#7 Building Margin for What Matters
Episode 7 | 28 Minutes | Dec 3, 2024
What if the key to creating meaningful impact lies not in doing more, but in making room for what truly matters?
In this episode of the Collective Impact Podcast, we sit down with Marshall Trenkmann to explore his journey from an intense, global career in international banking to a life centered on faith and his family. Together, we unpack how creating margin—time, energy, and focus—can transform not only your life but the lives of those around you.
Marshall shares his story of finding purpose in unexpected places, navigating challenges like a high-risk pregnancy, and supporting his wife, actress Karla Souza, while fostering global impact through a partnership with One Collective.
In this Episode You’ll Learn:
How a high-powered banking career led to a journey of faith and service
The power of creating margin in life to focus on what truly matters
Navigating cultural and personal challenges through global travel
Marshall’s inspiring family story, from meeting his wife Karla Souza to parenting with purpose
Insights on how One Collective empowers communities worldwide
Practical advice for aligning professional success with a deeper purpose
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Marshall Trenkman is a former international banker with an 18-year career at JP Morgan, where he managed global operations across 30+ countries. After stepping away from the corporate world, Marshall now focuses on his family, faith, and supporting impactful nonprofits like One Collective. Married to actress Karla Souza, Marshall brings a unique perspective on balancing high-profile family life, creating margin for what matters, and fostering global impact through service.
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Hey everyone, welcome back to Collective Impact Podcast. Today I'm super excited to be talking with my friend Marshall Trenkman. Marshall, welcome to our podcast today.
Thanks for having me, Scott. Appreciate it.
Really, really glad to have you you are literally one of the coolest guys, that I think I've met in my travels.
like you're a behind the scenes dude in so many ways. But you are, like, you're just the real deal in so many cool ways. So I can't wait for our folks to meet you and hear your story. I remember the first time we met was a few years ago. We had dinner, in a room on the ocean.
And we were, talking about a lot of things. And I got to hear some of your story then. And then, after that, I got to, uh, Go back to California and spend some time with you guys in your house. But, I think one of the things that will be fascinating for people to hear about is your work background in the international world of money and finance and those kind of things.
Can you talk a little bit about that.
just jumping right in Scott to the old banking world that I was in for, close to 18, 19 years. so I think I may be one of the only people you've met that maybe traveled as much as you do, today. I was in. Combination of investment banking, corporate banking, commercial banking, risk management for about a little over 18 years.
the last role I was in, I was actually covering north of, 30 countries internationally, you know, along with half of the United States, which was, you know, it was a bear, but it was also, pretty amazing to see it, kind of play out internationally, across the globe. So. This is coming from a guy that, I didn't have a passport until I was 21 years old, so I was, kind of raised in a lower middle class environment, central Texas, and, had never really, traveled as much. Till I was, again, 21, and then ended up in a role, within banking that, that ended up having me kind of travel the globe, and, uh, in one year, I don't know if I'm proud of it or not proud of it, but I ended up filling up a full passport and they almost wouldn't let me out of India, because I was in the country and they're saying,
well, you don't have any more spots, you know, in your book to be able to stamp, and, uh, we're not going to let you out.
And then, cut to, I need a bigger passport book and then COVID hit, which kind of, shut all that down, for at least a couple of years. but yeah, I mean, the international piece was a big part of it. and we can talk more about how I think that connects to or has some like real similar similarities to One Collective because I think there's some big ones there.
So in that job. that you traveled. We know banking. But what specifically were you doing? Like kind of conversations? What kind of work was the day to day of your traveling?
so it was a combination of things over the, you know, 19 years. I was at a firm called JP Morgan, you know, big international bank. and, left there on great terms, you it's a phenomenal institution, in so many different ways. Still have, you know, lifelong friends, that are there to this day that I'm still in contact with.
when I left there, there was a big, uh, Or about, I guess, 8 years before I left there, was a big push, to basically take, the investment banking model that the bank had for some of the larger corporate clients, internationally, and move the commercial bank into that kind of go more down market. So corporate clients, so think, pretty large corporations within any of these individual countries. And effectively building out a commercial banking presence, internationally kind of across the globe. so I had previously worked, in Mexico city for 2. 5, 3 years and, in the investment bank, within a risk management group when I moved back to the U.
