In this episode of You Can’t Take it With You, Jim Dunlop sits down with Kevin Giza, Senior Vice President of Mortgage Lending at The Giza Group, to discuss how to leverage personal success to build stronger communities. Together, they explore Kevin’s creation of the Perfect Pitch Camp, lessons learned from mission work in Cape Verde, and the value of involving family in generosity efforts. Kevin also shares practical advice on how to start giving back, no matter where you are on your journey to success.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [02:37] Kevin Giza’s journey from small-town roots to a career in mortgage lending
- [03:56] How early experiences shaped Kevin’s generosity mindset
- [06:17] Creating opportunities for deaf and hard-of-hearing children through baseball
- [14:28] What Kevin learned during his time as a scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates
- [18:03] Why Kevin’s mission trip to Cape Verde became a pivotal moment for his family
- [29:17] A common generosity mistake wealthy families often make
- [34:20] How anyone can start making an impact today regardless of their financial status
In this episode:
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Jim Dunlop on LinkedIn
- Advent Partners
- Kevin Giza: LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X
- The Giza Group
- Carolyn Keller on LinkedIn
- CrossCountry Mortgage
- North Way Christian Community Church
- Allegheny Valley Baseball Club
- Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
- Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (WPSD)
Related Episodes
- “How Personal Experiences Shape Philanthropic Impact With Jim Langley” on You Can’t Take it With You
- “Not All of Me Will Die: Leaving an Impact Beyond Wealth With Phil Cubeta” on You Can’t Take it With You
- “Building a Legacy of Generosity: How Janet Riggs Champions Empathy and Education” on You Can’t Take it With You
Quotable Moments
- “If you live in the United States of America, you’re amongst the most wealthy in the world.”
- “Whoever had need, we just sort of pulled our resources together to try to help.”
- “If you have clean water to drink, you’re one of the luckiest, wealthiest people in the world.”
- “Just because somebody may have more doesn’t necessarily make it better.”
- “If God puts something in front of you and you have the opportunity to make a difference, don’t wait.”
Action Steps
- Engage in community service projects: Engaging in community service, like Kevin Giza’s involvement with the Perfect Pitch Camp, fosters personal growth and empathy while addressing local needs.
- Start conversations around generosity with family: These conversations can spark creative ideas on how to contribute to society and create lasting family legacies of positive impact.
- Explore international volunteer opportunities: Doing so lets you witness different cultures and challenges firsthand, promoting a deeper understanding of global issues and inspiring cross-cultural generosity.
- Utilize donor-advised funds and matching gift programs: By leveraging these financial tools, you can maximize donations and contribute more significantly to the causes they care about.
- Focus on seeing and acting on ‘unseen’ needs: Staying vigilant and responsive to the needs around you can help make meaningful changes, turning awareness into action.
Sponsor for this episode:
This episode is brought to you by Advent Partners — a financial planning partner dedicated to helping you make informed decisions that simplify your financial journey.
Whether you are planning for the future, investing for growth, or navigating financial hurdles, Advent Partners is here to provide insights, recommendations, and a clear financial roadmap.
To learn more about Advent Partners and how we can guide your financial success, visit AdventPartnersFP.com.
Episode Transcript
Intro 00:00
Welcome to the You Can’t Take it With You show, where we feature stories around generosity designed to inspire and encourage others to do meaningful things in their communities. Now, here’s your host, Jim Dunlop.
