Podcast Summary
The Persistence that Paid Off: Dress for Success and Donald Trump: Persistence and determination can lead to success, even when faced with rejection.
Nancy Lublin, who builds nonprofit organizations as successfully as Donald Trump builds skyscrapers, accidentally sat next to him at a theater. She had just launched Dress for Success, which helps women on welfare dress for job interviews. Lublin pitched to Trump and asked if he had a spare storage room for her donations. When he declined, she persistence paid off. She bought a weekly box of Milk Duds and took them to his office until he finally found her space. Her drive and determination proved wise, as Dress for Success snowballed into a successful nonprofit.
The Importance of Grit for Entrepreneurial Success: Grit is crucial for entrepreneurs to succeed, with determination, ingenuity, and energy conservation being key components. Persistence, humor, and adaptability can help overcome rejection and unexpected opportunities can arise.
Successful entrepreneurs need grit, which is a combination of determination, ingenuity, and conserving energy. Nancy Lublin's story emphasizes the power of persistence and having a good Plan B. She used multiple tactics, including humor, surprise visits, and even the media, to successfully pitch her idea. The story also shows that rejection can lead to unexpected opportunities, as Nancy's rejection letter turned into a story that she could tell everywhere. In the non-profit sector, where funding and resources can be scarce, grit is even more important. Ultimately, success requires a combination of hard work, creativity, and the ability to adapt and persevere through challenges.
How Dress for Success was Founded with $5,000 and Unexpected Collaborators: Don't rely on financial advice from those who take an oath of poverty. Seek support from family and friends who believe in your idea.
Nancy Lublin noticed a problem with unfair hiring practices where employers would judge candidates based on their physical appearance, leading her to start the non-profit Dress for Success. With only $5,000 from her grandfather's estate and unexpected collaborators in the form of nuns in Spanish Harlem, Lublin was able to get the organization up and running. The nuns provided valuable expertise in moving people from welfare to work, making them the perfect partners for this endeavor. Don't take financial advice from those who take an oath of poverty, and instead recommends seeking support from family and friends who believe in the idea.
Nancy Lublin's Solution-based Approach to Building Dress for Success: Instead of creating a new system from scratch, Nancy Lublin tapped into the existing welfare system to build Dress for Success. She also turned problems into solutions, and redirected energy from existing sources to find quick fixes to big problems.
Nancy Lublin, founder of Dress for Success, created a successful organization by tapping into the existing welfare system's vast network and resources instead of creating an entire system from scratch. She screened and approved agencies that could send qualified individuals to work in her shop in exchange for free labor and high-quality referrals. Lublin also turned problems into solutions, like accepting suits that didn't fit the average Dress for Success client but instead used them as a donor mechanism to connect with wealthy businesswomen. Successful entrepreneurs like Lublin are "infinite learners" who find quick and systematic fixes to big problems by redirecting energy from existing sources.
The Power of Grit and Taking on New Challenges: CEOs with grit may become addicted to problem-solving and taking on challenges, as shown by Nancy Lublin's experience with turning around DoSomething.org, highlighting the importance of embracing new opportunities.
CEOs with grit tend to become addicted to problem-solving and may even create problems for themselves when there are none. Nancy Lublin, who is described as a wartime CEO, experienced this restlessness and is known to leave organizations once they have scaled. Her experience with Dress for Success led her to take a chance on DoSomething.org in 2003, an organization that was nearly bankrupt. She saw the potential in their mission to make volunteerism and social change fun for young people and took on the challenge of turning the organization around. Her decision shows the power of grit and the importance of taking on new challenges.
Nancy Lublin's Secret to Scale Leadership and Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurs are systems thinkers who tap into every resource available. When identifying a problem, solve it quickly and don't be afraid to pivot your organization. Sometimes, the best approach is to get out of the way.
Nancy Lublin, a successful entrepreneur and CEO, proved that entrepreneurs are more than just wacky visionaries; they are systems thinkers. Her ability to tap into every resource around her, including entry-level employees, is one of her hidden strengths as a scale leader. When her team identified the crucial shift in technology that made all the difference in reaching their adolescent audience, she pivoted her organization and became a membership-based text organization. Her irrepressible urge to launch Crisis Text Line began with a single text from a single teenager in response to a Do Something campaign. When you see a problem, solve it quickly, and get out of the way sometimes.
