Transcript 0:00 That idea that we really are blessed in so many ways, we are so grateful that it, it really is a responsibility for us to be generous as well. 0:10 Welcome to the Purpose Driven Capital podcast, where we help you align your money with your mission and maximize your impact. Here's your host, Matt Johns. Today, I had a great conversation with Dr. 0:22 Mark Harvey and his daughter, Lauren. Such an inspiring family. 0:25 This father-daughter duo is directing their generational family foundation to cure a lot of ills in the world, including one that's deeply personal for both of them. 0:34 Lauren and her brother were both diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a rare genetic disorder for which there is no cure today. Dr. Harvey and his family have a plan to change that. 0:45 The Harvey Family Foundation, started by Dr. Harvey's dad, has become an influential force to find a cure. They're funding research and getting to experience the results. The Harveys don't wanna stop there. 0:58 They're looking for other ways they can help other people with challenges. It was great to have both Mark and Lauren here to provide each of their unique perspectives. 1:06 Their leadership, especially their gratitude, are palpable. Welcome to my conversation with Mark and Lauren Harvey. 1:13 My dad, his success came when I was in college age, so he really raised us to believe that we were gonna always be responsible for ourselves, and that there might not ever be any resource beyond what we could create. 1:29 Mm-hmm. So growing up in an environment where you were taught personal responsibility, yeah, it was great to have benefit of his resources, his vision, his leadership. I think that shows. 1:40 Just based on what I'm seeing right now, y- one of the things that I saw in your LinkedIn profile, and I, I, oh, I saw it on the foundation website too, is the word competitiveness. It was mentioned multiple times. 1:50 Well, first of all, I have to say I'm really glad that that message comes through, because that's really the message that we... You know, we really kind of live by that. 2:00 We talk a lot about values and really starting everything from values, because that's what we grew up with. But that value of being competitive is not always something that you throw out as a value. 2:14 And it's interesting, because competitiveness to us doesn't really mean necessarily winning, but it means that we get in the ring and fight. Mm. My dad growing up was a boxer. 2:27 He fought in the Golden Gloves back in the 1950s, you know, when boxing was really popular. 2:32 And his whole life, when he saw people faced with obstacles, he never really saw an obstacle as anything that couldn't be solved. 2:41 He loved to jump in the fight, and it was being competitive against the obstacle, not trying to beat someone else at a game, not trying to earn or over-donate or overachieve. 2:54 It was always about getting in the ring and fighting with people, and I think that's what competitiveness means to us, and that drives our business as well as our philanthropy. Yes. It's definitely coming through. Yeah. 3:07 So- But a- again, thank you so much for taking the time with me today and- Oh, sure... offering to share your story and... Yeah. Well, thank you. It's... 3:12 I know Lauren was excited after the conversation, and she signed us up. It's only fair. Yeah, well- He's signed me up for multiple things, so it's finally- Yeah... my turn to return the favor. It's payback. Yep. Exactly. 3:23 Yeah. Yeah. So Lauren, since you graduated from OU, you, you've become directly involved with the family foundation. 3:30 In fact, you are the third generation now to be involved with this family foundation, and it sounds like you're having a lot of fun with it and, uh, running with it in your own kind of direction too, in addition to the key emphasis that you've already, uh, got e- enshrined with it. 3:44 Mark, I can only imagine this is a, a bit of a change for you in some ways. So what's it been like to work together as a father-daughter team? It's very interesting to think about working side by side. 3:57 It's something that you don't really always understand who your child is until you see them in a working environment and see what they can bring to your organization. 4:09 I think what I learned early on about Lauren was how much she was like me. I think when you're growing up with your parents, you always kind of stand in the background. You listen, you learn, you move forward. 4:21 And as a parent, you don't always give your child the opportunity to have a voice, or when they have the voice, you may not give it the credibility that you should. 4:31 Early on with Lauren starting with us in part of our legacy planning, thinking about we've had visionaries over generations and thinking about if I weren't in this seat, who would be in this seat? 4:44 Who could have big vision? Who could dream? Who could have those ideas? And I don't know that Lauren was the first person who came to my mind. 4:54 I definitely wasn't Um- My older brother was probably the first one that came to mind. He- Yeah... definitely is up there. Yeah. So Lauren's older brother is an engineer. He attended MIT. 5:06 He went to grad school at Stanford. He's very smart. He's a... But he's a process person. 