Meet The Disruptors: Joe Ferrer Of Mailbox Money Community Foundation On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
I personally also think about my own faith and focus on that, and I value the people around me, who help me make this bigger and better. And we just do the work, together.
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Joe Ferrer.
Joe Ferrer seeks to enrich the lives of others through micro-philanthropy. After years of giving and then hosting his own ‘random acts of kindness day’ on his 40th birthday, Joe identified a gap in the philanthropy world. People wanted to give, especially towards kindness, but they didn’t believe their donations would make an impact. He sought to fill that gap by making it easier for people to amplify their giving through a nonprofit called Mailbox Money Community Foundation (Mailbox Money). As the founder, he has helped distribute random acts of kindness to over 550 people in 18 months by engaging over 400 individual donors. This community of like-minded individuals has given away over $50K.
In his professional life, Joe is a Financial Advisor, celebrating 20 years in the profession. His successful career and personal journey inspired Joe to become an author. Joe shares the secrets of his success in his best-selling book Mailbox Money and he talks about living a life of purpose in the best-selling sequel, Journey to the 5th.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I came from humble beginnings. I moved a lot. Sometimes money was super tight at home. I saw credit used as an extension of a paycheck rather than a tool to be careful with.
I knew from an early age that I didn’t want to have to fight to make ends meet and I didn’t want to struggle the way my parents did, so I learned how to be a frugal person.
Fortunately, I worked hard and ended up receiving a full football scholarship to Notre Dame. I’m really proud of that honor, but outside of that feeling I got on the field, I was able receive an incredible education. Another football player that is a Financial Advisor reached out to me and that’s how I chose my career, Financial Advising — because it spoke to my passion to be financially free and help others realize that gift as well.
Over the past several years, I’ve seen an explosion in my career and that led me to doing some wild things like authoring two best-selling books, and founding a nontraditional nonprofit, Mailbox Money Community Foundation aka Mailbox Money.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
I admit, it’s not uncommon for a Financial Advisor to get into nonprofit work. Many are philanthropic givers and volunteers.
I think the difference is that I founded a nontraditional nonprofit that is truly disruptive. People are tired of giving the same way old, rich people give. But who said you have to be rich to be a giver? No one. It’s a lie people tell themselves! You don’t have to be rich to give. And people are looking for a way to give that speaks to them. So, this nonprofit, Mailbox Money, helps the “I’m not rich” people amplify their giving through micro-donations.
You asked how it’s distruptive. We shake things up.
First of all, members donate $10 every month. It won’t break the bank. Secondly, if anyone can give, then anyone can receive a random act of kindness. Why? Everyone needs kindness. So, we don’t only give to people in need, which is what most nonprofits do. Third, we don’t have a specific cause. Today we may surprise an animal shelter with $2,000 worth of supplies from their wish list. Tomorrow we may end up crashing someone’s home closing with a $500 gift. We give to all kinds of causes. Mailbox Money members are changing the world $10 at a time with impactful random acts of kindness.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Ha! I remember thinking everyone would see a $10 monthly donation and automatically join the Mailbox Money community. I didn’t realize that even doing good is a competitive landscape and getting people to understand the impact and want to join would be so difficult.
The lesson I learned, is just do the work. The right people will find you when they’re supposed to.
Too often we get caught up in “right now”, but that’s because social and really society now, teaches immediate gratification. It’s just not reality when you’re running a nonprofit.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
We do all need help along the way. I’ve had a lot of people pour into me.
I think about Kevin Swan, Titus, Geoff Voorhees, Jerry Abbey.
The biggest thing is that you need to believe in yourself, but when you see someone else’s belief in you, from their vantage point, that’s an encouraging and motivating gift. I don’t think people understand the value of a mentor. When they give you their time, energy, and spend time with you, giving you access to their brain… Man, it makes a difference.
I remember one situation where my mentor drilled into me that you gotta keep your eye on the goal, even when it’s hard. Even when it feels like you can’t dig anymore, you dig harder and deeper. But that only works if you believe in yourself more than anyone else. That accountability and belief makes a difference. I’m encouraged when I see the faces and hear the stories of recipients of our acts of kindness. And when our members see those stories and know they helped make that happen, it just reaffirms what we are doing. It encourages me to keep digging.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
Disruption can be good, and it can be bad, based on the long-term effects.
Disruption is good when you give people access to experience something they couldn’t before — and that thing is good. So Instacart, Mailbox Money, etc. It’s cool that your average person can have someone else grocery shop for them, right? It’s cool that we’ve been able to show people that they can give even if they’re not giving thousands of dollars. They can still make a difference.
