Derek Miner: Welcome to the Lemonade Stand Stories podcast.

So grateful that you tuned in. Again, I am here today with Katie Bunnell, who is the founder of Live Your Dream Foundation. So excited to have you here with me today, Katie. 

Katie Bunnell: Yeah, thanks so much for having me. Appreciate it. 

Derek Miner: Yeah, absolutely. What is something that's bringing you joy right now in life? 

Katie Bunnell: You know, my family, I would say first and foremost, um, I love being a mom.

I love, um, watching 'em grow and see them, um, figure out who they are and, and what they wanna do in life. So that's my greatest thing right now that I'm into. 

Derek Miner: That's awesome. With everything that's happening within the world, what are some of the things that you're doing to be intentional and spending time with your family?

Katie Bunnell: So we, um, we like to, we just put in a pool in our house, the, you know, a few years ago. And so we love being outside together and swimming and having gatherings. I love gathering people at my home and having barbecues and just love being together. I love conversation. I love getting to know new people. So that's one of my favorite things is just gathering people.

Derek Miner: That is so awesome. Um, tell us a time when someone's kindness has blessed your life. 

Katie Bunnell: You know, um, so in 2005, my husband unexpectedly passed away. And, um, during that time when I look back, um, so many people came and helped and served and, you know, used their talents to, to better my life. And it's a time in my life that.

I truly saw God's hand in my life and inaction where people just knew how to come and to show up on my doorstep with, you know, a treat or one. We were actually ma we were actually, um, I, I had to move from my home, um, 'cause I couldn't afford it after my, after my husband passed away. And so we. Um, with the help from my father, we were able to get a home down the street from where I had lived and this was close to my in-laws and we were, um, gutting the home.

So we took out the carpet, the floor, repainting what we could, electrical, all that kind of stuff. And one day we were on the roof. We were putting a new roof on the roof. Um, we did all of the work as a family and friends ourself. And, um, a neighbor that I didn't know came over with lemonade. And just, you know, cold lemonade with ice and cups and just brought it over for us, just out of nowhere.

And that was just such a cool reminder of like, the simplest things can make such a massive difference. Yeah. And that's my memory of her the first time I met her was her doing that for us. Um, and so that, um. That's something that I learned early on when I was going through that time, is serving others and how that makes such a massive difference in the world, not only on ourselves, um, for doing, you know, the service, but on others.

It's like a win-win for everyone. 

Derek Miner: Yeah. That's incredible. When, when you think about how someone just selflessly showed up 

Katie Bunnell: right. 

Derek Miner: And cared. 

Katie Bunnell: Exactly. 

Derek Miner: Right. I think level of care is, is so interesting. So going back to that, you know, that experience, obviously that's an incredible lemon that was dealt to you, 

Katie Bunnell: right?

Derek Miner: How did you make lemonade out of that situation and, and how have you continued to do that? Obviously with live your dream, and we'll jump into that right? And what you've done in the, in the lives that you've touched, but how was your life impacted early on by those that were. Coming around to support and help you, 

Katie Bunnell: right?

Yeah. As you can imagine, like my world just turned upside down. My, um, daughter was only three months old, so I was figuring out how to be a mom and what to do and what all that looked like. And I went to go wake up my husband one morning and he had just passed away in his sleep. Um, it was. It was very, um, out of, out of, out of nowhere.

Um, it was just completely devastating, you know, being 23 years old and just trying to figure out what that was like. Um, he's, he'd suffered from migraine headaches, um, all of his life, but I never thought that it was something that he was gonna pass away from. Um, and so. During that time, I just kind of had to figure it out.

I luckily, I had lots of good family and friends, like I mentioned that were there for me and that I feel like saved me in that time. Um. And, um, about a year after grieving, um, I, while I was grieving for that year, my father-in-law, I ran a, a marathon. We, we trained for the St. George Marathon, so we were just running together, having those life conversations of, you know, 'cause my world was completely different.

I looked at the world completely different. I actually think about it now of. You know, who would I be if that wouldn't have happened to me Right. In my life. And, um, as I mentioned, service was a big thing for me. Mm-hmm. One day, I, I just. I needed to get outta my head, and I just started shoveling walks and before I knew, it was like 20 walks that I had shoveled.