Jim Dunlop 00:17
Hi. Jim Dunlop here, a wealth advisor and host of this show, where I sit down with people who get it when it comes to generosity, I’m excited to have guests who can give us stories on generosity to not only inspire our listeners, but to give practical ideas on ways we can give. Today’s guest is Kevin Giza. Past guests of the You Can’t Take it With You include Jim Langley, Phil Cubeta, and Janet Riggs. But before we get to Kevin, I want to share that this episode is brought to you by Advent Partners. Ready for Good. Advent is a financial planning team dedicated to helping you make informed decisions that simplify your financial journey. At Advent Partners, we’re ready for good. Our bold, ten-year vision is to help clients donate $100 million to transform lives through generosity and planning. United by generosity, relationship excellence, authenticity, and fun, we empower meaningful lives and lasting community impact. To learn more about Advent Partners, visit readyforgood.com. Before introducing today’s guest, I want to give a big thank you to Carolyn Keller, who introduced us to Kevin. Go check out her website at curio412.com whether you are a company looking for a strategy to give back to your community, or a nonprofit looking to elevate your mission, Curio 412 would love to help amplify your impact. So now let me tell you about Kevin Giza. Kevin is the President of The Giza Group and is an originating Branch Manager for CrossCountry Mortgage. Kevin brought the first CrossCountry Mortgage franchise to Pittsburgh, who is now ranked as the number one retail mortgage lender in our country. Kevin has been recognized as a top performing loan officer here in Pennsylvania and nationally for many years. He has won numerous corporate awards, industry nominations and featured in various publications over the past 25 years in the industry. Kevin is an active member of his community through North Way Christian Community Church. He was an amateur scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates and director of the Perfect Pitch Camp for the deaf and hard of hearing children, and has been married to his wife, Anne for 14 years and has four children Lena, Lola, Gio and Rocco. Kevin, it is great to have you here.
Kevin Giza 02:28
Thanks, Jim. I really appreciate you having me on.
Jim Dunlop 02:30
So, before we dive into it, could you take two minutes and give us a quick autobiography of Kevin?
Kevin Giza 02:37
Sure. Thanks. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a small town called Sharpsburg. Went to Fox Chapel High School. Started working at a very young age. My first job I probably started when I was 11, setting up duckpin bowling for gentlemen in the club area, a country club type of setting, and then started bagging groceries at Shop n’ Save when I was 13. And then basically just got into mortgages. I graduated high school at 17, got into financing and mortgages. At that time, when I was going into college, I actually started as a telemarketer for a small mortgage company, and I would go down to the courthouse and search my leads and then call them and then, you know, so that was that was a very good—not a lot of people can say they have that type of experience in the mortgage industry for sure.
Jim Dunlop 03:38
Well, this is a show about generosity. And our mutual friend Carolyn thought you would be somebody that would be great to share some of the things you’re doing. I want to talk about you and generosity. So, let’s start with you. What is your generosity origin story?
Kevin Giza 03:56
I think early on, you know, with that background and just sort of always being a worker, you know, I just sort of got to see, you know, well, first off, let me just say that if you live in the United States of America, you’re amongst the most wealthy in the world. And I know we hear that a lot. And until you really actually get out and see it, it doesn’t maybe mean a lot, you know? But I saw poverty at a young age just with people that I went to school with, you know, Sharpsburg was a small town. I came from a single mom, you know, one of the richest areas in Pittsburgh in Fox Chapel. And so, it was to have and have nots. And, you know, we sort of got to the situation where we got to just pull together as brothers and just try to help each other. And it was just sort of like whoever had need, we just sort of pulled our resources together to try to help. And in the city of Pittsburgh and our little town. But then as I got older, I got to start to travel and see the world and really understand what poverty is and know that if you have clean water to drink, you’re one of the luckiest, wealthiest people in the world. If you have a warm place to sleep and just things that we sometimes can over, overlook and not that, we’re being selfish. It’s just one of those things that like, we have an abundance of, you know, just great things that are disposable. Sometimes we don’t focus on because of the way society is set up, that we’re just constantly trying to get more and more and more.
Jim Dunlop 05:43
Yeah. There are lots of little important things in this life that we just take for granted because we’ve always had access to them or had them. And when you start looking around you recognize that that’s not universal for everybody. I want to ask you, I think, you’re involved in a lot of organizations and causes, but I’d love for you to tell me about your work with the Perfect Pitch Camp and how that started and what that looks like, and explain to our listeners that project.
