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Pikup is an app that connects neighbors who need something with those who are already going to a store.

We’ve been talking about resilience in the face of adversity. I must admit that I love stories from startups because, by their very nature, they are resilient while undergoing sustained trauma.

One of my favorite movies is Shakespeare in Love. And one of my favorite lines is when the character Philip Henslowe says

“Allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster.”

That statement also applies to almost any entrepreneurial endeavor. And, no one would know this better than Bharat Pulgam, CEO of Pikup.

Pikup is an app that lets you ask for help when you need it and give help when you’re willing to help. It connects neighbors who need something with those who are already on their way to and from a store.

It has proven to be wildly popular during the coronavirus pandemic. But that was not always the story. First, Pikup had to overcome insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster. 

Learn More About Pikup:

Pikup: https://www.trypikup.com/getstarted

“We have deemed this as a medical war. We are soldiers willing to serve, but we don’t have the armor.” Petergay Dunkley-Mullins

On Thrive. Connect. Contribute, we have been talking about resilience. I cannot imagine anyone who models resilience more than hospice nurses. That is a job that requires a mental toughness that I’m not sure I possess. That is in normal times. And, these are certainly not normal times, are they?

As COVID-19 cases surge medical facilities are strained. Hospice workers find themselves struggling to provide end-of-life services. This situation is exacerbated by the lack of personal protective equipment or PPE.

Petergay Dunkley-Mullins has spent a lifetime overcoming obstacles. She first came to my attention through her book, Can’t Afford to Fail. Petergay is the Director of Operations for a hospice company in Atlanta. When it comes to her patients, she doesn’t mince words. “I am disappointed with the attention hospice patients have gotten in this COVID-19 Crisis. I believe our most vulnerable Americans are being abandoned.

“We do not have sufficient personal protective equipment to care for our patients. We do not have enough gowns. We do not have enough hand sanitizer. We do not have enough N-95 masks. I’m begging every day.”

Petergay explains the unique role of hospice nurses. “We are voices for them. We are their advocates. We are their families. We are the ones who want to sit there by their bedsides, hold their hands, talk to them, and let them know that everything is going to be OK.

“We want to sit there and do a video call and say ‘Look, here’s your granddaughter. Here’s your grandson. Your kids love you so much.’ But we cannot do that because we don’t have the proper equipment.

“We have deemed this as a medical war. We are soldiers willing to serve, but we don’t have the armor.”

On today’s episode, she tells her story, starting as a homeless teenage mother in Jamaica. She lost her son to a viral illness, but she refused to give up on herself.

She met and married an American who promised her a better life. Unfortunately, her new husband was abusive.

She escaped to Florida and connected with her extended family. Starting at age 20, she completed her high school education. She went on to complete nursing school, and eventually became a Registered Nurse.

Throughout her story, Petergay reminds us what it means to be resilient.

Learn More About Petergay Dunkley-Mullings:

Book: Can’t Afford to Fail: https://amzn.to/2ybBpD2

Petergay Dunkley-Mullins website: https://petergaydunkley.com/

What does it take to get back up after being knocked down? Ask Ryan Harris, a 10-year veteran of the NFL.

The essence of resilience is getting up after you’ve been knocked down. But what happens you’re your job is literally knocking people down, or being knocked down? And what happens when that lasts for more than ten years?

Ryan Harris is a 10-year veteran of the NFL. Before that, he played football in high school and at the University of Notre Dame. During his football career, he endured nine surgeries, including three back surgeries and a toe replacement. That’s right, the doctors had to rebuild his toe.

In 2015, Ryan was a key member of the Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos. He also played for the Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers before retiring in 2016.

Ryan captured his secrets in the best-selling book, Mindset for Mastery: An NFL Champion’s Guide to Reaching Your Greatness.

In this interview, Ryan talks about his mantra “I am. I will. I can.” He describes visualizing the prize. And he explains his advice to “Pick up a shovel and dig.”

