Cultivating Change: The Community Impact of After School HQ’s San Pathak & Darye Henry

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Episode Description

San Pathak and Darye Henry credit after school programs with not only keeping them out of trouble in their youth, but setting them on the path to success as adults. Now they’re on a mission to pay those experiences forward with youth program management software that makes it easy for parents and kids to get connected with after school programs.

In this episode of Here We Grow, Marcia Barnes speaks with San and Darye about AfterSchool HQ, and their mission to decrease childhood crime rates, boost graduation rates, and ultimately lead more kids into successful futures.

Discover how instilling young people with the entrepreneurial spirit can help put them on a path to developing generational wealth. Marvel at how these two founders have gone from after-school program participants to business owners and job providers in their own right.

Darye and San’s inspiring story perfectly exemplifies the transformational impacts key mentors in our youth can have on our futures.

To learn more about the podcast and Marcia Barnes’ book Here We Grow: The Marketing Formula to 10x Your Business and Transform Your Future, visit Math Before Marketing.

Key Takeaways:

• Harnessing the potential of overlooked talent pools reveals the profound impact that thoughtful job creation can have on individuals and their families.
• Mentorship can create a ripple effect, creating generational wealth and narrowing wage gaps.
• Innovative technology can not only ease the burdens faced by nonprofits but also multiply their impact.
• The positive outcomes associated with youth programs contribute to lower crime rates, better classroom behavior, and higher graduation rates.

San Pathak has worked in the technology industry since 2006. San began their career as a Software Engineer at Applied Instruments, Inc. in 2006. In 2014, they became VP Engineering at Corporate Systems Engineering, LLC, where they managed a team of engineers and developers, interfaced with upper management to provide project updates, and interfaced with clients and partners for technical support and system integration. In 2015, they became VP Technology at Reborn Code. In 2016, they became an Advisor at Element Three and Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer at AfterSchool HQ.

San Pathak attended Purdue University from 2001 to 2006, where they earned a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology with a focus on Computer Engineering Technology. (Source: theorg.com)

Darye Henry has a long and varied work experience, beginning in 2002 as a Web Developer at Wishoo. In 2005, they moved to Lafayette Life Insurance Company as a Senior Developer Analyst, developing enterprise software for Group Insurance using .NET and SQL Server. In 2007, they founded and became CEO of Reborn Code. In 2012, they became CTO of CoatChex (Bailment Technologies, Inc). In 2016, they became CTO at DT Starts. In 2017, they founded and became CEO of AfterSchool HQ, founded Mentors of Color, and co-founded The Blue House. In 2020, they graduated from Founder Gym Cohort 13, an online training center for underrepresented founders who want to build successful tech startups.

Darye Henry completed a Diploma from Arsenal Technical High School in 1997, a B.S. in Software, Database, and Web Development from Purdue University in 2002, and a Certificate in Mastering Design Thinking from MIT Sloan School of Management in 2020. Darye also completed Bible/Biblical Studies from Cornerstone University in 2014. (Source: theorg.com)

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Jump into the conversation:

[07:37] Childhood experiences impact future likelihood of success.

[11:03] Encouraging entrepreneurship as a pathway to wealth.

[21:54] How to indulge a passion for helping without experiencing burnout.

[32:24] The transformational power of finding hope and faith in Christ.

Marcia Barnes:

I’ve been involved with Youth with a Mission, Homes of Hope in the San Diego/Baja area of Mexico for more than a decade. Homes of Hope builds homes for the less fortunate with the help of teams from businesses, youth groups, churches, and other organizations. In two days time, they can build a house for someone who doesn’t have one. When you get there, you typically see somebody living out of a makeshift structure they’ve built out of cardboard, tarpaulins, plastic bags, and whatever wood they can scrape together. I’ve seen families who have dug a hole in the ground and are covering themselves up at night with a tarpaulin. Within the two days you spend building a home there, you see a family transformed by generosity. One family I helped build a home for was living out of a camper cap that’s supposed to be attached to the back of a pickup truck.