Now, of course disruption can be bad when you break down a system to make it cheaper, but you also decrease the value of the service, product, or quality of life. For example, our patience and attention are growing smaller. Why? Because we have disruptions in industries we don’t think make an impact — but they do. Like being able to binge watch a TV show. Once a week, my youngest son and I sit down and watch the new episode of Bel-Air. My son knows we are gonna watch it and then talk about it. It’s one of our weekly times spent together. But if we sat down and watched it in one shot over two days, that weekly experience goes away, and it’s cheapened by just getting through the show. Even Netflix seems to be reigning some of that back — they did two releases of the new Stranger Things season. Disney+ is releasing episodes one at a time too.
Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
When I think about best words of advice I’ve gotten, just a couple come to mind quickly. Someone once told me to “just do the work” and I think about that all the time. Sometimes we want things to happen in a certain way we’ve imagine or at a certain time, but if you just keep your head down and do the work, things will happen when they’re supposed to.
I personally also think about my own faith and focus on that, and I value the people around me, who help me make this bigger and better. And we just do the work, together.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” This is kind of crazy because I have not thought of it like this until now. I think Mailbox Money has made me a better giver and a better person, because I’m trying to be that kind person, and do good for others, and make a difference. Like I’m embodying the change I’m pursuing in the world. I wonder if when we are pursuing something, in our personal or professional lives, if we end up changing to embody that goal or greater good we seek.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
We want to go global. We’re in 19 states right now. However, I think we are made for more. I think Mailbox Money will make a massive difference, especially in areas where our money goes further. I think about the impact $10 can make in an international environment and how that will feel to the givers. Being able to see what your giving can do is important.
So, I want to speak to the global community of people that are looking for a more affordable way to give. I want those people to understand there’s an opportunity for them with us at Mailbox Money.
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
Oh man, I’m a reader. I love a good book, one that really tells a story and gives a lesson. Actually, Mailbox Money was a book before it was a nonprofit. The sequel to Mailbox Money is Journey to the 5th, which really digs into community giving. So yeah, I would say a lot of books influenced me on this journey — the journey of becoming an author and the journey of creating this disruptive nonprofit.
I think about The Alchemist, Celestine Prophecy, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Who Moved My Cheese? These are crucial books that bring you on a journey and tell a story. I really enjoy that style of writing, it makes me feel like I’m on a trip, my own journey and I’m learning these crucial, life-changing philosophies. Even with Rich Dad, Poor Dad, man, it’s just teaching in a unique way. I think I’ve retained a lot of what I learned because of that style of storytelling. Even the way I parent, the way I coach kids in football…
So, it’s not just the lessons I’ve learned…and there’s lessons in each of those books. For me, it’s about the storytelling in each of those books. That’s how you impact someone. You have to capture them with your storytelling and take them on that personal journey.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“What the mind can conceive, it can achieve.” The idea of believing. Having faith.
See it. Think about it. Believe in it. It may take a long time but it’s within your grasp.
The beauty of mastering your mind and training it to take you to where you want to be and then FURTHER. That’s the beautiful part of it when you go even further.
Think about Walt Disney. I’m sure a lot of what he envisaged has come to life, but I bet there is so much more now than even he imagined. Did Walt Disney imagine Disney Cruise Lines? Ya know? Did he imagine owning a private island for Disney’s cruise guests? His vision propelled the brand even further than his mind could fathom.
So, yeah, see it, think about it, believe in it. What the mind can conceive, it can achieve.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I think Mailbox Money is that movement for me. That’s why I founded the nonprofit. We help people amplify their giving because we truly believe in a world where everyone can be a giver. And I genuinely believe we can get there by organized micro-philanthropy, but the best part is that if we can accomplish that, we will create a happier, more generous, kind, and united society — and we need that now more than ever. Not just here, but everywhere.
Think about it. Members of one global organization committed to giving in kindness, from the United States, Denmark, South Africa, Australia, Japan, India, Brazil, and the list is endless. Everyone contributing to random acts of kindness all over the world. That’s the vision. And someone here is doing something incredible for someone in Romania. And someone in Romania is doing something awesome for someone in Mexico. That’s the synergy we’re going for. That’s the potential.
How can our readers follow you online?
You can follow me on Instagram @Global_Mailbox_Money, on Facebook and TikTok at @GlobalMailboxMoney
That’s where we post our giving videos, and our fireside chats where we really dig into giving, mailbox money and micro-philanthropy.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Meet The Disruptors: Joe Ferrer Of Mailbox Money Community Foundation On The Five Things You Need… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
