Season 2 EP11 - Charitable Roundtable, Frank Agin

Welcome to Season 2 - Episode 11 of The Bridge to Kindness Project Podcast.

On this Episode you will hear from the following organizations:

Charitable Roundtable - Frank Agin                                     00:00 - 17:45

Each episode features interviews on how you can be involved, volunteer, donate and make a difference being a part of these non-profits in our region.  To learn how your organization can become a part of The Bridge to Kindness project send an email to theBridgetoKindness@gmail.com.  Thanks for listening!  New episodes air each week at 1pm on Saturdays.

You can also find out about The Bridge to Kindness Project by visiting our website at www.TheBridgetoKindness.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Welcome to season two and episode 11 of the Bridge to Kindness Podcast. I'm Ron Smith. This podcast is made possible through the generosity of EPS, signature carpet care, Expression's Floral Design, and Lindsay Honda. Today we welcome Frank Agan, the founder and president of Amspirit and the charitable roundtable. Amsphere Business Connections is a national referral-based networking organization built on the belief that business grows best through trust and generosity, and one that has helped thousands of entrepreneurs and professionals succeed through long-term relationship-driven referrals. Frank is also the author of nearly 20 personal development books exploring relationships, trust, and referral-based growth. He has also written numerous articles and created ongoing content-centered on professional relationships, business networking, and best practices for generating referrals. He is the host of the Networking RX Podcast, a top 2.5% globally ranked show with hundreds of episodes exploring professional relationships, business networking, and the role connection plays in long-term success. One of the things that I admire most about Frank is his dedication on nonprofit organizations, relationships, and their success. He is active with the Charitable Roundtable, an organization that helps small nonprofits and social initiatives share information and insights and build relationship. Frank, who grew up in Hounton, Michigan, holds a law degree and an MBA from the Ohio State University, along with a BA in economics and management from Beloit College. He lives and serves here in the Columbus region and makes an impact in many communities in our area. As we speak with Frank today, we want to be an encouragement to you to get involved, identify your gifts and talents, and find out where you can use those to bless others and help those in our community with their personal and present needs. So today we're talking about the power of the relationships we build in our lives and how we can use those to make a difference in our community. The opportunity you have to get involved with a nonprofit organization and the benefits you'll have as a result of that amazing partnership and relationship and work. On our website, thebridge tokindness dot com, you'll find out more about our mission and have access to links to the organization's websites we spotlight, as well as an archive of the interviews we have here on the podcast. We would love to hear from you. Whether you're a volunteer or you lead a nonprofit, you can reach us through the website or email us at the bridgedokindness at gmail.com. So let's get started. Frank, welcome. Share with us a little bit about your background and how you came to do what you do today.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

I came to Columbus, Ohio 40 some years ago to go to law school. Um because I just thought it would be would be a good idea. Um and so I have a law degree and I have an MBA from Ohio State. And I left just figuring, okay, the path is to get to, you know, big corporate sort of a thing. And I had a I became a tax consultant. It was a great job, it was great pay, it was great everything. Um I didn't want to do taxes for the rest of my life around. So I decided to leave. Most people understand that. Uh decided to leave, and I went into private practice, the private practice of law. Um, I'm in Gahana, Ohio, where you're at, and uh working out of a spare bedroom at my house. I had no idea how to get clients. They don't teach you that. Um and so I struggled. This was in the mid-90s. There was no LinkedIn, there was no, I don't even think I had a cell phone at that time. Um, so it was a different sort of a world. Somebody suggested I get into a tips club or a leads group and these groups that meet weekly to help one another generate business. I went to one, it made total sense. It really kind of plays into the whole notion of of kindness and mutual helping of one another. And I went, and as it was explained to me, I could lift my whole world up just helping other people and trusting it would come back to me. And uh that is that's not a perfect solution, but it's probably the best solution out there. And um I I leaned into that, did very well through it, and at one point had an opportunity to buy it, and that's back in the early 2000s, and I decided, you know, I I enjoy the law thing. Um I could have a career doing that, but I don't know that I would be as fulfilled as I am helping small business types, you know, find their place in the world. How has your faith played a part of your journey? I'm Catholic. I know a guy through church. He calls me the stealth evangelist. Uh he says you never really use Jesus Christ or anything like that in your messaging, but all of it's there, right? I mean, it's just everything I hear you saying, and um you know, a lot of you know I don't know who, you know, who's what with respect to religion, and um, you know, I don't I don't know that Jesus Christ would care. Um He just, you know, these are the tenets and you follow the tenets and however you identify is makes no difference to me. Just follow these, you know, follow these guidelines. Um and so I'm just about helping people, and I think that's just really how God has hardwired us to to help one another. Well, not think I know, you know, and so um I certainly I I'm certainly faith-driven, um but I don't wear it on my sleeve.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

