SARAH MCCRUM: DEFINING THE SPIRIT OF GIVING
The purpose-driven business series features a different Business for Good every Thursday to showcase their unique giving stories. We hope these stories inspire you with interesting, new and joyful ideas on how to integrate giving into your business.
The spirit of giving comes in many shapes and forms. It doesn’t necessarily have to involve giving money, time, or skills. Yet, just displaying the spirit of giving can have deep impacts on so many people. This next business owner shares her personal experience of this profound feeling firsthand.
INTRODUCING…SARAH MCCRUM!
WHO: Sarah McCrum
WHERE: Peregian Beach, Australia
WHAT: I coach business owners to turn around challenges that affect their personal sa business life, so they spiral up rather than spiralling down.
CAN YOU GIVE US A SENSE OF WHY YOU DECIDED TO START GIVING?
Originally Paul told a story and it touched me totally unexpectedly. It was about a musician, and the thing that touched me was the way his clients responded to the giving. I just felt this sudden emotional pull.
That’s the main reason I joined at the time. I also have memories of visiting children in schools in Uganda and they showed me the vegetable gardens they were developing, so I love that I can give to similar projects now. And more recently the stories about girls in the sex trade really hit me. You have to do something when you hear that.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE PROJECT(S) TO GIVE TO AND WHY?
I love projects that are like seeds that will grow. That means giving seeds rather than food, children growing gardens, giving chickens and goats and supporting women in business.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE IMPACT B1G1 HAS HAD ON YOUR COMPANY AND ITS CULTURE?
To be honest, I feel that B1G1 has given my business far more than I have given to B1G1. This is something I would like to reverse over time. I have gained many clients, some very good friends and some wonderful experiences from my connection with B1G1. I feel part of a larger family.
Paul hosted me in a webinar 2.5 years ago and I gained several clients as a result. They are almost all still working with me, and some of them are now creating really inspiring new businesses. I count all of them as my friends and we help each other as much as we can. There’s something special about B1G1 members. They are always motivated by doing good in the world.
WHAT’S THE BEST EXPERIENCE YOU’VE HAD THROUGH YOUR GIVING ACTIVITIES AND BEING A PART OF B1G1?
I enjoy choosing projects to give to because I imagine how the seeds will grow as the recipients make use of them. There’s a simple pleasure in it that has surprised me.
DO YOU HAVE AN INTERESTING GIVING STORY TO SHARE?
One of (my clients) suffered a severe stroke some months after we started working together. She was supposed to be in an online class one weekend and I got a little email from her telling me she was in hospital. She’d lost her sight amongst many other scary symptoms. I still marvel at the fact that she was so determined to let me know. Over the following months she used everything she’d learned from our work to make a remarkable recovery, which baffled her doctors considerably. I’ve seen her grow into a very powerful healer who now visits the same hospital regularly to help other stroke patients. She’s also finally started the business she’d always wanted. Stories like this have created very special memories for several B1G1 members who all learned so much from her journey, because she shared it with us every step of the way. It’s that kind of community, almost family, that I’ve experienced as a result of my connection with B1G1. It has nothing to do with giving, as such, and yet it has everything to do with the spirit of giving.
If you have an interesting Giving Story to share, write to us at hello@b1g1.com to be included in the next feature!