Dream Chasers - Non-Profit In A Box - Stephen Vaughn

Another one of those moments where I realized like this can't stop. This only deserves more of my effort and my attention. And it's bigger than I am or you know an individual is, but this is a movement that can happen. And this is a it's a game changer for kids. Um and it can be a game changer for parents too.

Hey, welcome back, fitness friends, to the Future of Fitness podcast and interview series. This is your host, Eric Malzone. This is episode number 145. I talk to Steven Vaughn. So Steven is a friend, he's a colleague, and he is the founder of dreamchasers.org. It is a nonprofit. It is an activity-based character development program for today's youth. So, Steven, uh yeah, get ready for this interview and maybe grab a tissue. I I things got a little dusty here in the studio, uh, listening to some of these stories um that he was telling, and you know, his story and his why is so powerful. Um, and you start to understand why he's doing what he's doing and and the impact he's looking to make and he he's already making, uh, but it's gonna get much bigger. And uh my goal with this podcasting, having him on, was to get his story out there, um, hopefully get some more people involved, get some more chapters out there, and uh and start making a greater impact because it just makes a lot of sense. I mean, you know, uh today's youth, it's it's just a different world than when I grew up. I'm 42, right? I mean, video games didn't even show up in my life until I was about 11. Um, good old uh Nintendo. But it it it's just different. And uh technology, social media, all that. These type of programs are so incredibly necessary, and he makes it easy. Steven makes it easy to get involved, he makes it easy to start a chapter. Uh he that's why we call it, you know, nonprofit in a box, because it's a really turnkey nonprofit. And uh you can make a huge impact on your local community if that's something that you value. And um I think there's a lot of people in our industry, uh the fitness and health and wellness industry who do value that. So um without further ado, I I want to get into it. No sponsorships, no nothing. Um, you know, today's today's podcast is sponsored by dreamchasers.org. How about that? Go to dreamchasers.org, uh find out more, see if you can get involved, and uh, and just do it. So without further ado, episode number 145, Stephen Vaughn, enjoy the show. All right, and we're live. Mr. Stephen Vaughn, welcome.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me, man. I'm excited. This is this is really this is really exciting. And uh, you know, obviously you and I talk fairly frequently. Um you have such a good thing going on. You're so passionate about what you do with dream chasers, and uh, I think it's really gonna just jump out at people through the microphone today, uh, of how passionate you are and and what you do. And it it's time for um, you know, dream chasers to take a big stage in fitness and the development thereof. So um lesson, me talking, let's let's talk about you, man. Give us your story. How'd you get to all right?