And it wasn't that I needed to let them know that I did it. I just wanted to serve. I wanted to help people. And that's when I learned that secret medicine that we all have that's available to us is service. Wow. It's getting outside of ourselves and doing, doing, um, good for others. And so, um, my mother-in-law came to me after that year and she said, what do you think about going to college?

And I said, that's for smart people. Like, I, like, I didn't really believe that I could, I'd gone to hair school, but I didn't have any higher education. For some reason, I'd had this limiting belief that that's, that wasn't for me. It was only for the people that were smart. And so she said, well, I'll go with you.

I said, okay, I'll, I'll give it a try. She's like, just give it a try for one semester. So we did one semester and um, and I was like, oh my gosh, I've been telling myself this story of me not being smart enough and that I couldn't do it and I can absolutely do it. So, um, going to school, I had a lot of mom guilt as well, leaving my daughter.

And so the idea was, should I. Should I go now and go slowly or should I just get it done? And, um, because she was so young, I was like, okay, I'm just gonna get it done. So I got my bachelor's degree in two and a half years. Wow. I just plowed right through it. Um, and then, um, while I was going to school, I ended up getting remarried.

Um, that's another story, but, um. When I graduated, my sister came to me and she said, what do you think about starting a scholarship for single moms? Because when I was in school, there was no, um, real scholarships. There was one-off scholarships, there was an amazing, um, lady that had been a widow and, and was giving a scholarship, and I was able to get her scholarship.

Um, but I just, I saw the need for this. Mm-hmm. And so we started live Your Dream in 2010 and. For me, it's really carried on what me and my husband, we loved serving and we loved doing things for other others, and we loved doing it anonymously. That was what I loved. I loved just that getting blessings rather than getting the pat on the back.

And so, um. Really early on with the foundation, we, you don't see us on social media. You don't see any of that. Just because, like, I really just wanted to help these women that we served, and so I really believe that live your dream was something that helped me get out of that deep dark hole that felt like, how can I breathe?

How can I, how can I move on? How can I smile? I remember after he passed away, it was like. You felt weird laughing. Mm-hmm. You know, you, you felt weird smiling and, um, it gave me a different perspective on life, on, on what my purpose is. And so really the foundation was turning that pain into purpose and it's completely changed my life.

It gave me a whole different look on life and, um. I see life as, as a, a learning opportunity to grow and to be better. And it's, it's been just a, an amazing lesson for me. 

Derek Miner: That's incredible. You know, going back when you were in that time just you of grieving, right? You mentioned that you had some support people, but I think what's so interesting is you said, I got out and I went and you, I ran with my dad, 

Katie Bunnell: right?

Derek Miner: What are some of those conversations that you had and what are some of the things that he taught you? 

Katie Bunnell: So my father-in-law, he's a, um. A psychologist and he, he is also a dermatologist as well. He's got his pa but he, um, yeah, we just talked about like life, like what's important, what's, um, what do I wanna, you know, what do I wanna be, what do I wanna do?

Um, how can I be a better mom? How can I be a better person? Um, just all of those like conversations of about life, you know? I think after each run we felt like we had. You know, better the world because of the things that we talked about. But those are, those moments are special to me, um, of having that time with him because he was going through, he had just lost his son, you know?

He, he was going through his own hardship and. And, you know, I will forever be grateful because he took care of everyone. He took care of me, he took care of his, his family, and was there for them. And I don't always think that he maybe took care of himself because, um, because of his heart and who he is.

But, um, he, he, he just taught me a lot about. About what it means to show up for people. Just by his example of what he did for me, he, he, you know, he, he, he was going through his own things. He was going through his own horrificness. I don't know what it's like to lose a child. I know what it's like to, to lose a husband, but, um, but I just have so much gratitude for him, for doing that for me.

Derek Miner: Yeah. That's incredible. And, and what an example and, and how did he make you feel when you were around him? 

Katie Bunnell: Oh man, he, he, I will for sure say, um, that he was a pivotal person in my life where I recognized what love was. Hmm. What it meant to love someone and really care about them. You know, he showed, he showed up in my yard, um, he showed up, you know, bringing flowers to plant.

