Episode 1 Transcript
[00:00:00] John: Welcome to Giant Stories, a podcast inspired by people and brands with meaningful stories to share. I’m John Kiker, your host and president of Medium Giant, a fully integrated creative agency based in Dallas, Texas. While the tools we have at our disposal to create and share stories have never been more broad and varied, The fundamentals of great storytelling remain as transcendent as ever.
[00:00:22] Despite the headwinds our industry faces, clients and brands will always covet companies that remain steadfast with a steady eye on culture and understanding of the business dynamics at hand and a commitment to the fundamentals of what makes a great story. Today we were thrilled to be joined by my good friend and former colleague, Kim Alenez, president and CEO of Make A Wish North Texas.
[00:00:42] The mission of Make A Wish North Texas is to create life changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. And as you’ll hear during my conversation with Kim, Make A Wish North Texas does this 600 times a year. Imagine bringing 600 wishes to life. Every one of those wishes is a meaningful story. [00:01:00] We get Kim to talk about a few examples of those meaningful stories, what makes for a great story.
[00:01:05] Her career arc and the story of her life that’s brought her to this point and how she sees Make A Wish moving forward. It’s a great heartfelt story and we’re excited to share it with you. So today on Giant Stories, we are thrilled to be joined by my good friend and former colleague, Kim Melendez. Kim serves as President and CEO of Make A Wish North Texas, where she leads an incredible team of mission minded people who work together to create life changing wishes for children with critical illness.
[00:01:30] Kim’s career has ranged from advertising, having worked with agencies such as Tracy lock and integer, where she most recently served as EVP of client leadership and growth. That’s a big title, uh, to media, uh, as group publisher of D magazine to higher ed at the university of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she served as chief mark as chief marketing officer of development, regardless of the role she’s played, uh, or the organization she’s led.
[00:01:54] Kim has always brought a servant’s heart. A highly competitive spirit and a visionary approach to her work. Kim, my friend, we’re [00:02:00] so glad to have you today.
[00:02:01] Kim: Well, thanks for having me. This
[00:02:02] John: will be fun. We got some great stories to talk about. I mean, so speaking of your career and, and all the stops you’ve been, I think I’d love to start this conversation with hearing about your story.
[00:02:12] How’d you get here?
[00:02:13] Kim: Oh, what a crooked path.
[00:02:14] John: I know. Aren’t they always? It’s never a straight line, but
[00:02:17] Kim: that I think that makes them the most interesting, you know, I mean, like any good story. Um, and obviously mine is not done. Um, there’s a lot, hopefully a lot more to it. Hopefully still in one of the first sort of
[00:02:28] John: no doubt,
[00:02:29] Kim: you know, one of the beginning of the book, at least.
[00:02:31] Um, you know what? I like any good story. I’ve looked back and I’ve thought how incredibly lucky am I you. That I have collected all of these experiences that have ultimately not really been able to be seen in their individual parts. But then coming together, it’s created like this really sort of like wonderful, like, um, soup, if you will, that I didn’t see how the ingredients were going to come together.
[00:02:57] But here I am in this. fantastic [00:03:00] organization right now that I get to bring all of those kind of different things to bear. So sounds like a
[00:03:04] John: gumbo. It is really good gumbo.
[00:03:06] Kim: Yeah, I mean, you know, maybe a little spicy. I’ve been told I’m a little spicy. Yeah. But you know, I actually started my career as a copywriter.
[00:03:14] And so because I mean, when I was in college, I was an English major, I Really, I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to tell the great, you know, I wanted to write the great novel. I wanted to tell all the great stories. Um, and so to start from that point, uh, for very brief time, I really didn’t like anybody critiquing my writing.
[00:03:31] So that, that like killed that pretty quickly. Um, but now fast forward to here, you know, I am, you know, 20 some odd years later and at make a wish. And it’s truly, It’s all about the story. It’s all about the child and the stories that these child’s children have is just insane. Extraordinary. Absolutely extraordinary.
[00:03:55] And from each of them, because of their experiences, there’s all these other stories that are spinning [00:04:00] off. I mean, you start to think about siblings,
[00:04:01] John: right?
[00:04:02] Kim: And the stories that they have from it. So, um, yeah, crooked path, um, of, you know, advertising and media. And I You know, I, I was the chief marketing officer for the University of North Carolina, like you mentioned.
[00:04:15] So I’ve sort of triangulated the marketing, uh, space and, um, and now here I am, I feel like with the best job on the planet.
[00:04:23] John: So let’s talk about that. So with Make A Wish, um, I can only imagine the stories you see. Some, some are heartbreaking, some are hopeful. Um, talk about, Talk about what you guys do. Give it, give you a platform for what Make A Wish does.
[00:04:35] Kim: Well, I think, you know, I think, um, most people, uh, know generally speaking what Make A Wish is, right? So we serve, uh, children who are battling critical illness, um, and we work with them and their families to identify what their one true wish is. We call it their most heartfelt wish, but their most heartfelt wishes.
[00:04:57] And then. I mean, I’ve got just about the [00:05:00] most tenacious team you can imagine, an extraordinarily creative team, um, and we make it happen. We make it happen. I mean, some of the things that we have done, uh, well, I mean, they’re just unthinkable. There was a child who was, um, adopted from Bulgaria when she was little.
[00:05:18] Uh, fast forward to when she was, uh, I think she was about 13, she was diagnosed with cancer and so she got her wish, um, this is back in 2014, so it’s been a little bit ago, uh, her wish was for her roommate in her orphanage in Bulgaria to be her sister.
[00:05:33] John: Wow.
[00:05:34] Kim: So we made it happen.
[00:05:35] John: Wow. So all the kinds of requests that you get, it could be something that’s honestly in the, in the realm of hard to do, pretty easy to attain all the way to actually sort, you know, finding somebody in an orphanage and bringing them.
[00:05:46] But what’s been the most meaningful wish that you could share, um, that you’ve seen granted. Oh my gosh.
[00:05:51] Kim: Meaningful. Wow. I mean, that’s like, I mean, they all have
[00:05:54] John: their own level of meeting, right?
[00:05:55] Kim: Yeah. It’s like picking your favorite child. Um, you know, I would say the ones that [00:06:00] I feel are the most meaningful are the ones whenever you look at the child and you say, we got it.
[00:06:05] We got your wish. You know, parents have wishes too. Sure. Right? Um, I would say by and large they respect the fact that this is for the child, but whenever we really dig deep and we find the ones where like that’s just that’s their wish That’s what they’ve been thinking of, you know The child’s mind just sort of toils and tolls over like these things and so often they just don’t even know the words Right to be able to say it I, I can’t say this is the most meaningful, but it’s certainly memorable and punctuates the point.
[00:06:34] Uh, there was a young woman that, um, she had hoped to travel for her wish. It was not going to be medically safe for her to have her kind of the thing that she really, really wanted. But she said, you know what? You know those icy machines that are blue and, uh, red? She’s like, I’ve never seen a yellow one. I want a yellow one.
