We were lucky to catch up with Mindy Bess recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mindy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

What sort of legacy are you hoping to build? The legacy I am building and hope to leave behind is culture of honor and love.
True honor is seeing what’s valuable and wonderful in people and appreciating, loving, acknowledging, and responding to them in a way they deserve. In essence, it’s about lifting someone up and placing them to a level that is equal, if not higher, than the place we are in. Unfortunately, society, in general, has replaced true honor with a sense of self-importance, which has led to a downward spiral in peoples self-worth and self-respect: especially those who are downtrodden.
When working with clients, my team, and people in general, I aim to demonstrate through word and action that they are valuable and wonderful and that they are appreciated, acknowledged, and worthy of respect and love. By doing this and accurately acknowledging who people are, no matter what position they are in or what battle they are facing, it positions us to give them what they deserve and to accept the gift of who they truly are and what they mean to us and the people around them. This is the legacy I am building and want to leave.

What do you think people will say about you after you are gone?
It is my hope that when I am gone people will say that I loved well, that I overcame overwhelming odds, and that I was a strong and teachable woman who was dedicated to serving others with respect and honor. More importantly, I hope they say that I was a woman of unadulterated childlike faith that made me fearless.

What do you hope to be remembered for?
When people remember me, it is my hope that they see that I stood in the face of opposition and never gave up. I hope they see that I built bridges between adults and the need to be loved, acknowledged and cared for all while pouring out everything I had to those I served. That I lifted their spirits when they needed it the most and cried with them through their difficult processes. Lastly, I hope they see that I lived my dreams unapologetically and that I encouraged those around me to do the same.

Mindy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Mindy Bess, I am 42 years old, I live in Nashville, TN, I am an event coordinator, and I am an entrepreneur. I am also the CEO and Founder of the James Bess Foundation – an organization that grants wishes to adults battling a terminal illness. I started this organization in my dad’s (James Bess) honor after he had a wish that couldn’t be granted because he was 40 years old. My dad was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer when he was 38 years old and died at 42. During his battle he had a desire to meet Garth Brooks and attend one of his concerts, but since he was an adult there weren’t any organizations that could grant him his wish, my dad later died not having his wish fulfilled. Realizing that adults, in similar situations to my dad, deserved to have their wishes granted as well, I started the James Bess Foundation.
We began granting wishes in August 2017 and so far, we have granted 31 wishes nationwide. Of those 31 wishes, we have had several family vacations, two riding lawnmowers, two reconciliation wishes between a father and son, and several celebrity wishes involving people such as Charlie Daniels, Reba, Luke Combs, and Dude Perfect.

When adults are diagnosed with a terminal illness, they go from a life of thriving to simply, and at times barely, surviving which eventually leads to depression, anxiety, and discouragement. By working with them to grant them their wish, we impart a gift of hope, joy, and compassion which hopefully leads them to a place of wanting to live again. Also, by granting them their wish, it gives their friends and family the ability to make some amazing memories that will last a lifetime.
What I am most proud of is the number of people we have had the privilege of blessing through the granting of the thirty-one wishes. People think that by granting the clients wish they are the only one being blessed, however when the client is blessed there is a ripple effect that ends up blessing their friends, family, and their community as well. So, even though we have fulfilled thirty-one wishes, we have impacted and blessed hundreds more.

Ultimately, the James Bess Foundation is an organization that delivers a gift of hope wrapped with joy and compassion to adults batting a terminal illness as well as their family and friends. We want them to know that they are not forgotten, and that they are loved, cared for, and thought of. It is an honor and a privilege to serve and bless those adults who need it most.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In 1994, when I was thirteen years old, I was riding my bicycle in my neighborhood and was hit by a van who ran a stop sign. After being rushed to the hospital it was determined that I had a subdural hematoma on my brain (aka, a brain bleed) and was rushed into neurosurgery. When the surgery was complete, the doctor told my parents that there was a big probability that I would have some sort of mental retardation due to the injury. Approximately three days later I was released from the hospital and about a week later I was back at school with zero deficiencies. However, that was not the end of the story. Several months later my reproductive system started to become dysfunctional, which led me to getting checked out by a gynecologist, only to have him say I had all my parts, and according to the lab reports they were all working “normally”, so he was stumped. Over the course of the next twenty-six years other systems in my body became dysfunctional as well, including my social, emotional, and mental capabilities, but no amount of specialists could ever figure it out. It wasn’t until October of 2020 that I was officially diagnosed with Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS).

The resiliency part of this story is that during that twenty-six-year span, where no one knew what was officially wrong with me, I graduated high school at the top of my class, with honors, became the first person in my family to graduate with a Bachelors degree, and started my own successful national nonprofit. I am happy to say that in October 2020 I went through a five-day program in Utah at the Cognitive Fx Clinic where I was completely healed of my PCS. My physical brain has been renewed and I am now able to process information more quickly and retain greater amounts of information. In addition to that, I now walk with a sense of confidence and greater emotional and social stability. All in all, despite dealing with an undiagnosed case of PCS for twenty-six years, by God’s grace, I was able to accomplish the impossible.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The foundation officially became operational in August of 2017, and with the help of one particular social worker we were able to grant one wish a month for the first six months. However, when she left that job, the referrals stopped. For the next fifteen months I met with every major cancer hospital and hospice within Middle Tennessee to promote the business. However, even though they were impressed with what we did, we didn’t receive any referrals from any location. Once I realized I wasn’t getting anywhere with the medical facilities, I decided to pivot and go directly to social media, which paid off. Since then, we have relied solely on social media, our website, and word of mouth for referrals. Due to that pivot, we have had the privilege of granting wishes to adults from Oregon to Massachusetts, Michigan to Florida and everywhere in between.

Contact Info:

• Website: JamesBess.org
• Instagram: @jamesbessfoundation
• Facebook: @james.bess.foundation
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/mindy-bess-60922751
• Youtube: @jamesbessfoundation6152
• TikTok: @jamesbessfoundation

Image Credits
Matt Carey