Uh it's been a it's been a dream chaser story for sure. Um so in 2005, I was coming out of college, graduating from college, and felt like the world was coming together, finally getting to a place where I could start making money and um being independent. Uh Appalachian State, uh in the the mountains of North Carolina. Nice. Um, so yeah, everything was good. Uh, excited about you know the next chapter in life, and um had a little curveball thrown at me. Uh, my father, uh, who had always been active uh in my life and uh a hero to me, um got diagnosed with stage four lung cancer right after, like within two weeks of me graduating. And um just kind of you know, it's one of those things where you step back and say, Well, what does this mean? How do I handle this? What do I do with this? I'm 22 and uh I thought life made sense until now, uh kind of thing. And um, so you know, I I in the short course of his fight with with cancer, that was in December of 05. He passed away in May of 06, so six months and um and he was he was gone. And so, you know, obviously I I was trying to process as a young man, and uh I started uh I continue my journey and trying to get a job as a as a teacher. I graduated K-12 uh physical education degree, uh, and my plan was coaching and um mentoring and training and all this stuff. And uh I I over the next uh few years, I went from teaching in a middle school to a high school life with getting married and and moving and landed in an elementary school where um for the first time I I became very, very hyper-aware of the potential of molding young kids and youth and watching, and it was more inspiring uh seeing the kids actually. They had more of an impact on me than I had on them, I feel like, because I just saw how they were so hungry for life and so hopeful for the future. And um, you know, life hadn't bogged them down yet. And they had some crazy situations. I was teaching in a in a high poverty school and this just ridiculous circumstances that these kids were going through, but they showed up every day at school and and they they had a smile on their face and they they had this this glimmer in their eyes of, you know, I can be something, I can do something in life. So I really, I mean, this set me on fire because that for the first time I realized that I could take pain and passion and they could collide to make an impact, and I could start doing that and using that as a way to alleviate the pain I had inside still of losing my father, um, and then be able to turn that around and potentially, you know, help change lives and help impact lives. So, you know, as as I was teaching, I recognized one, that through fun games and challenges and activities, you can start building confidence regardless of a skill or ability level, and they can become more confident and build that. And as they build confidence, they become uh just more aware of the passion that they can reach out to and grab a hold of and chase something and reach for something because it's that confidence is everything, uh, especially for a young kid. Even with us as adults, you know, we're we're more apt to jump out at something or reach for something when we have that confidence built. Uh so, you know, pairing that activity-based uh programming style with the opportunity to talk about and give them the tools about being a dream chaser. Um and I'll get into a little bit more of that in a little bit, but I just recognized while I was teaching that um they're hungry, and I have an awesome platform here in physical education to build their confidence and drive them towards something. Um, so before I stopped teaching, uh I I one of the things that allowed me the freedom to jump was I created a dream wall in my classroom. Uh hundreds and hundreds of kids writing on sheets of paper saying what they want to be when they grow up. And I'm not to judge what that is, I just encourage them to be free in thinking and not let obstacles blur their uh perspective of their opportunity kind of thing. So um, man, hundreds and hundreds of these things made a huge collage across my classroom and the gym. And you know, I remember standing up in front of a first grade class right near the end of my uh teaching career, and I got choked up in front of them. And I was like, you know, guys, you don't know what you just did for me because I just watched you for the last five minutes write down what you want to become, and you didn't hesitate because you're not seeing the obstacles yet, and I love that. And I want to encourage you to not let the obstacles blind you from what you can become, and you've just shown me that I need to do that myself. And in order to empower you to be dream chasers, I need to be a dream chaser. I called my wife on the ride home, said, I don't know what to do, but I think I have to resign because this thing that I'm growing, this thing that I that's burning in my soul to do, um, I gotta be the lead example in this, and I know it's gonna work. I just know it's gonna work because I'm gonna put everything I have into it. Um so that was um that was in 2013. So leading up to that, I don't want everybody to think that, hey, I just had this idea in my head and I I jumped out and sacrificed a lot of things for my family. Uh actually, I started putting pen to paper in 2009. And um this program, um, it was at that point, uh, and that time called Excel to fitness. Um it it was it was already growing locally in the Charlotte, North Carolina region, and we had a lot of interest in other states that um, and I didn't know at that time how to scale this bad boy. So I was sitting there saying, Yeah, we could do it. We can do it uh in in Arkansas, we can do it, you know, all over the place. Like wherever you're calling me from and you're Google searching us, we can we can figure out how to do this thing. So um it created this long pathway of trying to figure out how to scale this thing and and create the model. Um and so in 2013, I jumped full-time into this, and um we are currently going through some major, major changes to really just personify what this program is and what it's all about, and you know, going through a name change and all that stuff, and we can talk about that stuff.

Um what a good story, man. And you know, and anybody that uh you know I've connected you with or anyone who's come across you, it's so quick to understand like this guy's the real deal. Like, this isn't like you know, some guy who's trying to you know build a nonprofit and you make you know 15-20% off of it. Like you're really doing the right thing. And I have about your story, I have I have some questions for you too. And uh out of curiosity, when when they are posting those dreams on the board, what what were some of the ones that were really memorable? What were the ones where you're like that that's incredible? There had to be ones that stood out. Like I'm sure you know everybody, there's probably like people, everyone wants to be an astronaut, right? Or a fireman. Right, right. Was there any outliers for kids' dreams?

Oh man, it was so across the board. I mean, the ones that touched me the most were the things that were um, you know, I I think every kid, you know, they they put, I want to be a teacher and I want to be a nurse and a doctor and stuff, but um there were there were they explained why they wanted to be a teacher or um or you know, a nurse or whatever, and they explained that through the lens of seeing what their surroundings were like. So they knew that they were being impacted by a teacher and they were like, I want to do that for other people. And they explained that to me as as third, fourth, fifth graders, some of the first graders, all that stuff. Like um, they they were explaining their dreams were being sculpted by what they were seeing others around them being, you know, in their life. And that was powerful to me that helped, you know, sculpt some of the programming uh, you know, just parameters uh because it's so powerful who's surrounding you in life and who who is around you speaking into you. Um and I saw that through them writing their dreams down based on the people that were heroes to them around them. Oh, how interesting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's pretty cool.

And you know, uh, well, first of all, t tell everyone how you how you define dream chasers, because it's a very the wording you use um is very specific of what what it actually is.

