When Regina Ellis lost her daughter to cancer at the age of five-years-old, she set out to create an organization that brings joy to patients of all ages who are going through challenging times.
In this episode, hear how Regina instills joy in her organization, teams, and patient care, and how she overcame the darkest periods of her life.
Don’t miss this incredible interview with Regina Ellis, founder of the Children’s Cancer Association (CCA).
Episode Highlights:
01:25 - How Regina started CCA and her personal story of cancer impacting her family
03:43 - Getting through the death of a loved one
05:42 - How to keep families and teams together during challenging times
08:12 - How Regina adapted her leadership style during the health crisis
09:55 - How Regina and her team bring joy to people, even during the pandemic
12:06 - How music helps the kids at CCA
14:28 - What’s a typical day like for Regina at CCA?
16:07 - What is a chemo pal and what do they do?
18:47 - How someone going through a tough time during the health crisis can instill joy into their life
22:37 - Overcoming roadblocks
25:14 - The proudest moment at CCA
35:36 - What’s next for Regina
Guest at a Glance
Regina Ellis and her family founded CCA in 1995 after her five-year-old daughter Alexandra died of cancer. Along with other parents, pioneers, and dreamers she set out to create something extraordinary: an organization with a new vision for what pediatric cancer support services might look like.
Notable Quotes
“I love seeing our program team help facilitate and lead such quality programming in ways that we get to deliver joy based programming to kids.”
“I think if you don't have self-doubt, it doesn't keep you sharp.”
Greg: “what do I need to let go of to have the future I want?”
“what do you think life is asking of you? And do that.”
“This time that we are living through is less like a revolution and more like a Renaissance.”
Greg: “that proper belief will get us to take those actions to make it true.”
Transcript
[00:00:00] Greg Bell: [00:00:00] This is the Water the Bamboo podcast. I'm Greg Bell. The power of speaking can move mountains, inspire people to take action and create change in our world. Or in whatever you are passionate about. Our next guest is a prime example of that. She is the founder of CCA.
[00:00:36] I'm super excited. My next guest, she's the founder of CCA, Children's Cancer Association. It's a national program. And that provides joy to families and kids who are going through cancer and other terminal illnesses. It's an amazing program and she is an amazing leader.
[00:00:54] Regina Ellis did a TED Talk. Portland TEDx. And I was part of TEDx Portland, but I [00:01:00] remember watching her speak and just in tears, watching what she talked about, but the power which he spoke just moved me.
[00:01:08] And I watched her just this morning and I did the same thing. So I'm super excited to introduce our next guest to bamboo nation. Welcome to the podcast.
[00:01:16] Regina Ellis: [00:01:16] Pleasure to be here. Greg, thank you for having me.
[00:01:19] Greg Bell: [00:01:19] Really amazing. I know your story, you know, I watched your TED talk and I've met you at various TED events, but tell us, how did you get going with CCA? Tell us the story.
[00:01:29] Regina Ellis: [00:01:29] You know, I'd like to say that 27 years ago, I began to take a masterclass in depth. When my oldest daughter was diagnosed with cancer at a very young age, and I became a student of life and learned what it was like to live in pediatric healthcare environment and watch a young child fight for her life.
[00:01:53] And as kind of students of life, we pulled up a chair alongside Alexandra. [00:02:00] And what we saw was this, like, ability to find some way to access joy every day. And that kid, I mean, her just indomitable spirit was remarkable and she created a live list. You know, and we checked everything else on that live list, and she died on may 17, 1995.
[00:02:28] And what we did was bring a group of friends and professionals of dreamers, of makers to really think about, how joy has a place in wellness. And we began to develop joy based programs that had the power to summon joy and, music, and nature, and friendship are the three areas that the Children's Cancer Association over the last two and a [00:03:00] half decades have developed programs that reduce stress, anxiety, preoccupation with pain and maximize wellness for kids with cancer and life-threatening illness here in the Pacific Northwest and across the nation.
[00:03:15] Greg, as you may know, our goal is to change the standard of care for every young patient who walks into a hospital and can access joy.
[00:03:26] Greg Bell: [00:03:26] Yeah, I just can imagine 27 years ago, as you sorta described this, there had to be a lot of pain and darkness for you, even though now, you know, 27 years later, sort of living out this life of this idea of joy and sort of spreading that and helping families. Take us back to that, how you got out of it.
[00:03:43] I mean, you say you took a masterclass and death or, and then thought about life. You know, what, what about that? How does one get through that?
