My guest this episode is Brittni Schroeder, a life and business coach specializing in helping other coaches grow to 6 figures and beyond. Brittni shares the bittersweet story of how she created a nonprofit in honor of her late teenage son, Gage.

Despite her profound personal loss, Brittni's mission has been to channel her grief into acts of service and kindness, significantly impacting many lives through her Compassion Club organization. This episode is all about the critical importance of kindness, using one's spiritual gifts to bless the lives of others, and how faith and service can guide us through the darkest times. Brittni also discusses practical steps for those inspired to start their own nonprofits.

You can find Brittni at https://brittnischroeder.com/ and on IG & FB @brittni.schroeder.

00:46 Meet Brittni Schroeder

01:17 Brittni Journey in Photography

02:36 Transition to Life Coaching

03:14 Nonprofit Work and Passion for Service

05:32 Experiences in Haiti

10:18 The Haiti Funk and Realizations

13:58 The Birth of The Compassion Club

22:05 Starting a Nonprofit: The Journey Begins

22:48 Fundraising and Scholarships: Making an Impact

23:40 Balancing Business and Compassion

25:54 Steps to Start Your Own Nonprofit

30:15 The Healing Power of Service

33:35 Grieving Together: The Power of Community

37:15 Finding Purpose Through Pain

39:42 Final Thoughts and Inspirations

You're listening to episode

71 of burning brightly.

2

Giving back with guest Britney Schroeder.

3

Brittany is a certified

life and business coach.

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Who specializes in getting other life

coaches to six figures and beyond,

5

but today, Brittany is sharing

with us, her journey to creating

6

the nonprofit that she built in

honor of her late teenage son.

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Join us for this beautiful bittersweet

interview where we learn how.

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God, put it on Brittany's heart to build

something out of the ashes of grief.

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This is Burning Brightly, a podcast

for Christian moms who are feeling

10

called to build a business and

share their light with the world.

11

I'm Bonnie Wiscombe, a life coach,

mom, and entrepreneur, and I'm honored

12

to be your guide as you face this

business building adventure full of

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highs, lows, and everything in between.

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This is where we help each

other find the courage to shine.

15

Welcome back, friends.

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I am excited to have a guest here today.

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I haven't had a guest in a

little while and I am excited

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to welcome Brittany Schroeder.

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Thank you so much for

joining me, Brittany.

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Thanks for having me.

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I'm excited.

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Brittany is a fellow business coach,

which I, you guys know, I could talk

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business all day, every day about all

the things, but we're going to shift a

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little bit because I want to hear some

of Brittany's experience with a nonprofit

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and some of her, um, kind of unique

experience in business that doesn't

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look like what a lot of us are building.

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So Brittany, why don't we start off with

you giving us a little intro to yourself?

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My name is Brittany Schroeder and I

am a business and marketing coach.

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Um, I, I, I guess kind of my, my journey

with getting to where I'm at now is I.

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I was a photographer for 10.

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Well, you're always a photographer, right?

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Like, but I had a photography business

for 10 years and kind of how it

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started is I just, I wanted to take

good pictures of my kids and I was

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a mom and that's my favorite job.

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And so I got a camera and I started

taking pictures and I love to learn.

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So I just was learning and how to, you

know, like how to do photography and.

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And it just kind of, I kind of stumbled

into having a business, you know, people

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start to ask you to take your pictures

and then you realize like, okay, I'm

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doing this a lot and it's my time.

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And, and, um, then I decided I

was going to do it as a business.

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And I was a high school senior

photographer for 10 years and had a

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lot of success and built a business.

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I had a photography magazine.

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And that is kind of how I, I

always say that I, the business

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stuff came so natural to me.

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I had to work more at the creative

stuff, but I've always just been

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really business minded and left brained

and analytic and all the things.

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And so that's kind of where I

started like my, my, my photography,

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like my, my business starting.

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You know, growing a business.

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And then, um, my, my husband at the

time, I'm, I'm divorced now, but he got

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a job in Houston and we were in El Paso

when I built my photography business.

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And so I said, you know,

this is a good time to pivot.

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I don't want to start another

location based business.

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I want to do something

that I can do anywhere.

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And I got certified as a life coach.

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And then, you know, I'm like, Oh, like,

I don't know if I want to do this.

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Um, but I started helping

life coaches with business.

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And I'm like, Oh, this is my jam.

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Like I am.

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I can help start businesses

like this is what I do.

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And so that's kind of where my, my

work experience with my business

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comes from my nonprofit experience.

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It's kind of funny because when I was

in high school, I wanted to join the

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Peace Corps and people, I don't even

know people know what that is anymore.

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But I was like, I, I.

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I had this like idea where I wanted to

go and help people in, and in my head,

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I thought in third world countries,

cause that's probably what I saw

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on TV or in a movie or something.

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So I've always had, it's always

really been like a strong desire of

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mine to serve and to help people.

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And so as I, as I got older, I like,

I've, I've worked with like a lot

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of nonprofits and it started, I had.

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You know, at the time I had two small

children, no I had one, I had one,

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one child and I started doing Meals

on Wheels and at the time I had moved

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to Michigan, I had just moved there

and I was delivering food to elderly

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people or people who couldn't leave

their house and then I got pregnant

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and so then I was, you know, then I had

another baby and so I was pushing one

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in a stroller and the other one walking

around and we were delivering food.

