Today we’re speaking with Justin Levy, the Executive Director of Conscious Alliance, a US nonprofit bringing healthy food into underserved communities and fusing music with opportunities to make a positive impact. Through their Art That Feeds food drives at concerts and festivals they deliver over 2 million meals a year.
Work with Laura Hartley:
Web: www.laurahartley.com
Instagram: @laura.h.hartley
FB: @laurahartley-publiclove
LinkedIn: @laura-hartley-
TRANSCRIPT: Please note transcript was automatically generated and has not been edited. It may contain errors or omissions.
[00:00:00] Justin Levy: What I’ve learned in my life is a couple things. Be willing to dream the dream and then get out of your own way in the sense of no action is too small. So you wanna do something, dream big, but don’t get overwhelmed with the top of the mountain. Just start.
[00:00:25]
[00:00:25] Laura Hartley: I’m Laura Hartley and welcome to the Public Love Project. This podcast is all about re-imagining and remaking the world, creating the conditions for social healing and collective thriving. Each week, we dive into topics around resilience, social change, birthing, and more just, and regenerative world and how we can use our head heart and hands in action. Before i introduce today’s guest and topic though i have one request head on over to apple podcasts or spotify wherever you’re listening and hit subscribe rate and review it helps us work to reach new listeners
[00:01:05] Today’s guest on the public love project is Justin Levy. Justin has served as the executive director of conscious Alliance since 2012. A us nonprofit, bringing healthy food into underserved communities and fusing music and opportunities to make a positive impact. Through the art that feeds food drives at concerts and festivals, they deliver over 2 million meals a year.
[00:01:27] So I’m really excited today to welcome to the show, Justin.
[00:01:30] To kick us off today. I would love to know maybe a little bit about you and your story and how you came to be working with Conscious Alliance.
[00:01:38] Justin Levy: Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for having me.
[00:01:40] I’m really looking forward to sharing the time with you and the listeners today. I started with Conscious Alliance. 18 years ago. I met two brothers outside of a concert in Denver, Colorado, and they were collecting food at the concert, encouraging concert goers to donate food. And when I went up and talked to them, I found out that they were supporting Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.
[00:02:11] A few years prior to that, my high school guidance counselor had brought me to South Dakota to the Crow Creek Reservation, which is about four hours away from Pine Ridge. And I had a really transformational experience in my own life. And within just a few weeks started volunteering and on my journey with Conscious Alliance to make sure that kiddos and families were.
[00:02:40] What was
[00:02:40] Laura Hartley: it that drew you to volunteer there? What was your experience like at the time?
[00:02:44] Justin Levy: So I was born with cerebral palsy, the leading up to my birth my brain bled, So I was born with cerebral palsy and when I was born, the doctor said to my parents like, we have no idea what Justin’s going to accomplish.
[00:03:05] We’re just gonna have to wait and see. And so I went through hundreds of hours of physical therapy. I went through. Over 10 operations. Learned how to walk four different times and all while. Struggling with dyslexia at the same time. And so it pulled me out of school so much. Especially in middle school.
[00:03:30] I had a, a couple surgeries that completely took me outta school. I got really behind in math and was having a hard time and I remember wheeling my wheelchair into my guidance counselor’s office. And before I even said anything, he said, “that sounds important. Close the door”. So I closed the door and he says, I have a meeting I’m supposed to go to, but I really don’t want to.
[00:03:57] Let’s chat. And that was the beginning of a relationship that fully helped sculpt who I am today and, and what I’m up to. That first conversation and, and many others to follow. We would just talk about life and about books that I was listening to at the time, and every once in a while he would say to me, you get it.
[00:04:27] I remember thinking to myself, What, like, I get what, you know, I can’t read, I can’t walk. Like what do I get? And I, I started thinking like, and it, it was years later that I would realize, you know, that he saw something in myself at the time that I didn’t see. Right. So, I graduated middle school. I don’t know if I graduated or they just pushed me forward.
