Andy 0:04
Welcome to the HigherEdJobs Podcast. I'm Andy Hebel, the chief operating officer and one of the co-founders of HigherEdJobs. we're joined by John Festervand.

John 0:15
Andy, thanks a lot for having me. I really appreciate it.

Andy 0:18
John has spent more than a decade building philanthropic partnerships that connect donors interests to the college's greatest needs. Over the course of his career, he's helped fundraising and development roles at the University of Mississippi And a role in athletics at Texas Christian University. Was that paid for by NIL money, perhaps John?

John 0:39
Not quite. That was sweat equity...

Andy 0:42
Okay, okay. John has deep experience and major gifts fundraising, a state and bequest planning, corporate and foundation relations and board development. But John is here with us today in a different capacity as the executive producer of an Open Door, a forthcoming documentary about the life and legacy of Dr. Temple Grandin. The film celebrates Dr. Grandin's groundbreaking work as a champion of Humane Livestock Treatment, autism rights and neurodiversity and features conversations with Dr. Grandin herself, her colleagues, and the many people she has influenced. An Open Door is directed by a award winning filmmaker, John Barnard, and is presented by the Colorado State University. John, thanks so much for being here. Let's jump into this.

John 1:29
Love it. Thanks Andy.

Andy 1:31
Your background is in higher education advancement and you had no experience in filmmaking nor to add to this were familiar with agriculture or Temple Grandin's work, correct?

John 1:44
I was a broadcasting journalism major at MTSU Middle Tennessee State so I have the face for radio, which is why this is a podcast, great. But I was familiar with storytelling, but I left that role and career for marketing and athletics, and then I wanted to have a bigger impact, and so that's why I moved into philanthropy, but my career started off in college athletics, and then moved into philanthropy.

Andy 2:10
Yet, given that background, I understand the broadcast here. Something about her story convinced you and needed to be told as folks in advancement, you tell lots of stories.

John 2:21
Yeah,

Andy 2:21
But what was it her story that resonated with you and what made you believe it could inspire an educated broader audience?

John 2:30
I also want to go back to actually answer your question as well and tag it onto that. You know, skill that I have, Andy, is that I'm a really great connector. And even before I met Temple, I was out meeting with alumni and I met our director, John Barnhardt, who is incredibly talented. And that's a lot of what advancement is, and that's a lot of what we do in these external roles, is we find the right people to make the things that make a special happen, right? We put the right people in place. And so I met our director, John Barnhardt, before I met Temple Grandin. And in development, you know, And my philosophy is that I'm trying get time, time, talent, treasures and testimonies. I'm wanting engagement from our alumni. And John said, I've always wanted to come back and teach film that Colorado State. And so when I met Temple the year later and I started learning more about her story, it all clicked for me. I said, I know now what I'm trying to do. I don't have to be filmmaker. I need to put the filmmaker in the right position to tell the right story and set him up for success. And that's really the background behind that. It's the matchmaker of this. And so what struck me about Temple when I first it wasn't that she was a celebrity, but what struck me so much it was the number of people and the lives that she's changed. I mean, that's really the core what makes her life fulfilling and, and as I learned more about her, I realized that her story wasn't about autism or agriculture it is about human potential. And so there was so much more. I'm gonna take Paul Harvey's phrase, the rest of the story. I loved his segments, and I kept thinking about Temple and Paul Harvey and the rest of the story. So much when I was making this because her HBO movie, it ends when she's 26. And our movie picks up when she's 74. So the life story, you the impact, that's what we wanted to talk about. We didn't want to try and duplicate the incredible film that came out a decade ago. We did not want to do that. That's We wanted to tell her about the impact and what she's had now. And that's been and fantastic. So I think that that message is that Temple has been a career sort of reminding us that intelligence can come from a lot of different forms. And in higher education, we often think we celebrate one or two type of thinkers. But her life challenges that assumption. she shows that values of visual thinkers and hands on learning and builders and makers, People just see the world differently. And the more I learned about that, the more I felt that that her story was much bigger than just one person. And that, there was just a great opportunity about inclusion and helping people. And, uhm, the message resonates far beyond agriculture and far beyond autism. That's a long answer to that short question. I hope that's okay.

Andy 5:18
No, I think actually sets the table perfectly for where we want to go and sharing your story. I mean, her story became a foundation for excellent documentary, and I'm really excited to see how folks are going to react to it. But has remarkable stories to be told. And community members who may be able to tell those stories for folks who are working in institutions that want to do a better job identifying and elevating these stories, you did it. Where do you start? What makes that story worth telling? And even though it's not, in your case, part of your job description, a part of now your story.