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Males to elderly people.

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And I did that for like six years.

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I did it for like a long time.

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And, um, you know, I always

just had this desire to serve.

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And then how I kind of got involved in

nonprofit work was, um, It's interesting

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because I had, I moved to, um, at the

time we were in Michigan and they had

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two kids and three, and then we moved

to El Paso and I just, I, I was, I had

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my photography business and I just,

I wanted, I think I had a client say,

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Oh, you should come and we always are

looking for volunteers to come and help

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us with this, um, children's hospital.

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Gay love that we do.

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And so I was working with their

nonprofit and we were raising

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money for the children's hospital.

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And then that kind of led into

working with the boys and girls club.

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So I've always done that.

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I did some stuff with my, with the

church, like doing refugee stuff.

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So I've always just loved like,

like doing that kind of stuff.

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Um, and then it's interesting because

I still in the back of my head had

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this, this thought where I still

want to go to these third world

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countries and I want to help people.

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And, I kept thinking, I

need to go back to school.

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I have a degree in exercise science,

which I've never used, but I'm like,

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I need to go back to school and do

nursing so I can go to the third world.

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I thought like I had to have something

medical to get me to these third

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world countries to help like people,

but it was actually like my camera.

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It was my photography that got

me to a third world country.

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And so I had a friend and she said, Hey.

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You know, my cousin has this nonprofit

in Haiti and they educate kids.

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They are, you know, it's like

they're opening a school.

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Do you, do you want to go?

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And I was like, yes, like

that sounds so awesome.

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So we, we went out there,

we opened a school.

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I took all my, my photography gear

and it was all these kids were there.

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And we, the objective for this.

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Nonprofit was to get these kids sponsored

because education is not free in Haiti.

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So many kids are not educated.

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So I went out there.

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I took pictures of these kids and I

could take beautiful portraits of people.

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And I took pictures of

these beautiful Haitians.

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Like they are the most beautiful people.

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And then we put them on a website and

that's how we got them to sponsor.

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So it was actually like my photography.

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That got me to this, the

third world countries.

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And so then I was a

part of that nonprofit.

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I was on the board of directors and

for four years, and I go to Haiti

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every year, at least once and go

over and take pictures of the kids.

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And, and then I was in their PR and

I, my, my job was to, you know, get

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people to sponsor and to raise money

so that we could educate these kids.

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And, um, we educated, it was

over 400 kids that we, we

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educated with this organization.

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So that was kind of, that was.

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kind of how I, like, got

into, like, non profits.

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And it changed my life.

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Like, it was very life

changing to go work in Haiti.

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So.

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Oh my gosh.

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That sounds amazing.

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And it sounds like you've had,

like, so many amazing experiences

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already in business and everything.

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What I'm hearing from your story

is that you, you start something

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that sounds interesting, right?

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And then God just, like, leads you here

and then to this next little hop over

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here and then we'll skip over here.

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And all these opportunities

just feel so fulfilling.

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Like, oh yeah, I'm Oh yeah.

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Oh yeah.

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Yeah.

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It's interesting because You know, I, I

remember like when I was taking pictures

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of high school seniors, and I remember

this one time I was out jogging with

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my friend and we were talking about

it and I said, I, because I was able

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to like, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a builder.

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Like I love to build people up

and I love, I love teenagers.

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Like I just can connect with teenagers.

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I, I love them.

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I think I'm still one, even though I'm

not, but, um, When I was taking pictures,

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I'm like, Oh my gosh, like this is

what I, this is what God wants me to do

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because I am, I have this opportunity.

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to build these teenage girls up

and I can, I can build them up

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and tell them they're amazing and

they're beautiful and empower them.

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And you know, I felt like, you know, and

I remember like a specific time being

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like, this is what God wants me to do.

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And then fast forward and I'm in

Haiti and I'm like, Oh, no, no, no.

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This is what God wants me to do.

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This is what He wants me to do.

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And so I, yeah, I definitely feel like.

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You know, hindsight's 20 20 where we see

like, okay, look at how God placed me

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here, and he was preparing me for this,

and then look at how he placed me here.

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And he was preparing me for

this, but definitely like, like

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understanding your, your spiritual

gifts and knowing your strengths.

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Like if you use those, you know,

it's God, he'll make it happen.

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You just have to trust that

he has a plan, you know?

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So, but yeah.

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I love that concept.

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Yeah.

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And the idea that like, if you, if

20 or 25 year old you could see you

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now, she'd probably be like, what?

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I'm doing what?

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Like how?

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Right.

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But one step at a time, it becomes easy.

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And this is something that I talk about a

lot on my show and to my audience is that

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so many of us feel so terrified at what

they feel like God is calling them to do.

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But he's really just calling us to

take like one step into the dark.

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And he's going to like

make the rest of the path.

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It's actually so good that we can't

see the long term plan he has for us

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because we'd probably be freaked out

and be like, no, I'm not doing that.

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Oh yeah.

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One step at a time.

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And then, yeah, like you say, you sit

in it, you go, yes, this feels so right.

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And it might not be forever.

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It might just be a stepping stone, but

to just acknowledge that he's, he's

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leading us if we're willing to go.

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I love that.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Well, I think it's also recognizing your

spiritual gifts and, and understanding.

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You know, like, like for me, like I

told you, I love, I love teenagers.

