#7 | If you put yourself out there, you'll be successful, right?

In this episode, Dan Freeman reflects on a spontaneous evening at UNC Charlotte's 49-Minute Pitch Competition — an event he almost didn't attend — and what unfolded when he walked through the door: unexpected reunions, deep conversation, and a full cup by the end of the night. 

If you're reading this and you're in the higher ed, collegiate athletics, or general nonprofit field, I'd love for you to take my survey.

Drawing on his roots as a collegiate athlete and SAAC leader, Dan explores the lasting power of the relationships we build and the impressions we leave behind, often without realizing it. The question isn't whether you showed up — it's what you created when you did. Whether a relationship is a year old or a decade deep, this episode challenges listeners to ask themselves: are you making people feel truly seen? Because that's the work that lasts.

Connect with Dan

Dan Is Available for Speaking keynotes, leadership retreats, and executive panels on decision-making, organizational culture, and leadership identity. If you're building a lineup for your next event, I'd love to be in that conversation. 

→ Reach out at dan@fsgventures.biz or  YourExecutiveThoughtPartner.com

If you made it this far, I want to offer you two limited time discounts. 

• Executive Thought Partner 3-Month Commitment 
• 8-Week Fundraising Intensive Program 

View this form to see the discounts:https://forms.gle/ngxwgS6sjCpyppuA8

Connect with Dan

📝 If you're reading this and you're in the higher ed, collegiate athletics, or general nonprofit field, I'd love for you to take my survey.

Available for Speaking I'm selectively available for keynotes, leadership retreats, and executive panels on decision-making, organizational culture, and leadership identity. If you're building a lineup for your next event, I'd love to be in that conversation. 

→ Reach out at dan@fsgventures.biz or  YourExecutiveThoughtPartner.com

If you made it this far, I want to offer you two limited time discounts. 

• Executive Thought Partner 3-Month Commitment
• 8-Week Fundraising Intensive Program 