Learn More About Ryan Harris:

Book: Mindset for Mastery: An NFL Champion’s Guide to Reaching Your Greatness https://amzn.to/2SyDq3E

Ryan Harris Website: https://www.ryanharris68.com

Ryan Harris on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanharris_68

Ryan Harris on Twitter: https://twitter.com/salaams_from_68

Youthprise pivoted their service model during the pandemic. No one could have predicted what happened next.

Not every family has equal access to afterschool and summer programs. These programs often carry a price that is too great for impoverished families. A few years ago, the state of Minnesota came up with a great idea – provide tax credits so low-income families can take part. But there is a catch. The families must first front the cost and wait for the credit to appear on their taxes many months later.

Youthprise and Venn Foundation teamed up to launch Minnesota Afterschool Advance. They help low-income families pay for afterschool and summer programming. They do so by using an innovative financing model. They help families use a state tax credit that can cover 75% of the cost of these activities.

Marcus Pope of Youthprise explains. “For systemic reasons, this tax credit is underutilized. Only about 4% of the potential funding is claimed each year. If every eligible family in Minnesota used the full amount, it would be about $275 million.

In the first 18 months, those same systemic barriers constrained the program’s growth. But, after months of work, the plan was finally showing signs of traction.

According to Matt Norris of Youthprise, “As we entered 2020, we saw a summit of statewide partners as a critical inflection point. That would springboard us into our biggest summer and fall by far.” That is until all activities ground to a halt because of COVID-19. “The order to self-isolate came just days before the summit,” Matt explains.

The prospect of afterschool programs being shuttered weighed heavily on Marcus and Matt. “It was frustrating," Matt says. We were of thwarted by something completely out of our control. This happened just as the program was starting to build real momentum. It was intense. But we focused on the opportunities to advance our mission and build momentum.”

The Minnesota Afterschool Advance program focused on access to afterschool programs. The same tax credit can also be used for up to $200 of computer hardware per family per year. Marcus adds, “The entire state prepared to shift to distance learning over just two weeks. We saw an opportunity to help low-income families prepare for the transition. We scoured the internet and found Chromebooks for under $200. We quickly threw together a flyer and started sharing it with our network.”

Marcus remembers the moment well. “I can tell you almost to the minute when the first school district sent the flyer out to every one of their families. In the blink of an eye, the applications started pouring in, and my phone and inbox lit up. In the next 48 hours, our program received more applications than it did in all 2019!”

More schools started sharing the flyer district-wide. Local influencers posted about it on their social media. The next week became a mad scramble to marshal the product, dollars, and people to deliver for families. “The deluge hasn’t stopped since,” Matt says. “At one point, demand became so overwhelming we had to shut down our application and start a waiting list while we shored up our supply of devices. We tried to refine a process that was strained by the unprecedented volume. We’re now working through a waiting list of over 150 families with more added every single day.”

In just one week, with one pivot, they responded to an immediate need. Youthprise shifted from a program grieving a loss to one meeting the demand for its services. 

Learn More About Youthprise:

Youthprise: https://youthprise.org

Minnesota Afterschool Advance: https://mnafterschool.org

Venn Foundation: https://www.vennfoundation.org

According to Morgan Schmidt, the world is full of kind people. She found a way to crowdsource kindness.

When the pandemic is over, you might want to go out dancing. If you dance to West-Coast Swing music in Bend, OR, look for the enthusiastic woman wearing horn-rimmed glasses. You’ll want to get to know her. But be warned. If it’s Saturday night, she might leave early. She leads worship on Sunday morning.

If you’re lucky enough to meet Morgan Schmidt on the dance floor, know that she is changing the world in her own small way. She found a way to crowdsource kindness during the coronavirus pandemic.