[00:06:54] And I mean like that to me was like our creativity in there and just that child’s mind [00:07:00] of just toiling through those things. And so we made it happen. And of course the IC company got involved and it became like this epic kind of thing.
[00:07:06] John: I would bet with a lot of the partnerships that you um, Previously wouldn’t even think to pull in to make some of these wishes come through a lot of these companies jump at the chance to jump in and help.
[00:07:16] Kim: They do. I mean, they really do. You know, I think, uh, when you hear somebody get sick, God forbid your child in your, you know, social, social circles or sphere get sick. The one thing. The first thing people say is, is
[00:07:30] John: what can I do?
[00:07:30] Kim: What can I do? What can I do to help? So we give people a way to help. We give a community a way to be able to like rally around and actually like dig in.
[00:07:40] I mean, casseroles are nice. Like we need food. We want all of those kinds of things. Uh, but man, if we can help put the child on the moon. So to speak, then how wonderful does that feel? It really, it just really brings along. And I think this is what great stories do, right? Great stories help people feel like hope.
[00:07:59] is [00:08:00] real. Hope can manifest and truly anything is possible when we when we come together.
[00:08:06] John: So talk about your organization in the way that it’s set up. So when when you guys get notification of of some kind of request, you have a team specifically dedicated like these are the these are the wish grant errs.
[00:08:16] That they go out and they figure the things out, and then you have others, whether it’s marketing or fundraising or whatever it might be.
[00:08:21] Kim: Yep. Yep. So what happens is, is so, uh, we work with our national office. The national office does, um, so a doctor or a social worker, um, identifies a child who has, uh, what they think is a qualifying, um, condition.
[00:08:37] John: Okay.
[00:08:38] Kim: Um, they submit, um, a referral. And the, our national office takes those referrals, they qualify them, and from the moment of qualification, they send them to us. Okay. So, we have a team. Um, I mean, these are, I mean, literally magic makers, right? I mean, these are people that their job is that they get to, you know, sit down with the children.
[00:08:58] And, and, and, and, and. We [00:09:00] call it discovering the wish. So I would say that’s probably my favorite part of the whole process because you get to sit down in that, you know, imagine if you will, I mean the family’s grappling with like, this diagnosis and what’s to come and there’s just so much like, swirl, they’re in this storm, um, and then we come along and we say, but wait, there’s some good news.
[00:09:23] There’s some good news. Whatever you want. Let’s dream big. And so we go through that process We’d like for them to come up with a few, you know, there’s always the number one. I shouldn’t say always There’s typically one. That’s just a very natural Kind of a idea the child has And then we have so we have that team and then we have a team that says, all right Let’s go get it done.
[00:09:44] Oh my
[00:09:44] John: gosh, I could only imagine those conversations with the kids You’re really encouraging. Hey shoot for the moon. Like what is it that you? What is that thing?
[00:09:50] Kim: Yes. What is that thing? And you know, some kids, most kids, actually, the thing is they want to go to Disney World,
[00:09:56] John: right?
[00:09:57] Kim: I mean, because it’s the most magical place on earth, right?
[00:09:59] Like you [00:10:00] can’t like they can’t even let their mind sometimes think bigger. But so we say, Okay, that’s great. Let’s do that. But like, also, let’s get to know you. And so there’s a whole process that our team and volunteers are volunteers are essential We’re going to grant this year 600 wishes in our North Texas.
[00:10:16] Um, and so if it weren’t for volunteers, I mean, we, you know, we couldn’t, we couldn’t afford a team big enough to be able to do that. So, uh, people come along with us and they’re trained. We have some volunteer wish granters who will grant, you know, big enough. 50, 75 wishes a year. It’s impressive.
[00:10:31] John: That’s amazing.
[00:10:32] So, and North Texas actually isn’t just North Texas in terms of the geography that you guys cover, is it?
[00:10:37] Kim: No, it is not. Um, it is quite, it’s, it’s much bigger than that. So we gotta, we gotta work on a better way to articulate that. Cause I hear
[00:10:44] John: you going to Amarillo and all these other places. I’m like, that ain’t North Texas.
[00:10:47] That’s the panel. We are, I’ll
[00:10:48] Kim: say we’re two thirds of Texas. Okay. Okay. So we are North, East and all of West Texas all the way out to El Paso. So we’re 161 counties, uh, Of, um, of this [00:11:00] state. So, um, people it’s often easier to describe, but we’re not, we’re not Austin, we’re not San Antonio. We’re not Houston.
[00:11:06] We’re not the lower valley, but we’re everything else. Wow.
[00:11:08] John: That’s, that’s amazing. Yeah. Um, so just stepping out for a second and to, bigger storytelling rim, uh, realm. What other brands are out there that you think tell meaningful stories? Like what other brands resonate with you? And you’ve worked with some that tell great, uh, whether it’s clients or other organizations or just things and things that you see out in the space, especially in the nonprofit world, where there’s a lot of organizations bringing great stories to life.
[00:11:32] Kim: You know, I think that, um, there’s this. Before I answer that question, I can’t help but just say there is somewhat and maybe you can help me with this.
[00:11:42] John: Okay.
[00:11:43] Kim: There is somewhat of a nebulousness these days around almost the jargon of the story. Right?
[00:11:50] John: Yeah.
[00:11:50] Kim: And so, okay. So is the story the moment that I’m communicating or is the story the larger narrative arc of [00:12:00] authenticity that we hope a brand might be trying to evoke?
[00:12:03] John: Well, I think if brands who have an authentic story to tell, they have this palette to work from, right? And anytime it, it, it, um, it shows it, it’s, um, Um, anytime that that story comes to life, it can come to life in a number of different ways. We’re going to get to sort of how stories show up in different places and spaces, but I think a lot of brands right now are having a lot of challenges in, um, menu.
[00:12:25] What they feel is the need to manufacture a story that tells me that they really haven’t gotten down to the essence of who they are, why they matter. What value they provide to their customers that’s different, perhaps than a competitor or what’s the unique space that they can play in their mind. So to me, I think that’s the biggest challenges.
[00:12:40] You know, there’s there’s fun little kitschy stories that you might see on a Super Bowl commercial on a social media ad. And, you know, sometimes you have to wonder if it’s a one off that they’re just doing some schtick to drive sales or awareness. Or is it something that’s foundational and connected and innate to them to where they can keep telling, telling stories over and over and over.
[00:12:58] Yeah. I think that’s the biggest challenge [00:13:00] brands have right now.
[00:13:00] Kim: I agree. I, and I think keeping that authenticity, um, alive, regardless of the point of contact, you know, so for example, um, You know, I mean, we could go down the line of like the great brands, Patagonia comes to mind. Sure. Like, I mean, they’re living it inside now.
[00:13:18] You know. 100%. Uh, one that I just think is so fascinating right now, but I wouldn’t say they’re living it inside now, but I think it’s really fascinating in terms of the, some of the storytelling or freedoms they’re giving themselves is the NTSA.
[00:13:31] John: Interesting, right? Okay, way
[00:13:33] Kim: that they’re showing up in social media is they’re making fun of us.