Absolutely. I mean, I know I skipped over um what the actual program skeleton is, but yeah, yeah. Um so a dream chaser, um it's it we use three powerful words, passion, team, and grit, uh, to define a dream chaser. We define passion as, you know, we want we want kids to learn what it's like to reach for their passion, to recognize what their passion is, but to reach for their passion. So it's that daily intention. Um, we also want them to understand the value of team. So building the right team around you in life uh so that you can overcome your obstacles. Um, and then grit, learning what grit is in your life is something that never goes away. Um, it's just that getting back up when you get knocked down and keep fighting for who you can become and the greatness that you have inside of you. So these three things, what I love about this is Passion Team and Grit. They they, you know, you can start learning this as a you know elementary age kid, but it doesn't go away and it can be applied to everything in life and every age in life. So it's powerful on how we can like use that. And we have a motto that kind of backs all this up and compares the two uh like challenges in life and the potential you have in life. And it goes like this it's not easy to chase a dream. Fear, obstacles, and failure are all real, but so are my passion, my team, and my grit. And my passion is greater, my team is greater, and my grit is greater. I'm a dream chaser, I chase greatness. And the entire reason for that is because we want kids to recognize that it's okay to be scared sometimes. You're gonna have fear, you're gonna have obstacles, and you're gonna fail. Uh, those are all real things in life, but know that your passion is greater than that. It can overcome your fear, and your team can help you overcome obstacles, and your grit can help you overcome failure. It's greater than that. And to grab a hold of that and learn how to like use a daily intentional mindset around getting closer to who you can become and being a dream chaser.

Yeah. Yeah. You know, I I had the pleasure of growing up of playing organized sports. So played a lot of them. And um, you know, I didn't obviously it was never pointed out that passion, team, and grit were things that I was learning, but it was right. And I I think that has taken me a long way as far as you know how I go about my business, how I go about my life. I've always looked at having, you know, a solid team around me, people I can go to for different things and the grit thing, man. Who I I, you know, we've had James Fitzgerald and Jeff Martin from Brand X. Um, and you know, when we start getting into youth fitness, you start to see, you know, in you as well, you start to see some really passionate people about what it is. And, you know, I think a concern for today's youth too is is the amount of grit. Um, uh stick toitiveness, um, yeah, you know, consistency, persistency, all of those words kind of mean the same thing. But it seems to be uh a concern. And I'm I'm curious to see, you know, from your perspective, working with, you know, so many kids, or at least your organization does, um, you know, where what is the status of of today's youth as far as like grit and persistence? You know, do you do you have concerns there?

Yeah, yeah. I think um, you know, we live in a very um kind of fast food world, you know, like made to order, like it's it's there for us when we want it. It's ready to go. It's like at a click of a button, or it's you know, it's there for us. We don't have, you know, Amazon Prime, boom, it's there, you know, that kind of mentality. Um, and I think that sh like kind of correlates with with actually how our mindset is around overcoming our obstacles and having grit because we're getting used to as a society, a society, of having it when we want it. And dream chasing is not fast, it's not easy. And um, I definitely see it in our kids today. Um, and and it's they're very, very quick to say, you know, I gave this a try, I'm done. Um, and even if they're very passionate about it, they're they just get overwhelmed, defeated, knocked down a couple times, and they're like, there's something else for us, and there's something else for me. And I think it's, you know, the society we're living in. And if we could just muster up that grit to say, you know what, like this is this means something to me. It's worth fighting for. I'm worth fighting for my dreams and reaching for those and just teaching them to continue getting back up. Um, it's a challenge because that that is definitely a very real um situation um for for today's youth. And I I think it's just you know, uh, unlike 15-20 years ago when we weren't used to everything right at our fingertips, um, our entire society is that way. And it's just it's easy to turn a switch and and focus on other things when it's not quite working. And I mean, it's been eight years um since I started this thing, and um I believe me, there's been many times when when I wanted to stop and quit and and uh because it was just a strain on me personally or my family. Um, and that's where we piggyback passion as so valuable, because if you don't have legitimate, deep-rooted passion and why you're doing what you're doing, if you don't have your why set up and you know what that is, then yeah, you're gonna quit. You're gonna give up, you know. Um, because it gets too hard. It gets too hard. In that equation, passion, team, and grit, if you take out one of them, none of the others work. Um, you can but together they work. Uh, you can't have grit if you don't have passion, and you can't you can't overcome all the obstacles if you don't have the right people around you in life. And it's just like it doesn't work without all three. Um, but but yeah, like super easy if if one of those aren't in place. Um, and that's why we start with with these kids. Um, and honestly, it's a personal daily check for me as well. But like, sure, why why am I doing what I'm doing right now and what am I reaching for? Because I got to fall back on that, you know, and you know, it's weird. Um it's as as sad as losing my father was for me. Um I credit that fire inside of me to not quit when I think back on what circumstances I went through to to want to start this. I can't quit. You know, like I can't, I can't quit because it's too, it's it's in there, it's too much of a fire to stop because I know what it's taking to get here and to fight for it. And I see the outcome and the potential impact. So you gotta, that's what I want kids to understand, like, regardless of their circumstance or their skill and ability level, like grab a hold of your why, grab a hold of that passion that and you're and reach for it and and and have that grit. Have the grit to overcome it.

