Scaling With People
Tired of spinning your startup wheels but never gaining traction? Buckle up, founders and CEOs, because this podcast is your rocket fuel to profitability! Every week, we ignite explosive conversations with bold-faced founders, brainy experts, and even a few out-of-this-world vendors. Get ready to crack the code on growth, master employee engagement, and blast through your scaling goals. We’re talking real-world strategies, actionable tips, and perspectives that’ll make your business do a cosmic dance. So, strap in and prepare for lift-off!
Scaling With People
Harnessing Golf for Community Impact: Chandler Russ on Nonprofit Innovation, Teamwork, and Kindness in Business
What if the secret to uplifting communities lay in a simple game of golf? Join us in a captivating conversation with Chandler Russ, the trailblazing founder of the Sunflower Golf Foundation. Chandler's journey from a career at UPS to launching a nonprofit inspired by his grandmother's legacy is nothing short of remarkable. Discover how he has turned the sport of golf into a powerful catalyst for community positivity and nonprofit support, raising over $80,000 and engaging 90 golfers per tournament in just one year. Chandler shares candid insights into the entrepreneurial spirit within the nonprofit sector, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and the liberating mindset of accepting 80% as "good enough."
Our discussion takes a deeper look into the heart of building strong relationships in business. We explore frameworks like Corner 4 relationships, which advocate for brutal honesty and mutual care to foster a collaborative environment in startup teams. Whether working with family or trusted friends, Chandler and I underscore the significance of shared values and a clear mission to guide the team like a sailboat. As we wrap up, we reflect on the profound impact of kindness in everyday interactions, offering listeners an uplifting message to carry forward. Chandler's story is a compelling reminder of the positive influence we can have through kindness and collaboration.
Welcome everyone to today's Going With People podcast. I'm Gwyneth McCreary, your host and founder and CEO of Guide to HR, and today I'm excited to have Chandler Russ on the call with me. He is a founder of Sunflower Golf Foundation and I love. I can't wait to dive in and hear some lessons learned from you, chandler. So welcome and let's get started, would you like to introduce yourself.
Speaker 2:Yes, and first of all, thank you so much. I feel honored to be able to be on this today and just what you're doing. I've taken so many nuggets from your podcast, so I greatly appreciate what you're doing and feel honored to be on here. Yeah, so Sunflower Golf Foundation is just under a year old and there's a lot of lessons learned throughout the process. But a little backstory.
Speaker 2:So I worked for UPS for six years, everything from a part-time supervisor in the warehouse to an account executive. But I've always had a dream and, you know, like, had an entrepreneurial spirit, right. And so last year my grandmother, who was the founder of Sunflower Grocery Store about 50 years ago, she passed away and she was played a big role in my life, and so whenever she passed, I kind of looked myself in the mirror and had seen you know, you get to hear all the stories when somebody passes away just about the impact that they had made and what they had done for their community, and I was like, man, what am I doing, you know? And so I set up on this journey to to create this, uh, this vision for a golf association that gets to, to spread positivity in the communities around me, and, uh, and to help nonprofits authenticate their message, their uh, their messaging to all you know, to the people in the community. So we, uh, we founded it in September.
Speaker 2:It'll be about a week, a week from now. It'll be a year ago, and thank you so much. Thank you. I'm I'm happy to announce that in the last year we've been able to raise and give away over $80,000 in um in funds to nonprofits and um and free rounds of golf with some golf partnerships that we have. But even beyond that, the golfers that have showed up to play in our tournaments having over 90 golfers at each tournament, which is just unbelievable to me and just some crazy things have happened. There's been a lot of highs and lows, but as we're getting ready to scale and launch into 2025, we're really excited about where we're going, what we're doing and we're having a lot of fun doing it. So that's kind of like the briefest overview of Sunflower that I could probably give.
Speaker 1:Well, that's awesome and I know we talked briefly before we started recording that and you guys really want to be the fertilizer of non-profit, really help them grow. I love that analogy, especially with the name of sunflower right Cause most flowers they do need the fertilizer, so I love that. That's beautiful and what a great way to be able to tie your passion into giving back to the community.
