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Nick Champions Lives
Today I wanted to introduce you to someone who has championed the lives of more than 265,000 high school and college students. Nick Jackson commands the stage. When he gets in front of audiences he lifts them to a higher place, gets them excited and inspired. It truly is a gift and he has dedicated his adult life to sharing that gift with as many people as he can.
Nick is the first African-American male teacher and coach at Norwood High School in Cincinnati, later going to Ft Thomas Independent School District in Northern Kentucky. If you know him, it would come as no surprise to learn he coached two football teams to state championships, ever once having a losing season. Shortly after, he was selected by NBC, Showtime and Fox Sports’ Cris Collinsworth to become the national spokesperson for a nonprofit called UGive.org. Today, through Nick’s organization – NickJacksonSpeaks.com – he gives transformational speeches to packed events.
Let’s learn more about him.
Lisa: You have devoted your adult life and career to inspiring and empowering people. Where does your inspiration draw from?
Nick: My inspiration comes from inside me. Deep, deep inside me there is a young child that was told that the world doesn’t change nor care about you. The best you’ll be able to do is to “fit in it!”
Lisa: Was there a young experience that influenced your life?
Nick: Absolutely, my grandparents are phenomenal. Every time we spoke (they’ve passed) there was another reason to walk away from the conversation uplifted. They had this ability in my life to convey a message of love and empowerment at the same time. I’d walk into their conversations feeling beat down by struggling with an ability difference and the frustration of the day. They would always remind me of the big picture. And in doing this they would remind me that I’m a big part of this bigger picture.
So – keep fighting the good fight.
Lisa: What has driven you to this mission?
Nick: My biggest driving force is the amount of people out there that don’t have positive role models, parents or grandparents that point them in this positive direction.
Lisa: Who is someone that is a role model to you and why.
Nick: My grandfather. I mean he was just awesome! He had a way to connect that was as much spiritual as it was physical. He had a way of making you believe that you are special, and the outcome of your awesomeness opens doors for others to also be awesome!
Lisa: When others think about or remember you, how would you like to be remembered?
Nick: I would love to be remembered as the guy that helped others remember their awesomeness. I’d love to be remembered as the coach that was coaching people in life and the man that gave to them without expectation of return.
Lisa: What is something about you that people may be surprised to learn?
Nick: I have a serious fear of squirrels they freak me out!
Lisa: Do you have any stories of how one of your talks made an impact on your audience and yourself?
Nick: Wow where to start –
The two that come to mind are ones that are very close to my heart. I remember when I first started speaking I was at an elementary school called Crosby Elementary. I spoke to the students about never giving up no matter what other people say your disability is and also knowing that your ability will never be given to you by man. A young man stood up in the back of the room. He was leaning against the wall and he said he was a person with a disability. He explained after hearing our speech how he wouldn’t let other people’s thoughts of his ability hold him down – it was beautiful.
The next story is very similar. We were able to speak at a convention in Texas before thousands of students were with multiple races represented. As I stood there, I noticed that the Latino students, the African-American students and the Caucasian students all sat in separate sections of the auditorium. During the speech we talked about being one, having one voice, and being forgiven together in unison. The crowd of many colors, faiths and backgrounds came together as one in the hallway and we as one took the best selfies ever!
This Coach Loves His Work
Written by my Good Things Going Around intern, Isabella Noe, a senior at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Coach Mike Holmes. He first started playing basketball in 1996, and is now in his fourth year of coaching basketball both for Swish Spirit and as an assistant at Mariemont High School. Swish Spirit is “a unique program that offers basketball instruction to children and young adults who have disabilities. In addition to instruction, Swish Spirit provides children of all abilities the opportunity to be part of a team within a basketball league” . A typical practice consists of working on dribbling, passing, and scrimmaging. The team plays other teams like it in the area, such as the Snapdragons. Many of the kids who attend practices have been doing so for years, and look forward to going back each week.
Coach Mike says his favorite part of coaching is helping kids who also have disabilities. His father, Denis Holmes, notes that Mike loves “being able to share his enthusiasm and his passion for basketball” while being able to coach. He sums up his son’s coaching in two words: spirit and enthusiasm. He says that Mike carries these gifts to work as well, at GBBN, an architectural firm.
A fellow coach, Brian Higgins, discussed how Mike has “done a fantastic job helping to be a leader for [the kids at Swish], helping them to learn the fundamentals of basketball, and teaching them how to come together as a team.”
