The post Two Young NonProfit Leaders, Sobel & Rojas, Co-Founders, Lazarus Rising, Solutions For Combating Homelessness Show 020 first published on mitchellchadrow.com
0:00you’re listening to the listen up show
0:01dart of entrepreneur podcast I’m
0:03Mitchell Chad row your host today on
0:05this show zero to zero today we’re here
0:08with matobo and Matthew Roja so what do
0:11we actually learn bounders azeris rising
0:14a non-profit and how they actually
0:17structured the organization what their
0:19mission is and what the purpose of
0:21Lazarus rising is how they created
0:23volunteer college network of students
0:26the challenges that they faced by the
0:28organization building up resumes for for
0:31startups that are trying to turn a
0:35profit versus what they do they actually
0:38build resumes for homeless and at-risk
0:40individuals and the power of
0:42bootstrapping
0:43we also talk to them a little bit about
0:45their outside involvement with other
0:48organizations to help them build their
0:51leadership and their character and their
0:52values for the nonprofit the
0:54partnerships that they formed to expand
0:56their organization from their board of
0:59advisers to the local chapters at other
1:01college campuses how they utilize free
1:04resources and the skills learned from
1:07outside involvement as I mentioned
1:09before from the organizations that they
1:12are involved with to help them with
1:14their nonprofit success it’s your
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2:07show well we don’t just have one Matthew
2:10we actually have to guess
2:13at Rojas and Matt’s oboe on this show
2:15zero to zero
2:16Lazarus rising is a nonprofit
2:19organization that started out at the
2:22University of Delaware but quickly
2:24expanded across the United States to ten
2:27other universities replicating their
2:30solutions and the services that they
2:32provide at risk and the homeless they
2:34are truly an inspiration to everyone in
2:38terms of what each and every one of us
2:40have the capability of being able to do
2:42Lazarus rising again as a nonprofit
2:45organization and they were able to
2:48streamline the process in starting their
2:50501c3 they also were able to use free
2:54resources even at the library and also
2:57use volunteers across college campuses
3:00not only at the University of Delaware
3:03but at all the other college campuses
3:05that they’ve expanded to as well as
3:08expanding to other homeless shelters
3:11throughout the various universities that
3:14they’re working now enjoy the show so
3:17thanks for joining us guys hey thanks a
3:20lot
3:20excellent so we’re excited that both of
3:23you are on the podcast and we’re just
3:25going to tell everybody to listen up
3:27because like I said not only do we have
3:29one but we have two Matthew’s Rojas and
3:31Sobel and we want to learn a little bit
3:34about how you actually teamed up and
3:36I’ve read some articles that says that
3:38you know you guys really want to change
3:39the world so we’ve kind of been waiting
3:41long enough so can you tell us a little
3:43bit about what Lazarus rising project
3:46actually is and and and how you two
3:48actually teamed up with one another
3:50sure so this is this is Matt Roja so
3:52weatherizing in a nutshell aim to
3:55effectively combat homelessness in our
3:58country in the United States through the
4:00provision of job placement skills by
4:04combining skill volunteerism provided by
4:06college students to people experiencing
4:08homelessness in their respective
4:10communities and so what we do is we
4:12provide things like a resume the Ling
4:14job interview preparation and job online
4:16portal and job online application
4:19training and it’s been tremendous
4:22experience to work with this
4:24organization and be able to start it
4:26with Matt
4:27plan I’m over the past couple of years
4:29and we’ve really seen so much success
4:31and are excited to keep moving forward
4:32so how we got started is actually a
4:35funny story so we’re both students at
4:38the University of Delaware writing teen
4:40years so a couple years ago when I was a
4:42freshman student I was applying for
4:44something for an internship and I wanted
4:48to have my resume as competitive as
4:49possible so I took that resume to my
4:52older upperclassman friend Dave and had
4:53them take a look at and to my surprise
4:56he actually was pretty critical and I
4:58have a lot to change and I realized a
5:02couple things so one if me from my
5:05pretty fortunate background is having
5:07trouble with this sort of thing people
5:09and much less fortunate circumstances
5:11must be in pretty dire straits and then
5:13secondly I was introduced to the
5:15remarkable fluency with which college
5:18students have with the job application
5:22process so we as college students are
5:24constantly formatting resumes ducking
5:26interviews and looking for jobs online
5:28because we’re doing this all the time
5:31for internships and then for jobs
5:32towards the end of college and even just
5:34to get into college you have to do a lot
5:36of that stuff with the common
5:38application and so basically my ball
5:42went off I just put two and two together
5:44and I asked my friend Dave if he would
5:47be willing to grant gather some of his
5:49other smart friends and we could host a
5:51free resume workshop at the local
5:53homeless shelter and he said yes and I
5:55called the homeless shelter and I asked
5:58if we could have some student volunteers
5:59come in and run this workshop they said
6:01yes and we walked in I didn’t really
6:04know what we were doing at all but we’re
6:05just knew we were there to help these
6:07people I mean it we thought we had still
6:10and we could add some value so you had
6:12this app if you had this epiphany both
6:15Matthews that gee you want to give back
6:18you know that there’s a this idea that
6:20you came up with and you wanted to get
6:24started but you didn’t know exactly you
6:26know how to move forward so how did you
6:28how did you start to build on this idea
6:31exactly so so this is really where Matt
6:34comes in so so we went to that first
6:36place and to our delight and pleasant
6:39surprise
6:40we work
6:40two people and one of them actually got
6:42a job just a few weeks later and all he
6:44needed was a resume um and we really
6:48introduced to the fact that so many
6:50people experiencing homelessness can and
6:52should be working or being stopped by a
6:54lot of these things that a lot of us
6:55take for granted
6:56but in order to keep this this novel
6:58idea and really make it feasible and
7:01applicable to achieve significant impact
7:04I needed some additional expertise in
7:07business motivational leadership and so
7:10that’s where Matt came in we have been
7:12on student government together freshman
7:14year and so I knew who he was and I knew
7:16he was a really brilliant compassionate
7:18guy and I asked him if he wanted to do
7:21this with me and he said yes our startup
7:24around for all your hosting needs head
7:27on over to Mitchell Chad Road comm slash
7:30hosting Mitchell Chad Road comm flash
7:33hosting for all your web hosting need