5:12 He does have that ability to dream and to think through process, but I don't think any of us understood how visionary Lauren was in her thinking, her ability to build community, her ability to have conversations and connect and gain information quickly and, and get a sense of values connection. 5:33 And w- we know that value's really where we start. It's important that people understand who we are, and we want to be with other people who have our similar values. 5:44 And I think what was remarkable, and now is something that I think a lot about delegating to Lauren, that role of visionary, that role of having conversations, of thinking out loud with people, creating ideas with other people, creating vision with other people. 6:02 And to me, that's been really special, because that's something about her that I didn't know. Hmm. Well, that's fun. 6:09 And, and Lauren, I'm guessing it's been a lot of fun for you, too, kind of exploring all that and learning that about yourself. Oh, yes. And for me, I didn't really know what I wanted to do once I graduated college. 6:19 My whole original plan was kind of thrown out the window with COVID and everything. 6:23 And so, you know, I didn't know what I wanted to do, and I kind of more took the job to be closer to my dad and get to know the foundation a little better. And ever since then, I've absolutely loved it. 6:35 I couldn't imagine myself not being a part of the foundation anymore. And so it's been a great opportunity, and he's learned about me, but I've definitely learned a lot about him as well. 6:44 And I've also learned that every personality test we take is super similar, so I don't know if that's a good or bad thing in some aspects, but I like to think of it as a good thing. 6:55 And so- I suppose you'll continue to learn that, too. Yes, yes. Yeah. 6:58 But I've loved it, and I sometimes laugh at my brother and his opinions, and it's been great being able to step into this role, but also having my brother as a foundational support, too. And so it's been- Hmm... 7:10 helping me get closer to my family and realize who I am a little bit. 7:15 Now, Mark, I, I understand your father was a very successful businessman, and he started this foundation really with the intent of helping underprivileged kids, and that was where his real passion lied. 7:25 And it's incredibly difficult to keep continuity with really anything for three generations, but especially family foundations and things of this sort. 7:33 But with Lauren now coming on, being the third generation, what do you attribute to this strong continuity throughout the, the foundation itself? Well, I think, you know, we've mentioned values several times. 7:44 I think it really comes down to even my dad grew up during the Depression, World War II. He grew up in a blue-collar family, worked his way through college. 7:56 He always had a vision of something larger and a sense of responsibility to contribute, and always felt grateful. In thinking about where we are today, I share this story a lot about when he was near the end of his life. 8:13 He had dementia. He couldn't remember. He couldn't... 8:16 He had no short-term memory, that in a conversation just a few weeks before he died, we were just sitting, and he looked at me and he said, "You know, Mark, we are so lucky. We have been so blessed in so many ways." 8:29 And it struck me that someone who is not able to really do what he had always done, didn't really have short-term memory, was basically at home and homebound and requiring somebody with him all the time, that he still felt grateful. 8:48 And I think even the struggles that in the life that he grew up in, I think he always felt grateful. 8:54 He felt grateful that he was challenged, I think, in, in situations where most people would see tragedy or would see failure. 9:04 He always saw that as just something that was part of life and an opportunity to do something different. You know, money was a spiritual resource for him. 9:15 It came to him, and he felt responsible for giving it away in a way to have impact. And from a young age, he played sports. He loved to be around people of all different backgrounds. He just loved being around people. 9:32 And when he saw some- someone face an obstacle, especially someone who is young or young in their career, he would never accept that obstacle as real, and whatever it took, whether it was cash, time, energy, joining the fight, he just felt like there was always a solution. 9:52 And I think that that becomes part of everything that we do, that idea that we really are blessed in so many ways. We are so grateful that it, it really is a responsibility for us to be generous as well. Yeah, and he... 10:09 When I was talking to Lauren, she expressed this gratitude in many different ways. So I can see it kind of pervasive in- Yeah... just the family tradition. 10:16 And, uh, I, I'm, I'm guessing it was just part of the household growing up, but for you and for her. And that's especially- Yeah... 10:21 true now as I, I, I do wanna transition in- into talking about cystic fibrosis, which has become such a strong piece of the family foundation. 