Doing More Than Broadcasting Church Services

Morgan Schmidt is the Associate Pastor for Teens & 20-Somethings at First Presbyterian Church in Bend, OR. On March 12, the church staff met to discuss how they would continue in the face of the pandemic. First, they decided to move services online.

“Church isn’t just about Sunday morning worship,” Morgan says. “For us, it’s about connecting and caring for the community. We were brainstorming, what could that look like. My colleague, Becca, brought up this idea that families should identify a pandemic buddy family. So, there’d be two families who could help each other out.”

Morgan latched onto the idea. “Pandemic partners! That’s a great idea. We should just start a Facebook group. People can ask for help, and they can offer to help.” So, the group Pandemic Partners was born.

Morgan admits that, before March 12, she didn’t know much about Facebook Groups. She mostly used Facebook to share pictures of her three-legged golden retriever, Buddy. “The crazy thing is, I invited people that I know. A couple of friends did the same thing. We grew to about 3,000 members in twelve hours.

“There was no strategy or promotional marketing. We hit at a time when emotions were starting to run high. People were looking for something, for anything to ground them.”

Most of the people who signed up first offered to give help. “I think that’s natural in the midst of something that makes us feel powerless,” Morgan explains. One of the first requests on the site was from a mom who had an immunocompromised child. She simply asked for local honey and lemons. “We watched that request get fulfilled in the blink of an eye. It was moments like that, that told me this was going to be something special.”

The group in Bend exploded. There are almost 12,000 members, about 10% of the population. Then, nearby communities reached out. They wanted to set up a Pandemic Partners group. Morgan quickly set-up a website and a Google Drive folder with documents and videos. She has personally coached more than 20 local groups, including a group in Australia. 

Learn More About Morgan Schmidt and Pandemic Partners:

• Pandemic Partners website: https://pandemic.partners/
• Pandemic Partners Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/PandemicPartnersBend/
• Pandemic Partners – Bend Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/PandemicPartnersBend
• Morgan Schmidt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morganschmidt/

Petra Velzeboer considered taking her life. But then, she engaged in a one-year personal experiment that led to a life she is proud to live.

Petra Velzeboer was raised in the Children of God cult. By the time she left, she was an adult with no formal education.

As she entered life outside the cult, her life was complicated. She was a mom, stuck at home with two children, unable to work. She learned to avoid, distract, and numb herself with alcohol.

Then she hit rock bottom.

She awoke one morning. Petra wanted to end her life. “I thought if I just disappeared then all the pain would disappear too,” she says. But then, she made a choice. “I put off ending my life for one year. I decided to spend that year observing, researching, and imitating what seemed to be working for others.”

She didn’t know where to start. “I had 2 young children, barely any education and a childhood that did not prepare me for life in the real world.” Her first step was admitting to herself and the people around her that she needed help.

She gave up alcohol. That was a good step toward regaining control of her life. Unfortunately, it also left her feeling raw. She struggled to deal with her pain.

Over the next year, one day at a time, one decision at a time, she built her resilience. “I experienced moments of happiness and true connection,” she says, “which helped me want to live.” At the end of her one-year experiment, she no longer wanted to end her life.

“Since then I have worked with people from all over the globe. I help them to empower themselves and others to improve their mental health.”

Her podcast, Adversity to Advantage, explores stories from people who have succeeded in the face of adversity. She just published her 130th episode.

Today, she is a Mental Health consultant, psychotherapist, and coach. She works with individuals and businesses looking to improve their mental health to sustain success.

In this episode of Thrive. Connect. Contribute, we discuss:

• The role of hope in building resilience.
• The importance of empathy and human connect.
• Growth Mindset.
• The importance of acceptance.
• Finding meaning in every situation.
• And the importance of right-sizing problems.

Learn More About Petra Velzeboer:

• Petra Velzeboer website: https://petravelzeboer.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petra-velzeboer
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/petra.velzeboer/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/PetraVelzeboer

When Jacob and Alana Blumenstein were stuck at home during the pandemic, they used their time to help others.

