We are building an RV park . . . to lift chronically homeless men and women up off the streets . . . people that most would consider the most despised and outcast in our community. play redirect heart
But you have to bring to the table the willingness to allow many, many people to come in and nourish that. play redirect heart
Organic, heirloom quality, free-range chicken eggs, goat's milk, honey bees--all on this farm that's free to everybody that lives in this community. play redirect heart
You're going to see the most awesome, the most beautiful urban farm in all of Austin, Texas. It's unbelievable what we're doing out here from a mustard seed of an idea. play redirect heart
The mustard seed of an idea was 'could we go out and purchase one gently used 5th Wheel RV and lift one human being up off the streets' . . . just one. play redirect heart
All of this happening from somebody that you could look at and stereotype as just being a worthless . . . gang member that has no value in life. And it was one of the many extraordinary lessons that I've been blessed with over the course of this journey with Mobile Loaves and Fishes. play redirect heart
He told me that when you really wanted to keep warm, you took your toothpaste, and you squeezed it out over your body limbs, and then wrapped yourself in newspaper . . . these are these little things that you begin to learn about what it takes to survive outside with no resources. play redirect heart
In my life, my desire to be free, my creative mind that's kind of all over the place, at some point had to figure out purpose. You can lead with that creativity, but you've got to put some structure around it and have an end goal. play redirect heart
Though we had become successful, we weren't really making a huge impact for anybody other than ourselves. play redirect heart
Four years later, we had a company that had done ten million dollars in sales through this process of being creative, of sticking to it, but then putting those barriers around it to actually give us something that could scale. play redirect heart
I told my friend . . . ' I cannot work for anybody, not in that sense,' and I was 14 years old. And so I started cutting hair in the basement. I started selling t-shirts in the halls of North High. And by the time I was 16, I was making 950.00 a week. play redirect heart
I remember getting out of juvenile detention on a Sunday. No one gets out of jail on Sunday. play redirect heart
My wife passed away seven months ago . . . and I mean it's tough, you know , . . . but when she passed away I decided that I was going to harness all my grief and burn it like jet fuel creatively, and she is still teaching me to this day. play redirect heart
The only person I want to be is myself. But I want to learn from folks. I want to be challenged. I want to push back. And I want to create a rich legacy. play redirect heart
So I think it's just being able to just say 'no' sometimes. To myself first, because I've got, you know, two business ideas a day. play redirect heart
For me, I'm a businessman. I bring people solutions. This is a solution to a state problem. This is big. play redirect heart
It is important to me to at least set the framework for how we make sure there is improvement, but not displacement. play redirect heart
And I said, 'Now that 's what I want to do. I want to learn more about solutions. I want to know how to get people to come together to talk about solutions, not just a problem.' play redirect heart
Now I am learning about solutions instead of just constantly saying what the issue is. play redirect heart