He showed up inside and outside, building, painting, I mean, hours and hours and hours of time that he gave me with just conversations, just anything that you can imagine. He gave that to me. And, um. And I, I tell 'em Allt, uh, you know that their, that family, all of 'em is, they, they gave me so much more than I can ever say, you know, I'm just so grateful for that family because they've given me more than just, you know, family.

They've given me love. Yeah. 

Derek Miner: Wow. And, and I think that's probably what a lot of people could say about you through the foundation. Are there specific stories and instances that you've heard of from. Hearts that you've now touched that have impacted you, and as you look back and say, wow, I'm so grateful that I did this, have the opportunity to, to lift and to bless.

I'm sure there's countless 

Katie Bunnell: stories, right? Yeah. There's so many stories and like one of the, one of the, um. Long arching stories of the foundation is like, um, so we'll ha we'll interview scholarship recipients. Um, and they can get the scholarship multiple times. And specifically, there's a mom that came in looking down.

You could tell that she had a lot of anxiety that she didn't feel comfortable being in the interview, maybe. Um, she didn't know what to say. She didn't really know what to expect. And, um, I left that interview just, you know, lots of anxiety and didn't really show. Much of herself because of that anxiety holding her back.

Right. And then a year later she came in confidence in herself, laughing, joking around with us, just a completely different person. And that's what we found with the foundation is when they go to college, they're not only, I. Gaining that piece of paper, but they're gaining this strength in themselves that they can do really hard things, and that's been really cool to watch is that confidence filler that they gain.

Um, but we've had moms that, um, that wanna give back to the foundation, wanna come and serve and help, um, who 

Derek Miner: have already been through 

Katie Bunnell: Yeah. Who have already been through the process. So the, um. The pay it forward effect that happens when, you know, when we help these moms, they want to, you know, give back and help.

We had a mom that was, um. She became, you know, student or teacher of the year for her district. Wow. Um, and you think of all those students that she helped, um, where there's that ripple effect or a mom that becomes a nurse, how many patients and people that she helps. Um, and just even the children alone, you know, the, the, the statistic show when children see their parents gaining an education, the likelihood of.

Of them getting an, an education substantially goes up. Um, and so these moms are just incredible. Um, we've had one of our moms, um. Actually, a few of our moms have cancer. Um, one of our mom was battling breast cancer while she was going to school, um, and going over and, um, visiting her and, you know, seeing what, you know, chemo was doing to her.

At the same time, she's going to school and raising kids and working. Um, so these, these women that we serve are just. Incredible people, um, that I am so proud as a, as a co-founder and president to, to watch, you know, and see what they do with their lives. You know, they'll tell me, oh, I graduated, and I'm like, I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Yeah. Because there's just so many cool stories of even moms within our program that, that, um, that live together because one was now able to buy a house and then they let the other mom, um, rent a room. Then they help each other out. Like it's just so cool to watch, you know, what happens where, you know, they may not have the financial, um, help that they can give, but they find ways, you know, to give and to help.

So, um, that's what's been really cool as a founder is just to watch, um, what I'm trying to do for them and then see them trying to do that for someone else. Yeah, it's just, it's really cool. 

Derek Miner: Incredible. So it, it's almost like you've built this community. 

Katie Bunnell: Yeah, I mean it's a community of like love and just giving and sharing whatever you can, whether it's sharing your heart, sharing monetary needs, sharing your skill, your talents.

The foundation is like super awesome in the fact that we have one part-time paid employee. So in 2022, I won the Utah Philanthropy DA outstanding volunteer award and. I was running the front end and the back end of the foundation. Of course, I had amazing board members, but I was doing all the day-to-day myself.

Wow. And my boards, you know, saw me, you know, 'cause you know, I just, I, I love what I do and so I don't wanna complain. I needed help. And so we were able to, um, to have buckets within our foundation where we have overhead costs, our endowment fund and our scholarships that we give to our donors can give in any bucket that they want.

And so we were able to get a donor to donate for a part-time employee so that a hundred percent can go into any of those categories. And so I have a part-time employee now, which is. The best ever. And, and so I'm able to do more of the front facing with, um, with the, and, and, and help support the moms better and, and do all that kind of thing.