John 6:03
You know, I, most institutions have so many great stories to tell, right? It's like, drinking through a fire. How does you have to be selective? And whizzing? But I, I look at it maybe just a different way, similar to Temple. I don't look at it. What's the story that needs to be told? Whose life was changed? And what was the impact? You know, start there and work backwards a little bit, right? So, so I to visit with her and I got to see the world as she experiences it now. I got to see tons of people talking to her at the airports and as she goes and speaks, but there's so many other stories that are out there. I think that the challenge is, it's not about finding stories. It's about recognizing what are the right ones... The best stories, usually they sit at the people and purpose and impact. And that's how I think you go about really selecting those stories that you really need to, upgrade the storytelling and not just write an article for the weekly newsletter. You really need to lean in and stretch yourself. you know, what I meet with donors and faculty and alumni, we're looking for moments of transformation. You know, when someone overcame an obstacle or they discovered a passion or they solved a problem, someone's life changed because of another person. That is impact. That's a great story to tell. If a story helps somebody understand why an institution matters, it's a story that's worth telling. The data informed about a story inspires, right? right? We can look at things through data lenses all long. But if you could pick out the story that inspires, now you're going to tell it in a different way. And that's going to have a impact.

Andy 7:44
>> You've touched on it really got quite a bit already. And I feel like I'd be remiss because we're advancement cousins. We both grew up in advancement. We both see the power philanthropy

John 7:56
Yes.

Andy 7:56
on both the people who benefit from

John 7:58
Yes. it.

Andy 7:59
Also the people who offer it. And the transformative ways of the ability to see the world in a way that you want to contribute to it and have the opportunity to make that impact. You've learned so many stories through this long development career. What lessons from philanthropy can professionals across higher education apply where they're to communicate the value of their work or build support for an idea?

John 8:30
>> Yeah. A big lesson I learned is that people invest in but they really invest in outcomes, right? They invest in a shared vision. And so, I don't really know a lot of donors that just wake up wanting to fund buildings or departments or strategic plans or, you know, they want to make a difference in the world. I developed a on the phila-entrepreneurship and what I go visit with donors, I'm asking what their degree was in because I'm interested in the person and I want to understand their background but just because what they got their degree and doesn't mean that's going to be their area of passion, right? And so, I think the role of a fundraiser is translating institutional priorities into human impact. That's true whether you're seeking major gifts or recruiting students or building relationships or just leading a team. People engage when they can see themselves in the story and understand the difference that they make. I find that like facts answers questions, but stories, you know, they tell why you should care. So, I don't like spin facts. I like just talking about impact and why people need care if they care if the Temple Grande and Center is phenomenal and you want to talk about impact. They're advancing research and changing children's lives every day, so put that in your coffee in the mornings and that'll get you up.

Andy 9:50
We do have a whole series of webinar events called Careers and Coffee, so we will take that next time we have some coffee at a Careers and Coffee.

John 10:01
That would be a great conversation over coffee.

Andy 10:04
I think what's interesting here it kind of Yeah, I think it's a little bit more personal here. Like we have two stories going on here. We have Temple Story, which if you don't know it, John, is there something you can offer a little bit that's a quick place where folks might be able to go on the Internet and learn a version of Temple Story?

John 10:26
Well, Well, first I say, do you watch the HBO movie? It's phenomenal. I don't know exactly all the platforms other than HBO that it is but if you're able to watch that, I think that is a great warm up to our film. Temple calls this sort of the sequel of her life, if will, I often refer to Paul Harvey. I thought when we were making this, I could channel Paul Harvey saying, this is the rest of the story. In in the movie at the end, and she's she's 26, and she's actually going to an autism group and you see her walking through doors. Doors of opportunity is she's walking up to address the crowd, and that's where the movie ends, and she's You fast forward in life, and I met her when she was 74. And there hasn't been anything that's touched what she's done, the way that we've done it, and so I felt like Paul Harvey. There's the rest of the story. And I can't write this in an article or tell it in a 10 minute film. I want to take my time and tell a beautiful story, cinematically. I want to make sure students have a chance to have hands-on learning experience. Yeah, there's a lot of components to this, and yeah, I think the story behind this story is just as good, because we've placed students and jobs because of this. We've played students and jobs because of this. We got one in Hawaii with Red Bull, we got somebody in New York working on films. I mean, this is, so, it's really special what this has turned into.

Andy 11:48
That's cool. I guess that's the other story we're talking about, which you're a very large part of.

John 11:55
Yeah.

Andy 11:55
I think you're quite good at telling your story, story, but I think for a lot of folks telling your story is one of the hardest things they have to do, particularly if there's a job on the line. So, from your experience, what have you found or what can you have somebody to learn from your experience, here, that you think may translate into helping them better tell their own story about who they are, what their purpose is and the impact they've had to be a part of a new team?