View this form to see the discounts:https://forms.gle/ngxwgS6sjCpyppuA8

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Executive Thought Partner Podcast, where leadership, strategy, and growth intersect. I'm Dr. Daniel Freeman, Executive Thought Partner. This isn't just a podcast about fundraising. It's about how leaders think, decide, and build systems that scale impact across nonprofits, higher education, athletics, and mission-driven enterprises. Here we explore major gifts, governance, culture, and the quiet decisions that determine long-term momentum. If you're leading something that matters and you want clarity with conviction, you're in the right place. Let's get into it. Sometimes, doesn't matter what time of night, when it hits, it hits. It's 8:30 right now. But here's the thing: I just came from this event, and it really made me reflect on what I've created and the relationships I've made. So on this seventh episode of the Executive Thought Partner Podcast, we're going to talk about what did you create? I was driving home, listening to some music, the windows were down, the sun was setting. I'm setting the scene for you. I had just come from it was called the 49-minute pitch competition for the 49er Foundry. It was Charlotte 49ers. They had their first pitch competition at their collab location in uptown Charlotte. And my friend Nick had told me about it. And I ended up going there. I was a little bit nervous. I wasn't even sure if he would be there. But I went and it filled up my cup. So I parked. I had good parking, which is always key. The people there told me where to go, which was great. You know, if you've ever put on events before, you want to know exactly what to do and where to go. I saw a sign for parking. I saw people outside who told me where to go. I followed them. I went inside. They helped me and gave me the validation code for my car for parking, so I didn't have to pay for it. Went in, they had drinks right away, and then we stepped into the area. It was a little bit quiet. I walked in and did like anyone does when you go into a new place. Doesn't matter who you are. Maybe you look at your phone, maybe you look around, see if you know anybody, and you just kind of take it in. I've gotten into this space just like when I was in college where I'd go to dinner or lunch at the dining hall and just sit by myself and be comfortable with the fact that it was okay if I felt a little bit uncomfortable. And just take it in, sit in that discomfort a little bit. So I went in, found a spot. I was looking at my phone, looking at some emails, I was going to respond. And I looked up and I saw Nick. And then who did I see next to Nick? I saw my friend Sebastian, who I'd met in a previous job. And I'd actually texted him recently as well because I think I had seen something about his coffee company. And we got deep in conversation and spent the whole evening, a couple hours, talking, being part of this experience together. And then I saw someone else come in. I saw Jamal come in. And whether or not you know, I was a collegiate athlete, school record holder. But my first experience as a leader was with the student athlete advisory committee at Charlotte. I was vice chair for a year, and then I was chair for two years, and then I was chair for external affairs for the whole conference for a couple thousand, for a few thousand student athletes. I think it's probably like five to seven thousand. And then I was the chair for five to seven thousand student athletes in the conference USA Student Athlete Advisory Committee. I love that. Jamal was my vice chair for two years, I think, and then was the chair afterwards. And I'll never forget when I left Charlotte, he sent me such a meaningful text that I saved it. I left it on my phone for a long time. And then at a certain point I copied it and I saved it in my computer because it made me feel like I made an impact on others, and that was all I wanted. I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't burn out multiple times. I probably burned out two or three times, maybe more, between SAC and internships in the athletic department and training and doing extra work to make sure that I was healthy. And then extracurriculars as well, just wanting to be part of that community there at UNC Charlotte. And I want to talk about what did you create? And that's why I want to talk about it. Because it doesn't matter if you're somewhere for a year or if you were somewhere for multiple years, but that was over a decade ago. There are experiences through our life that help us reflect and make us pause and make us think on a different level. I went tonight because I love entrepreneurship. I mean, heck, I'm an entrepreneur. I'm the founder of the executive thought partner. But I went to this experience thinking, I want to see what these other entrepreneurs are doing. We heard about a kind of cybersecurity type company, kind of similar to Delete Me. That's really interesting. They're doing some cool stuff. We actually saw another company. Uh, the founder was a former HVAC tech for a year and a half or two. And they created this module to put onto HVAC units that sends a signal to the company, to the apartment complex, to the homeowner, and gives them all these real-time updates. So people know what's going on and they get the details before it happens. That was pretty incredible. We had another one who wanted to start a company called Fund You, which was relatively interesting since my whole career has been in the philanthropic space. And then we had some other individuals from wireless drone charging to a few others. It was a pretty cool experience. But I didn't go there thinking that I was going to fill up my cup. But I left there on the drive home thinking about why did my cup feel so full when I left? And it's an experience that I've had a little bit recently as I reconnect with people, whether intentionally or unintentionally. As I said, I went to that event to experience this and maybe see my friend Nick. And then I saw two people, one of them who spent the whole night around me, and we had great conversation the whole time. Sebastian's uh 2011 graduate, electrical engineer of UNC Charlotte, and has an awesome coffee company called Jade and Obsidian in Belmont in Gaston County. And we talked about what he wants his next venture to be. And that was so cool to be able to be myself, but myself is the executive thought partner, and be able to talk with him and ask him these in-depth questions. If fundraising is your job, this show is your edge, the executive thought partner podcast delivers real strategy, real decisions, real conversations and results. That sweet spot where theory meets the real world. Practical insights you can use before your next campaign or conversation. Hosted by fundraising experts like myself and my guests, backed by the team at Donorbox. Subscribe wherever you listen for the Executive Thought Partner podcast. You'll thank yourself later. About the supply chain and what that would look like and the app he wants to create and what the reach could be for that. And be able to talk through the different entrepreneurs, since he's an entrepreneur too, the different things that these students and recent graduates are pitching who are in this 49er foundry. And then I saw my friend Jamal come in. And I see him on another friend's Instagram a lot. And