Speaker 1:And you know, sell about golf and I can just see how much fun that would be on a day-to-day basis working that way and I love the fact that too, like a lot of people, when they think of startups, they think of like tech, right, mostly right. That's where your brain goes first and I love the fact that, well, you're a startup founder, you're in the nonprofit, and that's very unique, and then you don't. You don't hear a lot about that. So I know we kind of talked a little bit about the fact that we're going to dive into some lessons learned and you're still in your infancy space, you're in your one year and there's more, sorry to tell you, there's more bumps that you're going to have to go through, right.
Speaker 2:But in that first year.
Speaker 1:what have been some of those things that if you could just go back in time, even just 12 months right, and be like, okay, chandler, look out for this or make this decision differently, or don't do this or do this, what does that look like for you?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I think one of the main things is when we started out. I'm a very analytical thinker is when we started out. I'm a very analytical thinker.
Speaker 2:I'm also very, you know, I can be all over the place sometimes, but as a lot of founders, yeah, we're, you know, scattered and just I got a new idea, I got a new idea. So it was challenging in the beginning to really nail down and get the get our team, you know, aligned Right and, and I would have, I would have started out probably, um, well, I definitely wished, I definitely wished that I could have gone back and and and not tried to be too structured at the beginning, Cause I think that I over over thought a lot of things that you just got to run and gun, Like a lot of startups is you, you can't spend too much time on making a decision when you're, when you know you just have to, you have to move and you have to move at a fast pace in today's world. And you just got to keep going and and and it's okay to fail, Cause I think that our team and we have some very talented, some very talented individuals that are volunteering on our leadership team and and it was this, it was this hub of people that genuinely loved and cared about what we're doing. But we're trying to make it perfect right from the beginning, and so there's some goods and some bads that come out of that, but whenever we kind of stopped and just said, hey, look, 80% is good enough. Like, 80% is good enough, that's probably the number one thing that I wish I would have adopted right at the beginning is hey, it doesn't have to be 100% perfect. Right at the beginning is hey, it doesn't have to be 100% perfect. I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to, you know, wanting things to be the best that they can be. You know, sooner rather than later, but 80% is good enough. Let's get things done, but then let's also continually improve and continually look at how we can make them better, Right? So, yeah, I think that that's probably the number one thing that that I could say. I would go back and tell myself hey, it's OK to make mistakes. And I had a.
Speaker 2:I had a guy at one point, at probably four months into it. He looked at me and he said, hey, just go mess it up, Just go mess everything up, Screw up as many times as you can, dude, and he said pick a door and run through it. And I was like, okay, Okay, I'm going to pick a door and I'm going to run through it, Like that's something I can do On the other side, right, yes, and he said if there's not, then just pick another door and run through that.
Speaker 2:And so that stuck with me and it's something that I wish I would have had learned sooner, because now, seeing, you know, we, we finally got to that point and we, we were just like, hey, social media, the social media posts don't have to be perfect, let's just get them out there and, just like we need, we just need to show up and and plant seeds of kindness and do what our mission is. And ever since then, we've just kind of just been going, going, going, going, going and it's been fruitful. It's been uh, incredible to see how much growth is has taken place just from in the last eight months. Really, our first tournament, I said, you know, we thought we started in september, but that's when we formed it. Our first event wasn't even until november. So we, um, but yeah, that 80 is good enough, and pick a door and run through it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is so true and I resonate with that so much. And even in my pre, you know, when I was in the corporate life, I remember telling one of my employees exactly that we needed to launch a new platform and he wanted it to be perfect. I'm like, if you wait until it's perfect, we're never going to get to use it.
Speaker 1:Just get it out and continue to reiterate on it, so we can constantly like we can actually start using it, which is going to have a huge ripple effect anyway right away. But then you start iterating and making it better over time. Yeah, You're going to, you're going to. It's fine, it doesn't have to be perfect.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, it's good to have those people, though, cause you want those. You want those people that want it to be perfect because they're going to do a good job and they're going to continually but that's where, uh, to I think being able to trust each other and and and kind of have that. Hey, I know it's not what you want it to be, but let's go ahead and go and then come back to it later or continually work on it. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So let's build on that trust. So you know, a lot of times again, if I go back to when I think about startups, I think about, okay, founders, when you are, you know, pulling in your first couple of employees or volunteers, you know people who are going to help you start to make this thing be a real, true business. You know again, I think about it from a tech space most Legolas or companies are going to either be acquired and have an exit and everyone's going to make a lot of money, or they are going to go IPO, land and hopefully again making a lot of money, or they're going to fail but you're in a non-startup or not sorry, you're in non-profit sector so obviously that isn't necessarily that little carrot that you're hanging in front of people.