7:35who do you use to host this website now
7:38it sounds it sounds as if this is a
7:40non-profit is it a non-profit or is it a
7:43for-profit corporation that you’ve set
7:46up or is it actually a partnership so
7:49this is a nonprofit organization where
7:51Lazarus rising is a 501 C 3 organization
7:54and did the school have resources to
7:57help you and the wherewithal to actually
7:59you know vial and get the nonprofit
8:01status help you file for the the tax
8:03returns and you know someone to help you
8:05you know with endowments and things of
8:08that nature how do you how do you get
8:09the resources to help you you know with
8:11that wherewithal I love to China know
8:15for it go for it jump right in who is it
8:17Sobel or oh yeah yeah so this is also
8:19Nakata how do we get the resources right
8:21so so Matt comes in and I get this
8:23letter we both attend the University of
8:25Delaware and we had been told I hear
8:28that Matt is doing this incredible thing
8:30he went to this homeless shelter and he
8:31saw incredible success I happen to be
8:34very service oriented as a you know a
8:36high school student but I never felt
8:38like I had that that special something
8:40where I was applying you know you know
8:42skilled volunteerism but I happen to be
8:45a very you know dedicated business
8:47student and I had a lot of friends who
8:48had this resource and who had this you
8:51know this drive to help the community
8:52but they didn’t want to serve soup
8:54soup kitchen not saying that that’s not
8:55okay but they want to apply their
8:57business acumen to a volunteering
9:00organization so so we hear this from
9:03that and we ended up helping that devise
9:05this program model and then long story
9:07short the the school we talked to them
9:12about you know helping us kind of put
9:14together some resources and that’s where
9:15they put us a touch of style of faith so
9:17Matt you want to talk about our
9:18conversation with start with faith yeah
9:21sure
9:22so we were put in touch with with Sara
9:25who is working in the Health Sciences
9:29Department at school and she also
9:31started this amazing organization called
9:33Maurice hands which matches college
9:36student volunteers who are interested in
9:38health sciences absolutely from all all
9:41different backgrounds of help with with
9:43live in aid to people who are who need
9:46that sort of thing and so she had
9:49experience as a student uh transitioning
9:52an idea into a club into a non-profit
9:55vision and so we were able to speak with
9:57her and she was really able to point us
9:59in in great directions with things that
10:04she wish she she knew when she was in
10:06our position what worked well what
10:07didn’t work well and what word is that
10:10what worked well for her that she she
10:11imparted on you and in terms of wisdom
10:14sure select for example um in order to
10:18file as a non-profit if you uh if you
10:22generate over a certain amount of
10:24revenue which I forget what the with the
10:27figure is a might be fifty thousand
10:28dollars you’re probably really complete
10:31yeah you can do the complete application
10:33however if you are planning on
10:36generating under that amount of revenue
10:37you can do what’s called the easy
10:39application which is a much more
10:41streamlined way to become a nonprofit
10:43organization and without speaking with
10:45her we would have been you know in a
10:48much more difficult position trying to
10:49complete much looking for and and so
10:55what what have you been doing to raise
10:57funds for your nonprofit and get out
10:59into the community what what type of
11:01systems do you have in place and and
11:03other student volunteers that you’re
11:05sort of bringing into the the organ is
11:08to help sure so we are leaving really
11:14fortunate to receive some financial help
11:16from a few different sources so the
11:19University of Delaware our school has
11:21been really great with their support for
11:24Lazarus rising and what we do so in
11:27particular there is a group called the
11:31horn program which is the program for
11:34entrepreneurship at our school and
11:37within that there’s a program called
11:38venture on which allows young student
11:42entrepreneurs social or otherwise to
11:46just get a ton of different resources
11:47and one of them being funding and so
11:50they helped us fund us we received some
11:53funding for winning some or placing in
11:57some competitions including on the pitch
12:00competition for that the school put on
12:05and so what we did was we were the
12:07pitcher idea and we placed so we were
12:09able to receive monetary award and
12:11actually the founder of football at who
12:13you also spoke with actually one matter
12:16as a matter of fact we we interviewed
12:18Chris in our show zero one seven so
12:21anybody who wants to listen to that at
12:22Mitchell chadroy calm slash zero one
12:25seven and actually Amira address who we
12:28also spoke to yeah those zero one one
12:31six you know that you can listen to it
12:33Mitchell chadroy calm slash zero one six
12:35and chris linn at mitchell chad road
12:37calm slash show zero one seven it sounds
12:40as if like there is a lot of
12:42entrepreneurial spirit on the University
12:45of Delaware’s campus how do your friends
12:48take to this because I mean are there a
12:50lot of a lot of your friends doing
12:52startups thinking about startups maybe
12:54maybe talk to us a little bit about some
12:57of their challenges in getting started
12:59or what you what you have found among
13:02the friends there that you have I’m sure
13:04Matt you’re gonna take this one sure
13:06though regards the challenges obviously
13:08our our program model relies heavily on
13:11you know the population of the students
13:13that are dedicating their time to
13:14helping these people so one of the
13:16hardest challenges we face early on was
13:18do we have enough you know volunteers
13:20student volunteers
13:21you know satisfy the amount of
13:23participants and the homeless people
13:24that were working with uh you know
13:25prising Lee
13:26we had outstanding reaction from the
13:29student groups that were involved with
13:30so you know coming from the investment
13:33club which is you know a student-run
13:34long equity funds at the University of
13:36Delaware
13:37you know allocates part of their
13:38endowment to we found that a lot of the
13:40students there were actually really
13:42dedicated and interested in providing
13:44some other service and you know maybe
13:45the exact opposite of no Investment
13:47Banking might be providing three
13:49services but they happen to be really
13:51interested in through that we started to
13:53build this volunteer base and now know
13:55what the name of that endowment fund
13:56because have you been able to get other
13:58endowments to also contribute funds to
14:02to the project and if so you know what
14:06type of resources are here to help you
14:08actually write those grants right
14:10alright so we actually have our chief
14:14financial officers name is his name is
14:16James Elia and and this may be the fake
14:19up to sever surprise but James or Jim we