You know, in my uh 42 years on this planet, there's there's something that in the last few years I've kind of come to realize that there's a huge difference between quitting and letting go. And the difference is understanding your why and and if it's serving you towards that. You know, people um, you know, for an example, I don't know. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but you understand, like maybe there's certain activities that aren't getting you to your goal, but you feel like you should be doing them all the time, right? Right. You're like, well, I gotta quit that, or you beat yourself up because I well, I'm quitting. Are you or are you letting go right? Right, right. So you can pursue the big thing or the things in your life. And I think that's something where a lot of people, I mean, especially people listen, this may be entrepreneurs and uh, you know, in the fitness industry, because you know, it's it's an entrepreneurial industry, right? Basically, you get into the fitness industry, you're it's almost kind of an entrepreneur 80% of the time. Absolutely. Uh, you know, that that's a big thing because you know, I talk to a lot of people, and I'm super guilty of having like, you know, we call multi-potential. It's so many things going, right? And certain things in your life and then your relationships with your I mean, there's so many things in life that we have to do, uh, we feel that we have to do. And meanwhile, if if you uh if you look at like, well, okay, what is my why? What am I passionate about? Where am I going in my life? What's my 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 year vision, right? Of of the impact I want to make in the life I want to make for myself. Um, what can I let go of? And when you look at those things too, and this is toll segue, but we'll get back to your stuff because I think it's an important point. Is that uh by letting go. And do you ever watch curling on TV?

Absolutely, man.

You know what that you know, the the person who holds the stone, and then all of a sudden they just kind of like they're they're sliding within, then they just kind of let go, right? Yeah. Slides away. That's the way I look at things in my life, like, you know, I'm just gonna let that shit go.

That's good. That's good.

And then they're like, oh, okay, I feel better now. I can really focus on this thing. Yeah, yeah. But uh, you know, you you describe it as um when people ask, like, what is Dream Chaser? I think it's all they say, but it's an activity based dot dot dot. What what is what is that thing when people ask you what it is?

Yeah, it's uh it's an activity-based character development program. I love that. Same one more time. Yeah. Activity-based character development program.

Ah, it's so good. And uh so what is uh Dream Chasers? Like um what what do you do? What's the the uh you know what what's the processes behind it? What's the experience?

Yeah, yeah. So um it's a it's a scripted curriculum that we've developed here. Um and it goes through a six-week season in the fall and or the spring at a school site, um, and it's 12 so total sessions. So a school, for example, can run it twice a week for one hour after school for the kids at their school. And there can be up to 20 participants in that team with two coaches. Coaches come from the school or are you know parent volunteers that we provide the training for to help uh to help lead teams so that we could scale across an area. Um six-week program, what it's compiled of, we do um you know, the activity-based part of it is functional fitness components. Um, I did not want to go down a sports avenue and I played sports all my life and grew up playing sports and and and and learned a lot of values, you know, uh that I carry with me every day from sports, but um I wanted to create a functional fitness component where any skill and ability level can come in, gain traction, build confidence, get excited, have fun, and get lost in the fun and enjoyment of a team-based atmosphere. Whether you know they're travel athletes or they're they're they're kind of hesitant to do anything at recess, it's beautiful to see them come together as a team. And and we work through speed and agility, strength, balance and cardio elements where we camouflage function with fun. Um, and they do like small group challenges where they get time doing ladders or whatever. Um, just like very unique games around function. Um and then uh we have a big showdown during the session where they all come together and they play this big game and it's a collaboration of all the things they've done for the day. But the big thing is we piggyback all that on dream chaser discussion topics around passion team and grit, and we integrate that into the verbiage throughout the session so that they can be reminded about the value of everything. I mean, we we're big on teaching them to make everything around them better and all the components of being greater. Um, so encouraging teammates, you know, uh all those things are integrated into the topics and the discussion and into the games so that we can have the character development throughout a session, and then you know, obviously very specific discussion times around you know, 15 to 20 minutes of the of the session around these topics. And um that way we build team camaraderie, we have a blast, it's a great experience for the kids. Like I said, it was six weeks long, and then it ends in a dream chaser challenge obstacle course event. So every school in a certain region or area come together with their team and they link arms, war paint, you know, dream chaser headbands, all this stuff, and they take on this obstacle course challenge.

Yeah.

