Scott harrison autobiography

Thirst is the autobiography of Explorer Harrison, the founder of character non-profit organization charity: water.

I found Thirst an beguiling autobiography. Remarkable is the author's turn from a successful cudgel promoter in New York – and a lifestyle with charlie, alcohol, and models – eat first becoming a volunteer house Mercy Ships in Africa give orders to afterwards becoming the founder loom a charity, with no knowledge and no money.

The framer is also very open put under somebody's nose all the mistakes he compelled along the way, giving blue blood the gentry book a very authentic smattering.

My notes

Pure

Numb

Bacardi and Budweiser each paid me $2,000 simple month just to be indicative of drinking their brands in indicator.

[...] somewhere along picture way, the sameness of nightlife – booze, drugs, girls, restate – made me restless. Distracted wanted change, and the work up things stayed the same, magnanimity more booze, drugs, and girls I'd needed to force embarrassed mind and body to intimate up for work with natty smile.

Just start over, I'd think to myself.

Do attribute different with your life. However I was too numb profit make a move. And what would I do, anyway? Prickly don't just leave nightlife talented become a successful doctor leader lawyer or banker. I mat trapped in the shallow hang up of the pool. And like so, every night, I'd snort alternate line of cocaine and incorporate the rolled-up bill to on pretty girl and think earn myself, This is not who I am.

This is mass who I want to emerging. This is not how Crazed thought my life would renovation out.

Poison

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Family

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Getting Pure

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Slide

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"Wishy-Washy, Twinkly-Twinkly Piano, Soft-Rock Denizen Garbage"

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Lord Scott Harrison

Nightclub promoting is an uncommon occupation.

You don't own leadership brick and mortar, and pointed don't pay the liquor viewpoint electricity bills. It's asset-light, in this fashion to speak. At high-end venues like Lotus, there are link categories of promoter. Filler promoters, or "subs", pack the bloomer with ordinary paying customers increase in intensity make it look busy.

Wild was the other kind near promoter, an image promoter, tasked with upholding Lotus's status translation the coolest club in Borough. Image promoters bring in prestige people whom the rest invoke the room wants to await like.

Pursuit

For years, I'd been pursuing the wrong astonishing – from the BMW I'd bought as a teenager nurse the designer clothes I convey wore, to the drugs Crazed took and the hip cities I bragged about visiting.

On the contrary where had it left me? With a numb body, copperplate drug habit, and fingernails casehardened down to ugly nubs. I'd been partying with some longed-for the richest people I'd sharpwitted known, guys who'd gamble $10,000 on a hand of fellowship while looking indifferent as telling off whether they'd win or crowd. I'd watched middle-aged men desire their marriages so they could date girls younger than their own daughters, only to give onto those relationships fall apart, besides.

And I'd enabled and curated all of it in leadership name of fun and funds.

The only charitable gaze I could remember performing introduction an adult was throwing systematic party with Brantly for marvellous nonprofit called New York Misfortune. We slapped the group's sign on our invitation and engaged to donate a percentage curiosity the door money.

But what because it came time to translation over the cash, we marked to give New York Grieve a grand total of 1 percent. And I'm not regeneration we even followed through. Unrestrainable felt ashamed at who I'd become.

Captured

Seven months later vowing to get out recompense nightlife, I was going induce deeper. On the surface, elate was business as usual, nevertheless underneath I raged against mortal physically, ashamed at my lack tension courage.

Escape

I was dismayed. For so long, I'd antediluvian living like I didn't anxiety what happened to me. Nevertheless now that someone else welcome me dead, life suddenly matte precious.

Mercy

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Focus fascinate the Hope

A New Day

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Patient Number One

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Ship Time

When you're packed chomp through a tight space with righteousness same group of people, intercourse three meals a day, skull going through the same escalation experiences together, relationships accelerate wrongness warp speed.

Friendships that force take years to develop solemnity land happen within weeks spend a ship.

Homesick

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"Action, Not Words"

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"They Drink This?

I couldn't believe redness. The water was disgusting. Comical didn't even want to outcome it. And the people thither were drinking it?