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Like I can connect with teenagers.

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I can get kids to talk to me.

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I am a builder.

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I'm really good at just loving

people and without judgment.

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I mean, not always my own kids,

but definitely other people's kids.

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Right.

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But, but I think like.

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I, I recognize like that, that is like

my gift and I need, I need to use it.

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You know, I need to do it.

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I, I had, there was an experience

where I had, when I was going to Haiti,

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like, so you go to Haiti and we talked

before you hit record, we talked about

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Mexico, that you lived in Mexico.

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And so I, I had understood,

I'd been to Mexico many times.

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I understood what a third

world country looked like, but.

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You cannot wrap your head

around the poverty of Haiti.

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Like, I mean, it is just.

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pure chaos over there.

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Like, Mexico looks like, like,

amazing compared, compared to Haiti.

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I mean, they had this earthquake

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17, 18, I can't remember, but

they never, like, really rebuilt.

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They, because they didn't have,

they don't have any systems.

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And so even just driving down the

streets, kids aren't in school, so

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there's hundreds of people in the streets.

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This is like Port au Prince, but,

and there's just rubble everywhere.

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And it's just chaos, like, even the

roads, it'd be like, one car would go,

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one would stop, one would go, like,

there's not stop signs, there's not,

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you know, you're weaving in and out

of, like, holes in the street, and then

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there's just people that, like, just

swarm you, and then they're so poor,

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you go into any grocery store, and there

are, like, men with machine guns at the

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end of every aisle, and even our school,

we had an armed guard with, outside

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the gate, and they'd lock the, this

big metal gate, to let kids in and out.

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Like, so it just like, I, I,

I just could not like that.

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You can't fathom like the poverty.

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And so, but when every time I'd go

to Haiti, we called it like, well,

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I remember the first time that I

went to Haiti, it was like, it was

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like such a spiritual experience.

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And I remember, um, one of the founders

of this nonprofit said to me, you

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don't choose Haiti, Haiti chooses you.

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And.

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I was like, wow, that's like really

powerful because it was like, once

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I went, I was like, I, I can't

ever like not do this anymore.

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And, and I felt like this, like, you know,

like pull, like I have to help these kids.

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But when you, when we go on these trips,

we all call this, like, if you've been

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there and you're in with us, nonprofit, we

always are like, we have to hate the Haiti

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funk because you go to Haiti and it's so

there's so much poverty and it's so poor.

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Then you come home and you are

like, Why do I need, like, two cars?

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Why do I need a house this big?

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Why do, why is there food in the trash?

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Why, you know, because it's so, you

know, and you kind of get in a funk, like

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a, like a depression, you know, like,

man, like, this is just so depressing.

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And I, and I had this, this, uh, Like

this thought once and, and, you know,

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and it just was like, I was thinking,

like, why did God give me this life

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and give those people that life?

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And I was thinking, you know, like,

what would God, God think, you know,

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and, and I had this thought where it

was like, God gave me these gifts.

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He gave me intelligence.

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He gave me, like, drive.

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He gave me, like, a voice.

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He gave me all these gifts.

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And if I do not use them to help

other people, then shame on me.

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Like, shame on me that I was

given these gifts and I did not

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use them to help other people.

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You know, I think from that point

on, you know, like recognizing like

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we have so many gifts that we don't

even realize like, like that we have,

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you know, and so, but it's like,

are we using our gifts to help other

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people to, to build other people up?

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Are we really?

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like a tool, you know,

for like God, you know?

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And so, you know, at that time I was

just like, I, I like, I have to help,

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like I have to help other people.

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So, yeah.

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I love that.

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And this is so, uh, good for my audience

because so many of us get into coaching

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or content creating or something

because we feel a drive to help.

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Most of the time it's

not like, you know what?

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I think this is going to be the

easiest way to make me a millionaire.

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I mean, it kind of is in a lot of

ways, but at the same time, that's,

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that's not where most of these

women of faith come from, right?

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It's like, I feel this calling.

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I have to do this.

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Whether I'm going to be successful

at it or not doesn't matter,

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but I'm feeling called to do it.

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So let's talk specifically

about your nonprofit now.

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The Compassion Club.

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Is that what it's called?

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Awesome.

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I'd love to hear more about

it and why you started that.

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Yeah.

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So, um, so I was at the

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But I was working with Haitian roots

and I was going to Haiti and I was,

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I was doing all of all that stuff.

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And, you know, I look at my

life and, you know, I had this

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thriving photography business.

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I owned a photography magazine.

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I was going to Haiti.

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I was working with a nonprofit.

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And, um, It was 2017 and I had an

El Paso and three kids and my oldest

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son Gage was 14 and, um, he was in

an accident with a firearm and my son

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passed away and, um, you know, it just,

it like, it shook my world and, you

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know, I always think of like, you know,

sometimes when we're like struggling.

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And we think our life is so hard, like,

we think like, there's, I always, and

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I say this to my kids, there's going

to be a time in your life where you're

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going to look back and say, I wish

that I, I wish I was in that struggle.

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Like, my life was like, so good,

you know, and I look at that.

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And, um, you know, so, so my son passed

away and, um, he was 14, almost 15.

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And, um, you know, the kids, like

we, our house was always a house

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where we always had, had tons of

kids at our house all the time.