Coach Brian and Coach Mike, along with Coach Bill Noe, have given the joy of competing to many young athletes who may not have otherwise had the opportunity to play a competitive sport. Coach Bill and Coach Brian have been involved in Swish Spirit for around eight years, and have watched young kids who at one time did not know how to dribble a basketball grow tremendously on and off the court. Coach Brian finds it incredibly rewarding that many kids have gained so much self-confidence from their participation in Cincy Swish. Coach Mike attributes this in part to of the “life lessons on community” that Swish teaches them. Coach Bill agrees, noting that the level of sportsmanship between teammates is incredible. The children involved in Swish truly care for one another.
As I attended a practice, I witnessed this firsthand as two young boys from opposing teams embraced upon one of them scoring a basket. Although Mike is competitive, he encourages teamwork and collaboration on and off the court.
Mike’s passion is clearly shown through his coaching. He smiled and said that coaching is great for both the kids involved and the parents and coaches. In the words of Mike himself, “For me, it’s good [to be] coaching. I love coaching. I love it.”
How A Dinner Changed Her Life
Margaret Kastner and I met at a meeting of the Cincinnati Blogger Network many months ago, and she has become one of my Good Things Going Around followers. We have kept in touch and talk when we see each other. She has always struck me as someone very easy to talk to, a kind and uplifting person. I am so glad I asked her for her story, as it gave me an opportunity to get to know an important part of her…and share it with you.
Originally from Detroit, Margaret came to Cincinnati in 1985 with her daughter and fiancé to put down new roots and begin a career with Procter & Gamble (P&G). By 2012 she was ready to do something very different. She retired and began designing and making beautiful sterling silver jewelry. She also started an online business called The Brooch & Bangle which specializes in one of a kind, handmade jewelry that uses a variety of gemstones.
Margaret’s life changing experience…in her own words
I remember our table at the Thunderbird Restaurant with its perfectly white linen table cloth and napkins. This was uptown dining in central Iowa in the 1980s. It was prime rib Sunday and the church crowd was filling the place after morning services.
My serious boyfriend Dave and I were joining his parents for dinner. I’d met them once briefly, but I suspected this dinner was their way of sizing me up as the prospective daughter-in-law. I was a ball of nerves.
Parents Tony and Olga were quite a bit older than Dave, and Tony was getting frail from a grueling schedule of kidney dialysis. Although he drove the car with a lead foot, Tony walked gingerly into the restaurant. Was he in pain right now? Should I offer to help him in some way? I felt all thumbs and tongue-tied. I honestly didn’t know how to act around someone who was so ill. I just hoped to avoid any awkward moments.
We decided that Dave’s parents should be first to get their dinner. When Tony got up from the table, Dave also got up without any hesitation. He guided his father to the buffet, and patiently held and filled Tony’s plate with each of the foods his father requested. This simple act of kindness was given with such love and respect.
I remember my immediate thought: “I’m not like that. Why?” I was accustomed to keeping to myself. And that had to change.
My formative years were spent in Detroit and its suburbs in the 1960s – 70s. The upside was that the Motor City was the automobile capital of the world, and the birthplace of Motown music. But in looking back, it felt like everyone was in a bad mood about something: strikes, crime, declining graduation rates, corrupt city government .. to name a few possibilities.
It seemed to me that while neighbors knew each other they weren’t really all that friendly. People walked while looking down, rarely make eye contact with anyone else. At the grocery store, people didn’t make small talk with others waiting in line. People kept to themselves.
The impact of that experience
Eventually it dawned on me that I was in the right place at the right time to help others pretty often. So, I just started paying attention to what was going on around me, began reaching out.
Like when, while on a business trip and sitting in the hotel lobby, an older woman had fallen in the parking lot and her calf had a deep cut. I asked my colleague to get the rental car, I got some paper towels to clean her up, and we drove her and her husband to an urgent care. Once I also got my car to drive a fellow P&Ger who was running in the pouring rain without an umbrella to her car in a far off parking lot.
So maybe I’ve been in training for even more important opportunities to reach out.
A few years ago, Dave’s mother moved from central Iowa to Cincinnati. Although in her 90s, she lives independently, but she cannot drive. I’ve taken her to a variety of doctors. We developed a routine of how we walk together, she with her cane in her right hand, and holding onto the crook of my arm with her left.
And this year, I found a way to raise awareness about organ donation in our area. As a Cincinnati LifeCenter ambassador, I talk with people about the incredible need for people to become organ donars in our tri-state area. I tell them about the Polycystic Kidney Disease that Dave’s father had, and that we now know Dave has inherited.
