The Alimond Show
Welcome to The Alimond Show --join us as we share our entrepreneurial guests' stories, uncover their secrets to success, and explore the unique paths they've taken to build thriving businesses in our community.
In each episode, our host, Aliyah Dastour, sits down with a diverse group of local business owners, from the corner cafe to the boutique shop, from tech startups to family-run enterprises. We peel back the curtain to reveal the trials, triumphs, and transformational moments that have shaped their entrepreneurial journey.
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The Alimond Show
Michael Morgan - Founder of A Few Good Mentors & Former FBI Agent
What if mentorship could change the trajectory of a young man's life? Join us as we sit down with Michael Morgan, founder of A Few Good Mentors, who shares his incredible journey from a 36-year career in the FBI to establishing a life-changing nonprofit organization in Northern Virginia. Hear how Michael's volunteer work with Big Brother Big Sister inspired him to create a structured mentorship program in 2019, focusing on seven core values: spirituality, mental and physical health, education, career development, etiquette, and life skills. Learn how the organization's tailored plans help mentees navigate crucial milestones such as job interviews and college applications, especially aiding those from single-parent households.
Michael's FBI experience plays a pivotal role in his approach to mentorship, emphasizing structure, integrity, and ethics. Through personal anecdotes and lessons learned, he illustrates the transformative power of guidance and support. Discover the plans for expanding the organization and the importance of strong leadership and community involvement. Plus, learn about the ongoing summer reading challenge that aims to ignite a passion for reading among both children and adults, with prizes and motivation to turn off screens and open books. Tune in for a conversation rich with insights on mentorship, community, and the fulfillment that comes from giving back.
My name is Michael Morgan. My business is located in Prince William County, mainly Gainesville, virginia, but we serve all northern Virginia from Loudoun to Fairfax, down to Stafford. We serve our clients by providing male mentorship for young boys ages 8 through 21,. But actually we have mentored young men even older than that who need college help or any kind of professional help as well.
Speaker 2:And what was the name of the company?
Speaker 1:again, A Few Good Mentors A.
Speaker 2:Few Good Mentors? Yes, and how did you get into this?
Speaker 1:So long story, but I served 36 years. Oh, we're here for a good story so long story, but I served 36 years.
Speaker 2:Oh, we're here for a good story.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm not going to give you the long, long version, but I retired from the FBI in 2022, after 36 years, and mentorship is what I always did when I was there. I'm a trainer by trade. That's what I used to do, and I used to volunteer with Big Brother Big Sister for about five or six years, so we are modeled very closely after Big Brother Big Sister and there was a need for male mentorship, and so they were instrumental in helping me get started. It was something I always wanted to do. I've always coached my kids sports, so it was a natural progression for me, even my last few years. The FBI started in 2019, and so I was working and running the nonprofit at the same time, and so it's really been a blessing for me to to kind of give back yeah, and giving back is so important yes as we get people in here, I often ask them if they had a mentor and someone that kind of guided them into the profession that they're in.
Speaker 2:Tell me a little bit about what mentorship means to you.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow, I could spend hours talking about that. But it really means community and family. Those are two of the things that come to my mind because for me, I wouldn't be here without mentorship my parents, my next-door neighbor Chucky, he him and his wife could not have children, so he kind of served as the big brother and the, the guy in our neighborhood. I grew up in Cleveland, ohio, and so you, you know all of these people, my coaches, professors in college, the you know just so many people have helped me from then when I became a professional. You know so many people helped me throughout the years. So it really means community, family and really giving back, and once you attain a certain level I think it's important, I think it's everybody's obligation is to give back to next generation.
Speaker 2:Of course, I'm a huge believer in that, for sure. How did you get into, like how did you actually start this foundation? You said there was a need for it.
Speaker 1:Talk me through how you started it Actually back in probably 2008,. I wrote a plan at a church I was attending for more like a sports mentorship type program because I love sports, and it really wasn't well put together and so you know, and I remember the church, they did not go for it, but that was okay, because I kind of put it away and probably 10 years later, in 2018.
Speaker 2:So this was always kind of cooking in the back of your mind.
