An Army of Normal Folks - JT Olson: Raising Money for Adoptions by Helping Widows (Pt 1)

Episode Date: December 17, 2024

This title doesn't make much sense, unless you listen to the episode. JT is the founder of Both Hands, whose own Army of Normal Folks in 45 states has raised $21 million to adopt 1,648 kids by serving 1,632 widows! Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

16 years later, you've done 1,352 projects in 45 states. 1,541 widows have been served. 1,571 kids are no longer orphans. And you've raised to date almost $20 million. We got new stats. We had five projects this past week, 1452 projects in 45 states. Okay. 1632 widows had been served and 1648 kids. And we just passed 21. 21 man. All the colors. Isn't that making you giddy? It just makes me giddy.

Welcome to an army of normal folks. I'm Bill Courtney. I'm a normal guy. I'm a husband, a father, an entrepreneur, and I've been a football coach in inner city Memphis. And the last part, it unintentionally led to an Oscar for the film about our team. It's called Undefeated.

I believe our country's problems will never be solved by a bunch of fancy people in nice suits, talking big words that nobody understands on CNN and Fox, but rather by an army of normal folks, us, just you and me deciding, hey, maybe I can help. That's what JT Olsen, the voice you just heard, has done. JT is the founder of Both Hands, which raises money for adoptions

by doing service projects for widows. And you're going to have to keep listening to understand how any of that makes any sense. But I'll tell you this, James 127, that chapter and verse has something to do with it. I can't wait for you to meet JT right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. exhausted, but turns out the end is near, right in time for a new season of my podcast, Next Question. This podcast is for people like me who need a little perspective and insight. I'm bringing in some FOKs, friends of Katie's, to help me out like Ezra Klein, Van Jones, Jen Psaki, Ested Herndon, but we're also going to have some fun, even though these

days fun and politics seems like an ox Herndon. But we're also going to have some fun, even though these days fun and politics seems like an oxymoron. But we'll do that thanks to some of my friends like Samantha Bee, Roy Wood Jr., and Charlamagne the God. We're going to take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Power to the podcast for the people. So whether you're obsessed with the news or just trying to figure out what's going on,

this season of Next Question is for you. Check out our new season of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all, I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. My podcast, When You're Invisible, is my love letter to the working class people and immigrants who shaped my life. I get to talk to a lot of people who form the backbone of our society, but who have never been interviewed before. Season two is all about community,

organizing, and being underestimated. All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said, this sucks. let's do something about it. I can't have more than $2,000 in my bank account, or else I can't get disability benefits. They won't let you succeed. I know we get paid to serve you guys, but be respectful. We're made out of the same things, bone, body, blood.

It's rare to have black male teachers. Sometimes I am the lesson and I'm also the testament. Listen to When You're Invisible as part of the MyCultura podcast network. Available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everything okay? Yes, I'm fine. Honey... Hey, I'm here for you.

Tell me about school today. When kids can't find the right words, music can help them sound it out. Talk to the kids in your life about their emotional well-being. Find tools and resources at soundedouttogether.org. Brought to you by the Ad Council and Pivotal Ventures. JT Olsen, welcome to Memphis. Nice to be here. Did you drive down?

I did drive, yes. You live in Franklin now. I live in Franklin, well Brentwood, yeah. Brentwood? Yeah. You live in Nashville. I live in Nashville. Most people in Nashville live in Nashville. well Brentwood, yeah. Brentwood? Yep. You live in Nashville. I live in Nashville. Most people in Nashville, I live in Nashville.

It's about a three hour ride down the road. Good. Weather all right? Weather was fine, yeah. That's good, Thanksgiving. Oh, I'm not supposed to time stamp these things, but the holidays are coming up and a nice little fall ride down the road.

I know, I can't wait to drive home today and see all the leaves. Everybody, JT is the founder of Both Hands and the author of The Orphan, The Widow and Me came out around 2016-17 and a really interesting dude with an interesting idea that has now become a thing that we're gonna get into. Tell me what Both Hands is in an elevator pitch and

then we'll unpack it all. Okay. Yeah, both hands. What we do is we help families raise money for adoptions and we do it by serving a widow. Which is crazy. I know. That's it. You help. You help families raise money for adoptions. And you do it by serving widows.

Now, again, we're going to really get into unpacking it all. But why do you need to help families with adoption? Is it that expensive? Oh, my word, yes. I mean, it's much more expensive now than it was 10, 20, 30 years ago. I mean when someone's adopting 30 or 40 years ago, they'd pay a lawyer a little bit of money, someone contacted them an orphanage. There were orphanages then, you know, I mean it

was just a different situation. But oh yeah, nowadays adoptions will run anywhere from 30 to 60 or $70,000. That's a lot of money to do something good. I know. And a lot of it is just, I mean, there are several costs and legitimate costs. I mean, these are adoptions. There are adoption agencies. They have people that work. You have to pay them.

I mean, they're not going to, you know, they'd love to donate their time, but they have to earn a living. There's lawyers just to make sure things are legal. There's, there's courses you have to take to make the, I mean, uh, state governments want to make sure you are equipped to adopt and should you adopt them. There's, there's all kinds of things you have to do. And there's an home study. That's usually three to 5,000. Now my understanding is both hands. You started about 17 years ago. Yeah.