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And his friends were always

at our house and it just like

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shook our whole community.

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He was just like such an awesome kid.

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And he talked to everybody.

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It was super outgoing.

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He was like in the gifted

and talented program.

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So he was like smart.

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He's friends with all the intellects

and, but he was like a varsity wrestler.

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So he has friends with the jocks

and, you know, and he just,

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he was just a talker and just.

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Just such an awesome kid.

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And so, um, you know, we saw these

kids started coming to our house.

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And before that, we, you know, um, we

started, I started getting these messages.

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And they were like letters, people were

dropping off letters and in the mail,

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at my door, like sending me messages,

sending me text messages and DMs.

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And it was like all these messages

of how my son had impacted their

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life in such a positive way.

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And just I knew he was like an awesome

kid, but like, I had no idea, like the

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impact he had on like, so many people.

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And he was like a little entrepreneur and

he had a garbage can cleaning business.

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And I got letters from people.

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He'd clean their cans and now

he'd play with their kids and, and

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just do like, just kind things.

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And I mean, I ended up putting

a lot of them in, in books.

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And I mean, I got probably over

500 messages, like from people

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that he had like impacted.

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And so it really like rocked.

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the community.

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And, um, just because he was

just friends with everybody.

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He didn't discriminate with age, with

like nothing, with race, nothing.

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He just was friends with everybody.

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And so then at right, like after that, um,

you know, we started to get like knocks on

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our door and then another and another and

another, and these kids were just coming

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to our house and they just wanted to,

like, they just wanted to grieve with us.

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And they were just like sad and, um,

They just wanted to feel like love

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and, um, so I was like, Oh my gosh,

we have to like help these kids.

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Like, how can we like help these kids?

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And I saw a lot of them like turning

to like drugs and alcohol and stuff.

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And, and I'm like, we

have to help these kids.

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Like, how can we help these kids?

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Um, before that, um, during

the services and stuff.

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I was getting all these plants and

flowers and I'm, I'm like such a

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practical person and you know, but I'm

like, Oh, I don't want people sent.

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Like, this is just a waste of money.

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Please don't spend your

money on flowers and plants.

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Like they're just going to die.

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And so my friend said, what if we started

a GoFundMe and what if you started

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a scholarship fund for, for gauge?

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And I said, Oh yeah,

like, that's a great idea.

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And she started a GoFundMe

and within like a day, there

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was like 30, 000 in donations.

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Whoa.

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And anyway, and so I had all

this money and I'm like, what

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am I going to do with it?

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And, you know, I, I knew I was

going to do a scholarship, but I'm

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just like, I just feel like there's

more like, you know, there's more.

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And I remember like meeting with

a mom who at a time when you're

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like grieving, when you're losing a

child, you're just looking for hope.

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And I would talk to all these,

these people who had lost children.

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And I remember meeting with this one

lady and she had a nonprofit and it's

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called the, um, Braden Abood foundation

and in El Paso, and she donates a pair

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of shoes and two pairs of socks to.

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Every kid in one low income school a year.

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And she told me a story about how that

they had money and her kid had gone

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to a school where they were uniforms.

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And, and she'd made this comment to her,

her son once when he was alive and said,

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um, I love uniforms because you don't

know who has money and who doesn't.

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And her son said, until you look

down at their feet and you see

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their shoes and that's, and he, and

she did, and she said to me, she

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told me that story and she said it.

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Gage will tell you,

listen, listen for Gage.

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He will tell you like what

to do with, with the money.

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He will tell you what to do with

like, if you start a nonprofit.

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And so we saw these kids like

struggling and I've always been,

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you know, like I've always been

into nonprofit work and serving.

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And one of my favorite quotes by

Tony Robbins is we only suffer

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when we think of ourselves.

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So we think about ourselves

and And I know this to be true.

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And even like, since I have been young,

like, and raising my kids when we were

385

struggling, I would say like, we need to

serve, like we're struggling right now,

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like we need to go find somebody to serve.

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And I knew that like,

that's what I had to teach.

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Like I had to teach these kids because

I was seeing, you know, cause I've been

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working with teenagers for so long.

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I saw these kids like really

struggling with adversity.

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Like they, they couldn't hang.

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They couldn't cope.

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I saw that they were like not connecting

with people and they were lonely and they

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were on social media and they had all

these followers, but they were so lonely

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and, you know, and selfish, you know?

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And so I, so at the time I'm like,

Hey, we have to help these kids.

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And.

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I, I don't even know how the idea, but

I said, what if we started like a group?

399

What if we, we started like a club

and we call it the compassion club.

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And so at the time I reached out

at the time I had a kid in every

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school, elementary, middle, and,

and gauge was in high school.

402

And I, I met with like the administration

and I said, what if we start a club?

403

And, um, and call it the compassion club.

404

And we teach these kids

like acts of service.

405

And so they were so supportive.

406

They're like, yes, let's do it.

407

Let's do it.

408

So I started going to the schools and the

high school, it was like once a month,

409

but then the high school kids, especially

were like, and they were his friends.

410

They were grieving and they're like more

like, this is my favorite time of like,

411

when you come, can you do this more?

412

And it started, we were going to every

single week and the first meeting that

413

we had, there was like, It was standing

room only like we did it in the classroom

414

and there were so many kids there wasn't

even like people had to stand there was

415

like no room for people to even sit.

