SPEAKER 01 : 0:01

Welcome to the good news with Angie Austin. Now with the good news, here’s Angie.

SPEAKER 07 : 0:09

Hey there friend, Angie Austin, Jim Stovall with the good news. And today we are talking about success and significance. Hello, Jim Stovall.

SPEAKER 05 : 0:17

Well, hello, Angie Austin. Always good to be with you.

SPEAKER 07 : 0:21

So success and significance. This is right up your alley, I think, since you’ve had quite a bit of bulls.

SPEAKER 05 : 0:27

Well, I’ve been very fortunate and, uh, You know, this week’s column comes out of an experience that just recently, one of my books that I wrote 25 years ago, which is hard for me to believe, just popped up on the bestseller list again. And it was on the bestseller list when I first wrote it, entitled The Ultimate Gift, and then And then it was made into a movie and had great success there and became part of a movie trilogy. And then it got on the bestseller list again. But then several times since then, for reasons that my publisher nor I understand, it will just jump back up on the bestseller list. And I’m very grateful for this. And, you know, I think it happens because, you know, the number one reason anybody buys a book is because… someone recommended it to them. That’s the number one reason people buy books. And, you know, when the movies make the rounds again on cable or in one of the streaming services or whatever, it has a tendency to catch momentum again. And I’m very grateful for that. But because of that, I, you know, a number of reporters called and interviewers and the You know, and they always ask these questions with a little bit of a hidden tone behind it. You know, do you write books to really help people, or do you just want to make money? You know, or success or significance? What is it? And, you know, I always tell them the answer is yes to both. I… I can’t separate the two because the more books I sell, the more success I have, but the more people I help. I always try to explain to folks there’s only one way to succeed at anything you do, and that’s to create value in the lives of other people. There’s no other way to succeed long-term other than to create value in the lives of other people. And so, you know, this comes around every time, and they act like there’s something wrong if you make money doing something. You know, and I always point out to these reporters, I’m sure you go to work and call people like me for free, but, you know, no, there’s nothing wrong with getting paid for the work you do. And to the extent it helps other people, it’s a blessing to be able to do the work and to help people and to be successful all at the same time.

SPEAKER 07 : 2:57

You know, it’s interesting. The other thing that came into my mind about, you know, why people are buying the book, I know that surrounding that book there have been good works and groups and maybe churches, boys groups. Would you talk about that, like what has sprung up out of the book?

SPEAKER 05 : 3:12

Well, one of them, I actually wrote a book about it late last year called The Young Men’s Service League. I wrote a book called Giving the Ultimate Gift, and you know, when the movie first came out, there was a single mom down in Dallas, and she had two teenage boys, and she took them to the movie, The Ultimate Gift, and they decided they were going to do a community service project for each year they were in high school. Well, a couple other single moms and their kids joined in, and then a couple others, and they formed a little club called the Young Men’s Service League. And the next thing you know, it grew in popularity, and the Today there are 168 chapters in 39 states, and last fall they had 11,000 boys across the country doing these ultimate gift projects. And, you know, there are many, many examples like that. And, yeah, I mean, things like that can catch a hold, and the next thing you know, a whole group or organization that’s been impacted, you know, they’re buying books. But, you know, I… I just feel grateful that it happens. And I feel grateful that I get to be a part of writing the book. And people say, oh, you should be very proud of what they’ve done. I didn’t do anything. I wrote a book. That’s black on white, ink on paper. It’s these moms and their boys that went out and actually did something. And we live in a world, Angie, when it’s all said and done, there’s way too much said and not nearly enough done. And these young people went out and they do it on a daily basis. And for that, I’m very grateful.

