[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” text_align=”left”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwc3R5bGUlM0QlMjJib3JkZXIlM0ElMjBub25lJTNCJTIyJTIwc3JjJTNEJTIyJTJGJTJGaHRtbDUtcGxheWVyLmxpYnN5bi5jb20lMkZlbWJlZCUyRmVwaXNvZGUlMkZpZCUyRjEzNDYyMTgxJTJGaGVpZ2h0JTJGOTAlMkZ0aGVtZSUyRmN1c3RvbSUyRnRodW1ibmFpbCUyRnllcyUyRmRpcmVjdGlvbiUyRmZvcndhcmQlMkZyZW5kZXItcGxheWxpc3QlMkZubyUyRmN1c3RvbS1jb2xvciUyRjBmNDYyYSUyMiUyMHdpZHRoJTNEJTIyMTAwJTI1JTIyJTIwaGVpZ2h0JTNEJTIyOTAlMjIlMjBzY3JvbGxpbmclM0QlMjJubyUyMiUyMGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbiUzRCUyMmFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbiUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRSUwQQ==[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][divider line_type=”Full Width Line” line_thickness=”1″ divider_color=”default” animate=”yes” delay=”50″][vc_row_inner column_margin=”none” text_align=”left”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][divider line_type=”Full Width Line” line_thickness=”1″ divider_color=”default” animate=”yes” delay=”50″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” text_align=”left”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]Jonathan Lovitz, Senior Vice President of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), joins the program to discuss why diversity is good for business and the importance of being able to bring our best self to work. Jonathan also reveals who his mentors were and what he’s learned from them. Discover how to stay grounded and how to keep going in the face of adversity. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”full_width_background” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” top_padding=”0″ bottom_padding=”7%” class=”custom-p” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”left-right” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][toggles style=”default”][toggle color=”Default” title=”Episode Transcription”][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” text_align=”left”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”padding-3-percent” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]Speaker 1:
Welcome to Hidden Human, the podcast where we explore the stories behind the business leader. Get ready to hit insights from business leaders, speaking candidly about how they became who they are today and the lessons they learned along the way. And now here’s your host leadership coach and speaker Kelly Meerbott.
Kelly Meerbott:
Welcome to the space we were where we reveal our personal humanity to reconnect with our shared humanity. Let’s begin our conversation with a person who is a world changer, who is rocking the country right now and who has the very small title of senior vice president of the NGLCC: Jonathan Lovitz.
Jonathan Lovitz:
Hi my friend. It’s great to join you.
Kelly Meerbott:
I just love you. So I understand that congratulations are in order. And before we get into details about who you are, could you explain to our audience what happened yesterday, which would have been February 27th in Kentucky?
Jonathan Lovitz:
Sure. So the work that I am so, so fortunate and proud to get to do is all about connecting small and minority business owners who really are the backbone of our nation’s economy to more opportunities. And some of the biggest parts of that are in the public sector with all of those big government contracts that our tax dollars paid for and helping make it more fair and more equitable for women and people of color and now LGBT and people with disabilities to get access. And we just dispel the myth that the South is not a progressive place for opportunity by adding Louisville, Kentucky to be the 17th city since we started working on this to recognize LGBT and disability owned businesses the way that they do other minorities, which is just a fantastic way to say we see you, we hear you, we welcome you and we want to do more together because that’s how the economy’s supposed to work.
Kelly Meerbott:
Yes. 100% and you are the catalyst for that, my friend. So okay for the children that listen to Hidden Human, explain to me in a way that I could understand if I were a six year old child, what it is that the NGLCC does.
Jonathan Lovitz:
Sure. So the NGLCC, which is the national LGBT chamber of commerce is the business voice of our community. Where you’ve got other great organizations like the human rights campaign that focuses on social policy. You’ve got GLADD which focuses on LGBT representation in media. We are all things economics and so we are both the lobby fighting for certified LGBT owned companies, of which there’s almost 1.4 million of them out there in the United States who add almost $2 trillion to the US economy every year and yet still don’t have basic civil rights in this country despite all the jobs they create and opportunities they generate. We’re also the group that works with major corporations and nonprofits out there to help understand the most basic concept that we have known in corporate America for decades. Diversity is good for business and when you celebrate women, when you celebrate people of color, when you celebrate LGBTQ people, of which we are a part of every minority community, means that your company is going to get the best people working for it.
