Hi Do Good Crew,
Culture is built in small moments. It happens when someone chooses kindness when no one is watching and decides the right thing matters more than the expected thing.
You will see that in this week’s stories:
A restaurant owner who rewards employees for going above and beyond for strangers
High school wrestlers who proved character can matter more than the scoreboard
A driver who turned a simple ride into a celebration for a woman who beat cancer
A priest who spends his spare time repairing broken lawn mowers for people in need
You will also hear from media pioneer Barry Diller on this week’s episode of The Person Who Believed In Me, the podcast built around a simple idea. Behind almost every success story is someone who believed in you first.
And this week, a man from Ohio named Abe Jacob wrote to share the story of the person who believed in him and how that example changed his life. You can read Abe’s letter here or watch it here.
Let’s get into it.
With gratitude,
David
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Courtesy: Johan Engman
A Shining Perspective
Johan Engman is doing more than serving delicious brunch and coffee at his many restaurants in Southern California – he’s inspiring his employees to serve kindness and rewarding them with a gift that can change their lives.
It’s rooted in the two things that have shaped Johan: hospitality and travel.
The Heart
Johan moved from Sweden to the US at 16 to attend high school and was on his own a year later. By 19, Johan was a dishwasher and had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. That was when an older man stepped in and gave him a piece of advice: “Save your money and go travel and see the world. It'll completely open your eyes, and it'll change your perspective on everything.”
So that’s what Johan set out to do. He worked his way up from dishwashing to bussing to serving over the course of four years, saving every extra dollar with the goal of going on a grand adventure. By 24, he had enough saved up to travel the world for a year, traversing across Europe, Africa, and Asia. And true to that man’s word years before, Johan did gain a new perspective – that kindness and gratitude were the universal languages that could connect people across cultures.
When Johan returned, he was filled with a new mission, one where doing good for others would be the compass – the start of his own restaurant. It would take years of hard work, sacrifices, and brushes with bankruptcy before opening the first Fig Tree Cafe location in Pacific Beach, California, but he eventually got there in 2008. Fast-forward to 2022, and Johan is one of the most successful restaurant entrepreneurs in Southern California through Rise & Shine Hospitality Group, with 20 restaurants spread across seven brands.
Courtesy: Tracie Isbell
Courtesy: Jessica Leon
The Journey
With all the success, Johan knew it was time to give back. So, he started the “Shining Moments” program. The goal is simple: highlight employees who were demonstrating true hospitality. That means celebrating people who go above and beyond the job description and “in a very small way, make the world a better place.” Voted on by other employees, the annual winner is rewarded with an all-expenses-paid trip to a cool, exotic destination like Cambodia, the Czech Republic, Spain, or Jordan. It was the gift of travel that could open their eyes and give them a new perspective… just as it did for Johan.
Soon enough, stories of employees’ kindness began to spread.
One named Andre planned a surprise party for a woman who had called to plan her own birthday at one of the restaurants. Andre thought no one should plan their own birthday party.
Vinnie called AAA when a customer’s car broke down, and she didn’t have enough money for a tow.
And there was last year’s winner, Tracie, who raised nearly $3,000 to support those with ALS through proceeds from the restaurant’s banana bread pancake sales – an ode to her cousin who suffered from the disease.
And the stories keep rolling in…
The Takeaway
Put together, these small acts of kindness have turned Rise & Shine Hospitality into a beacon of goodness. And it’s not because the company donates money or hosts a volunteer day. It’s because Johan chose to incentivize kindness as a daily routine. It’s something that’s now in the fabric of every one of his establishments.
The program has expanded into an annual gala and smaller quarterly awards. Now in its fourth year, 400 employees have been submitted for award consideration. That’s 400 people doing a little extra good in the world because of one man’s vision – a vision formed at just 24 years old with a backpack slung across his shoulder in some faraway country.
