Mike Prosserman's guest appearances

Mike Prosserman

Story Untold Podcast

The Small Nonprofit

Deeper Dance Podcast

Trina Isakson

Hilaree Nelson

Ryan Robinson

Spencer Conway

Anne Connelly

Nathan Smith

Chris Burkard

Sean Stephenson

Ryan Martin

Meik Wiking

Amy Milne

Aaron Williams

Charlie Engle

Chris Conroy

Daniel Burton

OwlTail

How a multi-faceted cultural art form and its dance expression can impact the mental health of communities.  Michael ‘Piecez’ Prosserman is a bestselling author, B-Boy (“breakdancer”), university instructor, and certified coach who specializes in scaling start-ups, team culture, fundraising, and succession. In Michael’s new book Building Unity: Leading a Non-Profit From Spark to Succession, he shares practical tools and stories to launching, leading and leaving a sustainable organization. He scaled a grassroots organization from the ground up as the Founder of Unity Charity, an organization using Hip-Hop to improve youth mental health. Over 15 years Michael grew Unity from a volunteer group to employing 80 staff, raising $7 million, and having an impact on 250,000 youth.  Link: https://www.epicleadership.ca/about

How a multi-faceted cultural art form and its dance expression can impact the mental health of communities. Michael ‘Piecez’ Prosserman is a bestselling author, B-Boy (“breakdancer”), university instructor, and certified coach who specializes in scaling start-ups, team culture, fundraising, and succession. In Michael’s new book <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Building-Unity-Leading-Non-Profit-Succession/dp/1770415637/ref=zg_bs_935540_35?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=N5P64VFHQCJXCPZSV8YH" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Building Unity: Leading a Non-Profit From Spark to Succession</a>, he shares practical tools and stories to launching, leading and leaving a sustainable organization. He scaled a grassroots organization from the ground up as the Founder of <a href="http://www.unitycharity.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Unity Charity</a>, an organization using Hip-Hop to improve youth mental health. Over 15 years Michael grew Unity from a volunteer group to employing 80 staff, raising $7 million, and having an impact on 250,000 youth.  Link: <a href="https://www.epicleadership.ca/about" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.epicleadership.ca/about</a>

Episode #8 - Mike Prosserman - Unity Through Hip Hop

Your organization is like your baby. And that is exactly why you have to make sure that it can grow on its own without you. In order to get to that state, the organization needs you to build in some great planning and set up the right culture and systems. On today's podcast, our returning guest Michael Prosserman shares his insight on how to lead an organization from the ground up to planning for succession so that it continues to thrive beyond his tenure. Michael urges us to think and act: succession planning starts today.Mike P is also hosting a FREE book launch party on Oct 24th! Here is the link to join: https://buildingunity.eventbrite.caOur friends and sponsors at Keela asked me to put together a guide of fundraising tips I wished every small nonprofit knew. Go ahead and download the guide here: https://www.keela.co/consultant/the-good-partnership (and don't forget that Keela offers our listeners 40% off their first year's subscription).

Your organization is like your baby. And that is exactly why you have to make sure that it can grow on its own without you. In order to get to that state, the organization needs you to build in some great planning and set up the right culture and systems.  On today's podcast, our returning guest Michael Prosserman shares his insight on how to lead an organization from the ground up to planning for succession so that it continues to thrive beyond his tenure. Michael urges us to think and act: succession planning starts today. Mike P is also hosting a FREE book launch party on Oct 24th! Here is the link to join: <a href="https://buildingunity.eventbrite.ca/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://buildingunity.eventbrite.ca</a>Our friends and sponsors at Keela asked me to put together a guide of fundraising tips I wished every small nonprofit knew. Go ahead and download the guide here: <a href="https://www.keela.co/consultant/the-good-partnership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.keela.co/consultant/the-good-partnership</a> (and don't forget that <a href="https://www.keela.co/consultant/the-good-partnership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Keela</a> offers our listeners 40% off their first year's subscription).