Jonathan Lovitz:
You’re going to earn the loyalty of that community in the marketplace. You’re going to get amazing suppliers who are part of the supply chain, who leverage their diversity to be better in business. We represent the LGBT business community, which is full of nothing but people who have had to be entrepreneurs of their own lives from the day they decided to come out and bring all of themselves to their work. And as we know from survey after survey, when you take that lead vest off like that when they put on you at the dentist chair, the one that you have to wear when you’re pretending to be something you’re not, at the workplace or at home or in church, you’re not your best self. And that means we’re not getting the best from you in society and we’re making that change that people need to be able to be their best so that we all thrive.
Kelly Meerbott:
So how young were you Jonathan, when you started to advocate for a level playing field for everybody? And I’m looking between the ages of eight and 14 because you had to have had some seeds of this. I feel like you’re kind of a conscious raiser, that’s kind of what’s coming through for me. Like what you’re doing is literally healing the world and raising the level of consciousness because none of us are free until all of us are free and you’re just creating a level of free. When did that first start to manifest for you?
Jonathan Lovitz:
Well, I am really lucky and I talk about this a lot in my work with particularly LGBT youth, many of whom have just incredibly hard, painful experiences both coming out, getting through school and maintaining relationships with friends and family just because of what they were born to be. And I grew up in South Florida where I was very young and involved in the arts, which of course is very liberal and very welcoming. And I saw how at peace people can be with themselves and others when they just learn to love and accept. I don’t believe in tolerance, I think tolerance is what you do when you tolerate the ants at the picnic. We don’t tolerate other people. We respect, we give dignity to other people and throughout my life, whether it was in the theater, whether it was getting involved in politics when I went to college, that’s when I started to seeing power of not just equality, but equity. When you have skin in the game, when you have leverage in the game, you make a difference. It’s why I’m so drawn to this mission of economic opportunity for people because frankly it’s harder to oppress a community with the dollars in their hands to fight back. And the dollars and cents are a heck of an economic leverage.
Kelly Meerbott:
Yeah, they sure are. So wouldn’t you say, because I was thinking about our conversations that we’ve had over time. The brief moments that we’ve been able to steal away to talk to each other. I feel like this is a humanity issue. This is a basic human issue. Cutting somebody out, that’s not compassionate business practices. That’s not inclusive. It’s really excluding them, which ends up causing separation and division
Jonathan Lovitz:
People do better when they have a sense of belonging. And what I have found in my years of working in this space, in both government and then the business sector is the people who push back on it are the ones who are afraid that they’re somehow losing their status, that they’re being knocked off the podium to make way for someone else. And I love, there’s a great cartoon out there that maybe we can link to that is about the difference between equality and equity. Equality is a tall guy and a very short guy and someone in the middle all standing on the same height of wooden box to look over the field and over the fence and watch the baseball game.
Kelly Meerbott:
I’ve seen that.
Jonathan Lovitz:
Where the difference is, yeah, that’s the level playing field. But equity comes from when the tall guy who can already see over the playing field bring his box over to the short guy and says, “You stand on this so we could be at the same place.”
Kelly Meerbott:
Right, exactly.
Jonathan Lovitz:
And that is just basic compassion for one another. And whether it’s your business, whether it’s your kid’s school, whether it’s your seat on the airplane, it’s a matter of just how can we do better for each other in a way that also doesn’t mean we’re losing anything for ourselves. We are stronger together. We are better together when we care for one another. And I don’t necessarily mean in the squishy, lovey sense. I mean just with basic dignity and respect for one another’s struggles, we do better.