The camper part was sitting on their lot, and this couple with their two teenage sons were living in it. I don’t know how they were doing it, but their situation was better than many others. In this area, homes are just not there for a lot of people. Homes of Hope works in that space where they help people figure out how to acquire some land. Then they recruit business and youth groups, churches and other organizations to come and build that home in partnership with the family. At the end of the two days, a family will have a 16 by 20 foot home that’s furnished and ready to move into.

The impact this group has is multifold. The sense of pride and ownership helps elevate the confidence of the family getting that home, and having a house to grow up in completely changes the outcome of a child’s life. Kids get sick a lot when they live on a dirt floor. Getting them onto a concrete floor helps improve their health, which enables them to go to school more consistently and get a better education. Then they can use that education to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. The impact is just so immediate, relevant, and transformative.

Narrator:

This is Here We Grow. A show for growth-minded leaders looking for transformational impact hosted by Marcia Barnes. The good work that you do can make transformational impacts for others. For example, youth programs helped San Pathak and Darye Henry find focus and entrepreneurial mindsets in their youth. In this episode of Here We Grow, Marcia speaks with San and Darye about AfterSchool HQ, the youth program management software and business they created to connect young people with engaging afterschool programs designed to put them on a path toward promising futures.

Marcia Barnes:

Today we’re welcoming my friends, San Pathak and Darye Henry from AfterSchool Headquarters, AfterSchool HQ, I think, is the way that you call it, isn’t it?

San Pathak:

Yep, that’s right.

Marcia Barnes:

Good. An exciting product, I’ve been tracking with you guys about a year on. I’m so pleased with where the direction you’re headed with this and the problems it solves. But in your words, tell us about what afterSchool HQ is. Let me start with you, Darye.

Darye Henry:

AfterSchool HQ, our main focus is really being a software platform, tech platform, ultimately, that helps youth program providers. And so, really, we focus on helping them engage with families better, help them manage their operations better, like day-to-day operations. And then last is really help them collect data and report their impact to funders, essentially. So that’s really what we focus on, is just enabling these program providers to just build thriving programs.

Marcia Barnes:

So walk me through the process for a parent or a youth participant. I’m interested in taking this afterschool program, attending this afterschool program on marketing. What would I do?

Darye Henry:

Yeah, so let’s say you got the program provider, they’re on the platform. They’ll publish their programs on our platform. So it makes it easy for a parent to find it or they’ll share it directly with the parent, and then the parent just goes in there, finds what they need, registers all the student information pays if there’s a cost, and then that sends it over to the provider. So once they do that, they’re registered their kids in the program, which surprisingly, that’s actually, it’s so much easier doing that process versus what people are usually doing now. ‘Cause it’s usually flyers, paper, sometimes you still got to pay by check. And as a parent of three kids, that always makes it hard. My kids miss a lot of programs because of that, you miss deadlines, all that kind of stuff. So surprisingly, that’s actually a really important problem to solve in order to get kids in programs, just make it as easy as possible for parents.

Marcia Barnes:

Great. And San, why is this important? Why is it important for kids and families to be able to participate in these types of programs?

San Pathak:

Yeah. Well, I mean, if you look at the statistics pretty much across America, between 3 to 6, crime is spiking. It’s because kids, they don’t really have a place to go. And so in those communities where kids are just kind of roaming, trying to find something to get into, it’s usually trouble. And even for myself growing up, I was in afterschool programs and one in particular that really took a liking to was in electronics, and it helped me to figure out my career path in engineering. So if we can get more kids involved in youth programs, then we will actually help that crime spike between 3 to 6 go down. It also helps teen pregnancy go down, graduation rates go up, better classroom behavior. So getting kids in these programs, it really helps with a lot of issues that we’re seeing in society.

