Paddling for a Purpose

This is a story about the evolution of the Evergreen® business I founded in 1977, The Motz Group. It is also a story about me and my personal journey as I approach the end of my career and the next phase of my life. As I suspect might be true for most Evergreen founders and leaders, the two journeys – the professional and the personal – are deeply intertwined.

Motz is a Natural & Synthetic Turf & Field Construction company. We create and supply infill products for outdoor spaces where people move, play, and compete. Our team is also driven by Purpose, which is reflected in every aspect of our work. At Motz, we move people to better lives. As the company has grown over the years, we continue to intentionally partner with businesses and organizations that align with our purpose.

An important step forward happened in 2019, when I took a sabbatical for 90 days and embarked on a bike ride around the country. I spoke about this experience at Tugboat Institute® Summit in 2019. In many ways, it was the catalyst for the story I am going to share today. I set out to raise money to benefit Parkinson’s research and while my original intentions were somewhat modest and mostly personal, it became a Purpose effort that was embraced by The Motz Group. (link to my original talk HERE) It was powerful to see how engaged both our organization and the community became. When I returned, I was determined to level up our efforts at Motz to put our Purpose into action and to do it in a big way.

When I transitioned out of my longtime CEO role, my duties shifted away from leading the Motz enterprise, and one of my main objectives became the creation of a full, embracing, corporate strategy of moving a community of people to a better place. We recently launched the purpose arm of our business, Motz Moves. Motz Moves encompasses community engagement, owner engagement, and our business philosophy to make the biggest possible impact.

Our team has a great passion for giving back to the community. When we started to assemble the collection of these efforts under Motz Moves, they became even more engaged. We offer four paid days off for every employee to engage in volunteer work that is meaningful to them. We also established a corporate service day, where we work together toward a specific cause. These are just a couple of examples of how we empower our employee owners and support community partners in creating positive, lasting change.

As I approached my 70th birthday, I felt the urge to do something to commemorate this milestone in my life. Drawing from the extremely rewarding experience I had in 2019 on the bike, on my 65th birthday, I decided to undertake a new challenge.

Beginning in January of this year, I started building a canoe. I started from a tree, cut it down, and milled the wood with the goal of making it into a river-worthy canoe. On June 29, I will embark on a 3,000 mile canoe expedition that will start in Cincinnati, go down the Ohio River, up the Mississippi, up the Illinois and into Lake Michigan, cross over into Canada, go through the Northern Tier, back down Lake Huron to Lake Erie, and then down the Ohio to Cincinnati to complete the loop. For about a third of the trip I will travel downstream, a third will be flat, and a third upstream.

The impetus for this trip was largely personal, to be sure. I have moved out of the CEO role I occupied for so long and like other Evergreen founders and leaders in my position, I was eager to find meaning and purpose as I start my Second Act. As I approach my milestone birthday, I want to accomplish something difficult, prove I am still physically fit and mentally strong, and have the perseverance needed to stay the course. But unlike my bike trip, from the start, this initiative has been closely tied to Motz, our Purpose, and ways in which we can elevate our work in our communities.

This trip, which is called Paddle for a Purpose, will benefit an organization called The Bridge Adaptive Sports & Recreation, which increases awareness and promotes opportunities for individuals to participate in adaptive sports and recreation in order to improve their quality of life. Participating athletes have experienced significant challenges in their lives – stroke or multiple ailments of disability, either nervous or physical – but there’s tremendous opportunity for them to still enjoy an active, vibrant life, versus just surviving. Helping further the work of this organization is exactly in line with our purpose of moving people to better lives. So, I have shared and will continue to share my progress, starting with the canoe build and on through the expedition itself, with my entire team. I’ll be posting weekly videos to the Motz Moves social media channels so anyone can follow the expedition. Our team and supporters can get involved in so many ways.

First, there are a lot of logistics involved in planning the many phases of this trip; this effort is a piece that the team is and will be involved in. Our marketing team is collaborating with The Bridge to get the word out, so more people are aware of the opportunity to engage and support. Company-wide, people are joining in to create a spirit of camaraderie on the water together. There’ll be multiple places where team members, athletes from The Bridge and other interested groups and individuals are going to join for a day, paddling for a purpose together. And then people are working together on other initiatives that correspond to this, to further increase our impact.

Beyond Motz, there’s an incredible cottage community of volunteers called River Angels. It’s much like on trails; people are happy to help when you pass through. I imagine they’re thinking, “Gosh, this poor soul is out there paddling away. We’re going to offer him up a cold drink or a bite to eat.” I see a lot of opportunities to interact with the local communities as I move through them. What excites me the most is just really getting to know people across the Midwest, because it’s always the serendipitous meetups, just salt of the earth people, that re-instill your faith in humanity.

I think circles are powerful. The metaphor of traveling a great distance to end up where you started, but having gained so much knowledge and experience, is powerful. And the ripple that a circle on the water creates, when a pebble is dropped or a paddle touches the water, is meaningful as well. The excitement around this initiative is growing like a ripple – getting broader and reaching farther in all directions.

As I plan and prepare for this trip, I can’t help but think how much my expedition is like both business and life, especially for the Evergreen leader. Sometimes, for example, we’ve got to paddle against the flow. I’ve experienced paddling against the flow, and you really have to learn to read the water and all the nuances to make any progress forward. Just like everything else, it seems like the hardest sections and the hardest challenges teach you the most. The reward of accomplishing something that you were not sure you could do, and that makes people’s lives better, is priceless.

To follow Joe’s Paddle for a Purpose journey in real-time and learn more, visit motzpaddleforapurpose.org. You can also follow us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn!