Success Through Leadership with Nellie Harden of The 6570 Family Project Podcast

Speaker 1 (00:02)

Hi and welcome to Cause bods. I'm your host, Matthew Passy. Here at Causepods, we have one simple mission to highlight the amazing folks who are using podcasts as a way to raise awareness for good causes and make the world is a better place, whether it's in their own local community or they're taking on global issues. Please visit us@causepods.org where you can learn about our guest, show their favorite charitable cause, join our Facebook group with resources for Cause based podcasters, and find a link where you yourself could be a guest here on Causepods. Again, that's all@causepods.org.

Speaker 2 (00:39)

All right. Taking you out to the east coast of North Carolina. We are chatting with Nelly Hardin. She is the creator of the 65 70 Family Project podcast, and we are delighted to have her here on Causepods today. Thank you so much for joining us, Nelly.

Speaker 3 (00:53)

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Speaker 2 (00:57)

So tell us in your own words a little bit more about what is the cause of the 65 70 Family Project?

Speaker 3 (01:04)

Yeah, absolutely. So that is how many days, believe it or not, we have in the childhood parenthood journey, if you will, or that time of life, that phase, and that's 6570 days, which actually is not all that long when you back up and look at it. So it really is about showing up with intention every day. It is definitely not about being perfect every day because as parents, we cannot be perfect because we don't want our kids to have to strive for perfection either, right? This is the real world. They're real people with real problems and real struggles, and so are we. But when we come together as a family and face those things together as a team, then we are going to be that much stronger because of it and win the game of life as a family. Now, the other side of that is really helping our kids, and I particularly work mostly with families, with young women in the second half of childhood. So we're talking tweens teens, young ladies, and families in there. But the whole point is to make sure that they have a solid foundation of knowing their worth, knowing their value and appreciation for themselves and having that confidence in themselves before they leave home.

Speaker 3 (02:19)

So they're really equipped to go out into the world and be successful in whatever their gifts and talents and unique way set them off to be successful in this world. Because we kind of have an epidemic of a lot of people leaving home that aren't actually ready, and then they close in on themselves. They don't feel like they're worthy of being heard, they don't know how to respect themselves, let alone respect others in conversation. And then it leads down a path that isn't the best for them and it's definitely not the most successful path. So we want to help families come together to create the best possible foundation for the kids.

Speaker 2 (02:55)

The way you said work with families, what kind of work is it that you do that brings this all together?

Speaker 3 (03:02)

I'm a family life and leadership coach, so I have different tracks in the work that I do. So I have a parent track, I have a kid track, and we really solidify those. What are the five needs that every person has that are massively exaggerated during the teen life? Right? Things like that. And how do we approach those needs? How do we make sure they're being fulfilled in a positive way and our kids aren't just out there chasing worth for now and the rest of their lives and learning that that's a normal, right? And so when we work with families in the 65 70 Family Project and it's called that, by the way, because we call parents architects, parents are really designing, planning, and building the beginning of someone else's life. So as an architect, this project, the 65 70 Project, is your most important project that you will have during your parenthood childhood journey. That's what we have. We work with them one on one. We do group work and either parents, kids, or all of them together.

Speaker 2 (04:05)

What got you interested in this work in the first place? Like, did you know when you were going to school? Like, this was specifically where you wanted to land or what was kind of the path that got you to the spot?

Speaker 3 (04:18)

Hindsight is 2020. That gets you there. You're like, oh, that's why I took that weird left, or what have you. So my background is I am a lover of all sciences, and so my background is in biology and psychology, actually, and I started my career in the animal field. I was studying marine mammals out in the wild, and then I went into captivity. Not I went into captivity, but my work went into captivity, and then veterinary work and then the human wild realm I really started about ten years ago. So I've always been in the realm of behavior and understanding why something happens, but through biology and functionality, but then also how that comes to fruition in life with decision making disciplines, etc. With psychology. And those two together are just really fascinating to me. And so, no, I didn't know I'd be working with humans and families when I went to school, but I did know that I would be working with behavior and animals. I just didn't know human animals for the rest of my life. And I really made that pivot. It was right around 2010 because we had a massive family event that happened, and we almost lost my husband.

Speaker 3 (05:32)

And it turned out that it was a hereditary condition, and we have four daughters. We had to make sure that we were pivoting our family and our disciplines, our ideas are every day around making sure that even though they weren't showing any signs of this condition, yet that we were setting them up for success in order that they won't in the future. And so that's when I started working in the human field and having everything that I had come behind me and really support that. And then after well, not after we're still living in that, but after that was kind of settled, I was really just called to start talking to the public about disciplines and behavioral changes and habits and then one thing morphed into another and we have four daughters that are between 17 and twelve right now. So I am very immersed in the culture of raising young women today between my personal life, my own story growing up, I served in the community as well in that capacity, and my career path got you.