[00:13:37] They’re making fun of themselves. They’re telling some truths that are in there. But of course, you go to the point of contact and it’s inconsistent. Highly in that highly the stories that they’re telling, I think, are really interesting. Yeah. like to any of us travelers who are out there, you know, always behind maybe that person that takes too long or just the weird stuff people are like trying to, [00:14:00] you know, sort of get through.
[00:14:01] So I feel like right now and I asked the question around, Which story is it? Like, what are the brands that are telling the great ones? Because I think there’s a lot of different ways that that can come to life because I feel that now kind of when I go through TSA, right, when I go through TSA, I’m, I’m like almost, I have like a little bit more of a relationship with those people because I’m like, I’ve got a little bit of an insight as to what As to what they’re actually experiencing, um, which, uh, more empathetic view, you know, a little bit, but, you know, I mean, again, like, I, I think for me, Patagonia, I mean, the whole Patagonia North face story, like everything that kind of came into being around those.
[00:14:43] I mean, I love the idea and I, and I hang on to some of these things, like they’re true and I don’t really know if they are true or not, but like the idea that like at Patagonia, when the serves high, you know, Everybody’s out and going like, Oh, I want that to be true. Is that, is that lore? It’s almost like
[00:14:56] John: being at a good ski town to where, um, you know, you’ll be, you’ll, [00:15:00] you’ll be in the town on a good powder day and all the shops are closed.
[00:15:02] Cause they got the signs. It’s sorry, powder day and they’re
[00:15:05] Kim: out and they’re hitting the slopes.
[00:15:07] John: I did not have a NTSA on my bingo card for our storytelling. Follow
[00:15:11] Kim: TSA on social. It’s if you aren’t already. And the park service. I mean, there’s some really, there’s some park service does some
[00:15:17] John: good stuff for sure.
[00:15:18] So. What role does, does technology play in your organization in terms of bringing stories to life? Because a lot of these stories, you know, they happen off camera, they happen off the grid, they happen very intimate and in many cases probably private for that particular family. But there are also opportunities for you guys to tell those stories for families who are comfortable or in cases that, you know, maybe it’s a, it’s a good opportunity for you guys to drive awareness for what you guys do.
[00:15:42] Kim: Yeah. You know, I would say technology, it’s perhaps more of a strategic use of technology versus the actual tech itself. But, you know, we like to look at it as sort of like the bite snack meal approach, you know? So sometimes it’s just a little bite. Sometimes it’s just a little [00:16:00] bite. Maybe it’s the child coming into our office and we’re doing some sort of, you know, wish reveal and they didn’t know it was happening.
[00:16:05] Or maybe it’s a whole bunch of kids coming in because they’re all leaving for Disney the next month. And so we’re going to do a celebration. And what you’ll see from our storytelling is really not a lot of depth, rather just that bite.
[00:16:17] John: Right.
[00:16:17] Kim: Like, okay, there’s a balloon arch. There’s like the Mickey ears.
[00:16:20] There’s all like kind of these things that are going on the celebration. Oftentimes some emotion coming from us, the family, you know, the child, that sort of a thing to the snack, right? Where the snack is, maybe it’s about one child. And we do a little bit just to say, I’d like for you to meet, you know, a little Sarah.
[00:16:38] And, you know, then we kind of have some element, maybe some pictures from their, from their wish. And then there’s the mail.
[00:16:44] John: Yeah.
[00:16:45] Kim: Right. I mean, that’s when we get all into, we sit down in their homes with them. Um, we, we come in, we have our, you know, our video team that comes in and we interview the mom and the dad and the siblings and, um, if [00:17:00] you know, oftentimes, uh, you know, we love to get the medical community’s voice, you know, in it as well.
[00:17:05] I love to get our wish granters voice in it as well. I mean, they are walking the walk. Two. I mean, so some of the stories that, uh, and they’re mostly women. Yeah. Um, some of the stories that, um, are these women are, are experiencing, um, that in and of itself. So, um, it really sort of depends, right? Right. Like the delivery of it is, or the, the point of delivery is so essential and into how we, into how we end, end
[00:17:33] John: up doing it.
[00:17:34] You guys are at a bit of an advantage from a storytelling perspective, too, because a lot of brands or nonprofits might have to sort of set what we call is a critical context, like what’s going on that brought this point for what? So we’d make a wish. I think people already understand what the background is.
[00:17:47] You know, this is a child who’s who has a critical illness, who, you know, may not have a whole lot longer left. And so how do you what is it that you’re going to do? You know, what? What is that that that that the climaxing moment that you can bring to them just to bring [00:18:00] them even if it’s a fleeting moment, some level of joy to there?
[00:18:03] Yeah.
[00:18:04] Kim: Talking about great stories. I’m sure you’re familiar with the movie Love, actually. Oh yeah. You know, the little boy who learns just a little, right?
[00:18:10] John: Every, every Christmas, like a hundred times.
[00:18:13] Kim: Um, the, uh, the little boy who learns to play the drums because he wants to impress the girl. Um, it’s the big grand gesture, right?
[00:18:22] Tenacity like when we look at sort of brand personas and what our story really is, it’s him.
[00:18:27] John: Oh, that’s amazing. Because
[00:18:28] Kim: something has happened. He’s got a love. He’s got this thing. He wants to, he, he’s, he’s got this bigger purpose, right? And then he just goes for it and his, you know, I guess it’s his stepdad is sort of like, you’re nuts.
[00:18:41] Yes. This is a terrible idea, but let’s go for it. Let’s go for it. Anyways. And then what ends up happening, you know, he kind of quote gets the girl a little bit in the end because of this big grand gesture that he did. We are, um, at the intersection of the most real, [00:19:00] uh, most serious and the most romantic, and that the big grand gesture might actually work.
[00:19:06] So when you’re looking at the stories that we’re telling, there’s always an element of, of, of, of tension that is being built with, and that’s what great stories have, right? Like that great tension. There’s always that element of tension around, wait, what is. going to happen,
[00:19:23] John: right? What’s gonna happen? How do you make this thing come true?
[00:19:25] Kim: Right? Because you said it. A lot of people come to make a wish and they think, Oh, this is so awful. I see this child in there. They’re gonna die. They’re not gonna make it. That’s actually not the case. That’s not the case. Most of, most of the children, um, and, and this is just a function of, you know, developments in pediatric medicine over the past, call it 20 years, have been absolutely extraordinary.
[00:19:47] Um, so most of our kids are going to go on to live, uh, thriving lives. Um, complicated. For sure.
[00:19:56] John: Yeah.
[00:19:56] Kim: Um, and that in of itself has [00:20:00] residual sort of stories that are kind of, you know, flywheels. You can imagine because their stories are not are not over and their stories aren’t even over if they have passed away because of the impact that they have on their family and their community.
[00:20:11] And That sort of a thing. Well,
[00:20:13] John: I can only imagine the advocates that are created by, by children who experienced this and go on and say, here’s what it meant to me, here’s what it did. So they are the living embodiment of the impact versus, you know, somebody who, who might not make its legacy obviously has a level of impact, but some continued advocacy involvement, even helping to grant wishes for others.