John 12:28
I think first assess, you know, I think research is important to do, and I would say that when I started down this path, I think I got kind of bold in telling people what I wanted to but not a lot of people had the vision that I have, and I say that humbly, right? Like, if I'm telling somebody that's never made a film before, I'm going to make a film, it's going to go on Amazon. Good luck. You know, sounds great. You know, not my monkey, not my circus thing, and I think that's probably what it was a YouTube special was what people thought, but what I said, no, my goal is to make something very similar to, in popularity about her movie, like, I expect millions of people to watch this. I'm not shooting for fifth place, or something else. We're going to make something beautiful, and I that it, if you feel compelled enough to drive something like this, it's, it's, you grab the bull by the horns, you know, make sure you have the right team, you know, as I'm looking at this podcast. Andy, you've got a team. It takes a team to make this successful. A leader is not a leader. If he looks back and nobody's in the charge, right? You have to have people that believe in your vision and where you're going. And so, I would say that's where it starts is of get your team, you know, and make sure you're all in it to the end, and that you have clear goals, write the goals down, you know, in my, in my sense, I was, I was prayerful because I've never, I've never really done this before. And it's a big leap and you've got a lot of moving parts in this. And so, so I just quite candidly you had to be bit, but faithful and what I was but confident that I had the support around me, not everything is perfect, but I tell you what they say. if you have a good idea, and you're willing to it, but then do it, you know, don't back, do it and do it all the way. And I have that kind of support and feeling. And so that's reassuring.

Andy 14:16
I really like that, especially I like the part because he really connected it well that not my monkey, not my problem and leadership. Like, hey, if you don't have the team behind you, all you got is this monkey behind you. Like that that's all there is.

John 14:32
And

Andy 14:32
And

John 14:32
I also want to make it, maybe I make the point that I'm in a metric driven world too in fundraising, right? We have

Andy 14:38
absolutely

John 14:39
metrics and big metrics hit. I exceeded all of the goals. And so this is part of that. Reward if you hit your goals. It's not that you get to take time off. It's not that at all. How else can you be used. Where else can we sharpen the blades? You know, and so. and so John get to work, you know, and see how this is going to affect your fundraising and building Temple's legacy in a philanthropic way. You know, so it's just not all. Can you make a story happen? It's, how does the business model work of all this? And could take one second say, every download and every purchase from this film, you know, yes, we have distributors that will have their small percentage of that. Let's be real, real. real. But the rest of it comes back get an impact, Temple's legacy. Whether it be the equine center or her scholarships. So, so this was all purposeful. The whole thing was.

Andy 15:27
That's really neat. I think the other part, I guess, they're going to ask what else you can do, but it's also what else can you be challenged with? We've thrown this at you. Now we're going to throw something else. Like, I'm assuming this was one of the most professionally fulfilling things that you've ever accomplished. And there's these little stolen moments of your career that seem kind of small and possibly little insurmountable that when you accomplish them, that kind of brings the real texture and joy, particularly over a long career to that career. I'm assuming that did that with you here.

John 16:07
The first week that we dropped our trailer with 48 hours at somebody in Australia reaching out to me asking, when does this come out and how can we see it? And it's I'm not going to say a constant flow of that, but every month I'm getting emails from all over the world about I watched your "I'm seeing something on social media," and that you know, I don't know, I'm not really sure really still hit yet. But it's something that I don't want to say that it was an intentional. I we, we did not start out in this process to have a YouTube movie. I mean, I say, "Now let me back up," it is on YouTube movies, which is terrific. That was the fourth platform that picked up, it wasn't, it wasn't just a student project, upload, we wanted cinematic grammar, we wanted, we wanted this to be something we were proud of, that could be seen around the world. And so part of that strategy was going to film. we submitted, we were accepted into over 80 film festivals around the world, we wanted over 26 awards, that was all before the public release. And so building broad institutional and global awareness is huge, and then when you have that kind data to share with your marketing team, say, "This isn't just a student project, look at the results of this, look how we're doing." And, and, again, I want to credit our director, John, and how he was with our students and working on this. And it's, it is the best kind of story that I could think of from a philanthropic, from an alumni, from a student engagement to look at the impact this has had in the world. And so, yeah, I love telling the story, and I'll, it's one of the most important things I think I'll ever do next to probably having my kids, and having the relationship I have with Temple, it's, it's life changing. That really is.

Andy 17:55
That's really, really, really neat. Let's try to kind of come back to a little bit of a theme, because folks who come to our site, about two thirds of them are an act of job search, and finding joy and telling stories, particularly, even in the best of job searches, can become very, very rote. And you feel, I'm telling the same story again and again, and I don't feel like I'm getting traction. It's a very unsatisfying process. Storytelling is a big part of it. What's one piece of advice you would leave anyone who wants to become a better storyteller. And maybe, if you can, sure, you do this quite a bit, I can't imagine that every time you tell this story, it's is equally satisfying the reaction you get from folks. How do you recover from those where it's like, okay, that's cool. Nice meeting you. Bye.

