EO Interview // Jenny Feterovich

And a huge shout out to Jenny Federich for being here today to really help us understand what's happening in Ukraine and the incredible efforts by so many EO members around the world. So welcome, Jenny.

Thank you so much, Winnie. Thank you for having me. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak to our peers at ao.

The big question right now, Jenny, is really what's happening? I know that many of us have been part of the WhatsApp channel, we've been in some Facebook groups, and obviously we're reading the news on what's happening around the world. But from an EOS perspective, so many members just really want to know what's really happening. What have you seen from your perspective?

From my perspective, I'm going to try to stick to facts, not emotions, because I think that's very important for me personally. Just like many other EO members that I'm talking to, we have family, friends, employees, business colleagues, and just human beings on the ground in the country of Ukraine, a sovereign nation that is being under heavy military attack, which I personally will call war. And they're being invaded, they're being bombed. There is a violation of every war treaty that's happening. We, as all members, we've mobilized to help the people, specifically people fleeing Ukraine, doing work in the refugee crisis and delivering humanitarian and medical supplies on the ground that are very much needed.

You know, I've seen members, I mean, at the current moment, I mean, donating amazing medical supplies, mattresses, homes, transportation at the border. I've seen the GoFundMe, I've seen logistics. It's just been so many ways. And possibly at the end of this conversation, we could talk about specific ways that members can help, because I know that that's one of the key questions right now in EO members minds. But I want to step back for a minute and just really had the amazing opportunity to spend a week with you at the Global Speakers Academy to really learn your story. And I think that's. That has a lot to do with why we're here talking today. Can you tell us, like, what is your story and why is this important to you? Jenny?

Yeah, absolutely. So I came to United States in 1989 as a refugee. My family escaped the regime, very much a regime that's being instilled right now, a totalitarian regime. We came here as a part of the Soviet Jew refugee crisis that was being solved because we were under a lot of discrimination in that country. I am forever grateful to be where I am today for the freedoms that I have Today. And when I came to this country with six suitcases and $100, you know, I came to us with absolutely nothing and just our family. We had to start our life all over again. And I've been a serial entrepreneur my whole entire life. Where I am now is I'm a film and television producer. I have a national television show and pbs, as well as I have several documentaries that have enjoyed global success. And I am just a storyteller, literally. My mission is to help people become better versions of themselves through storytelling. I've also DJed. I was a world renowned DJ as I toured the world with David Guerra and Akon and people like that. Some of you might have seen me at GLC where I had a tremendous time connecting with so many different members. In a nutshell, this is who I am. I am a humanitarian at heart. And my heart is bleeding for the people right now that are hurt. And my heart is also full of joy to be a part of an organization that is so connected globally and to see so many people step away from their businesses, their families, their lives to help other people. This, for me, is what AO is about. We are in a crisis, and so many people came together. Nobody cares what anybody's business is, what their name is. They're like, how can I help? And this is just tremendous.

It's tremendous and I can speak. In 2005, I went through a personal crisis in my life, in my business with Hurricane Katrina, where 240 billion gallons of water flooded that city and I lost my business. And it was eo. I was a new member at the time that really came to me and helped me and purchased to equip for me. And they housed my employees. They helped me through a very dark time in my life. And without that experience myself, I wouldn't be here today spending this time with you. And I really, really think about that. And I think it's members like us that have been through these traumatic experiences before in crisis, know the real value of EO at times like this. So thank you for everything you're doing. And I actually have a question about that too, because I know we've learned a lot about just life, you know, and managing through things. Neo, what things? That. What have you learned in EO that have helped you prepare for this moment?

Everything. I have to tell you, I am a complete. When AO says that our mission is to transform lives. I've been completely transformed by EYO in every aspect of my life. Like, my life went from here to like 10x in my business. In my personal life and my family life and my community life. But the actual skills that you get from, from learning events, this is what I'm using right now. All of the skills that I've acquired in the last five and a half years being a part of this organization have led me to this moment. And it's God honest truth is just from something as simple as how can I manage stress, you know, and having a speaker like Dan Depani who just happened to be in Detroit and who I spent tremendous like just it was few moments, but he gave me just that, those nuggets that I need at this moment to hold this ball right here where I am right now and not over there, right? Just organizational skills. I'm not even talking about a network that my phone is blowing up and I can like this, mobilize most powerful people in the world to help me. But real true skills that I've learned in learning, I am applying them right now right here.

That's just amazing because I always think that, you know, entrepreneurs, we can only go so far alone, right? And I'm seeing people from probably every region in EO on the WhatsApp channel, providing donations, sharing thoughts, sharing resources. Again, like you said, without a name, a title, a business that we just know that we can trust each other and support each other in getting through this.

And I got to tell you because I'm personally involved in several different initiatives, right? And I'm connecting a lot of dots. So when I step out outside of EO and I go to help some of this other organization, they seem so unorganized to me. Nothing against them, but like what I'm functioning with high level entrepreneurs within organization, how fast we're able to solve problems and get help is tremendous. What other people are going to take a month to do, we can do in 48 hours. And that's just because I feel like it's because of the skills that we're consistently getting within the organization and perfecting ourselves as human beings, allowing us to be here at this moment.

I've been watching Simon Wilo Poland and the entire chapter there really be on the ground and be supportive. And I think about what this must mean to him and the people that he cares for. He's been doing a phenomenal job and reaching people at the border, helping coordinate. I think of the logistics involved in what they're doing is just. And it's dynamic. That's one thing I'm learning about this just being a part of the discussion is that it changes every day, every.