10:29 It, it's such a challenging diagnosis for anybody, and I can only imagine what it was like 20 years ago when we didn't have all the breakthroughs that have come up in the past 20 years, two decades. 10:38 But, and Mark, especially being a doctor [laughs] you know the ins and outs of this and the implications. 10:44 So I don't know what was going on in your head when you heard these diagnoses for two of your three children, and then how has that led to where you are today, where you're driven, and especially how it relates to the foundation and its efforts? 10:57 You know, I think some of it is this same traditional training that you start with gratitude. There was science at that time that kind of led us to knowing what to do at that moment. 11:08 We realized that it was a diagnosis that would lead to a shortened life and potentially poor quality of life. But that starting with gratitude actually made it a lot easier. 11:20 We found the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was started by a group of families back in the 1950s. 11:26 You know, there was this incredible clinic network with physicians who, and scientists who were focused on bringing the best care, monitoring quality. 11:36 So the minute that the physician brought that up as a possibility, I mean, our oldest son had abnormal blood work on a Monday, had additional testing to confirm on Tuesday, in the cystic fibrosis clinic on Wednesday, and on therapy on that same day. 11:55 And that just happened to be at a transition time when I was finishing training, and we were moving from Michigan to Dallas. So that all happened that week as we were moving. 12:06 When we got on the road to travel, the clinic staff and physicians and, and support team... communicated with that same clinic as part of the network in Dallas. 12:19 They both monitored us as we started treatment, as we made that two-week move, so they provided continuity. 12:26 So we, we felt so lucky that an organization like the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was there, and they knew what to do. It's- Mm... 12:34 a new child is challenging anyway, but he was diagnosed when he was just a couple months old. We didn't, even as a physician, that was not something that I had experience in. 12:45 But immediately we got him taken care of, got transitioned, new city, new job, new baby, and the, the network that had been built around the things that were important to our family, to my parents and their parents, those people started showing up and very generous with their time, their money, their support. 13:11 So there was a community that already existed that allowed us to move forward. When Lauren was diagnosed, there was more technology available. There was screening. She didn't have the same kinds of symptoms. 13:27 But that community continued to grow. So I think going back and starting with gratitude, even in what was a really hard, difficult situation, it was so much easier because there was a community around us. 13:44 Lauren, you are remarkable. I talk to you. You have not let any of this stop you, slow you down, anything. You are living life to the fullest. In fact, it's not just gratitude. 13:53 There's hope, there's joy in, in everything that you express, and I, I, I find that incredibly admir- admirable because not only is that affecting you and your life, but you're affecting all these other folks who are in the same situation you are, where they're kind of looking at this dismal diagnosis, and you're giving them an opportunity to turn that around and say, "No, there's so much more," and you're taking on this whole new platform. 14:13 So how do you view your role in the community of those who are facing the challenges of CF, and then specifically how are you transitioning that through the foundation to engage that and kind of lever that tool? 14:24 I see myself as more of a community builder than anything. 14:27 I think I've had such amazing, wonderful people help me get through my journey to this point that I just wanna give back to the community and let people know that it does get better. 14:39 And I've had the challenge of CF my whole life, but I got diagnosed with cystic fibrosis-related diabetes in college, and a lot of people don't know that there's other complications. 14:51 But now that we're living longer, all these other problems are coming up, and CF is kind of put on the back burner so that we can figure out all these other complications. 14:59 And so giving back to the community and letting people know that although I can't be in the same room as someone with CF, I can still FaceTime or text or let people know that they have somebody there to help them and talk to them and just give them the love that they need. 15:16 So really just- And wh-... building that community. And when you say these other issues, spell out what that means for us. 15:24 So pretty much, you know, there's the complication of CF where we have too much mucus in our lungs, and it's always been known as a breathing disease, but we have problems with our gut and digestion, and then there's other complications such as CF liver disease and diabetes and a ton of other complications that are just now being discovered now that we're living longer. 