real-life succession planning with Mike Prosserman

Mike Prosserman knows a thing or two about learning on his feet. After falling in love with the freestyling nature of breakdancing at a young age, Prosserman began travelling the world as one of Canada’s top breakers by the time he reached high school. Now the founder and executive director of UNITY Charity, Prosserman — also known as “Bboy Piecez” — has applied that same do-it-yourself ethos to turning what started as a high school project into a nonprofit dedicated to empowering youth through hip-hop and self-expression. The charity is celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2017. “I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to connect with people all over the world and get to know all sorts of different folks who probably never would have crossed my path if it wasn’t for breaking,” says Prosserman. “For me, [breakdancing] was an outlet – it was a community for me that I felt accepted by, and the real thing to me was [that] people appreciated me for something that I thought was cool myself.” Prosserman found hip-hop at a pivotal time in his adolescence. His mother was dealing with schizophrenia, and breakdancing provided an outlet to sort through his emotions. “To me, breakdancing was that core rock that I had. My crew was that core family in addition to my dad and my mom. Hip-hop culture really uniquely became a part of my life.” – Mike Prosserman “My head was all over the place, and I really didn’t have any clear direction,” says Prosserman. “My dad was really thankfully supportive, and he helped me through a lot of that stuff. For anyone who knows him, he was the b-boy dad who showed up to battles wearing graffiti hats and [was] always taking me to events. If he didn’t support me to get into breaking, I don’t think I would’ve ever really fit into any particular scene, and I probably would’ve gotten lost with everything else I had going on in my life.” Prosserman quickly developed a knack for his newfound passion and began travelling to competitions around his hometown of Toronto — never mind if he was too young to get into the clubs where the competitions were held. “It’s interesting to think back on it now, because in the moment, it was this feeling of pure adrenaline,” he says. “It felt kind of like a superhero at times […] You’re almost in control of this emotion that everyone together is feeling. It’s like nothing I could ever describe. It’s just this really, really freaking cool feeling — and it’s not an ego thing, it’s just this feeling that people really appreciate you and are genuinely on the edge of their seats [waiting to see] what’s going to happen next.” “You could get the crowd to literally just lose it, just by showing them something they’d never seen before. That was, as a young person going through all this stuff, the most important feeling that I could’ve had at the time, because it was reaffirming to me that something I was doing was good.” – Mike Prosserman Prosserman wanted to share that feeling with others, and in time, the seeds of UNITY were planted. He started an event in high school called Hip-Hop Away from Violence, in support of a local charity, and it eventually progressed into a club at York University. Around the same time, Prosserman was diagnosed with fused vertebrae — a condition that cut him off from the one thing he loved most: breakdancing. After forging an identity as a master of headspins, suddenly, he had to give up his most powerful tool. “It’s really hard to describe the moment where someone tells you [that] you can’t do the thing you’re most excited about doing,” says Prosserman. Faced with the diagnosis, he rededicated himself to building UNITY as a nonprofit, fostering connections with emcees, breakdancers, spoken word artists, and creatives all across the country. The goal was no longer to be the best in the field; it was to give other people the same outlet he drew strength from. He also reinvented his style as a breakdancer. “It put things into perspective. It wasn’t about being that competitive b-boy. That wasn’t the point. It was this community that I became a part of […] For me, that was the true value of this dance for me,” says Prosserman. “It is quite dangerous to dance with the condition that I have. But I decided at the end of the day, I need to live my life, and I want to live every moment to the fullest. And if dancing isn’t part of my life, it’s just not the same.” – Mike Prosserman Some might have balked at the idea of getting a charity off the ground and running, but Prosserman was undeterred. “I spend 90% of my time doing stuff, and 10% of [my time] thinking about that stuff,” he says.  “And that was really what made UNITY successful — not sitting at home, writing the best business plan or talking about weird buzzwords […] We’ve gotta get ourselves out into this world doing stuff.” After 10 years, UNITY has developed into a national nonprofit, reaching 75,000 youth across Canada. Programs run in cities across the country, and each year, the charity hosts a free festival in Toronto, offering a platform for aspiring artists to showcase their talents. “There’s nothing more worth it,” says Prosserman. “Even if we stop tomorrow, I will forever be thankful.” Photo of Mike Prosserman from Instagram (@bboypiecez). Photo by imad.x.