Marcia Barnes:

Right. Would you have found your way to engineering without having those afterschool programs around you?

San Pathak:

Probably not. So when I was in this program, I remember learning about circuitry and I had a couple of friends that were in the program too. We did our fair share of misbehaving in that program, but we did learn a lot about electronics and soldering and circuitry and things like that. So I went to Purdue University, my first year I was undeclared, and I had a conversation with my academic advisor who asked me, what are you interested in? And I thought back to that program and I was like, you know, this program that I was in, this is the one thing that really sparked my interest. It was the thing I was most interested in. So she recommended that I do electrical engineering technology.

Marcia Barnes:

Yeah, that’s awesome. In the program you were in, did you get to meet other people who were in that career or did you experience mentoring in that program? ‘Cause I know that’s some of what your current product is doing.

San Pathak:

There was mentoring that took place, but it was not a mentorship program. There’s always mentoring that takes place like when you connect with the teacher, because you’re enjoying the discipline or the thing that you’re doing so much, if it’s electronics or art or whatever it is, it does open your mind up as a kid to be mentored by the person that’s leading the program. There are a lot of programs that are specifically about mentoring. This one wasn’t so much about that, but just because I was enjoying what I was doing, it just kind of opened me up to listen to the person that was teaching the program on just other things about life. So that mentoring component was there.

Marcia Barnes:

Right. You know, I know I talk a lot in the book about my childhood and some of the stress environment that we were in due to addiction and abuse and things like that. And teachers or 4-H leaders, which in your world would be a program or the Baptist youth group that I was in would be a program were part of the difference between me finding a pathway to break those cycles or not, and my sisters. So none of us have repeated those cycles. If you give an adult an ACES test about the childhood experiences they have, if there’s a scoring to that, that if the score is at such a point, you’re going to have a difficult time making it in life. For my score, it’s like I’d be 98% likely to be in jail probably for killing a man. So not to scare you guys or anything.

Darye Henry:

All right, where’s the door?

Marcia Barnes:

There’s a whole backstory there. And then there’s a corollary resilience test that they’ll give you that asks you about, did you have one parent that loved you? Did you have a grandparent that spent time with you? Did you have a teacher in school who told you you were smart or capable? And that score is the predictor of how likely you are to be able to break through that model on the ACES score. So I see your product and your life’s work here. This thing that’s in your heart that’s trying to get out into the marketplace is to provide a platform for that to happen, for resiliency to be able to be developed. I think, Darye, you probably experienced some things early on in life too that might’ve put you in a category to know how important this program is?

Darye Henry:

Oh yeah, absolutely. I think, I mean, there’s a lot of backstory for sure. My mom, she was a single parent, so raising me, she, and of course, you don’t notice when you’re a kid, you just know you’re in almost every program, you know what I’m saying that’s going on? We’re just always doing something. But she kept me involved in many different programs. And it’s funny, as we got older, I realized, and she started to share more, she was looking for mentors for me. She wanted me to be able to see other people in those situations. So I was in sports. Obviously, I was in Boy Scouts, I was in Children’s Museum, had a employment program. I did a video program where I learned how to do this kind of stuff, music, engineering, entrepreneurship, and so getting exposure to all that, you’re right.

That’s really interesting, the tests you just mentioned, because I can definitely see when you have key people in your life that can pull you out of something where you see something different versus if nobody’s saying that to you, all you do is look at maybe the bad influences. And I would definitely say I had a lot of opportunity to, I would say it was like 50/50, right? Even with all the good influence, it still was, I had a lot of choices to do a lot of wrong things and do right things as well. And having that pull towards doing good things was very important in my life. And, again, going back to what me and San and what our hope is, really is that, providing more space and opportunities for kids to have experiences like we did, ’cause it did make a huge difference.