Yeah. First project was 2007. That's incredible. We're skipping. We're going to unpack it. But I got to ask you why. Why? Yeah. Why start it in the first place? Some guy gave me an idea. I mean, I was doing a golf tournament for Bethany Christian Services. I was on the board of Bethany. And one year they told me I was in charge of the golf tournament.

I said, I'm a fundraiser. I said, can I do a golf tournament? They said, yeah, do whatever you want. I said, so I got a golf tournament together where it was the kind where you recruit a bunch of people like 20, 30 guys and everyone sends letters out to their friends saying, would you sponsor me while I golf? Just like, you know, sponsor me while I run a 5k or do a hula hoop.

Yeah, sure. Okay. I've actually played in a couple of those. I get it. Yeah. So I send my letters out and I had a buddy who I was in a Bible study with, he sends my letter back to me, does not include a check. He just took a magic marker and he scribbled across my letter.

He said, JT, if you told me you were working on a widow's house, I might sponsor you. But you're just golfing. Nice cause, but not my money. Wow. I mean, I hurt my feelings a little bit, but at the same time I'm thinking, wow, that's a good idea. And I called him a couple days later. We talked about it and laughed.

And he still didn't give me any money. But the idea just never left me. Whenever I saw a 5K or a golf tournament after that, I kept thinking, if all those people were working on a widow's house, would it be better? I just didn't have the orphan part figured out, honestly. Until a couple years later, I'm in church, running to a good friend of mine, hadn't seen him in a couple months. I said, Hey Don, what's up? And he looked at me and he says,

we're adopting four kids from Moldova. From Moldova of all places. Eastern Europe, and our Soviet block country. And Don already has three kids. And so I looked at him and said, what happened? Maybe the same question asked you, why? Well, yeah, because what happened is he went on a mission with Sweet Sleep, delivering beds to orphanages in Moldova. Very cool. Fell in love with this little boy, George. Got home, started the adoption process and found out in the process, George has three siblings. And down looked at me and he said, we're not going to break up the siblings.

And that took me back to when I was 12 living on a farm in Northeastern Iowa. There was five of us kids, five, five. What were the ages when you were 12? Three, five, 12, 13, 15. Wow. And you were on a farm? On a farm in Northeastern Iowa, beautiful part of the country. Got it.

Right, just two miles from the Mississippi. Right. Right up the river. I get it. But one weekend, my mom and dad left to celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary. And us kids were kind of farmed out to different places. And I remember Saturday night being brought home by one of the neighbors because mom and dad were coming home.

And I played in the barn all day, so I had to go in the basement to change. My brother went in the front door. But I remember sitting on this chair in our basement, bending over, un-lacing my boots, and my brother came down the stairs and I just kind of looked up on him. I said, are mom and dad home? And he looked at me and he said, mom and dad are dead. And I said, what? He said, mom and dad are dead. They were killed in a car accident an hour ago. And he turned around and walked upstairs.

How old was he? 15. He was in ninth grade. I was in seventh. Shocked. He was in shock. I mean, he was just coming down to tell me. But I remember that moment.

And I remember hitting that cold cement floor of our basement all by myself, wailing like any seventh grader would wail. I mean I know what it's like to be an orphan. I know it's like to wonder what's gonna happen to us. I know it's like to try and wrestle with the fact that I'm never gonna get to see my mom and dad again this side of heaven. And oh how I wish my last conversation with my father was different. But I, and I don't wonder who's going to take care of us. But I also know what it's like to be rescued because

my mom and dad, my aunt and uncle, three months before this accident, they changed their wills that if anything would happen to one of them, the other family would take them. You're kidding. Three months? Yeah. You talk about... Timing. ...Preminiscence.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, so, my aunt and uncle, I mean, get this, they were 33 years old. They lived in a really nice suburb of Milwaukee called Brookfield. And they had three children and they had just started business a year earlier. And it became eight overnight. They had a two year old, a third grader and a fifth grader. They took in a three year old, a five year old, a seventh, a third grader, and a fifth grader. They took in a three-year-old, a five-year-old, a seventh grader, eighth grader, and a ninth grader. A ninth grader with a 33 year old parent. Oh yeah. Oh my goodness. What amazing people they are. I know. They're heroes. They're people

who said yes. It's a bunch of people, friends in, you know, in their best interest saying, I don't know better than it does not have a good idea. That's going to be hard. You may never have an extra $20 as long as you live again with eight kids. But I know, but I know what it's like to have someone come in and say, we got you. It's, it may not always be pretty, but we gotcha. Do you remember, I mean, you were 12. And so the reality in a 12 year old's brain is going to be much different than reality and you know, a young adult's brain, but beyond the pain and the sadness and the dread of having lost your parents, which I can't

even fathom that at that age. Do you also remember the sense of what's going to happen to us now? Yeah. Yeah. I loved living on the farm. I loved our life. And I didn't know what was going to happen. My father had a brother, Uncle Cliff, who lived with us. They were partners in the farming. But I didn't know.