SPEAKER 07 : 4:52

You know, I was listening to someone really wise talk yesterday and it was someone young asking him a question and I was on Instagram or something. watched the little videos, and he said, you know, a lot of people, young people have, you know, depression and anxiety, and what can you say to our generation, which I think he was referring to Z, you know, so pretty young people. What can you say for people to do, you know, to get out of themselves? And it’s what you always say, to do something when you’re feeling low about yourself or when you’re yourself, you’re feeling low, get out of yourself and do something for others. And that’s what he talked about. He talked about altruism. And he said when he feels low, instead of getting full of himself because he’s very famous and well-known in religious worlds and spiritual worlds, he said he gets out of himself. And he talked about altruism. And, you know, basically it’s just, you know, volunteering, helping others, doing something good for your grandmother, helping your mom with something, your kids, you know, whatever it may be. It doesn’t have to be a formal like this project per se. But, you know, doing something for others. And I think it’s just the – People don’t do it oftentimes because it’s a hassle. And I’m not just saying it’s a hassle to do it, to find the right fit for you. But I think sometimes you just need to put your toe in the water and try something, you know, and then, you know, keep trying things until you find something that resonates. One of my friends, Jim White, he worked for Volunteers of America for many years. And it’s funny because whenever I see him, I recognize him immediately because he has this full head of white hair, white, white hair and thick hair. We don’t see older guys with that much hair, but it’s that white. So anyway, Jim said he was a little bit low when he left Volunteers of America because he was so involved in all the different projects. I remember my family, we’d see him at Thanksgiving because we’d deliver these big baskets of food and beautiful Thanksgiving baskets for Volunteers of America, which is a Christian organization. And a lot of people, I think, don’t know that either, that they are faith-based. Anyway. And then we did Meals on Wheels a couple of times, and then we volunteered at a few of their shelters, a senior shelter. We did several seniors, and then we did a couple of events at a women’s shelter. And I thought they’d be younger homeless women, but they were really older homeless women. I was surprised. I couldn’t imagine these women being on the streets with women. Some of them had walkers. Anyway, he said I was feeling really low, and he said I just had to then figure out what to do next, and I was at an ARC event, and that’s where my son works. I think I’ve told you they help people with cognitive deficits, differently abled people. They have over 500 ambassadors at their thrift stores who maybe would have a more difficult time getting work, but ARC specializes in hiring these ambassadors who are So unique to their organization and wonderful. So he said every day of the week now he has something and one of the big ones. So every day of the week he does a different volunteer activity with one he was really proud of as he goes to this ARC sorting center and he goes through children’s books. And he said, Angie, I have repurposed over 400,000 books. children’s books and I believe they get given out with like some of the lunch programs like in the summer when kids that don’t get enough to eat at home can come to locations and get food and just in general underprivileged kids that might not have the same access to children’s books and just himself over 400,000 he said I sort through so many books in this one day but every day it’s a different activity but this is just his kind of alone that he came up with his thing and it was just neat to see how proud he was and how happy he is and He didn’t really retire, if you think about it, Jim.

SPEAKER 05 : 8:26

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, we don’t retire. We kind of repurpose. And, you know, over the weekend, I went and did a speech for law enforcement, an annual convention of police officers and sheriff’s deputies and everything. And, yeah. You know, and it’s part of my community service. The one thing I can do is show up and make a speech and give them a few books and all this. And so I try to do one of those for free for everyone I get paid for. I know. And one of the police officers asked me, why would you come here for free? And I said, because you guys make everything possible. I mean, you’re running toward the things we’re all running away from. And because you guys do what you do, I can get up and go to work every day and not worry about everything. And, you know, you guys are what makes the world go round. I mean, there was somebody standing on the wall for every one of these. And, you know, sometimes you just have to say thank you to folks. And, you know, while you’re looking for the, you know, the formal thing you want to do to help others, Don’t forget, every day, every way, everything is an opportunity. You hold the door for somebody, a kind word, you know, just whatever the case may be. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. Sometimes the littlest things make all the difference. And, you know, you start doing those random acts of kindness, and the next thing you know, I mean, we have an outbreak of this happening, and it’s pretty, pretty amazing.

