We Must Fund the Change We Seek!

On 1/13 I was unexpectedly laid off from my job. I understand that companies will do what is in their best interest regardless of how that may impact employees but there are real life consequences that affect me and my family. I’m okay for the moment but savings are rapidly diminishing, and the little bit of unemployment benefits I receive help but don’t cover my needs. Even these funds will be depleted soon. I’m still searching for work but thus far have only gotten one face to face interview, one webcam interview and roughly five pre-recorded audio interviews. Times have certainly changed. We’ve lost the human touch.

I am becoming concerned that potential employers see a very experienced middle-aged man they either don’t want to have to compensate fairly, would rather pay a less experienced person much less and train them the way they want them or may just be concerned that I won’t stick around the moment a better offer comes along. I am willing to take a less qualified job and even less money but I have to at least get to the negotiating table first but even that’s not happening. I’m sure some of you reading this may be able to relate.

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit and have done hustles on the side. I’ve been praying on it and am wondering if the Universe is telling me it is time to chase after my own dream! After 9/11 I wrote my first book entitled “Know Thyself” which was self-published under the imprint 1 S.O.U.L. which was an acronym for “One Source Of Universal Love.” See as a veteran I can relate to those that served. I was also shocked by many of the comments I heard friends and colleagues make in the aftermath. From years of self-study, I know that most major religions share a similar message and teaching. We were in very dark times, so I wanted to create some Light to counter this negative energy. I figured what better unifier is there than love? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr stated “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only Light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only Love can do that!”

That first book focused on universal spiritual transformation. This led to my second book called “The Golden Egg” which focused on prosperity and holistic transformation. I wanted to created something that nurtured the complete person in body mind spirit. However, as a Licensed Financial Advisor who worked in the investment industry for a dozen years, my employers wouldn’t let me promote the book. I’ve basically had to sit on it. Because it contained some very basic financial advice, they saw it as a liability and a conflict of interest. For the benefit of providing for my family, I had to choose the security of my employment over the passion of my dream pursuit.

Well now that I’ve been “let go” the handcuffs have been taken off and I have the opportunity to go for it. However, like I stated, I have a family of a wife and four children and a very small window before I have to return to possibly full-time employment. While I will do whatever is necessary to survive, I don’t control what employers have interest in me and my skill set. I can only control what I can control. So I am trying to do what little I can from where I am with what I have. Hence, I created this GoFundMe not just to hopefully help my business grow but to serve as a platform for other aspiring entrepreneurs who provide a product or service for the nurturing of the complete person in body mind & spirit.

I created Concept YOUtopia  as the next evolution of what simply began as a book on soul understanding. The website at www.conceptyoutopia.com has already been built with the extent of my own self-taught web design skills. I’ve pretty much taken it as far as I can take it. Since I want this to be a worldwide nexus of holistic entrepreneurs, I need help getting it to the next phase. While the site is impressive on the surface, it needs greater infrastructure development. Funds raised will help to make it more secure, increase the bandwidth, add greater functionality, allow for language translation, currency conversion, improved links for product and services to be sold as well as more local and online marketing. These goals will be the next most reasonable benchmark. Assuming we are successful, our long range goal will be to marry the website with our first brick & mortar location Holistic Living Center. This site will be the first for all experts who provide tools that may fall outside of the mainstream; just a few of these types are yoga instructors, social entrepreneurs, reiki healers, Ayurveda practitioners, life coaches, self-published authors, jewelry makers, eco-friendly clothing designers and many others.

Our goal is the be the top destination for these goods and services. We believe by helping individuals transform their lives, we can gradually help to transform the world! We, unfortunately, live in a world that is oftentimes only driven by money. As a former financial advisor, we know that greed and fear is what drives the stock market. This fact never sat well with me. The people that could use my financial advice the most couldn’t afford it and the big brokerage houses didn’t see them as profitable unless they had $250k in liquid assets. And yet the individuals who do have these sorts of assets aren’t investing due to need but rather do so mostly out of greed. I’ve seen business owners try to figure out how to not pay their employees and/or not give them benefits even though they were highly profitable. There only concern was how to make more and pay less. However, as an empath, I always try to help the less fortunate than those who tend to only care about their own welfare.

Nothing would please me more than to make Concept YOUtopia successful enough that I can make a living off of while continuing to improve it so that every other holistic entrepreneur who joins can become successful as well enough to the point where they can leave their full-time jobs and make a living strictly from living out their passion which benefits their customers! Your contribution will help buy me time to get this business venture off the ground and hopefully profitable. Your contribution will help us get to the next level. Your contribution will mean the world to me! Your contribution will mean the world to my family! Your contribution will mean everything to our shoppers as well as help to fulfill the dreams of many more entrepreneurs who yearn to have a nexus and meeting place for inspirational ideas, think tank and network that not only uplifts buy provides the tools to sell hard-to-find goods and services and create successful businesses! We can change the world together. Let's start here! Mahatma Gandhi said “We must become the change we seek!” Will you help me make this dream come true? I believe we must FUND the change we seek in the world - “Utopia begins with YOU!”

Thank you... Namaste!