There is an old saying: If you want to be happy, help someone else. Studies have shown that there are psychological and physiological benefits of helping others. Whey you focus on the needs of others, you build resilience. That’s what Jacob and Alana Blumenstein of KidsRead2Kids did. For one 72-hour sprint, they created lesson plans for parents and kids stuck at home during the pandemic.

Jacob is a high school senior. He should be planning for senior prom and graduation.

Alana is a Creative Writing major at Oberlin College. In March, she focused on homework and upcoming exams.

Then the world changed.

Alana and her mother received an email from Oberlin College. They had two days to move Alana from the campus. Jacob and their mother went into action. They drove straight to Oberlin to pick up Alana.

On the long drive home from college, Jacob and Alana chose not to focus on themselves, but how they can help others.

Alana and Jacob took an inventory of the tools available to them. They are co-founders of KidsRead2Kids. “We are kids who read aloud abridged versions of great classic novels to instill a love of reading and learning.”

They thought about their customers, kids and parents stuck at home trying to learn during this difficult time. They settled on the idea of creating a lesson plan, starting with the book Peter Pan. The lesson plans contain critical thinking questions, chapter recap quizzes, and puzzles. “Our goal is to help you continue to learn during these tough times.”

In a wild 72-hour sprint, they listened to the book Peter Pan. They created vocabulary builders, listening comprehension questions, and creative writing prompts.

The Story of KidsRead2Kids

This wasn’t the first setback that the Blumenstein family had faced. Jacob has dyslexia. He didn’t learn to read until the fourth grade. “I remember, when the teacher asked me to read in the third grade,” Jacob says, “I raised my hand and asked to go to the bathroom.”

He didn’t find the support he needed in his school. “My teaches called me stupid and lazy,” he admits. “As one does, I listened to my teachers. My self-confidence dropped.”

In the fifth grade, Jacob was diagnosed with dyslexia. He moved to a new school with specialized resources. “I was introduced to assistive technology,” Jacob says. “I was given a lot of encouragement and support. I worked hard. By ninth grade, I was getting straight A’s in school.”

His sister Alana admits that it was difficult to watch her brother struggle. And yet, his transformation inspired her. “We realized that Jacob is not alone in his struggles. There are so many other kids just like him.”

“I was fortunate that I had support systems,” Jacob says. “When I didn’t believe in myself, I had parents that believed in me.”

So, at the ages of fifteen and seventeen, Jacob and Alana, along with their brother Reuben launched the nonprofit, KidsRead2Kids. They provide video-audio books, read chapter-by-chapter to help struggling kids learn to read. Studies show that listening to books is the most important activity to build skills for reading success. KidsRead2Kids uses real kids and real voices.

Alan explains, “We focused on two areas. First, we wanted to raise awareness of learning differences. We wanted to bring the joy back to learning. We also wanted to focus on their self-esteem. So many people who are struggling feel that they are alone.”

• KidsRead2Kids website: https://kidsread2kids.com/
• KidsRead2Kids on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kidsread2kids
• KidsRead2Kids on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kidsread2kids

KidsRead2Kids on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/kidsread2kids

To help with meals during the COVID-19 crisis, Bella Lam and her company, Coconut Whisk shared free pancake and waffle mix. Her community came alongside her to help.

Bella Lam is the Founder and CEO of Coconut Whisk, a vegan and gluten-free baking mix company. With every sale, Coconut Whisk donates a vegan meal to a kid in need.

In March of 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic struck. Children were sent home from school. Bella grew up depending on school meals. She realized that many school children would go without. She and her staff decided to donate a waffle and pancake mix to families in need. When word got out, members of their online community stepped up to give. As a result, fifty families received the help that was desperately needed.

One mother wrote:

"Thank you so much for sharing your amazing waffle mix and stepping forward to help people like me. I am a single mom of five who is already struggling to find things on store shelves. I truly appreciate it with all of my heart. The kiddos loved them too!"