Kevin Giza 06:17
Sure. Absolutely. But before I do that, I did want to just I sort of left something out of my little bio. But, you know, basically, like I said, I started working for a mortgage company and went to college at a small university in Pittsburgh called Point Park University. Primarily I went for baseball, so I and business was second and school was second. But, you know, got a good education there and got to play a lot of baseball. And really what prompted me into the baseball world, our team won the World Series right before the year I got there, and then when I got there, we had a lot of really good players that got drafted, and so they were basically coming back teaching us what they were learning in pro ball and minor leagues. And so when I got done with college, I ended up starting my own 501(c)(3) nonprofit called Allegheny Valley Baseball. Just really just based on trying to help, you know, give players the best opportunity to chase their dream, you know, skills and coaching and facilities and, you know, exposure, you know, and helping them market themselves well. And just everything that I thought that they needed to be the best in their craft. Then through that we achieved those ideals really early on. And, you know, we had people getting better scholarships in college, going to bigger colleges, getting some opportunities to play pro ball. And I’m dealing with, you know, really great college baseball players where I’m coaching at this point. And there was just something more. And I was like, you know, I only had these guys—it was like an all-star team every year that we’d get together—and I’d only have them for a short period of time. And so I wanted to make sure our impact was felt in the community. So, around that time, I was listening to a self-help CD type of thing, which was called Dr. Wayne Dyer, if you ever heard of him. And he had this story that was called The Shaya Story, and it was really cool, like story about how a father had a son who had special needs. The son would come to the baseball field every day, and the kids would just, you know, not need them. They already had their team and they’re competitive and they want to win. And he was, you know, had some issues. So he wasn’t going to really help the product on the field. But one day the boys ended up basically allowing this kid to play. His name was Shaya and, you know, basically he got on the field. To make a long story short, he ended up hitting a little, you know, nubber back to the pitcher, and they threw it over the first baseman’s head, and they had a run in the first. And then never had she ran to first and they had the first baseman got the ball and threw it over the second baseman’s head. And so, it actually made it look like it was like a game winning home run for this young boy. And so, they, like, carried him off the field. And his dad was speaking at a college conference and he’s like, you know, that’s what in that moment, those children, you know, achieved God’s perfection. And so, I’m listening to this story, Jim, and I’m like, wow, what a story. Really impactful. And I’m coaching these baseball guys, macho college guys. And I’m like, you know, maybe we could do something. And then literally, almost immediately I turn off the CD. We used to listen to CDs back in those days. Right. And I turn off the CD and the radio comes on, Stacy Smith comes on the radio, and he’s like, the Miracle League of Southwestern PA is coming into town, and we need supporters to help get this and basically give these kids with special needs an opportunity to have the same experience in baseball and softball that you may have had. I was like, whoa. All right. So, I call Mike Sherry, who brought the first Miracle League team to southwestern PA, and I said, I don’t know what I can do. I’m coaching a college baseball team. I want to support you. And he’s like, yeah, that sounds great. And we had like, we would do little fundraisers. And for that year we had our biggest fundraiser. We ran like a little Monte Carlo night. It was a small little summer prospect baseball team, and we had like over 350 people show up to this event, and we decided to donate a portion of those proceeds to the Miracle League. And I actually stopped the whole thing. We had like Chuck-a-luck wheels going and like all these different games, it was like wild. So, I stopped everything, and I played that actual story that I just told you from Wayne Dyer for the whole crowd. And then we donated a portion of the proceeds. They built the field. We end up taking our team out there every year in full uniform to help the kids with special needs, with the Miracle League. And then Sean Casey got involved here. The Pirates got involved and like, boom, it just took off. And now I don’t know, there’s probably like close to a dozen fields around Western PA for the Miracle League. And then through that, they were doing really well. They got the Pirates involved. And you know, I was like, well, I really wanted to do my own, you know, program. You know, I want to, you know, I think I, you know, who can I impact. And so I, my uncle’s deaf and my aunt’s deaf. And then they have four kids that are either have severe hearing loss or are deaf. And my oldest cousin, she was a standout softball player for Fox Chapel. She started shortstop, batted third for the hearing team, and really loved the game so I got to coach them growing up and I’ve seen the love for them. And, you know, signs are already a part of the Deaf Community. You know, they have sign language. So, like baseball signs. And it just sort of seemed like it was a nice transition. So, I reached out to the school. The Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. And I said, hey, I have this idea. Are you guys interested? And I found this wonderful man. He was the dean of students at the time. And later, when it went on to be the COO of the school, Aaron Noschese. And we just hit it off and he said, yeah, this sounds great. Let’s give it a whirl. And we launched the first Perfect Pitch Camp, and it was at a little neighborhood town in Etna, PA and you know, we had some really great things happen with it.