But it's been incredible to watch an organization that is all volunteers. And one part-time employee run. 'cause it's all people donating any type of skills that they have, whether it's Salesforce tech, um, whether it's photography, you know, just all of these things. Like we couldn't do, like, you know, people see me as the face of the foundation.

It's 'cause I have a lot of good people with a lot of good skills and talents that make the foundation run. 

Derek Miner: Yeah, that's incredible. And you mentioned your board, how did you, maybe two part question. For those that need help, like you talked about, how did you select those that are on your board? Right. And, and you know, pay maybe some advice for someone.

How do I select. People from my board. 

Katie Bunnell: Right. 

Derek Miner: And what have each of these board members meant to you? Maybe you could just take a minute and just share, shine a light on them and how they've helped you with their unique skills and abilities. 

Katie Bunnell: For sure. Yeah. So there's like two, two different kinds of boards that you can have.

You can have a working board where they're, they're more in, in, in the day-to-day or the, um, fundraising or, you know, just the different aspects of the foundation. Or you have board members that more, um. They're, they're more, um, they're, they don't have the time to, to be on the board, but they're going to use their face to help promote the board.

Charan Prabhakar: Mm-hmm. 

Katie Bunnell: Um, and so there's two kinds of boards. There's a working board and there's a front facing board. Um, and ours is more of a working board. Obviously we have amazing people, so, um, they are front facing to me, but they, um, so early on, so this is what's really cool about our board, is all of our board members.

For, for a good chunk of the foundation were 10 years plus in the foundation. We didn't have a lot of turnaround with board members. Wow. Great. Um, just a few years ago was when a few of the board members were like, you know what, we are getting older and we, we feel like you need some fresh blood. And so, um, we brought in, um, some more board members, but I tell my old, older board members that are still here, stay as long as possible.

'cause we need the good, we need the new ones and we need the old ones. Um, everyone brings, um. Great ideas. And so, um, it's, everyone has a, I feel like there's stories with each of the board members. We've got Eric Hansen. That's been incredible. 'cause you know, with single moms, you think you don't have a lot of, a lot of men.

You know, we have my father who's, um, a founding, uh, a founding sponsor and a co-founder of the foundation. Um, we have, um. Nate Randall, I, if you don't know Nate Randall, go look him up on LinkedIn. He's incredible. Um, he grew up in a, with a single, a single, um, mom and um, in a single parent household, and he's incredible.

Um, and then we have, um, Susan Richards That's amazing. Um, in the community. She's awesome. Connie Ricks, she's amazing. Within the. Community and, and dear friends, almost mother figures for me. Um, I can go to those guys and, and they always have my back. They, um, they show the most incredible unconditional love ever.

Then you have Brenda Fowler, who she had lived up, um, north, um, Blaine Fowler's, her husband. He does commentary for BYU and, um, he's incredible. They're, they're just an incredible family. But when she came from living up north, she didn't have a community. They brought her in and said, Hey, what do you, you wanna, you know, join, live your dream?

And she's just jumped in headfirst and, and she's done incredible work. Um, and so, um, canal Menlo, she's been, um, with the foundation since the very beginning. She works for my, um, father's company, Paragon Wealth Management, and those are all my board of directors. Um, and then I've got, um. Other, uh, advisory board members we just brought on.

Brenda, Brenda Ridge, um, she's on the board. Michelle Lockhart, um, Lisa, um, just so many of I, I don't wanna miss anyone, but yeah. You know, we've just got so many amazing board members and like I said, they have all of their own gifts and talents. Um, you know, Chris Riley, um. Her boys played at University of Utah Football and she tackles our opportunity drawing and does amazing work there.

Um, so anyways, we've just got an incredible group of people that I say they're, they're family. Um, they're people that, um, that, like I said, I couldn't do what I do without him. 

Derek Miner: Yeah, that's, that's so awesome. I know a lot of those people and I'm inspired by every one of them as well. Right. As you think about.

You know, the culture that you're trying to build in helping and in serving, how has that, how have you intentionally built that culture, not only amongst your, your board, your team, your community? Are there guiding principles that you've used? 

Katie Bunnell: Oh, absolutely. Like I want every single person to feel seen and heard.