[00:20:31] I can only see that. Can I tell, can I
[00:20:33] Kim: tell you a quick story to that point? I’ll tell you a quick story to that point. Um, so, um, there was a, um, this is going back to, uh, 2012. I hope I’m getting my timer right here. 2012, there was a, um, a little boy named Ethan Hallmark. Um, Ethan, um, had a neuroblastoma. It was a really, really difficult situation.
[00:20:55] Uh, his wish was to, he loved fish. He wanted to go to, uh, Hawaii. Because [00:21:00] that’s a pretty wonderful idea. He wanted to go to Hawaii to fish, so they did. And, um, he, uh, they went to Hawaii and they fished, and it was a magical experience. Um, Ethan ended up passing away, um, a couple years after that. He was, they thought he was going to pass away months after that.
[00:21:20] John: Okay.
[00:21:21] Kim: Anyways, so he, uh, was just this old soul who had just this really just sort of deep belief system. He was very faithful little boy, um, this deep belief system and, um, he was full of just absolute joy. I mean, the parents were just sort of dumbfounded by his, um, just his, the, the beauty of that he saw in life.
[00:21:45] So, so there, so there, there’s that. Um, this was nearly a year ago. I get a call. Um, because I got a call from our, uh, some, somebody on the team and they said, Hey, there’s this guy, um, who is [00:22:00] trying to, he’s trying to find this wish kid that apparently he had. This is just last fall. So this is just not a year ago.
[00:22:05] John: Okay.
[00:22:06] Kim: He’s trying to, he’s trying to find this wish kid that, um, he’s saying, um, He met on the beach during this kid’s trip, you know, 10 years ago, we’re looking through it and it’s really the only way the date that he’s saying the location, it could only be one of three kids. And we think it’s this, this boy, uh, this, this little boy, Ethan Hallmark.
[00:22:27] And you know, we don’t know this guy, we just get this random phone call and you’re kind of like a little, you know, side eyed, but you’re like, all right, I’ll just, I said I’ll handle it. So I call him, um, and, um, the man’s name is Aaron Palmer. And he, um, had a picture of him and Ethan. He, that day, he was in Maui because of a friend’s wedding.
[00:22:53] He had two, uh, he had two, um, He had two things that he wanted to do while he was in Maui. He wanted to play [00:23:00] golf and he wanted to see the sunrise. But he was a raging alcoholic and never played golf. But on his last night, he was still drunk from the night before. He said, I’m going to walk down to the beach and I’m going to see the sunrise.
[00:23:11] So he grabs his bottle of vodka, puts in his back pocket. He walks down to the beach and at sunrise, there is Ethan and his mom, uh, fishing on the beach. So mom, he comes over and, you know, says. Um, you know, tell me, you know, why are you guys down here? And she’s like, well, we’re on our make a wish trip. And for whatever reason, uh, Aaron said, can I talk to him?
[00:23:33] And the mom said, sure. And so they went over and had a quick little, you know, had a chat. Mom doesn’t know what was discussed. So Aaron walks away and his takeaway from his experience with this little boy faced with his own mortality was what do I have to be so mad about? So he made an oath to himself that day that he was going to stop drinking and he did and He has been sober ever since and he [00:24:00] has gone on to have an incredibly thriving business in the wealth management space He’s married He’s got two kids and do you know he takes his whole family back to that same spot on that beach in Maui every year To say this is where the boy on the beach changed my life
[00:24:17] John: Wow It’s the unintended consequences, I think, that come back.
[00:24:22] And, you know, whether it’s a year from now, 10 years from now, whenever it is that you’re just like that, that’s just not me over with a feather. We don’t know. I mean, if you’ve ever
[00:24:30] Kim: been in the airport and you’ve seen a family and they’ve got their make a wish T shirts on, you just sort of like, you know, put your hand on your heart and you’re like, Oh, thank God that I can’t imagine what they’re going through.
[00:24:41] And then maybe you go home and your kid spills milk or whatever. And, you know, you let that one go. Right?
[00:24:47] John: You take it a little
[00:24:48] Kim: bit easier because you’ve got this element of gratitude. Sometimes
[00:24:50] John: small acts. The micro moments, these
[00:24:53] Kim: micro stories that are spinning off from really these just unthinkable realities [00:25:00] is, um, it is, uh, extraordinary.
[00:25:03] John: That’s unbelievable. So what’s, talk to us five, 10 years from now from Make A Wish. How do you guys continue to grow and evolve and, um, obviously the core of what you do is never going to change, right? How do we, how do we. bring these moments of joy to these kids. But what’s, what’s in the future for you guys?
[00:25:19] Kim: Uh, well, we’re going to get to them all
[00:25:23] John: pure and simple. That’s
[00:25:23] Kim: it. We’re going to get to him as many
[00:25:25] John: as we can
[00:25:25] Kim: is we’re going to get to all of them. I mean, that is the, that is the only, that is the only path forward. Um, and right now we’re not. Right now we’re not. COVID, um, inflation, like all of these sort of macroeconomic conditions, um, have had an impact on our ability to fund it.
[00:25:44] Companies do like to come forward and help us out. Sure.
[00:25:47] John: Sure.
[00:25:48] Kim: Things still cost, right? Money is still real. Um, and they’re expensive and they’re more resources are finite. Yeah, resources are finite. And so we need to fundraise. Uh, we need to get our [00:26:00] volunteer. We had over 800 volunteers just in our chapter before covid.
[00:26:04] Now we’ve got about 150.
[00:26:06] John: Wow.
[00:26:07] Kim: So we need more volunteers. Like I said, they extend our ability of our staff. But so, uh, we’re not getting to all of them right now. We’ve got about 1200 kids waiting. Yeah. A little less than that, um, like 11. 50. Uh, kids waiting right now, and we’ll grant about 600 in the next 12 months.
[00:26:22] Think
[00:26:22] John: about that though, that’s 600 stories that you guys get to create every single year. Like if you could, if you could write a book with full of 600 amazing stories, like who wouldn’t be moved by that? And everyone, everyone that you get to add. So like, you know, so think of all the, all the kids that you can’t get to, think of how many stories, how many more stories are out there, how much more of an exponential impact and unintended impact.
[00:26:45] Like you talked about with Ethan, that those things could have. It
[00:26:47] Kim: truly extraordinary, but breaking through even for these incredible stories is still hard. Right. Breaking through. I mean, you know, breaking through the such the enormity of all of the clutter [00:27:00] that’s out there. I mean, how many times you scroll on tick tock or whatever?
[00:27:03] And the next you’re down this rabbit hole just because some woman was using some lotion or some serum or something, right? Like that is a story.
[00:27:11] John: So how do you break through?
[00:27:12] Kim: Um, You just keep going, right? You just keep going. You just keep putting it out there and you look at it in the spectrum of how do we talk to the masses and how do we also talk to the individual.
[00:27:26] So it is truly, um, uh, you just can’t stop. Like you have to you have to keep going, but we’re going to get to all of them. We’re going to get to all of them. And when we get to when we get to the machine operating in a place where we’re getting to all of them in 161 counties that we have responsibility for, then we’re going to do our part to help get to the rest.
[00:27:50] of those kids out there for the chapters across the country that are, you know, maybe struggling or whatever they’re going to do. So they’ve paid it for us. Other chapters have helped us. Other parts of the [00:28:00] country have helped us when we were having hard times. So it’s our responsibility to take care of all the ones in our dominion, right?
[00:28:06] In our domain. And then we’re going to go, we’re going to go help because that’s our job.
[00:28:11] John: That’s amazing. Kim, thank you so much for your time. This has been awesome. And the stories are, are just beyond moving and, uh, yeah, you, you have an amazing job. Um, it takes a heck of a lot of resilience, but, uh, I couldn’t think of so many better position to, to lead that organization.
[00:28:25] Kim: Well, thank you for having me. This is fun.
[00:28:27] John: Thanks Kim.
[00:28:28] Kim: Yeah.
[00:28:29] John: Giant Stories is a production of Medium Giant and our parent company, the Dallas News Corporation. Interested in learning more about how your brand’s story can be better told and sold? Visit mediumgiant. co or send an email to hello at mediumgiant.
[00:28:43] co
[00:28:45] Welcome to Giant Stories, a podcast inspired by people and brands with meaningful stories to share. I’m John Kiker, your host and president of Medium Giant, a fully integrated creative agency based in Dallas, Texas. While the tools we have at our disposal to [00:29:00] create and share stories have never been more broad and varied, The fundamentals of great storytelling remain as transcendent as ever.
[00:29:07] Despite the headwinds our industry faces, clients and brands will always covet companies that remain steadfast with a steady eye on culture and understanding of the business dynamics at hand and a commitment to the fundamentals of what makes a great story. Today we were thrilled to be joined by my good friend and former colleague, Kim Alenez, president and CEO of Make A Wish North Texas.
[00:29:28] The mission of Make A Wish North Texas is to create life changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. And as you’ll hear during my conversation with Kim, Make A Wish North Texas does this 600 times a year. Imagine bringing 600 wishes to life. Every one of those wishes is a meaningful story. We get Kim to talk about a few examples of those meaningful stories, what makes for a great story.
[00:29:50] Her career arc and the story of her life that’s brought her to this point and how she sees Make A Wish moving forward. It’s a great heartfelt story and we’re excited to share it with you. [00:30:00] So today on Giant Stories, we are thrilled to be joined by my good friend and former colleague, Kim Melendez. Kim serves as President and CEO of Make A Wish North Texas, where she leads an incredible team of mission minded people who work together to create life changing wishes for children with critical illness.
[00:30:16] Kim’s career has ranged from advertising, having worked with agencies such as Tracy lock and integer, where she most recently served as EVP of client leadership and growth. That’s a big title, uh, to media, uh, as group publisher of D magazine to higher ed at the university of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she served as chief mark as chief marketing officer of development, regardless of the role she’s played, uh, or the organization she’s led.
[00:30:39] Kim has always brought a servant’s heart. A highly competitive spirit and a visionary approach to her work. Kim, my friend, we’re so glad to have you today. Well, thanks for having me. This will be fun. We got some great stories to talk about. I mean, so speaking of your career and, and all the stops you’ve been, I think I’d love to start this conversation with hearing about your story.
[00:30:57] How’d you get here? Oh, what a crooked [00:31:00] path. I know. Aren’t they always? It’s never a straight line, but that I think that makes them the most interesting, you know, I mean, like any good story. Um, and obviously mine is not done. Um, there’s a lot, hopefully a lot more to it. Hopefully still in one of the first sort of no doubt, you know, one of the beginning of the book, at least.
[00:31:16] Um, you know what? I like any good story. I’ve looked back and I’ve thought how incredibly lucky am I you. That I have collected all of these experiences that have ultimately not really been able to be seen in their individual parts. But then coming together, it’s created like this really sort of like wonderful, like, um, soup, if you will, that I didn’t see how the ingredients were going to come together.
[00:31:42] But here I am in this. fantastic organization right now that I get to bring all of those kind of different things to bear. So sounds like a gumbo. It is really good gumbo. Yeah, I mean, you know, maybe a little spicy. I’ve been told I’m a little spicy. Yeah. But you know, I actually started my career as a copywriter.
[00:31:59] [00:32:00] And so because I mean, when I was in college, I was an English major, I Really, I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to tell the great, you know, I wanted to write the great novel. I wanted to tell all the great stories. Um, and so to start from that point, uh, for very brief time, I really didn’t like anybody critiquing my writing.
[00:32:16] So that, that like killed that pretty quickly. Um, but now fast forward to here, you know, I am, you know, 20 some odd years later and at make a wish. And it’s truly, It’s all about the story. It’s all about the child and the stories that these child’s children have is just insane. Extraordinary. Absolutely extraordinary.
[00:32:40] And from each of them, because of their experiences, there’s all these other stories that are spinning off. I mean, you start to think about siblings, right? And the stories that they have from it. So, um, yeah, crooked path, um, of, you know, advertising and media. And I You know, I, I was the chief marketing officer for the University of [00:33:00] North Carolina, like you mentioned.
[00:33:01] So I’ve sort of triangulated the marketing, uh, space and, um, and now here I am, I feel like with the best job on the planet. So let’s talk about that. So with Make A Wish, um, I can only imagine the stories you see. Some, some are heartbreaking, some are hopeful. Um, talk about, Talk about what you guys do. Give it, give you a platform for what Make A Wish does.
[00:33:21] Well, I think, you know, I think, um, most people, uh, know generally speaking what Make A Wish is, right? So we serve, uh, children who are battling critical illness, um, and we work with them and their families to identify what their one true wish is. We call it their most heartfelt wish, but their most heartfelt wishes.
[00:33:42] And then. I mean, I’ve got just about the most tenacious team you can imagine, an extraordinarily creative team, um, and we make it happen. We make it happen. I mean, some of the things that we have done, uh, well, I mean, they’re just unthinkable. There was a child who [00:34:00] was, um, adopted from Bulgaria when she was little.
[00:34:04] Uh, fast forward to when she was, uh, I think she was about 13, she was diagnosed with cancer and so she got her wish, um, this is back in 2014, so it’s been a little bit ago, uh, her wish was for her roommate in her orphanage in Bulgaria to be her sister. Wow. So we made it happen. Wow. So all the kinds of requests that you get, it could be something that’s honestly in the, in the realm of hard to do, pretty easy to attain all the way to actually sort, you know, finding somebody in an orphanage and bringing them.
[00:34:31] But what’s been the most meaningful wish that you could share, um, that you’ve seen granted. Oh my gosh. Meaningful. Wow. I mean, that’s like, I mean, they all have their own level of meeting, right? Yeah. It’s like picking your favorite child. Um, you know, I would say the ones that I feel are the most meaningful are the ones whenever you look at the child and you say, we got it.