[00:04:50] But I went to high school. He wound up becoming my guidance counselor, getting transferred and asked me if I wanted to start a program with him to bring at risk youth to the Crow Creek Reservation in South Dakota that I mentioned. And I absolutely said yes, but where I’ll stop is I didn’t know that I was one of the at risk students.
[00:05:09] Laura Hartley: He sounds like a powerful guidance counselor.
[00:05:11] Justin Levy: Absolutely. You know, taking the time to make the connections and, and see the gifts that folks can’t see in themselves.
[00:05:20] Laura Hartley: And then when you started, you know, obviously this program and you started volunteering and you started being a part of this, what was it that shifted in your life?
[00:05:30] Was it the shifted maybe in how you saw
[00:05:32] Justin Levy: yourself? Great question. For me, I had grown up with the belief that I had angels in my life, and it wasn’t necessarily just metaphysical. It was people who were taking the time to show up for me and support me, whether it was helping me with homework, whether it was physical therapy, surgeries teachers, right?
[00:06:03] My parents, my brother. And, and to me it was angels showing up to help me along my path and when I went to Crow Creek Reservation the only class I was good at was photography, so I brought my camera and we were at a powwow. And I, I spent time with this 11 year old who Was a beautiful dancer and you know, we didn’t know each other at, at all.
[00:06:36] You know, we just spent a couple hours together. The rule at the [00:06:40] time was like, if you take pictures, you have to send them to the family because you know, gains access to family portraits and things along those lines. Well before the iPhone and technology of that type. We got back to Chicago area, and I remember going into my counselor’s office and he said, I wanna see all the pictures that you, you took.
[00:07:04] And I showed him and he informed me that the day that we left, that 11 year old took his life.
[00:07:11] Laura Hartley: Oh my gosh, how
[00:07:12] Justin Levy: heartbreaking. For me, that was a moment of knowing this was my time to become a support system. I didn’t have to return the favour to folks that had supported me in my life. This was an opportunity for me to support others who I knew or didn’t know.
[00:07:33] Right? And, and it was that pivotal moment of I was never helpless.. I was always pushing forward, wanting to accomplish, you know with a, the tenacity and drive that I have today. But what clicked for me there was like, I have an opportunity to use my skills, my compassion, my empathy to support kiddos. So, Graduating high school, flying out to Colorado, meeting two brothers just weeks afterwards, who were collecting food outside of a concert.
[00:08:16] For me, it was an absolute no brainer. Like the Stars align. They’re supporting Native American reservations, they’re supporting youth through feeding people through music. My passions and today I say turning our passion into action.
[00:08:32] Laura Hartley: I love that. I love one of the things you said there was, you know, you referred to your compassion and your empathy as skills, and I think that’s a really important framing because a lot of the time we don’t see them in that way.
[00:08:44] That they, they are a gift that we have to offer and that they are skills that we can cultivate within ourselves as well. I’m curious. How, what’s your experience of that been? You know, how do you find that compassion kind of drives you now and what you’re offering today
[00:09:01] Justin Levy: in a leadership role and based on my past experience, the first group of teams that I ever created were teachers, doctors, friends who believed in me, support me. Right. And so again, leaning back on, on my experience within Conscious Alliance now and in my adult life, I have a skill set of developing teams.
[00:09:31] It used to be for me, so that I could get my needs taken care of. Literally like learning how to walk for the fourth time. Right now, it’s translated into developing teams of compassionate people who want to put their superpowers to good.
[00:09:56] Laura Hartley: How do we do that? Because you know, a lot of the people listening to this, you know, like a lot of us are working in aid spaces, you know, we’re working in non-profits or NGOs or in some form of helping capacity for the world.
[00:10:09] But a lot of the traditional leadership advice out there is actually kind of at odds with creating a really compassionate team. So how do we, how do we do that? How do we foster that sense of belonging?
[00:10:18] Justin Levy: It’s about building culture. It’s about building shared goals, shared values, and and creating multiple spaces, right? So being willing to have a conversation that. Maybe it’s just about connecting with your team, and it doesn’t have to do with work. Maybe it’s just about finding, learning and appreciating where people are at today, this month, this year.