In addition to losing your parents, you're losing your friends, your school, I, you know, I didn't know. So in, in, in addition to losing your parents, you're losing your friends, your school, everything, cause you got to go. At some point it becomes evident. Yes, something's going to change. You know, at some point my aunt and uncle, you know, it didn't happen right away, but I mean, first of all, you got to deal with the grief and deal with all the whole lot of details you got to deal with. Um, but yeah, eventually it was like, yeah, we're moving

to Milwaukee. So do you remember feeling, I'm just curious, do you remember feeling thankful that that at that time, do you remember feeling thankful that that was your reality rather than you and your siblings being split up and going off to orphanages or being farmed out. I mean, do you remember at least that that was some solace in the middle of all this chaos and trauma? Yes. Yes. What did that feel like? That felt like we're going to... The main thing was the five of us kids are going to

stay together. And you have to remember my aunt and uncle, my mom and my aunt, sisters, were best friends. And I'm not exaggerating. They were best friends. So not only was she taken in five kids, she lost her best friend. So she was dealing with grief and stepped up. Yes. And Uncle Ralph and my dad were good friends. I mean, we loved Uncle Ralph, you know? I mean, he played with us, played football with us. My dad was a lot older than my mom there. That's another whole story. He was 42 when they got married.

She was 21. He was a Norwegian bachelor farmer that we hear someone talk about once in a while. What you might call a gentleman farmer. That's right. hear someone talk about once in a while. What you might call a gentleman farmer. So you remember arriving in Minneapolis, having lost your parents and your friends in your school. In Milwaukee.

I mean Milwaukee. I apologize, Milwaukee. But the first thing that just came out of your mouth to me was you do remember at least some solace saying, hey, my siblings and I are going to stay together. Yeah. So when you heard the story of the Moldavian family, you had to have had some sentiment of the same feel for those children.

And that's exactly what happened. When I think about what happened with us, my aunt and uncle had taken all five of us in. And then I just looked at Don. The thought that went through my mind was, here's a man who's trusting God in a way that I envy. I mean, I want to have that kind of faith. And by then, we had adopted, our fifth child's adopted. So we knew it was going to be expensive. I looked at Don, I said, how much is it going to cost? And he said, well, they're telling us

70 or 80,000. And I said, do you have any idea how you're going to do it? And he said, no. And I said, well, they're telling us 70 or 80,000. And I said, do you have any idea how you're going to do it? And he said, no. And I said, and that's when it hit me. Initially started out, you asking why it hit me. I thought, I got an idea, Don. And so Don and I put together a team, about 14, 15 people. We found a widow in Nashville who needed help. We got everything donated supply-wise that we need.

I mean, we didn't pull a permit. We just doing fix-up stuff. We all sent letters out to people saying, would you sponsor me while I work on this widow's house? All the money I raise is going to go towards getting these four kids home from Moldova. I mean, the beautiful day, March 2007, I'll never forget it, 30, 35 people showed up. It was glorious.

And the widow was blessed. She was blown away. And we ended up raising a little over 70,000 when it was all over, said and done. And that kind of freaked me out. And now a few messages from our generous sponsors. But first, I hope you'll consider signing up to join the Army at normalfolks.us. By signing up, you'll receive a weekly email with short

episode summaries in case you happen to miss an episode or if you prefer reading about our incredible guests. We'll be right back. Hey everyone, it's Katie Couric. Well, the election is in the home stretch and I'm exhausted. But turns out the end is near, right in time for a new season of my podcast, Next Question. This podcast is for people like me who need a little perspective and insight. I'm bringing in some FOKs, friends of Katie's, to help me out like Ezra Klein, Van Jones, Jen Psaki, Ested Herndon. But we're also gonna have some fun,

even though these days fun and politics seems like an oxymoron. But we'll do that thanks to some of my friends like Samantha Bee, Roy Wood Jr., and Charlemagne the God. We're going to take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Power to the podcast for the people. So whether you're obsessed with the news or just trying to figure out what's going on, this season of Next Question is for you. Check out our new season of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all. I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. My podcast, When You're Invisible, is my love letter to the working class people and immigrants who shaped my life. I get to talk to a lot of people who form the backbone of our society,

but who have never been interviewed before. Season two is all about community, but who have never been interviewed before. Season two is all about community, organizing, and being underestimated. All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said, this sucks, let's do something about it. I can't have more than $2,000 in my bank account, or else I can't get disability benefits.

They won't let you succeed. I know we get paid to serve you guys, but like be respectful. We're made out of the same things, bone, body, blood. It's rare to have black male teachers. Sometimes I am the lesson and I'm also the testament. Listen to When You're Invisible as part of the MyCultura podcast network.

Available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everything okay? Yes, I'm fine. Honey. Hey, I'm here for you. Tell me about school today. When kids can't find the right words, music can help them sound it out.

Talk to the kids in your life about their emotional wellbeing. Find tools and resources at soundedouttogether.org. Brought to you by the Ad Council and Pivotal Ventures. So you're raised in Milwaukee by your aunt and uncle who become mom and dad I assume. Well they became mom and dad to my three-year-old and five-year-old sister. Yeah. Us three boys it was always Aunt Brianne and Uncle Ralph. But you're thankful for them and it is now your family. Oh yes, yes.

