Adam Torres and Darren Jacklin discuss E2E – Elevate 2 Educate.
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Show Notes:
E2E – Elevate 2 Educate is an international hiking movement that activates people from all walks of life to come out and hike while building schools for some of the most impoverished children on the planet. In this episode, Adam Torres and Sir Darren Jacklin (ROC), Co Founder of LY2NK Foundation and Darren Jacklin Group of Companies Inc., explore E2E – Elevate 2 Educate and Darren’s book, Until I Become: Purpose, PERSEVERANCE, Payoff.
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About Darren Jacklin
For over 23years, Darren Jacklin has travelled four continents and personally trained and developed over one million people in over 48countries.
He has mentored entrepreneurs and business owners on specific and measurable strategies. These strategies have then been implemented into businesses to increase income, transform obstacles into cash flow and turn passion into profits.
Darren has an uncanny ability to increase wealth and success by uncovering hidden assets, overlooked opportunities and undervalued possibilities.
His talent has captured the attention of Tiger 21, The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance, NBC TV, CBS TV, Global TV, international radio stations, magazines and newspapers, movie producers, best-selling authors, CEO’s and business experts
About LY2NK Foundation
LY2NK mentors and teaches the skills inherent in leadership & teamwork which helps build up longevity / legacy within organizations making them wise opportunities in which to invest your emotional capital.
By linking causal leaders to businesses and individuals whose support they seek, they can develop long standing interpersonal relationships ensuring the sustainability of that cause.
You can find out more about Darren by visiting:
E2E – Elevate 2 Educate
Website: https://www.HikingFundraiser.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Elevate2EducateHike
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevate2educatehike
Twitter: https://twitter.com/E2E_Hike
LY2NK Foundation
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ly2nkfoundation
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ly2nkfoundation
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ly2nkFoundation
Sir Darren Jacklin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darrenleejacklin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sirdarrenjacklin
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sir_Jacklin
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to mission matters.com and click on Be Our Guest to Apply. All right, so today I have Darren Jacqueline on the line. He’s co-founder of Linked Foundation and Darren Jacqueline group of companies.
Darren, welcome to the. Hey, I’m grateful to be here, Adam. All right, Darren. So excited to get in today’s topic. So I definitely wanna learn more about what you’re doing with Link Foundation and some of the climbs that you have coming up as well as we’ll talk a little bit about what you’re doing over at Darren at at Darren Jacqueline.
Group of companies, but we’ll start this episode the way that we start them all with our mission matters minute. So, Darren, we at Mission Matters. We amplify stories for entrepreneurs, executives, and experts. That’s our mission. Darren, what mission matters to you? You know, to be a source of inspiration for people believing in themselves.
You know, I’ve had some pretty dark days in my past of a lot of adversities and failures and challenges and low self-confidence, and I had people believe in me that I didn’t believe in myself. So I had to create hope and possibility experiencing with people and practically to really believe in themselves that sometimes it’s a blind spot, or because of the circumstances of the environment that you’re in right now, you don’t see the upside as potential or the opportunity in front of you.
And so my. My gift to the world and my superpower is to be a source of that. To really show you what your blind spot is, to really show you that hey, no matter what you’re going through, no matter what setbacks or what challenges, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and there could be a roadmap or a plan going forward.
man, that’s awesome. Love, love bringing on mission-based individuals to share their mission, you know, why they do what they do, how they’re doing it, and really what we can all learn from that so we grow together. I guess just to get us kicked off here, Darren linked foundation tell us a little bit more about maybe how this got started, the idea and, and where you’re at.
Yeah, so back in so my wife was a high school teacher for 35 years in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She a multi degree from the top universities in Canada. And in 2018 I wanted to take her on a humanitarian trip. I’ve been an entrepreneur my life. And I wanted to take her outta the academic environment.
I wanted to take her to a different continent, different part of the world, and really experience what it’s like to be in a third world country, in a third world continent. So after many discussions back and forth I enrolled her in the possibilities of coming with me on a humanitarian trip in October of 2018.
So there’s nine of us as entrepreneurs went from all walks of life, all over North America. To Liberia, west Africa. Now I’ve been to the African continent multiple times over the last decade plus, but it was protected the first time ever being in one of the poorest countries on the planet. And we went over there, it was like a 10 day trip.
You know, we were there to serve and to make a difference, boots on the ground, and we, we saw some of the poorest people on the planet. We also saw firsthand what human and child sex trafficking is and how you can actually buy a child for one US dollar. And when people hear that for the first time, like, what did you just say?
You could buy a child for one US dollar. , the answer is yes. But you see most people are so busy being busy, they don’t understand that, and I’m not encouraging people to do that. Link Foundation is all about disrupting that and, you know, slowing these human and child sex traffickers down by providing education and awareness, but creating opportunities for people from all walks of life to join our mission and our movement to help educate people on this.
