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[? music playing ?] 

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Hey everyone!

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Welcome back to Treehouse Friends.

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I'm Dan Gorgone, the Marketing and Business teacher at Treehouse, 

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and we're joined today by author, C.C. Chapman.

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C.C., thanks for coming, man.

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Psyched to be here.

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All right. C.C. is an author of a couple books, 

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"Content Rules" and "Amazing Things Will Happen."

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He's worked with some huge clients around the world—

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talking about HBO, Coca-Cola,

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American Eagle, Country Music Television, right?

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Yep.

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In addition to a whole bunch more.

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What we want to talk about today is your experience with your own companies—

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Okay.

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—and with these big companies, as well.

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So can you tell us, how did you get started in this industry?

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Well nobody told me I couldn't do it.

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I was working at a college doing digital marketing and decided

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that I wanted to move on to something else.

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A friend of mine was starting and agency and said, "Well come work for me."

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It was a small, 9-person shop.

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This was at the height of social media,

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and we did a lot of virtual world projects.

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One of the biggest projects I ever did that I'm still very proud of is we brought

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Coco-Cola into Second Life back in the day—

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the Virtual Thirst project.

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After a little while, I realized—you know what—I want to start my own agency.

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So a friend of mine got together, and we started The Advance Guard

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and just started doing it—

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working with clients and doing projects that we believed in,

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both from a creative standpoint but also a strategic standpoint,

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and we just kept doing it.

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It was one of those things where we were determined that we had the skills

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and the knowledge to do it, so we started doing it.

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No one—I have a computer background—a CIS degree.

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I don't have a marketing degree,

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but I knew enough about the industry.

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I taught myself.

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We had done years of indie filmmaking and Guerrilla stuff.

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So I'd done it before.

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No one said I couldn't.  >>Right.

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That's what I always answer with.

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And is that something that you hear from other entrepreneurs out there—

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that when they reach that point,

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 and certainly it's a tipping point for some people—

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Uh-hunh (affirmative).

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—where they're working for someone else

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and then they decide that they're going to work for themselves.

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>>Yeah.

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What was it specifically that really pushed you where you said,

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"I'm not gonna do this anymore. I'm gonna be my own boss."

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What it really boiled down to—at least for me—

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was I was working with great people,

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we were doing great work,

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but what it came down to me was

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we got to a point where I had a different business take on things—

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a different approach to whether it was getting clients

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or the way we went after new hires—

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everything—I just had a different approach to it.

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The tipping point for me specifically was actually our agency was struggling.

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We were to a point where we were tight on cash and everything,

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and for me—I said,

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"You know what, if I'm gonna starve, 

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I want to be the one responsible for the hunting."

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Basically I want to starve on my own terms.

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I didn't want to have to depend on anybody else.

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That for me was the moment where I said, 

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"All right. I'm going to take the jump and do it."

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It was scary.

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I didn't know what was—

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6 months from then I could have been in a really bad place.

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But I was determined to hustle and work really hard to make it happen.

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Uh-hunh (affirmative).

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A lot of our members are designers—

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Uh-hunh (affirmative).

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—and developers.

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They are out there freelancing—

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>>Yes.

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—consulting.

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They're starting their own business or they're working with others—

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>>Yeah.

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—on their own—just like you're talking about.

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One of those huge struggles is finding clients.

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Yeah.

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So what was the experience like when you broke out on your own

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and had to get clients,

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and what are some of the tips that you can give to our members?

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It's my least favorite part of doing business.

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It really is.

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Uh-hunh (affirmative.

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I am not a salesman.

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I don't enjoy that part of it.

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I really don't.

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I enjoy doing the work.

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Thankfully, I had partners who enjoyed that part.

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>>Uh-hunh (affirmative).

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What it really boils down to, especially in today's world as a freelancer,

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is make sure your work is as good as possible because old-fashioned

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word-of-mouth is still the best way to find clients.

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When somebody says, "Hey, I'm looking—I need a designer."

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"I'm looking for a developer."

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You want to be the top of mind to as many people as possible.

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Right.

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So where that plays in—you can't work with everybody.

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>>Uh-hunh (affirmative).

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But you can—whether it's building a blog

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or whether it's being out at events,

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the more people you know,

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the bigger your network who know your work—

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>>Uh-hunh (affirmative).