Speaker 1:So I'm imagining that you're really hanging that carrot off of your mission and and vision. When you're talking to people about trying to come on board, what, what is your process? How have you started to define that to get people to like, take that leap of faith that you know you're going to be around but as a nonprofit you're not here to go and be able to buy multimillion dollar mansions and boats at exit time.
Speaker 2:Right, no, that's so true with the nonprofit world, in different businesses, you know, maybe a founder or a single person can start a company and operate as a single individual for a little while. With what we're doing, it required a team and it required the buy-in from multiple people before we could even really started. Um, and so where I found that? Um, I, I think that, I think, having, I think me, you know really, uh, now that I'm thinking about it, it's like my, my heart, my, the store, the story you know, are having having a mission that's driven by. Not everybody that on our team knows that I'm not doing this for myself and, um, and everybody on our team is not doing it for themselves. They're, they're, they're doing. Of course, we all get rewards from it. We have a great time doing it and we, we love the impact of, you know, getting to see the smiles on the kids' faces and getting to to do the things we're doing.
Speaker 2:But I think really, in the beginning it was I had a vision that I, you know it sounded crazy to some people, but to the people that it didn't sound crazy to, it was like, okay, let's hop on board with this, and it was basically a conversation of hey look, I want to create a two-man golf association that raises millions of dollars a year for nonprofits and facilitates giving throughout the country and, ultimately, throughout the world. And the people that knew me and trusted me and knew that I was serious about it a couple of them hopped on board with me and it was me and three other guys that in our first group, you know, and and positions have changed, things have changed since the beginning, but, um, we all had this dream and passion and they, they all love golf and they all love helping people and have the right heart. And I think it starts with where is, uh, where is your heart aligned and when? What do you? What do you really? What do you really want to do with your life, like end goal, like legacy, instead of how much money do you want to make?
Speaker 2:And that's where, being driven by the heart of the mission and what are we going to leave behind and the things that we do making an impact, it kind of drives us to. It drives us to stay in it, because, you're right, I mean nonprofit. You know you don't ever. Actually a fun fact, a hundred percent of the people that I have on my team have been 100 percent voluntary for the last year, been 100% voluntary for the last year, and we still have the. I'm proud to say, and it's the one of the things that I'm the most proud of, is we still have everybody and we've added on, uh, more people that are still like working these tournaments and still is happy and excited about it as day one. So it's been um, it's been cool. One of the things that I would say attributes to that is we met with an individual at EOS EOS Implementers, entrepreneurial Operating Systems that don't normally work with startups, like we had kind of previously mentioned at all.
Speaker 1:Don't work with companies, non-profit startups yet.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And so we got fortunate enough to meet with with with him, and I'll say this, cause I know that not, that's not what, that's not going to happen for every startup, but what you can do and take away from it is is learning the value of, of it's not I, it's we, and it's not it's me, it's not me, it's us. And so when we sit down in the room with him, or even in our, it's leaked into our weekly meetings, like Chandler might be the founder, but and Aaron might be over marketing, or you know whoever, but nobody has more of a like. There's no titles. We're all going to say and speak our minds and be honest with each other about how we feel about something, and we might not agree on everything. Honestly, we don't agree on a lot of things, and that's actually healthy.