14:22like to call him via he happened to hear
14:24about this organization through the
14:26investment club so it’s called the blue
14:27head investment club or B hick for short
14:29and we actually gathered you know a lot
14:31of the resources from the library Jim
14:34said you know I’d love to be a part of
14:36this project and the best way I can help
14:37is you know just to do my own research
14:39and look into the legal and the
14:42financial legal sources so while he’s
14:45you know writing small grants just
14:47through you know the things he’s got
14:49online he’s actually helped us you know
14:52achieve that easy 501c3 status that that
14:55man and I would have never been able to
14:56accomplish without his help right so so
14:59listen up audience out there trusted
15:01friends community there’s a lot that you
15:03can do by just actually bootstrapping
15:06and in this case it’s a non-profit but
15:09it’s the same concept whether you have a
15:11not-for-profit as the Mathews do or
15:14whether you’re a for-profit entity and
15:17you want to learn how to do something on
15:19your own or find some resources like you
15:22have right on your own campus there at
15:24the University of Delaware to basically
15:26help you um you know continue to grow
15:30you know the nonprofit organization
15:33which I which I think is sue
15:34let me ask you I see here Matt Rojas is
15:39going to marine Officer Candidate School
15:42and he’s going to be a commissioned
15:44officer
15:45second lieutenant um how has that
15:48actually helped you in in being able to
15:50develop this nonprofit you know the type
15:53of skill set that you’re learning there
15:56that basically helps you you know
15:58continue to grow this nonprofit sure so
16:03um I think going through some Marine
16:06Corps training so far at Officer
16:08Candidate School has helped me in a
16:11number of ways I think the things that
16:14we are taught and the things that are in
16:17rained enough at training like that are
16:20really invaluable so we’re taught how to
16:22think critically under conditions of
16:25extreme stress and pressure we are
16:28taught to lead people of different
16:31backgrounds how to really inspire
16:32someone um you know we’re taught a value
16:35set you know composed of honor courage
16:38and commitment um that is really driven
16:41and fired up the service oriented
16:44direction allow socializing you know and
16:48just really the the ability to to be
16:53adaptable to be flexible and to be able
16:56to be successful under all different
16:58types of conditions and situations has
17:01really helped us out of you’ve continued
17:03to grow and overcome and adapt with
17:07every situation that come down right
17:09mm-hmm
17:10now you mentioned about building up a
17:12resume and obviously as a college
17:15student you know there’s a lot of
17:16different things that students are
17:18getting involved with some of course are
17:21doing for-profit startups they’re
17:23they’re young entrepreneurs others like
17:25yourselves are doing a non-profit and
17:28helping the homeless I also see here
17:31that you’re involved in in Bible study
17:34as a leader and again you know talk to
17:38us a little bit about some of the things
17:39that you have learned as a leader that
17:43are that’s actually helping you continue
17:45to grow the nonprofit
17:47and what you’re doing really to take the
17:50the nonprofit you know to the next level
17:52as you as you would define it sure so um
17:58I guess there’s a lot of stuff in there
18:01so I can pack that um so just in a more
18:03general sense uh things that I learn as
18:06a leader through Lazarus rising through
18:10watching Matt as a leader Matt soul as a
18:12leader in this organization learning
18:13from him and just there were various
18:16different things from Marine Corps
18:16training lead to class a group etc I’ve
18:20just learned uh you know you hit on it
18:23before just you to never give up
18:25alright I think that you’re always going
18:29to encounter difficulties is starting
18:31something right having an idea and
18:33saying okay hey I’m not just going to
18:35pass the buck this time I’m actually
18:37going to take some initiative and try to
18:39solve this problem myself because who
18:41knows I might work out and you might end
18:42up helping all that otherwise would not
18:44have received now learning how to work
18:46with all different types of people you
18:48know not everyone is from your
18:49background and have can use school of
18:51thought that you adhere to um
18:53but you have to respect that you have to
18:54learn from differences with other people
18:57and grow through mutual respect and just
19:00your open-mindedness um you know like
19:03for example the population of
19:05participants that we work with you are
19:06generally from different backgrounds
19:08that our own but we you know learn as
19:12leaders to use that as you know to our
19:15advantage where do you find the people
19:17to help you you know help help the the
19:21individuals who are either at-risk or
19:23homeless you know prepare their resumes
19:27and and sort of help prepare them for
19:30interviewing and sort of getting into
19:33their first job where have you found
19:36that help so are you asking us where we
19:39find our volunteers or you have yeah
19:41well that that and and you know it is
19:43kind of specialized so you know I don’t
19:45know if you’re also working with social
19:47workers in terms of you know helping
19:49them transition into a new community or
19:53a new role I mean I used to be on a
19:55housing corporation and I used to
19:57with at-risk and homeless families you
19:59know providing you know not only housing
20:02but we used to provide social workers
20:04and you know highly skilled people that
20:06can help them in these areas so you know
20:08yes where are you finding higher skilled
20:11people to help them with the resume to
20:13help train them for you know
20:15interviewing success and getting into
20:18the companies and networking with the
20:19various companies that will allow them
20:21to get into the various companies sure
20:25well so that’s actually the beauty of
20:26lazar time is that our pool of
20:29volunteers
20:30well not restricted to college students
20:33is majority college students and the
20:37reason is is the skilled volunteers and
20:39that Matt and I both had on earlier or
20:41as college students were remarkably
20:42fluid with the draft application process
20:44and with a little bit of standardized
20:46training on our end really any college
20:49student just by virtue of being a
20:51college student and having to apply for
20:52internships and jobs and just applying
20:55to college you already know everything
20:57you need to know to fill someone up a
21:00really fantastic resume help prepare
21:02them for an interview and then actually
21:04help them get a job so at any one time
21:07right now how many volunteers do you
21:09have that’s a lot better
21:13so yeah sorry sorry yeah also great so
21:17well we’re actually I’m not sure if you
21:20know this Mitchell but we’re actually a
21:21national organization so we spread