And you have to remember we visited Milwaukee a lot and my cousins would come to the farm and stay for the summer for two weeks. Yeah, it wasn't like how we're strangers. Yeah, I knew the neighbors, you know, we had been there before, so yeah. So it wasn't like, oh, this is all strange. I mean, it was different going to a suburbian, a very nice suburbian school versus a country farm. In Iowa. Yeah, that was different. I'm sure it was.

That was different. So you do that, you move on, and you meet somebody and marry her. Oh my word, okay. You just took a few leaps there, but yeah. Yeah. So I think she's germane to the story as I think about it all and I just, you know, tell me about her. About my bride?

Yeah. My bride is wonderful. It's Sarah. And I met her when she walked into one of my interviews I was running when I recruited students to sell books in the summertime. Tell us about that. I sold summertime. Tell us about that. I sold books. Tell us about that job and all of that

because I want people to understand kind of the background that led up to you supporting your friend in Moldova that led to now what you're doing. Give me that background. Wow, I sold books as a college student. I mean, when I was in high school and that first year of college, I refer to the junior, senior, and freshman year

in college as the lost years because I was so into a lot of things I probably should have been into. And I went to University of Wisconsin, Madison to go to college because I wanted to major in partying. And that was all my friends were going. And I thought, that's what I'm going to do. And I did a good job my freshman year. Did they have a pretty good school of that in Madison?

They had a pretty good school of that. And everyone's proud of it. And I took part of it. But something happened in April that year. I remember I was going to go back to Wisconsin, to Milwaukee from Madison for the summer to work at this. Coles had a bunch of food stores and 60 stores. I worked in the bakery.

I was going to work in the bakery like I'd done in my part-time job for junior and senior year. But my roommate came back and said, hey, I got a great job. I got this job. I'm going to be selling books this summer. I said, you are crazy. He said, no, no, no, it's a good thing. Look at this.

Bro, no, no, no, you're crazy. Anyway, he said, come meet this guy. So I met him. And the guy laid it out for me. And initially, I did like, I mean, primarily, I loved the product. I thought, OK, this is a good product. I could see selling this.

And then the guy explained to me, so you only got to sell one or two a day. I said, and I didn't picture myself as a sales guy. And I said, OK. And I went back and told my uncle, now my uncle and I probably weren't of all the eight kids. I was the one he probably got along with the least. Okay. I was the, I mean, I think men, my sisters, you know, they hear this, they're going to say, yeah, he was the black sheep. You know,

I was the one that had the party that 70 kids came to him. My aunt and uncle left on vacation. And I mean, I was not, I didn't do a good job. Okay. Got it. And a lot of things I wish I hadn't done, but my uncle, he said, wait, and he was running a business. So he was a sales guy and an engineer sales guy.

And he said, well, man, if you only sell one or two a day, or even three a day, you're going to do real well. He said, you should do that. And I think my uncle was trying to think, how can I make sure he's not home for the summertime? Anyway, but he said, yeah, you should do it. And I think he also knew that I needed something like that, but I went and sold books that summer summer and I remember I knocked on doors. They, it's a group where they, it's a Southwestern company.

It's a, it's like 180, 190 year old company out of Nashville. It's one of the original companies that's still in Nashville. But it was a great company and just a lot of great godly men and women who lead that place. And it's just, I learned a lot and I grew a lot. When you knock on doors for three months, you knock on 3000 doors and you have to meet and deal with people, you know, and make a good first impression, 10, 15, 20 seconds. You learn a lot.

I ended up doing it for six summers. And when doors get slammed in your face, you also learn, well, that was that door. Let me go this next one. And just let's move as fast as we possibly can. And most people don't slam doors in your face by way. That's kind of a stereotype, you know, and we're not told to put our foot in the door. That's a stereotype. It was totally different.

And it was a great experience for me. I sold waterless cookware to Summers when I was in college, door to door. Waterless cookware? Waterless cookware. Zig-zag kind of thing? Exactly, the exact same stuff for Royal Prestige, which is exactly who he worked for. During my first year doing it, I became a Zig Ziglar disciple because he was the waterless

cookware guy. Yes, that's right. I actually got to meet him once. Did you really? I sure did. I got to listen to him talk for about 20 minutes. The whole point was I know what that is and it's all summer long and sometimes you go to one or two different cities and you're with

a bunch of other college kids and you're selling books and or water or whatever and you're making money and it is one heck of a learning experience. Oh yeah it's like you get a master's in sales. I mean people who live in Nashville, they know Southwestern because a lot of the business leaders who built the big buildings and ran the banks and did all the... They started doing it. They all started selling books.

And they ended up living in Nashville. You evolved working for them, right? Full time, is that right? Yeah, I mean, I sold for first four summers and I graduated from college. I sold the summer after that because I didn't have a career lined up, you know, and it was a good deal.

I could have made more money in three months and I would have taken a salary job, you know, back in 1979. But then after that summer, they said, you wanna come in and do this full time? I said, I wasn't sure, but I had a good friend of mine, he said, he was a salesman, he said, JT, you know, this has changed your life.

If you do this, if you don't do this, you're going to always look back and regret, I didn't at least give it a shot. Because my picture of being a district sales manager with a Southwestern company, it's the hardest job in the world. You work real hard. I mean, the rewards were great. I heard you got good pay, you know, but I didn't know. And I said, okay, I'll give it a shot.