Kelly Meerbott:
It’s that empathy. It’s really, for me, what I’ve learned over the past couple of years during my own awakening is that in order to really understand, you need to step in other people’s shoes and you have to have the awareness and comfort, compassion, courage and discipline to do that. Let’s be honest, you’re in Louisville, again, we’re talking about the South. That’s not an easy fight that you had. So where do you get the strength to stand up when people are literally pushing back on you and maybe not saying the nicest things to you and how do you stay so pleasant too, you’re always such a joy to be around. So that’s a two part question.
Jonathan Lovitz:
Well right back at you, my friend and I think the comfort, the strength comes from knowing you’re right. Like the great representative Elijah Cummings used to always say, “Get into some good trouble.” I love that. I could easily go in house at some corporation and manage their diversity initiatives where we’re doing things that only focus on the inside. Well, and I’m sure someday I might be in that position. But today while I’ve got the energy and the strength and the network to get out there and shake things up a little and to work with so many amazing colleagues and partners in this fight, we can take the hits because we know we’re the ones who are going to be standing at the end of the day because what is right, what is just, what is inclusive, what is supportive wins.
Jonathan Lovitz:
It always has. It always will. We may get knocked down a little along the way, but especially when you’re dealing in this space of economics, people will follow their wallets first. And what we have done a great job of doing is showing people that it is both in your moral and economic best interest to celebrate and welcome everyone. And so that’s how we get through it is knowing that we’ll be the ones standing at the end of the day.
Kelly Meerbott:
And are you ever afraid, Jonathan? Are you ever scared?
Jonathan Lovitz:
All the time. That comes from, I think, something you and I have talked many times about is the misconceptions people have about people who are in the public arena that-
Jonathan Lovitz:
Misconceptions people have about people who are in the public arena that that must mean you are always ready for a fight. You’re always on, you’re always positive, you’re always in a good head space. The anxiety, the fear that I and so many of my colleagues feel and talk about regularly can be debilitating if you let it. It’s also fuel because I think about as I have known from especially mentors of mine when I was growing up, older LGBT people, many of whom fought through the AIDS crisis, lost people to it, they themselves have died from it. They can’t be here to keep fighting and if I’ve got the energy and strength to do even one thing in their memory, their honor, how could I not do it? I am elated as I traveled, especially working with universities and employee resource groups full of young, eager people looking to put their privilege to good use, that they feel the same way. That if not me, who? I needed someone looking out for me when I was younger and I have to be that for someone else.
Kelly Meerbott:
You’re honoring the people who came before you and we’ve talked in detail about that because I’m from South Florida too and the AIDS crisis hit there in a different way I think than the rest of the country, but okay. So fast forward far far down the road in your life. What do you want your legacy to be? At the end of your life, what do you want to look back and see?
Jonathan Lovitz:
That we made a difference and I feel like we’re getting started. I mean to have been a part of these policy changes we’re working on at the city state level, to have helped work with nondiscrimination protections for so many communities in so many places that need it. I am so proud of that work and I know that it is a drop in a very big ocean, but I think we’re seeing a lot more people add their drops to it and that helps all the boats rise to mix a bunch of metaphors together, but what I hope has happened when I hit the end of my life is that I made a difference. I mean that slogan is on my Twitter. It’s very much a part of everything I believe in. It’s something that I hope as I look at potentially a political future is a message that carries me and the people who want to work with me through it. Let’s make a difference.
Jonathan Lovitz:
I believe that with everything I have and I have seen the power of people getting active and getting involved and being a part of the process and not advocating their future to people they don’t know to make decisions about their lives, their taxes, their families for them when they could be in the arena doing it themselves and helping others who don’t have a voice. I think something that I am seeing more and more of, especially among younger generations who realize that they owe their success and their opportunities to the struggles of others, is the commitment to as you go up the ladder, you climb the wall and you shatter the glass ceiling, that you throw that ladder down to others who need to, who can follow up behind you. That is what’s important because we’ll all run out of time eventually. If we’re not also inspiring more to follow in our footsteps, to be involved in the causes we care about, then they’re just momentary as opposed to staying around forever and creating that legacy for others to be a part of.