One of my favorite quotes is, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
I use the last line as a yardstick to measure my day. In the evening, I think about how I may have made people feel that day. I’ve been known to drive back to a store to apologize for being less than kind to someone.
Heidi Jark Shares Inspiration
Heidi Jark, senior vice president and managing director of The Foundation Office at Fifth Third Bank, has long been someone I have admired.
A 2013 YWCA Career Women of Achievement Honoree, Heidi has learned some mammoth lessons about life and the strength of her will from her own personal 
experiences. Growing up on a farm, and having been raised by loving, hard-working parents, gave her an early solid foundation. That, and a diagnosis of cancer at the young age of 19, gave Heidi a deep inner purpose and drive for building good and philanthropy. In her role at Fifth Third, she oversees investments from the bank’s own foundation, more than 20 other trustee foundations, and private family foundations. She and her husband, Steve Kenat, are active in the community. Among Heidi’s list of engagement, she has served on the United Way Leadership Cabinet, and is a past board member of the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati.
Please learn more about Heidi below.
GTGA: You grew up on a farm in South Dakota. How did your early experiences help to shape who you are today?
Heidi: Growing up on a farm definitely had an impact on the person that I am today. I didn’t necessarily appreciate or know the true impact until I was older, but those experiences have imprinted on several things in my life. First and foremost, it taught me the value of hard work and how work can bring great joy and be essential to your wellbeing. My Dad was always “working”, whether it was in the field, at his desk, or even doing carpentry in the winter months. He’s an amazingly happy person and takes great pride in his accomplishments, even today at the young age of 88. His greatest words of wisdom to me were to find something that I loved to do with my life and I would never do a day of work. Dad was definitely right about that! Secondly, working on the farm taught me the value of humor. That seems like an odd thing to say, but there was plenty to laugh about when things were good and when things went the wrong way. My parents had a great sense of humor and even work had its fun side. Whether it was gatherings via snowmobiles to the river bottom to ice skate and roast hot dogs on a moonlit winter’s night (one of my favorite memories) or impromptu family get togethers with tons of homemade food, laughter was always present in our lives. Farming wasn’t all about work. It was about community, spending quality time together, and having some of the best laughs I’ve ever had in my life. We had fabulous adventures on and off of the farm and it’s something I value and try to practice as much as I can. Finally, it taught me to appreciate the earth and all of its beauty. I still crave wide open spaces and look forward to those trips each year when I can get back to South Dakota, breathe the fresh air, and get my hands dirty.
GTGA: You were diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. What are some life lessons learned from your experience?
Heidi: I was diagnosed a month before my 20th birthday and it was a shocker. You never want to hear the words, “you have cancer”, no matter the age. I was so fortunate to have made my way to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and to have parents who figured out a way for me to stay there for 4 months of treatment. I spent a lot of that time on my own, as it was planting season and my parents needed to be back home on the farm. I learned to be fiercely independent and to take charge of my health. I also learned to listen to my body and to let it rest when it needed a break. I also had time to think about who I was and who I wanted to be. I also learned that I can’t let fear of the unknown get the best of me or keep me from moving forward. I came out of the experience stronger and wiser than my years. I also made a list of the things I would do in my life if I got a second chance and it’s something I still try to follow every day. I didn’t know it at the time, but it’s great to get the midlife crisis out of the way much earlier than your friends.
GTGA: Who is someone who has impacted your life in a positive way and how?
Heidi: It’s hard to pick just one person, so I’m going to have to go with the 2 most important women in my life: my Mom and my oldest sister Becky. I was different from the other kids in our farming community, and my family recognized that at an early age. They embraced my differences and always made sure that I had support so that I could be whoever I wanted to be. My Mom was a school teacher and a very strong independent woman that you didn’t mess with, and she was my crusader and #1 supporter. Her words of wisdom live with me every day and I miss her terribly. We talked every day until her health deteriorated and she was unable to have a conversation with me. She’s in heaven looking over me now and I hear her voice in my head at least once every day. Becky is definitely like Mom and the two of us bear a striking resemblance to Mom in our looks, mannerisms, language, and even in our style of dress. She’s been my best friend and confidant for as long as I can remember. Becky lives out West and we only see each other a few times a year, but we talk on the telephone constantly. I know who to call if I need to laugh or cry.
GTGA: What are some of your simple pleasures in life?
Heidi: Reading, gardening, singing and playing the piano bring me great joy. I also love to cook and bake – that’s the farm girl in me coming out!
GTGA: When you think about the word ‘philanthropy’, what does that mean to you?
