Durham native Chris Rosati was no different than most of us – intending to do good in the world, but getting constantly sidetracked by his career and family obligations. Outside of his day job in marketing, he constantly dabbled in his own side businesses. “I was a serial failed entrepreneur,” Chris says. “I was learning from each failure, but there was plenty of time to be an entrepreneur.”
Then, a few years ago, at the age of 40, Chris was diagnosed with the fatal Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS, which affects nerves in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. It forced him to consider doing something meaningful, even if he could no longer take any actual steps. “Life is meant to be fun,” Chris says. “Not without difficulties, but doing what you love and understanding what the right priorities are.”
Good Deeds
A little more than a year after his diagnosis, Chris was asked to speak to the Upper School students at his alma mater, Durham Academy. “I had an idea of what I wanted to talk about, but no actual speech,” Chris says. He told the kids about his fantasy to steal a Krispy Kreme truck and give doughnuts away, just to make people happy. Afterward, he thought that he should do more than just talk about doing crazy things and actually give this one a go. His well-known Krispy Kreme Heist ended up happening without any actual larceny, thanks to the company’s cooperation.
Inspired by The Heist’s success, Chris moved on to another idea, a BIGG one. He started the Inspire Media Network (IMN), a nonprofit that funds and films people doing good works and then shows the videos to spread happiness. To get it off the ground, Chris spoke to kids in schools across Durham. Big Ideas for the Greater Good – or BIGG – invited kids to apply for funding and offered help in completing their idea and filming it. In three months, BIGG had 70 applications; eight projects were eventually chosen and implemented with the help of more than 150 volunteers at IMN.
Simple Smiles
The ideas are not complicated. A student named Luna conceptualized a Kindness Challenge involving the creation of a giant “Wheel of Smiles” spinner with actions like “go give 10 high fives to strangers,” “hug three people” and “sing your favorite song opera-style.” She set up the wheel at Southpoint mall one day, and more than 150 people took turns spinning the wheel. For each spin, IMN gave $5 to one of four local charities.
Another student, Olivia of Trinity School, applied for a grant to create a giant 200-foot coloring book, which she took to Durham spots like the farmers’ market and the Museum of Life & Science. “I want good deeds to be celebrated, and I want people around the world to say ‘I can do that,’” Chris says. “My goal is to have a weekly TV show airing five of these Big Ideas for the Greater Good videos to bring happiness and encourage good deeds in others.”
BIGG Goals
To fund BIGG, IMN also makes videos to highlight large corporations’ civic engagement. “Rather than paying a for-profit business to do that, they pay us, and the profits go back into BIGG,” Chris says. He also relies on licensing video content and selling sponsorships on YouTube videos that exceed 20,000 views.
Clearly, Chris does not think small. “My original idea was to amass a gigantic database of video testimonials of people who had overcome and survived a tough life scenario,” he says. “Everyone gets knocked to their knees sometimes. It would be nice, when it happens to you, to have a place to go watch someone just like you who overcame and succeeded.”
Silver Lining
Chris never would have thought it would take a debilitating diagnosis for him to finally realize his dream. “I’ve wanted to build a company my whole life, and it took ALS to get what I wanted,” he says, although he admits that his work flaws remain. “I am a visionary, so that means I am difficult to work with. … The board can’t say no to a guy with ALS.”
Scott Matheson, a senior director at Captrust and IMN board member, rebukes that notion. “Chris is partially right: You can’t say no to him,” he says. “But I don’t think that’s because he has ALS. Rather, it’s because Chris is a true visionary, and his attitude and positivity are infectious. You simply want to be part of whatever he is scheming or leading.”
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Attend the Inspire Media Network Gala at Bay 7 in the American Tobacco Campus on Nov. 21, 6:30pm. Enjoy an evening of exciting surprises, including a celebrity lip sync contest, unique auction items and dinner provided by The Angus Barn. Get your tickets here.