Like all of them. I don't want anyone to feel like there's a dumb question or a dumb idea, right? I want everyone to feel like they have a voice and that they have a place of the foundation. Too often I think that you see, when you're within a board or a company, you see that there are people that maybe, maybe they're doing more at the time, maybe they're giving more, maybe they're helping more with projects, and I don't want the people that maybe it's not that season or that time for them to feel like they're less than.

I always want my team to feel like that they're valued, that that. I want them to know that they're, they're giving all that they can because there's different seasons for everyone within an organization. Um, and so that's what's super important for me. And then just telling them that I appreciate them. I hope that I don't annoy them because that's the worst part within what I do.

What with having donors, sponsors all those things is you never feel like you can share your appreciation. Appreciation enough. That's what I struggle with the most. You know, I email 'em or I text them, but like, do they feel like I am grateful? I don't know. I like, that's my goal, right? And so we have, I, every year at the end of the year, I try and write as many thank you cards.

For the donors, um, board members. Um, I have an appreciation dinner for my, for my board in January. You know, I just want every single person to feel like they're my best friend that, that they're my number one, that you know that they matter. I know what it feels like to not feel like that, and so it's important that I get that.

Derek Miner: I love that to feel like you matter. I think that is so important and to be seen and heard. Right. And I have seen. You do that in so many ways and so often, just so quietly behind the scenes in, in so many ways, how you show up is so inspiring, Katie, so what would you tell someone that is listening and they're like, oh, you know, Katie's done all this.

This is great. She's got an incredible team around her. Someone who's just like, what next? Where do I go? I'm in a dark place. What would you tell them? 

Katie Bunnell: What I would say is to lean into the uncomfortable. Like that is like the secret sauce for anybody. If it feels uncomfortable, that's okay. Most people that go to events or different things, a lot of them feel nervous about going.

I don't know anyone. Um, I'm an introvert. I'm shy. I, I'm, I've been outta the industry for a while. Just lean into that uncomfortable, anything that feels uncomfortable, like two thumbs up for you, because that is the first step I feel like for me, I was a shy kid. I was the kid that I looked at the extroverts and I was like, I wanna be like that.

But I wasn't naturally like that. And um, even when I first started the foundation, I couldn't like talk, like, we are, I I wouldn't go on podcasts. Todd Sylvester was the first podcast I ever went on because I like, when we were, when we were, um, we were filming, you know, promos about the foundation, I had to ha have a teleprompter.

'cause I couldn't talk. 

Derek Miner: Yeah. 

Katie Bunnell: I couldn't use my voice and so because I kept leaning in, I kept leaning in, I'd get invited to things. I'd say yes, that has totally changed everything about me. The Katie, that was five years ago, 10 years ago. I'm a completely different person, and it's not to say that I have even more confidence than I had then.

I just am showing up differently. I'm just choosing to do things that are uncomfortable, I'll say yes to, I used to say anything once, but I switched it to most things because I, I didn't wanna get myself into trouble. But, um, anyways, it's just trying those new things and leaning into that, that's like the greatest thing that, that I've learned being in, um, a founder position.

Um, and then the other thing is just learn from everything you go through. Like that is like the magic of going through anything hard and learning from it. How can I be better? What can I gain from it? Where did I see God's hand in that? Um, seeing God's hand in my life each and every day, whether it's the sun is shining, whether it's that I can breathe and having that gratitude for him or the universe, whoever you wanna call God.

But that has changed my whole. Life in, in just the past few years. 'cause I've always been a believer, but just recognizing his hand in my life has been a, it's, it's changed my entire life for the better and I'm a better person because of it. 

Derek Miner: That's so great. You know, I, I still, Katie, I think back on, you know, when you're, you're going through something that's just absolutely devastating, doing something that's uncomfortable, I can just imagine you putting on your snow clothes, 

Katie Bunnell: right?

Derek Miner: Going out and shoveling. Here's someone who's just gone through something that's so hard and is it like that when you talk about leaning into something uncomfortable? It's just getting outside, getting and going and doing. 

Katie Bunnell: Right. Because what happened after my husband passed away is because I was naturally like an introvert.

I just wanted to like, dig a hole and jump in it and, you know, not see anyone. I remember one time there was, um, a lady that was knocking on my door. I hid in a closet in my own house. Like I don't, why was I hiding in a closet? You know, I just, I started wearing hat and sunglasses. I didn't wanna see anyone.

