Nicole Antoinette - Founder of HandsIn.org
Contact: nicoleantoinette.ross [at] gmail.com
Twitter: @nicoleisbetter
Websites: http://nicoleisbetter.com/, http://handsin.org/
Career: Founder of HandsIn.org, runs a children’s summer day camp in Southern California, and freelance writer
Passions: “I’m passionate about people (making connections, finding common ground, helping each other), and about life- or, more specifically, about doing what you can to live the life that’s best for you. Other passions include: writing, being a nomad, and drinking copious amounts of iced tea.”
This past week I got an email from Lisa Farlow, Founder of 20 Something Bloggers and previous guest on Awesome Revolution, referring me to interview her good friend Nicole Antoinette. Something that really amazes me is that there are so many great bloggers out there that I still haven’t met or heard of! This is why I love doing these interviews so much; I not only get to meet the people whose blogs I have been reading for a while now, but even better, I get referred to interview people I would have otherwise not have met.
Nicole is absolutely amazing! She is the founder of HandsIn.org where she is building a social network for millennials focused on social change. The key element that makes her organization stand out is that they use their online presence to promote offline activities. Her goal is to help bloggers spread awareness, and more importantly, to organize millennials to go out into their community and start to concretely make a positive change in their community.
I also got a chance to read over her blog and am very impressed by how personal she gets in her blog. I think that’s the true mark of a great personal blogger - full-frontal honesty with no restriction or hesitations. Enjoy her interview!
Conversation Breakdown:
1:25 - Tell me about your blogging origins
Nicole read a book written by Stephanie Klein where she referenced her blog in her story. Nicole thought, “Hey blogging, lets try it!” After writing her blog for several months, Nicole found 20 Something Bloggers and was instantly immersed in an amazing community of like-minded millennials.
2:20 - How did you feel when you wrote “How to Deal with HeartBreak”
4:01 - Where does your passion for social change come from?
Throughout her life, Nicole has felt like she was on a very specific path. Once college and the “life plan” stopped, that’s when she opened her eyes to all of the possibilities and she realized that she wants to be someone who not only talks about making a difference, but really does make a difference.
5:34 - What do you think of the millennial stereotype “we are young and we don’t care”
Nicole doesn’t agree with it at all. She knows so many people that ARE making a difference, and they are a true inspiration to her.
6:32 - Ruby Ku wrote a post on Akhila’s blog called “A Call for Leadership for the Sake of the World.” What did you think of the post?
A call for leadership for the sake of the world
8:32 - Tell me about HandsIn.org
HandsIn focuses on inspiring and bringing together 20 Somethings that want to make a difference in the world
9:12 - What was the process like to start your very own organization?
A key factor in creating a strong initial community on HandsIn.org was the opportunity to reach out into her established community, and find bloggers who believe in her cause and who would write for her website.
11:58 - What are your 6-month goals for HandsIn.org?
Nicole wants to build her community slowly because she’s more focused on active members rather than an explosion of members who are not committed to the cause. She’s also looking for company sponsors for her organization.
One of the reasons why the Gen-Y is talking about changing the world but have not been doing it as much relatively is their influence. Our generation is still young and we don’t have enough influence to create that impact we want. However, we DO have power over the internet to push social change through that. That’s why most of what we do is wrote about things and spread knowledge. Would you ever argue that the media does not change the world?
Thanks so much for including me in this great series Jun! I had so much fun chatting with you and will definitely keep you posted on upcoming local events for HandsIn!
I think this is so inspiring and I’m so excited to be a part of this. I think as 20-somethings we have so much ability and desire to be connected to our world. We understand our social responsibility and take seriously our role. I, too, want to meet the world do what I can to make a positive difference even if it’s small changes at a time. GREAT interview - thanks for highlighting such an inspiring organization!
I’m so tired of the “slacker” wrap that our generation gets. Hands In challenges us all in simple ways to make our world a better place. The articles really highlight things that matter to us as twenty somethings and i think really help to inspire everyone that they can make a difference. What a great organization and a spectacular interview!!
Nicole - well said.
Jun - thanks for mentioning my post.
I think the biggest thing I’ve gotten from writing the post and the comments people gave was that there’s really no rules in how you should give back.
Just like blogging, there’s really no right or wrong or how you should blog or what you should blog about, the important thing is that you do blog and it helps you discover more who you are as a person. Same thing with community service, there are set rules in how you should give back, the important thing is that you do, and let it be part of you.
Great stuff. I love it.
Nicole FTW. Hands In is maybe one of the best things on the internet.
Miss Nicole Antoinette, to put it simply, is a total hero.
The internet, and on a much larger scale - the world, needs a Handsin.org. A place where those who are giving back can receive recognition for their effort? And a place where those wanting to give back can be not only inspired, but have somewhere to go where the tools to do so are sitting in front of them? Genius, really.
Love the concept, love the website, love the interview, love Nicole.
isn’t nicole amazing? i love what she is doing with handsin. i really believe that as 20-somethings we can make a difference in the world, and just think, once you open it up to the world wide web you open that up to so many more willing participants! she had a pretty genius idea in my opinion.
i’ve met so many great people thru blogging and nicole is definitely one of them.
Nicole…
I loved this. Even though you make me feel lazy because I dont do anything as far as volunteer work.
Can’t wait to meet you. I want your autograph. On my chest.