[00:03:53] Regina Ellis: [00:03:53] Yeah, well you know, cancer and COVID and a pandemic and race [00:04:00] moments and movements and historic fires that we're experiencing here in Oregon over the last six months, I think we can all relate in our lives, that being human is an extraordinary journey, right? And there are beautiful moments and there are moments that take us to our knees and I'm having a child with cancer. It is a leading cause of death by disease in the United States for kids. We began to access, acceptance and our own fragility. And we reached out to a network and people hold us through it and we weathered the storm of cancer, very similar to the way that I feel like my family and the team at Children's Cancer Association and my neighbors and all of us are weathering kind of through up and out of really dark times and those lessons happen again and again in [00:05:00] our collective lives.
[00:05:02] Greg Bell: [00:05:02] Yeah. That's one of the things I talk about in Water the Bamboo this notion of a bamboo circle, like no one gets through how success or even go through trying times, alone.
[00:05:13] And a lot of times people in these dark places isolate themselves, but it sounds like what you're talking about is that idea of a bamboo circle who's in that circle and to help you cope and grow. And it sounds like you relied on your close friends and your family and that, and I just remember years ago, working with your team, like your leadership team and thinking about this idea of keeping it that way. How do we keep our teams together in challenging times, moving forward from a leadership perspective? Could you just talk about that a little bit? Like how do you keep teams together or families together going through challenging times?
[00:05:49] Regina Ellis: [00:05:49] I think about three kind of critical elements to leading teams, especially in times of chaos and uncertainty.
[00:05:57] And that is in purpose with [00:06:00] clarity and with compassion and empathy. Right. So again, you know that his purpose is clarity, where are we going? And that is empathy, not looking at the same kind of game book that we had a month or a year prior. Right. Really being very dynamic. And those aspects help inform how I show up as a leader, as a community member here in the work that I have the privilege to do.
[00:06:30] I love how you think about and help us all be very intentional. Farming is such an intentional practice and the metaphor to leadership. Some people think leadership is well after you have been a leader for a decade or two or three, or have taken the helm of a chief operating, you know, executive or some type of senior officer in a corporation that you know how to lead, but it always is with [00:07:00] respect and intention of the times of the people and, the direction that we're leading our companies. So I love those beautiful metaphors and learning so that we can all with, bamboo nation, extract and revisit in times like this. Right.
[00:07:17] Greg Bell: [00:07:17] I love that idea. You have the, sort of, this idea of purpose and sort of really thinking about that.
[00:07:22] What was your purpose pre COVID? What was your purpose sort of being clear about that? And the clarity, and then the compassion and empathy leading with empathy, because this is everyone's first pandemic, right? It's your first time going through some, whatever challenge it is. So we have to give some, have some grace and empathy that I really appreciate that.
[00:07:40] But one of the things that, you also said kind of strikes me as an interesting thing to sort of play around with is this idea of the game has changed, right? So we need a new game plan, a new strategy. I know when COVID happened for me, I came up with the new strategy and game plan, like, you know, the [00:08:00] old guiding principles don't work.
[00:08:01] So I have to come up with some new guiding principles because the game and the lens has changed. I think that's a really an important element to sort of expound on. If you talk a little bit more about that.
[00:08:12] Regina Ellis: [00:08:12] I think it's applicable to every business, small, large, whether you are a mission impact or a for profit company, survival is in the way that we think about how the world will be in this next normal and how we will lead and our companies and people in mission.
[00:08:31] To meet the world where we will all be evolving and adapting at the Children's Cancer Association, Greg, very similar to you, we sat down and said, who do we want to be as we go through and out? And what are the lessons learned? Right. And our organization from a strategic perspective, pivoted immediately at the end of March and moved to a full kind of digital first investment in our programs here in this [00:09:00] region and across the nation. So we began to look at our .org platforms and properties, and really thought about telemedicine as a way that we would be connecting virtual bedside with kids, delivering music and nature and friendship in new and innovative ways. And I think about that adaptation that we all need to lead in our lives to be kind of thriving in the next normal.
[00:09:29] Greg Bell: [00:09:29] Well, talk to us a little bit more about the delivery of the services. How do you deliver joy? You know, I love this idea of sort of thinking about joy. Particularly in a family's most challenging time.
[00:09:41] How do you, how do you, you know, even, pre COVID talk about that part of it, but even post, I love that you're sort of shift, you have to shift and pivot, but what is that like? I mean, you know, joy is invisible, right? How do you bring joy to people?
[00:09:56] Regina Ellis: [00:09:56] The minute that I heard you bring this up, what do you mean [00:10:00] joy, healthcare setting, you know, joy with bald kids and cancer.