I didn't want anyone to see me. I didn't want that question of, how are you doing? Um, I didn't, I just, I, I couldn't, I just couldn't. Be is how it felt like I couldn't, I couldn't figure out how to be me. And once I, you know, started going back to school and I, I was getting out doing things, um, I realized that, you know, it's, it's really not that scary.

But I had two, two different directions I could go. I could say, you know, like, this is the worst thing that could ever happen to me and I can't live and I can't go on. I have, I have notes of me writing those, those types of things in school. I can't be myself. I don't even know who I am anymore. And, and so I was in that, I was in that hard and I always like to tell people like that hard has to be there.

That that suckiness has to be there. You have to. Go there. You can't just, you know, oh yeah, my husband passed away and I'm good. You know, like you have to go through something to now get out of it. And then it was now choosing that I'm gonna, because of my sister coming to me with this grand idea of the foundation of I'm gonna turn my pain into purpose.

I'm going to use this pain and learn from it and grow and be better. The things that we go through can become our most valuable treasures, like our gold if we allow them to, like again, we have choices because most of us, we have a list of all the reasons why we can't do something. We have the proof, we have the validity.

If I showed you my list, you'd be like, yeah, you're going through some hard things. You know, you know, you get it. But if we rip that up, we tear that up and say, no, we're not gonna let this stop us anymore. And I think that at some point in my journey, like this wasn't calculated, this is just, these opportunities arose and I cho chose to lean in to that uncomfortable.

And then this is where we are, you know, we're able, we have been, been able to help, you know, almost five, or will give almost 500 scholarships, nearly awarding. Um. You know, six, $700,000 in scholarships. Incredible. And this, this foundation, um, we're turning it into something even greater than when I'm on this earth.

To where we have an endowment fund now. So when I'm gone, the scholarship can live on and we can help more and more people. And just, my hope is, is that we can, we can show all of these women, all of these, um, people that we help, that there is hope and there are people that care about him and we're here for it.

Derek Miner: I love that. When you think about. The name, live Your Dream. Where did that come from? Because a lot of people, right, they're like, this is not a dream, this is a nightmare. 

Katie Bunnell: Right. 

Derek Miner: You know? 

Katie Bunnell: Right. 

Derek Miner: So tell us about 

Katie Bunnell: where they, so, so what happened was, my sister actually came up with the idea early on in the, in the beginning stages, this is kind of her baby, um, that she had started.

And so she came to us and said, how does live your dream sound? And I was like. Sounds good to me. You know, so there wasn't, um, as much, um, thought into it. But then over time, um, when, when we were now making the logo, um, we, we, the picture that we, that we drew originally was like a bridge and. At the beginning of the bridge, there was like, um, lightning striking.

There was hail, there was snow, all of the things because you were in this, um, this darkness. And then, um, when you go over the bridge, there was this light. And so, um, it's living. Your dream is living. How can you show up really? How can you live your dream? How can you show up in this world? How can you see that sun on the other side, um, and reach for a better life?

Um, because the dream isn't starting in that muck, right? But it's getting over to that other side and seeing that there, that there's something better for you and that, um. Maybe the what you're going through isn't happening to you. It's happening for you. Even though if somebody said that to me the day my husband passed, like, it's too soon.

Don't say it then. Yeah. But, but really once you get through it in that way, you can look back and be like, wow, like that did happen for me. I, because I chose to learn from the things that I went through because I decided to take that route instead of the route where. Again, I have all the reasons to be in the muck, but I chose the route to see the other side and see the sun and see that, you know, there's dreams out there that we can all reach for.

They're there. It's just a matter of reaching for 'em. 

Derek Miner: Oh, that's so good. You know, one of the things that, that you mentioned a minute ago, it, it's so interesting when someone is going through something and I think. We want to be empathetic and sometimes we don't know the right questions to ask. Right. Um, having known and knowing a lot of people that have suffered this type of loss, that is totally devastating.

You know, what, what are questions to ask? I'm sure there's different stages. Right? Right. Like, man, that's, that's a tough question. How are you, it's like, I think you probably know the answer to that question. 

Katie Bunnell: Right. 