The Story of Coconut Whisk

In the Spring of 2018, Bella was a senior at Mankato State University. She had been vegan and gluten-free for two years. She was excited to be invited to a family member’s wedding. “This person teased me about being vegan,” she told me. “When I found out his wedding reception was not vegan-friendly, it really hurt. I couldn't even eat the dessert. It was humiliating and frustrating.”

Also, as an avid baker, Bella struggled with finding baking kits that fit her dietary choices. “It sparked a fire in me,” she says. “I wanted to show people that living vegan is healthier, better-for-you, and easy! I wanted it to be normalized and accessible. I didn't want anyone else to feel the type of disappointment that I did.”

With that mission, Bella decided to start a vegan and gluten-free baking mix company that also gives back. “I wanted our brand to be as approachable and welcoming as possible, no matter who you are.”

She entered a campus business pitch competition. They ended up winning the Food Division.

“From that moment on, we've seen tremendous growth and support. We are in over 20 retail stores. We're donated over 500 meals. We have a thriving online presence and a loyal customer base. Launching Coconut Whisk has been my greatest adventure. We're excited to keep growing and to become a household name!”

Lessons Learned

Bella says, “The lesson I want others to learn from my story is to take heart-centered action. I didn't start a company to prove anyone wrong. I started it because I felt that there was a need, and I wanted to provide a solution. It's so important to make sure that your ‘why’ is clear. I didn't have the business background, but I was passionate about proving a solution. That was my north star. I focused my energy on doing good and being the best person that I could me. I challenged myself, and I acted. When you take the first step, everything else starts to fall in place.”

Learn More About Bella Lam and Coconut Whisk:

• Coconut Whisk: https://coconutwhisk.com
• Coconut Whisk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coconutwhisk
• Coconut Whisk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coconutwhiskbakingco

How do you talk about a health crisis when you teach wellness and resilience to others?

Zaheen Nanji was born in Kenya. She was a bright child, and so, at the age of seven, she skipped a grade. Soon after that, she developed a profound stutter. This speech disorder and the resulting social isolation was exasperated when she moved to Edmonton, Alberta, at the age of 15. In college, she found the help that she needed to overcome her speech disorder. Through this experience, she became a champion of resilience.

In early 2010, Zaheen and her husband opened Shanti Wellness Centre in Wetaskiwin, Alberta. There, she was able to use her expertise in Nutrition & Food Science, Environmental Health, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. She began to deliver keynote speeches about wellness and resilience.

But, in 2016, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. This diagnosis challenged everything she knew about being resilient. She struggled with self-pity and self-doubt. As she kept her diagnosis a secret, the secrecy took its toll on her mental health.

Finally, she turned to Facebook Live to tell her story to the world. Here she was, a champion of resilience and health, and she was struggling to make it from day-to-day. Her transparency resonated with her Facebook followers. They began to confess their own insecurities ad share her video widely.

Today, Zaheen is a TEDx speaker, famous for her talk on resilience. She was on the front cover of Positive Health Magazine. She has also been featured in broadcast media outlets in the UK, the US, and Canada. She is the author of several books, including Resilience Reflex: 8 Keys to Transforming Barriers into Success in Life and Business, and Resilience During Your Breast Cancer Journey: How to Thrive After Your Diagnosis and Treatment.

Learn More About Zaheen Nanji:

• Zaheen Nanji’s website: https://www.zaheennanji.com/
• Zaheen's TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/h4i4iBtYdLo
• Shanti Wellness Centre: https://www.shantiwellnesscentre.com/
• Book: Resilience Reflex: 8 Keys to Transforming Barriers into Success in Life and Business, https://amzn.to/2V3AD2L
• Book: Resilience During Your Breast Cancer Journey: How to Thrive After Your Diagnosis and Treatment, https://amzn.to/2JFABcn