And so we actually. Came back to Vancouver, Canada and she says, you know what? I can’t be a local teacher anymore. I wanna become a global teacher. So it was at that time that we built a board of directors and advisory board, and we became an international foundation called Link Foundation, which is leaders yielding to new knowledge.
And we’re a nationally registered charity in Canada, and the United States of America is a 5 0 1 . And so as a pilot, we built our first school from preschool to grade six with over 300 school students in a village in Liberia, west Africa. And today you know, when you talk to a mother in a village and you sit down and run a camp, find, you say to a woman in a village, you know, what is the greatest way to defeat the enemy, which is the human and child sex trafficker violating these young children.
They say the the biggest. Is educate a child with a book, educate a child with knowledge. Cuz knowledge builds self-confidence. It set boundaries, it builds character, builds belief, and no means no. And so with our first school called the Link Leadership Academy, we’ve built this. And then we’ve really created a global mission now where, you know, I’m pretty active on social media channels, you know, my own and with Link Foundation and has some great success in my group of companies.
And so a lot of people look up to me for, you know, inspiration and role modeling and mentorship. And I thought I love hiking. I’m obsessed with hiking. You know, I’ve got great health benefits of hiking. I’ve released 40 pounds in weight from hiking in one year. . So now as I travel around the world, I do a lot of hiking as my daily exercise and my mental health.
And now we do these fundraising events through called E two E, elevate to Educate, which is the fundraising arm of Link Foundation and the financial dollars that people contribute to promote hiking out nature with me. Then go to build schools for some of the poorest children on the planet. And then we document and share with this and unfold all this on our social media channel so people get a chance to be a part of it through social media.
No matter where they are, from what walk of life on a laptop or desktop or a mobile phone. They can watch this unfold right before their eyes in real time on social media and be part of something that makes them feel good and creates joy and fulfillment in their. Wow, that’s amazing. And let’s talk a little bit more about these hikes that you’ve done so far.
Like you’re, you’re talking big hikes here according to what I, what I’m reading, is that right? Yeah, so, so I’m, I’m, I’m doing Mount Kilman j in July of 2023, so that’s like if I do a little hike here and there, I’m like, but. You’re doing some big hikes too. . Yeah. And the hikes we do across North America in Canada, the United States you know, it, they’re family hikes as I call ’em.
We get people from all walks, a lot of people that are, you know, brand new to hiking that maybe just have a pair of sneakers or running shoes to somebody that wants to bring out their children or their grandchildren. Somebody wants to bring out some coworkers or colleagues or somebody’s on their first or second or third date.
You know, we have people with sports teams, so we have people that the hikes are well planned out, they’re well organized, they’re. You know, people always wonder is there a threat to danger? You know, we do a whole assessment on that in terms of risk mitigation thing. So we really bring people out in the United States, American Canada, to come on hikes.
And you know, our website is really simple. It’s hiking fundraiser.com. Hiking fundraiser.com, and we update that website quite often. And the cool thing is, is that people come out. So we’ve had young children that are in elementary school to people that are. Eighties have come out and done E two e Elevate to educate, and really it’s, it’s quite a buzz of energy.
Number one, you get a chance to reset your life. Being out in ener, you know, nature, you’re away from the, the screens and the technology and the televisions and the computer screens. You’re out there listening to the songbird and the water streams, and you’re out having some trail talking, some inspiring conversations, and you get some physical exercise.
You’re breeding some great fresh air you know, great scenery and, you know, great situational awareness. And there’s so much research on. Benefits to actually hiking and we choose, you know, like Colorado, Vancouver, British Coast. So we really could choose some greaters. And you know, the interesting is we have people fly and drive domestically and internationally to join the E two E movement.
They do it for various reasons. Some is just because they wanna support the great cause of Link Foundation and our Link leadership academies and what we’ve done to make a difference, to stand up against human and child sex traffickers and to provide education that no child gets left. So they’re, that’s part of their, their dna a of what they wanna do.
And some people just want to network and collaborate, be in community with like-minded people who are doing fun things here on the planet to supporting the great cause and making a difference. So it, it’s fun. Like, you know, people always ask like, what can I expect? And I say, well, to manage expectations, you can expect a lot of fun to make a great difference and to create some great.
I take some photos along the way and make some really cool people from all walks of humanity, from all different age groups, from all or North America and some international. . Yeah. Well, that it, it’s a great story, one that I’m happy to bring to our audience, and one of the, one of the other things I like is that, you know, you’ve, you’ve built companies, you’ve done quite a bit in the business side of, of things as well.
And, you know, you’ve been blessed, you’ve worked hard, and now you’ve also found your way to give back that makes sense for you and to be really, to be a blessing. So maybe take a moment or two and just talk a little bit about the Darren and Jacqueline group of companies and what you’re, and what you’re up.