And the the unique thing about this is I wanted them to do it as a team. They're doing it as a team, they're going through this thing. So there's there's like little huddle zones throughout the course where they have to rally back together, yell dream chasers, and then take off again. But they're doing all these things to build each other up. And honestly, the whole reason for this is to use this whole thing as a metaphor that, you know, in life you can surround yourself with the right people, you can face your obstacles, you can overcome your obstacles, and you can reach for your finish line. You can reach for that dream that you're reaching for. Um, and you know, I I didn't say this a minute ago, but you know, we we tell these kids, I mean, you know, dreams change, but how you practice reaching for those dreams are skill sets that will help you reach for any dream, right? So this whole course and this whole program is around building them up and helping them develop the tools and the traction so that they can be dream chasers. And um, it's it's really cool and it's really awesome to see these kids finish out the season um with you know medals that proclaim I am a dream chaser and all this stuff that they get and they yell that motto. Eric, like the first time I did an event um we after we created the code that I mentioned a little bit ago, um I didn't think any of the kids would know it, right? Um I just thought, you know, they say it here and there and during the sessions, that every session they huddle and break with the dream chaser code. I didn't think they would memorize it or know it. I literally started it out. It's not easy to chase a dream, and they took over. And I stood back and I just kind of wept. And I was like, they know the motto that's gonna get them through times that I'm not gonna be there for those times, or their parents might not be there for those times, or their teammates might not be there for those tough times, but they can recite that motto that's gonna give them added assurance and confidence to keep stepping forward. And it was just a powerful moment where I realized, man, this is this is bigger, this is bigger than I ever realized. Um, and you know, I another thing that I love about the formatting of our program, you know, I mentioned that any skill and ability level, um, we've had we've had kids with disabilities participate in the program. One of my most memorable moments in the history of this organization was when um a kid that was wheelchair bound, his mom called and said, I want my son to do this. Uh, his name was Jake. Uh, I want my son to do this program. And is it even possible? And I was like, you know, um, yes, it's possible. There are things that might be limited, like in certain things, but like, let's let Jake be a part of this. Um, you know, I kept tabs on Jake all through the season. He was having a blast, he was building team camaraderie, he was he was just really enjoying his time with his teammates, and but I never thought he'd show up at the Dream Chaser Challenge, uh, and he did. And uh craziest thing, man. Uh, like their team was getting ready to to to tow the line, the start line to take off, and Jake was there um in his wheelchair, and then like as we said go, his teammates picked Jake up uh and started carrying him through the course. And it was it was powerful, powerful stuff. Like, I can't get through the story without like vividly remembering this moment. It got really dusty in my office. No, like I'm like, ah Jesus me. But but the thing that struck me more than anything, like at the end, um he there was a spider web to the finish line of rope and stuff, and um the kids were crawling through it, and his teammates were carrying him, and Jake said, No, guys, let me let me down, put me down. Um, put him back down in his chair. Jake pulled himself out of the chair and clawed, clawed his way across the finish line. And I have I have pictures of him going, like reaching for the finish line. And uh, you know, it's like that's what it is, man. Like at that moment where it was like something stuck in that kid, like that's gonna stick with him forever. Like, he just did that. Um, and he he said it out loud, I got this, guys. And it was from what he had been, you know, talking through and discussing with his teammates and and through the curriculum. And um his mom, you know, like emailed me afterward, just like going crazy about it. And I just the whole, I mean, obviously there was not a dry eye in the in the venue. Um, but it was just a moment where another one of those moments where I realized like this can't stop. This only deserves more of my effort and my attention, and it's bigger than I I am or you know, an individual is, but this is a movement that can happen, and this is a it's a game changer for kids. Um, and it can be a game changer for parents too, but yeah, it it's doing something. Um, so it's powerful, man. I mean, I just I'm just honored that I I'm I've I've been on this path and I'm I'm excited that I've kind of worked through some of the tough times when I wanted to not work through. Yeah, you know, yeah, I bet. I bet.

And uh my I keep going back to this thought too. Like, I wish there were programs like this for adults. Like, why don't we get together and play and do teamwork and just screw around, right? Like, you know, with some purpose, and how good would that be for many, many, many adults in this country uh to build a little confidence and and kind of realize because it's never too late, right? Never, you know, uh, and I think you know made a good point is like your dreams may change. My what I wanted in for my life and in my life um and for my impact has changed so much since late teens all the way through to now. You know, it's always changing, but those things you're talking about, you know, it's just these like it's this these primary drivers and organization you can way look at your life that will give you, you know, what you need to get anywhere, right? Right, right. Anywhere. Really, right? That's really cool. And um so where where like what is your reach now? Where how many? I know you do like how is it organized? There's chapters, there's you know, you at the headquarters, like what does the organization look like now?