SPEAKER 07 : 9:53

You know, you also talked about another award for the book that has started these service groups, getting others to do good things. I love it that a single mom got her boys together for that. But there was another time you mentioned to me it wasn’t just the bestseller list, but all-time bestselling, like, faith-based book was it?

SPEAKER 05 : 10:14

Yeah, yeah. Tell me about that. Well, that’s something, as a faith-based person myself – I really try to do. I try not to make Christian films. I love Christian films. They’re wonderful. But I try to make films that resonate with the general public, that then have a faith-based meaning and principle that people will start their journey toward faith. And And so what we really strive for here is, you know, it’s one of the top five faith-based film projects and books of all time. But I have, you know, there’s over 2,000 public schools that use that book in their curriculum. And let’s be honest, if it’s anything Christian or faith-based, somebody on the school board will kick it out of there. But what’s amazing is people of faith recognize these faith principles, but people on school boards see it as just a secular message. And when you think about the parables that are in the New Testament, there’s nothing… Christian or religious or anything, there’s nothing about the Good Samaritan. It’s a story about we are our brother’s keeper, and we have a responsibility to take care of one another. So those are the kind of messages I like to share with people.

SPEAKER 07 : 11:39

You know, this is interesting because I’ve known you so many years now, and I kind of know, Miss, that you do this because I knew that you were a Christian. You know that I’m a Christian, but we don’t talk about that specifically that much in our interviews because your column, you’re right. And I never knew exactly how you did that, how you got all your principles across, but it’s really pretty easy. You just don’t bring up the Bible so that you won’t get kicked out of it. anything involving school or for that matter your corporate speeches you might be overlooked if you were specifically faith-based but you can still talk about all of the same principles about honesty and integrity and respecting your parents and you know respecting your spouse and all of these things you can very easily talk about because they’re very commonly accepted uh but you don’t uh you don’t mention the Bible, and then somehow you can get away with talking about all these faith-based ideas that also are concerned ethics.

SPEAKER 05 : 12:41

Yeah, I did a lot of work when I first started as a speaker with Robert Shuler, the great pastor of the Crystal Cathedral. And what was amazing, I said, what’s the difference between your sermon and And this corporate thing. He said, in a sermon, I start with the Scripture, and that’s the basis of what I’m going to talk about. In a corporate deal, I tell them what works, how I know it works, examples of where it works. And then I talk about, you know, I first found out about this from reading the Scripture. But by then, they were already sold on the deal. So it’s a matter of what do you lead with in the beginning. And truth is truth, and it holds up and it speaks for itself.

SPEAKER 07 : 13:18

Wow. I mean, you can still really get all of your ideas across and be socially acceptable in almost all circles by doing that. That’s so interesting. And I guess I kind of knew you did this, but now it’s so simple. It just completely makes sense to me. All right. If you want to find Jim and all of his books, including The Ultimate Gift, you can still stream that movie as well. I just looked it up the other day. It is jimstovall.com, jimstovall.com. Thank you, friend. You’re welcome.

SPEAKER 02 : 13:52

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SPEAKER 03 : 14:50

Sedalia is listening to KLTT, the mighty 670.

SPEAKER 07 : 14:53

Hey there, Angie Austin here with the good news. I have something really cool coming up. It’s innovative. It is a great way to generate green energy. And we can all pass on this info. And it’s something I’ve never really heard of doing before. And also, Dr. Cheryl Lentz joining us first. And we are talking about some good news. Hey there, friend.

SPEAKER 06 : 15:20

Hello. Very nice to be here with Summertime. It’s awesome.

SPEAKER 07 : 15:24

Yeah, I guess your neck of the woods is quite hot there in Chicago today.

SPEAKER 06 : 15:29

It is. It was yesterday. It is going to be tomorrow. But then we should get things into normal summer stuff right now. We’re getting August early for a couple of days and nobody’s happy about it. Oh, my goodness.