S. this is kind of a long story, but when I moved back to the U. S. they then started, you know, Driving more internationally than the commercial bank and they said, well, this guy has been in Mexico. so we're going to take the commercial bank to Mexico. So, start dealing with some local corporate clients there when I say local corporate clients, it's everything from, a, Literally, like a tortilla maker to a, software company to, everything kind of funeral home, like, whatever it is right within those individual, countries. So, basically took that same model that was within the investment bank and started expanding it globally. and I think there was at that time, there was kind of a sense of, like, How much of this is going to actually spread within, globally within the commercial bank and kind of spreading like wildfire went from Mexico to then, you across Europe to Asia. next thing you knew, it was kind of traveling around effectively setting up that model.
basically what it was, was making sure we were locally staffed, to be able to bring on new clients. Do it thoughtfully, and obviously, you know, do it profitably from the bank's perspective, but then also do it from a risk management perspective where we weren't, dealing with clients we otherwise shouldn't be dealing with. And or, you know, making the right kinds of loans, giving the right kinds of products to
the clients. so it ended up yeah, just, spreading around these individual offices, partnering with the locals within those offices, to effectively, to grow the business. Cause I'm not going to lie, you know, I wasn't the person that was going to come in and really grow the business, but there was a lot of tools that I'd learned from the job previously,
I want to say the 12 to 14 years before that, that we were able to use and just deploy across the individual offices and just kind of replicate.
and the locals on the ground, the bankers there, they were the ones that really did, 99 percent of lifting. I
was just coming in and kind of helping set up the model and get it going and making sure there was no regulatory issues and we're just doing business in the right way.
So, it was a great run.
yeah, I
enjoyed it.
So, did all that travel, did you learn to, I would assume that, where you grew up you didn't have a great deal of background with culture and travel and those kind of things. So when you began to travel, was it something that you really loved the cultural experiences that you had as you moved around?
Yeah.
so I think there was something that was kind of put on my heart, I think, at like a really young age was, just, God created me this way. It was basically like, Spanish language, kind of Latam focus. and again, this is coming from somebody that like, didn't have a passport till I was 21.
So I always kind of had
that drive. And the first place I went when I was 21 was Dominican Republic and stayed there, for part of a
summer. Did an internship, believe it or not, at Domino's pizza. you know, a story from there, but, But yeah, so being able to travel internationally with the bank, it was phenomenal.
you know, you'd fly in, get an experience in Japan. and one of the
goals I had, like in all these beyond obviously doing business, the right way was to get there and, jet lag was kind of crazy, especially if you're on the
ground only for a couple of days. so I'd get there, I'd try to take a jog, see the neighborhood, see where I was kind of get grounded, right after a long flight. And then, get to work on whatever we're doing there. So, but yeah, seeing the
culture in those individual places was, yeah, it's, I mean, to this day, it's, something that really just kind of lights a fire in me.
I think for those, of us who travel a lot, it can become grueling and it can become, it can really wear you down, but when you stop and really think about the privilege that you're getting to do it, it's pretty amazing because, what we've gotten to do, both of us is something that many people We'll never get the opportunity to do, so it's quite, it is quite a privilege.
Now you have an interesting, love story, as I recall. of how you met your wife. You want to share a little bit about that?
so, yeah, it kind of all goes back to the job that I had, again, like I always had this interest in Latin America and, I'd expressed an interest kind of early on that was around 2007 or so and, going to LATAM and then the, 2007, 2008 crisis hit, kind of shut all that down.
but sure enough, a few years later. You know, the bank I was working with, they said, well, we're going to start, doing some of these investment banking, risk practices within the individual countries in Latin America. So we're going to go to Mexico, we're going to go to Columbia.
We're going to go to Chile. they were like, well, this is probably 2011. They're like, well, where would you like to go? And, at that point I'd been in Houston for roughly eight years and I was kind of just really ready for a change. and, and I said, well, where are you going to go first? And, I said, we're going to go to Mexico first.
And so down to Mexico city, I'd never been to Mexico city. Got on a plane, flew down there. you know, I arrive and, I'm a single guy living in Houston and, really ready for change. And if, if you've been to Mexico City, you pretty much see it immediately. They're like, this place is amazing. And, people that go there, I mean, just an absolutely amazing place for her to live or just a vacation, just a great spot. So. My soon to be boss was like, how many more trips do you want to take? You know, to Mexico city. And I was like, I'm sold, when can I move?