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—the easier it will be.

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But then again, you have to get out there and hustle.

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Put yourself out there.

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Look for people talking about needing work or

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if you see a site that you don't enjoy or you think could be made better,

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go up to the people and approach them.

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Say "Hey, have you ever thought about this?"

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>>Uh-hunh (affirmative).

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It's gonna be a lot of doors being slammed in your face sometimes.

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Yep.

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It's not knocking on doors anymore.

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It's sending an email.

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It's not that hard.

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Don't be afraid.

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Don't be nervous.

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The only way you get better at it is doing it.

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Like anything else—you have to keep doing it, keep doing it.

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I'm still working on getting better at it.

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Well you've worked with all kinds of different clients—

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>>Yeah.

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—big ones and small ones—

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>>Yeah.

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—and everyone in between.

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From what I've heard from a lot of people,

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and I've worked with clients, as well,

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is that 2 of the things that really make a huge difference are professionalism

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and preparation.

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Yeah.

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When we think about working with clients,

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if we're not doing those things, 

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we're really delivering just kind of a lousy experience.

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>>Yeah.

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We're not doing the best that we can do.

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What can you say about professionalism and preparation?

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The thing I always talk about—

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I borrow a phrase from this CEO—Jason of GORUG,

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who always talks about under-promise and over-deliver.

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>>Uh-hunh (affirmative).

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If it goes the other way, you're in trouble.

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But—yeah—being professional is critical.

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That's not—it doesn't mean you have to be in 

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a 3-piece-suit all the time and carrying a briefcase.

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It's just conducting yourself in a professional manner—

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responding to inquiries in a rapid pace,

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delivering a project plan that makes sense.

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hitting your milestones,

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doing things—simple things like that.

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Even—I see it a lot with design and development 

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because I hire web designers

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to do projects for me.

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The real professional ones will say, 

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"Well here's the timeline."

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"Here's things I'm going to need from you," so I know what's expected of me.

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That's critical because it is hard, especially in today's world,

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where there are a million freelancers out there right now doing what you do.

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You might do it better, but how do I know?

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Everybody's got a website.

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Everybody says they do all this great stuff.

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Everybody has that great client list—

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>>Right.

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—they say they've done great work for.

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But how do you actually know?

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It's really quickly—especially if it's just over email—

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you've got to be—that's hard to—

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Uh-hunh (affirmative).

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—the professionalism.

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If all the sudden they say, "Hey, can we get on Skype and talk,"

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which is what I usually do before I hire anybody.

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You can instantly tell—the professionalism quickly—

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if I'm talking to you and you're in a Starbucks yelling and screaming—

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>>Yeah.

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—there's nothing with that—

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but be careful about it.

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Yep.

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You mentioned a few things that  can really set some of these people apart.

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Designers and developers know that—

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they're all kind of fighting over those same SEO—

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Yeah.

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—keywords.

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Yeah.

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When people are searching for best designer in this town—

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>>Yeah.

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—or best developer or this particular type of project that clients are looking for.

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It's kind of—you need something that is

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going to set you apart from all the fish in the sea.

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When it comes to pitching big clients—

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Yeah.

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—and approaching those.

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We can do stuff for our friends and family

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Right. Right.

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—and the guy down the street.

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But when it comes to Coca-Cola or HBO

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Yeah.

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—or those guys—

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how do you even get close to those guys?

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How do you pitch them?

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How do you get involved with them?

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My best advice, especially for your audience 

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is HBO or Coke are never going to go to a freelancer.

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They're just not going to.

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>>Right.

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What they're going to do is they're going to have their—

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their agency is going to come to freelancers.

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What's tricky about that—because the bigger the company the more agencies 

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they probably have.

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In today's world, even sometimes—

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this is going to sound so crazy.

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But they'll have a traditional media agency, a digital media agency,

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sometimes a social agency.

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>>Uh-hunh (affirmative).

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I still don't get why they have all them, but it's true.

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So getting to know the agencies in your community is critical because

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they're the ones who are going to land the clients.

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>>Uh-hunh (affirmative).

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Whenever I do work today because now I'm a freelancer—

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I do it through agencies.

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Very rarely will a company bring me in directly.

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So getting to know those agencies is a very important step because if they—

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especially—at least I know from my agency days—

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once you're in with an agency,

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if you're delivering really good work,

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>>Yeah.

