Visual Eyes - The Community & Collaboration Podcast

S2 Ep 10 - How Volunteering Transformed Justin Nepola’s Life & Leadership Journey

• Visuals by Momo

Share episode

In this powerful episode of the Visual Eyes Podcast, we sit down with Justin Nepola, an influential nonprofit leader, philanthropist, and community advocate. From a simple New Year’s resolution to becoming Board Chair of HandsOn South Florida, Justin shares how volunteering changed his life and the impact he’s had on organizations like Military Recreational Divers (MRD) and No More Tears.

🔹 How volunteering led Justin to nonprofit leadership
🔹 The hidden challenges nonprofits face (and how to overcome them)
🔹 Why collaboration is key in the nonprofit sector
🔹 How ocean therapy is saving veterans with PTSD
🔹 A powerful story of helping a domestic violence survivor rebuild her life
🔹 Lessons from the pandemic: Why human connection matters more than ever

This episode is packed with inspiration, nonprofit insights, and leadership lessons that anyone passionate about social impact needs to hear.

📌 Learn More & Get Involved:
🌍 HandsOn South Florida: https://www.handsonsouthflorida.org
🌊 Military Recreational Divers: https://www.militarydivers.org
🛡️ No More Tears: https://www.nomoretearsusa.org

📢 Subscribe & Follow Visual Eyes Podcast for More Stories of Impact:
🌍 Website: https://www.VisualEyesPodcast.com
📷 Instagram: @VisualEyesPod
📘 LinkedIn: Visual Eyes Podcast
🎥 YouTube: Visual Eyes Podcast Channel @VisualEyesPodcast

#NonprofitLeadership #GivingBack #Philanthropy #CommunityImpact #SocialGood


Would you like some help creating the perfect narrative for your organization?
Book your Strategy Call


VISUALS BY MOMO:
Phone: (954) 745-7922
Website: https://www.visualsbymomo.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visualsbymomo/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/visualsbymomo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/visualsbymomo/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@visualsbymomo
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/visualsbymomo
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@visualsbymomo


Special Thanks to Stacy Daugherty for the beautiful wall artwork in the background. Socials: @artographybystacy

Chris Baker:

Welcome to Visual Eyes, the podcast where collaboration fuels change. I'm your host, chris Baker, and each week we'll explore incredible connections between nonprofits, businesses and the community. This is a space where we highlight inspiring partnerships, uncover strategies for creating meaningful impact and share stories that show how working together can make all the difference. Whether you're a nonprofit leader, a business owner or someone just passionate about building connections, this podcast is for you. Welcome back to Visual Eyes. Today I have Justin Nepola. Welcome to the show, justin. Thank you so much, chris.

Justin Nepola:

It's great to be here.

Chris Baker:

I would love to hear a little bit about your journey in the nonprofit sector. I know you're on a couple different boards and I don't know all of them, so I would love to hear all of them if you have more. But then also what inspired you to take on that leadership role. It's funny.

Justin Nepola:

I'm going to ruin the evergreen nature of this podcast and tell people that it's being recorded at the beginning of the year. Um, because my volunteer journey and my board journey kind of both revolved around I don't want to say new year's resolutions, but it kind of was um. It's I don't remember how long ago, but it was a while ago that I had made the resolution one year. I was like all right, I'm going to do more volunteering, I'm going to get out involved in the community.

Chris Baker:

And I just did it.

Justin Nepola:

I found Hands On Broward at the time. I found their website and they have a great calendar with all different events. I found a food distribution event that they were providing Realtors. They were providing volunteers. You can tell where I spend all day. They provide volunteers to do the distribution for feeding. South florida and I went out and had a great time. We were filling people's cars up. It was a drive-through food distribution. Actually got my foot run over. Fortunately it was a small car so my foot was fine, but the woman actually stopped on my foot. I I was pounding on her roof telling her to move.

Justin Nepola:

So that was the highlight of that day. And then, ever since then, despite getting run over, I was hooked. I had a great time, so I started volunteering regularly at all different organizations. Fast forward, a few years later, I was writing my goals for the year. One of the things I said is I want to be on a nonprofit board. And in parentheses I wrote Hands On Broward.

Justin Nepola:

I said that would be my dream board to be on and, I guess, to the power of visualization, the power of writing your goals down. Within two months, the CEO and the COO of Hands On Broward pulled me aside and said, hey, we would love to invite you to join the board. And so I was like you're never getting rid of me, and so that's where I've been for years on and I've been fortunate enough to work my way up to board chair and I'm very honored by that.

Chris Baker:

How long have you been a part of hands on south florida?