Marcia Barnes:

Yeah, absolutely. The other thing that I noticed with your product is, I’m coming to really understand that in this country, the best way to create generational wealth, to be able to cover the wage gap, to be able to help people thrive in more than just this lifetime is entrepreneurship, it’s owning a business. So many times our students in school are aiming at getting jobs at big corporate entities, Fortune 500, they move to the coast. Indiana loses a lot of its brain talent. And really what, in my opinion, what’s needed there is to be able to help young people understand that the pathway to owning a business is a good way to create wealth and have a career. What you guys guys are doing is you’re opening up doors for them to meet other entrepreneurs, and you’ve talked to me before about being able to see themselves in that role. What kind of programs are people engaging in that’s helping them be able to get that kind of view of life?

Darye Henry:

Yeah, there’s one program on our platform that sticks out, there’s one called, Urban Youth Entrepreneurship. And they do focus on teaching kids all of that. And they do a lot with technology as well, because when you think about entrepreneurship, a lot of it is learning what’s new out there, cutting edge in a way, because you have to think about how you keep advancing society. Like when I think about entrepreneurship, that’s what I think about. You’re really about solving problems for other people. We do see a lot of that. And there’s also other programs that do financial literacy as well, ’cause that’s an important part of it. And then again, going back to entrepreneurship, that is, I do believe that’s something where you need to see somebody doing it, a book just doesn’t cover it. And so I do notice the programs, those typically have mentoring in them as well.

‘Cause I would say for me, and growing up, there’s always some kind of side hustle, you know what I’m saying, going on. And there’s a lot of that, even with kids who don’t have access, you’re always figuring out how to earn, how to do something. And so, did a lot of that growing up, but I don’t know that I had mentors who I could be like, oh, that’s what an entrepreneur is. And once I started seeing that, because when I graduated from college, I actually ended up working at a startup. I didn’t know what a startup was, but I had such close proximity to entrepreneurs who also were like, hey, you could do this. And then became like, oh, this is a real thing I can do in life. I don’t have to just do a career. And that really changed my mentality there. But yeah, going back to the original question, there are programs that do that, and that’s something we hope to see a lot more of as well.

Marcia Barnes:

Right. San, from your background, who was it that first told you you’ve got what it takes, you can run a business, you’re the find of a lifetime, we’re not about our past, we’re our future. Who was that voice speaking unto you?

San Pathak:

It was really a set of circumstances that, well actually, it was really Darye. So Darye, he’s been an entrepreneur, for the audience, Darye is my brother-in-law, so I’ve known him since I was 17.

Marcia Barnes:

Oh, cool.

San Pathak:

Yeah. So coming out of college, I got a job and I was an engineer, and then he had a software development shop and he needed some help, so he convinced me to leave the safety of my job and work with him. It was good though. I learned how to do a lot of different types of development, so it actually expanded my tool set. That was my first taste into like, all right, if there’s not new business closed, then we are not making paychecks. You know what I mean? Which was scary, but eyeopening. But just kind of seeing that it was possible kind of broadened my horizon. So we had a couple of runs together with entrepreneurship, and then we worked on afterSchool HQ together in the background where we were doing other jobs and then raise money and then started working on this full time together.

Marcia Barnes:

That’s fantastic. So Darye, you’re kind of bringing this next generation along to follow where you’re headed. Who did that for you?

Darye Henry:

I got to say that’s John Wechsler.

Marcia Barnes:

He is a force in this city and entrepreneurship, isn’t he?

Darye Henry:

Absolutely, yeah. He’s a wonderful entrepreneur, he’s a great person, and he’s very kind. And that’s actually where I worked when I came out of college. So funny enough, when I got my first internship, so this is before my last year of college, ended up working at a startup where I had to do free work, I couldn’t get an internship, it was difficult. So I did a free internship, two weeks in, that company closes. But what happened was John Wechsler happened, his company was next door, it’s called Wish You, and they ended up basically hiring everyone there. And of course, I’m the free intern, so he didn’t have to pay me, but he came to me on payday and he gave me a check, and I was like, that was so meaningful for me.