Derek Miner: And what are some questions? What would you, what would you say for people who, again. Really, I think in their heart of hearts, just wanna help.

Katie Bunnell: They wanna help. Right. Well, person I. Give all these people grace because they mean well the only reason why they're coming to you and saying anything is because they care. So I just preface it with that. For anyone that's going through something, because I had, I had things people said, I had people say like before the funeral even, oh, you'll find someone else.

You're still young. You know? And so at in that moment, you know, I was numb and so I didn't really take much to it. But there are things that we all say. Even myself going through it that we, you know, it's probably not the most appropriate thing to say. However, what I will say is there's not one thing that we can say there isn't, because we can't fix whatever the person is going through.

However, we can show up. We, we don't wanna say, um, is there anything you need? 'cause really the, they're, they're in a fog, they can't even think about what they need. So it's sending meals, sending gift cards. Gift cards are incredible because then they can use 'em whenever they want. It's sending cleaning over.

Having somebody go over and clean their house for a few hours because you can go over and clean. But they don't wanna, they, they wanna be alone. They don't wanna be with the people. They don't want their friends to see their dirty house. So hire somebody to go do that for them. Um, if it's going into winter, make sure their water's turned off.

You know, go and turn off their water, make sure their pipes aren't gonna freeze. Um. You can do things like making blankets out of their husband's clothes. I had a few people do that for me, which was incredible because I was able to give. Blankets to my entire family. And then, you know, another person, you know, made other blankets out of the clothing or pillows or, or, um, bears or, or whatever it is.

But I would just say don't ask, just lean in and do it, you know? Um, if, if they don't need the food, they can give it to someone, you know, they can, they can bless somebody else with it. Um, so just show up is what I say. Just show up. Just send 'em a text. Say, I'm thinking about about you. I care about you. Um, but.

You know, don't go into how hard it must be for them and, you know, they know all those things, you know, so just, just, it's so simple. Just send love and show up in that way. Just, I'm here for you. That can go a million miles of I'm here for you. And, um, I'm gonna keep on showing up. I had, I had a family member reach out every mother's day.

Wow. Um, I, I, we just had a, a, a family friend that passed away and it's just on her anniversary. Saying happy anniversary, sending her flowers. You know, there's those pivotal times. Everyone has different dates. You know, we celebrate my husband's birthday still with balloons, with his family. Um, but everyone has different dates where they're, they mean a lot.

You know, your wedding anniversary to. To just be in pain that day to have people show up. Um, one of the things that I did was, it was, it was, um, Valentine's Day and I went and bought flowers for myself on Valentine's Day, and then I thought about it. I'm like, you know what? I really don't need these. So then I started giving on Valentine's Day, dropping off flowers to random people.

It wasn't just people that were widows, but just random people. And to this day, my family does this where on Valentine's Day we go get flowers and we drop 'em off to, to any, um, any moms, women, um, that could just use some love. We just drop 'em off. They don't know it's us. Hopefully they're not listening to the podcast and they receive flowers.

But, you know, it's, again, it's turning something into purpose that we go through and really, you know, changing things up of like, I've gone through this. What can I do? What can I do to, to, to be a better person and to show up better for people? So yeah, there's a lot of things that you can do for people, but truly it's showing up.

Derek Miner: I love that. That is so great. What, what great. I think life advice, no matter where you are, right? The ability to get outside of yourself to go and serve, uh, it seems that. Service and getting outside of our own challenges sometimes provides the greatest medicine that we need. 

Katie Bunnell: Right. It truly is because we're, we're not thinking about what we're going through anymore.

Derek Miner: Yeah. 

Katie Bunnell: We're helping others, so 

Derek Miner: yeah. 

Katie Bunnell: It's, it's, it's the best medicine. I, I say it's like the secret medicine that we all need to, to learn about. 'cause I think we all serve on some capacity, but when it's this intentional service. It's just different. 

Derek Miner: Yeah. 

Katie Bunnell: You know? 

Derek Miner: That's incredible. So as you're, as you're thinking about too this what you've created and built continuing on into the future, what are your hopes and dreams for that?

Katie Bunnell: So, you know, with the foundation we were raising money, giving it away, raising money, giving it away. And so we had to pivot because, um, you can only run so long off of just heart within a foundation. So we did, we really had to run it like a business. And so we decided as a, as a board that we're gonna start this endowment fund.