Kelly Meerbott:
Yeah, I mean for me in these last… Well in my 11 year career working on my own, that’s been a mantra of mine is to turn around and see who’s behind me to give them a hand up and if there’s a door in front of us that they can’t open, then I’m going to either open it or kick it down. I mean, it’s one of two. Who has been the biggest influence on your life and what did that person teach you?
Jonathan Lovitz:
Man, there are several, but my parents, my folks are, are just incredible. I don’t take for granted, as I said about the importance of continuing to work with LGBT youth because how lucky it was for me to be able to come out so young, be so supportive and have nothing change in my life. I know how abnormal that is and so to just have… To have had that part of my life go as smoothly as it could have been… Of course there were tears and heartache and all of that, but man, just having them behind me changed everything. It let me know that I could pursue my dreams, which when I started was just being a performer and then I learned how to convert a long, lengthy, wonderful career in the arts to public service and everything in life has just been an amplification of everything that came before.
Jonathan Lovitz:
Definitely my folks, many teachers along the way. I have deep respect for teachers. My mom was one. Both of my sisters are teachers. Many of my closest friends are in education. It is unglamorous, unglorious work that is perhaps the most important life saving thing our kids have so many of the teachers in my journey, whether it was middle, high school, undergrad and even some that I get to work with now just as a speaker and partner in their work. Teachers have changed everything for me and then supporting them is just so important.
Kelly Meerbott:
I don’t know if you’re going to agree with me, but I think teachers should be the highest paid job in our country, honestly, because they’re really… Great teachers can be the launchpad for so many amazing things and actually, I kind of see you in that role as teaching and educating. I mean, that’s really what you’re doing with these different cities. A couple of weeks ago when we were talking, you just locked down Chicago and now Louisville, I mean, that’s huge. I just, I admire your strength and your tenacity and your patience and your humor I mean that you do it with. There’s such a grace about you, Jonathan and I think that really puts people at ease and willing to listen. At least that’s what I’ve experienced. That’s how I experienced you. If you could hold onto one memory from your life forever, what memory would that be?
Jonathan Lovitz:
Wow. I think my wedding day would probably be a good one because it was really… It’s the culmination of all the best things in my life. My biological family was there. My chosen family was there. My work family was there. My wedding was officiated by my dear friend Jim [inaudible 00:17:59] who was the Supreme court plaintiffs who won marriage equality for the whole country and so to have him be a part of that and sort of bring that spirit of history to a proceeding that he made happen and that my husband and I played some small part in advocating for, that really meant so much to me and, and just to be surrounded by that much love is something I think about daily because I kind of want to swim in that memory every day.
Kelly Meerbott:
Yeah. Isn’t it great? It’s just those moments of love when you realize that no matter what, at the end of the day, your spouse is there, your partner is there. My husband and I were… I had been going through some rough things the last couple of weeks and one morning he woke up and he looked at me, he goes, “I love everything about you and you’re all I need. That’s it.”
Kelly Meerbott:
When you enter into a relationship like that, which I’ve witnessed you and Steve that way. I mean you… I get such a kick out of the two of you together because there’s such clear love and such a demonstration of love that… For me, that’s the standard of what people want at least in their lives.
Jonathan Lovitz:
I appreciate that. You are very much someone who exudes love like a lighthouse. People are drawn to you. I’ve seen it so many times. I think… I’m not someone who gets too wrapped up in a lot of these, let’s call them Barnes and Noble philosophies, that you could pick up on a shelf. I do believe in the attraction power between people who do good. I have always believed that you are the reflection of the people with whom you surround yourself with, especially when you’re busy, ambitious people because you have such an understanding of the preciousness of your time. I believe in that deeply and I know… Grateful that someone like you and the people in your orbit are now a part of mine.