[00:10:05] How does that fit into the equation? Right. But I think that's the magic when things are simple and they make sense. You know, the healthcare environment hasn't changed for a century, right? We still use pharmaceutical and surgical interventions for cure for remission, right. Or palliative care and a young child, right, Alex, from three and four and five and five and a half years old, we saw her wellness, her quality of life improved dramatically. Right. She needs less pain meds. She'd stay out of the hospital longer. She'd not miss treatments because of blood counts. Right? Her daily mood was elevated when she could summon joy.
[00:10:55] And so as an organization, we looked at the science [00:11:00] around joy and looked at music. As way for kids to access for friendship and mentorship, right. Has a place in an environment where kids have no safe harbor, right? They're out of school and they're out of friend circles, and sports, and all of the social elements that help add quality to their life.
[00:11:21] And so we thought we can do this within a hospital environment. And be a part of an integrative care and of dynamic to support kids and maximize wellness. And that's exactly what we've done.
[00:11:35] Greg Bell: [00:11:35] That's amazing when you, I mean, I just get goosebumps on this because this idea of having a kid with cancer, you know, that's a sort of like, heart-wrenching right.
[00:11:44] And then you think, Oh, we're going to bring music to them. What? Like, like that's not even in a person's mind, but the idea that it would help them in this way is really quite remarkable. You saw that in Alex and you're trying to bring that to the world. I mean, that's kind of the simple [00:12:00] message here, right. But tell us about what do the musicians do with the kids? Tell us some stories around that.
[00:12:06] Regina Ellis: [00:12:06] So I'll tell you a little bit about how we look at what we call joy RX music, right? Our music medicine program, and what we knew 25 years ago was that music had a place from a music kind of formal therapeutic kind of a program trajectory, right?
[00:12:27] So they were doctor prescribed interactions in hospital, not much in pediatrics at that time, more in the kind of geriatric population, but their objective was to meet a doctor's orders. For example, Hey, Greg's in the hospital, he broke his arm. We want you to help move his arm with music. Right. And where CCA very early came in and innovated that is, we felt hospitals should be a place where kids are empowered to choose again.
[00:12:56] Right. Everything's been taken away from them. How do they [00:13:00] access joy? Summon joy, create this lifeline of how to feel better, right? Mood shift, through moments that they choose to use joy. And so we saw over the last decade and incredible body of evidence that proves that kids feel better, they have less pain. They are more connected with their families in the room when they are listening to music, sharing music or making music or learning music. Right. And that music had a way, Greg, of changing the way clinicians supported kids in hospital, right. They're under incredible stress. And when we have live, harmonic kind of hallway musicians playing, it changes the entire atmosphere, right. For that, the housekeepers, the rehab, the visitors. And it has a way to make us all feel better. That is non-pharmaceutical and nonsurgical. And we believe that is the future [00:14:00] of joy and the new standards of care that CCA is pioneering in pediatric health care.
[00:14:06] Greg Bell: [00:14:06] It is amazing because, you know, I have a go-to playlist for myself where my mood, you know, it's like, I can just hit, you know, I can imagine everyone listening can sort of relate to that idea, but sort of the, think about it as a prescription for people is definitely revolutionary.
[00:14:23] I mean, that's really pretty, really amazing. One of the things that I I'd be curious about just with CCA. Well, just you as the founder of this organization, sort of being there for a while, give us sort of a typical day for you. What does a typical day like for you? I mean, are you out fundraising? What are you working with your staff? What are you doing on a typical day? What's your routine?
[00:14:45] Regina Ellis: [00:14:45] Yeah, Greg, we have a team of 50 full-time workers. They are incredible professional staff. We train and support 1200 volunteers that are supporting us through the [00:15:00] community events through direct service to children as, for example, a chemo pal mentor, or a hospital music volunteer playing kind of live music, working with our music specialists in hospital.
[00:15:12] But as the kind of chief, I call myself the chief joy officer, my role role is in kind of strategic both long and short-term kind of business planning for the organization. Certainly it is in philanthropy with our major gifts in partnerships. It is in reducing barriers, right? How is my team successful in what do they need, but really getting out of their way to allow that talent to drive our business forward.
[00:15:46] And it is thinking about the future and science of joy. Kind of being on the tip of the arrow in that way. So certainly in strategic place, business planning in, kind of financial, expense management, right. [00:16:00] And science of joy and people, culture wellness of, of our team.
[00:16:04] Greg Bell: [00:16:04] Absolutely. You have such a great culture there.
[00:16:07] I just really think it's really cool. And I've heard folks, friends that are chemo pals. Can you talk a little bit more about that? Like what does a chemo pal do? And just in case the listener was interested, I just sort of be curious about that those 1200 volunteers. What's a typical ask from a volunteer.