[00:10:45] Right? And it can be in the same conversation, but it can also be a separate conversation of these are the goals, this is what we’ve agreed upon. And this is what we need to execute, not for us, but to deliver on our mission of again, what we’ve agreed upon so they don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
[00:11:10] Right? But at the end of the day, we are here to do a job. We’re here to do a really great job. And it can be built on empathy and compassion, but, and with that has to come other skills too. Cause it’s not just about helping, it’s about empowering, changing the food system, supporting the environment, right?
[00:11:37] Like we’ve taken on a really big project, not alone, we’ve taken it on as Conscious Alliance. So what we’re doing here is we are building a Conscious Alliance and together we’re creating great impact.
[00:11:55] Laura Hartley: Which, you know, I would actually love, maybe it’s Conscious Alliance has come a long way, I love what you guys are doing and there is so much about our food system that needs to change and there is so much you know, really about the way we’re connecting with other people as well that needs to develop.
[00:12:09] Can you tell me a little bit about what Conscious Alliance does now and the support that you guys are offering? What are you hoping to change?
[00:12:17] Justin Levy: Absolutely. So we started in 2002 with a really simple idea, again, of engaging young people by hosting food drives, at concerts and supporting local organizations and community leaders to feed their community.
[00:12:32] When I came on board as a volunteer in 2004, I helped expand their reach by working with different bands, different demographics. I was living, I was going to college in Asheville, North Carolina with a reading machine in my room because I didn’t learn how to read till I was 21. Right. And so it was really about, again, pulling people in to support the mission.
[00:12:59] When I took over operations in 2010 and then, and then as executive director in 2012 for me it was about growing the impact, bringing more people along on the journey, right, and expanding the reach while being true to [00:13:20] the heart of our founding story and supporting Pine Ridge Reservation. So we work, we’ve been working hard.
[00:13:28] We, we do work hard to increase relationships in, in the music industry, right? The touring artists that we’re working with through the transition from the brothers who founded the organization. They had some really great wins and, and we developed together a relationship with Justin’s the peanut butter company, when they had three employees.
[00:13:52] And I hope by now you’ve been able to enjoy one of their peanut butter cups cuz they’re delicious. But Justin’s has been, I
[00:13:58] Laura Hartley: actually haven’t but it’ll have to be on my list.
[00:14:00] Justin Levy: No, it has to. Justin’s was founded in Boulder, Colorado where we were founded and they had three employees and they were trying to decide what nonprofit to support and they picked Conscious Alliance.
[00:14:12] It’s amazing and that same in the next few months. Whole Foods bought Wild Oak’s Grocery Store and they donated a million dollars worth of private label food to Conscious Alliance. It was like, whoa, we went from trying to find food to figuring out how to distribute food. Right. And yeah, a
[00:14:30] Laura Hartley: totally different set of of, of problems and skill sets there
[00:14:33] Justin Levy: as well.
[00:14:34] Absolutely. Right. So it was about leaning on connections. Like all of a sudden we were learning trucking and logistics in a, in a completely different way. Right? So again, we can lead from a place of empathy and compassion while developing the skill sets or bringing in the skill sets that we need, but we can always go back to that foundation of who we are as an organization.
[00:15:00] Right? So we started getting more natural food companies on board. We got Plum Organics, the baby food company on board. They introduced us to Suja Juice and all of a sudden we had our own flavor at Whole Foods. And it was, you know, the slow trickle, but there was food to be had and there were bands who were willing to play shows and have an impact with us.
[00:15:24] And there were a couple moments that I can highlight where it clicked. I was at a conference and I was learning about Best by, used by and sell by dates on food. And at that conference I learned that those dates are arbitrary, that they really
[00:15:38] Laura Hartley: are like, and I, for anybody listening like that, don’t get me wrong, there are sometimes like certain.
[00:15:43] You should really listen to that. But for the most part, they are completely arbitrary.