he went and sat down and watched the competition, and he came back later. And he said, Hey, I heard you started your own business. And I was able to talk with him about the executive thought partner in a way related to sport that he understood. In a way where we talked about the way that coaches interact with players and assistant coaches, the murmurs of when an assistant coach leaves. Do you really know why? And is that something that my work in the executive thought partner could fix? We talked about how coaches impact student athletes, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively. What I'd seen from founders, entrepreneurs, higher education individuals. And really, the executive thought partner was created from all of the negative experiences I had because I had to learn, I had to relearn what are good experiences. How do you create an emotionally stable place that isn't reactive, it isn't urgent? Somewhere you can make decisions and have thoughtful conversations that allow others to reflect on the decisions they're making because they're being challenged in a way that doesn't feel judgmental. And then learning that that's how they grow. But then being able to take that and not just teach the leader, but then help the leader teach the team so the team can work like a well-oiled machine in a way that benefits and fulfills them and benefits the leader, so that everyone can work in a way that allows them to be successful. And I was able to explain that to Jamal. And he paused and he said to me, You found your niche. Like that's it. He's like, You were always so good at these deep conversations, building these relationships with people. And I told him when I was walking out about that text message that he sent me. That meant so much to me that I kept it and it saved in my computer. Because I wanted him to know that he saw me, but I also saw him. Now, when I get back to what did you create, I wanted to share those stories. Because the executive thought partner isn't just a way to think for yourself and to help others, and for me to help essentially make others aware and kind of train them in the ways that I've learned that have helped me be successful, in the ways that I have worked with others, and others have worked with me from experience that have taught me how to be better and how to implement these positive changes. But it's also about serving others and helping others and doing that in a way that allows others to be seen. So, what did you create? Well, apparently, I created this relationship with these two individuals. Having those conversations today, it filled up my cup to know that when I was burning out, trying to lead student athletes, trying to create a cohesive group of student athletes, going from I think our numbers were like 15, 12 or 15, to like 30 to 40 student athletes by the time I left. And then I did hear that it dropped off a little bit afterwards, but because I put that effort in, and people saw that. And over a decade ago, it's it's been a long time since I was in college. Over a decade ago, people felt so seen and heard and understood, and that someone was really invested in understanding who they were that they didn't forget it. And they brought it up over a decade later. That's what I created, but not just in the long term. I was able to create a relationship with Sebastian in a year and a half. Because I displayed levels of vulnerability and curiosity and understanding and caring for others. And I challenge you. Some people may look at the executive thought partner and say, Oh, it's just executive coaching. It's not. People can say I'm wrong, but I haven't I haven't seen that before to that degree. I created this space. Executive thought partner, your thought partner is not your coach. Your thought partner is not a consultant. Your thought partner is a trusted source, someone that you know is invested in you as an individual. When I meet with people for the first time, I'm trying to create an individual relationship with them, just like I did in philanthropy. I want to understand who they are, how they got to where they were, their career, what makes them tick, their family, what clicks for them, what doesn't click for them, like when you're switching gears on a bike. Because all those things are really important and inform me when I'm working with them. Because if I'm gonna be that thought partner and you're gonna trust me, I need to make sure that I'm doing it right because you are putting intentional trust in me. And just like in relationships, once you break that, it's very hard to earn it back. So this is a little bit of a short episode tonight, but I was really thinking about how I went to this event, not sure what to expect, having left with my cup full, and really exploring what that looked like. And I'd love anyone listening to this to think about the small details. Think about someone you caught up with recently. I can even think of another story where I caught up with someone recently this week, and she said to me, You haven't changed at all. And I had to think about that. And it wasn't in a negative way, but I had to think about it because early in my life I didn't feel like I was seen or like people knew me. So I want you to think about how are you making other people feel seen? How are you making other people feel when you talk to them? You should be making them feel like they're the only person in the world at that moment that you're with them, with that full attention. Because when you leave that conversation, it's a month, six months, a year, five years, ten years, you should want to think back and say, What did I create? Was that a transactional relationship? Was it not even a relationship? But how am I building for the better? And even if that relationship doesn't last, did you make that person feel seen? And did you make that person feel good? Because that's what you should always be doing. Now it's important to remember these executive thought partner podcasts, these episodes, sometimes they're going to be musings like this, where we're going to be talking about real life scenarios that I've had and other people around me have had. That's what some of the most recent episodes before this were, and how they tie into the executive thought partner in the thought process that I have. Because I want you to understand how am I looking at the world? What's the lens in which I see it through? What does that lens look like for how I'm assessing the world? But then I'm also going to have a 12-part series. I may have a three-part series where I speak about philanthropy and relationships and the frameworks that I use. But this is fully authentic. And I want to make sure that if you're listening to this, this is something you want. Because I'd love to invite you in, just like Mr. Rogers, and I hope you enjoy the podcast. You can find out more at your executive thoughtpartner.com. You can also look me up on LinkedIn, Dan Freeman or LinkedIn.com slash Dan, the E D D man, where I post a lot of content and I have a newsletter there as well. So thanks for listening, and I'll have another episode out soon. Thank you for listening to the Executive Thought Partner podcast. If today's conversation helped clarify your leadership or expand your thinking, share it with someone navigating meaningful decisions. Until next time, think clearly, lead intentionally, and build what lasts.