Jim Dunlop 12:17
So fast forward to today. What is The Perfect Pitch Camp look like today?
Kevin Giza 12:23
Yeah. So the last five years it’s been held at the PNC Park. We’ve had numerous, you know, celebrities or, you know, people involved in baseball. Former manager like Clint Hurdle was a huge inspiration to former Pirates manager and he really helped us get it launched and off the bench. Current bench coach for the Pirates, Don Kelly I actually played. He was one of the guys I mentioned that I played with at Point Park University that got drafted. Now he’s the bench coach for the Pirates. He’s been instrumental, you know, former general manager Kevin Colbert for the Steelers. And he’s been really instrumental. So, he’s been there the last 3 or 4 years. And former Pirates manager Jim Leyland, who just got inducted to the Hall of Fame, he’s been there the last 3 or 4 years as well. And it’s just really cool to see those guys and you know, how much they care about the community and how much they really enjoy giving back. But, you know, more importantly, like the kids get to come on to PNC Park, they have a voice in the baseball community and in the Pittsburgh community. They get a great day on the field, and they just get to have a lot of fun. And it’s and it’s also really impactful to the volunteers, because we have a lot of volunteers that may have never worked with children with special needs, and they get the opportunity to come out to the camp and actually, you know, work and, you know, practice sign language and talk to the kids and really just everyone just sort of exists and basically, you know, there’s no differences like, no, for that two hours that were on the field or whatever for that day. Nobody has a disability. We’re all equal people just loving on each other and trying to have the best day possible.
Jim Dunlop 14:11
I want to take a little detour here, but I’m more curious than anything. Obviously, baseball has been an important part of your life. I noticed, as we were preparing for today, that you spent time scouting for the Pirates. Tell me a little bit about that and what that’s looked like.
Kevin Giza 14:28
Well, thank you. Yeah, I it has. I mean, ever since I picked up a baseball bat when I was five-years-old, I never wanted to put it down. I just it’s just something that connected. And even more so when I ended up picking up the position as a catcher. I just love the management of the game and being able to put people in position and make, you know, the whole strategy of it. So yeah, so I mean, you know, basically I was coaching, I started at 501(c)(3) nonprofit. I’m, you know, getting a lot of college players, great relationship with college coaches. I’m taking great care of their guys when they send them to me. We’re getting their skills and getting them exposure and helping them achieve, you know, greater success on the field and then also off the field with the community work. And the coaches really appreciated that, you know, really focused on well-rounded players. Well, while we were doing all that, the Pirates ended up sponsoring us. And so, we were called the Allegheny Valley Bucks. And, you know, we ended up getting a lot of sponsorship from the Pirates. And then when I had my second child, I just couldn’t do the commitment of coaching all the time because it was largely over the summer, especially. And you know, PA, we don’t get great weather. And so like, you know, I would take up most of my weekends on double headers and so like it would rain one night and we would get canceled. And I call my wife and be like, hey, you want to go to amusement park or something? And she’s like, well, it’s raining here too. We can’t do it. So, I had to pivot. And then when I did that, the pirates came and said, like, hey, you know, why don’t you scout? You already have all these relationships. We’d love for you to continue, you know, in baseball this way. And so, I did, and I loved it. And, you know, I had a three-hour window territory where I covered the tri state area of West Virginia, Ohio and PA. But primarily my job as a recommending scout was basically just to support the full-time area guys because basically their territories are so big. They got like eight states and they’re they need to be down watching Vanderbilt or Tennessee or like, you know, these really, really great programs. And then if and having our big club Pittsburgh, right here. A lot of times we’ll get like a grandfather, like, hey, you need to come see my kid. You know, my grandson, he’s really good. And then so, like, I would run down a lot of that stuff for them and then because, like, you know, you sort of understand the schematics of, like, the draft and how important it is and like the looks that you get on the players because people get injured and people, you know, their stuff isn’t what it was three months ago. And, you know, and you’re constantly trying to get those evaluations together so that you can put the information, the data together so that you can make the best decision to better the club.