Rise & Shine Hospitality Group has a charity arm called the Rise & Shine Foundation, which donates funds to local nonprofits. At each restaurant, a portion of sales from specific menu items are set aside for the foundation. Eat at a restaurant today to help them serve some good in their neighborhood.
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The Podcast
The Person Who Believed In Me
Barry Diller – the chairperson of IAC and Expedia, the founder of the Fox Broadcasting Company, and former CEO of Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox – is our third guest on The Person Who Believed In Me. Even though he just released an incredible memoir detailing his storied career in media, Diller still had plenty of fresh stories and insights to share. Some highlights include:
What it means to have someone believe in you so completely that they won’t let you quit.
Why he believes you have to fail first before you can figure anything out.
How he created Movie of the Week at ABC when everyone said it would fail.
The moment Charlie Bluhdorn offered him the CEO position at Paramount, and his first instinct was to turn it down.
And the helicopter ride two months before Bluhdorn died that still stays with him.
Courtesy: Sheryl Claflin
The Best Kind Of Losing
At a recent high school wrestling meet in Wisconsin, a remarkable act of selflessness was the champion when two Mounds View High School sophomores purposely let 17-year-old competitor Kolton Claflin beat them. They didn’t let Kolton win because he has Down syndrome, but because each recognized that winning would mean the world to him.
What’s amazing is that the sophomores, Christian Uy and Julian Sherman, weren’t coached to let Kolton win… they just decided on their own to do it. It’s understood that Mounds View (which is in Minnesota) has an extremely competitive, very successful wrestling team. But it was the culture of doing the right thing that coach Dan Engebretson instilled that won out that day. Both Christian and Julian wrestled for the entirety of the match – truly competing – before letting Kolton get the better of them. When Kolton won first place at the tournament, he told his mom, Sheryl, that it was the best day of his life.
It wasn’t lost on Sheryl what those boys did for her son. So, when she got home, she emailed the Mounds View athletic director and wrestling staff: “Thank you for not embarrassing my son. In a world where different doesn’t fit in well, your students were exactly what our world needs, kind, compassionate people who embraced different.” I couldn’t agree more.
A big thanks to reader Korrine Heinen for sending us this story!
How do you think kindness becomes part of a culture?
The results from last week’s poll are in! A whopping 82% of you said you would give something sentimental away if it helped someone else. This is definitely a community that values people over things.
Goodie Bag
☀️ The Do Good Crew wants to recognize transportation company owner TJ Bernstein of Nashville, Tennessee. When he learned that one of his upcoming passengers, Catherine, was planning a surprise trip with her girlfriends to celebrate finishing chemo in her ongoing fight with breast cancer, he surprised her with something special – a banner, balloons, and cupcakes all donated by local businesses. Click here to read why he did it.
Courtesy: Catherine Thoma
Courtesy: CBS
☀️ Just outside of St. Louis, Missouri, a priest is working miracles on dead lawn mowers. Father Kevin Schroeder opened Lazarus Small Engine Repair so anyone is able to drop off malfunctioning machinery like snow blowers and chainsaws. Father Schroeder fixes them up free of charge as just another act of service for his parish. All he asks for in return is a prayer.
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Kindness
Click image to watch
For this week’s Beg-Knows America, I highlighted five people who are giving back to their communities in amazing ways – a priest repairing broken-down machinery for free, a cancer survivor who showed up at his blood donor’s wedding day in thanks, and two former waitresses who are leaving tips that will make your jaw drop.
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The Last Word
Wanted to give the last word to one of our readers who responded to the question in our welcome email: What do you feel is the best way people can do something good for others?
Here’s one of my favorite examples:
Look at people with curiosity, listen with curiosity, make an effort to truly understand who they are, not who you think they are by your judgements.
Being seen or heard or recognized or loved is the biggest gift you can receive.
And if you’d like to share your thoughts too, please comment below! We’d love to hear from you.
Made with love by David Begnaud and the team.
Stories that set your soul on fire.