416

And they just wanted like they wanted

to heal they, they were like in

417

pain and they were confused and so.

418

We started doing these meetings and I

would tell stories of kindness that,

419

like, things that Gage had done.

420

And then we would do, like,

a random act of kindness.

421

Like, we would put post it notes of

words of encouragement on the lockers.

422

Or we would go clean up after a

home game so janitors could have

423

the night off with their families.

424

Like, just all these, like, we

were just doing, like, service.

425

And the kids were just, like, thriving

and they just they loved it and we had

426

so many kids every time and a lot of

like really emotional activities where

427

you know like these kids were struggling

and and nobody knew and so I knew at

428

that time I'm like and then I started

getting messages from people saying

429

how can I bring this into the world?

430

To my school, my kid is struggling.

431

I was getting messages from kids, like,

how can I bring this to my school?

432

Like, I'm struggling.

433

And I knew I'm like, I have

to, I have to do something.

434

And so that's, I formed a nonprofit.

435

And it took us a year and I

collaborated with like a bunch of

436

parents and teachers and counselors

and we created a curriculum and it

437

is just like a curriculum of teaching

values, where it has positive quotes.

438

It has a lot of stories

about Gage in there.

439

And then it has a bunch of

activities to teach kids to serve.

440

And so we created the curriculum.

441

And then the nonprofit is like, we,

we sell the curriculum to schools.

442

And with that money, in addition, then

we did some fun, we do some fundraisers.

443

I do a memorial wrestling

tournament for my son every year.

444

And since, and with the money that we

445

over 70, 000 in scholarships and grants.

446

And we give them to like active compassion

clubs, like they can nominate anybody.

447

And then we give it, we give a lot

of scholarships to wrestlers too.

448

So, and, and it's, it's people,

it's kids who are just good kids

449

who are making a difference.

450

You know, they're not.

451

the smartest.

452

They're not always the smartest.

453

They're not always the most

athletic, but it's just kindness.

454

Kids who have like overcome hard

things and like rise above and

455

make the world a better place.

456

So that is the, that's

the compassion club.

457

The it's called the Gage Schroeder

Compassion Foundation, but then we

458

call it the compassion club too.

459

So that's my nonprofit story.

460

So that's how I stumbled

into my own nonprofit.

461

That is so amazing and and what I'm seeing

is obviously like we were talking about

462

God just leading us on one step at a time

like imagine if you had felt that calling

463

without any experience in nonprofits, but

you've been in the sector before you were

464

you were probably relatively confident

that you could pull something off.

465

Yeah.

466

And then I love this reminder of that.

467

We're miserable when

we focus on ourselves.

468

Right.

469

I, I bring this up a lot with my

business clients because we'll get

470

to this place where we're like, we

feel like things are going okay.

471

And then we see somebody else's

success, or then we, you know, hyper

472

focus on what we're doing wrong.

473

And it's like, Oh, but most of us

got into business because we knew

474

we could put something good out into

the world because we knew it helps

475

alleviate someone's burden or, or

give a transformation or something.

476

And the more we focus on what we don't

have or what we haven't accomplished

477

yet, or whatever, the less available we

are to the people that need help, right?

478

Oh, yeah.

479

So even just in a pure for profit

business, it's so critical to just

480

remember, we want to build a business

with a servant's heart, right?

481

We want to build it in a way that's

going to make the world a better place.

482

Yeah.

483

Well, and I think even touching

about that, touching back on that

484

with, with business where if you

have, I really believe in the power

485

of like giving, you know, when you

serve and you put that out in the

486

universe, like it comes back to you.

487

And, you know, a lot of times we.

488

We might have the mentality is like,

what am I going to get from this?

489

Or am I going to get paid him?

490

And, but if we have this mindset of

like, how can I help other people?

491

Then the money and all that

come, it just comes naturally.

492

It comes back to you.

493

So, but when we are like, We want

some, and we see this all the time.

494

We see people get greedy and then they

want power and they want money and we

495

see their businesses crumble too because

it's, you know, it's, they are starting

496

to like worship the power and the money

over like, how can I help other people?

497

Right.

498

Yeah.

499

And in my experience, that's what

puts off a lot of Christian women from

500

starting a business is they think they

have to be focused on the bottom line

501

or the money or the power or whatever.

502

It's like, no, you can build a thriving

business as a servant, as someone who

503

just wants to put good out into the world.

504

Now there are some tactics to make sure

that you are profitable and it's, you're

505

going to continue building this business.

506

You're not just going to drive

yourself into the ground and,

507

you know, spend all your money.

508

But Um, that that's totally possible.

509

Yeah.

510

Yeah.

511

So what I want to ask you is, okay.

512

So for those who are listening that

are like, I would love, or I'm feeling

513

called to give back in some way.

514

I'm feeling called to build

something in this way.

515

Where, where would they even get started?

516

Like it feels so overwhelming to somebody

who's never had experience in that sector.

517

Like they want to start a nonprofit.

518

Is that asking you as a nonprofit?

519

So I mean, I, I was lucky and very

blessed because I had an attorney set up.

520

Yeah.

521

My nonprofit pro bono, you know, and

so there is like some legal things

522

that you, you have to do, like you

have to set up, you have to set it

523

up, you know, a 501 C you, you have

to have somebody file that for you.

