Today we’d like to introduce you to Heidi Johnson
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a nonprofit founder, a storyteller and a believer in good. I use my voice in philanthropy to inspire others to serve through my blog and podcast, Charity Matters and my work in the nonprofit space. My story really began with the tragic death of my mom and my parents’ friends in 2002, in a tragic car accident. I have learned that everything in life begins with loss.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t a happy ending it just means that we need to go through certain obstacles to grow. While my dad was in a coma fighting for his life from the accident it was our familie’s faith that pulled us through. What really helped us was believing in something bigger. Believing that he would survive….and he did.
About a year after the accident, a friend of mine, Father John Sigler reached out and asked a group of us for help. He was the only chaplain at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where over 150,000 children went through the hospital doors each year. Father John wanted to create a non-profit to provide chaplains of all faiths 24 hours a day 7 days a week to the children and families of CHLA. It was a full circle moment being able to give back our gift of faith that we had been given.
Nine of us got to work and created the nonprofit, Spiritual Care Guild. Today 23 years later, we have built a huge department of chaplains of all faiths, built an Inter-faith center and become a national template of pediatric chaplaincy. In the process, we became an instrument to change a one hundred year old institution. Service saved me and healed my grief. It gave purpose to my loss and healed me in unimaginable ways.
After running Spiritual Care Guild for a few years, I wanted to find my people. Other nonprofit founders, people who had used their pain for purpose, people who had healed through service by starting nonprofits. I launched the Charity Matters platform in 2011, to introduce my heroes to the world and to share the fascinating stories of innovators, entrepreneurs, and modern day heroes who set out to solve the problems of humanity with their journeys of service. Today, Charity Matters is a top rated podcast. Last year, I wrote a book called Change for Good sharing some of these remarkable stories.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The challenges have come in many shapes and sizes over the years. Starting a nonprofit, starting a business that relies on the kindness and generosity of others is hard, Really hard but there is such purpose to this work. Changing people’s lives or even having a tiny hand in the process is worth all of the struggles.
In 2011, juggling three young sons, running a nonprofit and blogging regularly were difficult. In 2013, I decided to get paid again for my work and became the Executive Director for the nonprofit, TACSC, a youth leadership organization. The challenges were plentiful. Thirteen years later I am proud to say I am still at the helm of TACSC and we are thriving.
Today, the challenge is juggling it all; the nonprofit, the weekly podcast, the blog, my monthly magazine colum in FORCE Magazine and now the book, Change for Good. To me as long as I am serving or being a messanger of service the work is the same. I feel incredibly blessed to do this work.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My career began in the sales and marketing in the softwarde business. Since 2003, I have been in the nonprofit space. First as one of the founders of the nonprofit, The Spiritual Care Guild. Like all things, life evolves, from starting a nonprofit to then going in search of other nonprofit founders stories in 2011 with Charity Matters through our blog and podcast.
People are good! Each week we introduce you to some of THE most inspiring humans. I think all of us who live in LA have seen our communities come together with the recent fires. I live in Pasadena and our community has been amazing. We need to be reminded how joyful it is to help one another. I am determined to use my voice to try and amplify theirs.
More than a decade ago when I began this journey no one was focusing on these super stars, people’s attention was elsewhere. It is beyond rewarding to begin to see people realize how extraordinary these people are and begin to focus on what is truly important, serving one another.
By day, I run a nonprofit, a youth leadership organization, called TACSC. In addition to doing this work, I really try to be a messanger of service. The Charity Matters Podcast is a great way to do that. I write a monthly magazine colum about service for FORCE Magazine.
Now, I am incredibly proud of my new book, Change for Good: The Transformative Power of Giving as the Ultimate Cure. The book has become an Amazon bestseller and really speaks to the healing power of helping one another.
There is no great joy than knowing that someone read one of our stories and got involved as a result, either as a volunteer or a donor. Getting the word out is what excites me about my work.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
That is a great question! To me success is inspiring other people to serve. When I hear that someone listened to the Charity Matters Podcast and decided to volunteer again. Or when a nonprofit contacts me and thanks me because they received a donation becase of an organization we interviewed. To me that is success.
Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled that Charity Matters is a top ranked podcast in the philanthropic space and that my book is a best seller. What means more is that message of service is resonating with people. People are beginning to realize what really matters and that is helping one another. At the end of our one precious beautiful life that is all that really matters.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://charity-matters.com
- Instagram: @CharityMatters and @HeidiJohnsonOffical
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CharityMattersLA
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-mcniff-johnson-7758b225/
- Twitter: @Charity_Matters
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CharityMatters/featured
- Other: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/charity-matters