Justin Nepola:

you know, I honestly don't know. It's probably been on the board six, seven years time is kind of a blur. Ever since the pandemic I I lose track of time completely. Uh, you know, if somebody told me it was 10 years ago, okay, I don't know.

Chris Baker:

I honestly it's probably been about four or five, maybe six years so the first thing that we filmed with hands on south florida was their parkland hearts project okay at the beginning of 2023 and that, so that was two years ago.

Chris Baker:

We were working with christina at the time. We filmed all three of the different projects that they were they were doing at the time. I remember that and from that point it was later on there was a conversation of having you on the board. Yeah, um, and that took several months to like work into play. Um, but that was by about the middle of 2023 is when I joined the board that we may have met at bowtick.

Justin Nepola:

Yes, because I feel like I've known you longer than two years.

Chris Baker:

No it hasn't been Really.

Justin Nepola:

I know right.

Chris Baker:

Like you were saying, time flies, time is.

Justin Nepola:

For sure, but I definitely feel like you've been entrenched in the community for so much longer.

Chris Baker:

It's actually kind of unique in that regard, because me and Momo have not even been here for three years.

Justin Nepola:

That is just such a testament to the two of you, because you've done such a great job of just ingraining yourself, ingratiating yourself in the South Florida, in the Fort Lauderdale community, that I feel like you've been here so much longer, because everybody knows you, everybody loves you guys, everybody appreciates all you do for everybody, so that's phenomenal Good for you.

Chris Baker:

That says a lot. That means a lot to us too, because, honestly, you know it's been a challenging you know, three years, it's not easy. We do feel, we are starting to feel the love and feeling the connection to the community, and you know, we've made amazing, yeah, amazing, because it's not easy. It is not easy, no, it's not to come, because you.

Justin Nepola:

Neither of you really knew anybody in south florida when you got here we knew nobody damn. So to go from nobody to being well recognized and established in three years is phenomenal. Good for you, thank you all right so let's get back to the podcast.

Chris Baker:

Welcome back everybody. It's gonna be an eight hour podcast, a little time, um, okay. So what other non-profits are you, you know, now associated with, since you've been on hands-on broward for six, seven years? What other ones have you kind of?

Justin Nepola:

leaned on. I have been involved with quite a few. I've been pruning, partially intentionally, to focus more on the for-profit side of my life, where I actually need to make a living and take care of a wife and children. I've still got bills to pay.

Justin Nepola:

They enjoy having a roof over their head and food, so I've done a little bit less. So right now, hands on South Florida and Military Recreational Divers, I believe, are the only nonprofit boards that I'm still currently on. I was on a few others. I was on Neighbors for Neighbors for a long time.

Justin Nepola:

I was the board chair of that one. On a few others I was on neighbors for neighbors for a long time. I was the board chair of that one. I was, uh, the president of the brower realtors charitable foundation for a number of years, so I've been on a bunch.

Chris Baker:

There's a couple that have a special place in my heart that, if they asked me, I would serve, but I'm not actively looking to do it, so okay yeah, that's why I'm like all right, you know what, right now, two is plenty no, and sometimes you know that's not enough, because I know that you and jackie, your wife um, are constantly out there volunteering, and so, besides just even the board volunteerism, you're already doing so much else in the community as well. So thank you so much, sure.

Justin Nepola:

It's what we love to do and we enjoy it and honestly, I really do enjoy the hands-on work more so than the board work often. So things like the hands-on Broward projects are more fun than the board meetings Not that the board meetings are fine.

Chris Baker:

Dale, we love you, we love the meetings.

Justin Nepola:

They're wonderful meetings, not that the board meetings are fine, dale, we love you, we love the meetings. They're wonderful meetings. The projects are more fun. Yeah, the projects are amazing.

Chris Baker:

Putting it together very well. You're really bringing the community together, and that's one of the things I really do want to spotlight is the amazing work that Hands on South Florida does, because they are the ones finding volunteers for all these other non-profits and sometimes they don't get seen as a major non-profit in that regard, but they're so amazing because they're pulling the community together and the volunteers together. So much better correct you're 100, right it.

Justin Nepola:

It's a weird situation where they are the connector and people forget about them. Yeah, because they don't have, you know, the kind of the sexy appearance that the actual nonprofit that's doing the work has. They're the ones providing the power to get it done, right.

Chris Baker:

And so one of the things that I noticed right away, like as I was starting to be on the board and I was talking about Hands On South Florida, people were like I don't know what that is and I was like you need to check out their website. They can help you potentially find volunteers if you start looking at them as a resource Correct, and so that was just kind of something that you know we need to help get them a little bit more exposure so that they know that other nonprofits can find them Correct, because that's really what they're there for.