[00:15:48] Justin Levy: The FDA here says, you know, use your taste, your smell, and your sight to decide, right? So a protein bar, a granola bar, it’s not going bad at that date, right? It’s a, a bag of pasta. And so, What I realized is it’s about brand vanity and it’s like when you buy the product at full price, you want the best taste.
[00:16:12] You want the best touch, you want the best consistency for your consumer, which is a beautiful thing. But I realised as Conscious Alliance, we knew all these hunger heroes around the US, folks that were fighting hunger in their communities every single day that we had interacted with by going on tour with touring professionals and touring musicians. We knew trucking and logistics, right?
[00:16:37] So we started picking up product from brands warehouses by the semi load. So not only are hunger Relief Organization, we’re also have become an environmental organization stopping food from going into the landfill and instead getting this incredible product that’s already been created into the hands of kiddos and families in need across the country.
[00:17:02] Laura Hartley: I love this and you know, I wish I could remember the stat, but it is something like this incredible amount of food waste every single year, which goes into landfill, which is obviously contributing to environmental crisis and the climate crisis that we’re in, so we’re seeing this kind of intersection of where you guys are at, that yes, there’s environmental work, but it’s also about serving people.
[00:17:23] It’s also about serving people who are in need and people who are hungry. And serving communities and doing that as well with this element of like art and play and music and this incredible element that all comes together. Do you think this is kind of what makes you special? This intersection?
[00:17:38] Justin Levy: , I think there’s a lot of things that make Conscious Alliance special, and I think it starts with the community behind us, the countless hours
[00:17:54] thousands of people have put into this organization to make it what it is today, right? The staff, the folks that show up every day and give of themselves, our board, our volunteers, the musicians, the artists that are creating the posters, right? The, the folks on the ground feeding their communities.
[00:18:18] Every day our connection to the communities we serve like Pine Ridge. I mean, I think. It is just that it doesn’t go over my head that our name is Conscious Alliance and our opportunity is to lean in and be a conscious alliance,
[00:18:33] Laura Hartley: which, you know, the foundation of of an alliance, I think is relationships.
[00:18:38] It’s, it’s partnership building, which it’s a skill a little bit like what we’ve been talking about because you know, sometimes working with other humans is not always easy. And sometimes it’s working with people with different skill sets and different beliefs in different areas.
[00:18:52] How do you navigate this? What do you feel is kind of the, the foundation to building strong relationships as an
[00:18:59] Justin Levy: alliance?
[00:19:00] I think internally it’s about paying attention to what makes people tick. What makes them have that spark? What makes them fall in love and feel in love with their work? And we all have to do some things that, you know, maybe we’re working against the grain and it’s, it’s hard to do and maybe it’s not our sweet spot, right?
[00:19:25] Like, I’m still not a great reader, but I have to read every day. Right? At the same time, let people lean into. What they’re up to, what they love, what they believe in, and like as much as possible, let people do their thing. Let them like feel their magic. I think that that’s really important and I think going a layer outside of that, as we talk about relationships, it’s about authenticity.[00:20:00]
[00:20:01] Celebrating our community’s wins. And what I mean by that is not in. Calculated. We need something from somebody, right? But like really getting to know our partners, our friends, our supporters, our fans, right? And like celebrating those moments with them. A new job, a, a new family member whatever it might be, and, and like being there with them during the hard times too, and, and, Hey, we’re here for you and like really showing up, you know, or I’m thinking about you, and it’s not for a calculated, Hey, we, we, it’s not about the sale, right?
[00:20:50] It’s like that, that becomes so apparent, so quickly and inauthentic, right? But like, if we. And I speak broadly, like if we as leaders and, and as just people in the world, right? Not even leaders, just people in the world. When we truly give a shit, it shows. And so just leaning into that and, and showing up for people and allowing people to show up for us, it builds this incredible symbiotic relationship where we can all thrive a little more. .
[00:21:30] Laura Hartley: I, I love that. And I, I think authenticity is such a big piece and it, it is sometimes so hard to do sometimes because it comes with an element of vulnerability and it’s also what actually builds that kind of foundation of safety, that trust that we have with one another.