[00:16:25] Regina Ellis: [00:16:25] Yeah. What I think is extraordinary about mission impact organizations, why, is we help solve through social innovation?
[00:16:34] The challenges that our community faces, right? It could be water, it could be climate and it could be health. Like Children's Cancer Association and volunteers have a critical role in the work that we do do both from sharing talent and expertise, from whatever business planning to photography, to marketing to financial services, but they also get involved in events and direct service to kids.
[00:17:00] [00:16:59] Some of our volunteers are chemo pal mentors, and they go through a very rigorous and extensive process to learn about the program to be trained, to support children with life threatening illnesses in hospital. And what they do is they hang out a couple of times a month, they bring a bag of toys or whatever.
[00:17:18] Like if it's a 16 year old kiddo and they love video games and they love Nerf basketball and, or they love, you know, art, whatever that we match those relationships based on the mentor and the, and the kiddo or young adult. And create an opportunity for friendship to grow during a treatment. And we have had over 1500 chemo pals in the last, like I think 15 years. And we've received, you know, all sorts of incredible awards and have the privilege of bringing incredible individuals to the bedside of kids and young adults going through. I think one of life's most difficult [00:18:00] moments and facing their mortality and, and it is a place where they can some enjoy.
[00:18:05] Right. If they see their chemo, pal walks through the room and they're like, Whoa, that person, there's my person walking through the door. And I love seeing our program team help facilitate and lead such quality programming in ways that we get to deliver joy based programming to kids.
[00:18:24] Greg Bell: [00:18:24] What an amazing story. I mean, it's just gotta be, you know, not just for the kids, but just the family around them.
[00:18:32] And as you said, how that touches even the caregivers and, and sort of thinking about joy this way, it's just got my brain sort of buzzing because so many people are feeling so isolated right now and thinking about joy and how do you bring that in your life and for that individual, you know, in some ways you already have, but just imagine somebody is isolated right now in COVID. What kinds of things can they do to bring joy into their [00:19:00] life? I mean, somebody who doesn't have a program, what would you suggest for them? I would just be curious.
[00:19:06] Regina Ellis: [00:19:06] I'd say if you're a family facing hospitalization or your child has a life-threatening illness. Go to our website to learn how our free programs can serve you at joyrx.org.
[00:19:18] And if you're interested in being a volunteer, there's lots of information and you can see our programs through stories and learn a little bit about us. Again, it's joyrx.org, but as I think, both of us as human beings and we've dedicated our lives to be thinking about mission impact and others, and when I think about the bamboo nation, there is an intentional aspect, right? To how we show up. And to your question, Greg, how is it that we think about creating joy habits? It is intentional, right? We cultivate those. And we think about them. And for me, I think about, [00:20:00] especially now, right? What are the few things that I'm going to do that are going to help me create a lifeline through really hard days?
[00:20:10] And for me, there's two things that are consistent and that's music and movement, right? That's exercise that is getting a walk, getting a run, getting down to my basement, doing yoga. If I don't get it at the first of the day, which is usually how I schedule that. Right. My joy habits. I did, I did it at the end end of the day, and I know that I'm a more thoughtful person.
[00:20:33] I feel better. And I'm able to be a better leader, a better parent, a better friend. Right. And I think about music, I think about making music. I think about how I'm going to listen to music where I'm going to access that. And you know, you said earlier, you know, music is the soundtrack of our lives, whether you're sitting in Kenya and you're listening to ethnic music there and [00:21:00] drums and voices, and you have no access to saxaphones or, you know, electric guitars or you're in Russia or Portland or Fargo or New York, right.
[00:21:12] It is what becomes the soundtrack of weddings and funerals and hard days and beautiful days. And I would challenge people to think about what is the joy habit that they're going to create? What brings them joy? and maybe it's connecting with a friend, right? Writing letters. Have you written one letter a month to somebody to say, thank you for being there for me X, right, or, I saw something that I admired in you. Imagine what that does for you, right. You're so good at that. That's a perfect...
[00:21:45] Greg Bell: [00:21:45] Oh, that's super helpful, super helpful. I love this idea of sort of like, just even those two things, music and movement, just that alone, in addition to writing a note or sending a text or doing something like that. My latest book is a What's Going [00:22:00] Well?
[00:22:00] I like to think about that question, because I think that question can bring joy, you know, just asking it like what is going well, just even a small thing to saver, it's an interesting thing to think about a little bit of movement. A little bit of music could help anyone sort of move forward. Like at least shift their mood in a way.