And honestly, part of it was, I tell you, it was after my first summer. When I look back on my life and some of the major fence posts, that first summer, I remember after the whole summer, my student manager, the guy who recruited me, Dick Justman, he was driving me back to my headquarters after a Sunday meeting. Because we'd always have Sunday meetings. He'd work six days.

And we all stayed in the same area. I was in Los Angeles, Alhambra. That's where I was knocking on doors. That's great. I got my, I cut my teeth in LA. Yeah. And, but I remember he was driving me home and I wasn't going to see him again until we got back to school because I was leaving. He was staying another week and I looked around at the freeway going by me, all the buildings.

I'm in Los Angeles. First time I'd seen the Pacific Ocean. First time I'd done so many things that a farm kid or a kid from the Midwest hadn't seen. And I learned a lot. And I looked at Dick and I said, Dick, I just want to say thank you for getting me into this thing and for being here and for helping me go through this.

You were really, you've really made a difference. And he just kind of went, ah, JT, you could have done it yourself. You didn't mean that much. I said, no, you really, you really helped me. I'm grateful. And then I remember we both were kind of quiet looking at the freeway going by. But the thought that went through my head was, he must feel awesome right now.

Because if he doesn't, it's because I didn't communicate well enough to him the impact he made on my life. And then the next thought hit me. Would it be cool if someone could feel that way about JT Olson someday? I didn't communicate well enough to him the impact he made on my life. And then the next thought hit me. Would it be cool if someone could feel that way about JT Olson? And that's what made me think this is leadership thing is kind of neat. And if you can impact people's lives. And so every summer, I re every year, I recruited teams to go out and sell books and had an impact on kids.

In the years, every year I learned more about management, about leadership, made a lot of mistakes, screwed up a lot, but did some things right too. And when they said I could be a sales manager, I said, okay, let's try it. And that leads me to my second or third year as a sales manager. You're recruiting kids.

Recruiting college students. I'm at the Howard Johnson's in Madison, Wisconsin, you know, and running an interview. One of my actual progeny, one of my young students is running an interview and 10 people are in that room and there's one very sharp looking young lady. I mean, outrageously beautiful, stark, raving, gorgeous is what I would say. Smoking hot. Smoking hot. That's my wife. Still today after 40 years.

She's amazing. But, and my student manager ran that meeting and he was, you know, he was doing the best he could. But anyway, when it was all over, she was one of them that said, yeah, I want to do this. So I got to know her a little bit. She went out and sold books that summer, came back for a second summer to be a student manager.

And I just, you know, she was just one of the students and that's, that was kind of the, the rule you had, yes, they're students and you don't do, you know, um, uh, you keep your distance. And, but she came back and she had decided that she loved she really wanted to make a difference She ended up being the top of the 18 20 years. I was a sales manager I've never had a student recruit as many as she did I think she recruited a 24 person team to come to Nashville. That's hard. Most kids recruit two If you really get a good one, they recruit 10. Yeah. Okay.

She recruited 24. It doesn't hurt to be good looking when you do that. I know. And there were some sharp guys she recruited. She had dragged in some really sharp guys, you know. And I talked to her. But you see, when someone's doing that, Coach, it's just like when you got someone on your player who's really in charge of things, you spend more time with them.

And plus, she had quite a work list. Like, okay, now she's got 12 people, okay, how are you gonna manage your time, your school, everything else, how are you gonna do this? And we just spent, because of what the job she was doing, we spent a lot of time together. And there was a mutual respect that developed. Seems like it.

You know? Yeah. So, there you go. We got married. We eloped, actually. Did you really? You eloped? That's cool.

We'll be right back. Hey everyone, it's Katie Couric. Well, the election is in the home stretch and I'm exhausted. But turns out the end is near, right in time for a new season of my podcast, Next Question. This podcast is for people like me who need a little perspective and insight. I'm bringing in some FOKs, friends of Katie's, to help me out like Ezra Klein, Van Jones, Jen Psaki, Ested Herndon. But we're also going to have some fun, even though these days fun and politics seems like an oxymoron.

But we'll do that thanks to some of my friends like Samantha Bee, Roy Wood Jr., and Charlamagne the God. We're going to take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Power to the podcast for the people. So whether you're obsessed with the news or just trying to figure out what's going on, this season of Next Question is for you. Check out our new season of Next Question with me,

Katie Couric, on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all, I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. My podcast, When You're Invisible, is my love letter to the working class people and immigrants who shaped my life. I get to talk to a lot of people who form the backbone of our society, but who have never been interviewed before. Season two is all about community, organizing, and being underestimated.

All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said, this sucks, let's do something about it. I can't have more than $2,000 in my bank account, or else I can't get disability benefits. They won't let you succeed. I know we get paid to serve you guys, but like, be respectful. We're made out of the same things,

bone, body, blood. It's rare to have black male teachers. Sometimes I am the lesson and I'm also the testament. Listen to When You're Invisible as part of the MyCultura podcast network. Available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everything okay? Yes, I'm fine. Honey. Hey, I'm here for you.