[00:34:51] We got your wish. You know, parents have wishes too. Sure. Right? Um, I would say by and large they respect the fact that this is for [00:35:00] the child, but whenever we really dig deep and we find the ones where like that’s just that’s their wish That’s what they’ve been thinking of, you know The child’s mind just sort of toils and tolls over like these things and so often they just don’t even know the words Right to be able to say it I, I can’t say this is the most meaningful, but it’s certainly memorable and punctuates the point.
[00:35:19] Uh, there was a young woman that, um, she had hoped to travel for her wish. It was not going to be medically safe for her to have her kind of the thing that she really, really wanted. But she said, you know what? You know those icy machines that are blue and, uh, red? She’s like, I’ve never seen a yellow one. I want a yellow one.
[00:35:39] And I mean like that to me was like our creativity in there and just that child’s mind of just toiling through those things. And so we made it happen. And of course the IC company got involved and it became like this epic kind of thing. I would bet with a lot of the partnerships that you um, Previously wouldn’t even think to pull in to make some of these wishes come through a lot of these companies jump at the [00:36:00] chance to jump in and help.
[00:36:01] They do. I mean, they really do. You know, I think, uh, when you hear somebody get sick, God forbid your child in your, you know, social, social circles or sphere get sick. The one thing. The first thing people say is, is what can I do? What can I do? What can I do to help? So we give people a way to help. We give a community a way to be able to like rally around and actually like dig in.
[00:36:25] I mean, casseroles are nice. Like we need food. We want all of those kinds of things. Uh, but man, if we can help put the child on the moon. So to speak, then how wonderful does that feel? It really, it just really brings along. And I think this is what great stories do, right? Great stories help people feel like hope.
[00:36:44] is real. Hope can manifest and truly anything is possible when we when we come together. So talk about your organization in the way that it’s set up. So when when you guys get notification of of some kind of request, you have a team specifically dedicated like these are [00:37:00] the these are the wish grant errs.
[00:37:01] That they go out and they figure the things out, and then you have others, whether it’s marketing or fundraising or whatever it might be. Yep. Yep. So what happens is, is so, uh, we work with our national office. The national office does, um, so a doctor or a social worker, um, identifies a child who has, uh, what they think is a qualifying, um, condition.
[00:37:22] Okay. Um, they submit, um, a referral. Okay, and um, our national office takes those referrals. They qualify them and from the moment of qualification they send them to us So we have a team. I mean, these are I mean literally magic makers, right? I mean these are people that their job is that they get to you know, sit down with the children and We call it discovering the wish.
[00:37:47] So I would say that’s probably my favorite part of the whole process because you get to sit down in that, you know, imagine if you will, I mean the family’s grappling with like, this diagnosis and what’s to come and there’s just so [00:38:00] much like, swirl, they’re in this storm, um, and then we come along and we say, but wait, there’s some good news.
[00:38:09] There’s some good news. Whatever you want. Let’s dream big. And so we go through that process We’d like for them to come up with a few, you know, there’s always the number one. I shouldn’t say always There’s typically one. That’s just a very natural Kind of a idea the child has And then we have so we have that team and then we have a team that says, all right Let’s go get it done.
[00:38:29] Oh my gosh, I could only imagine those conversations with the kids You’re really encouraging. Hey shoot for the moon. Like what is it that you? What is that thing? Yes. What is that thing? And you know, some kids, most kids, actually, the thing is they want to go to Disney World, right? I mean, because it’s the most magical place on earth, right?
[00:38:44] Like you can’t like they can’t even let their mind sometimes think bigger. But so we say, Okay, that’s great. Let’s do that. But like, also, let’s get to know you. And so there’s a whole process that our team and volunteers are volunteers are essential We’re going to grant this year, 600 wishes [00:39:00] in our North Texas.
[00:39:02] Um, and so if it weren’t for volunteers, I mean, we, you know, we couldn’t, we couldn’t afford a team big enough to be able to do that. So, uh, people come along with us and they’re trained. We have some volunteer wish granters who will grant, you know, a hundred wishes. 50, 75 wishes a year. It’s impressive.
[00:39:17] That’s amazing. So, and North Texas actually isn’t just North Texas in terms of the geography that you guys cover, is it? No, it is not. Um, it is quite, it’s, it’s much bigger than that. So we gotta, we gotta work on a better way to articulate that. Cause I hear you going to Amarillo and all these other places.
[00:39:32] I’m like, that ain’t North Texas. That’s the panel. We are, I’ll say we’re two thirds of Texas. Okay. Okay. So we are North, East and all of West Texas all the way out to El Paso. So we’re 161 counties, uh, of, um, of this state. So, um, people, it’s often easier to describe what we’re not. We’re not Austin. We’re not San Antonio.
[00:39:51] We’re not Houston. We’re not the lower valley, but we’re everything else. Wow. That’s, that’s amazing. Yeah. Um, so just stepping out for a second and to, [00:40:00] bigger storytelling rim, uh, realm. What other brands are out there that you think tell meaningful stories? Like what other brands resonate with you? And you’ve worked with some that tell great, uh, whether it’s clients or other organizations or just things and things that you see out in the space, especially in the nonprofit world, where there’s a lot of organizations bringing great stories to life.
[00:40:17] You know, I think that, um, there’s this. Before I answer that question, I can’t help but just say there is somewhat and maybe you can help me with this. Okay. There is somewhat of a nebulousness these days around almost the jargon of the story. Right? Yeah. And so, okay. So is the story the moment that I’m communicating or is the story the larger narrative arc of authenticity that we hope a brand might be trying to evoke?
[00:40:49] Well, I think if brands who have an authentic story to tell, they have this palette to work from, right? And anytime it, it, it, um, it shows it, it’s, um, Um, anytime that that [00:41:00] story comes to life, it can come to life in a number of different ways. We’re going to get to sort of how stories show up in different places and spaces, but I think a lot of brands right now are having a lot of challenges in, um, menu.
[00:41:11] What they feel is the need to manufacture a story that tells me that they really haven’t gotten down to the essence of who they are, why they matter. What value they provide to their customers that’s different, perhaps than a competitor or what’s the unique space that they can play in their mind. So to me, I think that’s the biggest challenges.
[00:41:26] You know, there’s there’s fun little kitschy stories that you might see on a Super Bowl commercial on a social media ad. And, you know, sometimes you have to wonder if it’s a one off that they’re just doing some schtick to drive sales or awareness. Or is it something that’s foundational and connected and innate to them to where they can keep telling, telling stories over and over and over.
[00:41:43] Yeah. I think that’s the biggest challenge brands have right now. I agree. I, and I think keeping that authenticity, um, alive, regardless of the point of contact, you know, so for example, um, You know, I mean, we could go down the line of like the great [00:42:00] brands, Patagonia comes to mind. Sure. Like, I mean, they’re living it inside now.
[00:42:03] You know. 100%. Uh, one that I just think is so fascinating right now, but I wouldn’t say they’re living it inside now, but I think it’s really fascinating in terms of the, some of the storytelling or freedoms they’re giving themselves is the NTSA. Interesting, right? Okay, way that they’re showing up in social media is they’re making fun of us.