Hm.
So in 2012, July of 2012, I moved down there, to Mexico city, which was great in a lot of ways, because it was so close, could get in and out of the U S quickly.
Like you didn't have this, there
was no jet lag. There was none of that. The time zones were.
Yep.
Same time zone, such with that time and, and so I arrived down there and find my apartment, great place to stay and, for whatever reason, you know, they just said, well, you you know, you can't move in yet and I was like, well, why not?
And there was no real, reason or rationality. It was kind of like, we just can't move in yet. And I just kind of jokingly asked a couple of the people that were helping me with the relocation, Hey, well, do you guys know of like a family or someone where I could live here? cause I would learn so much about the city cause I knew no one in Mexico city is big, 20 to 30 million people city and I knew no one there.
Um, but I just figured I'd learn so much and I was kind of going back to experience I had when I was in the Dominican, that summer, first time out of the U S was like, I learned so much from that host family. It's like, is there someone that would host me for even a week or two? You know, like I learned so much from a local and, the people they kind of laughed and then, you know, one of the women came back and she was like, well, I know this woman, she rents rooms out of her house, she lives basically right behind your office.
She gave me her address. She's like, just go knock on her door. Didn't even have her phone number. So I arrived to her house, I knock on the door, she opens the door, I just kind of explain the situation to her, and, Hey, I'm looking for a place to stay, really only for a couple weeks, and, you know, are you interested?
And, she's like, I don't usually rent rooms to men, usually it's doctors that are coming from Latin America, and she's like, but I'll rent you a room, you know, you seem nice enough. And so, two months later, I'm moving in there for a couple of weeks, just kind of waiting on my stuff to arrive in the U S and I can move into this apartment.
Well, she tells me, you know, I move in with her and for those couple of weeks, we're in the room from her. And, and she's probably, you late fifties, early sixties that time. And she tells me, she's like, Well, I know this man, this is going to disciple you. And I'm kind of like, okay, give this just a second.
but the wheels start turning. I'm like, I'm looking for a church. I'm wanting to find, you know, just like a nice local evangelical church I can get engaged with. And, you know, just one of those hygiene things I wanted to do immediately. It was like finding a good community there.
and not having, again, not known anybody. And so I was like, wait a second, just give this a minute. you know, I just moved here. I'm trying to get situated. but I'd love, I'd love to meet this guy. And, you know, sure enough, about three months later, once I was a little more, just a little more settled there, I said, yeah, I'd love to go meet him.
And, so I go to meet this guy, and he's doing a Bible study there. I go to the Bible study. I arrive, I walk in, and it's just shortly before the Bible study is about to start and, I see this, attractive young lady there and who's kind of walking, doesn't, I can't tell if she's like part of the group or not because people really aren't there yet.
She looks like she may just live in the house. And, so I started talking with her in immediately in Spanish. She speaks to me in English and I'm like, Whoa, and wait just a second. And, she made it very clear that she spoke better English than I do. You know, a zero accent. and she's in this just like full kind of like, black workout attire, she's arrived on this bike.
And so in my mind, like I'm already attracted to her. but my, boss at the time was also like, well, you can't go out, at night in Mexico city, you can't ride a bike. Well, here is, this, new acquaintance of mine who's like arrived on the bike. She's arrived at night. She's sporty. She looks amazing and I want to get to know her more. So, Needless to say, I went back to Bible study the next week. and, we ended up getting engaged about a year later. married about six months later. and her uncle was the one that led that Bible study there in Mexico City for many
years.
So, and he ended up marrying us, in Mexico. so there's obviously a great bond there, through all that connection. but yeah, there's no, I mean, this was like a, you know, chances of this happening. It's like, this was not a random encounter, you know, in Mexico city of, 30 million people.