Speaker 2 (06:37)

So yeah, like I said, that's a very interesting path to get to where you are today. Not at all what I was expecting to hear from you, but fascinating nonetheless. So let's pivot a little bit to the show itself. So you're doing this kind of work, right? It's part of your journey, it's part of what you're living through right now. Why then do you turn around and say, let's make a podcast? What was the impetus there for them going into the content creation field here?

Speaker 3 (07:07)

First of all, I love podcasts. I love listening to podcasts. I've learned so much from them in my own personal journey, in leadership, becoming a self leader. And there isn't a platform out there that teaches how families can come together, how parents can then equip their kids, right? Because as adults, most of our leadership training comes in our may really like thirty s, forty s, fifty s, whatever. And if we can take some of that and actually instill it in the concrete foundation of the 65 70 so that it's part of who they are before they leave home, then they're going to be even better equipped to go out into the world and use their greatness for whatever success they have. And so it really is about taking your children on this journey of being a parentled discipline when they're small all the way through the transition from the first to second half of childhood. Which that's a big transition I talk about there. But getting them to a point where they are selfdisciplined leaders before they leave home. So they know and understand themselves and have that. Like I was saying earlier. Worth of steam and confidence in themselves.

Speaker 3 (08:23)

And so I wanted a platform for that. So I speak on there and then I have experts come in from this realm of parenting, from colleges to other parents to millennials and even early 20 somethings that are just coming out of this. So we can really dive in and talk about this, what would happen if we equipped our kids with this before they left home. And it's really phenomenal to see the results.

Speaker 2 (08:51)

So I know you said you enjoyed listening to podcasts? Did you have any experience producing them or just in content creation in general? And if not, I guess what was it like in the beginning to try and get this off the ground? In other words, what were some of the unique challenges or hurdles or things that happened to be like, oh, that's very strange and weird, how do I get over this and still accomplish my goals?

Speaker 3 (09:15)

Yes. Well, for me, tech is always going to be the impetus to everything that I'm trying, right? And if you put me on a spectrum of where I am techy wise in the world, I'm probably in the middle maybe a five or six. But when you get into producing your own podcast and doing a lot of these things, you need to be like a nine in order to do some of this sometimes, unless and until you bring in some help and that can teach you some things and learn some things or you can delegate some things out there. So I will always say that when I am starting a new platform in my work, when I am trying to do different things on the social medias and you got the algorithms going all over the place or, you know, podcasting all the things, it's all the tech that comes with that.

Speaker 2 (10:09)

What about the tech aside, right? What about the actual content and the growing or the distribution of your show? Not like get hosting, but on Apple, Google, not that. I mean, getting it to your target audience. I imagine it's a unique challenge to really get them, attract them, find them, get them to stop what they're doing and check out what you're doing.

Speaker 3 (10:37)

One of the things that can really help is to get into other audiences and have collaborative work going on, right? But when you put out there when I put out there that I was starting to have guests on there, then I was getting flooded and I mean flooded with probably 40, 50 sometimes guest applications a day that were coming in that didn't really have to do with what I was doing, right? I was getting people that did baby products in there because they hear the word parenting and all of a sudden they're like, oh, I do sleep therapy for six months old and so that definitely applies to what you're doing. And I'm like, well, no. And so that was really time consuming and then being a lot having that upfront. Very specific description as to what kind of guest I was looking for so that I could serve the audience that I wanted to serve. That was probably one of the hurdles I wasn't expecting that came in the way because once you get those guests on there that are the writers and the authors and the psychologists and the doctors and all of that.

Speaker 3 (11:47)

That are actually working in the world of this teen culture and helping teens and team leadership and all of this. Then you can have some collaboration there. And then it grows in the way you want it to grow. And you're speaking to the correct audience.

Speaker 2 (12:04)

So talk to us a little bit more about that collaboration. Like, what are some of the ways that you are able to leverage your connections, your relationships, the communities that you're involved with to not only produce, but to grow the show?

Speaker 3 (12:20)

I homeschooled for seven years, so there's a huge homeschooling community that I was able to tap into and help grow the show that way.

Speaker 2 (12:28)

I want to dive into that just a little bit more specifically because one of the pieces of advice that podcasts are always given is, oh yeah, go find your groups, go find your community and promote your podcast. And then you get to these groups that are topic, and then you go, hey, I have a pocket, so you go get out of here yourself. Promoter how did you actually get people to want to check out your content without being branded as someone who is only there for attention or to promote themselves?