15:46 And so although we have a ton of medical breakthroughs to help us with our lung function, we don't have necessarily all of the resources we need to deal with the complications that come up now that we're healthier and living longer. 16:01 That's so important to bring up because we forget- Yeah... that there's so much more that comes with this extended life, too, which will continue as these breakthroughs continue, too. 16:11 So I just think that's such an important thing to keep in mind. Now one thing I wanna know is how have you involved other people in, in, in the work that you're doing, particularly people outside of your family? 16:20 The golf tournament your dad started about 20 years ago has kept going this whole time. I know that you've done a few other things, too. How are other people, family or not, involved in your work? 16:29 Yeah, I, I think we can talk about the golf tournament- All right... uh, we're, we don't really know where that's headed this year because there's been some transition in the organization locally. 16:39 I think early on when our oldest son, Will, was diagnosed, we talked about the, that community showing up. 16:47 We started by inviting friends into the living room and just started talking about what is, what do we know about cystic fibrosis. And a lot of these people 16:59 had ideas and visions, and we've done things like golf tournament for the past 20 years that has raised an incredible amount of money, and lots of other things. 17:11 Gala in the barn where auction with barbecue, sitting in a show barn where they auction cattle. We've done a Ferris wheel ride, a 24-hour Ferris wheel ride, which I can assure you was- Oh my... 17:24 fun in some ways and in other ways... One year it rained, so nothing like being in a Ferris wheel with light rain for 24 hours. 17:32 It's amazing when you throw a problem out there and throw it out to people that have a similar mindset, will jump in and be generous. 17:45 And I talk about how I think one of the greatest benefits we've had, you know, having cystic fibrosis as something that drives us forward as a family and a foundation, is to realize what an inc- incredible community of givers exist around us, and that community continues to grow. 18:04 It, it provides an opportunity for people who have new diagnosis of cystic fibrosis. 18:11 And now as we're expanding into other ideas besides cystic fibrosis around other issues like Secure housing and food and access to care, quality of care, not only in cystic fibrosis, but diabetes and moving out. 18:27 It's incredible. We had that when we started, that we could go to a group of people who were willing to s- step up and do the work for us on our behalf. 18:37 Now we can do that, not only my generation, but now moving toward Lauren, and hopefully this will be something that, that continues to have some kind of impact for our community and for people who are looking for a community to work with. 18:54 Well, that transitioned nicely into what I wanted to ask you next, is what's kinda beyond this CF push? Because you've already done so much in that regard. I know Lauren's bringing some fresh ideas to the table. 19:04 What else do you have in mind more specifically, in addition to the medical? The thing that drove us for cystic fibrosis obviously is it's very personal. For my parents and for us, we wanted Will and Lauren to have 19:18 not only long life, quality of life, to be able to pursue the things that they wanna pursue to have careers, to have family, to contribute, to feel like they have made a mark on the world. 19:32 And as we, as we do that, we see we have a little bit of a reprieve because for us, we're one of those lucky families. 19:41 It's not available to everybody, but we're one of those lucky families that we have a treatment that works at the genetic level to kinda give us more time to figure this out. 19:51 But in the process, we also see that in our immediate community, there are people like our children who they're trying to get an education. They're trying to live in a safe environment. 20:03 They're trying to take care of their families. 20:06 So we can extend from this cystic fibrosis community, we can think about what young adults with cystic fibrosis who never thought about living past their teenage years or early adulthood, they have 20:24 needs beyond just a pill or a medical treatment. Mm-hmm. 20:30 Uh, so as we think about that, this is a g- this is actually a great time for us because with the treatments for Will and Lauren, we can take a little bit of a pause. 20:39 We can reflect back, think about what gives us energy, what we're most proud of, and then think about what a future would look like 25 years from now as we move forward. 20:52 25 years from now, if we're having this conversation, what would've had impact? So we're thinking about that. 20:59 We're going back and thinking about the things that my dad and that generation, the generation before him, what really gave them energy. What-- how did they impact? 21:09 And it was really stepping in the ring, not accepting that there was any challenge without a solution, even using all the resources that he had and not coming up with a solution at that point. 