You so it doesn't happen. that way. So, yeah, I know we've been married about 10 years. We got three kids and, that's
the quick nutshell.
it's a great story. folks, one of the things that I got the privilege of doing was to spend some time at Marshall and Carla's house with two of their kids at the time, but Carla was pregnant with a third and, It was, for me Marshall, it was just a privilege to be there at that time because things were pretty uncertain about the pregnancy I remember telling you I took very seriously my charge to pray with you guys and pray for you guys can you tell just a little bit of that story because I think it's beautiful.
yeah, it's a mix of emotions. that gives me to bring it up. Cause it's going back really about a year. In fact, I pulled your note down right before this. Yeah. I don't have a date
on your note, but, it's from when you stayed
here with us. yeah, it's a mix of emotions.
but it was literally probably about a year ago. my wife was, you know, we were, four or five months pregnant with our now, she's seven, eight months old now, daughter. but at that time, we got some news on a couple different scans. This is our third child. two perfectly healthy, boy and girl before that. but we start to get some news in some of the scans like, Hey, single umbilical artery, you start going down this list of stuff and then, Oh, but it's probably fine. But, you know, we've got to tell you this, there's chances of X, Y and Z. And then, cut to a couple months later, there's some more stuff they find and some more stuff and you're like, man, you know, even the question of technically you could literally I'm not, I'm not kidding.
They're like, well, you could terminate the baby, , but we don't, baby's probably fine, but we're not really sure. I mean, I'm not, this was like, Six, seven months into the pregnancy, and, it was terrifying. in so many ways, you think about like, in our lifestyle, it's like very much on the move, on the go, and so you're like, oh, if we have a child that has this, you know, it's like, are we going to do, right?
You know, all of the above.
on top of Carla's health and everything else, yeah, it was really, really tough, you just live with this, you know, obviously not knowing. so that's when you were here, you know, staying with us and, you prayed with us, which was like, it was, yeah, at that time, I mean, they were trying to get comfort, any way we could.
And, you know, those prayers were definitely comforting to us. And we shared the story with a number of folks that were kind of close to us or in and around us, or, you know, obviously you were staying with us for a couple of days, so it was pretty clear, like this was on our mind and this was, something that we were definitely, dealing with through that window.
but honestly, she was born, our daughter, Julia, was born, uh, March 7th, of this year. and she's a beautiful, healthy little baby girl. So yeah, it was this, obviously a big scare, but praise God, like she just is, as healthy as can be, and, yeah, we're just so grateful.
So you and Carla met at the Bible study in Mexico city. And so you were, both at that time walking with Jesus and, you were on a quest to find some people that you could hang out with. what were the early days of your journey with Jesus like? And, maybe how has it changed over the years? And especially with the birth of Julia, how are things?
Yeah, so, I mean, just a little quick snippet of kind of my past. was born into, you know, I would say kind of culturally Christian household. go to church, not a lot of talk of God at home, I would say, cut to parents got divorced, didn't go to church for many, many years.
not that, you know, you have to go to church to be a believer in Jesus, But yeah, there was definitely a break there. It's like I always had this belief that God existed. and part of that I think was, you know, that upbringing, but then it was like, not until I was really 32 years old, that I really sought out, the Lord.
And that's, that's only 12 years ago now, 44. So really not that long ago, shortly before I moved to Mexico, actually. went from like, you know, obviously working way too hard for many years and kind of pushing that out to not really thinking about, you know, just kind of being so busy with everything else and think about God or Jesus or anything associated with it. being on fire, you know, especially in those early, first couple of years, then moved down to Mexico, you know, was very focused on, had this church community within and just friends and, people I cared a lot about within Houston. moving down there.
And so I really wanted to try to find, something similar to that down there, which is, how did I find my wife, in that roundabout way. so, you know, since then, as we know, as a believer, you know, it kind of, you have some ebb and flow, right. I would say over those last, 10 years since then or so, there's been some ebb and flow, and with life, kids, There's some ebb and flow.
You go through periods where I think you're, you feel closer to God, periods where you don't. but I think, Part of my, part of my testimony, if I were to go back and kind of look at all the circumstances and things that have happened in my life it's like God was always chasing me and still is to this day, even when I'm not like chasing after God, it's like God's always chasing me and I, and I truly believe this for other folks as well, that God's always chasing you.
If you find that time to stop and listen and, really hear God or see, you know, what God's doing around you through other people who brings into your life or circumstances. or whatever it is. It's like, God is always chasing after us. And I would say, since Julia's birth, this seven months ago or so, you know, there's been this, there was obviously after she was born, there was just an amazing amount of gratitude, like really just to see, how healthy she was to watch the other kids start to interact with her.
and to see just kind of the relief, that we, that Carl and I felt, and others around us, yourself, people that were praying for us that knew kind of circumstances we were in.
and just kind of the belief that, these folks around you that, kind of make up your daily life beyond just like your immediate household.
they're really caring for you. and a lot of those were, our close friends that are believers in, in Jesus. And.
yeah, we're just so, so grateful for that.