Yeah, so great, great question. So I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was seven years of age, have a very interesting backstory, which I documented in my book called Until I Become, which People Can Order on Amazon or go to until I become.com. But you know, Darren Ja group of companies is really, we’re invested in multiple different.
Asset classes from real estate to cybersecurity, to artificial intelligence, to bookkeeping, to accounting services, to tax planning services across North American, internationally. And we’re active and passive in that space with the Darren Jack group of companies in terms of our holding portfolio. And you know, I’ve had a chance to go to Nasdaq.
In New York City, not once, not twice, but three times. I serve on multiple different paid boards of directors of public and private companies, and advises a very high level with some great other like-minded people internationally. You know, I I serve on a paid board of directors of the fastest growing residential real estate company in the world today.
That’s in multiple countries around the world with about 90,000 people globally. And so I have a front row seat to a lot of things. I also got you know, not too long ago I got netted by the royal. Of Spain to become a cert. Darren Jacklin. There’s over 400 people that were nominated globally, and of that 400 plus people, they narrowed it down to 24 people, 15 men and nine women.
I’ve had some great home runs. I’ve had some failures and some, you know, temporary setbacks and adversities and challenges in life as well. It has not always been easy, you know, it’s been a struggle at times throughout my life, but I’m in a situation, a place in my life now where I’m in my fifties, where I’m really legacy building.
With Link Foundation, we’ve committed a hundred million dollars over the next 10 years towards global philanthropy projects, through fundraising, and through the Darren Jet group of companies and some of our investments and stuff. So we’re playing at a very high level, and I love to serve people. I love to make a difference.
I love to inspire people. I love to encourage people, and I surround myself with some really like-minded people, and so that energy is contagious. So I always share with people when you’re around, really like-minded people. Two metrics to consider. You know, people always say, well, you know, what’s the return on an investment?
that’s financial numbers, which is great. You gotta measure the roi. But two other metrics I always consider in terms of your key performance indicators, your KPIs is R o l. What’s the return on life and R oe? What’s the return on energy? You wanna do things and be around environments and around people that give you return on energy, that multiply and expand your energy.
And you wanna be around people that give you a return on life that really, you know, so it’s not the same old, same old all the time. And so, We have some incredible material talk of inspiring conversations and you know, I share some strategies and systems and processes and things about structure and you know, how I’m able to do so many things.
You know, I have over 7,000 written goals for my life and people get overwhelming. 7,000 written goals like. . Well, one of the strategies I showed with people is that most of your goals and dreams don’t require your actions. It’s all about creating teams and teamwork and, and delegating responsibility about maintaining control.
And so that’s a conversation we have when we’re, we’re hiking, doing E two E, we’re, we’re having some of these inspiring conversations at a high level to collaborate and people are like, oh my gosh, I thought I was just going on a hike to raise some money for E two E and Link Foundation. I left with a whole new direction and focus and strategy and plan for my.
Which I’m grateful for. And then we just ask people just to pay it forward and pass it on and keep that ripple of impact in terms of transforming the human spirit going forward. And so the Darren Ja group of companies is, you know, we’ve done well over the, over the decades and yeah, we’ve got a lot of different investments and different things, and we’ve got a great team of people that run the day-to-day operations, which I’m blessed for in my life.
You know, I’m, I’m not a one man show. I, I don’t take full credit for it. It’s a team effort that does this, that, that puts up their rolls up their sleeves every morning and every night, and puts in a long, harder work of hours of day. But we’re, we’re towards a common mission and, and vision of what we wanna do in life.
And we have a lot of fun doing it, but we’re very serious. You know, we are a high performance team and we make things up. We get things. , you mentioned a book kind of briefly. I do want, I do wanna circle back to that cause I, I’m a big fan of, of books and authors and people being published and really getting their story out there for the benefit of others.
So maybe take a moment or two and tell us a little bit more about the book. Yeah, so very fascinating backstory of my life, of a lot of adversities and failures and challenges and setbacks. And I have a very inspiring come up story. And then the success story you know, the metrics and the numbers and things that I did in terms of, of life was, you know, statistically people who liked numbers of he got the numbers would say that’s impossible.
And so what happened was during the covid 19 lockdown where we couldn’t travel, I’ve kept in at the level of my life. My wife, you know, she has three academic degrees in the top universities in Canada. She’s got a master’s degree in curriculum education. She was a high teacher for 35 years, as I shared earlier, and I shared with her during covid, during the lockdown in our storage locker.
I have a, I have years of private journals and every day I’m disciplined in regards to writing a private conversation with myself and my journals. You know, I’ve had a chance to be. Many billionaires and royal family members and celebrities and movie stars and a lot of influencers, a lot of people who’ve, you know, done really well in their lives and who are well known.