Justin Nepola:

Exactly To help the other projects.

Chris Baker:

Yeah, all right. So collaborations and partnerships, that's really what the next piece that I want to talk about. So can you talk about how both of the nonprofits that you're on tackle some of the community challenges that we're facing right now?

Justin Nepola:

So many years ago and I do know this was pre-pandemic and into the pandemic I had the crazy idea to have my own podcast very similar to this one. I wanted to highlight nonprofits. I had the pleasure of having somebody from a nonprofit on from the flight center and she said Broward County is Collaboration County and I was like you know what it really really is. It's one of the few places where the nonprofit community really does work together very well. They really do help each other.

Justin Nepola:

If one can't get the job done, they are not afraid pull in somebody else to help them. And so it's been my pleasure to be able to work with multiple nonprofits and kind of help them collaborate when they can Like. When Hands on South Florida has the volunteers that can help a project, showering Love was building a house for homeless veterans and needed help with some landscaping. Well, hands on south florida was, you know, offered to bring in the volunteers, offered to help in any way they could. So doesn't always work out because of coordination issues, but a lot of times things like that do work and it's a win-win for everybody I'm happy to hear that you're seeing a lot of the collaboration.

Chris Baker:

Um, unfortunately, when I've talked to a lot of other non-profits, they're not seeing it, so I want to make sure that that's open to everybody and that we can figure out ways um that everybody can collaborate more, um.

Justin Nepola:

So, yeah, that's that's very good that I'm hearing that's yeah ones that you have gotten connected with.

Chris Baker:

they're already doing that and and that makes me very happy I want to make sure that the people that are watching this, they can look and learn from that, those collaborations, so that they can do it more too.

Justin Nepola:

I think, I know, I believe nonprofits all start with the best of intentions.

Justin Nepola:

They all want to help people. That is their core. They want to help their cause, whatever that may be, and when it. They all nonprofit people all want to work together. Unfortunately, funds are limited, grants are limited, finances are limited, so when it comes to that level, it does become more competitive. Even exposure is more limited. So if there's a grand opening, a ribbon cutting or something where there's going to be exposure, they all want their name and branding to be front and center, and that can't always be the case. But when it's just coming to help the individuals, they all, at the end of the day, will work together to help the individuals to strengthen the community, to help the community.

Chris Baker:

I 100 agree with you. That is why the non-profits are here. That's why we're here.

Chris Baker:

Um, we need to put bring this together like there is a gap in government, there is a gap in resources. That that's the where they come from. Yes, the non-profits bring it to us, so I think that's fantastic. Um, what are some of the challenges? So that the during the pandemic we're going to go back a little bit. Okay, going to pandemic presented a lot of challenges, specifically to a lot of non-profits even. Um, so what were some of the key lessons that you kind of thought and took away from that? Maybe some of the our listeners can actually like use for the future to make sure that you know they're covered that's a good question.

Justin Nepola:

um, I feel like a lot of the you know, lessons we learned weren't necessarily non-profit, profit, specific and honestly, I think, if anything, we're far enough from it that what we've been through we all want to just get away from. There was a lot of the virtual events, a lot of the virtual meetings and things like that, and I think people really do crave in-person connection again. Oh yeah, very much. So that's one thing that I guess maybe that is a lesson we learned is that, at the end of the day, people do want to see other people and be in contact with other human beings. Some of the events you have, the drive-through distributions and things like that, you know it was fine, it it served its purpose, do I think it it was? Uh, you know, could you still do it today, probably, and I.

Chris Baker:

I would agree with you in a lot of those pieces, because as human beings, we need connection, we need one-on-one conversations and only ever having conversations. Through zoom you don't get the body language, you don't get the energy from the other person to feel connected, yeah and so. So that's a huge gap that was missing and I think that's probably a really good key lesson from what I'm hearing. If you're a nonprofit, make sure that you're out there in the community and that you can be seen.

Chris Baker:

And so they can feel what you're bringing to them. So I think that's probably where you're going with that.

Justin Nepola:

Yeah, I think that sums up my thoughts probably better than I did.

Chris Baker:

So thank you, you're welcome, but I mean, we've known each other for a while now, so I can kind of like work with you.

Justin Nepola:

Yeah, you knew where I was going, I did know where you were going.

Chris Baker:

I was like all right, I think this is where we're at. So we're a lot about Hands on South Florida. Talk a little bit more about MRD.

Justin Nepola:

Military.

Chris Baker:

Recreational Divers.

Justin Nepola:

I am not a veteran, I have not dove in decades.