SPEAKER 07 : 15:39

Yeah, we had a little heat wave here in Denver getting a little reprieve. So that’s kind of nice that we’re getting that. All right. So I had some good news that it’s a little chillier, but I you and I like to talk about positive topics and good news. And this to me is kind of mind blowing. You know how this, all right, you’re a big outdoorsman. Like you like to outdoors woman. You like to go out and, you know, get in the kayak and do a lot of outdoors stuff, right?

SPEAKER 06 : 16:05

Right. Exactly. Exactly. Got to be commune with nature.

SPEAKER 07 : 16:08

Absolutely. And you, sometimes the water is a little chilly, right?

SPEAKER 06 : 16:13

It can be, and I’ve been known to put a wetsuit on there if it’s below 60, yep. Oof, oof.

SPEAKER 07 : 16:17

Okay, so this particular guy, he was up in Alaska, and what happens was, and this is like everything aligning to not go right, but then everything aligning to go right. So it does have a happy ending, of course. It’s the good news. So rescuers are describing it as an avalanche of boulders. Kel Morris, 61 year old, was hiking with his wife in the Alaskan wilderness south of Anchorage. This is just last month when a single step set a succession of rocks crashing down the terrain. OK, well, that’s terrifying. But he started falling with the boulder so he could hear, you know, what boulders falling sounds like, you know, when they’re as big as like 700 pounds. It’s pretty loud. Right. So as he’s falling, he can hear these boulders crashing next to him. And he fell into a creek. And he was sliding right along with him. He said it was just kind of a blur. And, you know, listening to all these rocks. And then a rock hit him. So he lands face down in the creek. All right. And you can imagine what the anchorage was. water is like in an icy creek right we’re talking hypothermia within minutes right right so he felt a boulder hit him in his back and pin him down and his leg and his hip were pinned tightly to the rocks and it was a 700 pound boulder so nothing that his wife could lift off of him unfortunately his shoulders were still above the water But other rocks were, you know, kind of kept him from getting completely flattened the way that he landed. So his wife, Joanna Roop, she was she is a retired Alaskan state trooper. So she was used to emergencies and she sprung into action. And thank goodness that, you know, he had her there because this would not have been survivable without her. She had to get a cell signal. So she’s wandering around trying to get a cell signal. She gets one about 300 yards away. And she calls emergency crews with GPS coordinates to organize this rescue attempt. Well, a firefighter, Sam Paperman, he was near. He has like a tourism job and he was in a nearby helicopter and they diverted over to the scene. So he was there within minutes and then they got some more rescuers there. But it’s 700 pounds and the water was rising because of the way that the boulders fell. So the wife is holding his head up. He’s losing consciousness because he’s got hypothermia. It’s already setting in. The emergency crews are like, well, how are we going to get this 700-pound boulder off him? They had these airbags that they typically use, you know, for vehicle extractions. Have you seen those?

SPEAKER 06 : 18:42

I’ve seen them. My ex-husband was in search and rescue, yes. No way. Yeah, mm-hmm.

SPEAKER 07 : 18:48

Okay, so they used these airbags, and then they said it was brute force with the airbags, that they had seven guys and the airbags, and that’s what they needed to get this 700-pound boulder off him. But here’s the part you’re not going to believe. He went to the hospital for two days just for observation. There was nothing wrong with him.

SPEAKER 06 : 19:08

Oh, how is that possible?

SPEAKER 07 : 19:11

I know. I said every star was aligned, said the chief, the fire chief, with the good weather, the number of rescuers, the cell service that the wife was able to get, the private helicopter tour company that was willing to help and divert their tour, and that that guy was also a trained rescuer. Are you kidding me?

SPEAKER 06 : 19:30

Wow. That is, I mean, God has got to have plans for this one. I’m telling you, that is a perfect storm to have all of that go right. The odds of that are astronomical.

SPEAKER 07 : 19:40

All right. I’m sorry our segment was so quick today, but I’m going to have you back this week as well, Cheryl. DrCherylLentz.com. You’ve heard her on the show for years now, probably about a decade. But something really cool, Cheryl, stick around for this one. It’s something innovative that I’ve never really heard of before, and it really is a good news topic, definitely. Joining us is Elliot Abel, Senior Vice President of Corporate Clean Energy Solutions for Pivot Energy. Welcome, Elliot.