Speaker 1:Always cooking in the back of my mind. I always wanted to do it and I volunteered with Big Brother, big Sister in between that time, and so I was able to properly formulate a good business plan as to how I would do it, because a nonprofit is still a business and you have to approach it in the same way and put together a great business plan. My wife was instrumental in helping me get started, and my mother-in-law. They both have always served in your churches and other areas like that, so they were instrumental Got a couple good friends of mine and convinced them to help me out as well, and we just started with just one or two young mentors, and that was 2019. And that was October of 2019, because my father's birthday is October 1st, so I'm like to kind of honor him and 2020,. You know what happened a couple months later, what happened in 2020?.
Speaker 1:Right, and so that was a big shift for us, sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and how specifically are you helping these young men?
Speaker 1:So we have seven core values that we focus on and, like I said, I'm a trainer, so I believe in structure curriculum and my kids will tell you yes, that's how he is, that's dad.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what are those seven core values?
Speaker 1:So the seven core values are spirituality, and although we don't, you know, force our beliefs on anyone, we definitely let people know that this is what's made us successful, is our faith and our just the Ten Commandments. If you could stick with that, you're going to, you're going to do well. So spirituality, mental and physical health, education, career development, etiquette and and education are our core values. So we stick with that. We have a one-year plan for every young boy that enters our organization and we put together a plan for that entire year based around those core values.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you're helping young men interview for jobs, apply to college. What kind of things? Yes, yes, mainly, staying out of trouble is our number one goal that needs to be put right up there with the, on top of the core values.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. But we, we offer all sorts of help and today what we've noticed is that a lot of young people just need somebody to talk to, because a lot of our young people come from single parent households. They don't have a father in the household, so we kind of serve as that gap in there and, although we're not the parents, we definitely help with a variety of areas. And once they get into high school, we're helping with just driving skills from, you know, basic life skills and you know, helping them develop and as they graduate high school. We feel that those years are so important that you have to have a plan of what you're going to do. Are you going to go to college, military, you know, trade school, and so those things are very important.
Speaker 2:My son's 18, so we're right there senior year Right right.
Speaker 1:So luckily he has a plan but I know not everybody does, that's true.
Speaker 2:And that can be kind of scary waters to navigate right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because today you know it's a lot of pressure on kids to kind of achieve at a young age, but you need help in getting there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, with so many of the young men needing help these days, how do you navigate who needs your help the most and how do you kind of find the people that you're going to mentor?
Speaker 1:That is a great question and we, our philosophy is if you want a mentor, we're going to find you one, and, uh, our biggest hurdle was really finding the men, uh, to volunteer and be mentors. The mentees themselves come from faith-based organizations, churches, school systems. We're in the school system. Word of mouth is really important. Podcasts such as yours are important, for us Getting the word out there Getting the word out and you know we're here in your community and we are here to make a difference in a lot of young people's lives.
Speaker 2:Whose life have you impacted the most? Is there someone that sticks with you? So?
Speaker 1:I think there's. There's two people, one directly, one indirectly, and, because of our organization, a young man who is kind of our spokesperson is RJ. And RJ came to us. You know, he really did not have his father in his life and his mom met with myself and Vice President Greg Holmes at a Starbucks down in Woodbridge and we didn't know if we could help RJ and his mom was phenomenal, and so she said, hey, he doesn't really have a good feeling about men because he hasn't been around them. And sure enough, when we met him, and sure enough, when we met him, he was very kind of, you know, didn't want to talk.
Speaker 2:Standoffish.
Speaker 1:Standoffish and now today it's been four years and our program is one year and RJ doesn't want to leave. He pretty much he's. Greg Holmes is our vice president and a mentor to RJ, but RJ is a part of all of our family now, but especially Greg, I think he believes he is part of Greg's family.
Speaker 2:He secretly adopted him on his side. He hasn't told you guys yet.
Speaker 1:Right, but he's been winning awards. He's a fantastic football player. We go to his games. And football player, we go to his games and he is a totally different kid now. We're not saying it's all because of a few good mentors, because his, his mom, is like I said, she's right on top of things and she's phenomenal. But you know, having that, having Greg around is Greg is my mentor, so he's, he's great and so, um, you know, I think it's been a big, big help big help for him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and what was the other one?
Speaker 1:So the other one, um, you know, uh, you know he's, his name is CJ and I know there's a lot of CJs at RJ's there, but uh, but CJ is, uh was our first mentor mentee and, uh, you know, always proud to see him as he has grown and graduated high school and went on into, um, you know, his own career is is just fantastic to watch the growth of uh, of the young people, to watch the growth of the young people.
