How Can Alana Raise Funds for Buddies over Bullies?

So here we are on the Ilana and Michael Show. Is it okay if we call that— if that— Ilana?

Of course, sounds super professional.

So there we go, the Ilana and Michael Show. Um, so I wanted to check in on your projects, um, partly because it's, you know, we're getting close to summer and I think of summer as a shift in activity. Um, actually, is that the case? Is summer a shift in activity for you or not so much?

Um, well, sort of. I'm gonna be focusing on training very much because of the two really big competitions I have during the summer. Um, so I'm gonna be training a lot in the mornings and the evenings. Um, you know, I'm not really— there will be no online classes because it's summer, but I'm gonna keep doing I don't know, books and math and stuff so I can get ahead. Um, I think it'll kind of— and then, I mean, I think it'll kind of shift, but I'm not gonna— I'm not gonna not focus on education and training during the summer. I feel like I'm past that.

When, when are your tournaments?

One's in July, or the, like, the last weekend of July. I think, and then the other one is like 2 weeks after that, so they're pretty close together.

Wow. Well, of course I'm delighted that you're going to be training for these. That's super exciting, and may all that go well. And since my side of it is more the education side, given that training gets, you know, the lion's share of the time, tell me about math. Where are you in math, and what are your goals in math?

So the program we use, Mathspace, um, I'm in 6th grade and then just now I finished the 7th grade textbook, but I'm not going to move on until maybe in the summer because, um, I need to progress in some areas that I feel like I'm weak. If I took a 7th grade test, I feel like I might not test as well as I would in a 6th grade test. So once I get to that point where I'm confident, then I'll move on to 8th grade.

Got it. So tentative plan is for you to start 8th grade math, maybe sometime in the summer.

Yes.

Okay, great. And you're going into 7th grade for next fall, right?

Yes.

So you're— you're a year ahead, which is good. And actually, if you start 8th grade in the summer, you'll be a little bit more than a year ahead, but a year ahead is a good way to think about it. And how about your books? Are you writing any more books? You're taking a pause from writing books?

Um, well, I've got a product, so right now I'm trying to focus on selling and marketing it. Um, of course I'm always coming up with more ideas, and I think, um, in a little while when things kind of calm down, I'm definitely going to start another story again. I'd love that.

Well, tell me about your product. I didn't know about the product.

So I have the 3 books now. They're all published as of a little while ago. Um, as you might know, I'm raising money for Buddies Over Bullies. Um, the initial time frame was August 16th, where the, um, or when the, uh, Kids ADCC tournament is, the big one in August. Um, but of course that's just temporary. I can always keep doing it. Um, so 50% of the proceeds are going to Buddies Over Bullies. Um, so right now I'm trying to find ways to market, maybe go out and sell posters up. So I think instead of writing newer ones, um, at least for now, I'm focusing on using the ones I have.

So Buddies Over Bullies, what— I'm not understanding what the product is exactly.

Oh, the products are my books. I'm selling those to raise money.

I see, you're selling your books to raise money for Buddies Over Bullies. Got it. Um, and then how are you selling them? How do you intend to increase sales?

Well, I mean, the simplest way honestly is to go out to the harbor, to La Jolla, where the super rich people— or whether wealthier people live— and sell them. In person. Um, we have an idea that we're gonna put into play where I team up with businesses and put, um, and have them allow me to put posters, um, and sort of ads, I guess, up to support. Um, online I'm trying to push it. So I think those are the 3 major ways, but we're growing.

Got it. Um, and would the posters advertise your books or Buddies Over Bullies, or how do you make the connection between, uh, the two?

Well, I'm advertising mainly my books and Buddies Over Bullies. Um, there's me in it, you know, the author, uh, why I'm raising money for Buddies Over Bullies. Um, what I'm working on in the poster right now is like Um, or it's going to be special to each business we put in, we, we put the button. So why that business matters to us and how they're supporting me and Buddies Over Bullies, it's gonna be cool.

