MSG Presents: Tales From The Start Up: We Broke Up, But Who Keeps The Company?

Tales From The Start Up: We Broke Up, But Who Keeps The Company?

A listener from the West Coast writes in about the nonprofit organization he built from scratch with his girlfriend, focusing on yoga and self care for at risk youth. The organization is finally thriving with funders, donors, and community support, just as their relationship falls apart. 

Now his ex is claiming control of the nonprofit and telling him to walk away, leaving him torn between fighting for what he built or protecting the mission. 

Eric and Big Stew unpack the emotional and practical sides of that choice, ultimately leaning toward taking the high road, preserving the integrity of the organization, and using the experience as a powerful resume and credibility builder while opening the door to new opportunities.

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Transcript

Tales from the Start -Up Non profit

 [00:00:00] Alright, so we got a segment that we started doing recently. So you all know we would do the characters from corporate, but we we're really big into entrepreneurship. So we feel like we needed to do something also that had, with, that we came up with tales from the startup.

Tales from the startup is just these real stories about things that happened when you started your company or you thinking about starting them. Same as we always say, please hit us up with your story. You don't need to give your name. Anything specific, just tell us the gist of your story. Me and Stu will talk about it on the air and give you, give up a little bit of life game.

So here's the one from this week, Stu. Okay. Says Hey, I'm checking in from the west coast. I don't wanna say the city. Hmm. Oh, like we said, that's fine. Thanks for doing this segment. I have some stuff to get off my chest. Mm. I'm a black male, gen Xer, age 44. My girlfriend and I started a not-for-profit two years ago.

We started from scratch, built everything from the [00:01:00] ground up. Our organization has to do with introducing yoga and other self-care practices to at risk youth. Now. That's what's up. I love that. Love that. So the organization, he says is doing really well now. We have funders, donors, and a lot of support, which is great.

We put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this thing. So it's good to see it pan off in our mission being accomplished, but. Here's the thing. Stu Uhoh, he says, my girlfriend and I are breaking up. Thanks. And he says, we literally grew apart from building this organization one too many arguments. We both found some love and other places, et cetera, et cetera.

Mm. So my question to you and Stu is now that we're going our separate ways, she's basically telling me that the organization is hers to control. And I can kick and I can kick rocks. Wow. She told you to kick rocks. All right. Should I fight for [00:02:00] what I helped to start up and build or just keep it moving?

Our board, our board of directors support would be about 50 50 split either way, if that helps. Wow. It's a lot. It's a lot. So they started a not-for-profit couple. You know, they, they were doing their thing. The organization got really successful. Girlfriend, boyfriend yoga self-care practices for at-risk youth.

Now, you know, one too many arguments. He said they're gonna go their separate ways. He's basically saying, yo, should I just move, keep it moving, or should I fight for what I hope to build Big Stu, what are your thoughts? Well, you know, fighting for it is gonna, it is gonna tear the board up. You know, if you're getting into this fight with your ex about the control of this nonprofit, it's gonna split the board.

It's gonna split the integrity of the organization. You know, my, my mature self is like, bro, you know, [00:03:00] take it on the chin, let it go. Let it go. It's, to me, it's always easy to let it go. Just let it go, man. Let it go. But I understand you built something, it's your baby, you know? But I just think in this case, fighting for control is going to tear the organization up.

And unless you're. If you're, if you, if you own that, you trying to tear it up, fight for it. But if you're trying to really let it thrive, let it have control of it and support when, when asked and where needed in the future. And that's a very, very mature statement. And I'm sure it was, it's probably easy for me to say it.

Easier said than done. Okay. Have you ever heard let go, give it to her? Yeah. Have I? No. Thank God I have not. I have not. I have [00:04:00] not. I have not. I have not. So again, that's why I know it's easy for me to say that. Probably easier said than done. What about you, man? Because. You know, even right now as he was reading, I was thinking about you and your wife, you know, you all have business together.

So what does that look like? I mean, what do you think about this tale from the startup? Yeah. I think this is a real thing. I, I, I think it's something that we don't talk about in culture enough. We always talk about start your business, do your own thing and all that. But some of these, these other things that come up, I think we need to have a little more guidance for people when they come up.

So I have been in this situation in the past and I decided to do what Big Stu said, which was kind of just keep it moving and just sort of be okay with the fact that I did have a hand in it, but I don't want to disrupt the organization. I'm not saying that that's what anybody should do. Mm-hmm. I'm just saying that that's what I did.

And it's kind of like that reason, what they call it, people are in [00:05:00] your life for a reason, seasons and reasons. Yeah. So. This organization could have been in your life for a reason and a season. And maybe because when I did that, when I walked away, it actually opened up at least 10 other doors. Mm-hmm. So just keep, look at it as like a resume builder, credibility, establisher.

And my, my advice will be to think about keep keeping it moving. And I also also think, you know, it is, it's if there's a sense of confidence and there's a sense of swag in being like, letting it go. It's like they'll never be able to forget you. Even if they try, you know, you're one of the founding members of this nonprofit, so rest on that.

You good. You did that. Send your, like he said, send your resume. You good. Let it go. Yeah. And people will try to write you out of the script. Sometimes I've been in that situation where you help found something and then your name is never mentioned. But the great thing about things these days is that you can put stuff on your social media.

[00:06:00] You could still let people know you had involvement without disrupting anything. Absolutely. So tell your, tell your story. Take the High road brother. Huh? Tell us from the startup, from Tell, tell Brother to take the high road on this edition of Tales from the Startup. Yeah. Tell us from the startup. So, I like these man.

We might do characters from corporate next time, but we gotta definitely mix in the entrepreneurship. Please send us your stories. The crazier, the better. People need to hear these things. It's great to be an entrepreneur, but it's a lifestyle that has many, many challenges as, as big two can tell you as well as myself.