21:26 We wanna be able to do that. I think we have always seen the incredible impact that you can have in someone who's earlier in life and as they're transitioning to adulthood, 21:40 you can have impact, and we have seen that in our family story, where someone who had a huge challenge, my dad stepped in, overcame that challenge, and now there's additional generations who have flourished because a s- a solution was made available. 21:57 So I think this is a time for us to step back and say, "Wow, it's amazing that this group of people have brought treatments to us through the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. What do we do with them? 22:11 What do we do with other organizations? What do we do..." You know, our efforts with CF Foundation have been more national and local. 22:19 How do we connect that and think about who we can impact now and so that when Lauren's old and gray, she can say, "These are the things that we're grateful for. These are the ways we were generous. 22:35 These are the fights that we won, and these are the lives that were changed." Gosh, you just gave two great directions to go with that. You mentioned your dad. 22:43 What do you think your dad would say about where it is today from his original vision? So I will say his original vision for the foundation was really an opportunity to keep his resources moving forward. 22:58 He was someone who would read a news article or hear a story and see that he could write a check, or he could make a phone call, or he could ask somebody else to help and change or eliminate that challenge. 23:12 I think he would be amazed that we've grown. We've grown our resources not only financially, but we've also grown our resources and human capital. 23:23 We've continued this through additional generations, but through our community, we have people who've stepped up who are taking leadership roles. 23:31 And so it's, it's great to have individuals who find this to be so compelling that they want to spend their time with us doing this. Mm-hmm. 23:42 I think it would go back-- I think he would still say we're really lucky, and we continue to be blessed. Just a one final question here. Far as support, what kind of support are you looking for today? 23:54 Obviously, you've mentioned a few things, but if you're thinking about support, how can people help you in your efforts? I think you, like you say, we're, we're really at that place where we're visioning the future. 24:05 We're spending a lot of time talking with people we've not talked with before, and we really want to think about things that are multiplying. We're not-- We're interested in things that are innovative or different. 24:19 There's lots of people who are doing philanthropy really well, with individual giving- Annual funds, funding research. I would love for us to be part of different thinking, not the same style. 24:37 Obviously, we don't wanna give up things that work. There's incredible science being done around the world in all areas, and a lot of what's being done in cystic fibrosis will have impact because it's genetic based. It's 24:50 understanding how cells work in the body. It's gonna benefit a lot of other people besides people- Mm-hmm... with cystic fibrosis. But I think we're really just interested in having our small resources. 25:06 We wanna throw those out there so that if we give a dollar, that it ends up being $100. Any way that we can catalyze ideas, we... What we do best is vision. 25:18 We do best is create ideas, and then we love to be storytellers. We love to build communities around those ideas and build communities around vision, and there's not always one way that that happens. 25:32 Some of it is just serendipity, and some of it is just active, actively being involved. I think that's what we're out there trying to do. Well, Mark, Lauren, you're both a tremendous inspiration. 25:46 Certainly to me, I can't speak for everybody, but certainly to me. 25:49 I really appreciate all the work that you're doing, and I wish you all the best, not only in your efforts through the foundation, but especially in finding a cure to cystic fibrosis and whatever's beyond that. 25:58 So thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. We hope you enjoyed this episode of the Purpose Driven Capital podcast. If you found this valuable, be sure to like, subscribe, and share. 26:08 Are you ready to align your money with your mission? 26:11 Discover the Purpose Driven Capital framework, access practical tools, and build meaningful connections to grow your movement and multiply your impact at PurposeDrivenCapital.co. 26:22 The views and opinions expressed in this show are solely those of the individuals speaking and do not reflect the views or opinions of Honeyhive Capital, any broker-dealer, investment advisory firm, or its sponsors. 26:33 The content is for informational and entertainment purposes only. 26:37 Nothing in this content, nor any communications from it, should be treated as constituting financial, investment, legal, tax, or other advice of any kind, or as a recommendation to buy or sell an interest with respect to any investment. 26:49 We look forward to you joining us next time.