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they'll come back to you.

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They'll be like, "Hey, so-and-so did that project for us."

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"Let's go back to him or her and bring them in again"—

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because it's easier than trying to find somebody new.

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Uh-hunh (affirmative).

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So if you get into those—

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start going to those networking or look for agencies.

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Every city in the world has agencies—even small towns now have agencies.

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Find them and get to know them because it's a great way to get in—

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because they'll deal with all the red tape.

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They'll just hire you for—"I need your skill-set for this." >>Right.

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"Go."

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If you can get in, you're golden.

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So working with big clients—

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what are the expectations like when you're working with big clients because—

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big clients/small clients—there's definitely an expectation from them for you

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on what you should be delivering.

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Right.

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I can imagine with some of the big clients, 

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you're talking about timelines that could

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be much longer or much more in 

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advance of whatever this particular project will launch.

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Right.

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What are the differences between the bigger and smaller projects and their

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expectations of someone that's coming in.

260
00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:34,560
It's an interesting question because it depends on the client, of course.

261
00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:35,260
Obviously, it depends.

262
00:09:35,260 --> 00:09:35,310
Uh-hunh (affirmative).

263
00:09:35,310 --> 00:09:39,100
But when you're dealing with a half-million dollar budget on a project,

264
00:09:39,100 --> 00:09:41,750
you can be sure they're paying close attention.

265
00:09:41,750 --> 00:09:43,140
That timeline is critical.

266
00:09:43,140 --> 00:09:46,250
A lot of my background was in entertainment projects.

267
00:09:46,250 --> 00:09:51,130
So whether it was launching True Blood for HBO or doing a Shark Week project—

268
00:09:51,130 --> 00:09:52,460
we had a very finite—

269
00:09:52,460 --> 00:09:54,380
we're doing this 6 to 8 weeks.

270
00:09:54,380 --> 00:09:56,080
This project—it's happening.

271
00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:56,980
The show is premiering.

272
00:09:56,980 --> 00:09:58,320
You don't have any—you know—

273
00:09:58,320 --> 00:09:58,810
Yeah.

274
00:09:58,810 --> 00:10:01,300
scope creep is going to happen, and you can't escape it.

275
00:10:01,300 --> 00:10:02,640
How are going to deliver?

276
00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:07,330
So it's very—the level—the bar is raised.

277
00:10:07,330 --> 00:10:08,920
You've got to really step up your game.

278
00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:12,710
The other thing, too, is realize that sometimes with bigger clients—

279
00:10:12,710 --> 00:10:15,050
one of the downfalls or the troubles with it

280
00:10:15,050 --> 00:10:16,930
is they've got more red tape.

281
00:10:16,930 --> 00:10:18,040
They've got more lawyers.

282
00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:19,620
There's more departments that have to approve.

283
00:10:19,620 --> 00:10:21,230
If you're working with a smaller start-up—

284
00:10:21,230 --> 00:10:21,400
Uh-hunh.

285
00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:23,770
—or a non-profit or something,

286
00:10:23,770 --> 00:10:25,820
they don't usually have that many hoops to jump through.

287
00:10:25,820 --> 00:10:28,300
You know who to call to get the answer.

288
00:10:28,300 --> 00:10:32,630
The biggest drawback, especially on things like design and development,

289
00:10:32,630 --> 00:10:34,620
is there's usually more people that need to say, 

290
00:10:34,620 --> 00:10:36,040
"Yes, that looks right,"—

291
00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:36,420
Right.

292
00:10:36,420 --> 00:10:36,930
—with a bigger company.

293
00:10:36,930 --> 00:10:41,660
So, thus, you've got to be ready for that timeline of that approval that you asked

294
00:10:41,660 --> 00:10:44,090
to have done in 2 days ends up taking 5.

295
00:10:44,090 --> 00:10:47,650
Of course, that pushes off—that's why having a good project manager

296
00:10:47,650 --> 00:10:49,700
or having those good project management skills—

297
00:10:49,700 --> 00:10:50,270
>>Yeah.

298
00:10:50,270 --> 00:10:52,310
—is critical with working with a bigger client.

299
00:10:52,310 --> 00:10:55,490
So in your personal experience—

300
00:10:55,490 --> 00:10:56,000
>>Okay.

