An Army of Normal Folks

We've launched a campaign called “Don’t Be A Turkey Person” to challenge all of us this Thanksgiving and holiday season, and it isn’t about not eating turkey. Coach Bill Courtney shares one of the most important life lessons he's ever learned and it was from one of his 17-year-old football players.Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Realizing that his traditional therapy was failing kids with substance abuse and mental health challenges, Bob Zaccheo was tired of it and so one day he decided to do something wildly different. His Project LIFT now successfully trains over 1,000 troubled teens a year in 11 different trades, while they do therapy in these natural settings, such as "under the hood of a car". They're solving 4 of society's biggest challenges all at once (the skilled trades gap, poverty, mental health, addiction) and there should be a chapter in every region of America.Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Manu wasn’t planning to dedicate his life to preserving our democracy, but a riot broke out on his college campus and he accidentally became a unifying force for all sides. Today, he’s trying to unify the country as the CEO of BridgeUSA, whose chapters at 50 colleges and 24 high schools equip the next generation with the skills to navigate conflict and find solutions across differences. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shane is the co-founder of Memphis Inner-City Rugby, which has brought a sport that was pretty darn foreign to the inner-city to 2,400 students! 100% of them have been accepted into college or the military, 60 of them have played collegiate rugby, and they've helped their players receive more than $5 million in scholarships.Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shane is the co-founder of Memphis Inner-City Rugby, which has brought a sport that was pretty darn foreign to the inner-city to 2,400 students! 100% of them have been accepted into college or the military, 60 of them have played collegiate rugby, and they've helped their players receive more than $5 million in scholarships.Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chad's life was forever changed when he was asked to teach 8 young men in juvenile detention how to make ice cream. The chef couldn't go back to running a "normal" restaurant and felt he had no choice but to launch Cafe Momentum, an award-winning Dallas restaurant that’s 100% run by youth leaving the juvenile justice system. Over 1,000 youth have worked there as paid interns while also benefiting from 12 months of case management and programming. Their incredible model has expanded into Pittsburgh and they're ready to scale across the country. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After Hurricane Katrina struck his hometown, Chef John Currence knew he had to do something and he quickly found it in saving the restaurant/home of an 89 year-old News Orleans woman named Willie Mae. He thought renovating Willie Mae’s Scotch House, whose fried chicken has been called the best in the world, would only take a few weeks. But John and an army of volunteers ended up rebuilding it for 16 months. And John, heroically went back and forth almost every single week, between his adopted home of Oxford, MS and his native New Orleans, which was 5 hours away. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode is kind of a “betweener”— part Normal Folks and part our special series Supporting Greatness. It may seem like a stretch to call a Medal of Honor recipient normal, but he wasn’t some big wig general, literally went house to house clearing insurgents in Iraq, and it’s not like he campaigned for the medal. But we definitely wanted to interview David about who’s supported him and he powerfully talks about his grandfather, his dad, the men he served with in the “Ramrods”, and a Gold Star mom. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stacy’s daughter Erin was bullied and excluded by her peers because she had autism, which led to taking her own life at 17 years old. Only four days later, Stacy and her husband Darren heroically decided that they would do everything in their power to prevent any other family from going through this. Their non-profit, Erin’s Hope for Friends, opened a physical location called “e’s Club” where more than 400 teens and young adults with autism go on the weekends and build friendships. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stacy’s daughter Erin was bullied and excluded by her peers because she had autism, which led to taking her own life at 17 years old. Only four days later, Stacy and her husband Darren heroically decided that they would do everything in their power to prevent any other family from going through this. Their non-profit, Erin’s Hope for Friends, opened a physical location called “e’s Club” where more than 400 teens and young adults with autism go on the weekends and build friendships. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.