[00:21:46] Because if we don’t have that, Then, you know, there’s, it’s, it’s very much like sand underneath us. There’s not really much there that’s holding us together. I’m, I’m curious as well to touch on, something I mentioned earlier, this idea of, of burnout in nonprofit spaces. Have you seen this experience, this because like burn, I can see your face right now.
[00:22:08] It’s like, for anybody listening, like burnout is everywhere. Like how, how’s your experience of this? Have you burnt out before? What do you do about it? How do we start to kind of move forward in cultures that, you know, really promote our thriving, as you say.
[00:22:23] Justin Levy: As you said to the listeners, like my, my face lights up, of course I’ve experienced burnout.
[00:22:28] And I don’t think it’s just in the nonprofit space, but I think it, it shows up here and you know, it’s a topic of conversation. It’s a buzzword within topics of conversation. Yes, I’ve experienced it. Yes, I’ve fought through it with tenacity of the same tenacity of wanting to run when I was four and being told I could only walk.
[00:22:50] Right. Like it’s there’s a lot to push through and I think that sometimes those moments can create the vulnerability you were speaking of and the authenticity that comes with those moments. And no, it’s not where we want anyone to be or where we wanna push ourselves, but I, I’d be lying if I said, Hey, it, it’s never happened.
[00:23:16] Right? Of course it happens, but I think it and there’s not one fix, right? So this is the part that takes um, constant work on all of our parts, our, our own responsibility as individuals and then our responsibility as leaders too. I think that everybody owns a little piece of finding what works for them.
[00:23:43] Right. And then I think from a leadership role we have to push, I think, I know that I have to push to support the team. And sometimes it’s counterintuitive to the, the dual conversation that we started here with. Results and verse compassion and connection. Right. I think our biggest asset is our team.
[00:24:07] So the goal is to support them in delivering on our mission. And again, this looks different all the time, so I’ll throw out some concrete examples. Now, taking time as a team to exercise is something that we’ve done a lot for about a year during the pandemic and prior to the pandemic. We would go work out every Wednesday together and somebody on the team got to pick where we went.
[00:24:37] So it was an hour outside of the office where we got to move our bodies, right, and like do something completely different. Then during the pandemic. We continued it on zoom. We’ve shifted our work hours to do half day Fridays for a while. I love
[00:24:57] Laura Hartley: that. I’m a big fan of
[00:24:58] Justin Levy: that. Yeah. We’ve, we’ve shifted to just.
[00:25:02] Say like, Hey, we’re closing the office, right? Like, it’s about reading the room. And I am not saying that I am perfect at this. This is like something that is on my plate and, and challenges me daily because it’s always a moving target as far as what people need. But like sometimes it’s about, Just taking the day and going and doing an activity.
[00:25:28] Like a few weeks ago, we, we left the office and we went and hit golf balls, and like had lunch and it was like we went to a driving range. You know, nothing to do with work. Like it’s a, it’s
[00:25:43] Laura Hartley: a building relationships. It’s about more than work, right, exactly. It’s discovering who we are as like actual people.
[00:25:50] Justin Levy: And it makes some of the work stress and like the, the conflict melt away a little bit cuz you’re like, oh yeah, I’m just human. They’re just human. We had a nice time, right? Like people, then we get back to it, you know, and again, like none of this is the fix, like closing the office on Fridays is not the fix, right?
[00:26:12] Like, if it doesn’t come with the right intention, it’s just something that happened or it’s not the right fix forever, right? Like, maybe it’s just for a few weeks. Doing half day Fridays is an amazing thing, but it doesn’t have to be right? And so it’s about the, the message, the delivery, the. Is it working for people or would people rather say, Hey, I would love to pick a half day that I [00:26:40] would like off because I’ve got a family at home and it would really help if I, I could do this with them on Wednesday or, I really need to go to therapy and like I, I’d love to do that.