301
00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:58,000
—do you have a preference?

302
00:10:58,000 --> 00:10:58,940
Bigger clients?

303
00:10:58,940 --> 00:10:59,590
Smaller clients?

304
00:10:59,590 --> 00:11:01,600
I know—I mean bigger risk, bigger reward.

305
00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:02,210
Ugh—

306
00:11:02,210 --> 00:11:08,640
But I know there's a lot that you like about working with those smaller companies—

307
00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:09,850
people just getting started—

308
00:11:09,850 --> 00:11:10,170
Yeah.

309
00:11:10,170 --> 00:11:13,600
—or kind of a more intimate relationship you can have with them.

310
00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:14,400
Do you have a preference?

311
00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:15,100
It goes back and forth.

312
00:11:15,100 --> 00:11:15,650
Don't get me wrong.

313
00:11:15,650 --> 00:11:17,720
We all love having those big clients on our resume.

314
00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,140
It's hot to say big client X.

315
00:11:20,140 --> 00:11:22,300
That feels good, plus it's good.

316
00:11:22,300 --> 00:11:22,980
It's good for your business.

317
00:11:22,980 --> 00:11:23,650
>>Yeah.

318
00:11:23,650 --> 00:11:26,890
Plus—I'll answer it this way.

319
00:11:26,890 --> 00:11:30,870
I prefer to work with a company who's willing to do the project right.

320
00:11:30,870 --> 00:11:32,330
I don't care if they're big or little.

321
00:11:32,330 --> 00:11:34,020
I've worked with them both where they say,

322
00:11:34,020 --> 00:11:35,820
"I'm paying you to do this."

323
00:11:35,820 --> 00:11:36,820
You say, "This is how it's done."

324
00:11:36,820 --> 00:11:37,700
They actually listen.

325
00:11:37,700 --> 00:11:38,910
Sometimes they don't.

326
00:11:38,910 --> 00:11:39,870
Even though they pay you, they're like, 

327
00:11:39,870 --> 00:11:41,200
"No. No. We're going to do it this way."

328
00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:43,050
That drives me nuts.

329
00:11:43,050 --> 00:11:47,100
But I do love—you know, I've got a passion for the non-profit sector—

330
00:11:47,100 --> 00:11:48,210
for the education—

331
00:11:48,210 --> 00:11:50,160
for the little start-up that's trying to save the world.

332
00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:53,560
Those hungry—if the company is hungry to do that project,

333
00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:55,930
those are the ones I love doing it for.

334
00:11:55,930 --> 00:11:59,280
There's less headaches, and they're willing to let you do that stuff.

335
00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:01,240
Then on the flip-side, I remember working with Coke,

336
00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:02,870
which is the biggest brand in the world.

337
00:12:02,870 --> 00:12:06,110
We were, thankfully—the department we were working with  was willing to

338
00:12:06,110 --> 00:12:07,930
let us do what we wanted to and innovate.

339
00:12:07,930 --> 00:12:11,530
It was really—I'm still friends years later with the manager,

340
00:12:11,530 --> 00:12:12,560
who is no longer at Coke.

341
00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:16,050
But we're still good friends because we built that friendship.

342
00:12:16,050 --> 00:12:18,020
Anytime you can get to that level—that takes time.

343
00:12:18,020 --> 00:12:21,860
But if you can work with a client who actually puts some trust in you,

344
00:12:21,860 --> 00:12:24,360
and that takes a lot of back and forth,

345
00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:25,420
and you've got to earn that trust, 

346
00:12:25,420 --> 00:12:28,020
especially when you're talking about big checks coming your way.

347
00:12:28,020 --> 00:12:28,950
You've got to balance that out.

348
00:12:28,950 --> 00:12:29,670
Yeah.

349
00:12:29,670 --> 00:12:31,120
That was going to be my next question, too.

350
00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:31,270
>>Oh.

351
00:12:31,270 --> 00:12:33,780
How do you maintain that relationship?

352
00:12:33,780 --> 00:12:37,550
Because I know if you hook a big fish, right—

353
00:12:37,550 --> 00:12:37,740
>>Yeah.

354
00:12:37,740 --> 00:12:40,770
And you successfully complete a project,

355
00:12:40,770 --> 00:12:44,080
the idea is if we do one project well,

356
00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:45,290
maybe we can do some more.