[00:22:18] One question I like to ask is. From a leadership perspective and from a, you know, you've grown this program in such a way, not just touching lives, but you've, you know, the size of it and the volunteers and all this, that along the way, did you have any self doubt? I mean, like, what am I doing? Did you run into sort of some roadblocks?
[00:22:40] And if you did, what advice would you have to people who face roadblocks when they're growing in an organization like yours?
[00:22:46] Regina Ellis: [00:22:46] I have self-doubt every single day. So I will stand in front of an audience like TEDx, right. And there's 3000 people there and I'm thinking, this is a [00:23:00] mistake. How could they possibly be here?
[00:23:02] What do I possibly have to say? Because I know I could learn so much from the wealth of these extraordinary individuals sitting in front of me, you know, let's all go have coffee and, and forget this. Right. I think if you don't have self-doubt, it doesn't keep you sharp. It's part of that kind of grit and grace, right?
[00:23:21] When we saunter into a room and we're a too big and too cool for school, you know, the most vulnerable leaders, right. That can tap into the few things that they do well, right. That they have a track record and they focus on. Right. And there's other things that we're learning and we're sharpening our kind of leadership tools.
[00:23:41] And I think that self-doubt, if used appropriately, not that it levels you or that all you're listening to is all the things that you're not good enough for. Right. But what did I do well, what could I do a little bit different and what should I [00:24:00] stop doing and get rid of, because that's just not my jam.
[00:24:04] Right? And if I, if I got rid of that or stop that bad habit, man, I could pick up something else and really drive the team, my family, the community myself forward in ways that are meaningful and kind of give, get, and share joy in new ways.
[00:24:22] Greg Bell: [00:24:22] Wow. You're so humble. I love that. I think that's so good because I think that a lot at times being humble is, as you say, is so important for growth.
[00:24:32] One of the things about giant timber bamboo when it grows the outer layer sheds. So one of the questions we always have to ask is what do I need to let go of to have the future I want, you know, it's an important question for every organization. Like what do or individual, we're all kind of carrying around this stuff that we needed to let go of.
[00:24:51] The thing that you said, though, that really struck me about this sort of grit and grace, you know, I liked that sort of combo, but what struck me was, you know, your strengths [00:25:00] and you're working on the things that are your weaknesses. So when you think about self doubt, you go, Oh, I just, so what, I'm not great at that, but I'm working on it.
[00:25:06] That's kind of what I heard in that, but I know my lane and what my strengths are. I know what my bamboo is, if you will. That's a really cool message.
[00:25:14] One question I have though, is what are you most proud of with respect to Children's Cancer Association? What is your most proudest thing to date?
[00:25:26] Regina Ellis: [00:25:26] A few things. Ever since we established Children's Cancer Association and we had the extraordinary privilege to knock on a hospital door and open that door to a five-year-old, a 12 year old, and 18 year old, right. And working hard survive, whatever the next day was going to be. Or, maybe they had a car accident and were in hospital or cystic fibrosis or diabetes, right? The privilege for that child, [00:26:00] when you face challenges, right, joy becomes dormant. It's harder to feel it and see it. And when somebody knocks on your door and says, Here's some music. Do you want to play it? Do you want to listen to it? Do you want to make it, should it be loud? Should it be quiet? And you see them light up in a way, right? Or you're we hear stories like, you know, this is the last time my child's smiled or they're in the pediatric intensive care. It's the first time they smiled in days. Right. So that gives me, that's a gift, right? To know that, many times a day that is happening in rooms where children are struggling with their most difficult days. Right. And, Greg, when I think about moments that I'm most proud of it is that the kind of table at CCA has continued to get more beautiful and larger and the talent and the ideas and the [00:27:00] passion of the people that I get to sit around with and dream about making the world just a little bit more beautiful, impacting healthcare in very pioneering ways. I'm very proud to be a part of those conversations and to help inspire and learn and grow and lead that work.
[00:27:21] So it is very much who we serve and who I have the privilege to serve with. And then my family, cause you know, they're just like, you know, they keep it real, so they keep it real.
[00:27:36] Greg Bell: [00:27:36] That's good. Cause I, mean, I just think that the whole, I mean, what a gift, I mean that you are to the planet. I mean, I just, I really just, I'm just so touched by that.
[00:27:46] Like just what you do and just the families you touch and the people, I think it touches people you don't know. That's one of the things that's really interesting about the work that you do is it has these like amazing ripples and [00:28:00] roots. I always think about the roots of giant timber bamboo. The root structure is really interesting because people love it, that it grows 90 feet and 60 days.