Minute Winnie changes every minute. It's crazy dynamic.

Jenny, how do we. And if you could speak to maybe one specific example that you witnessed from the team via Poland on the ground, or also speak to this concept of what's dynamic and how we can start thinking about this not only today, but tomorrow.

Yeah, absolutely. So just for me, it's real people, a real project, real help. This is where I am right now. I had to really weigh in on this. I'm like, what am I doing right here, right now? So those are my kind of pillars of what I am doing as a person and people who surround me and I'm connecting the dots, right? So a lot of people are coming to me from Ukraine. Obviously, I have family, friends. I am a well known community leader in Detroit. So people are coming to me and they're asking me for very specific things. Like a team in Kharkov said, I need X, Y and Z. I reached out into this. EO Poland, WhatsApp. Then somebody jumped in from Berlin. He sourced all of my supplies. Somebody from Dallas and myself financed it. Okay. All of this happened in 48 hours. Now those supplies were driven to Poland couple days ago and now they're making their way to Kharkov on the ground. As I'm sitting there, I'm going, oh my God, I've never met any of these people. In 48 hours, we got a request from a city that's getting tremendously bombed right now. They gave us a list, we executed a list with a guy in Germany, delivered it to Poland, got it across the border, and all of these things are happening. And it's very dynamic because a border might close right here. We have to find other ways or we might lose communication with some people that we were getting there. Great. Other example, super quickly, we're moving an orphanage out of Ukraine and they want to go to Budapest, hungary. I've got 20 kids who are orphans. So I'm in the group. I'm like, who can meet them? So we're getting connections through connections. Next thing you know, they're connecting to somebody in Budapest who is helping them get there. This is what's happening. Real projects, real people, real life, real help. And we're doing it.

So, Jenny, what can we do? Because I know that so many members have been reaching out. I mean, I know that EO and our current chair, Dave Anderson, has put out a message to the world about kind of what our stand is and how we're here to support members and supporting other members in the humanitarian efforts. What are some Specific things that we can do.

So I think there's a few things. So number one, definitely support ao Poland chapter. I think everybody by now hopefully has seen the link. They're doing tremendous things. So please support them. They're doing humanitarian work, they're building shelters. They're doing the real deal. Number two, please continue to speak about this in the media, to your friends, to your colleagues. You know, news cycles sometimes are very short lived, right? And it's over there. We as global organization know that nothing is over there. This affects all of this. So continue to speak about the messaging of what's happening. And number third, and I mean, sorry, number three, and this is very personal to me, my parallel messaging is separate Russian people from this war because we're already seeing a lot of anti Russian sentiment in this country. We're seeing it in other countries. Okay? Russian people, most Russian people don't support this war. This is a war by totalitarian government. Yesterday, thousands of people were arrested in Moscow. They were jailed. They're getting 15 years in jail for saying anything at all. The main patriarch, the main religious leader gave a speech yesterday blaming LGBTQ community for this. We had to go into this war because this is the west and they're bringing their LGBTQ values into this. It's so important that people understand and separate the people from the enemy, from the people who are causing this heartache. So that's a very important message. In parallel, I will continue to talk about this message because I don't want to see the regular people that don't stand for this suffer from this.

Well, I think it's time for us as leaders to stand out and speak our voice because I think that people need to hear us. People need to hear you. People need to hear Simon, people need to hear Tillio, all of the people on the ground that are working hard to do this and we need to be there to support them. I think that again, back to we can only go so far alone and I think that's the impact of 15,000 members all over the world, that this isn't the first crisis we faced and certainly will not be the last. But the fact that we are together and we support each other is the key to our future success.

And the world depends on it 100%. And again, I have never been happier to be a member of an organization that really A, stands for something, that B, that is really doing something about this and the skills that it has given me. Like you mentioned, we met through Global Speakers Academy yesterday. I spoke at a rally of hundreds of people that are gathered in Detroit and I was able to get up and clearly articulate my message because I have this skill and I have everybody's attention and everybody's ear. So please, like all of the members and the leaders, this organization is key to hopefully helping solve some of these problems that are going on right now. I am forever grateful to every single member and to every leader within this organization.

Jenny, thank you so much. And I want to repeat that URL for Eopoland. It's Ukraine.eopoland.org where we'll be supporting them and making sure that the most current information is there. I know There are several WhatsApp groups. I believe there's a telegram that's going to be working on the ground and I know there's some Facebook groups as well. And we'll make sure that everyone has the most current place to go find out the most important information and ways that they can support.

Wonderful. Anybody can reach out to me directly. Honestly, I'm getting a lot of yo members with family there that are reaching out to me directly. I am here to help any single person that reaches out to me and help them, provide them with resources that I have.

And Jenny, what is the best way for them to reach you?

They can call me, email me, WhatsApp me, whatever, look me up in the directory. Everything is there. Jenny Fedorovich, yo Detroit and I love each and every one of you.

Jenny, thank you so much for today. The impact that you make, not only today, but all the impact that you've made in the future and I can only imagine what we can do together as an organization. Thank you so much for your feedback and thank you so much for, for you.

Thank you, Winnie. I really appreciate you.

So everyone, Ukraine eopoland.org thank you all for taking the moment today to learn about what's happening in the world and how we as EO members can support fellow EO members. Thank you.