[00:42:22] They’re making fun of themselves. They’re telling some truths that are in there. But of course, you go to the point of contact and it’s inconsistent. Highly in that highly the stories that they’re telling, I think, are really interesting. Yeah. like to any of us travelers who are out there, you know, always behind maybe that person that takes too long or just the weird stuff people are like trying to, you know, sort of get through.
[00:42:46] So I feel like right now and I asked the question around, Which story is it? Like, what are the brands that are telling the great ones? Because I think there’s a lot of different ways that that can come to life because I feel that [00:43:00] now kind of when I go through TSA, right, when I go through TSA, I’m, I’m like almost, I have like a little bit more of a relationship with those people because I’m like, I’ve got a little bit of an insight as to what As to what they’re actually experiencing, um, which, uh, more empathetic view, you know, a little bit, but, you know, I mean, again, like, I, I think for me, Patagonia, I mean, the whole Patagonia North face story, like everything that kind of came into being around those.
[00:43:28] I mean, I love the idea and I, and I hang on to some of these things, like they’re true and I don’t really know if they are true or not, but like the idea that like at Patagonia, when the serves high, you know, Everybody’s out and going like, Oh, I want that to be true. Is that, is that lore? It’s almost like being at a good ski town to where, um, you know, you’ll be, you’ll, you’ll be in the town on a good powder day and all the shops are closed.
[00:43:48] Cause they got the signs. It’s sorry, powder day and they’re out and they’re hitting the slopes. I did not have a NTSA on my bingo card for our storytelling. Follow TSA on social. It’s if you aren’t already. And the [00:44:00] park service. I mean, there’s some really, there’s some park service does some good stuff for sure.
[00:44:04] So. What role does, does technology play in your organization in terms of bringing stories to life? Because a lot of these stories, you know, they happen off camera, they happen off the grid, they happen very intimate and in many cases probably private for that particular family. But there are also opportunities for you guys to tell those stories for families who are comfortable or in cases that, you know, maybe it’s a, it’s a good opportunity for you guys to drive awareness for what you guys do.
[00:44:27] Yeah. You know, I would say technology, it’s perhaps more of a strategic use of technology versus the actual tech itself. But, you know, we like to look at it as sort of like the bite snack meal approach, you know? So sometimes it’s just a little bite. Sometimes it’s just a little bite. Maybe it’s the child coming into our office and we’re doing some sort of, you know, wish reveal and they didn’t know it was happening.
[00:44:51] Or maybe it’s a whole bunch of kids coming in because they’re all leaving for Disney the next month. And so we’re going to do a celebration. And what you’ll see from our storytelling is really not [00:45:00] a lot of depth, rather just that bite. Right. Like, okay, there’s a balloon arch. There’s like the Mickey ears.
[00:45:06] There’s all like kind of these things that are going on the celebration. Oftentimes some emotion coming from us, the family, you know, the child, that sort of a thing to the snack, right? Where the snack is, maybe it’s about one child. And we do a little bit just to say, I’d like for you to meet, you know, a little Sarah.
[00:45:24] And, you know, then we kind of have some element, maybe some pictures from their, from their wish. And then there’s the mail. Yeah. Right. I mean, that’s when we get all into, we sit down in their homes with them. Um, we, we come in, we have our, you know, our video team that comes in and we interview the mom and the dad and the siblings and, um, if you know, oftentimes, uh, you know, we love to get the medical community’s voice, you know, in it as well.
[00:45:50] I love to get our wish granters voice in it as well. I mean, they are walking the walk. Two. I mean, so some of the stories that, uh, and they’re [00:46:00] mostly women. Yeah. Um, some of the stories that, um, are these women are, are experiencing, um, that in and of itself. So, um, it really sort of depends, right? Right. Like the delivery of it is, or the, the point of delivery is so essential and into how we, into how we end, end up doing it.
[00:46:19] You guys are at a bit of an advantage from a storytelling perspective, too, because a lot of brands or nonprofits might have to sort of set what we call is a critical context, like what’s going on that brought this point for what? So we’d make a wish. I think people already understand what the background is.
[00:46:33] You know, this is a child who’s who has a critical illness, who, you know, may not have a whole lot longer left. And so how do you what is it that you’re going to do? You know, what? What is that that that that the climaxing moment that you can bring to them just to bring them even if it’s a fleeting moment, some level of joy to there?
[00:46:48] Yeah. Talking about great stories. I’m sure you’re familiar with the movie Love, actually. Oh yeah. You know, the little boy who learns just a little, right? Every, every Christmas, like a hundred times. Um, the, uh, [00:47:00] the little boy who learns to play the drums because he wants to impress the girl. Um, it’s the big grand gesture, right?
[00:47:07] Tenacity like when we look at sort of brand personas and what our story really is, it’s him. Oh, that’s amazing. Because something has happened. He’s got a love. He’s got this thing. He wants to, he, he’s, he’s got this bigger purpose, right? And then he just goes for it and his, you know, I guess it’s his stepdad is sort of like, you’re nuts.
[00:47:26] Yes. This is a terrible idea, but let’s go for it. Let’s go for it. Anyways. And then what ends up happening, you know, he kind of quote gets the girl a little bit in the end because of this big grand gesture that he did. We are, um, at the intersection of the most real, uh, most serious and the most romantic, and that the big grand gesture might actually work.
[00:47:51] So when you’re looking at the stories that we’re telling, there’s always an element of, of, of, of tension that is [00:48:00] being built with, and that’s what great stories have, right? Like that great tension. There’s always that element of tension around, wait, what is. going to happen, right? What’s gonna happen? How do you make this thing come true?
[00:48:11] Right? Because you said it. A lot of people come to make a wish and they think, Oh, this is so awful. I see this child in there. They’re gonna die. They’re not gonna make it. That’s actually not the case. That’s not the case. Most of, most of the children, um, and, and this is just a function of, you know, developments in pediatric medicine over the past, call it 20 years, have been absolutely extraordinary.
[00:48:33] Um, so most of our kids are going to go on to live, uh, thriving lives. Um, complicated. For sure. Yeah. Um, and that in of itself has residual sort of stories that are kind of, you know, flywheels. You can imagine because their stories are not are not over and their stories aren’t even over if they have passed away because of the impact that they have on their family and their community.
[00:48:57] And That sort of a thing. Well, I can only imagine the advocates [00:49:00] that are created by, by children who experienced this and go on and say, here’s what it meant to me, here’s what it did. So they are the living embodiment of the impact versus, you know, somebody who, who might not make its legacy obviously has a level of impact, but some continued advocacy involvement, even helping to grant wishes for others.
[00:49:16] I can only see that. Can I tell, can I tell you a quick story to that point? I’ll tell you a quick story to that point. Um, so, um, there was a, um, this is going back to, uh, 2012. I hope I’m getting my timer right here. 2012, there was a, um, a little boy named Ethan Hallmark. Um, Ethan, um, had a neuroblastoma. It was a really, really difficult situation.