21:23across several schools across the
21:25country including Binghamton up in
21:27upstate New York as well as Stony Brook
21:30University in New York we’re also
21:32working with northwestern not in Chicago
21:34so we really spread ourselves quite far
21:38and each chapter varies in size however
21:40you know it’s kind of based off of where
21:43we see the need and how many shelters
21:44we’ve created relationships with in
21:46those areas no wood – yeah
21:49taken that you’ve taken this local
21:52nonprofit organization and are you are
21:55you telling us that you’ve actually been
21:57able to now replicate this at other
21:59university areas for other homeless and
22:02at-risk individuals that’s exactly what
22:06I’m telling you and I believe that it
22:08it’s pretty pretty simply
22:10it’s clearly because the program model
22:13that we kind of devised here is
22:15extremely scalable you know I’m sure you
22:19know this but there’s universities
22:20across the country and just like that
22:22there’s also shelters and there’s people
22:24in need across the country as well but
22:26we’ve kind of just found this perfect
22:28spot where college students are in that
22:30interim like Matt talked about before
22:31where they’re they’re completely capable
22:33of providing that job search training
22:35all while providing that service for
22:38free because they’re so volunteer
22:40oriented see I’m so over-the-top
22:44impressed with not only both of you but
22:48these other young entrepreneurs that not
22:50only have I interviewed but you know I’m
22:53so impressed with the faculty at UD you
22:56know horn program I mean and also the
22:58maturity the poise the grace I mean you
23:01know these are like Rockstar ideas that
23:04you’re happening by replicating this and
23:06I know we talked a little bit earlier
23:07about how you came on to this idea but
23:10who then decided okay you know we’re
23:13here in our little local community we’re
23:15going to really expand this thing Wow um
23:21yeah that was that go ahead Tommy sure
23:26so I think that was a group decision I
23:28think collectively we are also excited
23:31at the success that we were having in
23:34Delaware and we are aware that you know
23:38there are three and a half million
23:39homeless people need out of states every
23:41single people who experience
23:42homelessness and this problem was was so
23:45much larger than just what was going on
23:48in Delaware and we have a solution that
23:51could really potentially help those
23:53people out and we are really doing them
23:55a disservice and doing the organization
23:58Lazarus I think a disservice by not
24:00doing everything we could to get them
24:01the same help that we were giving the
24:03people in Delaware and so we just we
24:06just looked into it and we reached out
24:08to some of our friends that we had at
24:09other school told them about the idea
24:11they were completely on board and said
24:13let’s give it a shot see if this works
24:14and it did we’re experiencing virtually
24:19the same if not better success at our
24:21other
24:23chapters around the country and we were
24:25so thrilled and excited to continue to
24:28expand and continue to help as many
24:30people as possible so how many how many
24:32shelters then across the country are you
24:36working with and how many chapters have
24:38you now personally helped create to
24:42replicate what you were doing here at
24:44the University of Delaware in this local
24:46area right so so the shelter number is
24:51varying every day and I’d say it’s only
24:54going up so as as we continue to extend
24:57Delaware whether it’s you know
24:59Wilmington or to the Elkton Maryland
25:01area or other chapters you know there’s
25:05there’s roughly ten chapters now and we
25:07actually are continue to expand rapidly
25:09throughout the summer as we prepare for
25:11the next semester
25:13but those ten chapters are in relations
25:17with several shelters and they’re
25:18continuing to keep those relationships
25:20and almost forming you know program
25:23models specific to those shelters so
25:25we’re actually really familiar with the
25:28women’s empowerment shelter in New York
25:30City right now are working really
25:31closely with some volunteers at fordham
25:34in in the Bronx to try and connect the
25:37two of them and that’s something special
25:39that we haven’t done yet where we
25:40haven’t really focused the program model
25:42and kind of altered it but but with that
25:44we realized that there’s so much
25:46opportunity across the country to really
25:48help and find these partnerships that
25:50are just you know coming so organically
25:52and and tell me a little bit about the
25:56makeup of your board because obviously
25:58you you know you’re you’re a non-profit
26:00as you indicated and you’re local here
26:03but yet you’re also setting up all these
26:05other as you mentioned ten chapters so
26:08how does your board operate I mean do
26:10you have a local board at each of these
26:13individual chapters to talk to us a
26:15little bit more about the structure
26:17because I think that’s critical as well
26:19in terms of decision-making and and
26:21leadership and how you’re sort of
26:24getting all of this interest
26:26building up in these pockets of areas in
26:30these different chapters that you’re
26:32also you know setting up and creating
26:37so absolutely Matt would you like to
26:39talk about the the strategic advisory
26:41council sure so um so we have five
26:47people in a more general set so we have
26:49five people including Matt and I on the
26:51on the pig national team that oversees
26:54advertising and then we have what we
26:58call a strategic advisory council of
27:00right now four people including John
27:04McNally University Delaware professor
27:06Dave saying he’s a consultant at
27:09McKinsey William Cobb who’s a consultant
27:12at POV she and Brian Townsend who is a
27:15state senator in Delaware and a
27:18candidate for the US House of
27:20Representatives right now and so they
27:24really help us out with with our
27:27strategic type is and issues and in
27:30overall operations but then going down
27:33we also have individual like executive
27:39boards at each one of these chapters so
27:41we’ll have a chapter president and then
27:43whoever they bring on on their executive
27:47team so a vice president a treasurer or
27:48secretary etc and through that we really
27:52try to be bottom head in the sense that
27:54we really try to promote creative
27:56control and give autonomy and freedom to
27:59innovate and thrive to our chapter
28:02leaders and obviously we’ve seen a lot
28:06of success with that philosophy and
28:08we’re just excited to keep growing and
28:10keep getting more and more people
28:12excited about being leaders and Lazarus
28:14rising and being leaders in this fight
28:17to rid our country of homelessness now I
28:21know that obviously this nonprofit keeps
28:25both of you extremely busy but Matt
28:28Sobel also is interning right now at a
28:32company called mote doing digital
28:34advertising so at some point are you
28:38also thinking of creating a for-profit