Marcia Barnes:

That’s John.

Darye Henry:

Yeah. And because I was driving there, didn’t have gas money, things of that nature. So John’s great. He’s been a mentor to me. He’s still a mentor and a friend and has been guiding me and all my business ventures as well.

Marcia Barnes:

Yeah, he’s certainly been at the shoulder of a lot of big success stories, and it’s good to see his Spokenote taking off now too.

Darye Henry:

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Marcia Barnes:

Yeah, that’s an incredible product. You also have both been providing jobs for folks, so that’s another space where you are able to invite people into the economic equation of your business and have solid relationships and encourage them. San, has this been the first business that you’ve owned?

San Pathak:

Yeah, it is.

Marcia Barnes:

Okay, so what’s that experience felt like to you where you’re now the job provider?

San Pathak:

Yeah. Well, that’s one of my favorite parts about it. I mean, aside from hearing all of the stories from the youth program leaders that we’re supporting, just being able to bring people along for this journey, developed a talent. So prior to this, I was a CEO at Element Three, and so Tiffany Soder and Karen Cicada, they were really core to helping me understand how to develop people and develop as a leader.

Marcia Barnes:

Nobody does it better than those two. They model the way, right? They’re always learning and growing.

San Pathak:

Absolutely. So it was there, I mean, I’ve always really just loved connecting with people and I care about them deeply, but it’s a different thing to like, how do you do the professional development side? So learning about that at Element Three, I brought all those tools into AfterSchool HQ, and we’ve brought folks on that didn’t know anything about marketing, but just had a eagerness to learn, and they’re now doing HubSpot automation and helping us with growth marketing and things like that. So from a hard skill standpoint, it’s been really awesome to see people grow. And we also have, I’d say, a really cool company culture because we have a lot of team members that are really just from different cultures. One day I made a slide of all of the flags that represent the countries and nationalities in our company. It was full of different flags, and so that was really cool to see. But we learned a lot about just different cultures and everybody’s nationalities and just things like that. So yeah, it’s really awesome.

Marcia Barnes:

It is indeed. This isn’t your first time to the rodeo on having team members and employees, but tell me about what gives you joy about providing jobs?

Darye Henry:

I really love working with people who, I feel like people have been overlooked in other situations, maybe ’cause that’s how I feel. I think a lot of entrepreneurs probably feel that way too. But I like the fact that being able to see, like San was saying, you could see raw talent. You see people who are passionate and then you bring them in, and they probably were overlooked by other companies who maybe didn’t have the skillset, like again, referring to the skillset to actually lead and develop. And so it’s been really fun to see our team members grow, interact, that you’re providing for families. That’s a major impact to me. Something I’m grateful for because, again, going back to helping individuals build wealth, I do see that as part of it.

And the other part is, since we’re doing a tech company, you can have people who have had those talents in other organizations, but they can come to a tech company and get paid a very different salary because the impact is different in what they’re doing. And so I love to see that upgrade where people can do that because it’s meaningful. Whether they stay at AfterSchool HQ or not, they can move on. And that kind of goes back to how John Wechsler mentors as well. It’s not just, he’s like, hey, you need to stay with my company. It’s like, hey, let me help you, you go off, do big things, et cetera. So that’s what I love to see, and I think we’re seeing that with our company.

Marcia Barnes:

Yeah, that’s awesome. So we’ve talked about the employees you’re impacting. We’ve talked about how the children and participants and families are being impacted, but you’re also solving a big problem for these providers, limited on resources, they don’t have resources for marketing or sales or to have business development. You’re trying to speed that up for them and help them with that. Tell me about how that’s working so far with the product.

Darye Henry:

Yeah, I think it’s working well. So if you look at the type of people who are running these organizations, and…

Marcia Barnes:

A lot of nonprofit, right?