Speaker 3 (12:55)

Oh, my goodness, that is so true. And that is a big, big hurdle. And so one of the things I was able to do is just by mouth speak to some of these communities and just person by person and word spread a little bit more over time, but also really being someone in those communities, that that's not the only thing that I was doing right. I would talk about this thing or that thing, ask questions, look for feedback of my own. Hey, I'm trying to work this thing. Does anyone have any advice for me? Right. It's this give and take. And so that's not the only reason that you're there now. You will still run into even with all of that, you will still run into some that brand you with an M for marketing and don't let you in. Absolutely. And that's really unfortunate, I feel like. And I can see why, because there's some that just take that and mark it vomit. Put it bluntly, use the proof. Yes. All over you. And I've seen that, and I've been victim to that, even on my own show. I had someone that came on my show, and I'm not joking about every 15 seconds.

Speaker 3 (14:07)

She was giving the name of her program and the tagline for it. And that was all it was. She wasn't letting a discussion actually flow. And so that's really unfortunate. Right? And that show did not get aired because it wasn't beneficial to the audience in order to listen to. Right. And so, yeah, you will run into that, and you just need to keep looking. Don't give up. That's the thing. If you believe in your message, you believe in your cause. There are people out there that are listening for it, because if it's in you, it's for you. And you just got to keep going.

Speaker 2 (14:41)

I'm so glad. By the way, you also brought up this idea of an episode that didn't air, I think especially for cause based podcasters who are on a tight budget, don't have a lot of bandwidth, don't have a lot of time, a lot of resources. It's hard to spend all that energy to record something to then not be able to use it. But it sounds like you had no problem saying this wasn't a good fit for my audience, right. It got tossed out. And is that how you saw it or was there something more that went into the thinking?

Speaker 3 (15:14)

No, that's really how I saw it. And the guilty side was, well, she spent time to come on here too, but again, I asked her to come on to discuss this topic and that topic wasn't discussed right. And it really was just a marketing tool for her. So what I did is I just recommended, I didn't recommend, I mentioned the program on my social media and said, hey, I've heard about this and you know, she seems really sweet. So I still was able to put her on a pedestal a little bit, but the show itself was not aired and that was a sensitive and delicate conversation to have. But it also taught her maybe for the future when she gets on, because I'm not saying what she does is not valuable. I think it definitely could be, but the way that she approached in talking about it and sharing it with people wasn't the best mode because she wasn't sharing value, right. And so I was able hopefully to teach her for the future so she can get somewhere and share that message with more people.

Speaker 2 (16:16)

I see on your website you kind of mentioned that you have your own community. What have been the ways that you use that community or how do you leverage that community for the podcast? Or is it like does the podcast feed the community or does the community feed the podcast? Maybe a little bit of both.

Speaker 3 (16:33)

Probably a little bit of both. I would say that I use the podcast to then feed the community, but then every week in the community I have the podcast in there as well. So my podcast is kind of the live weekly show for my community and then actually on Thursdays in my community, I have an after the show live show that is just for my community. And so we dive a little bit deeper. I answer any questions that came up from people watching the podcast and things like that. So they really are working together in order to serve and give value advice.

Speaker 2 (17:10)

For other calls based podcasters, though, when it comes to creating a community. Any really good lessons or anything like, oh, definitely don't do this, this will be a problem.

Speaker 3 (17:20)

I would say when I first started, I had everything, so all the cart everything was so separated. It was me in the middle and then I did this out here and this out here and this out here. So having everything actually in a flow, which is something I've put together within the last six to twelve months, really having everything in a flow. So you listen to the podcast, which then sends you to the community, which then sends you toward a members only gift that you can only get in the community, which then sends you into a parenting workshop that you can only get in the community, right? And all these different things have a flow in a system. So you can always know where somebody is in that value system that you have set up. Where are you? Okay, you're a podcast listener, so your next thing is to do this right and oh, you're in the community. Great. Definitely listen to this podcast and you can go back. I was just doing a workshop this morning and we were talking about bullying and I was able to be like, you know what, go listen to episode 33, which is all about bullying, whether your daughter is the bully or has been bullied or let's face it, everyone gets bullied in their life at some point.

Speaker 3 (18:34)

So go listen to the podcast, episode 33. So it's great to be able to be able to pull from that and also have all of those experts, I don't even know how many interviews I've had now that are literally in my back pocket in these episodes that I can bring up for my clients and people in the community.