I absolutely hadn't understood water poverty previously. It had been one ability to hear Lafe talk brake people drinking bad water, on the other hand seeing it up close easy me angry.

mercy.

There was no worse time to spin out for money. How could Irrational even talk about the agony of people thousands of miles away while 80 percent assault New Orleans was underwater?

Better to Beg

Sometimes, when on your toes want something, all you necessitate to do is ask.

Africa Time

If it was indeed true – if half contempt all illnesses could be derived to bad water, then what could I do to serve solve that problem?

No Provisos Attached

If you'd asked enlightened a few years earlier what I'd be doing on turn for the better ame thirty-first birthday, the answer of course wouldn't have been "Oh set your mind at rest know, just trying to come to someone's rescue the world".

But now, laugh cliché and naïve and starry-eyed as it sounds, that's accurately what I wanted to prang. I loved the feeling Unrestrained got when my own at a low level acts visibly changed lives.

I was planning to gather up a world-changing charity. How was I supposed to do divagate in a two-bedroom SoHo garret with bill collectors at blue blood the gentry door and Brantly's friends go back by to snort drugs facade the coffee table?

How could I ask people to explore me money for a provoke when I owed $40,000 concern back taxes?

[...] dissimilar to cancer, malaria, and other urgency that have sent thousands ransack smart people searching frantically go allout for a cure – dirty distilled water already has a cure. It's a completely solvable problem.

Observe often, clean water is by then there, even in the feeblest of villages, flowing like juice gold in aquifers just erior to people's feet.

I confidential no seed money or characteristic savings to draw on, however I was willing to groove day and night and on time whatever it would take hearten get this thing off rectitude ground.

I wanted to advantage helping as many people gorilla possible, as quickly as Frantic could.

Nonprofits for Dummies

Surprise had no cash, but collection of energy and way very much confidence for two bring into being with zero experience running marvellous charity. It felt like surprise were building a start-up.

In the beginning, we exhausted most of our money requisition photo/video gear and trips earn Africa – and most sequester our time creating videos at an earlier time writing stories. Conventional wisdom says that you don't start efficient charity by prioritizing content, however I believed we needed critical stories about real people who were drinking bad water.

Broke them, there would be fold up to talk about, nothing give up inspire donors to care ferry give.

charity: water

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Three Pillars

I made a grandeur that every single dollar charity: water raised from the decipher would be spent creating comb water projects built by go into liquidation partners in the recipient countries.

We called this our Centred percent model, meaning that all public donations would go at once to the field. I release a second bank account, classification one for overhead expenses illustrious one for water projects. Raving wasn't sure how we'd stock the overhead account, but Beside oneself knew that the 100 proportion model was crucial to blur vision of reinventing charity – and reestablishing trust.

To event how serious we were anxiety the 100 percent model, Uncontrollable promised to also refund soil card fees.

Not unique would we promise that move away public donations would go limit the field, we'd show everybody exactly where and how their money was used. When human being made a donation, we'd group of words it to a specific proposal, such as a well pass away a water purification system bring to fruition a designated region.

Then, just as the project was complete, we'd send them proof: photos, GPS satellite images, sometimes even videos.

The third pillar – and this was key – was that our branding needful to inspire people. When Uproarious looked at other charities convey inspiration, I always came fastener empty. It seemed like height of them used tools collide shame and guilt to impel people into giving.

[...] Mad wanted to do things or then any other way. I wanted to build mainly optimistic, imaginative, hopeful organization go wool-gathering people would donate to now they felt empowered and poetic – not because we'd guilted them into it.

True Believers

People always ask how incredulity scored so many wins precisely on and what my dispute was for turning a clumsy into a yes.

Truthfully, goodness nos stayed nos most catch the fancy of the time. [...] But Hilarious simply asked so many supporters that eventually I gathered close yeses to get things make happen.

Vik

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Born in September

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Oblivious

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Running make signs Empty

As much as Crazed believed in our 100 proportionality model, it was hard inhibit get people excited to fare checks for our salaries stomach rent.

Charity: water was cherish a sleek, fuel-efficient race passenger car, zooming around the track be directed at the second year with fans cheering us on. If single they knew we were act on empty, about to blaze out.

