Fr. Ted Said…Cultivating Hope, Part 1: Mike Brown '01

Topic: Mike Brown ’01

In his inaugural address, University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., called us to be “sustainers of hope and builders of bridges.” But in a world where optimism often feels in short supply, where do we find the inspiration to keep nurturing the good? Plant those seeds through a revitalizing experience where you can pause, exhale, and allow your spirit to blossom. Come hear this calling echo in powerful, personal stories from Notre Dame alumni and faculty who are living examples of what it means to cultivate hope—just like Fr. Ted.

Speaker:

• Mike Brown, '01, Former Notre Dame Leprechaun, Speaker, Author, Founder of Soulstir

Mike Brown ’01 is a speaker, author, and founder of Soulstir, a publishing company rooted in story, service, and soul. He helps people reconnect with their worth, stir up their gifts, and take action that creates real impact. After facing academic challenges early on, including a 1.7 GPA in middle school, Mike went on to become the first Black student to serve as the University of Notre Dame Leprechaun. Grounded in experience across technology, education, and athletics, he now speaks to audiences nationwide, challenging them to lead with purpose, gratitude, and courage. He also works with students to help them see themselves as readers and leaders.

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Transcript

Speaker 0:00

tackling problems that affect the whole world. I think you have to say that it's been a, almost a magical story of what happened, and it-- to have been a part of it, of course, is something for which I'm deeply grateful. But I'm grateful to the Mother of God for making it happen. I, and I would be a fool to say that it happened because I was here so much or so long or did so many different things. Uh, you can do everything in the world, but if you don't have that strong direction, blessing, and follow-up, uh, grace with it, it's, it's not gonna be around very long

Juliana 0:34

Please welcome author, entrepreneur, CEO of Solster, and former Notre Dame Leprechaun, Mike Brown of the

Mike Brown ’01 0:49

class of 2001. All right. All right. So the former, the former Notre Dame Leprechaun part, I gotta get this out the way. When I say go, you say Irish. Go! Irish! Go! Irish! Go, go! Four times, all right? Here we go. Go, go Great job. Great job. Great job So, so Hebrews 11 and 1 says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." I went to church four days a week growing up, and that's a scripture that I'm very familiar with, but I commonly focus on the faith part. Today, I wanna think about, uh, the hope side, and what happens when hope becomes something that stirs in your soul, and how then faith becomes a substance of, of things that are hoped for. What are the things that we hope for? Do we hope for a new job? Do we hope for a new car? Maybe we hope for a new home. For me, when I was a student, I hoped to pass Econ 101. Amen. Please. I hoped when I was in technology sales, I hoped to close a lot of deals. And there was a time then when I came back and worked in development that I then hoped to unlock the grace of giving in others and have an impact on students. Fast-forward, Father Ted, in 2015, passed away, and the university celebrated his passing with a memorial service that was held right there in the Joyce Center. I was living in Chicago at the time, and the memorial service was live-streamed. As I was watching it, something really began to stir in my soul. I was at the height of my sales career, but that particular service moved something in me, even virtually. I called a few friends to let them know how much that memorial service meant to me, and an opportunity then presented itself for me to come back to Notre Dame. There was a pull for that to happen. I hoped then, again, to have an impact on the lives of others Fast forward another five years. There was a global health pandemic. People felt hopeless and isolated. There were a lot of social injustices. There had, there had been a lot of heightened awareness of social injustices in our country and across the world. There was a election that year that divided our country like no other. Simply put, there was a lot of hate stirring across, again, the country and in the world. How could I do something to address that? How could I do something to help really address all the hate that was going on? During the pandemic, I made up my own half-marathon, and as I was training for this marathon, on one of these runs, I had something hit me. Something began to stir in my soul I have a cousin. Her name is Jeanetta Robinson. Her nickname is Little Netta. Little Netta's birthday is December 27th, and it was at her sixth birthday party that there were friends that did not get gifts for Christmas. Little Netta recognized this, and without being told, gave her gifts to those friends Three years later, little Netta, at age nine, was tragically murdered along with her mom, Cheryl. I was four years old, and that's the story I've, I've heard all my life. The story of her giving her gifts away and the story of her and my Aunt Cheryl being murdered While I was then on that run, it came to me. I can honor little Netta's memory by sharing her story. I can share her story of hope. I can share her story of love. I can share her story of compassion for others, and I can do it in the form of a children's book. So I started writing. As I wr- wrote that story, there was things that I tried to put in it and things that I really didn't know what should be included. Do I talk about her murder, do I not? But it was a children's book. But it was my hope that this children's book would help break cycles of hopelessness, break cycles of hate, and create cycles of love, cycles of bringing joy to children to help read I then also had the idea to give that book away to children for free. I worked with my dad, and we came up with a plan, and we ultimately started what's called the Little Johnnetta Robinson Gifts of Love program. Through that program, we give away gifts to children in my hometown, Milwaukee, and we give it away as a Christmas gift. I hoped we would be able to do that. I had faith that we would be able to do that. And with the support of so many people in our community, we did. That year, we gave away almost... it was almost a thousand gifts. But it was through the development of that program and through the sharing of Little Netta's story that I started a company, and that company is called Soulstir. Soulstir exists to create experiences that inspire empowerment and action. Empowerment and action, meaning knowing and helping people know they have power. You have power to make a difference in the world. But not only do that, but we now have to take that power and put it to action. We have to do something. And that was the entire reason why the company was started. So far, we have worked as an organization to give away-- We've now published eight books, and we've given away almost ten thousand copies of that book. But it wouldn't happen, and if we didn't have the support of the community, and it wouldn't have happened if people weren't inspired to create then empowerment and action Through Soulstir and now the Soulstir Foundation, it is our hope that we continue to serve, and it's our hope that we continue to give away more and more books, and it's our hope that we continue to inspire empowerment and action, not just to any of you that are in this room, but to people all across the world. My question for you is what is stirring in your soul? What's that small voice you're hearing, and what action can you take? Let's go.