Can you share with us how you've been able to engage in the community to make a difference as you had envisioned? Well, over the years, quite a bit, to be honest.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Um my um when my my kids went to St. Matthew School, a Catholic school, and when they were first enrolling, uh we were just kind of new to St. Matthew, and it's like, hey, what's going on here? And and I always was very interested in sports. I played foot sports growing up, I played football in college, and they had an athletic association, and I got involved in that. Uh, my kids weren't even in the sports, and I'm like, okay, I was on the board. Um, someone asked me to be the vice president. You know, you be the vice president, the president's gonna be around for several years, and then you can kind of roll into his position. Well, he got a promotion and moved out of town or something like that. Two weeks later, after saying I'd be vice president, I'm president. I had no idea what was going on, and I did that for about 10 years, um, which to me was very re rewarding um helping that organization. Um, and it's when I say it's an athletic association, it's really these are all the kids who probably won't end up from mostly won't end up playing in high school, right? So this is their this is their moment, and it was a lot of fun. Um I got involved in the Gehanna Swim Club years ago. It was uh struggling financially. I have a financial background, my wife has a financial background, and we got involved in that. And uh and then my kids played club soccer, and I was was involved in that and involved in their in their high school. Um I'm just kind of um to a degree drawn to those sorts of things of trying to help out, um, especially, you know, we when your family's involved, uh, I'm I'm drawn to those sorts of things. Um and then as my kids are rolling out of high school, I help create this organization called the Charitable Roundtable, which is not-for-profits getting together once a month to just connect with each other and exchange information and opportunities.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

What are ways do you feel that this work has directly impacted you?

SPEAKER_02 8:10

You know, when when you say the word direct, that's always open to interpretation. I've never had somebody come to me and say, Hey, I see you're on this, I want to do this with you, right? I want to do business with you. What ends up happening is people get the sense that you care. Right? And from that they come to know you, they like you, they trust you. And so I don't know that there's ever been anything direct, but there's been a lot of indirect. There's been a lot of, you know, hey, you need to go talk to, you know, like um kid well, right now with my organization, Am Spirit Business Connections, there are kids who are in the or there are there are adults in the organization who went to kindergarten with my son or my daughter, right? And so it's parents saying to their kids, you need to go talk to Mr. Egg and you he'll he'll show you what you need to do to get a job, um, or get your business going, or whatever those sorts of things are. So those are really sort of indirect things. Um if it you know, if it were super obvious, Ron, and super easy and super direct, we would probably have more people involved in the community. But largely it's one of those things where it's it's a it is a leap of faith, right? It's you know, I'm gonna do this and I don't know what's coming from this. And for the most part, I don't care what's coming from this, I just feel like it's the right thing to do.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

And from that, blessings come. When we come back, we'll talk with Frank about how he has become quite the connector within the community. That comes your way next. As the Bridge to Kindness podcast continues, I'm Ron Smith. We'll be right back.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

You're listening to the Bridge to Kindness Podcast. The purpose of this podcast is to encourage you to identify your gifts and talents and to help you identify ways that you can use those to bless others and serve your community. For additional information about the Bridge to Kindness Project or any of the guests appearing on today's podcast, visit www.thebridgetness.com or email us at thebridgedkindness at gmail.com. This podcast is made possible through the kindness of EPS, signature carpet care, expressions floral design, and Lindsay Hunter.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Can you share with us how you've experienced this and what it means to you? Oh, I don't know who calls me the connector.

SPEAKER_02 11:26

If you you've heard it, nobody's told me. Um well, yeah, um, I do connect people. I connect lots of people. Um and my way of looking at it is if there are two people in my network that should know each other, I don't want to be the broker of that. I don't want to stand between you, Ron, and Brian Wallenberg, who I've connected you with, and say, hey, you know, let me just let me interpret this conversation and you know get paid for this. No, I was I want to Ron meet Brian, Brian meet Ron, you guys go from here. You take it. Um because there's less friction than that. You know, you have a third person trying to orchestrate this. So I've always wanted to to try and connect people. Uh-huh. And I'm of the mind that people might not be uh a great connection for me, even though they're in my network. They may not be a connection for me, but they can be a great connection in somebody else's uh in somebody else's world. The metaphor I always use is just the whole notion of oh this is gonna sound strange, of coconut. I hate coconut. It gives me a gag reflex. I cannot eat coconut. Um but if you hand me an almond joy bar, I will take it. Because there's somebody in my world that loves coconut. And so I take an opportunity, take in connections with people, um, and hand them off to somebody else, knowing that okay, that's not a connection for me, but it's a great connection for this other person, and it just serves to lift everybody up. So and eventually I metaphorically I get the candy I want.

SPEAKER_01 13:05

What would be your words of encouragement for someone to engage with their community? Life is about giving.

SPEAKER_02 13:12

I know we're out there and we're trying to all make a buck and we all have to we all have to eat, we all have to live, we have to pay for a car, rent, power, all that stuff. But what you put into the world, you will get back. I can't exactly say how or where, but you'll get it back. And I, you know, I'm on a lot of podcasts, um, many who are many that are business or career related. And the question I always get is what's that one piece of advice you would give somebody with respect to networking that could turn it around right now? And my answer is pretty consistent. Find something in your community to volunteer for, something you're passionate about, not something calculated, right? Um something you're passionate about and go volunteer. Because what's gonna end up happening is you're gonna come out of your little world to go rub elbows with other people who've come out of their little world, and both of you are really excited about whatever it is you're serving. Maybe it's homelessness, maybe it's grin, maybe it's um you know the humane humane society. You know, it doesn't matter. Um, and so you're gonna meet a lot of people that way. But the other thing that's gonna happen is that people are gonna see that you're volunteered, are volunteering for something, and they're gonna be like, you know what, I'm not really I'm not, you know, pet charities are not for me, they're gonna say. Pet charities are not for me. But you know what? Ron's really passionate about that, and um I applaud that. I applaud that, and that helps the world. And uh and so you kind of raise favor with really everybody by being involved in your community. What are some ways through this so we can make our community stronger? I think Mother Teresa had a saying um that I I don't I don't know the exact saying, but it's like we all draw a circle around our family and we protect that. We just need to draw that circle a little bigger, right? So it's you know, it's not me, my wife, and my kids, it's me, my wife, and my neighbors, right? My you know? And then you can look beyond that and say, well, it's me, my wife, and my neighbors, and it's also the neighborhood next door because the you know, they're important too. You know, you just you f find ways to help other people, and sometimes it's a formal sort of a thing. Sometimes it's an informal sort of a thing. Um and you and I when we first uh talked a couple weeks ago, um maybe it was last week, um, when we first talked, you know, it's you know, we all have something we all have things that we can contribute. We have talents, um, we have connections, we all have definitely have connections to help with other people uh help other people with. We all have things in our lives that have kind of you know, you've got those bikes that the kids are grown, they're not gonna use those bikes anymore. They have training wheels, you know. Those are things that we can we can do. So you just kind of you just have to stop and say, okay, what's the what's the little thing I can do to help somebody else out? And and act on it. Um it doesn't have to occupy your whole day, uh just one little thing. And those things start to start to multiply.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

What an exciting way that you have made an impact in our community. Thank you for sharing with us today. For more information and to reach Frank, go to www.thebridge to kindness.com, click on our partner page, and click on the charitable round table logo. That brings to a close this edition of the Bridge to Kindness Podcast. This podcast is made possible through the generosity of EPS, signature carpet care, expressions floral design, and Lindsay Honda. Special thanks to Frank Agan. Take a moment and think about how you can engage with a nonprofit in your community to make a difference in those around you. Join us again on our next episode, and we'll provide more individuals and nonprofits in the Columbus region and share how they help people and how you can be involved. Until then, from all of us at the Bridge to Coming Us, I'm Ron Smith. Make a difference, make an impact.