28:41organization or entity and have you been
28:44involved in any form
28:46it’s startups as young entrepreneurs as
28:48you are right so so my pleasure and
28:51match plan its kind of confusing but
28:53this is Matt Sobel um Matt’s plans may
28:55differ after school but for-profit is
28:59definitely you know a route that we
29:01could take I’m actually working at mode
29:04like you said before I’m interning there
29:05before my senior year and I love it I
29:08think it’s an incredible start up it’s a
29:10brand intelligence company and it’s you
29:11know transformed the way I look at
29:13digital advertising
29:14however Lazarus rising does keep us very
29:17busy especially while we’re at school
29:18and I don’t attend on you know going one
29:22way or the other I think they’re both
29:23opportunities and I don’t see myself
29:25ever you know leaving the space to go
29:27towards for-profit just because you know
29:30there’s there’s different motives there
29:32and Lazarus rises may be the person I am
29:34today what about you man yeah I mean I
29:36completely agree especially with what
29:37you said about Lazard prizing making us
29:39who we are today I think I couldn’t
29:41imagine making any amount of money that
29:44would give me the amount of joy that
29:46Lazarus rising does and a manager at
29:48serving other but I think I could speak
29:50for Matt with that and everyone else on
29:52uh III think that’s tremendous inside I
29:55just think that uh like like Matt said
29:57we’re just really excited to have this
29:58opportunity to Abuelita and you know
30:02right now I don’t think we could see
30:04ourselves doing anything now you’re
30:05young you know when I say entrepreneurs
30:07the mindset of an entrepreneur even
30:10though it’s a non-profit your leaders
30:12your business leader you know you’re
30:13extremely busy and a lot of the people
30:15that are our audience members they’re
30:18thinking about either starting a
30:19business or they might be thinking of
30:21starting a non-profit where they have an
30:23idea you know they’re always constantly
30:25pulled in different directions the first
30:2760 minutes of both of your days look
30:29like whether we’re talking about school
30:30business or work because getting into a
30:33set routine I think is important to
30:35anyone success and I think it would be
30:37interesting that people to hear about
30:39how the first 60 minutes of your day
30:41kind of looks in terms of you know
30:42getting started you know getting the
30:44right focus or whatever it is that
30:46you’re in you know you’re going to be
30:47doing for that day um so so what I
30:49actually like you is also the first
30:51thing for sixty minutes of my day could
30:53could just be classify um but typically
30:55what I like to do is wake up a little
30:57earlier and get my hardest tasks
30:59it’s done whether that be you know a big
31:02paper or you know something with Lazarus
31:05rising because this way it’s done and I
31:09could move through the day knowing that
31:11this for some reason I didn’t get
31:13anything else done I was able to get
31:16that task completed and that was my
31:17hardest and most pressing pass that I
31:20have and you know because what a lot of
31:22people will do is they’ll wait til the
31:24end of the night to really start
31:25cramming or start doing something but
31:28then not only is that not the most
31:29effective way to do that task but then
31:32also you’re not really enjoying the day
31:34and being as effective as you could be
31:35because you’re just thinking about how
31:37you want to do that so that’s typically
31:39how I like this for my days hmm what
31:41what do you guys find challenging well
31:46that’s a encompassing question I find a
31:49lot of things that we do challenging but
31:51in a good sense
31:52it’s almost motivating motivating the
31:54challenging so like you said before what
31:57do we do in the first 60 minutes of our
31:58day when matt said he accomplishes the
32:01hardest task i I generally spend the
32:04first 60 minutes of my day organizing
32:06but I really try to rely heavily on you
32:09know my calendar to make sure that I can
32:11get everything done because you know
32:13while we manage a huge profit
32:16organization and we’re working and you
32:18know we’re training for the military we
32:20also have to be full-time students um
32:22and I find that at some point there’s
32:25there’s almost not enough time in a day
32:27to figure it out but for me the hardest
32:30thing to do is really just to sort it
32:32all out
32:32and realize that there is you know there
32:34is enough minutes of the day to figure
32:36it out and I think after I get through
32:38my organization period I am good to go
32:40but I can just kind of start knocking
32:42everything thing down one by one so what
32:45do you think the worst advice that’s
32:48being given to young entrepreneurs today
32:50or we’re young you know business leaders
32:52who are you know starting these
32:54nonprofits and growing them what do you
32:57think you know some of the advice that
32:59the the people out there that are that
33:01are basically saying that that you find
33:04too
33:05not be on point sure so so for me I
33:13think one of the things that really
33:14resonates with what we’ve heard that we
33:16completely disagreed with it’s kind of
33:18made us the organization we are today a
33:21lot of people have told us to slow down
33:23we’ve been we’ve received a lot of it
33:26you know a lot of I guess advice from
33:28from whether it’s you know adults or
33:31people who are you know disagree with
33:34the model or not sure if scaling is the
33:36right solution they’re just telling us
33:39you know slow down slow down
33:40don’t don’t reach out don’t go for that
33:42you know just like try and master or
33:44trying to figure out exactly what you’re
33:46doing now but but what we see you know
33:50we think that all you know young
33:52entrepreneurs I don’t know Matt I think
33:53you agree with this is to Donna to not
33:56allow you know people who are hesitant
33:58or who don’t fully understand the model
34:00to depict exactly how you shouldn’t want
34:03it and I think it’s you know it’s really
34:04important for young entrepreneurs to if
34:06you see growth to experience it because
34:09you learn the most from just do it
34:11rather than you know win it from
34:13somebody else you know you’re an
34:14entrepreneur you know pave your own path
34:16mm-hmm what what flows have turned out
34:20to be actually both of your strengths so
34:25what bad you want talk about this sure
34:28so flaws that have become our strengths
34:30yes but um yeah so I think that flaw I
34:35don’t speak for Matt but I think a flaw
34:37by that I have that ended up working out
34:39in our favor is uh uh like like matt
34:44said so uh sometimes I’m overly
34:46optimistic in the sense that like I I
34:50sometimes am not able to see potential
34:53challenges or downsize to certain things
34:55just get really excited and passionate
34:57about the idea and then just go full
34:59throttle towards towards completing that
35:02and so what we were just talking about