[00:26:52] Whatever, like, you know, for me I need to move my body so I, I take time and I leave and make sure I’m moving my body cuz it supports my brain and it supports my ability to, you know, not have my cerebral palsy become more than what it is, right? Like keep moving. So we all have different needs and it takes a lot more work to individualize.
[00:27:16] But when we can, it’s important and we can’t always, right? So like part of it’s like that recognition of, hey, we’re all doing our best, right? Like there’s no fix. And sometimes like people are ready to move on from their role too. And it doesn’t mean it was a bad fit, it doesn’t mean anything bad happened.
[00:27:39] Like
[00:27:40] Laura Hartley: sometimes we’re called to different
[00:27:42] Justin Levy: places. Yeah, we need different things.
[00:27:44] Laura Hartley: Yeah, I think that’s a big one. You know, sometimes we are staying in places that are no longer meant for us, that were meant for us at one time and were great. But then, you know, it is actually a new environment that we need a new team, a new challenge, something.
[00:27:58] And that sense of burnout can sometimes be a result of like, yeah, staying somewhere too long that is no longer meant for you. .
[00:28:06] Justin Levy: And I don’t think that that’s like there can still be an authentic conversation around that. It doesn’t mean a company’s culture has to change, right? Like maybe their culture is what it is and it’s just not the fit for that person anymore, or that leader anymore, or whoever, right? Like it could, it, it might not be the right fit for the founder anymore, but it doesn’t mean that anything was wrong or broken.
[00:28:33] You know, it’s, as you said, like different things serve us at different times, and the goal is to build on those building blocks and continue to go forward.
[00:28:44] Laura Hartley: As we kind of look at this idea of transition, I, I do have a question for you, which is, you know, so many of us, it’s so easy to see areas that need help and sometimes, you know, we see those areas and we have an idea.
[00:28:57] We’re like, wouldn’t it be great if somebody did this or wouldn’t it be great if this happened? And working up, the ability or the courage or whatever it is that we need to actually do it ourselves can be challenging to actually go, you know what? I see the need. I see something that could help. I’m gonna step up and try and actually start this initiative, start this community event, start this organization, whatever it might be.
[00:29:20] Do you, do you have any advice for somebody in that area?
[00:29:23] Justin Levy: Absolutely.
[00:29:24] What I’ve learned in my life is a couple things. Be willing to dream the dream and then get out of your own way in the sense of no action is too small. So you wanna do something, dream big, but don’t get overwhelmed with the top of the mountain. Just start.
[00:29:49] Laura Hartley: I love that. Just start. Don’t get overwhelmed with the top of the mountain. I think that is good advice for myself as well. Sometimes it’s so easy to look ahead and see everything, you know, and for it to kind of keeps you frozen. So then actually just, just starting and just taking that next step.
[00:30:06] Justin Levy: I utilized that similar feeling to propel me forward. I’m like, whoa, this is so big. This is overwhelming. This is so exciting. Like, let’s go. Like why? Like it doesn’t have to be perfect. It can be a little messy, right? So it’s like, Hey, we wanna do this thing. Well then let’s do it. It can be better in day two, month two, year two.
[00:30:35] Laura Hartley: Good enough to go safe enough to try.
[00:30:38] Justin Levy: What, like what is the worst that happens?
[00:30:40] Laura Hartley: And that’s the question here. I think there, there really is, it’s really never as bad as we think it will be. It’s just these, these kind of standards that we hold ourselves to, or these fears that we have about not being good enough or perfect or rejection or whatever it might be, you know, that keep us frozen in place.
[00:30:58] And I think there’s a lot invested in that. You know, the world as it is kind of benefits from that. But if we’re wanting to kind of shift the world and move the world to like, as it could, then, you know, it does require us to take those day by day, those small little steps that you’re talking about.
[00:31:13] Justin Levy: Yeah, I think, you know, those little steps put us in a different place 30 days later, three days later, a year later, and we have to also, this is something that I am fully working on, is stopping to celebrate the wins.
[00:31:34] I can often. Create the vision, push it forward, have the win, and already be onto the next three things. And like, you know, my team is coaching me on it. Like I have, I have a lot of support in this, but just, you know, it’s one of the things that I’m actively working on and, and like falter regularly of being like, oh yeah, that’s a win and that’s a win for everybody.
