Causepods

One could say Dr. Richard Shuster has lived many lifetimes. A successful tech consultant in his 20’s, Richard thought he had it all – cool car, cool toys, vacations to Europe. He didn’t mind the fact that he made a lot of money and spent it on himself.

Richard might very well have grown into an even wealthier bachelor, living a comfortable life on his own terms. But all that changed the day he was in a car accident that nearly left him lifeless. Self-described as a near death experience, Richard says that in the mere three seconds he saw the end of his life approaching, the emotion he was overcome with was guilt. Guilt that his parents would be left without a son, and guilt for the fact that, despite growing a successful company, he had never sought much beyond that.

With the desire to make a humanitarian impact in mind, Richard forayed his IT work into internet safety, gaining a Master’s Degree in social work and eventually a Doctorate in clinical psychology. The Daily Helping Podcast was born along the way.

Encompassing not only the podcast but an entire movement, #mydailyhelping encourages listeners to upload and share their daily good deeds. Richard has even used the momentum from The Daily Helping to start a charity, Every Kid Rocks, aimed at supporting schools with the resources they need to provide speech, physical and occupational therapy to children who need it most.

Richard took this second chance at life as an opportunity to move from selfishness to selflessness, encouraging the spread of good deeds and the infectiousness of service to others.

Key Topics

• Introducing Richard. [00:47]
• Discussing the podcast and the life-changing cause for that. [01:14]
• #mydailyhelping movement [06:13]
• The science behind helping people. [06:25]
• The relationship between death and guilt. [08:24]
• Why a podcast? [10:13]
• Ways in which having a podcast for the message has been beneficial. [12:28]
• The supportive nature of the podcasting community. [15:59]
• How Every Kid Rocks charity was borne from the podcast. [17:05]
• The story of Richard’s son and how that inspired Every Kid Rocks. [18:31]
• Advice for potential podcasters. [28:56]

Thanks for listening!