Got it. So when I think about customers, in essence you're trying to get customers, I think of what motivates the customer to buy. And so I can imagine at least put 3 potential motivations. One is they know and like your book, and because very few people know and like your book, probably not a motivation. The other is to help support this young person who's so motivated, Alana. So that could be motivation. A third would be they get Buddies Over Bullies and are motivated to support that. Which of those three motivations are you mostly appealing to?

I think I think from my past experiences, it's mostly the last one where they, um, think about Buddies Over Bullies and they relate, and then they buy the books to support.

Got it. So tell me exactly what Buddies Over Bullies does so I understand it.

Okay, so Buddies Over Bullies is an organization that provides martial arts training to kids who are getting bullied so that they can stand up for themselves physically, mentally, verbally. It's awesome and it's helping a lot of people, but the gyms that they're being sent to are kindly doing it for free, but not everything's free. So I mean, I decided to help.

So did this program already exist before you?

I think it existed. I think it was founded in 2023. So it's a bit new, but—

And who started it?

Um, a man named Tom de Blas, I believe he's the founder.

Okay. And are these scholarships available to just a handful of martial arts studios or hundreds of them? How big is it?

So they have quite a few affiliates. I don't know how many of them are in use. Um, it's on their website, but It's, it's amazing.

And, and so, so that I can understand it, and again, if you're gonna sell this, ideally, this is practice for you because you need to be really good at selling this so that, you know, people realize, oh, that's why this is valuable to give to. So if the gyms are already giving the scholarships for free, Where— what costs money, and how do you recruit the students for this?

What do you mean by students?

Well, presumably the— there are young people, um, who are going to be in the program. Where do these young people come from?

These young people call Tom asking for help, I believe. Um, they get trans— or they get connected with gyms in their area. I'm not— I don't know the details about how the process works, but I believe that's sort of how it is.

Got it. Do you see why in order to be an effective salesperson, you're going to need to understand the details more fully? I'm thinking that you mentioned, you know, this place where you're going to go and sell and you're going to talk up, walk up to rich people and sell them. And so my bet is you're so far relying on, uh, let's help this, uh, charming, ambitious young person, Alana, which is fine. That's a fine motivation, but they're probably not gonna know about your book and they probably are not gonna know about, uh, Buddies Over Bullies. But if they ask, you need to be able to answer all these questions really clearly and effectively. Make sense?

Absolutely.

Yeah, because I think people do want to help, but they need to know what they're giving to, why it's effective. One way to think about this is there are an infinite number of causes to give money to, you know, so many, so many different causes need money, and there are some bad or ineffective causes. And so Yeah, you need to have a good answer to why is this a really good cause to give money to. Makes sense?

Yeah.

Do you have a high-level answer for why this might be a— why is this the best thing for me to give money to? Suppose I'm considering giving a donation. Why should I give it to this instead of something else?

Well, an off-the-cuff answer is because you're helping the next generation. Succeed us, or succeed you, assuming you're an adult, and enrich the lives of kids.

Okay, sounds good. But how exactly? How is this donation going to do that? There are thousands of organizations helping the next generation. Why pick this one?

Because the kids who are getting affected in their learning environments, I mean, especially in schools, that does not help them. And, um, helping put them in gyms, um, makes them stronger and more resilient for life in the future.

So I am there— there I am getting something distinctive. That is, I had never heard of a program that takes kids who are being bullied and puts them in martial arts studios. That is interesting. Um, but how do we— how do we find these kids, and how do we get them to the martial arts studios?

Oh, well, if you're trying to like literally locate them, then the answer would be to go to schools and see. But if you're relying on, um, if you're relying on them calling you and seeing if they can be part of the program, I think that's how they do it. Um, I'm not sure which one they do, but that's a great question for me to ask.

Okay, good. Um, and it sounds like, uh, maybe you need media attention or some kind, or or word about this needs to be spread through kids' networks or parents' networks. Um, yeah, have you thought about how to market this message at all?