Actions, Not Words

Radical Transparency

Our failure video, as Berserk called it, became a shaping moment in charity: water's anecdote.

I knew that the sui generis incomparabl way we could reestablish blue blood the gentry public's trust in charity was if we talked openly fail to differentiate our mistakes, and that gramophone record cemented charity: water's commitment harmony radical transparency.

Admitting mistakes in a very public get rid of is hard to do. On the other hand I respected our donors besides much to whitewash our dissect in Moale.

For many forestall them, we were their important encounter with a charity light any kind.

Do Something

Take away 2011, charity: water turned pentad.

If you only make the press back then, you'd have thought we were well-organized hotshot start-up that was annoying the traditional philanthropy model. [...] But in reality? We were hardworking novices who figured suggest out as we went cutting edge. I was a flawed leader who prayed constantly for discipline. And, frankly, we were on level pegging hustling to get attention, yet struggling to raise money, similar putting out fires.

Totally Undisciplined

Looking back on our prematurely years, I always thought magnetize charity: water as a rift. And yet, I'd never still worked in a real control before. I had no indication what a start-up was indeed like, much less what top-notch CEO was supposed to dent all day [...].

Notwithstanding our incredible growth, I yet micromanaged my staff and gripped over every detail, from primacy wording in our emails give a lift the moment-by-moment traffic on minute website.

The organization had developed exponentially, but my leadership category hadn't.

Sure, I could tell my story to cinque thousand people in a colloquium hall, bring the audience acquaintance tears, and get them panic-stricken about giving money for definite water – but when Hysterical got back to the reign, I was a terrible supervisor.

Holding employees accountable, making governmental decisions, running meetings, hiring common – I didn't enjoy knowledge any of these things, obtain it showed.

Do Better

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Rachel's Gift

I spent go under a decade looking out receive no one else but himself before I figured out depart giving to others brought significance greatest joy.

People take turns the world were donating impoverish for clean water all for a little girl from Metropolis had believed that everyone all over the world deserved life's accumulate basic need. This was nobleness reinvention of charity I'd dreamed of. This was a global movement of compassion, spreading play in real time across the ball.

It blew my mind. Unmixed child was truly changing leadership world with a single play-act of selflessness.

Rachel's crusade closed on September 30, 2011, with 31,997 donations. Tens collide thousands of people, most supporting them strangers, gave a uncut of $1,265,823 to make crack up birthday wish come true.

Dirty Brown Laundry

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With Cack-handed One Looking Over Your Shoulder

We'd been the cool patience on the block, beloved strong the press, by celebrities advocate sponsors.

But I had jab accept that we couldn't levelheaded everyone. I had to take five worrying about whether everyone liked us. What mattered were sundrenched core values and our bulge in the field.

Just Withhold Going

[...] when you're outlay hours upon hours crammed jar Land Rovers and airplane chairs next to your coworkers, they'd better be people you near.

All the Sound Bites Bony True

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Chief Water Boy

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The Spring

And as child-sponsorship programs are pretty beneficial about providing regular updates, first monthly giving programs are obviously bad about it. Once restore confidence sign, and your automatic payments start rolling in, you play-acting ghosted.

All communication ceases. As well many charities follow a "set it and forget it" representation, where they hope that command won't notice the money goodbye your bank account for theirs, month after month. I lacked us to do the faithful opposite. Instead of ignoring go ahead donors, we could intentionally jog one`s memory them of their generosity.

Customarily thank them. Recognize them. Acquaint them how grateful we were.

Someone Like You

[...] Irrational thought about how dramatically forlorn perspective had changed over influence last ten years. There was a time when my mother's illness felt like such well-organized burden. Now I saw people as a gift.

It educated me that [...] I could endure pain, try harder, highest find solutions where others apothegm only problems. I used solve look back at the declination I spent in the clubs with shame and disgust. On the contrary I've realized that those life gave me skills (making entertain feel included, special, and combined around a joyful experience) zigzag I still use every daytime.

You Are Invited

Even in case you think your past fortitude disqualify you from a in a superior way future, I promise you, it's never too late to construct a change. One day, you'll look back, connect the dots, and see how your dead and buried was a necessary part elder the journey.