Nancy Lublin's Crisis Text Line: Helping Teens Through Anonymity and Convenience: Crisis Text Line by Nancy Lublin helps teens who need someone to talk to but prefer the anonymity and convenience of texting. It took perseverance, funding, and redirection of energy, but it became a reality.
Nancy Lublin built Crisis Text Line, a hotline that funnelled text messages to crisis centers around the country, to help teenagers who preferred the convenience and anonymity of writing from their phones. It took her two years to secure funding, but she eventually found a donor who gave her $50,000, allowing her to hire a CTO and Chief Data Scientist. Crisis Text Line became real, and she had to find the rest of the money to make it happen. Despite being a clever jiu-jitsu move, Nancy had to redirect her energy to the right teens. Crisis Text Line was created for teens who didn't have anyone to talk to, and Nancy made it happen.
How Crisis Text Line Created a Volunteer Marketplace to Help Those in Need: Crisis Text Line founder Nancy Lublin recognized the variability in counseling quality at different centers and decided to train her own team of crisis counselors. This led to the creation of a volunteer marketplace, where individuals in crisis could match with trained volunteers willing to help.
Crisis Text Line, which allows individuals to text for help during a crisis, started by outsourcing counseling to crisis centers. However, Nancy Lublin recognized that the quality of counseling varied significantly at different centers. She decided to train her own team of crisis counselors based on best practices from the platform. Although this decision was risky, she was confident in her ability to train individuals who were willing to help others in crisis. This led to the creation of a volunteer marketplace, where individuals could match with those in need of support. Lublin understood that people are generally eager to help and that it just takes an ambitious and unreasonable ask to bring people together.
Bold Requests Lead to Amazing Volunteer Opportunities: Don't be afraid to ask volunteers for more than what they may initially be willing to give. Finding passionate volunteers and working with a sliding scale approach can help organizations utilize their skills and enthusiasm effectively.
The most amazing things can happen with big, bold, and sometimes unreasonable requests to volunteers. According to a flash poll of over 400 volunteer managers by VolunteerMatch, only 11 percent have ever heard volunteers say that they were being asked too much. In fact, 70 percent of volunteer managers believe they can ask even more from their volunteers. The successful recruitment of volunteers is all about finding those who share the same passion and selling them on the cause. Volunteers, who often work for free, can run circles around paid professionals, and successful organizations know how to work with a sliding scale approach to accommodate the different levels of contributions.
Crisis Text Line: Using big data to support teenagers in distress: Crisis Text Line uses big data to prioritize high-risk cases, allowing the organization to detect waves of anxiety across middle schools while relying on the help of phenomenal volunteers to meet growing demand.
Crisis Text Line provides support to teenagers in times of distress through texting. The organization used big data to triage messages and identify phrases that indicate high-risk cases such as 'kill myself' and names of common drugs, and prioritized them in the queue. The data collected was unprecedented in its scope and timely, allowing the organization to detect waves of anxiety across middle schools nationwide. Moreover, Crisis Text Line achieved its success without marketing and with the help of phenomenal volunteers, including deaf and hard of hearing individuals and veterans, who played a key role in scaling quickly to meet the growing demand.
Strategies for Scaling and Surviving Adversity in a Nonprofit: Scaling a nonprofit requires creative approaches such as building a marketplace and cultivating a dedicated volunteer network. Acknowledge the role of luck, but don't rely on it entirely. Keep working hard and success will come.
When Nancy Lublin left her organization DoSomething.org, it was a big blow to the team. But their approach to scale helped them weather the situation. They built a marketplace where people and organizations could take the idea forward. They also relied on a dedicated volunteer network of over 3,000 people who did everything for free, even at odd hours. However, luck can also play a role in success. Sam Altman, the president of Y Combinator, advises that acknowledging luck is important, but it shouldn't be relied on entirely. The right mindset is to keep working hard and eventually, luck will swing your way.