at and go.
Okay, I am not alone, and Ihope it will be.
Give the people who love thosepeople a place to understand.
This is what we're all goingthrough, because it's not, it's
(34:25):
not.
I mean, I don't think it's.
I don't.
Honestly, I don't think it'schanged.
Coming out now, you know, Ithink it's, it's, it's done like
a wave where when I came out,it was easier for me to come out
and then it got really easy.
Now it's getting bad again,because I think people are
afraid to be who they are and myhope is you know that the
pendulum swings again and thingsget easier.
(34:47):
And I, you know, I don't want tohave to write books like that,
I don't want to be a DEI speakerI don't want to have to help
kids in underserved communities.
I want us to just be people whohelp people, you know.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yeah.
So, yeah, all right.
Well, lisa, thank you so much.
I do appreciate it.
This will be out next week.
Okay, awesome, it's going to bea quick turnaround.
Okay, great.
So look for Lisa Demme, for theSmall Magic Foundation, and
Aunt Boo Boo has a girlfriend inyour favorite bookstore.
(35:22):
And, yeah, we'll talk againsoon.
Thanks, mike, thank you,bye-bye, bye.
We'll talk again soon.
Thanks, mike.
Thank you, bye-bye.
I want to thank you for takingthis time to listen to this
episode with my guest, lisaDemme.
I hope you were able to takesomething positive from the time
(35:44):
you spent with me.
I hope you'll be inspired,maybe you'll be motivated, maybe
you'll be inspired, maybeyou'll be motivated, maybe
you'll be moved.
If you experienced any of thosefeelings, please, please,
please, consider sharing thispodcast with your friends and
family.
I'm always striving to offeryou a better podcast, so give me
some feedback.
Let me know how you think I'mdoing.
(36:05):
Email me, leave me a message.
It would mean the world to meto have that input, that
engagement with you.
Also, feel free to follow us onour social media.
You'll find all those links inthe show notes.
And, yeah, come along for theride.
Let's talk about kindness.
(36:29):
This podcast is part of theMayday Media Network.
If you have an idea for apodcast and need some production
assistance or maybe you alreadyhave a podcast and you're just
looking for a supportive networkto join check out
maydaymedianetworkcom and thencheck out all the many different
shows they have, likeAfrocentric Spoil, my Movie
(36:52):
Generation Mixtape In a PickleRadio Show, wake Up and Dream
with D'Anthony Palin, staxo, paxand the Time Pals.
We'll be back again next weekwith a brand new episode and we
would be honored if you wouldjoin us.
You've been listening to theKindness Matters Podcast.
(37:13):
I am your host, mike Rathbun.
Have a fantastic week.
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