Mike Prosserman knows a thing or two about learning on his feet. After falling in love with the freestyling nature of breakdancing at a young age, Prosserman began travelling the world as one of Canada’s top breakers by the time he reached high school. Now the founder and executive director of UNITY Charity, Prosserman — also known as “Bboy Piecez” — has applied that same do-it-yourself ethos to turning what started as a high school project into a nonprofit dedicated to empowering youth through hip-hop and self-expression. The charity is celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2017. “I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to connect with people all over the world and get to know all sorts of different folks who probably never would have crossed my path if it wasn’t for breaking,” says Prosserman. “For me, [breakdancing] was an outlet – it was a community for me that I felt accepted by, and the real thing to me was [that] people appreciated me for something that I thought was cool myself.” Prosserman found hip-hop at a pivotal time in his adolescence. His mother was dealing with schizophrenia, and breakdancing provided an outlet to sort through his emotions. <blockquote>“To me, breakdancing was that core rock that I had. My crew was that core family in addition to my dad and my mom. Hip-hop culture really uniquely became a part of my life.” – Mike Prosserman</blockquote> “My head was all over the place, and I really didn’t have any clear direction,” says Prosserman. “My dad was really thankfully supportive, and he helped me through a lot of that stuff. For anyone who knows him, he was the b-boy dad who showed up to battles wearing graffiti hats and [was] always taking me to events. If he didn’t support me to get into breaking, I don’t think I would’ve ever really fit into any particular scene, and I probably would’ve gotten lost with everything else I had going on in my life.” Prosserman quickly developed a knack for his newfound passion and began travelling to competitions around his hometown of Toronto — never mind if he was too young to get into the clubs where the competitions were held. “It’s interesting to think back on it now, because in the moment, it was this feeling of pure adrenaline,” he says. “It felt kind of like a superhero at times […] You’re almost in control of this emotion that everyone together is feeling. It’s like nothing I could ever describe. It’s just this really, really freaking cool feeling — and it’s not an ego thing, it’s just this feeling that people really appreciate you and are genuinely on the edge of their seats [waiting to see] what’s going to happen next.” <blockquote>“You could get the crowd to literally just lose it, just by showing them something they’d never seen before. That was, as a young person going through all this stuff, the most important feeling that I could’ve had at the time, because it was reaffirming to me that something I was doing was good.” – Mike Prosserman</blockquote> Prosserman wanted to share that feeling with others, and in time, the seeds of UNITY were planted. He started an event in high school called Hip-Hop Away from Violence, in support of a local charity, and it eventually progressed into a club at York University. Around the same time, Prosserman was diagnosed with fused vertebrae — a condition that cut him off from the one thing he loved most: breakdancing. After forging an identity as a master of headspins, suddenly, he had to give up his most powerful tool. “It’s really hard to describe the moment where someone tells you [that] you can’t do the thing you’re most excited about doing,” says Prosserman. Faced with the diagnosis, he rededicated himself to building UNITY as a nonprofit, fostering connections with emcees, breakdancers, spoken word artists, and creatives all across the country. The goal was no longer to be the best in the field; it was to give other people the same outlet he drew strength from. He also reinvented his style as a breakdancer. “It put things into perspective. It wasn’t about being that competitive b-boy. That wasn’t the point. It was this community that I became a part of […] For me, that was the true value of this dance for me,” says Prosserman. <blockquote>“It is quite dangerous to dance with the condition that I have. But I decided at the end of the day, I need to live my life, and I want to live every moment to the fullest. And if dancing isn’t part of my life, it’s just not the same.” – Mike Prosserman</blockquote> Some might have balked at the idea of getting a charity off the ground and running, but Prosserman was undeterred. “I spend 90% of my time doing stuff, and 10% of [my time] thinking about that stuff,” he says. “And that was really what made UNITY successful — not sitting at home, writing the best business plan or talking about weird buzzwords […] We’ve gotta get ourselves out into this world doing stuff.” After 10 years, UNITY has developed into a national nonprofit, reaching 75,000 youth across Canada. Programs run in cities across the country, and each year, the charity hosts a free festival in Toronto, offering a platform for aspiring artists to showcase their talents. “There’s nothing more worth it,” says Prosserman. “Even if we stop tomorrow, I will forever be thankful.” Photo of Mike Prosserman from Instagram (@bboypiecez). Photo by imad.x.

Mike Prosserman: “I want to live every moment to the fullest”