Um, we've a bit. Um, I tried to push it on my account, um, and I tried to push it with founder's account. I haven't, um, really gone into, um, like networking with I don't know, different groups to help, um, spread the word. But it's a good idea.

Got it. I mean, how close are you to Tom, the founder? Are you working with him at all or not at all?

Um, it's mostly me working on it because it's not like I asked him permission. Um, um, I let him know and I asked for support. Um, so I have his email and I'm, I'm working with him. Got it.

Is he local or far away?

Um, I, I think a lot of his, um, or I know— I'm not sure where he is specifically, but, um, a bunch of his friends are near me, um, and through them I did have contact with him.

Got it. Do you have any kind of buddies or partners who are helping you with this, or are you kind of a Lone Ranger working on this?

Lone Ranger.

Okay. In my experience, it is super helpful to have somebody else just for morale and support. You're a really strong, independent person. Um, and can you imagine it might be nice to have somebody to bounce ideas off of and that kind of thing? Yeah. Do you know anybody who might be willing to even be a brainstorming partner with you?

I mean, There's my— I mean, do you mean kids that I don't know, or kids anyone—

anyone on Earth? Anyone on Earth?

Any— oh, there's all of my friends, um, my family. My dad or my mom and dad and my brother have been helping me out a lot. Um, I don't know any kids personally that are in the program, but if I could contact them, that'd be great.

Yeah, I thought— have you promoted it at TSC at all?

I've shared it with my class, but no.

Got it. Yeah, I would drop the link in Slack and explain, you know, and don't expect, you know, necessarily to get help. One of the tricky things is, you know, in a way this is a form of sales. And one thing about sales is you have to develop a thick skin because you might get lots of rejections. Are you okay with getting rejections?

Well, I mean, I'd be okay with it, but of course I wouldn't like it.

No, I know it's not fun. Rejection's not fun for anybody on Earth. But on the other hand, my point is, if you don't put it out there, then you're not going to get anybody. And you can— I'm sure your family provides abundant support, and that's wonderful. And maybe your family is enough. Um, I'm just thinking, if you want to promote this The more you could get even other kids involved, the better. And it might be interesting to try and see if you can get another kid involved. And if not, that's okay. Go with your family. That's totally fine. How about your dojo? Is there anybody else in your dojo you can recruit?

I've been talking with one of my friends and he thinks it's super interesting, but no, not really.

So, um, do you think of yourself as a leader?

I mean, sure. I mean, I'm the one who's kind of organizing it.

Well, exactly. And I would say you are de facto a leader. And in some ways, I'm getting you to think about— it's wonderful for Alana single-handedly to take initiative to do this. Kudos. And even better if Alana gets a team of people or a group of people or something and leads them just because you have more energy, horsepower, you know, that kind of thing. Does that make sense?

Yes.

Okay. So yeah, I, you've got a lot of work to do. You have to figure out all the details of this so you can explain it. So if somebody like me comes up and asks you, you can have boom, boom, boom, boom, super clear on the responses. And again, it could be that The great thing about your family is they're convenient. You know, you don't have to go looking for them. They're right there and they're super supportive. But you might consider trying to recruit maybe initially just one person you can bounce ideas off of and kind of be a business partner. And I call it business. It's not about making money, but does it resonate for you that it's just really nice to have somebody who's kind of with you in this?

Yes, definitely.

Yeah. No, I, I, you know, I've known a lot of people that have created a lot of projects and some of them are strictly lone rangers. And I know from personal experience, it's hard to be a lone ranger, you know, over time. You can do it for a while and maybe you can do it forever. But I think over time, it's just really nice to have other people if you're working on something. And then you can talk together about the problems, the strategies, what's working, what's not. Makes sense?

Yes.

So you're going to drill in and learn all about this thing, and hopefully you're going to gradually, patiently, willing to accept a little bit of rejection, begin to create a bit of a movement or a bit of a, you know, yeah, call it a following or movement or a peer group of some kind around this. Sound good?

Yes.

Okay. Anything else for today?

Um, no.

All right. Have a great day, Alana. Take care. Thank you.