John 18:51
I I don't,

Andy 18:53
uh,

John 18:53
I'll tell you a side story. Temple, this past fall, her portrait went into the National Portrait Gallery. And amongst those was Jamie Diamond, Steven Spielberg, And internationally renowned poet and writer, Joy Harjo. So I got to go to the National Portrait Gallery, and I'm sitting across from dinner from Jeff Bezos. And to my left is Claire Danes, and to my right is Temple, and across over there is Steven Spielberg, because I've gotten to meet some of the most incredible people in the world. And what I love about this that, uh, clearly, they're not there to talk to me. I'm the plus one, which is phenomenal. Every one of 'em tell me how inspired they are by Temple's work.

So I just want to tell that one little story like, you kind of feel like you're riding high and absolutely, I, I've never heard of rare, rare moments, but what a, what a tremendous gift that she is to so many people. But, but, going back to your question you said about the HigherEdJobs boards. First of all, I want to say that I'm a huge fan of your website. not that I'm looking for jobs. I am a visual thinker, and I study them markets. I see what the ripple effects are of happening around campus and so around country. So, I love, I'm a big fan of the job board and to see what you all are doing.

Andy 20:16
Thank you.

John 20:16
So, So, what I would say to people in terms of, you know, how they want to tell a better story, present themselves differently is to, A. be prepared, be prepared to how you want to brand yourself and how you want to tell that story. Um, you know, I, I still rehearse to myself, you know, I still talk to myself about what is it like to ask for a significant amount of money because that's not a normal thing to do for humans, is to ask for that. And so, so you need to rehearse before your interviews. And I don't mean just read bios about people, but you need to be prepared for the answers is to what change are you going to make? Why do you want to leave your current job? What's so great about coming here, you know, you, you got to do your homework and frame things the way you want to, and have notes and, and, and, and, and rehearse. And then, sell yourself, you know, this is what, that's what an interview is, you know, you got a, I hate bragging about myself. This is a great podcast, but I'm uncomfortable you, you accolades about myself but, but, it's, it's, I love sharing the spotlight with other people but when you're in the interview and you're on the job hunt, you've got to be able to see yourself in the job. You've got to be able to know the kind of impact that you want to make. You need to come in humbly with, you know, where have we gone wrong, where we need to go differently, how can I impact? And then just start there, I think, you know, just, just be authentic.

No organizations, perfect, no higher ed organizations, perfect, especially now. So come in and know where your strengths are and, and, and, it doesn't work for everybody and that's okay. You know, rejections are good things, right? We have lessons that we learn from these things, but it's just going to make you sharper and more prepared for the next thing. So, my glass is half full. So,

Andy 21:58
Failure is absolutely 100% an essential ingredient to success. For

John 22:03
one of the greatest teachers.

Andy 22:04
Yeah, Yeah, what you learn from not succeeding probably failure can be a bit harsh, but not succeeding is what you're going to add to what you're doing and then eventually succeed. And, I think you're, you're so spot on and you're not unlike most development professionals and telling your own stories is not necessarily one you're as comfortable with as telling other stories. But I think the amazing part and I think when you look at telling stories, you really get to honor the person you tell the story about. And I think that's one of the secret ingredients that makes fundraising fun for people who love it because it's something you get from your professional role that you get paid for. That you'd love to do for free because it's so satisfying to express gratitude to somebody else who's truly worthy of it.

John 23:01
Couldn't have said that better myself, Andy.

Andy 23:03
So So,

John 23:03
yeah, yeah. My, think we a lot of heroes on pedestals, whether you can throw a ball or jump through something or where it came, my hero wears a bolo. And so, my hero's a little bit different. And so, I think I we need to be looking for those kind of heroes, you know. She's a very unique person and she's we're celebrating all the time.

Andy 23:24
Well, I'm not sure there's a better place to end this conversation than with that, John, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for sharing about yourself and Temple. And if you have questions for John, please feel free to email us at podcast@HigherEdJobs.com or leave us a direct message on X at HigherEdCareers. Also, if you have ideas or thoughts about this podcast or any other podcast, you may be interested in hearing us do, please let us know. Really enjoy spending time with you today. Thank you so much for joining us.

John 23:59
Thank you very much. If your audience members want to check out the film, they can find it on Amazon Prime. They can find it on Apple TV, they can find it on canopy. Youtube movies and it's about to come out on DVDs at the end of June. So,

Mike 24:14
Could you tell us the full title?

John 24:17
The movie is called An Open Door. The website is TempleGrandinDocumentary.com.

Andy 24:23
Thank you. Thank you, Mike. And Thank you for listening. we look forward to talking again real soon.