Jim Dunlop 17:16
Well, I think it’s fun to hear that kind of stuff. You know, a lot of people understand big league baseball and all the little stuff that has to happen to get that final product on the field. It’s always for me, a area of great curiosity here. You know, some of those stories of what’s happening to get to where they are. So I’ve been zigging and zagging a little. Today. I want to zig again here, and I want to I want to understand about your experience in the Cape Verde Islands. I know that this was a pretty instrumental part in your life, and when we were preparing for today, I had to go look up where the Cape Verde islands are. So maybe you could start by telling us where they are and what happened with you in Cape Verde.
Kevin Giza 18:03
Yeah, I just wanted to add one other thing to the whole baseball. You know, baseball, in my opinion, I think a lot of people agree is one of the hardest sports to actually make it to be a professional on the field, on a major league club. I mean, we have like four levels of minor leagues. And so, you know, like if you watch college football, the players that are really good for Alabama and college football, they’re going to be good in the pros. That doesn’t necessarily translate in baseball, you know. So like you have a really good college player or a high school player, you know, if you’re not looking and managing the right, taking a look at the right things and they may not actually project the project ability is the hardest thing because you’re looking at 17, 18-year-old kids and you’re like trying to project what they’re going to be in four years down the road. And so that’s that.
But, you know, to move into the Cape Verde. So, we were blessed as a family where my wife’s best friend actually grew up on the island, and I never knew where it was either. I was like, oh yeah, come to Cape Verde. I’m like, yeah, okay. You know? And so like, we but we saw how much fun they were having there, and we just sort of considered it as a family wanted to give. We have four kids, and we wanted to give them an opportunity to see the world and see something different than what their normal backyard looks like. And this was definitely that. So, Cape Verde Islands is actually off the coast of West Africa. And I always say it’s sort of like the Caribbean for Europe. And so, we go there. The native language was Portuguese and Creole, and so nobody spoke English. So, I was like trying to navigate. My kids got to see me trying to navigate going to a grocery store and getting food without being able to speak the language, which Google Translate is so great nowadays, you know. And that helps. And they showed, having some friends that are from the island, they showed us the places to go and things like that, and we really had just a tremendous experience with it. But I didn’t even see another American or somebody that spoke English for like the 28 days that we were there, until we got back, because it was like our neighbors were from Sweden and another guy was from UK. And so, it was pretty cool.
Jim Dunlop 20:22
And when you were in Cape Verde, I think you got connected to an orphanage there. So, tell me a little bit about that. And the work that you’ve been able to do there.
