Devin D. Thorpe thinks he is the luckiest person alive. After being “let go” from the best job he’d ever had—as the Chief Financial Officer of the multinational food and beverage company MonaVie—he and his wife ended up living in China for a year where he wrote Your Mark On The World and embarked on the career he’d always wanted yet hadn’t dared dream.
Now, as an author, a popular guest speaker and Forbes contributor, Devin is devoted full time to championing social good. His current life isn’t much like his past.
As an entrepreneur, Devin ran—at separate times—a boutique investment banking firm and a small mortgage company. He served as the Treasurer for the multinational vitamin manufacturer USANA Health Sciences years before becoming CFO for MonaVie. Over his career he led or advised on the successful completion of $500 million in transactions.
Devin squeezed in two brief stints in government, including two years working for Jake Garn on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee Staff and another year working for an independent state agency called USTAR, where he helped foster technology entrepreneurship during Governor Jon Huntsman’s administration.
Devin is proud to have graduated from the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business, which recognized him as a Distinguished Alum in 2006. He also earned an MBA at Cornell University where he ran the student newspaper, Cornell Business.
Today, Devin channels the idealism of his youth with the loving support of his wife, Gail. Their son Dayton is a PhD candidate in Physics at UC Berkeley (and Devin rarely misses an opportunity to mention that).
Here at Your Mark On The World, we are running the “Hand Up for Social Good” Award with a $1,000 prize.
The award will recognize a small nonprofit organization or social enterprise that has a noble purpose and a big impact relative to their budget.
For many large organizations with multi-million dollar budgets, $1,000 wouldn’t mean much. I get that. But there are thousands of small and startup organizations that operate with tiny budgets and they can really use the money.
I need your help. Seriously. The problem is, small things are hard to find. Often, such small organizations have their attention focused on solving big problems and probably aren’t reading my blog here or at Forbes. I need you to help me share the word so that we can find a truly remarkable winner that deserves the money and the recognition that comes with it.
Sure, start ups need the $1,000, but I bet they need the national attention and recognition at Forbes.com even more than the money. All ten finalists will also get profiled on my Forbes page. What would that be worth to a small nonprofit or startup social venture?
Please, give some thought to those who may be good candidates for this award. Share this post with them directly. If you can’t think of one, share this on Facbebook and Twitter so that we can find and recognize a truly deserving organization.
Do you know a great social entrepreneur who deserves a hand up? So many of the good people I’ve met over the last few years who are doing social good, don’t get nearly as much credit as they deserve. You can help me find and recognize great do-gooders around the world; then we’ll give them a hand up.
Your Mark on the World, my new organization, will be giving $1,000 to a small social enterprise or nonprofit (less than $100,000 in 2012 revenue). Any small organization in the world is eligible to enter. Nominations or applications must be submitted before the end of January 2013.
All those who submit applications or nominations will receive a code that entitles them to receive a free download of my book, Your Mark On The World.
While I certainly don’t view myself as a film critic and most of you will thank me for refraining from commenting on films in general, I want to take a moment to encourage you to see Les Miserables.
The Victor Hugo novel is, in my largely irrelevant view, the greatest work of fiction ever. I’ve never felt that any production of Les Mis that I’ve seen has ever lived up to the novel—until now. The production, the music and the actors all came together perfectly to capture in a relatively brief time the full emotional impact of the novel.
The point of the story seems to me to be that we are all human, all fallible and all capable of change, of becoming something better—much better—than we are today.
The story makes clear that we become better by putting aside our selfish interests in service of others. In fact, Jean Valjean is heroic because he renders service specifically in direct conflict with his apparent self interest.
I came away from the movie as excited as I’ve been in months to focus my time and energy in service to others. Like you, I still have to make a living, but I will try to make service to others a higher priority in 2013.
We’ve got ten water mechanics still waiting for sponsorship in India. Our friends at People Water will MATCH water donations till the end of this year, to help us reach everyone.
Please help rally and double your donation! We only need 110 people to give $25 dollars each and we’ll help 10 mechanics learn how to maintain wells for 50,000 people in India. Incredible impact.