Speaker 2:Sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And to see where they started and where they are today.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:How do you? Is there a process for matching up the kids that need mentoring with the right person? Yes, how does that work?
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, and again, that really has been my background, because I built teams when I was in the FBI. That was my thing. I kind of use a similar concept of developing and knowing a lot about the mentee and the mentors and each person fills out a very thorough questionnaire interviews by me, interviews by me, um, and from there, uh, we do an interview process with both the mom solo and then the mentor and then together and we really try to figure out okay, is this person have the best interest geographically? Are they close enough either to work or home, where it makes sense to mentor the young man? But really it's really about your interests and what your skills are as a mentor and does it match with perspective?
Speaker 2:Yeah, have you ever had anybody kind of fall out of the program, and what challenges do you? Are you seeing that? And how do you overcome?
Speaker 1:those challenges. Thank god we have not had anyone fall out. Great yeah, phenomenal, um uh track record. We have had mentors who have decided to leave us, but mentees. The only time they've left is if they've moved out of the area and it was no longer feasible, but we've never had any of the mentees leave our program.
Speaker 1:The challenges, like I stated are, is really to mentor the mentors and build up the leaders of the, because they are going to be leading the young, young people. So I do. I spend a lot of time in developing our mentors.
Speaker 2:I was going to say how do you find your mentors? Yeah, and so people come to you asking, or do you? Kind of have to push it out and advertise that you're looking for people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and a lot of things, as most businesses is really driven by funding and marketing and that sort of thing, but for us it's again, it's getting into where men are faithbased organizations. Word of mouth has been really big for us. You know, the mentors we have are really our marketers because they are bringing in their own friends and family into our program. We do, you know, having been an FBI, we have a stringent background check process. So I recognize that it's probably a little bit much, but I am a parent and a grandfather myself and safety is number one, so we just don't do one background check. We're continuously checking background if you're in our organization, and so maybe that is a difficult thing for some people, and we have training that you have to go through, and so we put a lot of effort into it. Sounds like it, yeah, because we're just trying to find a few good men.
Speaker 2:A few good men. What other skills did you take from your experience in the FBI and how do you translate that into your mentorship?
Speaker 1:That is really, really a good question because a lot of my mentors actually work for the FBI. A really a good question because a lot of my mentors actually work for the FBI, so or military and so what I took from the FBI is the structure and the integrity and the ethics that go along with being a law enforcement organization, and so we are modeled quite a bit structurally after the FBI, because I trained nationwide, worldwide uh uh training program that I ran there, and so you said you were there for 30, 32 years, 36, 36 years, yeah, yeah, so it's a long time, yeah it's a long time yeah probably older than than you.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, but thank you, I'll take it. But yeah, when you've been doing something one way for so long, yeah. Yeah, do you find that a lot of your mentees is that how you say it? Yes, are they lacking structure in their life?
Speaker 1:I would say so. I would say so, and that's that's not an unusual thing, especially if you know you're coming from a single parent household.
Speaker 1:I know it's look, it's tough for us married couples raising children, so I don't know how they do it actually. So you know. So we have a real heart for them and so we know structure is difficult and I know a lot of kids. They don't want structure. However, I was the same way. I went through private school my whole life and it was a very structured life, but in the end it really does help you.
Speaker 2:And so having that structure and it doesn't have to be overboard, but just simple things Making your bed every day is a know, it's a big, big thing yeah, I've always noticed my kids are happier during the school year. I mean, they love their summer, yeah, but they're happier during the school year with structure and they think they. Just I feel like summer hits, which it's about too, and everyone's kind of wandering around not knowing what to do with themselves, because you've been on it for so long Right.
Speaker 1:You have your sports activities or other activities and school, so yeah, where do you see this business going and growing?
Speaker 1:So we are. I always tell the board and everyone we want to be the best mentoring organization in the world and so to do that requires us to get out there and be in every city that we can. So our goal is really to continue to expand a few good mentors to other markets. We're in Atlanta, the Hampton Roads, we have a chapter down in Hampton Roads, virginia, the Norfolk area where my wife is from, and Northern Virginia. We are able, we are licensed and certified to operate in Maryland, but we don't have a chapter open yet. That's on our list and goal. So we there's a lot of cities that could use it, you know and it really doesn't require a lot of time.