Kevin Giza 20:32
Yeah. So, we had a really great time seeing the island and then, you know, since, like I said, our friends were there, and they lived there. We got to actually sort of live and see the local side of it. And so, like a street over, you know, like the you’re on the one street, it looked just like, you know, Italy or Europe, like it was like beautiful, like cobblestone and restaurants and like, wow, this is great. The beach is right there. Then you go one street over and you can see the poverty. And so, at first, I actually ended up getting hooked up with a guy from the church. I went to the church, and we were over there around Easter time and went to church, and I met a guy and this guy, just like, I don’t know, he just something stuck out to me about him, and I just felt like I needed to talk to him. And there was an instant connection. And he’s like, well, you know, we feed the kids from the street on Monday nights. Why don’t you come back and help us? I said, okay, so then we went back. I went and I brought all my kids with me. And they at that point they had some Easter candy, and they were like handing out their candy to the kids. And, you know, they had like one big pot of soup and they were like rationing it out. And an experience I’ll never forget is all these kids are sitting there. And then they had like this, you know, benches. And then there was a bowl in the center of where they were sitting. And then they would like eat a little bit and then they’d dump the rest of it in the bowl. And I was like, and the one guy grabbed me and he goes, I’m like, you know, like he’s like, you know what that bowl is for? I’m like, no. And he’s like, that’s the communal bowl. I said, what’s a communal bowl? He’s like, these kids don’t waste anything. This community doesn’t waste anything. So, whatever they don’t, when they get enough, they put it back in there and then they cook it for the next week, you know, and they save it so that another kid can get something. And I was like, you know, it just blew my mind, you know, even thinking that way. And so, you know, when we were there the one time the power was out, you know? And we’re like, trying to get food ready to feed the kids. And it’s like, you know, in the dark and so it was just, you know, that type of experience. So that was there with the church. But then we ended up and you know, I never knew any of these people before. Like this is all just something that was ordained from the trip, you know, like it just sort of like walked into it. I was there on vacation and ended up becoming sort of like a mission trip. But then we since our friend, had a friend that knew somebody from the school, and we’re like, oh, well, we can donate, donate some provisions, drop off some supplies, you know, and they’re like, okay, so they took us there. At first, they didn’t want us to just go and, like, hand them out to the kids in the street, because there would have been like a rush, you know, and like, all the kids would have been coming from everywhere. And then it would have been like some kids might not have got it. There could have been sort of, I don’t want to say a riot, but a disturbance for sure. So, they had like a sort of set way of how they wanted us to do it, go in and give the provisions. And so that way nobody felt slighted or whatever. And so, we went to the school, and I’ll never forget like the name of the school was Jardine Anne, which is German for Anne’s garden. My wife is named Anne and spelled the same way A and E, and so we’re like, oh, you know, we go in there and it was just, you know, I just, I, my heart broke for these kids and like, there was like three teachers/caregivers, they’re trying to take care of like 300 kids. I mean, we saw like, babies walking around without diapers. We saw flies all over the ground. We saw just like, you know, desks the kids were sitting in it aren’t painted. And like, you know, I mean, it’s just like it was just rough territory. And so, like. And my wife, you know, she’s been the primary, you know, caregiver for our kids, like, you know, and the way that we schooled them and everything else. And so, she just knew, like she just could not unsee that after we went there. Because she knows, like, firsthand the needs of the children. And so, when we came back, we just couldn’t forget about those kids. So, we got together with our friends, and we ended up starting a fundraiser. And we raised, you know, like 20,000 and helped them get a roof. And so that way, because they do have I can tell you the weather was beautiful. Every day we were there, it was like 70 and sunny. But they have one season, which is their wet season. It’s like a month and they really wanted to get a roof on that building so that the kids could stay dry. Through that wet season. We were able to help them achieve that, which was such a great feeling. But one of the things is like, I came back and I’m like trying to like figure out like, well, how do I help somebody? And off the coast of West Africa, I don’t even speak the language. And I’m talking to like, contractors. I’m like, oh, can we get some, you know, like, well, how are you going to get tools and how are you going to get materials? What are you going to do? You know, like get a cargo ship and send it there. And I’m like, I don’t know, you know. But then luckily our friends found that Anne from Jardine and they found her and she already had a lot of things in motion in Germany. And like, you know, she’s been doing some things and so we were able just to come alongside her and figure out what she needed and help push her forward with what she was doing with her mission.
Jim Dunlop 25:54
Yeah. You know, it’s interesting that one of the themes that has come up on these podcasts for a number of our guests is this idea of something’s a problem is put in front of you that you can’t unsee. And sometimes, you know, as people of faith, we think, you know, this is God opening our eyes and putting something right in front of us. And now, now that I know that this is a thing, now that I know this exists, I have to do something about it. And I think this is a great example of one of those things that here you are looking to get away on a little vacation, and the next thing you know, you end up at church and you end up seeing things and you end up meeting people. And here you are being able to solve an incredible problem. And I think that’s just a perfect idea around generosity of things coming together at the right time. I really appreciate you sharing that story.