35:05was scaling um you know I got together
35:08with Matt and the rest of the team and I
35:09said hey you know I think we should
35:11really be taking this to the next level
35:13and taking this to other places and AH
35:18really you know they were able to a will
35:19slow down you know let’s think about
35:21these things first but uh just just by
35:25being able to bring it up um and just
35:29how I guess having having the optimism
35:32to say hey why not us why shouldn’t we
35:35be the ones to do this why should we be
35:38to want to take this to an enormous
35:40scale
35:40just because we’re young and college
35:43students doesn’t mean that we can’t do
35:44this just as effectively of someone else
35:46it’s not better and so I think that sad
35:48times overly optimistic attitude is
35:51actually work and what I mean obviously
35:57you’re relatively young students here
35:59but but what would you have told
36:01yourself at half the age you are now
36:04like in other words lessons that you
36:06have learned from where you are today
36:09like what you would tell yourself so for
36:11example if you’re 21 or 20 what would
36:14you have told yourself that let’s say 10
36:15for example in in terms of where you are
36:18now in terms of your mindset hmm these
36:25are these are great questions this will
36:26uh for me I obviously I can’t see from
36:29that oh man I want that to answer this
36:31question too because I’m very curious
36:32Matthew to go ahead do you have any
36:34money
36:34yeah yeah yeah sure so um you think I 10
36:38year-old self I’m sorry I’m Road I was
36:39like a 10 years old it wasn’t that long
36:42ago I mean you guys are young
36:44entrepreneurs your you know your you
36:47know your your business leaders and and
36:50so you know obviously we continue to
36:52change as people you know things are
36:54constantly in motion and and so you know
36:57you’re not the same person you were last
36:59year actually and so you know obviously
37:02you’ve grown quite a bit like I said I’m
37:05quite impressed um so you know the
37:09question kind of goes to you know you
37:12know you might have had some fears you
37:14know back then or whatever and a lot
37:16more now and over the next 10 to 20
37:18years you’re going to learn a whole lot
37:19more obviously yeah I mean I know for me
37:23I was a really quiet child growing up I
37:27was really afraid of you know putting
37:31myself out
37:31of being criticized I would just totally
37:35go back and tell myself you know like
37:37you you have so much to offer everyone
37:41really does and the people who are
37:43successful are the people who who speak
37:45up and the people who take charge and
37:47take initiative and follow through
37:49share their ideas and all around those
37:51ideas and I say hunter so many so many
37:54amazing ideas that live and die with
37:56people who never share it and who never
37:59voice their opinion and and I just take
38:03take the mantle and take charge on
38:05certain things and so I would certainly
38:07tell my younger self in any anyone
38:09younger orderly at any age um to just
38:11get up at this common theme that we’re
38:14touching on which is just to go for to
38:16speak up and if you there’s something
38:18you want go out and take it absolutely I
38:22totally agree and I wish I could go back
38:24and just you know tell myself that more
38:25confidence to my own ability and exactly
38:28like you said that I think you nailed
38:29that one so two years from now what do
38:33you what do you guys doing
38:34Wow so here’s what of our life yeah so
38:41two years so hopefully I will um be an
38:44officer in the Marine Corps um and then
38:47simplify right
38:49yes m/45 uh and then hopefully you know
38:53still be able to be a huge part of
38:57Lazarus rising which will hopefully
38:59continue until you to grow to new levels
39:01of success and I’ll you know be able to
39:05continue to help lead Lazarus Ivan in
39:08the right direction even two years from
39:09now to serve so many people our
39:13fastpitch mitchell Chad Road comm slash
39:16books for books audiobooks des
39:20recommendations and the books that I
39:22read to start off each day
39:25sponsors are fastpitch my book club
39:28recommendations I get Mitchell Chad Road
39:30comm slash books to see more of my
39:33recommendations and recommendations of
39:35our guests just go to Mitchell Chad Road
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39:40resource for book reviews and
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39:45three books right Matthews they enjoy
39:48reading books right absolutely Luud so
39:52they can just go right on over and get
39:53their self a free download and enjoy a
39:56free 30-day trial so our first question
40:00in this round is what one thing
40:02contributes most to your success I think
40:05I think though I think the people who
40:07have been part of this organization who
40:09are amazing and passionate the people
40:11who have supported us at all different
40:14levels without the passion and drive and
40:18time and energy of the people then
40:21Lazarus rising would be nowhere close to
40:23where we are say can you guys talk about
40:26a purchase that was actually under a
40:28hundred dollars that has actually
40:31impacted your life the most well that’s
40:35a good one isn’t it
40:36yeah that is probably that is a tough
40:38one you never heard that one on a prior
40:40podcast with me you know under hundred
40:46dollars I mean I’ve got two mats here
40:48somebody has to come up with something
40:50right oh man under $100 Adler narrow
40:57down no electronic devices what he
40:59taking that yeah I don’t think so this
41:01is a book I read it’s called the other
41:03Wes Moore mode and by yeah it’s written
41:08by Wes Moore uh and the book was it was
41:11it was the book which is perfect for
41:13this but the story was just easily just
41:17about socio-economic disparities about
41:21answering the call of duty to service
41:24serving others and really making that
41:27the direction of your life and just how
41:32amazing and fulfilling that life can be
41:33and I read that book when I was 18 years
41:35old as just entering college and that
41:38book really inspired me to really take
41:41the direction that my career is going in
41:43and that my life is telling it in
41:45general and it it’s really yeah I guess
41:49insurance you’ve absolutely changed my
41:51life for under $10 well I’ll tell you
41:53what that’s also a great book to gift to
41:56a lot of your friends out there Matt
41:59and remember the audible inspirational
42:02book that one could be yours if you go
42:04over to Mitchell chadroy comm slash
42:06audible you can actually get that book
42:08can you guys talk to me a little bit
42:11about an app that you use that helps you
42:14either in business or family or life
42:16that that you can recommend to the
42:18audience
42:20yeah absolutely I’d love to know I use
42:24my phone all the time maybe more than I
42:26should but like I said before Google
42:29Calendar this is nothing better than you
42:32know having yourself organized and I
42:34think you know aside from you know you