Tell me about school today. When kids can't find the right words, music can help them sound it out. Talk to the kids in your life about their emotional well-being. Find tools and resources at sounded out together Dot org brought to you by the ad council and pivotal ventures Hi, so there's the love affair there you are you're you're on your way, you have your life, and then you ran into Deb. That's a story that will change your life.

Yeah, because every year at Southwestern, this company would have a huge meeting. It was called the Great Recruiters Seminar, and it was in January, because all the kids fired up to recruit a team for the spring semester so they can go out and sell in the summertime. But like 700, 800 kids would come to Nashville from schools all over the country and Europe and things like that. That particular year, I think it was 91 or 92, I had about 50 managers coming in. So I had a big week ahead of me because I had a pretty good size organization.

And your wife's name's Sarah, right? Sarah, yes. And Sarah's involved. Sarah's involved, yeah. In fact, she was so good. I mean, she would teach a class at the women's in sales school every year. So a lot of the women, even if they weren't working with me, they knew Sarah. But the ones who worked with me personally, they knew Sarah because she would come out

at Sunday meetings. She, you know, I mean, we had kids, we were, she was involved and, and she sold books for four summers. So she knew the value of it. And so she was very encouraging. But the first thing, one of my other older managers came, told me when we got there and when the students are getting the area, he says, Hey, I just thought I'd tell you Deb is, Deb is pregnant.

And she's scheduled for an abortion next week in Iowa on Wednesday. Deb was a student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and it just, my heart sank. Tim said, well, don't tell anyone I told you, but she didn't want me to tell you, but I thought you'd better know. I went back and told my wife, miraculously, somehow we got childcare for the next two days. We had a three-year-old and an infant at that time. Somebody watched our kids for two days

where my wife spent the next two days with dad. Just loving on her, saying, you know, there's another option, there's another option for this. You know, we can do this, let's go get a picture of the baby. No, no, no, and dad was just like arms folded. No, no, no way. My parents are gonna be so disappointed in me. She was kind of the golden child to me. She was, you know, and she was, you know, she was really effective. My parents are gonna be so disappointed in me. I'm she was kind of the golden child

I mean, she was you know, and she was you know, she was really effective. She was a great salesperson sharp young lady and We just said well tell you what you you know, Jay G and I my wife would say Jay G And I want to have kids again. We used to stay with us. We've got an extra room at the house live with us We'll adopt this baby. You can go back to Madison when it's over and things just life can just go on and Deb was no no way And when she left on Saturday afternoon My heart just was it was sad. We were praying just it was it was sad Somewhere between Nashville and

Madison on Interstate 65 she heard a song that was popular that year by Eric Clapton And there was a phrase in that song that said, would you know my name if you saw me in heaven? And something snapped. I mean, Deb just, she changed her mind. She went back. She told her mom and dad, her mom and dad loved her. Just like she said, we said they would, you know? And then a week later she shows up on our front porch and said, is that deal still good? We said, sure, come on in. We got,

I mean, we just did what anyone else would do. It's, you know, I don't know if you've done what anybody else would do, but good enough. She took you up on the deal. She took me up on the deal and, and, uh, you know, uh, and she lived with us. And at one point during one of the doctor. Yeah, she took me up on the deal and, you know, and she lived with us. And at one point during one of the doctor's office, it's a pretty funny story, it's in the book, but my wife found out she was pregnant. And the sovereignty of God, I look at this thing, I can just sit back and say, I didn't know how all this happens, but Deb had changed her mind.

So now you're living in a house with a wife that's pregnant, with Deb that's pregnant, and two small children, and selling books. Yeah, well, I was managing. Yeah. But you know what I mean. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah, the way it was acting. All I can say is yikes. Good grief. We just take one day at a time you know.

So what happened when Deb had her child? It was amazing and it was a beautiful and Ashton was born and the father who was also one of my students in fact I'd worked with him for five years. And I'd rendered to him for five years, we were good friends, he was mad. He was mad. And he was thinking like most, I mean not to his blame, like everybody, let me just take care of this issue and we'll do it that way.

But Ashton was born, and he was interesting about a week later, a week, somewhere in there, a month later we got a card from Deb's mom and it was just just a regular card. I think the title on the front it says, I know how it is to, I know it is to know God, it's people like you who make him real. But you open it up and there were two sentences in there, Coach, that rocked my world. One of them, the first sentence was, thank you for being there when my Debbie needed somebody. And she said, I'll never be able to thank you

for saving my granddaughter's life. You read something like that. And I said, we didn't do anything. All we did was say, come on in. You know, I mean, that's what we did. And loved honor. And it was amazing the way people came around her and our community group from church.

I mean, and we had another girl who stayed with us at one point, the whole community group watched her child. You know why she went to college? I mean, I've seen the church come around situations like this and just take care of it. So it's pretty amazing. But the cool but the cool thing about that little girl now, well, she's in Dallas She's married. Her last name is is right. She married mr. Right But it was funny because well did Deb raise her yes

Well, yeah, what happened is another sailor from Southwestern eventually married Deb. They became friends. They got married, Tim. And she became Tim and Debbie Knight. And Ashton, they raised her in Franklin, right next to where we live. And we saw her once in a while and things like that. And at her high school, we got invited to her high school graduation party. And I remember my wife and I walking in there.