Speaker 2 (18:51)

I love that also that this is not just a resource for audience, but also a resource for clients. And we see that a lot with our clients where it's not just about getting as many people as possible, but it's about being able to say like, oh, this happened. Instead of having to field 40 calls, I can just say check this out and boom. Like everybody gets that information. Of course somebody's still going to follow up. Some people always have to talk to you, but it is nice to be able to have that flexibility. So as part of everybody's appearance here on cause, but we always like to highlight a cause that is important to them. Based on what you've been saying, what we've learned about you, you have lots of causes, lots of networks, lots of communities that you like to work with, like to promote, like to collaborate with. But specifically today we're going to look at Horizon International. If anyone wants to learn more about them, they are@horizonorphins.com, which is probably a little telling of what they might do. But Nellie, give us a little sense of what Horizon International does and why they hold a special place in your heart.

Speaker 3 (19:57)

Absolutely. So we sponsor a child through Horizon. Her name is Melody and we've had her as a part of our family and our lives now for well over ten years and her pictures on our fridge. And we know her and we get to talk with her and correspond with her. And Horizon International came to us, gosh, I think it was 1112 years ago now. And that was probably the first time that as a family we undertook a servant and an outside servant heart. Our family is very servant based, but we're usually hands on servant based, right? And we are usually out there doing things, but in this case, we were giving a piece of our heart and a piece of our income hardearned for all of us and we were sending it somewhere else, right? So this was a step of faith, an act of faith that we came together as a family and we do this together. And so it really is a big piece of our hearts. And the child that we've sponsored is now past high school. She's actually we joke because she's our oldest, right? Because my oldest is 17 and she's older.

Speaker 3 (21:10)

We have other children through other organizations too, but Horizon International was really our first time that we came together as a family and did this. And it was just such a beautiful thing. I love that they work over in Africa and you can actually go see them. And a lot of these organizations, it's just kind of you don't get to actually visit the physical person that you are sponsoring. Right? But Horizon International is different. You can go over there and see them and talk with them and interact with them and it's a lot more personable that way.

Speaker 2 (21:42)

So again, it's Horizon International. Learn more at Horizon Orphans.com. You can sponsor a child, which is what they do primarily, or you can just make a donation and Nelly's Honor here without having to go and do the actual sponsorship. So Nelly, again, thank you so much for coming on and telling us about your cause and telling us about all the lessons that you've learned. Before I let you go, though, I do want to get like, what's that? One more takeaway for that person out there who's hearing this, who's desperate to start a podcast to promote their cause, their work, their initiatives, like their desire to make the world a better place, something that you learn that maybe a pitfall that they can avoid or something that's going to help them get going on the right foot.

Speaker 3 (22:27)

I would just say keep doing the next right thing, which is a total quote for anyone that has seen Frozen too, but it is true. Just keep doing the next right thing and it will fall into place. And you can tell I have four daughters, right? But yeah, so don't get overwhelmed by everything. All of the 1000 steps that are going to have to come into play and fall into the right place and you will mess up and that's okay. No one is ever 100% ready to get started. It's just like having a child. No one is ever like, yes, this is my time. I am 100% ready. No, just start and then you'll get better along the way.

Speaker 2 (23:06)

That is such an apt description. Nobody's ever ready for that first child. And you'll just figure it out as you go because you have to.

Speaker 3 (23:14)

That's right.

Speaker 2 (23:15)

Treat your podcast like your baby and it will work out well. And it's okay. It's okay to start small. It's okay to start raw. It's okay to start a little bit less polished. Your audience and your fans and everybody following you will appreciate watching you grow, watching you evolve, watching you get better and better and be proud of you and enjoy being on that journey with you versus the people who start off super polished and then there's nowhere to go. Well, again, it's the 65 70 Family Project podcast. We'll have a link to it here in the Show Notes and on your favorite podcast platform or you can find it@nelliehardon.com, Nellieharden. And it's a time for the podcast, specifically Nellie Harden, thank you so much for joining us here in Causepods.

Speaker 3 (24:07)

Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (24:09)

Thanks for listening to this episode of Causepods. If you've been inspired by the work of our guest, please check out the show notes to this episode in your podcasting app. Or@causepods.org there you will find links to their show, their website, their podcast, links on Apple, Google, Spotify, as well as a link to support the charity that they highlighted here in this episode. You will also find that Causepods.org a way to subscribe to this show on your favorite podcasting app, how to sign up to be a guest on the show, and a link to our Facebook group which is going to have special resources just for the folks who are.

Speaker 2 (24:43)

Podcasting for a good cause.

Speaker 1 (24:46)

And I can tell you right now, we've got one great deal from our friends at Pod page, but you're only going to learn about it and get that special deal if you are a member of the Facebook group for Cause Pods. And before I go, I should say thank you in particular. The show is edited and produced by Ben Killoy of the military veteran Dad's podcast and what a great job he has done. And all this is made possible because of the great support that I received from Shannon Rojas here at the podcastconsultant.com. Once again, if you want to learn more, go to Causepodsorg. Thank you so much and we will see you next time. Time on cause pods.