Jonathan Lovitz:
When I turned 30, which was an undisclosed number of years ago. A dear friend and very much a mentor, the legendary gay activist, David Mixner, who was a friend and neighbor in New York City, sat me down and just gave me a… Sort of just unloaded a bunch of advice, which I have to tell you, it was really cool because any chance I had to go sit in his apartment and sit in the Kennedy porch chair that he inherited, it was a good day. I was sitting with him and talking about the future and he said, “Look, if I can give you one bit of advice on your 30th birthday, as you continue to grow into a role of public service where you’re going to be visible and you’re going to be… Everyone’s going to want a piece is to remember four quarters always mean more than a hundred pennies.”
Jonathan Lovitz:
I have valued that to this day, that you’ve got to keep your chosen family well selected and close by because they’re going to keep you grounded. They’re going to be the ones who care least about your work and your busy things and they’re going to say, “Kid, get it together. Focus on what really matters, which is us and your life and your love and the good you’re doing.”
Kelly Meerbott:
Yeah. I learned that lesson over the past probably two years I would say that not everybody is allowed to have access to my energy. I was literally an open book and getting drained by people who had no intention of creating a symbiotic relationship and what I mean by that is I feel you, you feel me and we lift each other up when we need it. It’s okay to cut those people out of your lives. It really is because in my opinion, your inner circle should be tight, close and exactly. Those people that, like my husband…
Kelly Meerbott:
And, exactly, those people that… Like, my husband will come down and be like, “Focus on the work.” And thank God for him, really. I feel like people like that in my life are a gift. I really want, people around you who are going to call you on your shit, and hold you accountable to the best version of your self.
Jonathan Lovitz:
You just said such a wonderful thing, because I think about, as we’re talking, I’m sitting in my home office in Philadelphia, and I’m looking across the room at pictures of my husband, and me. And also a printout of one of the most important quotes I’ve ever heard, that sort of shook me to my core when I needed it most. And I blew it up on a poster, and put it on my wall.
Jonathan Lovitz:
And it’s something President Obama said, which is, “I first ran for Congress in 1999 and I got beat. I just got whupped. Then for me to run, and lose that bad, I was thinking maybe this wasn’t it. Maybe this wasn’t what I was cut out to do. I was 40 years old, I’d invested a lot of time and effort into something that didn’t seem to be working. But the thing that got me through that moment, and any other time I felt stuck, is to remind myself it’s about the work. Because if I’m worrying about myself, if you’re thinking, am I succeeding? Am I in the right position? Am I being appreciated? Then you’re always going to end up feeling frustrated and stuck. But if you can keep it about the work, you’ll always have a path. There’s always something to be done.”
Kelly Meerbott:
Yes. And if I wasn’t so close to the mic and didn’t want to blow your ear buds out, I would do a woo hoo. But, yes. And the other one that I think about is, and this is when I struggle, saying no to people. Because especially if somebody needs my help, I really, I think about this quote from Gandhi.
Kelly Meerbott:
And he said, “A no, uttered from deepest conviction, is better and greater than a yes merely uttered to please or worse, to avoid trouble.” Am I saying yes, because I’m trying to please somebody, or avoid trouble? Because that’s not the right reason to say yes. So if you stay resonant, you stay true to you, and you focus on the work, then you’re exactly right.
Kelly Meerbott:
So, let me ask you, if this was, and this is a deep one. If this was the last conversation you were ever going to have in your life, what message would you want to communicate to me, and to the world?
Jonathan Lovitz:
I would, since we’re on the topic of using and sharing our favorite quotes, I end every speech, whether it’s a large audience or a small one, with the same quote because it just, I think, encapsulates everything I believe. And it’s by Margaret Mead, who was an anthropologist and a writer and a closeted queer woman most of her life. Said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, because it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Kelly Meerbott:
Yeah, yeah. 100%. So, I think that’s a great strong way to end, but I do want to ask my four rapid fire questions. Because as serious as you are, and as world changing as your work is, you’re also a very fun guy.
Kelly Meerbott:
So, what is your favorite comfort food?
Jonathan Lovitz:
Pizza, all day, all night, anytime, anywhere. I’ve never met a piece of pizza I didn’t love.
Speaker 2:
And if you add barbecued chicken on top of that, he will love you forever. So.