And um people kind of uh so it's an umbrella system uh under our nonprofit. Um, and we form chapters across the country um that are chapter executive directors that are running and trying to grow school um school awareness and participation and support in their communities individually or regions. So um, yeah, we're in geez, um, I think 10 states now. Awesome. Um, but what's really cool is that with this new shift of the organization um and our our ability to scale a little bit more now, like we've it's been very organic and grassroots to this point, um, but we are moving more toward the intentional effort of growing and scaling chapters um at a more rapid pace across the nation. I want to be in 20 states in two years. Uh that's our goal for the organization. And um I don't see why we can't do that. Um and just reach more dream chasers. But yeah, it's umbrella system. We have chapters formed. Uh, you know, we we we look for people that are hungry to make an impact, people that are connected in their community, um, that want to invest time into growing a nonprofit in their area, but we're essentially a nonprofit in a box where you are provided resources and guidance and support and the culture around the chapter. Uh we call them dream team members. So our dream team, our executive directors across the country. We collaborate and we work hand in hand because everything that we talk about with Passion Team and Grit, that is how we operate as an organization. And we believe in team and family and and pulling together and working to overcome together. Um, so that's the culture that's driving now amongst our chapters toward growing new chapters.

Well, what states are you in currently? I mean, obviously North Carolina, right?

Yes. Um, Florida, Illinois, and forgive me if I don't, I forget some of these off the bat. Um Florida, Illinois, Indiana, uh, Pennsylvania, uh, Cincinnati, Ohio. Uh we're in um Medford, Oregon. We're launching a chapter in Medford, Oregon. Nice. Um, we are doing um some kind of like they're called light chapters, but they're not really, it's not a full-blown chapter yet, but there's schools going in an area, and it's kind of the seed planter for getting new chapters. But uh Alexandria, Virginia, um, there's another, there's four chapters in uh, well, three chapters in North Carolina, um, but there's a fourth site um in Western North Carolina doing that as well. Um, man, um, I'm forgetting, I'm forgetting a few. Um that's cool.

I mean, what is and what is a chapter entail? Like, you know, if someone's listening right now, they're like, ooh, this sounds like you struck a chord with me. I I want to look into to being part of this. What does like a chapter entail? What um, you know, what are kind of the key um personnel needed to run a chapter? What does that look like from an organizational standpoint standpoint?

Yeah, yeah. Um, so just from a chapter executive director applicant, it's gonna be really around learning the heart of that person, learning the the driver of that person, and then looking at the resources that person brings to the table to grow in their area. So, like I said, um the network capability in a community, um, your passion around sharing what it is and your um your ability to get out in the community and share that and grow that and and become a leader to create followers that um will invest in you know, spreading the word with you as a chapter executive director. Um chapter executive director is required to form a board of advisors around them that will help support their efforts. Um, and then we also have the personnel here in the offices at headquarters to, like I said, provide resources on everything from you know, we provide your website, your insurance, um, your resources as far as like the the handouts, the registration protocol, like like when you're getting into schools and starting a season. Um, we have your Dream Chaser Challenge schematic um with all the obstacles, like it really is based around if that that person in that community has the ability to create um like volunteer pipelines and things that they can get people engaged, if that's the kind of person that can lead that charge. Um, you know, and with everything, um, time is is you know very, very valuable in growing something. So um just kind of being able to recognize the availability of time around the effort that you can put into growing it. But we literally provide every step from from day one like training through everything that we are and who we are, we always start with who we are. We always start with the root system and the heartbeat of what our organization is about and learning the verbiage and learning everything about it, um, and then stepping them into just a whole step-by-step process. It's very, I wanted to create this organization to where um from a coach's standpoint at a school, they never had to ask, what do I do or how do I do it? And also from a chapter executive standpoint, leading an area and trying to get schools and support, I never want them to say, What am I doing and how do I do it? I want to provide that. So all they need to be thinking about is why they're doing it and the excitement around the passion that they have to spread the word and grow the awareness of it.

Nice. Yeah, awesome, man. Um what how does it get started? Like if someone wants to do a chapter, is there an investment? Is there um, you know, what what does that look like from that perspective?

Yeah, so um so to start, uh one is just application. We go through the application, we we um feed through that so that we can recognize the person. Uh, and then there's a $2,500 chapter startup fee, and that honestly goes toward some of the things that get you established as a chapter. One, it goes toward your ending obstacle course challenge like stuff. Uh, so that helps you um, you know, get that all the way up front. And that's a piping system that um I've created so that we can like actually put this on any surface, anywhere, anytime. Cool. Um, set it up, tear it down, all that stuff. Uh, but it it just helps this like get the chapter kickstarted with the odds and ends of of the stuff, like website setup, you know, everything from business cards to all that stuff, you know. It just we want to prepare our chapter executive director right out of the gate with the opportunity for quick impact. So it's essentially going to help provide resources for that chapter executive director to launch fast.