524

Um, And, but once that's filed, you

know, it's more for like the money

525

and the donations you are tax exempt,

but it depends because like when I was

526

working with a bigger nonprofit, there's

like a lot of organization, the tricky

527

part with nonprofit work is a lot of

people are volunteering their time.

528

And so it's, you know, you have to find

people who are as passionate about you.

529

Like with me right now, my nonprofit.

530

When I first started that I had a

board, they were all my friends,

531

but I was doing everything.

532

They were just kind of in the

background, like helping and supportive.

533

And that's like fizzled.

534

And, and, and, and even my nonprofit

now, like I still do stuff I don't do.

535

Like it served its purpose when I was

grieving my son, I was very involved

536

and my circumstances have changed.

537

I'm divorced now.

538

I don't have the luxury

of a ton of time anymore.

539

And so I still, you know, I'm

not doing as much as I would

540

love to, but, um, it's all me.

541

You know, and, and doing it.

542

So I think it's, you know, you like

learn about nonprofits, like form a

543

board, find people who have strengths,

like maybe get somebody who's good with

544

finances on your board, get that you

have to find the people who are like

545

passionate about the same thing you are,

because it will fizzle if, if they don't,

546

you know, and, and that's a challenge.

547

Every nonprofit, like there is a lot of

drama in a lot of nonprofits because it

548

is, it's, it's people who are volunteering

their time and people just don't have

549

the luxury of time, you know, and when

you're passionate about it, it's, it's,

550

it's your baby, you know, but I think

just like learning, like volunteer

551

with a nonprofit and kind of get, get

a feel for like how nonprofits work.

552

But I mean, there's so many

opportunities to, to serve.

553

And I think finding something that you're,

you're passionate about, and that can be.

554

Maybe you are like, you like to read and

you like start a nonprofit where you're

555

like donating books to low income places.

556

But, you know, so I think it's, it's

finding something you're passionate about.

557

You have to like the, you know,

the logistics of it is you do have

558

to file with, with the IRS you

have, you know, and it is really

559

like very similar to a business.

560

Mm-hmm . You know.

561

You have to, you have to get a

business license depending on your

562

state, but you have to, you have to

get registered with the government

563

as far as like taxes and stuff.

564

That's like a little different.

565

You have to file a little,

a little bit different.

566

Um, you can be tax exempt and so

you can, you know, you don't have

567

to pay taxes on a lot of things.

568

So there's definitely like a lot,

a lot to it, but dabble in it.

569

And there's a ton of podcasts

out there and books, and you

570

can always reach out to me.

571

I can, I can tell you what I

know, but it really is like.

572

finding other people who have that

same passion as you and building it.

573

But it's a business, and what you put

into it is what you get out of it, too.

574

Right.

575

So.

576

Well, and I love what you're

saying about just dabbling in it.

577

Like, I think most of us probably have

something weighing on our hearts, right?

578

And most of us are not yet in a

place where we can build that.

579

But, like, I firmly believe in

like these phases of life, right?

580

We have the, like the chaos

phase of little kids, right?

581

Where there's not a lot of time

and it's just like survival, right?

582

And then we have kind of this builder

phase where maybe more middle aged

583

and it's like, oh, we're building

something career wise or yeah.

584

And then I really believe that

there's this mission phase.

585

And I think that a lot of us will get into

that as our kids grow and leave the nest.

586

And, and maybe it's something we just

kind of want to dabble in right now.

587

Like, let's just try a couple of

different causes and think, what

588

do I want to spend my time on?

589

Yeah.

590

When I do have more of it, right?

591

I'm, I'm not a huge fan

of the idea of retirement.

592

I think it sounds terrible.

593

Like I want to go build more things.

594

Yeah, travel to places that need me.

595

I want to put my, my time and effort

into something that really matters.

596

But, but what, what's that going to be?

597

And, and do I have the

energy for it longterm?

598

Right.

599

That's some really good questions.

600

Yeah, for sure.

601

Yeah.

602

Sure.

603

So.

604

Okay.

605

So finally, I want to ask you kind of a

hard question, but tell us just a little

606

bit about how this, I know you said you

felt called to do the Compassion Club, but

607

tell us also a little bit about how that

helped you through the grieving process.

608

Like obviously it is a long

process that goes on forever.

609

Yeah.

610

It never goes away.

611

Yeah.

612

Never goes away.

613

And, and, and was that, tell,

tell us a little bit about that.

614

Yeah.

615

Yeah.

616

I mean, I think just.

617

Yeah.

618

serving and, and, you know, showing

these kids, especially like his friends,

619

you know, are just like spending

time with them and serving and seeing

620

like, oh, you can, you can be happy.

621

And you know, it really is like, Whenever

I'm struggling, it's like, like I said

622

this to my daughter the other day,

we need to serve, we need to do some

623

service, you know, like, and I think

it was just like really healing to

624

help his friends and his friends, you

know, it really is just like kindness.

625

And I think that's something that

like, we oftentimes dismiss the

626

value of how powerful kindness is.

627

And, I think of his friends

like they were just kids.

628

They were like 14 year old kids

and they showed up at our house.

629

You know, we lived there for just

over a year after my son passed

630

away and then we, we moved.

631

But these teenagers, like, we call

them our teenagers and they're in

632

their 20s now, but like, they showed

up at our house, like, every day,

633

like, until we moved and it would

sometimes be 1, sometimes it would

634

be 30 and these kids showed up.