They’re hustled names, all these people. And so during these lunches and dinners and private conversations, I’ve had a chance to have a front row seat and I see at the table to ask them questions that. , 99% of the people, let’s just say 99% on the planet, never get access to ask these people. And I’ve learned that success leaves clues.
And so a lot of times when we see successful people in whatever industry or ever walk of life they’re in, we don’t get to see behind the curtain what are the, what’s the structure, what’s the system, what’s the processes, what’s the strategies? How are they making these move? So I’ve had a chance to seat at the table to ask a series of questions and in the document, in my private conversations.
So I created a book called Until I Become, which is about purpose, perseverance, and payoff. It’s less than a hundred pages. It’s a practical book. This book came out it’s on track to become an international bestseller. It’s being used in schools, colleges, universities, corporations, business around the world.
You know, it’s a book that is a legacy project for me called Until I Become which to me is, you know, like when we hear the book Thinking Girl Richmond, Napoleon Hill, or we Hear, you know, how To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. We hear some of these classic books that are around for decades and yet people are still reading it and still the information is still applicable today.
For me until I become is a, is a timeless book that the information is relevant today. That if a book that wants people read it, they’re gonna have their children read it or their grandchildren read it, they’re gonna pass it on to coworkers and colleagues. They’re gonna talk about it, the coffee shop, and on the online forums and on their social media channels.
And, you know, people go to any of my social media channels, they’ll see wherever I’m traveling at airports, conferences, conventions all over the, all over the world. Humane trips. People are always running up to me and say, Hey, can I get an autograph in the book? And can. Photo and then they put it on their social media and, and we documented our social media channels as well.
So people wanna order the book cuz it’s a great book that’s gonna teach you things that you didn’t learn in school, but it’s gonna give you some clarity and focus and guidance and it’s an experiential book. It’s a practical book. It’s not a rah rah book, it’s not a motivational book, it’s not a filler book.
It’s a book to really help you a lot. And, you know, the testimonials, the endorsements, whether it’s on Amazon or on until I become.com, you know, just share with it not for me. What what’s in it for. Adam was, I wanted to collect the stories and the experiences from people that when I’m at an international airport and I’m waiting to get my next flight, or I’m traveling somewhere, or I’m speaking at a conference or convention somewhere in the world, I wanted people to come up to me as strangers and say, listen, I read your book until I become, and here’s what changed in my life.
Whether it’s run their family, their children, their finances, their job, their career, their business, whatever changed, that’s what’s in it for me. That’s the juice, you know, is the squeeze worth the juice with the orange? And that’s the juice for me is the squeeze, is knowing that I touched another human being’s life and was in service and contribution and love and generosity.
And so yeah, it’s until I become.com it’s a great book and I’m grateful to be in service and make a difference in many people’s lives with it. Ah, that’s wonderful. Yeah, and we’re, we’re definitely gonna put the links to that website in the in the show notes. And I’m looking at it on, on Amazon right now and definitely recommend that that my audience go and pick up a copy.
I see that they can get it on Kindle paperback. I mean, it, it’s easy. Go to Amazon. Definitely pick up a copy. Well, Darren, I have to say it has been great having you on the show today, learning more about Linked Foundation. All the good that you’re doing there, the E two E events and all that you’re doing to bring people together and unite them and also to raise money for a definitely a, an amazing cause.
And then of course, all the good work you’re doing over at Darren Jacqueline group of companies. So that being said, if somebody is listening to this or watching this and they want to follow up and to connect and learn more what’s the best way for them to do? Yeah, if you go to hiking fundraiser.com, that’s hiking fundraiser.com, go to that website and all the links to my social media channels and you’ll be able to connect with me there and want to really encourage you, no matter where you live in the world, no matter what’s going on in your life.
Listen, we’re all qualifying our time, all part time. Put the dates, weeks, or months into advance and come on a hike. Tell a walk with me, come join this mission and be part of a dream team of like-minded people and have some fun and create some life experience and some great memories for yourself and your family going forward.
I’d love to meet you in person, shake your hand and take a photo with you with the book. It’d be great to, to do that and capture that moment. Ah, that’s wonderful. And we’ll we’ll definitely put the websites and all your other stuff social media and things like that in the, in the show notes so that our audience can just click on the links and, and follow your journey.
And speaking of the audience, if this is your first time with Mission Matters or connecting with our pla. Form we’re all about bringing on business owners, entrepreneurs and executives, and having them share their story, their mission, really, how they’re making a difference in the world and what we can all learn from that so that we can all grow together.
If that’s the type of content that sounds interesting or engaging or, or fun or meaningful to you, we encourage you hit that subscribe button because I have many more mission-based individuals coming up on the line and we don’t want you to miss a thing. And Darren, really it has been a pleasure. Thanks again for coming on the show. I’m grateful to be here and make a difference.