[00:28:07] What I find remarkable is that its root structure, each stock will go over a hundred yards as long as a football field. So that idea of being connected to those families and being connected to your own family and your staff, that way, it just, it creates the bond and support that we all need. And just to hear you tell that story just gives me goosebumps. I love it.
[00:28:26] And I like this idea of sort of, it's interesting thought you just said though, I don't, I don't know if he did that intentionally or not, but you talked about dormant joy. Like that is an interesting term because you have to have the habits of bringing out joy. And if you don't, joy can become dormant.
[00:28:45] And so when you're going around doing this, it feels like you're watering the bamboo. You're watering other people's joy, bamboo, if you will. Anyway, I just sort of, I thought of that as you were talking, I thought that is exactly what we need. All of us to water that joy within [00:29:00] us and thinking about movement and music and all the things you do anyway, my mind is on fire, so I appreciate that.
[00:29:05] One question I wanted to ask you is, and this is sort of for, you know, when I think about bamboo nation, I'm thinking about somebody that's listening, they're driving in their car they're, young. They're not, they don't know really what's going on. They are struggling a little bit with like, what do I do with my career?
[00:29:19] How do I manage this? How do I lead this? That person, you know, at one point in your life that was you, right? It was me. What advice would you give your younger self? Like two or three pieces of advice that if you thought back to, I don't know when you're 15 years old, You know, what life advice or personal advice would you give yourself, knowing what you know, now?
[00:29:41] Regina Ellis: [00:29:41] I was a serious kid, right? I, the world was black and white for me, and I felt a great sense of responsibility to find my purpose right. In my passion and had children young right out of college. When I reflect on your beautiful question, my [00:30:00] kids, Alex has two sibs, her younger brother, who's now 28 and her younger sister who is 24, Kate and Zachary, the question that I prompt them, and we've had more of these conversations around the dining room table, you know, in this COVID environment because we have the privilege to not just be having family supper, but we're having it a lot.
[00:30:26] Right. And I think that the question that I might pose to them is what do you think life is asking of you and do that? Because we know I'm in my mid fifties, right. And life is beautiful, but it is short. And it is sweet, right? And we think of all the things that we should be doing or have to be doing. And the complexity of life builds, you know, in the decades, if I could look back or over my [00:31:00] shoulder or even out in front of me, it is finding things that life is asking of us and being intentional towards those thoughts, those dreams, those passions. And you will lead your life to the places that you want to adventure, right? Instead of life leading you, I think I'd say that again is what do you think life is asking of you? And do that.
[00:31:29]Greg Bell: [00:31:29] Wow. We'll be pondering that for a while. I just wanted to ask you the question.
[00:31:41] You said this a number of times throughout this podcast, and I have to sort of dig in a little bit here cause I have this formula you've set intention. I dunno, 10 times you keep talking about intention. And one of the things I think about is this formula I use, I call it intention, times, attention [00:32:00] equals manifestation because a lot of times I intend a lot of things, but I don't pay any attention to them.
[00:32:07] Like, you know, I intend to do this. I intend to go to the gym, but I don't go. Or in intend, you know, a lot of people have intention when you think about leadership and that idea intention, and that is so that's a critical part, but what you pay attention to matters quite a bit in order for it to work, I'm talking about like execution, because I think there's a lot of people that have, you know, good intentions for a lot of different things.
[00:32:29] But they don't get it done like you do. So how does, how does that work for you in terms of, I want you to dig into the, what you pay attention to a little bit more. I think your question kind of spurned me to think about that because I think if I thought about what is life asking me? Well, it could be asking me a lot of things, but what am I paying attention to play around with that idea?
[00:32:50] Regina Ellis: [00:32:50] That's interesting. I think about the attributes of leadership and leadership, we're all leaders, some of us don't lead companies, but we lead [00:33:00] ourselves. We lead work teams. We lead family members, friends, partners, ideas, communities, and social media, et cetera. Right. We're all leaders, the attributes to leadership I see in others that I most admire are not associated with kind of academic credentials, right? They are around this personal discipline behaviors and showing up and showing up for ourselves, right. To your point. Showing up for ourselves is, who do I want to be? What do I want to be? And writing maybe two or three things down. And to your point, the attention to those that, how do we, how do we feed those things?
[00:33:46] How do they manifest. In what we do, what we say, right. How we show up for that. Right. So maybe I don't get at it on Monday, but I get at it on Tuesday. I don't get at it on Thursday, but I get at it on Sunday, whether those [00:34:00] are leadership kind of focused or they're personal focused for me, that personal discipline and my commitment to myself that I'm going to show up when it's not easy. There's a lot of people that show up, Hey, I'm going to that great event. Hey, I'm going to go to TEDx because I get to meet all the cool people and I'm going to be around really rich, thoughtful ideas and be inspired. But are you showing up to help, you know, empty the vans?