Justin Nepola:

I love both helping that community and I do love the ocean and diving. I just haven't done it in a long time. The truth is, I just love the people who started it. They're wonderful, wonderful people. I've known them for a long time and as soon as they said we're starting a nonprofit, I said whatever you need, I'll help you. And that's really a lot of times how I make my decisions. I live my life is I want to support the individual and their cause, individual and their cause. And you know, if I started a nonprofit personally, would it be to help divers or to help veterans with PTSD through dive therapy? Probably not, because that's not my wheelhouse, right. But when friends who are great people say, hey, this is what we're going to do, you know what I'm all in. So that's kind of how I got involved in that organization.

Chris Baker:

It's very interesting to me because I remember last year you introduced me it was the beginning of last year, if I'm not mistaken you introduced me to monica. Yeah, from mrd yep uh, at the social breakfast at the that's right. Four lateral chamber you're like, hold on, you gotta meet this person. We, uh, we got to meet monica and we had a great conversation about the non-profit.

Chris Baker:

Like we were intrigued because momo loves to dive so just kind of this, like whole, like, oh, this is a very interesting new, you know, way of having ocean therapy exactly, um, and giving. What is really hard to talk about is veterans take their lives a lot more. Oh, like, there's a high percentage, correct, and so having something like the ocean therapy through MRD is so powerful, absolutely Because I know that it saved Monica's husband's life.

Chris Baker:

Absolutely did, and I know she'll talk about that and she'll be fine you know, and to me that was such an inspirational story for me getting to know monica that it really kind of just like jolted me and like you know, there's a lot of different ways that things.

Justin Nepola:

People you know, nonprofits can help in different ways and ocean therapy is just one of them, absolutely yeah yeah, and you know, if it helps one person you know to not hurt themselves, it's, it's a job absolutely it's a win because you just help the community become a better and safer place.

Chris Baker:

Absolutely, yeah. Tell me a little bit about one of the success stories from that you can kind of see on your end, from being a board member for one of the nonprofits that you worked at. It doesn't have to be MRD or Hands on South Florida, but any of them.

Justin Nepola:

There's been a number of outstanding opportunities. Probably one that brought in multiple nonprofits was I do a lot of legal pro bono work for an organization called no More Tears, which rescues human trafficking and domestic violence victims. They had a um woman who they were able to rescue from her abuser. She had two children. They found her a place to live and she was walking the kids to school and then taking a bus for hours and hours and hours to go to work. It was a huge project for her, wow.

Justin Nepola:

So somebody was kind enough to actually donate her a car. She'd just gotten her driver's license. She got the car. She didn't have insurance. She didn't have money for gas or anything. Have insurance, she didn't have money for gas or anything.

Justin Nepola:

The broward realtors charitable foundation was able to pay for a year of insurance for her, so it was able to come in kind of supplement that work that needed to be done and help her get the insurance and then she could actually drive and take the drive the kids to school every day, drive to work, not have to have, you know, walk and take the bus. Yeah, I want to say it was something crazy. She had to walk a mile and a half to get the kids to the bus. It was a pretty unbelievable thing. It's funny. Every year I get Merry Christmas and Happy New Year texts from Estelle. It's very nice. I'm very happy that the organizations both were able to help her because she was in a bad situation. From what, what I understand, she would not have survived had she stayed there so where is she at now today?

Justin Nepola:

as far as I know, she's still in in it's in an apartment somewhere in south florida um, but she's but she's doing great. She's doing great now everything. Okay.

Chris Baker:

Good, that's yeah so that's the part of the success story.

Justin Nepola:

You wanted to make sure. Yeah, yes, no, she's happy ending. I, I did. I got a happy new year text from her last week, so I I believe she's doing still doing very well.

Chris Baker:

That's fantastic. Bringing, bringing in different organizations that can really make a difference and like, like you even said, even if only in one person's, it affected the entire community around her. So now it affected the kids it affected. You know she was probably able to work without having to that, so that business became a little bit more better.

Justin Nepola:

So it trickles it trickles out everywhere absolutely 100, yeah.

Chris Baker:

So, uh, that's fantastic looking forward. What are your strategic priorities with MRD and Hands on South Florida to further empower the communities they serve?

Justin Nepola:

With Hands on South Florida. They've been around for 50 years. They are in great hands. I don't worry too much about them. They know what they're doing. They've got it down to a formula. Could they use more recognition in the community?

Chris Baker:

Absolutely.

Justin Nepola:

Do? I think it would make a huge difference to them. Honestly, probably not. The organizations that need volunteers often know who they are. The big funders know who they are. They do a great job. I'm not too concerned about that, Like I'm there for them whatever they need, a hundred percent, but they've got great leadership and great team. So MRD military recreational divers much smaller. They're a startup. They're still within their first year, two years. This is a make or break time for them. Now, To their leadership's credit, they have done an amazing job of going from nothing to a fully recognized, respectable organization.

