Patrick Lockman is a general contractor and implemented a “One for One” model to his Atlanta-based business, Lockman Home Building, about a year and a half ago. “The TOMS model has always fascinated me and was definitely instrumental in getting this started,” he told us.

His desire to help began long before he encountered the simple TOMS alpargata. In his twenties, he spent time in Kenya and Brazil. He saw the difficult living conditions many families endured, and it stuck with him. “My travels changed me and I was committed to do my part in helping the world around me.”

Patrick identified an organization in Guatemala to help with construction of the “Build One” homes. On his first construction trip to Guatemala, Patrick said, “We quickly got to know the families and their stories.  As a father, I was shocked to see the children living under tarps and drinking dirty water.  The elements took their tolls on these young children and mothers.  They were continually sick and in need of dry, warm, solid, place to lay their heads.  So we got to work. There were 10 of us…2 days to build 2 homes, and change the lives of those women and children forever.  The families were also given water filtration systems for their new homes.  As you know a home is more than wood, mortar, and clean water.  A home is the building block for a society.  If mother’s can lock doors and feel safe they can sleep well and care for their families well.  If children can stay warm and dry they can thrive and become creative citizens in their own countries.”

The feeling of accomplishment that came with the completion of the first two homes did follow an initial concern of a business move that might be “too risky.” But Patrick admits, he wouldn’t have it any other way. Even Patrick’s son, a first grader, recognizes the impact his Father is having, “My son is learning about American hero’s in school.  He told his class and all the first grade classes that his Dad was an American hero because he was building houses for children that didn’t have them in Guatemala.  This is priceless!”

The Lockman Home Building team has a goal of eight homes this year. Isn’t that incredible? Something as big and complex as building a home has been adapted to accommodate consumer’s ever-growing desire to give back.

“If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.”

~ T. Alan Armstrong quotes

Which blogs #inspire or #motivate you?

Which ones spark your #creativity?

What blogs #educate you?

We’ll round up the best and share with you later this week!

We are here to find meaning. We are here to help other people do the same. Everything else is secondary.

We humans want to believe in our own species. And we want people, companies and products in our lives that make it easier to do so. That is human nature.

Product benefit doesn’t excite us. Belief in humanity and human potential excites us.

Think less about what your product does, and think more about human potential.

What statement about humanity does your product make?

The bigger the statement, the bigger the idea, the bigger your brand will become.

It’s no longer just enough for people to believe that your product does what it says on the label. They want to believe in you and what you do. And they’ll go elsewhere if they don’t.

It’s not enough for the customer to love your product. They have to love your process as well.

People are not just getting more demanding as consumers, they are getting more demanding as spiritual entities. Branding is a spiritual exercise. These are The New Realities, this is the Spiritual Republic we now live in.

The soul cannot be outsourced. Either get with the program or hire a consultant in Extinction Management. No vision, no business. Your life from now on pivots squarely on your vision of human potential.

read more here

“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” -Dr. Seuss

Suggestions from Chief Shoe Giver, Blake:

- The Tipping Point, by Malcom Gladwell

- Let My People Go Surfing, by Yvon Chouinard

- Sam Walton: Made in America

- Start Something that Matters, by yours truly :)

Suggestions from the TOMS family:

- History of the World in 6 Glasses, by Tom Standage

Discusses human history through the prism of 6 beverages.  Starts with beer as humans left hunter gatherer societies and starting farming wheat and ends with Coca Cola and society’s path to globalization.  Fun read and full of interesting facts about the every day beverages we love.

- Maphead, by Ken Jennings (yes, the guy who won a ton of $ on Jeopardy!)

Nerdy, funny, and enlightening look at how we visualize the world around us, and how maps have shaped history.

- Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, by Maaza Mengiste

Beautiful and devastating work of historical fiction set during the terrifying Derg regime in Ethiopia. A must-read for anyone who loves Ethiopia.

- Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese

Another great Ethiopia novel, this one more about medicine and family.

- Chronicles of Narnia Series, by C.S. Lewis

I read this every winter and have for many many years now.  Full of adventure, valor, heart and the awesomeness that is Narnia. It’s my favorite series of books ever written. True Story.

- Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand

True Story about WWII survivor.  Truly one of the most inspiring and incredible stories I’ve ever read about anyone.

- Making Ideas Happen, by Scott Belsky

This book changed my year – it’s all about the transferring IDEAS into ACTION through organizational tactics and by establishing a process of categorizing information and eliminating information clutter. LOVED this book and the companion resources (digital and analog).

For about a decade, Rachel has had an idea brewing in her head of how she can help others help the world. Six years ago, she was chatting with friend Sydney about how often she would be required to eat out while traveling for work. She said she often found herself throwing away food and wished there was a way to reduce food waste while helping people. The two talked about the alarming statistic that, in the United States, up to 40% of the food we produce for consumption goes to waste.

And that’s how the idea for Halfsies started to surface…

The concept: Restaurants offer a “Halfsies” choice for select items already on the menu. While the customer pays the same price, he/she receives a healthier portion of the meal, while the restaurant donates a portion of the proceeds to Halfsies. There, 90% of the donations is distributed to non-profit partners in the local community and in developing nations. The other 10% of proceeds is retained for operations, growth, and special projects.

Sydney tells us, “For Rachel, starting a non-profit was nowhere on the radar, but a small idea can grow into something amazing! Everything starts with an idea.”

Check out this short video to see how Halfsies connects the dots on 3 major food-related issues in our world today:

Halfsies: Connecting the Dots from Go Halfsies on Vimeo.

The volunteer-based Halfsies Team has been busy reading up on food waste (Sydney recommends author Jonathan Bloom, wastedfood.com), conversing with restaurants in Austin to learn about how a program like this could function logistically, meeting with local non-profits, and laying the foundations of the organization.

“We want people to ask questions. It helps us learn and make sure we are addressing any concerns from the beginning.”

The pilot program is slated to launch in Austin in early 2012. They will be supporting Watoto, an organization that Sydney spent working with for a year in Uganda. “That year was when my heart really grew for people.”

“We want to make giving part of our everyday lives, much like how TOMS does. It’s not a promotion for one week or a couple times a year. Halfsies is more sustainable,” says Sydney.

Rachel and Sydney up on an early morning in Austin, TX, getting ready for a triathlon

How can people get involved?

1) Partner — We are currently welcoming Austin restaurants to take part in our pilot program launching in early 2012. Visit intro.gohalfsies.com for more details.
2) Sponsor — Opportunities available for businesses in Central Texas to be part of our Austin Launch Event in late January. Email gohalfsies@gmail.com to request a digital brochure.
3) Volunteer  – there are a number of ways to volunteer your time and talent to support the cause. A great way to start is by following Halfsies on Facebook and Twitter and spreading the word!

Email the Halfsies team at gohalfsies@gmail.com. They’d love to hear from you!

More info about food waste:
“Much food goes to waste…” – Washington Post
“All About: Food Waste” – CNN
“A War Against Food Waste” – New York Times

What would you do if you only had one day to live?

Would you ask out the girl or guy of your dreams? Reconnect with a distant loved one? Finally conquer your fear of skydiving or public speaking?

Now, what if you lived your ENTIRE life with this same courage and reckless enthusiasm? Would your list of goals and dreams keep getting longer?

That’s the premise of MTV’s show, The Buried Life, which follows four college-aged guys (Ben Nemtin, Dave Lingwood, and Duncan & Jonnie Penn) as they travel across the country crossing off their Bucket List items; and with every goal they accomplish, they help a stranger experience one of their life-long dreams as well.

I recently chatted with Ben Nemtin about how The Buried Life got started, what he’s learned from the experience, and his secret for working through fear and obstacles. I thought you might want to listen in on our conversation:

What inspired you to start The Buried Life? How did you guys all meet?

Ben: We were disillusioned in college… and wanted to make something that we could be proud of, something that our friends would like. Dave and Jonnie met in the hallways of high school and started a breakdance crew in 2002. Duncan and I went to separate high schools, but knew each other through the grapevine. Jonnie and Duncan are brothers, so they knew each other from the kitchen.

What’s the story behind the name, The Buried Life?

