We recently got an email from a fellow named Rick Thrasher, who works at a California-based nonprofit called Growers First:
“A friend referred me to The Go Giver a few weeks ago because of my new role at a coffee nonprofit, whose mission statement is very similar to Rachel’s Famous Coffee Foundation (as mentioned on page 125 of your book).
“I was wondering if there were real people associated with this idea.
“This is what we do. Dave Day, the founder of GrowersFirst, has been helping coffee growers for a decade.”
We love hearing about things like this! Rick is not the first person who has written to us with news of similar endeavors, although Growers First is certainly a lot closer in real life to the scope and impact of what Rachel, Joe and Neil Hansen are up to than anyone else we’ve heard about.
Starting in Oaxcaca, Mexico, Growers First now has a presence on three continents. And their home page reminds us an awful lot of those stunning photographs Claire noticed on the walls of the Rachel’s Famous Coffee “brainstorming” room!
In fact, the “Rachel’s Famous Coffee Foundation” project in the book was completely the invention of our fevered brains, and not based on any real characters or enterprises — at least, not as far as we knew. But it looks like, once again, reality and fiction love to intersect.
So disappointed that the information contained in the book was fictitious. After reading the book I was filled with hope that good things happen to real people that apply themselves, but apparently that is still just a dream.
I really enjoyed the principles expressed in the book, but real examples of accomplishment would have been better I think.
Dear Kevin. So glad you enjoyed the book — and I love that you write, “After reading the book I was filled with hope that good things happen to real people that apply themselves…” — and want to encourage you not to be disappointed!
The Go-Giver is, as promised on the cover, “a little story about…” and yes, being in parable form, it’s a story we invented. However, take heart! Many of the people and events in the story actually are based on real people and real events. (For example, that story Pindar tells, about his encounter with Larry King? That’s a conversation, more or less word for word, that Bob actually had with Larry King. And the kind of “coincidence” that puts Joe together with Neil Hansen and his urgent need for a coffee connection? A very similar connection put us together with the agent who connected us to the publisher who eventually published the book! You might get a kick out of that story, here it is: https://johndavidmann.com/2015/01/27/picture/ )
More importantly, though, the ideas and principles and situations we describe are based on our experiences and observations of dozens and dozens of such people and events. The world truly is filled with people who embody these principles and events and circumstances that show it. That’s why it doesn’t surprise us when, even though we made up the “Rachel’s Famous Coffee Foundation,” we find people who’ve created very similar organizations in real life contacting us. There are more Pindars, and Guses, and Debra Davenports, and Rachels in this world than many of us realize! 🙂
We wrote a second book, Go-Givers Sell More, which is not a story but a nonfiction “companion volume,” filled with short stories of real-life people who have had real-life experiences much like Joe’s and Rachel’s. Even if you have nothing at all to do with sales or selling, you might enjoy reading those stories!