SPEAKER 04 : 20:06

Angie, thanks so much for having me. Glad to be here.

SPEAKER 07 : 20:09

I’m glad to have you. I read a little bit about you in the Denver Business Journal. I know you got the 40 under 40. And I know that you are very active in energy and have been for decades. This is such a cool idea. So kind of give us an overview of what Pivot does.

SPEAKER 04 : 20:23

Absolutely. So Pivot Energy, we’re an experienced turnkey commercial renewable energy developer. and owner operator projects. We’ve been a leader in developing solar projects since our founding in 2009 and we’re headquartered here in Denver.

SPEAKER 07 : 20:41

All right. So my understanding is that I love real estate. I’ve never gotten into corporate, but I’m super into real estate. And I love I’m always looking at it. And it’s been the way like when I grew up very poor. And so it’s kind of the way that I educated myself out of poverty and I live in low income housing. But the very first opportunity I bought my first property, which I don’t even know, to be honest with you, is on the oceanfront in Marina Del Rey because I worked for NBC in L.A. It was my first job. Yes. And I don’t even know if I could buy it back right now. It did so well. But when it comes to corporate real estate, I know that during COVID, my husband, his company let go of a lot of their offices. And I know that Denver, that they are really down in terms of their rentals. So what you are doing with some of these office buildings is fascinating to me that you’re finding a way to make money off of them, but also to help Mother Earth, per se. And this involves green energy. So can you explain how you’re doing this?

SPEAKER 04 : 21:38

Absolutely. And you mentioned it, right? I mean, we saw corporate real estate vacancy rates in downtown Denver reach over 35% in March of this year. And that’s this year. And office vacancies. That’s this year. Right. And office property values have declined between 10 and 25 percent from just two years ago. The effect is real. You know, we’re still recovering from the pandemic in the real estate space. And what we’re offering is. is really an opportunity for property owners to have an easy solution to generate long term low risk revenue increase the value of these properties help recover some of these losses and that’s by leasing unused space so think rooftops parking lots. to develop much needed solar and energy storage projects. So as demand for electricity increases in cities like here in Denver and across the country, this is a way to meet that need and also really help commercial property owners recover.

SPEAKER 07 : 22:41

So a commercial office building, even if it’s being used, I mean, the rooftop space that you would need to generate solar power, that could be used anyway, right? I mean, it doesn’t have to be an empty building or partially empty building. You can still rent out your roof and empty parking lots. I mean, you’re going to have more empty spaces if you aren’t renting, if you know 35% of these buildings aren’t rented anyway. Right.

SPEAKER 04 : 23:06

Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. I mean, listen, the building can be completely full of tenants, which is great, fantastic situation to be in and still lease out the rooftop or still lease out a portion of the parking lot to earn additional rent to increase the value of property to help, you know, attract and retain great tenants to these properties. So it really is a solution for all kinds of property owners, regardless of the specific situation of their properties.

SPEAKER 07 : 23:32

So what properties would be a good fit for this particular pivot model?

SPEAKER 04 : 23:37

Yeah, you know, Pivot Energy is able to develop solar projects on lots of different kinds of commercial buildings. It could be retail, industrial, manufacturing offices. Really, as long as there’s some flat, underutilized space, like a large rooftop or, like you mentioned, a parking lot, those are all good candidates for solar and battery energy storage projects.

SPEAKER 07 : 24:00

Now, in terms of, you know, what Pivot’s doing, I’m always interested, you know, all these years I’ve been in TV and radio news, I love to find out, like, where you got started in this. So, like, how Pivot came up with this, but how you also got into this area of expertise, because it’s a pretty, it’s a niche, you know, I don’t often meet people that are like, hey, I’d love to rent your rooftop and do some solar power. When I’m out in California and I see all these innovative things or I go by a wind farm or a huge field outside of Vegas filled with a whole solar power setup, I’m like, who did this? Where did you get this idea? I mean, it obviously costs a lot of money, too. So how did you and how did Pivot come up with all of this?