It’s the name of a poem Jonnie was assigned in English class. A man named Matthew Arnold wrote it in 1852. We chose it because we felt “buried” by all the BS in the world and weren’t doing the things we truly wanted to do.

These are the four lines that resonated with us:

But often, in the world’s most crowded streets,
But often, in the din of strife,
There rises an unspeakable desire
After the knowledge of our buried life

When you guys first started this project, you were just four college kids from British Columbia. Without any financial backing, how did you get your idea off the ground?

We hustled. Duncan and Jonnie worked in the oil fields to raise enough money to buy a camera on eBay. I opened up the phonebook and called local companies pretending I owned a production company and asked for funding for the movie we were making. We knew we needed a van that could sleep us all because we couldn’t afford hotels. The only vehicle available was Jonnie and Duncan’s uncle’s old RV, so we pulled that out of a swamp in Calgary, put some new tires on it and hit the road. My dad’s neighbor told us “You kids are going to die in that thing. I guarantee you won’t come back in it”… but we did it anyway, blowing out 5 tires in the process.

Of all the bucket list items that you’ve completed, which ones have been the most memorable? Why?

Making the TV show together (#53: Make a TV Show) has been a five-year journey, ultimately, and we’ve become brothers through it. Many list items have incredible stories behind them, such as #95: Play Ball with Obama, mainly because everyone had given up on us. MTV doesn’t help us with any of our list items, and we didn’t have any connections to the White House, so we just drove our 1968 purple transit bus into DC and started asking people on the street if they knew the President. We also peppered Capital Hill with hundreds of emails, pleading our case to congressmen, senators, and anyone who would listen. We tried to track down Reggie Love (Obama’s body man) at the YMCA at 5am because we heard he worked out there before work and we found the Secretary of Treasury in the pool. We finally got a hold of Reggie. He ran the request through the press team, but they said “no.” We were devastated. We ended up going back to the White House a few months later. Reggie had invited us to see the basketball courts and said the President was out of town. While we were shooting around in the backyard of the White House, Obama strolled onto the courts and surprised us. Turns out he had heard about our mission and asked Reggie to bring us down. He wants to be an announcer for SportsCenter before he dies.

A big part of your show is that every time you accomplish something on your list, you help a stranger do something on theirs. What inspired you to do this? Of all the bucket list items that you’ve helped others accomplish, which one has been the most memorable?

The Buried Life wouldn’t be what it is without the element of helping people. You see it everyday on our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/tbl) — people just want to help. In the beginning, much of our success was due to the surprising generosity of a few random strangers, so it just made sense for us to give back. Those that do it know how good it feels. We’re reminded every time we have the privilege of meeting someone new and helping them cross off something on their list.

One story that sticks out comes from a man named Sam, who we met alongside the road where he was selling art. When we asked him, “What do you want to do before you die?” Sam answered, “I want to reconnect with my son. I haven’t seen him in 17 years’. We managed to track down his son’s number through his college roommate on Facebook, and we called him to see if he was interested in meeting his father. He was. We gave the number to Sam and watched as he made the first phone call to his son in 17 years. Since that call, we’ve travelled back to watch them reunite for the first time in-person and stay in touch. They’ve not only become good friends… they’re now father and son again.

What I love about The Buried Life is how you guys are constantly working through fear, and setting bigger and bigger challenges for each other. What’s your secret for working through fear?

I’ve learned to work through fear in two ways: Reminding myself that I’m going to die one day (“the clock is ticking”) and genuinely asking myself, “What do I want to do?”

If someone said to you, “I’m going to work for 30 years and wait until I retire to do what I love,” what would you say to them?

If that’s what you want, then do it… just don’t bury your potential. In the course of The Buried Life, we’ve been dishwashers, bartenders, promoters, oilmen… the list goes on and on. The trick is balance. Like TOMS – it’s One for One. Work hard and do what you deeply want to do. If it’s music – play music. If it’s writing – write. You don’t have to quit your job to start those things.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Don’t listen to your critics or your supporters.

I first met Joe in 2006, back when TOMS was first getting started and our “warehouse” was my studio apartment in Venice. At the time, Joe was running Ramp Logistics – a professional warehousing company which helps brands manage their inventory and shipping. Though TOMS was tiny, Joe loved our mission and decided to take a big chance on me and the business. Ramp was exactly the partner that we needed to continue to grow and give shoes to children in need!