357
00:12:45,290 --> 00:12:45,770
I mean—we can do some—

358
00:12:45,770 --> 00:12:46,190
Yeah.

359
00:12:46,190 --> 00:12:48,030
You know—go bigger budget, bigger project.

360
00:12:48,030 --> 00:12:54,770
But is the relationship really the more important—kind of the more powerful?

361
00:12:54,770 --> 00:12:55,430
>>It's crucial.

362
00:12:55,430 --> 00:12:56,060
It's crucial.

363
00:12:56,060 --> 00:12:56,390
Face it.

364
00:12:56,390 --> 00:12:57,830
No matter who it is.

365
00:12:57,830 --> 00:12:59,490
Nobody works for the same company forever.

366
00:12:59,490 --> 00:13:00,500
>>Right.

367
00:13:00,500 --> 00:13:03,840
Fifty years ago you worked—our parents worked at one company their whole life.

368
00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,970
Today whoever you're working with is going to go some place else.

369
00:13:06,970 --> 00:13:09,810
The other thing, too, is—related to this—

370
00:13:09,810 --> 00:13:11,250
it's not just the person you're working directly with.

371
00:13:11,250 --> 00:13:12,900
It's all those underlings, as well.

372
00:13:12,900 --> 00:13:15,130
There's been people who have been interns on projects

373
00:13:15,130 --> 00:13:17,890
who later go on to launch their own companies.

374
00:13:17,890 --> 00:13:18,940
>>Oh, right. Yeah.

375
00:13:18,940 --> 00:13:19,050
Stay in touch with everybody.

376
00:13:19,050 --> 00:13:21,060
Send an email once in a while.

377
00:13:21,060 --> 00:13:22,190
Say hello.

378
00:13:22,190 --> 00:13:24,130
"Hey, just checking in."

379
00:13:24,130 --> 00:13:25,760
You know—I go to events.

380
00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:26,540
I see people—

381
00:13:26,540 --> 00:13:27,440
"Hey, what are you working on?"

382
00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:28,990
Stay in touch because you never know

383
00:13:28,990 --> 00:13:30,290
 when that person is going to come back and say,

384
00:13:30,290 --> 00:13:31,870
"Oh, you're still doing that?"

385
00:13:31,870 --> 00:13:33,320
"Oh, I didn't know that."

386
00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:37,280
Plus, it still happens to this day, especially in the design and development field,

387
00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:39,350
people are going to ask about—

388
00:13:39,350 --> 00:13:40,130
"Hey, who do you use?"

389
00:13:40,130 --> 00:13:41,140
"Who did your website?"

390
00:13:41,140 --> 00:13:41,980
I do it all the time.

391
00:13:41,980 --> 00:13:45,080
I don't—I have people I stay in touch with, but recently I was looking

392
00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,130
for a new web design, and I actually asked my friends.

393
00:13:48,130 --> 00:13:49,350
I put it out there.

394
00:13:49,350 --> 00:13:51,030
I said, "Hey, who are you using?"

395
00:13:51,030 --> 00:13:54,030
I had a bunch of —relationships are crucial.

396
00:13:54,030 --> 00:13:55,090
Keep those up.

397
00:13:55,090 --> 00:13:58,180
Don't just do the project and then run away.

398
00:13:58,180 --> 00:14:00,040
Even if it goes bad, stay in touch.

399
00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,090
It's a little different approach, but stay in touch with—

400
00:14:03,090 --> 00:14:03,460
Yeah.

401
00:14:03,460 --> 00:14:04,300
—everybody.

402
00:14:04,300 --> 00:14:08,810
So for those people out there—whether they be designers or developers

403
00:14:08,810 --> 00:14:12,670
or really anyone that has considered staring their own business.

404
00:14:12,670 --> 00:14:13,360
>>Yeah.

405
00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:15,460
You've been through this a few times.

406
00:14:15,460 --> 00:14:15,980
>>Yeah.

407
00:14:15,980 --> 00:14:19,170
What kind of words of advice do you have?

408
00:14:19,170 --> 00:14:21,580
Is there like one thing that you wish you could have told yourself

409
00:14:21,580 --> 00:14:23,860
the first time you started a business or

410
00:14:23,860 --> 00:14:27,780
is there just one thing that if you don't do this you are just going to be—

411
00:14:27,780 --> 00:14:28,500
Yeah.