Awesome. And how do you guys at a chapter level, how do you measure success? What what do you think makes chapters successful? Yeah, give give some idea if, you know, because people may be listening, they're like, well, I you know, I'm interested, but would I be good at this?

Absolutely. Um so man, this has been the biggest learning curve ever on our side. It's just like, you know, um operational sustainability and like just like uh just ongoing growth and maintaining your your momentum and passion and all that around it. Um one thing that we're doing to ensure success is one team collaboration consistently all the time. We are we are going to be there, whether you know you're you're peer-to-peer with another chapter executive director talking about what works, or you're talking to us on a bi-weekly or monthly call to talk about your goals and set up. Um, previously, we were too long-term in setting our goals as far as like keeping the uh a chapter executive director like in front of their objectives and goals. So we would do it almost seasonally and recognize that was too far out. So now we have cadence calls set up around monthly goals and objectives that each individual chapter is trying to reach and their focus that will actually align with their long-term goals and vision. So it's a very consistent reflection and an assessment of what they're reaching for. Does it align with what their overall goals are? And we pair conversations up to that all the time. Like with me, I'm talking to every chapter executive director bi-weekly right now for a 30-minute call. Um, our VP of operations, Jason, um, he's on the call once a month with them, realigning and resetting their monthly goals in advance. Um, and then once a month they're on peer-to-peer calls with other chapter executive directors talking about what's going on and um how they're doing certain things and working together to build those relationships. But um, so we collaborate consistently. Um, and we also um we also communicate consistently because uh I'm sorry, not communicate. We celebrate consistently. Not so we collaborate you know with each other and then we celebrate. I think it's a huge thing to to just always celebrate the steps and to reflect on the advancements that we're making, and that culture is becoming very rich to where we can celebrate together and and actually encourage one another through that. And um, it's a really cool team bonding experience, but that's also how we actually recognize success with our chapters. Um, and then uh yeah, so that's kind of that's kind of it. We're just like we're pretty much saying we're gonna be consistently focused on what we need to be doing, how we need to be doing it, why we need to be doing it, and we're working together with you in doing so.

Yeah. Yeah. It it's it's it's amazing. And I think uh, you know, it's so aligned with the fitness industry because you know, I've I've interviewed so many people, I talked to so many people on a weekly basis. And the cool thing about the fitness uh and health industry is that um, and I believe this for most people, I believe they say it authentically, is they really get into the industry because they want to help people. You know, you get a lot of people who come from like, you know, um I was, you know, some corporate job or an attorney, but I left because it just wasn't fulfilling me. And I got into the fitness industry because I really like to help people and I'm passionate about it. So you have an industry that's filled with passionate people. Yeah, right. Yeah. And uh it just seems so well aligned. And if people are wondering, you know, if if we can give you any extra incentive in this, is like having a nonprofit in a box, right? Um I it it's I can't if you ever try to start one, or if you have like we had a charity event in our gym we ran every year, you know, strength to give, and it was one day. Um that one day took six to eight weeks of promotion, partnership talks, all these things. So we would partner up with a different charity every year. And you know, at the end of the day, at the end of this, this event, you know, we anywhere between eight and fourteen thousand dollars were given to a local charity, and it was amazing. And not only did it feel incredible, right? Like just walking to the office with that check, right? Yeah, like here you go. And uh it felt so good. The whole day was great. Um, the community got behind it. You know, it it wasn't just the feel good moment, and obviously the the purpose of doing and of giving back, but what it did for for my community as a gym owner, right? Soliciting it, you know, um the marketing perspective and the per and the PR and all of those things that brought attention to our community and our gym and our business. Invaluable, right? Right. It was worth absolutely from a business, it was worth thousands of dollars of ad spend on Facebook, right? Yes. You know, next thing you know, it gives you a reason to talk to people, it gives you, you know, um you know ways to connect with people who you maybe wouldn't have connected with before. You know, I I formed a partnership with our local police department, um, the fire department, um, all these things that I never would have I I don't think they would if I had just called, hey, it's Eric was, you know, grab some gym owner. They'd be like, yeah, whatever, click, right? So say, hey, I have a local charity event or I'm working on this local charity thing. Could you be helped? Everyone wants to help. And that's the cool thing about it. I think the value can't be understated if you are a fitness professional out there and you are a gym owner or whatever it may be, and you have a community, you have a tribe, there's no better way to to solidify that and build and grow than giving back. And um it just makes a lot of sense to me. And like I don't know, have you ever read the book The Go Giver?