[00:49:40] Uh, his wish was to, he loved fish. He wanted to go to, uh, Hawaii. Because that’s a pretty wonderful idea. He wanted to go to Hawaii to fish, so they did. And, um, he, uh, they went to Hawaii and they fished, and it was a magical experience. Um, Ethan ended up passing away, [00:50:00] um, a couple years after that. He was, they thought he was going to pass away months after that.
[00:50:06] Okay. Anyways, so he, uh, was just this old soul who had just this really just sort of deep belief system. He was very faithful little boy, um, this deep belief system and, um, he was full of just absolute joy. I mean, the parents were just sort of dumbfounded by his, um, just his, the, the beauty of that he saw in life.
[00:50:31] So, so there, so there, there’s that. Um, this was nearly a year ago. I get a call. Um, because I got a call from our, uh, some, somebody on the team and they said, Hey, there’s this guy, um, who is trying to, he’s trying to find this wish kid that apparently he had. This is just last fall. So this is just not a year ago.
[00:50:51] Okay. He’s trying to, he’s trying to find this wish kid that, um, he’s saying, um, He met on the beach during this kid’s trip, [00:51:00] you know, 10 years ago, we’re looking through it and it’s really the only way the date that he’s saying the location, it could only be one of three kids. And we think it’s this, this boy, uh, this, this little boy, Ethan Hallmark.
[00:51:13] And you know, we don’t know this guy, we just get this random phone call and you’re kind of like a little, you know, side eyed, but you’re like, all right, I’ll just, I said I’ll handle it. So I call him, um, and, um, the man’s name is Aaron Palmer. And he, um, had a picture of him and Ethan. He, that day, he was in Maui because of a friend’s wedding.
[00:51:39] He had two, uh, he had two, um, He had two things that he wanted to do while he was in Maui. He wanted to play golf and he wanted to see the sunrise. But he was a raging alcoholic and never played golf. But on his last night, he was still drunk from the night before. He said, I’m going to walk down to the beach and I’m going to see the sunrise.
[00:51:57] So he grabs his bottle of vodka, puts in his back pocket. He walks down to [00:52:00] the beach and at sunrise, there is Ethan and his mom, uh, fishing on the beach. So mom, he comes over and, you know, says. Um, you know, tell me, you know, why are you guys down here? And she’s like, well, we’re on our make a wish trip. And for whatever reason, uh, Aaron said, can I talk to him?
[00:52:18] And the mom said, sure. And so they went over and had a quick little, you know, had a chat. Mom doesn’t know what was discussed. So Aaron walks away and his takeaway from his experience with this little boy faced with his own mortality was what do I have to be so mad about? So he made an oath to himself that day that he was going to stop drinking and he did and He has been sober ever since and he has gone on to have an incredibly thriving business in the wealth management space He’s married He’s got two kids and do you know he takes his whole family back to that same spot on that beach in Maui every year To say this is where the boy on the [00:53:00] beach changed my life Wow It’s the unintended consequences, I think, that come back.
[00:53:07] And, you know, whether it’s a year from now, 10 years from now, whenever it is that you’re just like that, that’s just not me over with a feather. We don’t know. I mean, if you’ve ever been in the airport and you’ve seen a family and they’ve got their make a wish T shirts on, you just sort of like, you know, put your hand on your heart and you’re like, Oh, thank God that I can’t imagine what they’re going through.
[00:53:27] And then maybe you go home and your kid spills milk or whatever. And, you know, you let that one go. Right? You take it a little bit easier because you’ve got this element of gratitude. Sometimes small acts. The micro moments, these micro stories that are spinning off from really these just unthinkable realities is, um, it is, uh, extraordinary.
[00:53:49] That’s unbelievable. So what’s, talk to us five, 10 years from now from Make A Wish. How do you guys continue to grow and evolve and, um, obviously the core of what you do is never going to change, right? How do we, how do [00:54:00] we. bring these moments of joy to these kids. But what’s, what’s in the future for you guys?
[00:54:04] Uh, well, we’re going to get to them all pure and simple. That’s it. We’re going to get to him as many as we can is we’re going to get to all of them. I mean, that is the, that is the only, that is the only path forward. Um, and right now we’re not. Right now we’re not. COVID, um, inflation, like all of these sort of macroeconomic conditions, um, have had an impact on our ability to fund it.
[00:54:29] Companies do like to come forward and help us out. Sure. Sure. Things still cost, right? Money is still real. Um, and they’re expensive and they’re more resources are finite. Yeah, resources are finite. And so we need to fundraise. Uh, we need to get our volunteer. We had over 800 volunteers just in our chapter before covid.
[00:54:50] Now we’ve got about 150. Wow. So we need more volunteers. Like I said, they extend our ability of our staff. But so, uh, we’re not getting to all of them right now. We’ve got about 1200 kids [00:55:00] waiting. Yeah. A little less than that, um, like 11. 50. Uh, kids waiting right now, and we’ll grant about 600 in the next 12 months.
[00:55:08] Think about that though, that’s 600 stories that you guys get to create every single year. Like if you could, if you could write a book with full of 600 amazing stories, like who wouldn’t be moved by that? And everyone, everyone that you get to add. So like, you know, so think of all the, all the kids that you can’t get to, think of how many stories, how many more stories are out there, how much more of an exponential impact and unintended impact.
[00:55:30] Like you talked about with Ethan, that those things could have. It truly extraordinary, but breaking through even for these incredible stories is still hard. Right. Breaking through. I mean, you know, breaking through the such the enormity of all of the clutter that’s out there. I mean, how many times you scroll on tick tock or whatever?
[00:55:48] And the next you’re down this rabbit hole just because some woman was using some lotion or some serum or something, right? Like that is a story. So how do you break through? Um, [00:56:00] You just keep going, right? You just keep going. You just keep putting it out there and you look at it in the spectrum of how do we talk to the masses and how do we also talk to the individual.
[00:56:12] So it is truly, um, uh, you just can’t stop. Like you have to you have to keep going, but we’re going to get to all of them. We’re going to get to all of them. And when we get to when we get to the machine operating in a place where we’re getting to all of them in 161 counties that we have responsibility for, then we’re going to do our part to help get to the rest.
[00:56:35] of those kids out there for the chapters across the country that are, you know, maybe struggling or whatever they’re going to do. So they’ve paid it for us. Other chapters have helped us. Other parts of the country have helped us when we were having hard times. So it’s our responsibility to take care of all the ones in our dominion, right?
[00:56:51] In our domain. And then we’re going to go, we’re going to go help because that’s our job. That’s amazing. Kim, thank you so much for your time. This [00:57:00] has been awesome. And the stories are, are just beyond moving and, uh, yeah, you, you have an amazing job. Um, it takes a heck of a lot of resilience, but, uh, I couldn’t think of so many better position to, to lead that organization.
[00:57:11] Well, thank you for having me. This is fun. Thanks Kim. Yeah. Giant Stories is a production of Medium Giant and our parent company, the Dallas News Corporation. Interested in learning more about how your brand’s story can be better told and sold? Visit mediumgiant. co or send an email to hello@mediumgiant.co
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