412
00:14:28,500 --> 00:14:29,430
>>—in for trouble.

413
00:14:29,430 --> 00:14:34,410
I guess figure out what it is you like doing—actually, worse—better—

414
00:14:34,410 --> 00:14:36,150
figure out what you don't like doing.

415
00:14:36,150 --> 00:14:36,590
>>Okay.

416
00:14:36,590 --> 00:14:37,700
Like me, I hate the numbers.

417
00:14:37,700 --> 00:14:38,200
I hate them.

418
00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:40,450
I hate Excel spreadsheets.

419
00:14:40,450 --> 00:14:42,120
Thankfully, my—find a business partner. 

420
00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:44,660
Find someone to work with you who likes those things.

421
00:14:44,660 --> 00:14:45,200
>>Uh-hunh (affirmative).

422
00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:48,150
It's crucial because there's going to be things you just don't like doing.

423
00:14:48,150 --> 00:14:50,190
Starting a business is hard.

424
00:14:50,190 --> 00:14:51,680
It's long hours.

425
00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:52,590
It's lots of hustling.

426
00:14:52,590 --> 00:14:53,840
It's a lot of work.

427
00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:55,950
So figure out what you don't like doing.

428
00:14:55,950 --> 00:14:57,410
Then on the flip-side, too.

429
00:14:57,410 --> 00:15:01,800
Be ready for growth and realize that growth is the scariest thing.

430
00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:03,600
Because to grow you have to spend money.

431
00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:04,920
You start hiring people.

432
00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:05,210
Uh-hunh (affirmative).

433
00:15:05,210 --> 00:15:07,260
You're like, "Whoa! We've got to protect our bank—."

434
00:15:07,260 --> 00:15:08,930
It's—that's the scariest part.

435
00:15:08,930 --> 00:15:11,780
The first time we did that was the scariest move ever.

436
00:15:11,780 --> 00:15:13,570
I don't think people realize just how scary.

437
00:15:13,570 --> 00:15:14,210
It sounds exciting.

438
00:15:14,210 --> 00:15:15,290
"Ooh, we're hiring people."

439
00:15:15,290 --> 00:15:16,200
Uh-hunh.

440
00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:19,110
But that brings all kinds of new taxes.

441
00:15:19,110 --> 00:15:19,760
Yeah.

442
00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:22,080
Finally, make sure you have a good lawyer and a good accountant.

443
00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:23,400
You cannot go wrong.

444
00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,650
Make your lawyer and your accountant your best friends in the world.

445
00:15:26,650 --> 00:15:27,260
>>Uh-hunh (affirmative).

446
00:15:27,260 --> 00:15:29,910
Because they're the ones that are going to keep you out of jail.

447
00:15:29,910 --> 00:15:31,300
It'll keep you out of trouble and headaches.

448
00:15:31,300 --> 00:15:31,830
>>Yeah.

449
00:15:31,830 --> 00:15:33,990
So make sure you have a good one of both of those.

450
00:15:33,990 --> 00:15:36,330
You recently started a new company—

451
00:15:36,330 --> 00:15:36,810
>>Uh-hunh (affirmative).

452
00:15:36,810 --> 00:15:39,020
—the end of last year—The Cleon Foundation.

453
00:15:39,020 --> 00:15:39,710
>>Yeah.

454
00:15:39,710 --> 00:15:42,170
I know that this is a much more personal

455
00:15:42,170 --> 00:15:42,880
>>Yeah.

456
00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:44,900
—sort of mission for you.

457
00:15:44,900 --> 00:15:47,310
Can you tell us about the Cleon Foundation, why you started it,

458
00:15:47,310 --> 00:15:48,220
and what your hopes are?

459
00:15:48,220 --> 00:15:48,580
Yeah.

460
00:15:48,580 --> 00:15:51,680
The Cleon Foundation is a company—

461
00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,470
we're focused on making the world a better place through creativity.

462
00:15:54,470 --> 00:15:55,050
It's a big goal. >>Uh-hunh (affirmative).

463
00:15:55,050 --> 00:15:59,280
But what I want to do is—I realize that companies of all sizes

464
00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:01,280
need to be socially responsible.