I love that. when you talk about your family, know a little bit about it that our listeners might not know. Can we talk about your family just a little bit because it's not the normal, typical, family. go ahead and tell us what your wife does for a living.
So when I met my wife in Mexico city, I mean, this was never, soon to be wife. I did not, this was not on my radar. she was an actress, starting to do everything from writing, trying to produce, do a bunch of stuff, whatever it was within that world. Right. and so imagine, you know, calling my mom, in the U S and saying, I've only been in Mexico city like three months and, I met this woman here and I'd never done this by the way, with my mom, like met this woman here and. I think I'm gonna marry her. and I was like, oh, well, tell me more about her. And I'm like, well, you know, she's an actress, Bible study. And she's like, whoa, whoa, whoa. You know, there's just this, whatever stereotypes you want to put on
certain jobs, whatever, you know, whatever the job is, banking, acting, whatever it is, right.
There's a lot of stereotypes around
Musicians.
Yeah. A lot of which, I think we find out pretty quickly, Um, so, Carla had been in a film, called Nosotros Los Nobles that came out about six months. They'd filmed it a couple, a year or so earlier before I met her, and it came out about six months later, when we were dating in Mexico, been dating six, seven months, eight months, something like that, and kind of catapulted her career, you know, within that environment, became a highest grossing film in in Mexico at that time. she's since been in several more that are kind of on that list. and it, kind of was a springboard for her. She'd already tried to come to LA and kind of build that, Hollywood career here, and she
got, effectively ran out of money and went back home, , then landed, back in Mexico City and just started her career there. but long story short, that film springboarded her career. and, we get engaged. Next thing you know, she's starting to do some work in the U. S., gets an opportunity in the U. S., and then, we're getting married in, what was it, 2014, June 2014, and she starts a show in Los Angeles, like, two months later, or a month later, so, which, we ended up moving to L.
A. for that, so, I'm kind of scrambling around, like, at the bank, trying to find a job, Within Los Angeles in the banking world, which isn't always the easiest thing,
but fortunately I was able to find one here. So, yeah, I mean, it's not, what I would have ever anticipated. and now, international kind of continues, right?
we just spent three months in Montreal this summer. We've been to Chile, to Spain, to, you know, kind of, globally been a lot of different places, filming and, uh, getting her career, getting her career
moving.
was that first show in America? Was that, How to Get Away with Murder?
That's right. Yeah, it was that
show.
That's the first time I ever saw Carla was in that. She was awesome.
It was really
that show had a good run. so it was about,
I think it was six years here in LA. yeah, so that was a great, I mean, obviously it was a great reason to move here, you know, in terms of, her career and everything else. yeah, now we live in LA and, it's a beautiful place to live in so many ways.
So,
So when I say you're not, you're not the typical family. I mean, Carla has 4 million Instagram followers. You know, she's famous here. She's famous in Mexico. She's famous throughout Latin America. And so you guys have this life, with your kids. that's it's gotta be tough at times. How does Jesus come into that and help?
I think there was this thing recently and it was kind of placed on my heart, which I think God put there, several years back was like trying to find like some kind of margin in our lives. you know, and margin around time was like pretty big for us. You got margin with time. You know, with money, with time, with, relationships, you know, whatever it is. And, it was really, we were in a spot where it was like, Hey, I think we need to just, you know, we need to have more margin, especially on time.
and so I actually left that job that I was in a couple of years ago.
and I'm technically a house husband, you know, whatever you want to call it. for lack of better words, and do some stuff on the side, but it's, nothing compared to what it was before, but it really, you know, it allows us to keep more of a grounded foundation in the home, I think,
because we're not both running, you know, and this is no knock on parents that are both, you know, running 90 to nothing all the time, right?
but from our own perspective, we just found that, gave us That ability to be grounded with at least one of us in the home, all the time. Sometimes we're both here. and then when we travel, it's kind of all hands on deck, wherever we're going and, trying to get kids into school, whatever it is, right.
trying to find a local church in those areas, which is not always easy,
at least for a period of time. So, uh,
I actually have never seeing a guy like you don't think I've ever seen a guy slapped together breakfast, for the family while he's doing the school lunches, you know, getting it already, man. It was impressive. You had a system down and I was super impressed watching. So way to go, Dad.
I appreciate it. Yeah, I appreciate it. It's not always glamorous
No, it's not. But it's it was fun for me to see you do that. And we had some good conversations while you did it. So I'm happy for
that.
we did.
So we got connected through, a couple of mutual friends, Rachel and Alonzo, who work for One Collective. And that was the initial connection that was made between us, you guys and, me and One Collective.
And you tell us a little bit about how you got connected to Rachel and Alonzo, who've been working in Chile for a long time?
Yeah, so we, Carla filmed a project. Down in Santiago, Chile in 2019, a first daughter at that time, she was about a year old. So we go down to Santiago, Chile, call this moment. That is a, precedent. There was a FIFA scandal show on Amazon. did she film down there? I was working with the bank.
So I went down actually worked from our Santiago, Chile office. we arrived down there. And again, you know, we get to somebody's and Carla's dad's kind of a not side story to it. Carla's dad, we passed away before, forever got to meet him. but he was Chilean and she'd never been to Chile. So this was kind of
like not only from like a work project standpoint, but like just a family of origin.
And there were still some family members down there that she hadn't seen in a long time.
so it was kind of a, just a really neat opportunity to go down there, and kind of see where her dad was born and raised, you know, the first part of his life. so we take our daughter down there and, you know, we are interested in kind of trying to find that local church community, even for a short period of time, even two, three months.
And we're walking on the street down there, we run into this couple that knew Carlos cousins in Mexico, one of Carlos cousins in Mexico. And they're like, Oh, we should go try this church. And literally, I mean, I'm not kidding you. And this was like right around the corner from where we were staying and in a pretty big city. And so we go to this church the next Sunday, and this couple's, they're talking about the support that they're giving to these, you know, they call them like, they were like, you know, they're like, I like the street kids basically that were, relying on some of the government help, but they just needed a lot more and there wasn't that support there for them. And that's what Rachel and Alonzo were there doing. And, Ironically, Carla's character in that show that she was doing ends up, she plays a, I think it was like a detective. Well, she ends up cracking this case because of these, niños de la calle, like these kids that come from the street that are
effectively orphaned from a young age. so she was Interested for a couple of different reasons. But when we heard this in
church, she was like, wait a minute. I'm interested, because of my work, but I'm also interested cause I want to see what we can do. And so, I was knee deep working at the bank, so I couldn't go.
So she goes like a couple of days later with Rachel and Alonso and like sees this environment meets some of these young
kids. And, she comes back and tells me, and it's basically like, we became like instant, supporters, like there was no, question in our mock point and. On top of the fact that Carla's dad was, essentially orphaned at a young age and kind of passed around to like a number of different homes, within
Chile. And we kind of saw where he, you know, lived and raised. And, and it was pretty bodygoat, like yeah.
Yeah, that's a cool story. I'm so glad you got to meet them and see the kind of work that we're doing down there and I'm glad that that ended up connecting us together because I have, I've told you, man, I feel like a connection to you. That's very real for me. it doesn't have to be for you, but for you, I found a friend and, I remember. talking to you while I was with you about a trip that I had to do down in Texas. And it was, going to a place that I was extremely nervous about. I had to do a lot of speaking and a lot of things. And, you had promised to pray for me. And I knew you were praying, but on my way I was, actually in the Houston Airport when you called and said, Are you there yet?
I said, No, I'm next flight, I'll be there. And you said let's pray. And, I will never forget the prayer, and I've told this many times to people In that city that I went to because what Marshall prayed for me was, you know, he prayed all the normal stuff. But he said, Lord, you know, Scott's nervous.
I pray that when he looks out in the audience, there'd be somebody out there who's just smiling and nodding their head and that would be like Jesus to him. And I got up there. I was a nervous wreck in front of this large crowd. It was this was a men's gathering. , but I'll be dipped.
I looked out in the audience and there was this, gray haired guy looking back at me. He had tears in his eyes. He had, he was nodding his head. He was smiling. And the first thing I did when I walked off stage was I went over and told him about your prayer. And he and I have now become friends. And, he's going to be actively engaging with One Collective.
