Combine Your Profession With Your Passion. It’s Good for Business.

May 23, 2016

When I was an MBA student at UCLA, I had the privilege of hearing business leaders’ two cents on success and how to do well in life—professionally and personally. Two things that—without exception—every leader mentioned were passion andhard work. Ursula Burns (Chairman & CEO of Xerox), Bob Iger (Chairman & CEO of The Walt Disney Company), Indra Nooyi (CEO & Chairperson of PepsiCo) and more all said that they were passionate and hardworking. Without both qualities, they wouldn’t have achieved what they had.

Not everyone who follows their passion succeeds. But everyone who is successful—at least according to my experience—is passionate.

And yet, let’s face it—most of us are not passionate about our jobs. We work to live. We don’t live to work. We want self-fulfillment, but struggle to find it in the office atmosphere. There are many ways to remedy this—some people find their passion in hobbies and activities after work, some volunteer, and some simply wait until they retire—but I am writing this to discuss what I consider to be the best of both worlds. The zone where nonprofit and for-profit meet, in which professionals provide services to nonprofit organizations that they care about. THAT, my friends, is a win-win situation.

Take Eyal Resh, for example: a young and talented Israeli-American video director. Eyal served three years as the main Director of the Cinema Unit of the Israeli Air Force. In 2015, he graduated with an MA from CalArts (accepted based on experience, even though he doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree), where he studied film directing.

“Searching For Them,” directed by Eyal Resh

Today, Eyal is an independent filmmaker who works for a variety of clients with a wide range of needs. At the same time, some of his biggest projects—the ones he is most proud of, actually—are for the pro-Israel nonprofit community. He is the video director and producer for many Israeli and Jewish organizations in the U.S. There are many talented video directors here—especially in Los Angeles. But for Eyal it is not just about his profession: it’s his passion. His Israeliness drives his passion, and it’s clear in his final result. There is something more to his work. An emotional attachment. A sense of purpose. A willingness to do whatever it takes to get the project right.

I worked with Eyal on a few projects, and he told me once: “When I work for a cause I care about, it’s not working—it’s playing.”

Eyal created the videos for three Israeli-American Council (IAC) events, including its annual gala and the National Conference in Washington, D.C. He also directed all of the screen content for the Times of Israel Gala at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Larger than Life, Stand by Me, Kadima Day School, IAFCF, MATI, and more all hired him to direct video content for their galas and fundraisers. The list of multimedia projects for the Jewish community goes on and on.

“Telling Israel’s Story,” directed by Eyal Resh

I personally think that Eyal and people like him are a tremendous asset for the pro-Israel and Jewish nonprofit community because they bring a personal connection. And with personal connection comes personal investment. When we hire someone like Eyal, we know we are yielding a high return.

Eyal is of course not the only one—there are attorneys, political consultants, PR consultants, social media experts, graphic designers, web developers, and many other service providers who work with us and with the organizations that the Milstein Family Foundation (MFF) supports. They take part in our community’s efforts to fight BDS, connect American Jews to Israel, promote Israel’s image in the U.S., and more.

Combining profession with passion in this way yields a win-win situation:

• Professionals do something they enjoy, while getting paid and promoting their business
• Nonprofits get a higher-than-usual quality work from passionate professionals

Nonprofits have staffs, but they also need vendors to do the work their staffs cannot. Remember that you don’t have to work at a nonprofit in order to work for a nonprofit.

Here is your chance: How are YOU going to combine your profession with your passion?

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To learn more about the philanthropic work of Adam Milstein and the Milstein Family Foundation, visit http://milsteinff.org. Also – check out Adam Milstein and the Milstein Family Foundation on Facebook!