And there across the room, I saw Todd, the father. And he started walking towards me. And I honestly didn't know if I was gonna get hugged or slugged. Yeah, I get it. But he was there, so obviously something was going on. But he walked up to me and shook my hands, like, hi, JT. Hi, Sarah.

And then he kind of stepped back and just kind of set his steps, you know, and said, I just want to say I'm sorry for being such a jerk when all this happened. He said, I can't tell you what a joy Ashton has been in my life. And he tried to finish and he couldn't finish. He just started sobbing and he grabbed me and hugged me. And it's like one of those hugs where you feel a man's ribs

just moving like he's sobbing. It's a man who's just saying, I'm sorry. I didn't realize when he was six or, when she was six or seven years old Todd had married somebody his girl his his wife said you mean you've got a daughter Somewhere and you haven't had any contact with her and she just she encouraged Todd in a very godly way To be involved and I mean they did they Todd got to know his daughter and when Ashen got married five years later They got to know his daughter. And when Ashton got married five years later,

Sarah and I weren't invited to the wedding. And I got to see Ashton walk down the aisle by her biological father and her dad who married her mom. Crazy. They walked that out about as well as anyone could. So that's had a huge effect on us. And in the 90s, we had like four different girls stay with us who were in a situation where they said,

they were going to have an abortion. They changed their mind. So the reason that story, to me, is so important is when you think about what happened to you when you were 12 and the gift and blessing of your aunt and your recognition even at 12 years old that, hey, me and my siblings are going to stay together. And then leading up to before you ever thought about doing the widow thing to raise money for your buddy with the four kids from Aldovia.

Along the course of your life, children and unwed mothers and kids that have the prospect of no home and all of those things just kept being put in your life. It almost feels like you were being groomed. I know. You know what it's like? It's like when you look at a tapestry from the backside, none of it makes sense. I mean, you can tell a little bit of an outline. It's when you turn it over, you're like, there's where it all is.

I mean, the accident happened when I was 12 I started both hands when I was 52 there's a 40 year difference there I had a radio when the book came out I was interviewed a few times you know and that one of the radio guy said you know there's some biblical significance to the number 40 no kidding and I said yeah and you know what it just what it turns out the more I look back the more I see it the more I study it's like that 40 years I that was preparation time that was preparation like God was saying JT everything up between now and here everything else has been preparation

now this is what you've been preparing for this is what what you were meant to do. Just tee it up and swing, because this is going to be fun. So in 97, you leave Southwestern. You had four kids at the time. And you've been on the road a bunch. And you mentioned it earlier, but you start working for Bethany Christian Services. Well, I was on the board. Well, on the board working with, not for, Bethany Christian Services, which, I was on the board. Well, on the board working with, not for,

Bethany Christian Services, which of course, surprise, surprise, is an adoption agency. What a shock. I mean, one more step in the grooming process. And some things happened. Yeah. That even illuminated your path a little bit more. I guess is the way I'd say it Yeah, I mean the the culmination one of the combinations the highlights of that path in there. Yeah was

Christmas Eve 2001 I'm headed to the attic to get the stockings to hang by the chimney with care because that's my job. Right. Hold on. I got a question. Quick intermission. Do you have a fake Christmas tree or do you use real Christmas trees? Fake. Sorry. Do you feel like a communist? Not at all.

I hate it. At least it doesn't. I grew up in apartments. Oh, okay. I grew up in apartments. Mom was dad left when I was home when I was young. I never had a house with a front lawn to cut until I bought my own when I was in my 30s. I never had the organic family Christmas. Now we always went to my grandparents and that was a family Christmas, but I'm talking to mom and dad, a fireplace, a Christmas tree, all that. And so I am Griswoldian at Christmas. I wanna load all-

My brother is too. I wanna load my four kids up in the family roadster. I wanna drive out in some mud somewhere. I wanna cut down a tree. I wanna bring it home. I wanna spend the afternoon trimming it. I want some bring it home. I want to spend the afternoon trimming it I want some eggnog. I want to fire in the fireplace. I want to put the stand on the tree I want to drag it in I want all that that's what I want and I got that for about the first 12 years of my marriage with my children and then

one Christmas when we left the tree up a little long and the needles fell off and Lisa burned up the motor on her Electrolux vacuuming the trees up and that was under real trees for me and we went communist and started fake Christmas trees that I get Out of the attic now and it it it kills me. I Love not having to clean up All the needles after you and Lisa are Christmas communists Yeah, that was a do love the good smell. It is a great smell. That's a small diversion from your story, but I just thought I might want to tell you since the holidays are coming up that those of you with fake Christmas trees are doing

it wrong and I'm among you, but it is under protest and at the behest of my beautiful wife Lisa because of her letrologues. Okay, go ahead. You're in the attic. And I look around the attic and I see a high chair. I see a stroller and I see a crib. And the thought hits me.

We've got everything we need to raise another child. This is Christmas of 2001? Yes. Okay. Christmas Eve. And you're working for Bethany, not working for or working with. You're on the board of Bethany Christian Services. Which is an adoption agency.