Kevin Giza 26:55
Thank you.
Jim Dunlop 26:56
And you know, I, I know you mentioned him earlier, but I’ll just give you a chance to say a little bit more, if you don’t mind. I know people like Jim Leyland and Clint Hurdle, former Pirates managers who have been involved with the Perfect Pitch Camp, as well as Kevin Colbert from the Steelers and others. These are guys that have made an impact on you and in the work you’re doing. Tell me a little bit more about getting to know these guys.
Kevin Giza 27:25
Yeah. I remember being a young guy and just sort of, you know, trying to make my way and work and work up the ladder. And you’d get some managers that were, you know, sometimes just not the nicest people where they would just, you know, be very tough to deal with. They, you know, sort of had an attitude and they just wanted to like, you know, show their dominance or like, hey, you’re not allowed to ask me that question. You’re, you’re a young buck and go talk, know your role type of thing. And so I can’t tell you that my experience with those guys that you mentioned has been the complete opposite of that. Here are some of the guys that I looked up to the most that had the highest positions that I would always, ever aspire to be like managers of a major League baseball team or general manager of the Steelers and like these were the nicest guys. Like you could text them and they’d text you back or call you. They’d call you right back and like just really wanting to help, you know, and like, that was just such an like when I had that experience, I’m like. And it was also another guy I didn’t mention was the president of Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s Frank Coonelly. He was the same type of guy. Like, I run into these guys at charity events and like, you know, they just and I think that was part of it is that they sort of we had sort of a vision that was sort of aligned, you know, and so they sort of knew where I was coming from with my mission. So, they wanted to be a part of it.
Jim Dunlop 28:58
It’s awesome when you have great partners in your generosity journey. I do want to ask another question, because I know that this is something, given your work and the folks you deal with, what is one area you see wealthy families miss when it comes to generosity? Like when it missed the boat, so to speak.
Kevin Giza 29:17
Yeah. So, thank you. I did want to sort of elaborate on that a little bit, because I was one of the things I left out of my bio a little bit is so like after, you know, I started working for the small mortgage company, I got out of college and then it was like basically like, okay, you take these entry level jobs while I was already doing pretty well in sales and mortgage, so I just stayed in. And then it ended up eventually leading me to PNC Bank. And I was in their wealth management department, and we worked with a lot of really high net worth clients. And we had a Hawthorne division, which was, you know, the super affluent clientele. Since I’m a mortgage finance, I got to handle a lot of the kids and the grandkids and great grandkids of family legacy. And part of what the mortgage process did was it allowed me to teach them responsibility and why you need a good credit score. You know the responsibility to make a mortgage payment every month. And so, because I think a lot of people will say, like, one of the biggest fears that most people have that achieve good wealth is that they don’t want to ruin their kids with it, you know? And so, how do you do that? You got to teach them responsibility. You want to give them enough so that they can do anything that they want, but you don’t want to give them too much where they do nothing. Right?
Jim Dunlop 30:47
That’s the Warren Buffett saying.