SPEAKER 04 : 24:40

Yeah, well, Pivot Energy has been doing this for a while, has been a leading developer of solar projects since being founded in 2009. And personally, you know, my career in this renewable energy space starts around the same time, a few years earlier, actually. And it was about, you know, really trying to solve a problem, you know, solve the problem of how do we get the energy and electricity we need in a better, cleaner way. And I don’t know, for me personally, and it’s been this way for a long time, every time I, you know, fly into a city, I see all these white unused rooftops that are just the perfect canvas. They’re the perfect canvas to be used to generate power where it’s needed. So that’s been a motivator for a long time for me personally.

SPEAKER 07 : 25:32

Yeah, it only makes sense. It seems like kind of a no-brainer. Like, why aren’t we doing this? You know, I saw something the other day. It was some documentary on, you know, the way that you’re supposed to farm that doesn’t ruin the land, right? And I looked at my brother because he’s like, oh, you’ve got to see this stock. So anyway, we’re watching it, and I’m like, my brother’s a genius. And so I’m like, why aren’t other farmers doing this? Like, I saw the dude that was doing this, and he was like your bib overall wearing Kansas kind of looking dude, you know, with, you know, a little bit of dirt on his face, balding, you know, chubby. And I’m like, he’s like your average farmer, right? And he travels all over the world like you do talking about solar power. And he’s trying to get people to farm correctly. And it’s not just digging up the dirt and replanting every year. And I’m like, but it seems so much more cost effective. But some of these things that are no brainers, we just do it the old way because we’re used to doing it. But the new way wouldn’t be that difficult for somebody to lease their roof to you and be part of the new way, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER 04 : 26:26

Absolutely. You’re right, Angie. I think the biggest challenge is just getting the information out there, you know, so that people are aware of it and they know where to find out more and to see if their property would be a good fit. That’s been our experience. Once people learn about it, you know, they’re generally pretty excited about the opportunity and want to move forward. It’s about learning that it’s out there and it’s an option.

SPEAKER 07 : 26:52

Yeah. And like this setup for like a person for like me, if I wanted to get into solar or whatever, that’s different. They’re just leasing to you and then you guys do the setup. So how do they go about doing this? How do they reach pivot? How do they explore this opportunity?

SPEAKER 04 : 27:08

Yeah, absolutely. You know, the best the best way to do it is really to visit our Web site. There’s lots of good information there. It’s www.pivotenergy.net. And there’s also a way to reach out, give us some information about the property, and then we can take a look and make sure it’s a good fit for solar.

SPEAKER 03 : 27:30

Well, thanks.

SPEAKER 04 : 27:30

The one other thing I’d add here in Denver, yeah, just the one other thing I’d add here in Denver people will be aware of is property owners are also, you know, many of them are worried about how to comply with this Energize Denver policy. It’s a building performance standard, energy efficiency for commercial buildings over 25,000 square feet. And a lot of these properties that have vacancy issues are thinking, how am I going to spend money to meet that? I’ll just say that this is also an option for how to comply with Energize Denver without having to come out of pocket, make any investment. Pivot Energy takes care of that, and it still meets those regulations. So this is another good thing to be aware of here locally.

SPEAKER 07 : 28:10

Yeah, that completely makes sense. To meet the regulations, you don’t have to put any money out of pocket. You might be able to do it with Pivot, not lose money, but actually make money by leasing out your roof or parking lot. Love that. All right, Elliot, great info. It’s the first time I’d ever heard of this when I read about you and about Pivot. So thanks for giving us the good news today on The Good News.

SPEAKER 04 : 28:29

Yeah, happy to give the good news. Thanks so much for having me, Angie.

SPEAKER 01 : 28:33

Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.