635

Every single day.

636

And I think like, they like saved us.

637

They saved my children.

638

You know, it was like, it was like

they lost their brother, my kids,

639

but like, they gained, like, All

these kids that just like love them.

640

And they just, you know, I think that

they, and we've told them before,

641

like, they didn't realize like that

they saved us by just like showing up.

642

And I think it's just like,

it's such a simple like thing.

643

It's just like showing up for

people and just checking on people.

644

And, you know, I think it was just like,

it was so healing and it just like brought

645

us together for like a greater cause

and that was like serving other people.

646

And it really.

647

was like such a healing time for

me and just spending time because I

648

felt like, I felt like I was helping.

649

I felt like I was like my

son helping his friends.

650

Like I, I felt like as a mother, like

I was still taking care of him because

651

I was taking care of his friend.

652

And I just think that it's something that

it's just like, we just underestimate

653

the power of like so much, you know, and

I think it's really like, It was like

654

such a spiritual experience for me, the

whole thing, the whole thing, even though

655

it was like, so painful, it was such a

spiritual experience and you know, it

656

just, like, it changed me and you know,

like I've always been somebody who served,

657

but you know, it, it just gave me a

whole new perspective of just kindness,

658

you know, and how powerful it is.

659

And I saw in so many kids lives.

660

And, and that there's

such a need for it too.

661

And what an interesting, fascinating, just

beautiful way to grieve that through your

662

grieving process, you were actually able

to help others through theirs as well.

663

Right?

664

Like that you were there, you

needed them and they needed you

665

and that you guys were able to come

together and experience it together.

666

I think one of the hardest things

about grief in general is that

667

if you're not in it, it's very

hard to know what people need.

668

It's also very hard to

669

So, I've had a handful of experiences

in the last few years that I feel

670

like God is teaching me how to be

a compassionate griever, like be

671

a griever alongside someone else.

672

And it is not an enjoyable

thing to choose, right?

673

Like for many of us, we

don't choose our grief.

674

It just hits us.

675

But when, like, if, if it's

someone that you love, you have

676

to choose to step into that space.

677

Yeah.

678

And, and making that choice

is a hard choice and yet it's

679

the only way we get through.

680

Like we mourn with those that mourn.

681

That's the, that's the commitment we make.

682

Right.

683

Yeah.

684

And so to be able to do that with all

these kids that, I mean, and now they have

685

this amazing experience of having gone

through that and knowing what it's like

686

to, they're not burying their feelings.

687

They're just feeling them.

688

Right.

689

They understand.

690

And that's, and that's how we

get empathy and compassion is

691

to go through these hard things.

692

And, you know, it's interesting that

you say that about, you know, like we

693

mourn with those who mourn is somebody

once asked me, like, what is the kindest

694

thing that anybody has ever done for you?

695

And, and I was like, Oh, so people

have done so many like kind things

696

for me, you know, especially,

especially during that time.

697

But, um, I have this one like memory and

I was at church and we were, like, Sundays

698

were so hard for me because, like, that

was a time where it, like, his absence

699

was just, like, so, like, big because

we were always together on Sundays, you

700

know, and I, I couldn't make it through

like I could not make it through church

701

without getting up and like, you know,

sobbing and, and the music, they'd

702

start singing and I'd start sobbing.

703

But I remember this one particular

time that I was like, we were singing

704

and like, we were singing a hymn and

I was crying and in like in the songs

705

in between my sobs, like I could hear

somebody like two rows back and they were

706

crying and they were grieving with me.

707

And like, that is the kindest

thing that like anybody has ever

708

done for me was to grieve with me.

709

And I, I like knew she was grieving for

me and just, I mean, so many people,

710

like I felt the prayers, like I felt

like the grief and it really was like

711

the kindest thing because it's such

a lonely, like a hard journey and

712

it never ends, you know what I mean?

713

And so.

714

It's just knowing that people

are, like, sad with you and

715

they're, like, grieving with you.

716

And I think that's why his friends

brought me so much, like, comfort,

717

because I knew that they were,

like, grieving with me, you know?

718

I knew they missed him,

you know, as much as I did.

719

I actually had a thought

about this, uh, recently.

720

I was thought, I was wondering about this.

721

Why are we commanded to

grieve with those that grieve?

722

And I just thought, what if What

if there's a specific amount of

723

grief that has to pass through us?

724

And what if, this is just like, you know,

my musings, but what if every time I

725

show up for somebody who's in that grief

space, I get to just carry some of it?

726

You know?

727

I don't know.

728

Maybe?

729

Like, just that chance is worth it.

730

But don't you think it's interesting

because like after that had happened,

731

I had some people, two, two, two people

Girls that I knew in high school.

732

I wasn't like super close with them, but

I grew up in a small town So everybody

733

was friends and they reached out to

me and I felt so I wasn't ever mean to

734

them in high school I felt so bad that I

wasn't I didn't, wasn't better with them.

735

Why did I not show them

more, more compassion?

736

And it's really like, until you go

through it and you understand it,

737

that you, you under, you can have

more compassion, empathy for them.

738

And, and I didn't even experience

this, you know, interesting.

739

I just went through a divorce and it

was like, it's been really, really hard.