And they minister to women in crisis pregnancies. Yeah, right. That's a big part of what they were doing. And so it's Christmas Eve. Now, is it because you were filled with the holiday cheer and the feelings of joy at Christmas that this thing hit you? I mean, really, what's important? Did you have too much eggnog? What are you thinking? You already had how many kids? A stark, raving, gorgeous wife. That's what it was. Okay?

How many kids? But you already had four kids. We had four, yeah. You had four kids. And you're how old at this time? I am 42, 43, 56. Yeah. Yeah, something like that. 45. I want to start getting the kids moved on.

Yes. Have your second bite of life. Yes, that's right. And you had too much eggnog. You have to seriously be a communist. And you see this stuff, and you say, hey, we've got everything we need for another kid. When did you decide to mention it to Sarah?

Well, because previous to that, because I'm on the board of Bethany, I'm going to these meetings every month. I come back from a meeting and my wife would say, well, how was the meeting? I said, oh, it was this, we did that, we got that going, we got this much money, this has came in. Oh, and there's two kids down at Baptist, just just born the Nick unit. She said, oh, let's go see him. I said, why? Sarah's crazy too. Yeah, she said, well, maybe we can adopt him. I said, honey, we just started a business. We were starting a recruiting business. We'd been in it for a couple of years.

I said, we're not really bringing home that much money. Most of the money's going out. We still got four kids living in Brentwood. This is, I mean, it would take all our life savings. Do you want to use our life savings? And that would quiet her down. And then another month would go by and I would innocently come back,

stupidly forgetting what the conversation was the month before and how was the meeting. Oh, we did this, we did that, we did that. And there's a child that's Southern Hills right now. Let's go see him. And I said, no, we can't. And at one point, and there were times I talked to her about it, because we're on this board of Bethany, we're going to these fundraisers,

we're meeting all these people in the adoption world. I didn't find out until later that there's several people praying for us to adopt. You know, the question was, what are JT and Sarah doing with us to adopt? They haven't adopted, but they're in this adoption world. And we went to a church that had an adoption culture. I mean, like 20% of the kids in the child's ministry were adopted. I mean, that's a culture of adoption. So we're all around it. And finally, at one point, my wife says to me, listen, I could be happy with these four

kids the rest of my life. I could be just as happy with one more. You got four other kids who they'd love to have a big brother or a little baby brother or little sister. I said, you got five of us in this family on one side. There's only one person in this family who's kind of standing in the way. And you know, you can talk to your friends about adoption and you talk to me sometimes you're up for it, sometimes you're not.

Talk to your friends, but stop talking to me sometimes you're up for it sometimes you're not talk to your friends but stop talking to me until you're ready so she kind of gave me the what for on that and then me and I meantime I'm putting my kids to bed and every night these kids are praying and dear God please let dad let us adopt so you're asking me, were there anything? Was there anything that happened? Yeah, there was a few things. So that's the background. So now it's Christmas Eve, 2001, and I'm headed to the attic

to get the stockings to hang by the chimney with care, because that's my job. And I look around, and there's a high chair, and a and a stroller and then the thought hits me we've got everything we need to raise another child and then the next thought hits me. What's wrong with using life savings to save a life? It just it was like God dealt with my greed, my fear, my lack of faith, my lack of courage. And right there, it's like some people, God takes them, their father takes them out to the woodshed.

God took me to the attic. And it just hit me, what's all this for? And I walked down the stairs and my wife was headed up the stairs and I said, honey, we got a crib, we got a high chair, we got a stroller and she thought I was gonna say, it's time for a yard sale. Right.

Well, and I said, we've got everything we need to raise another child. And I said, what's, and I looked and I said, what's wrong with using a life saving to save a life? And she said, are you serious? I said, yeah. Yeah. Merry Christmas. Yeah. Yeah. She said, can I tell the kids? I said, yeah. That's the no turning back. That's when the ships are burned right there. That's Cortez, man. Burn the ships, baby. That's it. You tell the kids, the ship is burnt.

And the next morning, the kids all got a note in their stocking talking about they're going to have a new baby brother or sister. Oh, that's awesome. It was amazing Christmas. And that concludes part one of my conversation with JT Olson. And I promise you, you don't want to miss part two. It's now available to listen to. Together, guys, we can change this country.

But it starts with you. I'll see you in part two. Hey everyone, it's Katie Couric. Well, the election is in the home stretch, right in time for a new season of my podcast, Next Question. I'm bringing in some FOKs, friends of Katie's, to help me out, like Ezra Klein, Jen Psaki, Astead Herndon, but we're also gonna have some fun, thanks to some of my friends like Samantha Bee

and Charlemagne the God. We're gonna take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Check out our new season of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey y'all, I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. When You're Invisible is my love letter

to the working class people and immigrants who shaped me. Season two, share stories about community and being underestimated. All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said, this sucks, let's do something about it. We get paid to serve you, but we're made out of the same things.

It's rare to have black male teachers. Sometimes I am the testament. Listen to When You're Invisible on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everything okay? Yes, I'm fine. Honey.

Hey, I'm here for you. Tell me about school today. When kids can't find the right words, music can help them sound it out. Talk to the kids in your life about their emotional well-being. Find tools and resources at SoundItOutTogether.org. Brought to you by the Ad Council and Pivotal Ventures. Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own?

I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my god. What is that? Bullets.

Listen to Escape from Zakistan. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.