465
00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:03,680
They need to give back to their communities and the world around them.

466
00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:08,060
So The Cleon Foundation's goal is to go into companies and teach them,

467
00:16:08,060 --> 00:16:11,700
motivate them, and figure out what works for them.

468
00:16:11,700 --> 00:16:14,210
So going into big companies and developing a social responsibility

469
00:16:14,210 --> 00:16:17,120
program for them—a social good program for them.

470
00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:20,850
But then on the flip-side, working with those small non-profits who are—

471
00:16:20,850 --> 00:16:22,650
whether it's a solar company,

472
00:16:22,650 --> 00:16:24,620
or a BioLite stove—

473
00:16:24,620 --> 00:16:26,690
people making the world a better place.

474
00:16:26,690 --> 00:16:30,440
Going to—I went to Guyana last year with The ONE campaign.

475
00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:33,570
I saw poverty to a level I'd never seen, 

476
00:16:33,570 --> 00:16:37,310
but I also saw amazing opportunities out there in the world where little changes,

477
00:16:37,310 --> 00:16:39,520
whether it's getting sustainable energy,

478
00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:42,600
whether it's getting better vaccines and global healthcare—

479
00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:43,420
whatever it is—

480
00:16:43,420 --> 00:16:44,600
there's all these things going on.

481
00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:45,710
So I wanted to start a—

482
00:16:45,710 --> 00:16:46,210
I debated—

483
00:16:46,210 --> 00:16:48,500
do I call it—is a non-profit, is it a company?

484
00:16:48,500 --> 00:16:50,360
Enough people said, "C.C., no, no, no." 

485
00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:55,140
"Make it a company so people can hire you to help them make the world a better place."

486
00:16:55,140 --> 00:16:56,730
It's exciting.

487
00:16:56,730 --> 00:16:57,690
It's only a couple months in,

488
00:16:57,690 --> 00:16:58,850
and I'm just starting.

489
00:16:58,850 --> 00:17:00,390
We'll see where it goes.

490
00:17:00,390 --> 00:17:02,250
But I'm determined to make it work.

491
00:17:02,250 --> 00:17:03,400
I named it after my grandfather.

492
00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,270
My wife—when I started it—she said,

493
00:17:06,270 --> 00:17:08,810
"Is this another 2-year project, 3-year project? What is this?"—

494
00:17:08,810 --> 00:17:10,010
having been through this before.

495
00:17:10,010 --> 00:17:12,310
I said, "No, no. no. This is the legacy."

496
00:17:12,310 --> 00:17:13,650
So I have to make it work.

497
00:17:13,650 --> 00:17:15,359
I'm excited about it.

498
00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:15,829
Nice.

499
00:17:15,829 --> 00:17:17,500
So how can we follow you?

500
00:17:17,500 --> 00:17:19,300
How can we follow The Cleon Foundation—

501
00:17:19,300 --> 00:17:19,670
Sure.

502
00:17:19,670 --> 00:17:20,619
learn about what you're doing?

503
00:17:20,619 --> 00:17:23,800
The easiest place is cc-chapman.com.

504
00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:25,170
That's where I am online.

505
00:17:25,170 --> 00:17:26,980
There's links to everything there.

506
00:17:26,980 --> 00:17:28,250
It's cleonfoundation.com.

507
00:17:28,250 --> 00:17:30,620
It's C-L-E-O-N—foundation.com.

508
00:17:30,620 --> 00:17:33,770
But cc-chapman.com is the easy way or cc_chapman on Twitter.

509
00:17:33,770 --> 00:17:34,330
All right.

510
00:17:34,330 --> 00:17:35,090
Very cool.

511
00:17:35,090 --> 00:17:35,950
Thanks for coming, man.

512
00:17:35,950 --> 00:17:36,950
Thanks for having me.

513
00:17:36,950 --> 00:17:37,330
Thank you.

514
00:17:37,330 --> 00:17:40,640
Author C.C. Chapman, author of "Amazing Things Will Happen"

515
00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:42,540
and founder of The Cleon Foundation.

516
00:17:42,540 --> 00:17:45,670
Thanks for joining us once again here on Treehouse Friends.

517
00:17:45,670 --> 00:17:46,820
See ya next time.

518
00:17:46,820 --> 00:17:52,230
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