I saw the power and beauty created from thousands of spectators gathered to cheer on thousands of participants when I did my first 70.3 IronMan in the fall of 2023. It was my very first time participating in any endurance event. I literally had no clue how to swim, bike or run, but I wanted a massive challenge that freaked me out and pushed my limits. This checked all the boxes! To me, the experience on race day represented the best of humanity. Strangers standing on the sides of streets cheering on other strangers, holding up signs of encouragement, passing out snacks and smiles. Participants cheering on other runners, wanting them to finish and conquer the mission just as badly as they wanted it for themselves. 

 

Then, the feeling when you cross the finish line. The pride and emotion of pushing yourself past the point of what you thought possible. Now you know you are capable of more, and you can never go back. Consider your baseline… raised!

 

I thought, what if I could take this experience - these feelings - this spirit - the joy and emotion and spread it to more people but in a way that meaningfully helps others. I thought the only thing that could’ve made that day better is if I knew that someone else, who was needlessly suffering, would have benefited from my experience in some way. Why does it often seem to be one or the other?

 

Simultaneously, I’d been wanting to start a charity since I was a little girl. Severely burnt out at the startup I’d been building the previous 4 years, I decided to walk away and bet on myself to figure out what was next. Brave or stupid? The reviews were mixed, but I chose to believe the former. Growing up with incredible parents, around a generous community, in mission based churches, I saw vast amounts of people helping others. Until I was 10 years old, I genuinely thought that when grownups went to “work”, they were essentially volunteering or doing some form of good to help other people in need. On one particular night, I vividly remember praying to God, asking him to please let there still be people ‘needing help’ when I was older so I could get a job and a chance to do my part. Looking back, it’s kind of a messed up prayer…. but hey, my intentions were pure! 

 

The juxtaposition and ultimate idea didn’t hit me right away, but during my research into the non-profit space I found models that felt antiquated and counterproductive toward ending these massive global issues like homelessness, the water crisis and world hunger. I started digging in and asking nonprofits what they thought about the system and models in which they had to operate - they agreed, it was backwards.

 

I kept asking the question that I’m sure most of us have asked many times over, “What can I do to help?” Not just what can I do, but what can I do differently than the current efforts I saw, was there another model to test? There always is.

 

I believed - I still believe - that we all have so much goodness inside of us. I believe that we are much more good than we are bad. I believe that most of us want to help, we just don’t know how or we get busy or we don’t know who to trust with our money or we want to see immediate impact which isn’t always possible. 

 

Giving is the best thing there is. There is nothing cooler in my book. I think we all know deep down that service is the way to fulfillment. Helping other people, being generous with our time, talents and money is what brings joy and happiness. It’s preposterous to me that despite knowing this, we spend most of our lives chasing things that don’t bring lasting fulfillment, I won’t name them, because we already know what they are. 

 

After talking to some of the wealthiest people I know, there was always a theme. Now that I have the money, now that I have the power, there’s still a void. What did I miss? NOW, I want to “give back”. Why are people waiting until they are “rich” to give? (Insert a few obvious answers of course). I’ve come to prefer the term giving vs giving back. We should just give. We are not giving back as if we’ve stored up all this fortune to then gradually pan out to the "needy". Maybe that’s part of the problem, the terminology we use around giving which implies we must have plenty to be useful, to start. That leaves out a significant population who could help “before they’re ready or qualified”. 

 

I landed on creating endurance experiences that would bring people together to do something powerful for themselves but at the forefront, give them the opportunity to make it about someone else. Someone who may be a world away, needlessly suffering because of the conditions they were born into. As I thought about where to start, my favorite charity came to mind - charity: water. An organization I'd been following for over half a decade, who flipped the nonprofit model on its head and took a different approach! With that, we'd launch our first endurance experience focused on the global water crisis, partnering with charity: water to support their efforts in bringing clean and safe water to everyone on earth.

 

We’d create a business that exists to reimagine the way we think about Giving. We’d host endurance events that inspire collective generosity - bringing out the best parts of being human: giving, service, community, inspiration, wellness, joy, hope. I could keep going, but I’m going to run out of characters and your attention span! 

 

We’re all looking for ways to help. We’re all looking for ways to better ourselves - become healthier, meet new people, be inspired, do good in the world. Can we create a business that prioritizes these things and gives people the opportunity to believe in better? A philanthropic - capitalistic model if you will. 

Only time will tell, so it’s a good thing we love the chase! 

Jessica Lana Hartman
Founder, Chasing Impact