[00:31:59] And also, You know, we’re, we’re here to talk about work, but that’s like my safe zone, right? Like there are other parts where I’m like, man, what are my hobbies anymore? My hobbies have turned into my job. My job has turned into, you know, and so like, what does it look like as we get older to continue to create the new.
[00:32:20] We have so many pieces of who we are, right? Like I can be a leader in this role and completely shy, and timid a different role in my life. And like, that’s okay. That’s a beautiful thing.
[00:32:37] But it’s also startling , right? Like, yes, like take a test. It’s like, are you this? It’s like, well, in this scenario, yes, in that scenario, absolutely not. You know?
[00:32:50] Laura Hartley: This is so true. You know, there are areas of my life where I am incredibly confident and I feel like absolutely, like I can show up, I am a leader, like I’m good.
[00:32:59] And then there are other areas where, yeah, it’s, it’s terrifying still and it’s hard. And you know, there’s that feeling of like shrinkage. Yeah. And so navigating that, that two things can be true at once, and that our environment matters. 2,
[00:33:12] Justin Levy: 3, 4 things can all be like, it’s situational, right? I think it’s a beautiful thing as, and it’s, it is [00:33:20] challenging as could be.
[00:33:22] Mm.
[00:33:23] Laura Hartley: I have really enjoyed today’s conversation. I do have one last question for you, and you know, this podcast is about remaking the world, and I really think that’s part of what Conscious Alliance is doing. But what is your vision of a more just and regenerative world? If you, if you could really remake it in some capacity, what would be different?
[00:33:44] Justin Levy: That’s a big question. It is. It’s
[00:33:47] Laura Hartley: a very big question. Feel free to narrow it down to your area of interest. Cause it is a big question.
[00:33:51] Justin Levy: It’s a beautiful thing and I’m going to address it in a few ways. One, I’ll go back to taking action and if we really wanna create the world that we want, we have to start.
[00:34:06] I don’t have the magic paintbrush so to start over, so we’re going to, I’m going to continue to take this on as it is today, and do my part to make it a little bit better and a little bit brighter for as many people as possible. And.
[00:34:28] The other piece of that on an equally as important scale is to check in with our friends, check in with our family, and just reach out and let people know that you’re there for them. That we are here for each other. We can often. Get swept away in life and in our work and, and within Conscious Alliance, like, oh, it has to be big, it has to be truckloads it, you know, but it’s really about that individual connection that we’re talking about.
[00:35:03] And I think we could all use more support, more love mo more authenticity and, and so just checking in with our communities on a micro level to support one another through this journey that we’re all stumbling through together. Hmm.
[00:35:25] Laura Hartley: I love that. And I think those, those check-ins and that connection is so important.
[00:35:30] I really wanna say thank you so much Justin, for coming onto the show. It’s been a pleasure to have you and to learn about you and to learn about Conscious Alliance. So for anybody listening, you’ll be able to check out Conscious Alliance in all of the details in the show notes below. So please go have a look.
[00:35:44] Is there anything that you would like to leave us with or ways that people can get involved or learn a little bit more about you and the organization?
[00:35:52] Justin Levy: Yeah. Well, thank you so much for having me. It’s, it’s been a joy and we do have an amazing opportunity for folks right now. If they go to consciousalliance.org/takeaction, they can learn more about Conscious Alliance.
[00:36:08] Jump in, take action. If you complete three of the actions on the page, you’re gonna get entered to win two tickets to Red Rocks for any concert of your choice in 2023. So go to conscious alliance.org/take action. Watch a video, read an article, get entered to win free concert tickets for next. Ah, that
[00:36:30] Laura Hartley: sounds wonderful.
[00:36:31] Thank you again for coming on the show. For anybody listening, I do love it when you’re able to suggest guests or topics, so please reach out. You can visit me at my website @ laurahartley.com or follow me on Instagram at @laura.h.hartley,