Heidi: Generosity always comes to mind when I think about philanthropy. The act of giving to me is the most beautiful part of humankind. When someone gives of their time or treasures, it’s truly a gift of heart and spirit. A farming community is one of the best places to learn the meaning of giving and how to care for each other. Little did I know that growing up on the farm would lead me to “work” that I love.
GTGA: What advice do you have to young people about living life?
Heidi: My advice is to live life to the fullest and to never have regrets. As a cancer survivor, every day is a good day because I’m alive. Even on the worst days, they are still better than the alternative. Dream big and surround yourself with positive people who can support you in the good times and the bad. Most of all, you need to believe in and take care of yourself. And, as my mother always reminded me, “If you’re going to kick some butt, make sure you wear some awesome shoes!”
She Helps Others Achieve Victories
I am so fortunate that my work gives me the opportunity to get know and be inspired by some truly incredible people. Faith Maynard is among them. Faith joined the team of Cincinnati nonprofit organization, LADD, Inc. (Living Arrangements for the Developmentally Disabled) 14 years ago as a direct support professional, and several positions later is now program manager for LADD’s Community Connections. That program is the only non-facilities based program of its kind in Cincinnati. Groups of 3 to 5 adults choose places in our area to explore with one of LADD’s social guides. Community Connections reduces isolation and also provides an opportunity for participants to learn and strengthen life and communication skills, build confidence through decision making, and explore their own likes and dislikes.
Faith has a beautiful soul. Her passion for bringing out the best in others is evident from your first encounter with her. It is what drives her. It is how she transforms lives and gives people reasons to look forward to the day ahead.
It is very befitting that she was given the name that she has.
She shared some of her story with me. It is below.
Faith’s Own Words
“I like doing work that actually, measurably matters to someone else each day. I like dealing with real-life challenges. I like taking ideas and turning them into reality. If the realization of dreams is in some way surprising or empowering, that’s just extra fun. I feel best when the small victories that I get to shepherd people through lead to bigger, more brilliant ideas. These are not my decisions to make or my lives to lead: my job is to present a menu, envision solutions and, ultimately, walk beside them as their own decisions and solutions take root and bear fruit.
How I came to my career with LADD was a journey. In college I studied comparative social sciences: sociology, anthropology, psychology with minor emphasis in history and economics (because economics is a social science!). I also did lots of organizing (politically and otherwise) through my association with punk rock music, it’s sort of the defining thing of my life so far. I’m not sure what I learned from this part of my life, but I know I felt that there was no cooperation as pure as volunteer cooperation towards an immaterial, non-monetary goal. Cooperation for joy. For cooperation’s sake. Graffiti on the world.
I love the variety that my work life here at LADD encompasses. I love the occasions to work fully with my body as well as the time I spend envisioning a better way and a better world. I love the try-it-and-see opportunities to sample the veritable smorgasbord of approaches and solutions to the problems we face each day. I love helping the folks I support develop visions of their own and put them into play.
Beyond that, though, the most amazing thing about my job at LADD is how much of my life fits inside it. I still book bands, I just do it for LADD. In my capacity at LADD I throw parties, volunteer, make art, bake cookies, go to museums, do yoga, canoe and the list could go on and on! In my newest role I feel like a kid in a sandbox. Here I’ve got ten groups of adults with disabilities that I can send out to be a force of good (and joy!) in the community.
As for someone who has greatly impacted my life, I’d say my most obvious influence is DJ Gatwood. She has been my supervisor for 12 of the past 14 years here at LADD. I’ve been taking great care to learn as much as I possibly can from her and I haven’t quite captured her magic. She’s fantastic at making people feel heard, getting them to hear others and weaving solutions. She is the picture of fluidity, flexibility and creativity.
photo credit: Jesse Byerly
Of course, my relationship with John Roach, someone with whom I have been a part of his life through my work, is pretty important. His experience and strength is so different from my own. He’s the one who insisted I start taking folks with disabilities on amazing, ambitious trips. He practically dared me to go on the dog sledding adventure (which I did with Gena Wade), pestered me into planning the Disney trip and wheedled me into canoeing through the Florida Everglades into the Gulf of Mexico. He’s so up for anything. Without him in my life, I wouldn’t have joined the Unitarian Church or volunteered with Mobo Bike Coop. He loves to work hard and take big risks.
There have been other fantastic folks that I’ve served here at LADD. Neil Dignan, Mike Weber and Dale Jackson jump to mind. Their involvement with Visionaries and Voices and Thunder Sky has led me to build even more community ties.
Amazing doesn’t mean easy. Life will be better when you figure that out.