Kevin Giza 30:49
Yeah. So, we’re working with, I’m working with them. And there was a lot of foundation work. And one of the biggest things was like, just anybody that’s starting to think about generosity is fun. Like you, you work so hard to build this wealth. Now, you know, you have the opportunity to make an impact that’s going to go way above and beyond the dollar value. And one of the really cool things that I’ve seen is that when the kids and the grandkids get involved and the family legacy, you know, they sit around, they have these discussions around the holidays and they say, like, you know, they asked the kids like, where do you think we could, you know, make a difference or impact a community or like, you know, what are some needs that you’ve seen, you know, when you’re out and about or you’re at work or you’re at school what can we do to make a difference? And then that’s sort of how some of these foundations got started. And I’ve seen some incredible work, you know, like just orphanages and, you know, all kinds of different things started. But to go back to your question about where do I see people sometimes miss the mark is I think that you can wait too long to get started is a simple answer there, because I think we get so wrapped up in trying to achieve that next milestone that we just go well, when I get to this number, then I’m going to go give more away or I’ll be more generous. I’m just not there yet, you know, like, look at all these people. They have more, you know, like, I need to get that to where they’re at before I can give. But like I mentioned earlier, you know, basically, if you’re in America, you’re already amongst the wealthiest people in the world already, you know, just with everything we have, you know, because of the abundance and the food supply and the water and, you know, clean places to live. And so, like, you really don’t have to wait to start being generous today. And so, I think just because somebody may have more doesn’t make it better necessarily, you know, and just because they may be worth more on paper, don’t make you worth less. And so, I would say, you know, if you get the opportunity, see if God puts something in front of you and you have the opportunity to make a difference. Don’t wait. You know if you have it within your means today to impact the change that could be life changing for somebody or some community. Do it.
Jim Dunlop 33:30
That’s awesome. And Kevin, that just puts a perfect bow on this episode. Our show is You Can’t Take It with You. And the idea is let’s come up with creative ways to do good things while we’re here and not wait till we’re gone to be effective. And you’ve hit the nail right on the head. I really appreciate it. It’s been great talking to you today. Kevin. And I have one final question before. Before we before we go. But before I ask that, I want to point people to your website so they can get to know you better. It’s TheGizaGroup.com and Giza. Spelled Giza. TheGizaGroup.com. You can also find Kevin on LinkedIn, Facebook and X. Our last question is this. If you could share some advice or wisdom on a billboard where you’d reach a lot of people, what would your message be, Kevin?
Kevin Giza 34:20
I did want to just add one extra thing that just a couple of things that in regards to what we were just talking about, where sometimes people miss the mark because like, even if you’re if you’re just not there yet, where you have enough, where you feel comfortable because, you know, we want to take care of ourselves first and our families first. And, you know, we have to do that. But some ways that I found that helped me become generous, quicker, faster, before I felt like I made it, you know, or whatever that number is because it’s different for everybody. But the foundations, like I talked about. But also, there was this really, you know, and Jim, I know you know all about these donor-advised funds, right. And so I never really understood like, you know, because, you know, the banks I worked for, we would get some great stock options and then like instead of like, you know, just paying, doing the donations right out of my bank account and paying the tax on it. I actually got to use sell that stock and not have to, you know, take the capital gains. And I actually able to give the most I’ve ever gave in my life, you know operating that way. And when a buddy of mine showed me that and I was blown away. And then we also had like a company match program, like a matching gift program where, like, if you give $2,500, that institution would match $2,500. So now you’re giving 5000, you know, and it’s just different ways that, you know, stretch your dollars. But I really appreciate you having me on the show. It’s been a lot of fun. Thank you for, you know, letting me share my story. That’s been very impactful for me and my family and excited to see where we’re going to be able to go in the future and the lives that we can impact.
But I have to say, if I had a billboard and I wanted to like put one message on there. What would that be? And I would just sort of something to the effect of like, you know, just because somebody may be worth more on paper don’t make you worth less or worthless. You have value. You can impact the world. You can change the world around you. And I just wish you all the best and hope that you can take something from this little talk that we had here and change the world.
Jim Dunlop 36:41
Hey, I love it, Kevin. Thank you so much for being with us today. And again, go check out Kevin at TheGizaGroup.com.
Kevin Giza 36:53
Thanks, Jim.
Outro 36:54
Thanks for joining us to hear stories of generosity that remind us that you can’t take it with you. Visit our site at canttakeitwithyou.com for more details on today’s episode and to subscribe to future shows.
Disclosure 37:13
Neither today’s guests nor their company are affiliated with or endorsed by Thrivent Advisor Network. The views expressed in this presentation by the guest are their own and not necessarily those of Thrivent or its affiliates.
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