381: Adam Braun | Pencils of Promise

An ordinary person can create extraordinary change. "One of the biggest things missing in the non-profit space is the sense of for-profit business acumen." -Adam Braun The Cheat Sheet: How much money did he start Pencils of Promise with? Why must all communities that receive a school contribute 20%? Why non-profits can sometimes have adverse effects. What are the three forms of compensation? Adam shares what to consider when making your next career move. And so much more... Many of us dream about giving back, adding meaning to our lives and making a positive impact in the world. But how many of us do anything with that dream or even think we're still capable of pursuing it? Adam Braun of Pencils of Promise has pursued his passion for education and has now written his book, The Promise of a Pencil, to inspire and show the rest of us it's not too late and that ordinary people can create extraordinary change. Join us as we chat about that topic and more on episode 381 of The Art of Charm. More About This Show: Founding an educational non-profit wasn't always a dream of Adam Braun's. Born in NYC, he moved to the suburbs of Connecticut when he was a small child. His parents always placed a strong emphasis on education and he went to one of the best public schools available. He played basketball while in school and saw the distinct economic gap that existed. Some of his teammates lived in the worst neighborhoods while others lived in large mansions. He was fascinated by this and asked the parents who lived in the mansions what they did for work. The resounding answer: Wall Street. By 13 he was obsessed with getting a job on Wall Street and opened his own trading account. At 16 he spent a summer interning at a hedgefund and at 20 he was exactly where he wanted to be: he was playing collegiate basketball for Brown University, studying economics and on his way to his dream career on Wall Street. All of that changed when he did a program called "Semester at Sea". It's a collegiate program in which students and faculty spend a semester on a cruise ship traveling and exploring 10 different countries. Students and professors and administrators come from over 200 different schools to participate and Adam was one of them. Their first stop was South Korea, but on their way they were caught in a superstorm. Their ship was hit by a rogue 60-foot wave that knocked out their power and navigation system. When the announcement came to get to their muster stations everyone, including the adults on board, believed they were going to die. After a few minutes though, Adam knew he was meant to do more than simply die at sea at the age of 21. A feeling of calm came over him, and soon everyone onboard was safe. They continued their semester at sea and Adam enjoyed the backpacking and exploring of each country. As a project during his travels he asked a child in every country what their dream was. In India one child's answer floored him. The child simply wanted a pencil. When Adam handed him his own pencil the child lit up. That experience was the origin of Pencils of Promise. On today's episode we talk about the steps he took to building his non-profit after that experience, why it's been so wildly successful (people like Lewis Howes and Gary Vaynerchuk sit on the board) and how he wrote The Promise of a Pencil. He also shares how stepping away as the CEO of PoP actually helped the organization to grow and thrive, and he explains how you can apply his same lessons learned to your business. It was a pleasure to have Adam here and to find out the fascinating story behind Pencils of Promise. Listen in, enjoy and then join me in thanking Adam for being here with us. We'll see you next time on The Art of Charm. THANKS ADAM BRAUN! If you enjoyed this session of The Art of Charm Podcast, let Adam know by clicking on the link below and sending him a quick shout out on Twitter: Click here to thank Adam on Twitter! Resources from this episode: Pencils of Promise web siteAdam Braun's personal web siteThe Promise of a Pencil, by Adam Braun Email Adam here to raise money for PoP Pencils of Promise on Twitter The Art of Charm bootcamps   You'll also like: -The Art of Charm Toolbox-Best of The Art of Charm Podcast Wanna leave a comment? Too bad! Email me instead (we read everything)!   HELP US SPREAD THE WORD! If you dug this episode, please subscribe in iTunes and write us a review! This is what helps us stand out from all the fluff out there. FEEDBACK + PROMOTION Hit us up with your comments and guest suggestions. We read EVERYTHING. Download the FREE AoC app for iPhone Email [email protected] Give us a call at 888.413.7177 Stay Charming!