So, much appreciation, brother. It that meant a lot to me. And I remember asking you, like, where did that last part come from? You said, I don't know. I've never prayed that before. So it was the right thing and it really was a comfort to me. So thanks, man., so, when you got to see, well, I guess it was Carla that at first got to see One Collective on the ground. what was it about the model? What was it about what she saw that made her want to connect? and then you could tag onto that, what was it that you've seen in the later days as you became more and more involved with One Collective?
Yeah, I mean, I think that her experience and kind of seeing what some of these, these young kids were going through there. these are kids that are, 12, 13, 14, 15, And some 18, 19 years old that have really never had, family unit. we just had a young daughter at that time, but kind of, I think her seeing that and then
coupling that with what, knowing what her dad had gone through there.
I mean, it was like, this organization is doing amazing things and and from one collective. And then I think what, from my perspective, what I loved about it then, and I still love today is it's kind of like the work that, that I did with the bank, it's like, you're going in and just kind of helping the real people on the ground that are getting the work done locally.
You're kind of, you're maybe
helping him like shore up the foundation, give them some of the tools that they need. but you're not coming in to like, save the world, right? You're not the
savior. You're not going to come in and do it. It's like, ultimately like. You need those people on the ground more than they probably ultimately need you, but you're just kind of helping them, just, move the thing along.
and that's what I love about One Collective is you don't even know that One Collective is there, but they are, that's what's amazing. It's like they're just doing so many things behind the scenes, to help the people that really need it. And those people, they know where the need is, right? These are the, you
know, the Rachel's and Alonzo's that are there and they need to help. they know where they need to be, right?
You know, they're already getting pushed and pulled in different directions. and then you're just there to help.
I think you said something that's makes me happy to have heard you say this, that you don't even know one collective is there, because When we started birthing our model, I mean, this is exactly what we taught our people. You know, we send people in, and if you can't go in with a servant's heart and humility, and you have to wave your banner, your own personal brand banner, or you think that you're supposed to wave the One Collective banner, you're never going to build a camaraderie.
You're never going to build a community because you're always going to be the American gringos on top, in charge. and the best compliment That we can get is when we go into a community and good things are happening and people have no idea who one collective is. So thanks for saying that because that's a high value for me.
and it means that we're doing it right. if I go somewhere and I hear one collective, one collective, I'm, I'm like, okay, we're not, there's something off here. So thanks for saying that. ?
So, Marshall, we probably need to bring this awesome conversation, in for a landing. I'm just wondering, as we close off, anything on your mind that you'd want to share with us?
Yeah, I mean, ultimately, today's election day. I don't know when this thing's gonna get posted, but it's like, there's a lot in the news. I'll leave this call and there'll be like 50 things on my phone. I'm sure along with text messages for whatever else. Yeah. regardless of what your beliefs are on the political side, it's like, it's like reading this thing that, you know, or just keeping this thing in your mind that, like, life's gonna go on, kind of regardless.
And, you know, it's
easy to say, you know, in all circumstances or whatever it is, but, but ultimately, life's going to keep going on, post election day to day post, you know, whatever it is. , Building these things like we've been able to see through one collective and everything else.
And that's what's going to give us so much meaning and so much depth. And, beyond our work lives and everything else we're doing. It's like, where can you help to make a real difference? And, we've been so just fortunate to have come across one collective. I think in our, when we call it giving, but just in, just in what's being done there, it's just amazing thing to see happen.
So, um, and meeting you. so that's been a, you know, last couple of
years, you know, you better. it's been good, Scott. I'm not kidding. You're always welcome here. you can leave more notes on the wall. We appreciate
2025, I'll be back.
It's not as exotic as some of your other spots, but you know,
No, it was a great place to be. So, thanks, man. 📍 Well folks, thanks for joining us on the Collective Impact Podcast. I really hope that the experiences that Marshall shared today in this episode I hope they've been encouraging, I hope they've inspired you or empowered you to create your own meaningful change in the world, whether it's in your family or in your community or wherever it may be.
And if you want to dive deeper into the ideas that we talked about, the things we discussed on this show, feel Please head over to onecollective. org slash podcast. And there you can find links to resources, past episodes, and ways that you can connect further with our community. So until next time, keep going in your pursuit of making a difference.
Okay. Appreciate you guys. Bye bye.