Speaker 2:How is that to set up in another city? It sounds like your board's here and then you maybe. How does that work?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so that's the benefit of working. Having worked 36 years in a worldwide nationwide organization, I understand you know having good chapter directors is important and so they kind of serve like an FBI. We have field offices and same kind of concept and so. But it really requires market analysis of the market to see if there is a true need for a few good mentors and if anyone's interested. Like I said, being able to get the business community behind you is important because we don't charge a fee for our services to our single parents and just developing and building up a team If we can find those type of individuals. The benefit of it makes you feel so good when you are giving back and we all have something that we can give back.
Speaker 2:Always right. Yeah, and having a good team in place to set the vision makes everything.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, absolutely Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Tell me a little bit about what your mentor meant to you.
Speaker 1:It sounds like you've maybe had a few Like they really set the structure for me and, you know, never gave up on me, and so I think it's important just to, even when things don't look the way they should, you know that you don't give up on your mentee or whoever you're mentoring, and so, for me, I always tell the story, believe it or not. I was arrested at one point.
Speaker 2:I do not believe it.
Speaker 1:Many people don't believe it. My own children, I always tell the story, don't believe it, but because my parents, I remember them telling me no, you're a good kid, you know, Change my outlook. Just're a good kid, you know. Change my outlook.
Speaker 2:Just simple yeah, like that.
Speaker 1:Like no, you really are a good person, so start acting like it. Start acting like it.
Speaker 2:And don't do.
Speaker 1:Don't do crazy things, don't do those things. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 2:And just that simple, leading by example.
Speaker 1:Right, right, right. And just remembering who you are is what my parents would always tell me before I left the house. Remember who you are and so you know and honor your family. My brother, I'm the youngest of five, so I, my brother and my sisters were huge influence on on me growing up and, you know, just wouldn't be there without them.
Speaker 2:How do they feel about the work you're doing?
Speaker 1:They're so excited and I know they're a big help as well, you know, and we are starting a scholarship fund that's going to be named after my parents, and you know, and so they're excited about that, but they're huge supporters of what I'm doing. I've talked about it with my brother many times. He's my best friend and so you know we have talked about it over years and he's so proud and they all are proud that I've actually been able to get it started and go To do this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and how about your kids? How did they feel?
Speaker 1:Great. My son, you know, he's in Pittsburgh now, lives in Pittsburgh and married, and he's a bike rider and runner and when he does events he sponsors he does it for a few good mentors, so you know, so they are all kind of locked in into the organization Really. All of my family from both sides, my wife and my side, both are all really involved.
Speaker 2:What advice would you give to someone that's looking to be a mentor?
Speaker 1:You know I would say don't wait. You know you have something that another young person could use. You know you may not think it or you may think, well, I don't have the time. If you have one hour per week you can do it. And I'm telling you they need you, you are so needed. The crime rate is high, you know, in comparing to where it should be and especially in a juvenile area, and we can help that. You know we can really help that and just get out there and do it. You know it's really a needed thing is to to give back to the next generation.
Speaker 2:Give back to it. Yeah, I love that. Are there any last parting words you'd like to give? Leave us with. Leave our listeners with. This can be a life mantra.
Speaker 1:The only thing I would like to say and we briefly talked about it is our summer reading challenge.
Speaker 2:Oh yes.
Speaker 1:And it's going on now. The deadline to register is June 17th, and so reading is so important, and you know it's a simple thing, just read we have prizes and money for kids who would like to you, said the magic word right, Exactly exactly Prices and money. Right. So you know, even for us as adults, like I think it's important that we turn the television off, get off the internet a little bit and just pick up a book and read and explore the possibilities that books offer you. So reading is huge.
Speaker 2:And how did they find out about your summer reading program?
Speaker 1:If you go to our website, wwwafgmentoringnet, there'll be a signup form there, If you scroll to the bottom of the first page or you can email me at info at afgmentoringorg and we will send out some information concerning that Awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, I'm going to get my kids signed up.
Speaker 1:Yes, definitely yes, yes, yes Well thank you for coming in today.
Speaker 2:Thank you for sharing your story with us. It was a pleasure to have you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, I appreciate it.