A company that is unconventional and effective
These unprecedented times give us the daily opportunity to Be Kind, Love More and Do Good. In this week’s TEAM MEMBER SPOTLIGHT, we are proud to introduce Isaac — someone whose tenacity, wisdom, and commitment to growth is an inspiration.
What is your position with Doing Good Works?
I am a Dev Ops analyst — I help make sure that things run smoothly within the company and help figure out what we can do better. A while back that meant managing stores for some of our clients and processes on the back end. I currently make margin reports and sort the information as well as make sure that our books and our partners and vendors are all on the same page with… basically money and quantities.
How did you come to work at Doing Good Works?
I was in prison and when I got out I reached out to Just in Time for Foster Youth. I was looking for resources because there are not nearly enough for people coming out of prison, much less for former foster youth. The parole agent told me that he wouldn’t let me be homeless — but that was more about my not having an excuse to show up to meetings with him than about his lending support. I found out about Just in Time from a social worker in a sober living home. They offered me the opportunity to go to a “Pathways to Financial Power” conference because they saw how serious I was about getting my life together. At the event, I met Scott (Henderson, co-founder of Doing Good Works). I told him that I was interested to see how companies recruited because I wanted to start and grow multiple companies. I told him I was fresh out of prison and working to get my life together and looking for options. He seemed really impressed and we shook hands and parted ways about three times. He told me to get in touch with him the following Monday. I was planning to call him around lunchtime and was trying to be strategic about when he might have a window, like during lunch. So, at around 11 am I was at the grocery store with multiple bottles of soda in my hand and my phone rang — and it was Scott. That Friday I got a follow-up call from him and Jordan (Bartlett, Doing Good Works’ co-founder) and during that conversation, they started to figure out opportunities to place me. Because I was on parole and unable to leave San Diego county, I was given an iPad to do my work. When the iPad didn’t have the software needed to do some of the tasks, they switched it out with a laptop.
Doing Good Works is founded on the mission that every young person aging out of foster care deserves an equal chance to succeed and access to the networks and tools that can empower them. What does this mission mean to you?
As someone in foster care I spent a lot of my time AWOL — I ran away a lot — and if I went to school, I could get picked up by the police. So, I didn’t want to go to school because I didn’t want to have to run from the cops. I was feeling a lot of negativity and enacting unhealthy patterns. I focused on notions like the world thrived around corruption and the corrupt succeed. I was incarcerated shortly after I was 18. I did almost six years in prison and it took a very long time to gain a strong sense of clarity. If we want better as a country, we need to be treating people better regardless of whether they have done something wrong. Punishment does not work from what I have seen. It teaches fear and rebellion. Beating someone down for doing something wrong — no matter how wrong it may have been — does not make them want to change. It teaches them to be slicker about things. And the value of not getting caught. If people are going to change, they need a genuine reason to want to change.
I got out fully prepared to manage being homeless — but there were resources — without those, I do not know how much more difficult my life would have been. Doing Good Works has by far been the greatest resource for me and invaluable. I have a community now that understands a lot of what I have been through. I don’t know how well I would be doing otherwise. A stereotypical workday is not ideal for me and if I couldn’t work remotely, I don’t know how comfortable I would have been even starting.
What did you study in college?
I am currently in college. I am studying linguistics but I am considering changing my major to video game design. I like language enough to study it whether I am going to college for it or not — but I want to make the most of my college time. I play a lot of video games and a friend and I are in the early stages of making a video game.
What are your career goals, now or for the future?
I want to start making YouTube videos and streaming some developer diaries that show the game creation process. I also want to work on a card game another friend of mine is creating. I am working on music too and want to produce and share it. I am in the process of writing a book that is intended to get people to employ critical thinking. I also want to build an agriculture company capable of sustaining a population. And, I want to start a brewery dedicated to my grandmother. My grandmother likes beer. She and my grandfather have been very influential in my life, and I think one of the best ways to honor her would be to do that.
Can you share one example of how mentorship has made an impact on your life?
I haven’t always had positive mentoring experiences, but I appreciate the opportunity to learn from someone who has done things that I am interested in. Scott and Jordan have been working with me — I absolutely appreciate their patience with me — they have really done a lot and maintain a degree of confidence in my skills. Working remotely can be difficult because you do not always get a sense of how one’s work affects the company. But I’ve had conversations with Jordan and Scott and Amy (Doing Good Works’ CFO) and feel like they have the willingness to level with me. It makes me more comfortable and at ease and helps me not be so hard on myself.
How do you look to make an impact either through your work or in your life?
I want to empower people to decide things for themselves and be who they want to be rather than who they are told to be. I try to be empowering in my interactions with people all the time and the work that I want to do is fundamentally about giving people the opportunity to speak and be heard. For example, with what I want to stream — I want to show that it is possible to do things differently and be successful.
What are your hobbies and outside interests — what do you like to do when you are not working or not in school?
Video games and anime research. One of the things that stimulates me the most is Magic the Gathering. There’s a lot that goes into the game and the interactions can be amazing. It’s not surprising it’s a game with such longevity — it’s been around 20 years. I am thinking about getting a guitar amp soon so I can start experimenting beyond just the acoustic guitar I have.
Are there any recent accomplishments you are proud of that you can share — (anything from learning how to boil an egg to purchasing your first car!)
One is passing my ASL class last semester — I am still struggling to stay on top of everything but passing that class gave me a healthy pride I was lacking before. I like languages and started learning ASL because it’s another language — but actually not as closely related to English as one might think. I’m not sure what I am going to do with it, but I plan to attend some events to get better and put it to use.
What is your favorite book, tv show or movie and why?
My favorite tv show is One Piece — one of the longest-running anime shows. As far as movies, I really liked and related to The Joker. Although that clerk in Arkham would never have given him that family file! It was a very difficult film but the only movie in recent years that I’ve felt a deep connection with the character. Bookwise, I am reading Search Inside Yourself — written by one of the higher-ups in Google.
What is something unusual, surprising or funny that people may not know about you?
I’m not sure because I’m actually a very open person. If I say “ask me anything” I mean what I say. Maybe that I am good at making people laugh.
What does Doing Good Works mean to you?
Doing Good Works means doing things that benefit everyone. Doing things that don’t have a negative impact. It’s easy to focus on negativity and get a skewed perspective on what’s possible.
For me, the company is a testament to doing things a little unconventionally and proving far more effective. It is an example that when people actually want to do something together, then the project itself — whatever they’re working on — becomes exponentially more effective and essentially better. And everyone benefits as a result. Even if it takes a bit longer to finish things or accomplish them. It is an example of how to do better by making sure that everyone is happy.