[00:34:29] And help something you care about or deliver food to people in our community. Are you reaching out to your neighbor that might need support in some way or your family member or yourself? That's how I might think about that question, Greg.
[00:34:44] Greg Bell: [00:34:44] I like how you dug into that, because I think that I always. I mean in, in the book I write about all these, like, you gotta be patient, you gotta be persistent, you gotta have courage.
[00:34:53] You gotta have belief in yourself and others and so on. But for me, self-discipline is so critical to all of them. [00:35:00] If you don't have the discipline, man, it's really, really, really a difficult thing. And I like how you give yourself permission, while I didn't do it today, but I'll do it tomorrow, but discipline can be challenging because there's so many flirts and distractions in the world. I call them pandas. I hate pandas by the way.
[00:35:16] Regina Ellis: [00:35:16] Well, you're unique, I mean you're weird, everybody loves. pandas.
[00:35:25] Greg Bell: [00:35:25] I know, but, and as pandas are, I always think about that as you know, there's only 3000 left. I'm going to get them. They eat my bamboo, they eat my dreams, you know, I can't let them do it.
[00:35:34] Regina Ellis: [00:35:34] No, they, they keep bamboo under control.
[00:35:36] Greg Bell: [00:35:36] I Like your style. One question. This is a weird question. So take your time with this. If you were me, what question would you be asking you? What questions should I be asking you?
[00:35:52] Regina Ellis: [00:35:52] What's next.
[00:35:57] Greg Bell: [00:35:57] What's next? What's [00:36:00] next?
[00:36:00] Regina Ellis: [00:36:00] What's next, there's a young biologist that also has entered the political kind of environment. And her name is Dr. Aiyana Elizabeth Johnson. And you may know her, if you don't go check her out, because she's really extraordinary when she talks about the world and climate and the impact around racial justice and social justice.
[00:36:24] But she has something that she said that really is profound to me. She shares that this time that we are living through is less like a revolution and more like a Renaissance. And how that spoke to me is that this richness right in the world in what is happening in people's experiences, in our dreams and this ideal state of what's next, and a revolution has such a more painful kind of set of descriptions, but she talks [00:37:00] about this Renaissance and I, and I believe that for the United States and the world. I think about that for myself and my own company and my place in the world. But what I think about what's next is that in five years, the Children's Cancer Association will be in every children's hospital across this nation. And that joyrx.org will become a standard of care so that whether you walk into the hospital holding the hand of your 18 year old nephew or your six-year-old daughter, or your new baby, or your grand baby or a neighbor's child, they will be able to some enjoy as a lifeline to maximize wellness as they face injury, chronic illness or life-threatening disease. I like looking out at the Renaissance of that work and the Renaissance of our social condition and that it gets better for all of us.
[00:37:57] Greg Bell: [00:37:57] Wow. [00:38:00] I'm in, where do I sign up? That sounds beautiful. It is beautiful. I think it's interesting. You pick the five-year mark, that's how long it takes giant timber bamboo to grow and we take that seed and we nurture it and we water it. But we also have to have that vision. I mean, you've just painted this beautiful vision of a Renaissance for not just your organization, but just imagine the families, this could touch nationwide and potentially worldwide when you speak that way.
[00:38:30] One of the things I firmly believe, and we talk a little bit about this in the book, but this idea of setting that vision. But if we, we have to start with the proper language. And if you have the proper language, which is, this is what we want to do, then you can have the proper thinking that proper thinking gets us to have the proper belief.
[00:38:48] And that proper belief will get us to take those actions to make it true. It's really just an amazing vision you just pointed out right there. I just want to just sort of sit in that a little bit.
[00:38:59] I also [00:39:00] wanted you to help us with how we can help you make that vision come true. Actually, if you think about it, when I say we, who knows who will hear this right?
[00:39:11] So. I'm driving in my car. Imagine me driving my car, here you sort of paint this vision for Children's Cancer Association that is having music and joy brought to every hospital in the nation. How do we find you or join or support? What do we need to do?
[00:39:27] Regina Ellis: [00:39:27] Extend an invitation to the bamboo nation, right?
[00:39:30] And you Greg have been such a mentor to me and helped develop my own leadership and the leadership at Children's Cancer Association, both from a staff and board perspective. I'd say if joy is something that resonates with you, if you are a corporation or an individual or a family, or a school that wants to be involved, go to joyrx.org and learn [00:40:00] how, if you are a family that we can help support and could use our programs, please call on us and we can, deliver, and find ways to provide joy based programming to you, or if you are a hospital or a medical provider that wants to learn more about bringing our programs, our free programs to your hospital, you can also find out more information there or check me out on LinkedIn or Facebook. You get my email off of our website and let me know how you want to be involved or how we can help you and, you know, we can only do good things with. Remarkable people sitting next to us. So, yeah.