Justin Nepola:

And that is 1,000% their founders' strength of will, and Monica gets all the credit for that. That's a case where they need people to know who they are and to recognize the great work they're doing and to really to bring in the funds so they can do more work, because their work is not cheap. To take a vet and train them to dive, to take them out on the boat that all takes money, and look for their first gala, their, their big fundraiser. They did a phenomenal job. It was not easy but again, by sheer strength of will, they did it and I think it's phenomenal and I don't see any reason why that won't continue and won't continue to grow so I know of at least two other collaborations that I know monica has made, like she's done an event with global dreams, usa last year.

Chris Baker:

I know they're doing another one, correct in 2025. And then we, as visuals by momo, even collaborated with her for headshots for a cause correct and that was like our pilot. We wanted to see how it was going to roll and, honestly, now it's become its own little program, that's going to be continuing yeah, moving on, so learn, wait to hear more about headshots for absolutely like, going back to what you were saying, monica has really made a strong impact and the connections that she's forming I see, yeah, the non-profit growing it's.

Justin Nepola:

It's gonna take time, it's you know it's not fast, but yeah, I do see some future amazing things gonna happen I think you know we all live in south florida for the ocean and sunshine, so we all get the value of that and everybody wants to help veterans, especially those most in need. So it's a cause that kind of lends itself to this community very much and again doing a great job of building that. It's very exciting.

Chris Baker:

She really is. Yeah, she really is.

Justin Nepola:

I mean kudos to you, absolutely Kudos to you as well, kudos to you, as well as kudos to Dale. Yes, and what you're doing at Hands On South.

Chris Baker:

Florida. So thank you so much, all right as we wrap up today's episode. Okay, all right, so this is the question.

Justin Nepola:

This is the big question. All right, this is it.

Chris Baker:

This is the legacy that you hope to leave behind through your work and how it'll help future generations.

Justin Nepola:

Oh, geez, yep, you know I don't think about that enough, I suppose. But one, if I'm gone, do I really care? Um, there's people that will care. There's people that will care for sure. Uh, look, I've already left my legacy because I know my children give back. They've been volunteering since they were little. It's in their blood, it's in their dna, dna at this point. So my job is done. You know, I could build a thousand houses with habitat for humanity. I could give out a million meals with Feeding South Florida. That's all well and good. My real legacy is my kids and thank you, thank you.

Justin Nepola:

And I've already. They're still not even out of high school yet, and I already know this will be part of their life forever and their children's lives so it's actually that.

Chris Baker:

I love that answer because it's not how I grew up.

Justin Nepola:

Nor did I, nor did I.

Chris Baker:

I did not have like, oh, we're going to go volunteer here, we're going to do this, and it was something that I started in college, on my own. I had nowhere to be on a Thanksgiving. And so I served food at a shelter, yeah, and it turned into something. I was like, wow, that was very rewarding the smiles on their faces when they actually got a warm meal into their you know belly. I was just like why haven't I known about this sooner? Why?

Chris Baker:

haven't I done something about this sooner. So hearing that you've installed this into your family structure and into their lives, that is a beautiful legacy, so I agree with you Good job.

Justin Nepola:

Yeah, I didn't have that either as a child. Now kids have to do community service hours for school, which that didn't exist when I was growing up. I didn't. But I see so many kids where the parents drive to the project, drop the kids off, come back in a few hours and pick them up, make sure they got their hours signed. That's never how we did it. It was always as a family. We would all go and this is just. It wasn't for community hours, it wasn't for rewards or accolades and yeah they'll get a Chick-fil-A after or something.

Justin Nepola:

but that was that was about it. It was just that's what we were going to do. We're going to go, you know, do a hands on South Florida project today and even as they got older they still were happy to do it.

Chris Baker:

Well, Justin, thank you so much for being on Visual Eyes. I'm hoping that the community gets to learn something from our conversation about the amazing nonprofits that are out there, the collaborations that they can have. So again, thank you so much for being on our show today.

Justin Nepola:

Thank you for having me Appreciate it.

Chris Baker:

Thank you for joining me on this episode of Visual Eyes. We hope that the inspiration and practical insights can help you foster stronger connections and meaningful change. Don't forget to subscribe, share the episode and leave us a review. To learn more about Visuals by Momo and how we support collaboration and storytelling, visit visualsbymomo. com. A huge thank you to everyone out there listening. Until next time, remember, collaboration fuels change and your connections can inspire the world.