And, um, so we were re we raised money for, um. For scholarships that we give every year. This year we're, we're hopefully gonna be given 130,000 in scholarships. Um, but we have this endowment fund that we just hit a million dollars in June, um, last June in, in this fund. And this is $5, $10, $10,000 people coming together for this fund.

Once we hit 3 million, we'll start pulling from it, and so we'll be able to give scholarships. I'm just off of this fund, and of course we'll still, um, need, need outside support, but, um, that's 3%, that's, you know, around a hundred thousand dollars a year that this foundation will at least be able to give, um, scholarships for, for generations to come.

Um, that's what I want. To be able to do, I wanna be able to do something where it doesn't end, where it's just over, um, where there's that culture like we talked about, of love and kindness and giving and serving. And so my hope is with the foundation with Once I'm gone, that this, this endowment fund blesses the lives of, of moms and helps moms.

Um, 'cause within the foundation we also have created a live your dream family. So while they're gaining their education, we have activities. So we've partnered with best seat in the house and they do activities for our families, whether it's going to a hockey game or um, or going to Thanksgiving point, or the Ice Castles or, or whatnot.

Um, because these moms, you know, they can, there, there's, there's, they're in survival mode, you know, and this extra. Um, um, money to be able to do things with their kids. They don't have that. And so this foundation, um, gives that to 'em. We also have Mother's Day activities where we, they give Mother's Day, um, gifts and, and different things and, you know, holiday support and whatnot.

So the Live Your Dream Foundation, I want it to be a family of support and a community of support. Um, so hopefully. You know, with, with raising more money in this endowment fund, we can fund some of those things so that they still live on, so that when I go away, um, or where I pass on that, there is that culture that still is in Utah 

Derek Miner: that is so awesome.

Are there specific core values that you have that you hold up to within your foundation? 

Katie Bunnell: Yeah, I would say, you know, the biggest core value is, is love. You know, I want everyone. That is in, you know, is around the foundation, um, to feel like there's that love and that people care about them. Um, and then Hope is, is the other one that we just want to provide that hope for these moms and, and for, um, anyone that works within the, the foundation and around the foundation that, that they, that's what they see and that's what they feel.

Derek Miner: That's incredible. This is so, so great. So inspired by the work that you're doing and your team, uh, how can people get involved? How can they apply for scholarships? How can they best support you? 

Katie Bunnell: So we have two scholarship deadlines twice a year in both the spring and and fall. April 10th is the, um, the deadline in the spring and November 1st is for the winter spring deadline.

Um, so twice a year we give scholarships at this time. Um, and they can go onto live Your Dream foundation.org to apply for the scholarship. It's an easy free application. They just go on and share their story. Um, up. Uh, um, give us their financials, letter of recommendation, proof of of admission, and then, um, once they reapply, it's an easier process.

Um, and then you can also follow us at, at live your Dream Foundation, Utah. Um, that's where you kind of see the behind the scenes of the foundation and just any updates on service projects that we may have, um, or just what's going on with the foundation. Um. So those are the the two places that I would say, um, to go to.

We always need people that have gifts and talents. You may never know the gift and talent that you have that foundations need. I always say, help the helpers. Don't start a new nonprofit. We've got, you know, 11,000, 12,000 in Utah around that. We need people within the community to come out and help us. Um, with what we're doing.

And so you can, you can, um, donate your time. You can donate your money, um, or just spread the word. If you're listening to this podcast, look for other single moms in the area that maybe, you know, could benefit from going to school. It can be any type of education that will increase their earning potential.

It doesn't have to be your traditional college. It could just be a skill or a bootcamp that they could attend that could increase that earning potential. 

Derek Miner: Incredible. Katie, thank you so much for the light. You are in the world for the good that you do and for the impact that you're having that I think will bless generations because that's what moms do, 

Katie Bunnell: right?

Derek Miner: They bless generations and you are one of those. So thank you for your example. Thank you for your time and sharing so much, so much valuable wisdom with those that are going through hard things and what they can do. 

Katie Bunnell: Oh, absolutely. It's a pleasure to be here and an honor to be on your podcast.