42:36can access Google Calendar online of
42:38course but with that app you know you
42:39have your life in your pocket without
42:42that you know I would have to get on
42:44this call at 7 o’clock today well you
42:47know it’s funny because you had
42:49mentioned earlier that you like to stay
42:51focused and you like to stay organized
42:53and so and we did have we did have
42:56Michael temple mental on who who also
42:59talked about him using his Google
43:02Calendar and since that episode I have
43:04to tell you I’ve actually used it every
43:07single day since then and it has made
43:09such a difference it’s really incredible
43:12and you know just the way that he spoke
43:14about it well I really I really do
43:16recommend it how about a quote or a
43:18mantra that you use to inspire to
43:20motivate I mean obviously you’re very
43:23inspirational to me you know the good
43:25works that you’re doing and the fact
43:27that you continue to build up and sort
43:29of expand to not only this particular
43:32location but other chapters across the
43:34country is inspiring to me but but maybe
43:37tell us that a11 inspiring quote or or a
43:41mantra that you use right I I have
43:46actually one that I just turned that I
43:48know you’re a guy for quotes but I love
43:50this what I’d love to share this one
43:52with your viewers Mitchell this was from
43:54from the other West more actually this
43:56is towards the very end
43:58it’s from Samuel Beckett and it’s you
44:00know try again fail again fail better
44:02now what I think that’s kind of been you
44:05know my inspiration especially bringing
44:06you know Lazarus rising and every
44:08organization I’ve ever been a part of to
44:10just you know move forward and
44:12no that’s that’s really great and and
44:15gentlemen for each of you have a fun
44:17fact something that maybe not a lot of
44:19people know about you but you know
44:21you’re willing to kind of you know
44:22mention it right now you know something
44:24something light-hearted and and and and
44:27something that not everybody knows about
44:28both of you surely so um most people are
44:34gross about me um but I actually love
44:37musicals and loveliness both year and
44:39Lane is is my favorite musical and I
44:42know almost all the words in that entire
44:45musical so I’m not gonna I’m not gonna
44:47I’ll tell you what I’m not going to make
44:49you gentlemen sing any of those words
44:51but but maybe on our the baby as we
44:54follow up maybe down the road to see
44:56where you guys are at that point maybe
44:58maybe on our next episode together maybe
45:01maybe we’ll sing a few bars before the
45:04and how about for the other Matt you
45:06know you can you can you actually top
45:08that fun fact
45:09definitely could to never top that fun
45:12fact but I have to say my son sacked is
45:14a you know I had the amazing opportunity
45:16to skydive over the Great Barrier Reef’s
45:20this winter and I think you know I I
45:23before that moment I never thought I had
45:25a fun sack that’s all I was falling and
45:27that was you know the most fun I’ve had
45:29in a very long time really cool that
45:32that’s really really fascinating I’ve
45:35been talking about doing that for years
45:36so so maybe maybe I’ll do that sooner
45:40than later
45:40I just want to before we we say some
45:43parting words here and we find out how
45:46the audience can obviously stay in
45:47contact with you I did also want to let
45:50you know that the show today is actually
45:52sponsored by Bank smarter calm so for
45:55all your alternative banking needs head
45:58on over to Bank smarter calm I mean
46:00young entrepreneurs young young college
46:03students Matthews they Bank right
46:06definitely I do and they and they always
46:09are looking for alternative ways to not
46:11only save money but to use the latest
46:14technology exactly absolutely so why not
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46:21the the the podcast is also sponsored by
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46:26personal relationships and free premium
46:29resources head on over to trust martyr
46:33calm may be gentleman some parting words
46:35of wisdom and and then how everybody can
46:38can stay in contact with you may be sort
46:41of help your cause to help you continue
46:43building Lazarus rising and to continue
46:48your success would be terrific sure sure
46:53how many words that yeah I just think
46:57that uh the big thing a big piece of
47:00advice that and that Matt and I would
47:02like to give to everyone I just like to
47:05go for your ideas to go for your dreams
47:06because if you don’t believe in yourself
47:08to no one else alone so next time you
47:11think of something and you say hey wow
47:13you know that should really be fixed or
47:14hey you know that idea is a really good
47:16one do it don’t let doubt creep into
47:19your mind and say oh here’s a thousand
47:21reasons why that wouldn’t work because
47:22all you need is one reason why it would
47:24work to be successful and in our case
47:26you know successful isn’t just
47:28measurement in dollars and cents but in
47:30people served and lives changed and so
47:34it’s really your idea could really be a
47:37lot bigger than just you there are so
47:40many value bombs in that Matthews and I
47:43know that everybody has really listened
47:46up to what you’ve had to say and I and I
47:48know that before we let everybody know
47:51how to stay in contact with you you were
47:53going to complete that thought so jump
47:55right in and and complete some of that
47:57additional wisdom because we we’ve
47:59actually heard you loud and clear and we
48:01want we want you to finish your thought
48:03sure yeah I mean that was I would say
48:05yes pretty much it was just basically um
48:08to to go for it because um so many
48:13people you Pat you know you say oh like
48:15that should be fixed that’s an idea
48:16someone else is probably going to do it
48:18or someone else has done it but if
48:19everyone has that mine
48:20that said it’s never going to get done
48:22and you could really help so many people
48:25so many people are so fortunate
48:26including us to be in position to help
48:29others or a little bit less fortunate
48:31and we really have a responsibility to
48:33do that
48:33and we just as people have a
48:36responsibility to care for one another
48:37and so not only do we have that
48:40responsibility but it’s also absolutely
48:43the most rewarding it’s a filling way to
48:45literally are wrap up round mitchell
48:47chad row comm / photos for all your
48:52graphic design needs
48:54how’s everybody going to stay in contact
48:56with you tell us how it’s the best way
48:58so about to be able to do that because
49:00we want to we want to track your
49:01progress and I’m sure there’s there’s a
49:03lot of people that want to reach out
49:05whether it be to help you as volunteers
49:07or you know to help you with resources
49:09or however however but but we certainly
49:12want to be able to stay in touch that’s
49:14early if you work so uh sorry sorry go
49:16ahead
49:17no you guys thanks so uh that’s the door
49:20Lee Matthews yeah exactly