740

And it's grief because I'm grieving

the loss of like my family, you

741

know, in a marriage and stuff.

742

And, and, um, I, you know, I often

say like, gosh, going through a

743

divorce, it's been, it's been harder

than not harder in different ways.

744

Harder than losing a child.

745

Because when I lost a child,

people rallied around me and they

746

felt bad for me and they love me.

747

And therefore you with a divorce, like,

It's still grief, but people aren't as

748

like, they, they didn't, they haven't

been rallying around me as much as they

749

did with my son, which understandable.

750

But I'm just like, this has

been very, like, this is lonely.

751

And, but I have so much compassion for

people who've gone through divorce now.

752

So now when somebody says I'm going

through divorce, and especially in the

753

circumstances that I went through it,

where it's like, Oh my gosh, it's so hard.

754

Like, I am here for you.

755

Like what, how can I support you?

756

How can I love you?

757

And it's like, you go through

these things so that you.

758

You gain that understanding.

759

It's, I think that it's a

catalyst, like grief is a catalyst

760

for your spiritual growth.

761

Like it, it like speeds it up because

you see your perspective changes.

762

Because you have, like, experienced

so much pain that you understand,

763

like, what's really important and you

value things that you didn't before.

764

Yeah.

765

Oh, just as kind of a silly example,

I remember having my first son and

766

just immediately wanting to call

my mom and be like, I'm so sorry.

767

I'm so sorry you went through that so many

times because all of a sudden I got it.

768

All of a sudden I understood.

769

And obviously nobody's grief is the same.

770

None of us can ever understand exactly

what someone else is going through,

771

but you bring up a really good point.

772

Those who need us the most are

probably the ones that most people

773

don't realize are suffering, right?

774

Like, what if we just went out

there automatically assuming

775

everyone was suffering and everyone

was carrying a hidden load?

776

Yeah.

777

But you have to go through to

understand that even my own children,

778

you know, like, not that they're

not sad and they don't miss their

779

brother, but my daughter was eight

and my son was 12 when he passed away.

780

And You know, like I'm crying today,

I've been crying today about it

781

and, you know, my kids don't get it.

782

Like, they're like, yeah, I miss him.

783

But like, gosh, you're

been so sad for so long.

784

And I'm just like, one day you will

understand when you have children,

785

one day you'll understand this pain.

786

And so I think it's just like,

you have to go through stuff.

787

You have to like, you have to go.

788

That's why we're here is to learn, you

know, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's,

789

it's, it's, how we get closer to Christ.

790

So, yeah, absolutely.

791

Okay.

792

The last thing I want to say that came

to me when you were first talking about

793

this experience was all the wonderful

letters you got about your son and

794

how he had touched people's lives.

795

And I just thought all of the things

that he did, like it's like 1 million

796

times compounded through his passing.

797

Like the fact that he left

was able to do so much.

798

Yeah.

799

So much good.

800

Yeah.

801

No, yeah.

802

To bring all these kids together and

to inspire you to create this thing.

803

Like what a, that's how God

created beauty out of the ashes.

804

That just, yeah.

805

It was a really amazing thought.

806

Yeah.

807

Yeah.

808

No, it, it, it has.

809

And my daughter has said that not

too long ago, she just said, you

810

know, like that there's been lots

of blessings since he, you know,

811

and I'm like, no, there has there.

812

And I think that, I think that's important

to like, I, I think it's innate for me.

813

I'm naturally like an optimistic person.

814

You know, I, I have always had like

a lot of gratitude and I think it's

815

something I've worked on, but something

that, that does come naturally to me.

816

But you know, I was never

angry at God and lots of people

817

are when they lose children.

818

You know, I was, I was just grateful that

I got him for the time that I got him.

819

I was grateful I was chosen

to be his mom, you know?

820

And, but I just think like always

looking for like, there's blessings in

821

everything, no matter like how hard it is.

822

Like there's always like, You know,

we have a merciful God that like he,

823

he gives us trials, but he blesses us.

824

Absolutely.

825

Oh my goodness, Brittany.

826

What a beautiful, beautiful story.

827

Thank you so much for being willing to

be vulnerable with us and share it all.

828

It's just so beautiful.

829

And I hope it inspires other people to

go and do that thing they're feeling

830

called to do no matter how hard it

seems, because there's a reason.

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And, and that God is calling

us specifically to use

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those gifts he's given us.

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And we have to have the courage to do it.

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I love it.

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Yeah, for sure.

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Thank you so much.

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Do you want to share with our audience

where they can find you, where they

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can get some amazing business tips?

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You guys have to go follow Britney.

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She's got tons of wisdom.

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Um, well, my, my nonprofit,

you can find me on www.

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showcompassion.

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org.

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And then I'm on Instagram, um,

compassion club, but my website for

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my business is brittanyschroeder.

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com.

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And I'm on all the

social medias at britney.

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schroeder.

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So you can go to Instagram.

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That's my main, and then you can

find me on all the other places.

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So yes, follow her on Instagram.

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She's got so many great tips.

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Thank you so much for joining us.

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I so appreciate it.

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Thanks for having me.

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Are you ready to start or

grow your dream business?

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Click the link in the show notes to

download the free starter guide to

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building a business or to schedule

a free coaching call And if you

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loved this episode, Don't forget

to leave a review and share it with

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a friend who might be feeling the

call to burn a little brighter.