No, but I will.

Yeah, I'll buy it for you. It's a little, it's just a little um you know it's uh a parable. It's a short parable. If you haven't read it it's amazing. It just talks about how you know the best the best business uh tactic or life tactic for for growing or strategy is just to give right be out there giving the more you give it does come back. Absolutely I think that's a huge thing is like and it's okay. Like if you're listening to like well it sounds kind of selfish if I do it for my business. It's not it's okay. You can be right focused on your business and give back and have a win-win in both cases. And I think that's something that uh I hope a lot of people turn into and explore. Um because it just seems to make a lot of sense, right?

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean and and now with you know explaining the program, you know, it it was Excel to fitness. Now it's called Dream Chasers Organization. Um and now with all of that we're you know there's more chance to expand our impact because before it was a boys only program um for the only only for the reason of I was a young man dealing with you know when I created this of lost my father and that was the the relatable route to take um growing this now and expanding this into also girl programming and girl teams so boy teams and girl teams in a community and the all the added community involvement pieces that we will implement around our Dream Chaser Challenge and ways to form teams and all that stuff like I mean there's no reason why you can't catch a community on fire like it's doing you know in other places across the the country and and the people that are listening in their your communities and stuff. Yeah yeah and uh you know there there's a simple rule um that it took me a long time to to learn and you know if if you're not if you're looking to build relationships with people who may not know you may not be in your sphere of influence yet if you're not leading with value then get the F out of the way right like like if you're not if you're if you like hey that's a partnership I would like to have right um if you're not if you're calling up and saying hey I'd like to buy you a cup of coffee or pick your brain whatever someone calls me and says that like hey no don't got time if they say if you're leading with value be like hey I'd like you know I have a charitable organization I would like to um you know talk to you about highlighting you as a partner within our organization people are like oh this guy's serious right this woman's serious and it's it's just uh it's a really good way to to open those doors and I can't emphasize that enough I want to keep repeating it because it's so important right yes um value driven it's value driven yeah it's value driven and it's uh it's a piece that most people miss unfortunately um man can you believe we've been talking for 45 minutes I can't man I can I mean this is this is fun this is a lot of fun you should do more podcasts um so give us some insights man where where do we uh people want to get in touch with Stephen Vaughn they want to find out more about dream chasers um where where do you send them what's a good place absolutely uh what the new website uh that just recently launched dreamchasers.org um that that's where you can find a lot of information about everything from who we are what we do and how to launch a chapter or be engaged um and then you know my personal email is steven at dreamchasers.org that's s t e p-h-en at dreamchasers.org but um yeah shoot me an email or check out the website and there's a connect form on there but you can find all you need on there and um we just we're we just want to be prepared to serve and serve with excellence. That's what I I talk to our leaders all the time. Let's serve with excellence. Let's do everything we can to serve others well and and just deliver this thing in a powerful way so that we can impact kids and you know impact them to and empower them to overcome their obstacles and chase their dreams. And I we're we I wanted to start that with the leaders first and create that culture and that mindset. And um you said it very well value driven um you know with with uh people miss that a lot um you know so we put that first and foremost and serve well we want to serve well and we would love to serve you well um and we'd love to serve our listeners well and um we would love you to serve your community through this very well and with excellence. So I I'm ready to hear from some people and uh I'm ready to get this thing across the nation.

Yeah right on man well you you heard it guys so if you're listening take take some time to think about it if you're interested and and reach out to Steven just ask him questions. He's a great resource for for whatever it is you know charitable or if you just need to get fired up right call Steven. Shit awesome uh well right on man um thank you so much Steven it's always a pleasure uh ladies and gentlemen Stephen Vaughn thank you man hey fitness fans don't leave yet it's your host Eric Malzone and I have a quick favor to ask actually three favors so number one if you're a fan of our show I asked you to do something it takes under three minutes. Go to iTunes please and subscribe to our show please please please it means so much to us it's so important and then give us a favorable review we would really really appreciate it and uh I can't tell you how much it means and helps us out. So it only takes two minutes of your day and uh it means a lot to us. So please do that. Number two, go to our YouTube channel or Fitness Marketing Alliance and uh please subscribe to our YouTube channel there. Number three, if you like this episode or any of the episodes that we've released share it on social. That's huge. That's a big deal for us and where we put a lot of work into these episodes uh trying to give you great actionable content uh for the fitness industry so that would mean a lot and that's it so we have some big plans coming up for this show I'll be talking about that in the next couple episodes but thank you so much for listening it means so much and uh if you have any questions please reach out to me I'd love to hear from everybody. Eric E R I C at fitnessmarketingalliance com