49:23uh so the first thing you could do to
49:26you know come out and join the fight is
49:28definitely reach you know Lazarus rising
49:30org check it out you know read about our
49:33mission I’ll learn about our solution
49:35and then you know visit us you know at
49:37Lazarus rising dot org you can reach out
49:39to us at our emails your volunteers
49:41reach out to me at M Sobel MSO ve L at
49:44Lazarus rising org and if you want to
49:47become a community partner on the
49:48shelter side please reach out to Matt
49:50Rojas at M R Oh Jas at Lazarus rising
49:54org and then you know most importantly
49:57you have anything ready guided to offer
49:59us we are all ears and anything else to
50:01say Matt aside from social media pages
50:03yeah yeah so that’s basically it website
50:06and just personal email we’re really
50:09active on email and for website we’re
50:12totally accessible and also we have a
50:14great Facebook page you can just find
50:16Lazarus rising on Facebook and we try to
50:19update that for evenly as possible with
50:21news about our progress and different
50:23ways to involve so again I want to thank
50:26both Matthew Sobel and Matt Matthew
50:29Rojas today for being on the listen up
50:31podcast we were so excited
50:34to be able to interview both of you
50:36gentlemen you’re doing a terrific job
50:37we’re really proud and I know that I’m
50:39proud to have been able to interview you
50:42because you inspire everyone out there
50:44to really truly be better than what they
50:47can be and thank you so much and we look
50:49forward to keeping in touch thank ya
50:51thank thank you so much for having us
50:52take care now be good check out our last
50:54episode the mitchell chad road comm
50:57slash show 0 1 9
51:00we spoke with genius founder of the
51:03grizzly labs bruno veer let where he
51:06talked about bootstrapping his app
51:08development company till next time my
51:11trusted friends take care in closing let
51:14me have for my listeners helpers please
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51:18chad road comm slash sign up you will
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Starting a Non-Profit and structuring the organizations.
Mission and Purpose of Lazarus Rising.
Creating a Volunteer College Network of Students.
Challenges faced by the organizations.
Building up resumes for start up profit v homeless and at-risk individuals for nonprofits.
The power of bootstrapping.
Outside involvement in building leadership, character and values.
Partnerships formed to expand organizations. From the board of advisors to local chapters at other college campuses.
Utilizing free resources.
Skills learned from outside involvement in other organizations that contribute to the nonprofit success.
Lazarus Rising is a nonprofit organization that helps provide job interview skills, online job portals, on-line application resume building and formatting to those who are at risk and homeless.
Sobel and Rojas are the two young leaders and Co-Founders behind the Lazarus Rising. College students are constantly applying for internships and jobs online so those skills can transfer to helping at-risk and homeless individuals and families.
The two Matthews complement each other by providing their own expertise. They met on student government. Together they combine business acumen, smart minds, and compassionate hearts. The free resume building workshops they provide are conducted at local homeless shelters.
When starting Lazarus Rising they used the easier more streamlined process to file for their 501(c) (3) as the initial revenues would be under a certain threshold amount. James ‘Jim’ Sealy, is the organization’s CFO who helps with research legal and financial sources writing small grants helped them easy easier 501(c) (3) status.
The challenge at first was will they eventually have enough volunteers. Other on-campus student groups from the Blue Hen Investment Club (long equity fund) at the University of Delaware get involved with volunteering. and the endowment foundation provides support by providing some resources.
The opposite of investment banking might be building volunteer networks.
They have also used the free resources available at the library.
We talk bootstrapping whether for profit or nonprofit resources on campus to help them continue to grow organizations.
Matt Rojas is involved with Bible study and Marine officer candidate school with core training to become 2nd Lt. upon graduation. These outside interests help him develop skills that he can also use in Lazarus Rising. They teach critical thinking under extreme stress and pressure, lead people in different backgrounds, create values, set up a course on how to inspire, honor courage, commitment driven, adaptive flexibility under different circumstances and help grow under all types of situations.
Matt Sobel provides many words of wisdom for those who Listen Up: never give up, you are always going to encounter difficulties but starting something and having an idea so you don’t pass the buck, take initiative, try to solve problems, it will work out with all different types of people with different thought processes, learn from your differences through open-mindedness and mutual respect.
Lazarus Rising combating homelessness by offering solutions resume building and job placement skills. The non-profit continues to grow with ten chapters at other colleges across the US and they are rapidly expanding. expand. The program model is scalable at universities and shelters across the country.
Found that the job application process can be standardized to provide job training to homeless and at-risk individuals. As college students, they are naturally prepared to teach resume building and interview skills for free as volunteers.
They decided to expand from the University of Delaware because the problem is so much larger than Delaware and the solutions they are providing can help others. So the Matts reached out to friends at other college campuses and asked for their help to offer similar solutions.
This is now offered at 10 Universities across the country.
Board Members: -five people oversee Lazarus Rising on the national team.
Strategic Advisory Counsel: John McNell University of Delaware, Professor, David Sang at McKinley, William Cobb, PWC, State Senator Townsend, candidate for US House of Rep. help with overall operations and strategic direction.
Then they have chapter executives at each college location: Pres/VP treasurer secretary promote creative control give autonomy freedom to thrive and innovate more and more people excited to keep growing and leaders too. locally each chapter is structured with autonomy, provides local decision making and leadership and creates interest among and between students and the strategic advisory counsel.
The Matts get a lot of joy out of helping with Lazarus Rising they can’t see themselves doing anything else
asked about the routine of their day start in morning – hardest task done first then move through
The post Two Young NonProfit Leaders, Sobel & Rojas, Co-Founders, Lazarus Rising, Solutions For Combating Homelessness Show 020 republished on startupssmarter.com