[00:40:38] Greg Bell: [00:40:38] You are remarkable. You're an unbelievable leader. I am so lucky I know you. I feel so fortunate. Thank you for that. Just sort of all those like amazing nuggets here, but in support of your vision for Children Cancer Association, five years, we're everywhere, you know, we're, you know that we're going to do the Water the Bamboo oath, okay. I have my [00:41:00] Water the Bamboo band on. So you have to raise your right hand and repeat after me. Okay.
[00:41:05] No matter what challenges come my way.
[00:41:08] Regina Ellis: [00:41:08] No matter what challenges come my way.
[00:41:11] Greg Bell: [00:41:11] I will.
[00:41:12] Regina Ellis: [00:41:12] I will.
[00:41:13] Greg Bell: [00:41:13] Continue.
[00:41:14] Regina Ellis: [00:41:14] Continue.
[00:41:15] Greg Bell: [00:41:15] To water the bamboo.
[00:41:17] Regina Ellis: [00:41:17] To water the bamboo.
[00:41:21] Greg Bell: [00:41:21] You are awesome.
[00:41:22] Regina Ellis: [00:41:22] Thank you.
[00:41:23] Greg Bell: [00:41:23] You're you're a, golly, it's so funny. It's like, yeah, it will be like, well, hanging out at the coffee shop. I was like, I want to have coffee with you. That is super helpful. Just all the great nuggets people will get out of that and just really appreciate it you taking the time to do this. It means quite a, it means so much to me that you would, and once it's out in the world, people find you and support what you're up to and we'll figure out ways to connect obviously, when we're all back together,
[00:41:51] Regina Ellis: [00:41:51] I love the synergies, you know, I mean, I think you write about and help teach and inspire and develop leaders. And I've used many of the [00:42:00] themes that you already have in your world, in your life and who you are. So thank you for just radiating good things on me and providing this opportunity for me to share a few things that I've learned and in continuing to learn from mentors like you. So I appreciate being a part of the bamboo nation and the work that you're doing across the world. So thank you.
[00:42:23] Greg Bell: [00:42:23] Yeah, it means, it means a lot, just to reach out anytime, anytime for anything.
[00:42:28] Regina Ellis: [00:42:28] You as well and be safe and take care and, you know, keep your head above the, emerging shoots, right.
[00:42:36] Or like this we're like this, right.
[00:42:40] Greg Bell: [00:42:40] Just the pandas are mapped or if I can pick out a few more pandas, I'm good.
[00:42:44] Regina Ellis: [00:42:44] You're going to get hate mail on that.
[00:42:48] Greg Bell: [00:42:48] I know, it's okay.
[00:42:50] But I love this idea that you talked about a Renaissance, though.
[00:42:54] Regina Ellis: [00:42:54] You've got to look her up and your girls will love her. She's like, [00:43:00] 33 PhD, American icon. She will be in her lifetime, this young, black, smart, strong woman. I think she's out of DC. And I believe my daughter was talking about her and I'm like, who is she?
[00:43:15] And then really, you know, we're learners, right? Whether we get the more we have to learn. She has a way to think about this moment of time, I think, and where we are. She'd be incredible for you to get.
[00:43:28] Greg Bell: [00:43:28] I think you're incredible. I do. I do. I just like, I just, I just, I was so moved that you would do this.
[00:43:39] This is so you have no idea. It touches my heart.
[00:43:42] Regina Ellis: [00:43:42] Awesome. Awesome. Hey, be good out there. I look forward to when we get to see in humans.
[00:43:49] Greg Bell: [00:43:49] It'll happen soon, soon. I'm an optimist.
[00:43:52] Regina Ellis: [00:43:52] Yeah, me too.
[00:43:53] Greg Bell: [00:43:53] All right. Cheers.
[00:43:54] Regina Ellis: [00:43:54] Take care.
[00:43:58] Greg Bell: [00:43:58] Regina Ellis. What a great [00:44:00] conversation. And I can't get away from what she said. What is life asking of you? And then being intentional about how you go about that?
[00:44:09] Wow. Thanks Regina for joining us. If you're not already and hopefully you are, but if you're not, make sure you subscribe to this podcast just by clicking subscribe or follow, depending on where you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to the Water the Bamboo podcast. I'm Greg Bell. Keep watering.