We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicholas Kristock. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicholas below.

Nicholas, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How do you think about spending on the little things / small joys when finances are tight?

I believe nearly every dollar you spend is an investment hiding under the label of “expense.” Now, just like most things, there are good AND bad investments, but they are investments just the same. During lean times, or when you are starting a NPO that would be nearly ALL times, the importance of experimentation and micro-investments cannot be understated. It is not a winning strategy to simply tighten the pockets during a lean time, you still need to play offense, and you can play offense through micro investments and experiments. For example, if you think you can create an addiitonal stream of revenue from an apparel arm of your business, start by making a graphic of your tshirts and putting a pre-order button on your website. Do some digital outreach to see if you can drive pre-orders and generate cash up front while you prove if the apparel is a viable stream of revenue. This is a micro-investment approach vs. buying a ton of inventory upfront and betting big that apparel will win for you.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I live my life by a code: Build. Empower. Serve.

I have found my fit in the social impact world. I am obsessed with building businesses that solve problems, and I live life to serve those around me.

Every day is an opportunity to build more blocks on the tower of social entrepreneurship and enterprise.

Bringing comfort to those who need it most has been the most rewarding work of my career. I get wildly excited when I connect someone to serving their greatest good and empower them with the tools to create positive change.
I am a former international soccer player turned serial entrepreneur and servant leader, and I have discovered my purpose by building businesses that solve problems.

In 2015, I founded Fleece & Thank You (still serve as the Executive Director), an innovative 501(c)3 organization that provides psychosocial support and programs to children in the hospital.

In 2016, I founded the startup company Empathy 313, and after multiple product revisions and a complete restart, we brought the product KindKatch out to the market in 2021.

Today, I continue to work with great teams at both Fleece & Thank You and KindKatch, and I truly believe I am living my purpose by growing these ventures.

Something interesting about me is that I have lived homeless for a week in Sydney, Australia as a member of the startup team for Orange Sky Laundry, the world’s first mobile laundry service for the homeless.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Coming into March 2020, Fleece & Thank You was an all in-person event nonprofit delivering handmade goods to children’s hospitals. Obviously some of the first things to go during March 2020 were in person events and handmade donations to hospitals.

Instead of folding up shop, we made adapted in two large ways.

First, we created an ecommerce/virtual experience to engage in blanket making, and we started receiving orders from around the country. This is a core part of our model today.

Second, we acquired a hospital-grade washing and drying unit and started producing germ free blankets. We have now become the exclusive blanket provider to many health systems in MI.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

We are obsessed with providing a “personal touch” to everyone we come into contact with. For every blanket made, there is a personalized video message from the blanket maker to the recipient, and the recipient can then respond with a message back to the blanket maker. In addition to this personalized and confidential video message exchange, we also engage donors and volunteers using personalized videos texted right to their phone to keep them in the loop and up to date on stories of impact.    

Contact Info:

• Website: fleeceandthankyou.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fleeceandthankyou/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fleecethankyou/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fleeceandthankyou/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@fleeceandthankyou