JOE – On behalf of everyone at TOMS, thank you so much for all of your support. It gives me great joy to hear about your new company, This Shirt Helps. Inspiring stuff!

Blake,

I remember vividly the first time we met back in 2006 at your apartment in Venice. You were just starting out then and TOMS was still just a few inspired interns and a few hundred shoes and some BIG dreams about changing the world. 5 years later, in 2011, after being able to witness firsthand what a small group of impassioned people can achieve (TWO MILLION SHOES, AMAZING!) I was so inspired that I decided to sell everything I owned and find a way to “start something that matters” myself.

Earlier this year, I started a company called This Shirt Helps. We make great quality shirts from organic and recycled materials, and with every shirt sold, we complete a measurable task that provides immediate relief. That’s how one shirt can give clean water for a year, plant 3 trees, and save a dog or cat from being euthanized! There are no percentages or formulas. Just buy a shirt and impact a life!  

The business has been growing faster than I could have ever imagined… but what really excites me is how we’ve been able to give back. Just last month we went to Haiti to distribute water filtration systems with one of our charity partners, WAVES 4 WATER. To demonstrate how the systems work, we would apply the filter to dirty and dangerous water, and drink the newly clean water in front of crowds of people. It was incredible to see the look in people’s face go from shock, to hope, to finally relief. This experience was powerful beyond words.

Were it not for TOMS and your amazing work, none of this would have been possible. Thank you for inspiring us with your awesome message… it’s truly having an affect far beyond what you can see!

- Have the best day ever.

Joe Huff
Director of Positivity, This Shirt Helps 

If you’re starting something that matters, or have a project in mind, please share it in the “Tell Us Your Story” section of this website. I would love to spotlight some of the community’s ideas!

carpe diem,
blake

Dear Blake,

My friend Sam and I are working on a project that we would love to share with you and the Start Something That Matters community…

After graduating from Colby, a top liberal arts college, we found ourselves in the unique position of having entered school during a relatively booming economy, and graduating during one of the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression.

While Sam and I both received lucrative job offers, we’ve decided to put the corporate world on-hold. In a nation where a stable job is less a right than a token of extreme fortune, we find it necessary to bring attention to the plight of ordinary Americans in an extremely organic fashion.

Our initiative is really simple: The two of us are currently walking from one coast to the other… and along the way, we’re seeking out community service projects to which we can lend our help, no matter the size. Some acts, like helping a single mother working three jobs with groceries, may seem small, but they are all strands of a much larger story: America is struggling.

We are currently four weeks into the trip and have traveled over 1,400 miles on foot. So far, we have volunteered for a variety of charities, including soup kitchens and animal shelters. But perhaps the most rewarding experiences have been the unplanned, spontaneous ones, like helping a mother jump start her car so she could get her son to soccer practice, or clearing downed trees from an elderly man’s yard.

To find out more about our journey and to read our blog, go to http://www.makestrides.net. We encourage the SSTM community to contact us with project ideas — big or small — or charities that we can lend a hand to. We look forward to hearing from you!

Best,
Nick Tucker & Sam Rouleau

*** This promotion is now closed. Thanks for supporting the Start Something That Matters movement!

Once again, thank you so much to everyone that has helped spread the Start Something That Matters movement. The response so far has been unbelievable!

To further get the online world buzzing, we’re launching a special program called Books for Bloggers. The way it works is really simple:

If you’re selected for the Books for Bloggers Program, we’ll send you 2 complimentary copies of Start Something That Matters. In exchange, all you have to do is:

- Read one copy, it’s yours to keep!

- Host a contest on your blog, Facebook or Twitter to give away the second copy. The contest can be anything you want it to be, so be creative!

- Post a review of Start Something That Matters on your blog AND on the book’s Amazon page. Honesty is key here. If you love the book, say so. If you used the book as kindling in your fireplace, that’s OK too :)

If this seems like your type of deal, we would love to hear from you. Limited spots are available, so APPLY NOW!

To read the Terms & Conditions for the Books for Bloggers Program, please click here.