Anyone who has moved a family recently can tell you they hope never to do it again. Memories fade, however, and many do it over and over again. If you land a new job that is, say, 40 miles away, it may be tempting to move closer to work. Here are some considerations to help you decide:
Rent or own?If you are renting your current residence, the cost of moving is much smaller, and the opportunity to save enough to pay for the move is much more likely. If you own your home, it could take decades to save enough in transportation costs to pay for the move.
Car or train?If you will have to drive to your new job every day, the costs of the commute will add up more quickly than if you can take the bus or train most or all of the way.
This article was first published at FamilyHow.com; to read the entire article, click here. It is also included in my latest book 925 Ideas to Help You Save Money, Get Out of Debt and Retire A Millionaire So You Can Leave Your Mark on the Worldavailable for free at Smashwords or for $0.99 at Amazon.
Here in the U.S., the tax code punishes the second income in a household in ways that few people understand. If you are earning just $15,000 per year working part time, you may be surprised to learn that you not only can afford to quit—you may not be able to afford to keep working!
If you love your job and love working, the question of whether or not to work isn’t purely financial. If, however, you hate working and only do it to help make ends meet each month, read this article carefully.
This article was first published at FamilyHow.com; to read the entire article, click here. It is also included in my latest book 925 Ideas to Help You Save Money, Get Out of Debt and Retire A Millionaire So You Can Leave Your Mark on the Worldavailable for free at Smashwords or for $0.99 at Amazon.
Recently, I was invited to do an interview with the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. I was invited to talk about my book, Your Mark On The World. This gave me an opportunity to explain to to start thinking about doing more for a cause you support.
Travel abroad is exciting, fun and scary. There are so many new things to worry about: language, traffic patterns and signs, delicious food, strange food and colorful money. Virtually every currency in the world, except U.S. currency, is bright and colorful. Figuring out how to use the beautiful, colorful money without overpaying in country or being charged high fees along the way takes planning.
The following are currency related issues that you should plan for when traveling abroad:
Exchange rates:Exchange rates, the price of foreign currencies in terms of U.S. Dollars, will vary from one day to the next. In fact, they vary from one moment to the next, though in most retail exchange locations you won’t see changes happen throughout the day. On the internet, you can watch exchange rates fluctuate moment to moment. The rates you’ll see on the internet will always be better than the rates you can get when you are exchanging currency. There is no easy way for consumers to hedge or protect themselves against painful swings in currencies while planning for or going on an international vacation.
Exchanging Money:As a general rule, you want to exchange money as seldom as possible. Do some research and careful budgeting for your cash use on the trip and exchange once at the beginning of the trip all the cash you plan to spend so you won’t have to frequent money exchange services, banks or ATMs with frequency.
This article was first published at FamilyHow.com; to read the entire article, click here. It is also included in my latest book 925 Ideas to Help You Save Money, Get Out of Debt and Retire A Millionaire So You Can Leave Your Mark on the Worldavailable for free at Smashwords or for $0.99 at Amazon.
Congratulations on paying off your car. There were probably days along the way when you worried the car wouldn’t last as long as the loan on the car, but it made it! You have taken a huge financial step forward. Now what?
Follow this simple system and you’ll never have a car payment again!
Keep driving the car you have now.Take care of it. You want this baby to last for years. (If you haven’t told your car lately that you love her, now might be a good time.)
Keep making the car payment.What!?! Make the car payment into a savings account. Keep the money sacred for your next car.
This article was first published at FamilyHow.com; to read the entire article, click here. It is also included in my latest book 925 Ideas to Help You Save Money, Get Out of Debt and Retire A Millionaire So You Can Leave Your Mark on the World available for free at Smashwords.
Recently, I had the opportunity to be interviewed about my book, Your Mark On The World, with the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business. It was a pleasure to talk about the book and the inspiring people in it.
The history of the book begins, in a way, with my being let go from the greatest job I’d ever had, as the Chief Financial Officer for MonaVie—a global food and beverage company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Within six months, I found myself living in China working as a college professor for less than $1,000 per month. In that situation, the idea for Your Mark On The World was born.
Here at Your Mark On The World, we are running the “Hand Up for Social Good” Award with a $1,000 prize. 