Kelly Meerbott:
Oh, okay. What-
Jonathan Lovitz:
Buffalo, Buffalo chicken. I would-
Kelly Meerbott:
Buffalo chicken.
Jonathan Lovitz:
… I would put Buffalo sauce on a shoe and eat it, so wherever I can find a good combination of pizza and Buffalo wings, that’s probably where you’ll find me.
Kelly Meerbott:
Okay. So, what books are on your nightstand?
Jonathan Lovitz:
I am reading a great one right now, by the brilliant Doris Kearns Goodwin, who is a presidential historian and great American thinker and it’s called Leadership. And it’s about four great presidents, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR and Johnson. And how these men, from very different points of view and places in their life, became the men they are. And their mission, their beliefs. And it’s really teaching me about who I am, who I want to be, what I want to model. And, to your point earlier, what I want to leave behind.
Kelly Meerbott:
Yeah, the legacy. I’m going to, you told me about that before, and it’s on my list. It’s probably, after the next book I’m going to read, which was another recommendation from a powerful colleague, but. Okay. What songs are on your playlist?
Jonathan Lovitz:
Oh, man. It’s usually all show tunes, all the time for me. It’s my happy spot, because that’s where I came from, I got my start in the theater. I talk about it all the time. I used to run from that part of my life, because I thought people would pigeonhole me and say, “Oh, he’s just an actor who got lucky, and now he’s doing whatever he’s doing.” But the arts made me a better human being, for everything we’ve talked about, all the things about compassion and preparation and understanding. And, just knowing how to work a room and emote a room, and get the emotions out of them. So yeah, I’m constantly on a Broadway bender, on my phone.
Kelly Meerbott:
Okay. So what’s on, what Broadway bender are we on today, right now?
Jonathan Lovitz:
Oh, gosh. This week, I’m spending a lot of time with Sunday in the Park With George, which has always been one of my favorites. But, just because I heard a dear friend of mine recently got cast, in the upcoming London revival. So I’m feeling happy for him, and feeling happy for the fact that this great piece is going to be around again.
Speaker 2:
[crosstalk 00:27:46] cast.
Jonathan Lovitz:
Because I saw it with Jake Gyllenhaal a couple of years back, in New York and was thrilled that it’s making the rounds, once again.
Kelly Meerbott:
That’s awesome. And what are you most grateful for in this moment? Right now?
Jonathan Lovitz:
People like you. People like you that are a part of this family that you get to choose when you’re an adult who takes agency over their own life and says, “I am not defined by my college degree, or not. My family status, my income, anything. I am defined by however big I want my horizon and my sights to be.” And I’ve met some just incredible, compassionate people who feel that same way and believe in helping others succeed. And, that includes you. So, yes, that.
Kelly Meerbott:
Thank you. And I feel the same way, Jonathan. And if I were a business owner, and was interested in working with the NGLCC, how would I do that? How do I get in contact, with either you, or the organization?
Jonathan Lovitz:
Absolutely. It’s nglcc.org, or if you Google LGBT businesses, it will probably be the first thing that shows up. But, whether you’re LGBT and working with us, or a woman owned business, working with B Bank, or a minority owned business working with the NMSDC, or a straight ally who just says, “I want to put my dollars to good use, to support the communities I care about.” There are resources all over the internet for you. So, happy to be of service, and if people want to reach me, my favorite platform is Twitter. So @jdlovitz, L-O-V-I-T-Z. I’d love to keep talking with people, connect them to resources, and just share good news. There’s enough, ickiness out there. We could all do a better job at celebrating and sharing what others are doing well.
Kelly Meerbott:
Jonathan, thanks for being vulnerable and real, and to our listeners, it’s our intention that this podcast inspires you to go out and have authentic conversations, to deepen the connections in your life. Thank you so much, and make it a great day.
Speaker 3:
You’ve been listening to Hidden Human, the stories behind the business leader. If you’ve enjoyed the episode, please subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. To learn more about Kelly, and the services she provides visit, youloudandclear.com. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll be back soon with a new episode.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/toggle][/toggles][/vc_column][/vc_row]
