Most Durhamites know of Chris Rosati by now. He’s the handsome, 44-year-old guy with a beautiful wife and two daughters who was diagnosed with ALS in 2010. Searching for something happy to focus on, he hatched a crazy plan to steal a Krispy Kreme truck and give out donuts – just to make people smile. No burglary was necessary: Krispy Kreme got wind of it and fully cooperated. That random act of kindness launched Chris on a path that would become Inspire MEdia Network, a nonprofit that funds and films people doing good works and then shows the videos to spread happiness. Their tagline? “Creating and collecting inspiring stories to change lives.” The Durham Academy alumnus has lofty plans for 2016, as his dream of making his hometown “the epicenter of kindness” grows.
At a recent Durham Chamber of Commerce event, you said, “The world’s never seen a network like the one we’re going to build.” What are your plans for 2016?
Happiness. By the time you run this, I’ll probably either be dead or living on a ventilator. Either way, I’m focused on happy until I move on. This spring, Inspire MEdia will finish the pilot of our kindness clubs. In the fall, we’ll launch Inspire MEdia Network 2.0. There will be more clubs – a platform to share ideas for spreading happiness, find inspiration and probably have a few laughs. Finally, we have some brilliant and powerful original content to produce. By the end of this year, our kindness clubs will be in schools across the country. Our programming will be seen in classrooms and family rooms around the world. And we will play a role in inspiring millions to be better people.
Tell us more about those BIGG Clubs.
In the fall of 2015, Inspire MEdia launched 15 BIGG Clubs in five states. BIGG stands for “Big Idea for the Greater Good.” We use media and service learning to introduce young men and women to veterans, kids their age who are hungry and others in need. They can read statistics on poverty, but when they see it, when they hear the story of a homeless woman in her words, her voice, then they feel it. In the spring, each club dreams up a big idea, a creative way to make an impact. And we make it happen. Inspire MEdia gives students moments that can shape their character. Then we produce videos of their projects and have a Hollywood-style screening party. It’s pretty damn cool.
What can you tell me about the 2016
BIGG premiere?
Not much other than it’s in May, and it will be awesome. The planning committee is keeping the details a secret. I think you’ll find tickets online in March.
You’re building a studio in downtown Durham. What will it be used for?
We are going to be doing a lot of video production, including our own show. It would be great to have a space that engages us with the community. We want to collaborate. In my head, I see our set facing out and once a week – every Thursday, May to October – there’s a block party around filming. Music, food trucks, a TED-style talk, videos. A three-hour party around filming a 23-minute show about good stuff that’s happening in the world. You just know that sounds like Durham. It will open six months after we close on our next round of funding – $2 million. Or when someone cuts us some crazy cool deal.
You have plans to make Durham “the epicenter of kindness.” Why is Durham a good place for this to happen?
Durham has the right mix of visionaries, artists, activists and problems. A lot of the same reasons we have a vibrant entrepreneurial thing happening. Visionaries, artists and activists collaborating can spread a lot of happiness. And that will help solve most of our problems. People are seeing other folks in Durham chasing dreams, a happier life, a better way. They start believing it’s possible. An explosion of good people who believe in themselves would be a force. I want to have an event, like Sundance or South by Southwest. Four days where folks come from all over to collaborate around the secret to happiness [and] spreading it. Imagine the real innovators, people with crazy cool ideas for the greater good coming to Durham and collaborating with serial entrepreneurs, Fortune CEOs, creative media minds, with musicians, actors and celebrities with reach. Two days of collaboration, hope and building energy. Day 3 would be Pitch Day, where the best ideas get an audience with the BIGG Venture Panel. Warren Buffett. Bill Gates. Mark Cuban would love this. Philanthropists from all over would love this. Foundations, too. Durham should own that.
Tell us about your new crowdfunding site.
I’m the luckiest person with ALS in the world. So I wanted to help some others. Get them an adjustable bed, just a few hours of nursing care, a better shower chair. But I don’t like asking for handouts. I don’t think most of us do. On the other hand, if I could earn your support, I’d do some crazy stuff in exchange for you throwing a few bucks at my charity. It took me about 30 seconds to say, “I’m doing this.” And I created woudo. woudo is Kickstarter for charity challenges [launching in April]. What would you do to help your favorite charity? Guaranteed someone in Durham is willing to skydive naked and post a video as proof if they could raise $15,000 for charity. What would people pay to see you do? You put your project up on woudo.com. People pledge. If your target is met, go do whatever crazy thing you agreed to do and post video proof. The folks who gave get a laugh, and woudo pays the charity directly. woudo fosters creativity. And it gives the person donating something priceless: a few minutes of happiness every time they watch the video. That’s just a better model for a lot of people, especially people with a sense of humor.
You describe yourself as a failed entrepreneur. You started seven unsuccessful businesses over the years – including a dogsitting business, a golf magazine and health care software. How did failing at those help you succeed with Inspire MEdia?
I have a saying: Love deeply, live fully and try. Always try. Trying taught me what I need to know to make my most important venture successful. I am an entrepreneur who finally found his passion. I was meant to be doing this. Crazy what can happen when you completely remove money from the equation. In my case, I found my purpose. And that, in turn, led me to an idea that might make me more money than I need – woudo.
If someone wants to get involved with your organization today, what can they do?
inspiremedianetwork.org. Click. Help inspire. One simple thing is get Inspire MEdia on your company’s workplace giving program. Talk with your child’s school and see if they want to start a BIGG Club. We have internships. We need talented filmmakers to volunteer. And we need connectors, entrepreneurs and doers for our committees. A lot of details are on the website.
How much money has your organization granted so that people can spread kindness? How many people/groups have completed a BIGG project?
We still have nearly 150 in $50 Butterfly Grants to give. But most people doing this aren’t in our clubs and aren’t even asking for funding. They just email and say, “Look what we did!” I got a video recently from some guys in India with a message saying, “You inspired us to do this.” They have this beautiful message, and they go through the streets of India talking with the homeless, giving them a little money, water, acknowledgement. But the magic is in their emotion. They were changed. I did a Q-and-A with a sixth-grade class in Vietnam. A teacher in Hawaii sent me a message on Facebook. Crazy. And simple. That’s the network we’re building. People young and old realizing the best way to find happiness is to spread it. That is an unstoppable force. And it’s going to be a blast watching it grow.
You honestly seem to be having the time of your life. It’s like you understand that the key to happiness is looking beyond yourself and helping others. I don’t really have a question here – just looking for your response.
People ask me how I stay upbeat. The answer is: I don’t. I cry. I get angry. It is tough. I suffer with the decision whether to prolong my life. Is it fair to my family? ALS is an emotional disease in part because it is a visual disease. I cannot move most of my body. That means I have to have help. I talk through a computer. It’s slow. And my wit is so much of who I am. ALS sucks. But I have a family. Logan and Delaney deserve a happy daddy. Anna deserves a happy husband. Without something to do, I would just sit in a wheelchair and weep, waiting for them to get home. Then I’d probably just keep crying. That’s not an experience I want for my children, my wife, my family and friends or myself. But I am dying, so I cannot just stay busy. To be happy, I need to do something worth a damn. I have the same startup frustrations [as anyone else]: funding, exposure, etc. But I do what I love. I do something worth doing. And I am having fun. That means when my family comes home, they usually experience a happy daddy, a happy husband. Friends get the same witty, irreverent guy they loved before my body started melting away. I told a group of students recently that I am a better man for having ALS. I still wish for the miracle every day. But I now know how life is meant to be lived. I know the secret to happiness. I need to share that.