Speaker 2:Exactly, exactly, but we utilize a tool called Corner 4, which is just a framework of relationships. I don't want to go into all the details of it, but you can Google search it. What is a corner four relationship in business? Patrick Lencioni, I believe is the one.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, he's well known.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes, and so we, you know, a corner four relationship is basically this hey, I love you, you love me. We are going to be brutally honest with each other, even if we you know it's going to hurt each other's feelings, and we both know that we're only saying it in the best interest of our company and of Sunflower. So, hey, I'm telling you this because I care about Sunflower and I care about where we're going. You know, I love you, but I think that this is not a good decision, or I think that this you know you messed up here or or whatever that feedback is and and being able to have those conversations, because sometimes, if you don't, you can things fester and somebody's talking behind somebody's back and you know, and then it's like you get divided and you don't talk about it for months or weeks and uh, you know, quits and walks out.
Speaker 1:Now the company's suffering from it.
Speaker 1:I think it's such a great call because when you're starting your business, typically the first few volunteers or employees that you're bringing through the door are trusted, known people that you feel are going to be compatible for what you're trying, your vision.
Speaker 1:They have the skill set, they are going to be able to kind of mimic you in regards to the quality or what you're trying to complete, and then you start branching out to their network.
Speaker 1:And then you start branching out to their network and eventually get to the point where, okay, now I'm like you start cold calling people and trying to get people to join that don't have no idea that they have no connection, but before that happens, that really close connection, you're right, these are people like sometimes they're family members, right, sometimes best friends, or it's your, it's your best friend, you know spouse, right, kind of situation. And so creating that framework of how you're going to work together through the corner full relationship or through another framework of just like this is how we're going to work together, this is how we're going to communicate. We are here in the best interest of the business because we believe in it and what we're trying to accomplish and sometimes we will disagree, and that's okay. But we need to be able to not lose our friendship or our family, the personal relationship. We need to figure out how to work together without destroying that.
Speaker 2:Right, that's exactly right.
Speaker 1:Because we're going to have those conflicts.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's exactly right. At the end of the day, you got to put your relationship with the other person over the decision that you have to make, or whatever it is, and genuinely care. I think that that's one thing that I'm blessed with is people that genuinely care about me and I genuinely care about them, and we all kind of share that same synergy, and it keeps things going. Now I will say that's not the answer to all of your startup problems, because you still can't.
Speaker 2:I thought that was wonderful if that was yeah yeah, but it's like this and this is kind of the analogy that I use Like you have to have a clear mission and you have to have clear values. And if you imagine a sailboat, right, so you're setting out and your mission is the direction that you're going and your values and the trust and the people that are around you is the wind. So you have to have the wind flowing in the right direction. You have to have the values established, because if, if there's turmoil and you're spinning, you're not moving Right. But when you get everything in line and and I think that values, having a set of core values, is a framework of this is how we work together to accomplish the mission right.
Speaker 1:It's how we. It's our culture. The values is the framework of a culture.
Speaker 2:It's how we work together and what we expect of each other.
Speaker 1:I have to give you a little tease, chandler. I totally expected you to give me a golf analogy there. I need to come up with one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do, I do need to come up with one. Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 1:Um, guys, it's been a lot of fun chatting with you and thank you so much for being so transparent about lessons learned. I know sometimes it's like do I really want to show all my dirty laundry to the public, but I really do appreciate it, because that's how we learn from each other is to share those things. So, as we wrap up here, is there any last um tidbit or thought or comments you'd like to share with the audience?
Speaker 2:Um, I would like to say if you like golf and you like having fun, look up Sunflower Golf Foundation. But no, say too. Focusing on the experience that you're giving your customer is probably why we've been able to grow and we're not focused on us as much as we are focused on. One of our core values is partner obsession. Um, I think that that's you have to be obsessed with, uh, with helping whoever it is your customer, even in a for-profit company. You got to get into the mind of your customer and really deliver an experience for them that, um, that they and it's it. It shows them what you do, right, you, you're getting into the mind of the founders of startups and you're you're delivering messages that bring value, that are lessons learned. So I just again thank you and I really appreciate the time and and hopefully, hopefully, this, this just plants a seed of kindness, or?
Speaker 2:plants a seed of something for somebody that might get to listen to it.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, absolutely Well. Thanks, chandler, it was a blast having you on the call and for those listening, thank you so much and we look forward to having you join the next one. Until then, have a great evening, day, morning, wherever you are in the world, and we'll talk to you later.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. Goodbye. Thanks for watching.