Darye Henry:

A lot of nonprofit work. And so my mom’s a great example. So my mom, she started a program to urban farm here in Indianapolis. When she first started, she was just like, she took early retirement, just like, I want to help kids. And so there was no big business plan. There wasn’t a bunch of advisors when she raised money, it was just like, I’m retired, let’s go. And so what that says to me, and what you see a lot of times is passion first. It’s all about helping. And so when you think about that, that also can be very stressful. And so you have people who are doing the most with the least.

Marcia Barnes:

Right. Big vision, lots of passion, solving a problem the world needs, but we got to get shit done, right?

Darye Henry:

Exactly, that’s exactly it. And so you’re just going head first into it, and sometimes you realistically run out of energy. You don’t want to because the people you’re serving and the kids and the young people, they need you every day. They could need you 24/7. And so, one, that’s why we’re passionate about helping. And I was in that position where I was working with young people. I was doing team ministry at my church and actually did burnout, like I physically burnt out, because I was just working too much. I was an entrepreneur, which already is a lot of hours, and then I was doing ministry, might as well add another 20 hours. And then on top of that, I got my family. My kids were young, and then I still felt bad. You want to do more, but because of that, I was just doing too much and I physically burnt out.

Wasn’t able to work for like three months. And then also, obviously, the work I was doing with young people had to come to an end, that point too, and that hurt me. That hurt the people I was working with. And so being a person also thinking about problem solving and using technology, that’s where the software comes to play. Now we can enable organizations to spend less time doing the stuff they didn’t want to do in the first place. Nobody says, hey, I want to help kids and I want to spend 20 hours a week doing paperwork. It’s not what you think about when you first, that’s not the dream. But it’s part of the reality. And so again, if we can help take that burden off, it’s having a big impact on our organizations.

Marcia Barnes:

San, you shared with me one of the partner’s daughter is beyond incarceration. Tell our audience about what they’re doing with the platform.

San Pathak:

Yeah, so we have a really awesome program on the platform in New Orleans. Dominique is the leader and the founder of that program. So when I first talked to Dominique, she came in through our funnel, booked a call, talked to her, and she was really emotional, ’cause she actually just got out of a meeting with city council because she was fighting for incarcerated parents to be able to watch their kids graduate from high school through a streaming platform. So she got that passed, and then it allows parents that are incarcerated to be connected with their kids during that pivotal moment in their life.

So she was really happy about that. Her main thing is she is trying to help reinforce and strengthen that relationship for mainly women, young girls who have a parent that’s incarcerated. And when you talk about the tools that are needed to make all of this happen, they are receiving grants from foundations and they got a report on the impact and the evaluation of the impact they’re making on those students. And so when she came across our platform, we showed it to her. She was super excited. So she’s been a customer of ours since the summer.

Marcia Barnes:

That’s awesome. What a great opportunity for not only for her organization, but all the people that they’ll impact and their city.

San Pathak:

Absolutely.

Marcia Barnes:

Because that’s something that’ll break cycles of poverty, addiction, and abuse for certain. So let’s talk about the business. You’re getting results, you’re a startup, you’re in this growth mode, but you’ve accomplished some really good results too along the way. What are some of the things that we’ve been able to accomplish so far?

Darye Henry:

Yeah, one of the biggest ones that we track is how many hours of education that are provided by organizations that use our platform. And actually in August, we crossed the 1 million hours of education, mark. And yeah, I mean that’s so significant because it’s a really great metric because at the end of the day, you do look at how many hours are kids being exposed to great programs where just like San said earlier, between 3 to 6:00 PM if you think about the hours where you’re unsupervised and the hours where you could be getting in trouble, and I remember those times, you know what I’m saying, after school, some of the things that were going on. And so that is to me, probably the most important metric I look at. So that was a great milestone as a company to cross.

Marcia Barnes:

Absolutely. Anything else stand out?

Darye Henry:

I would say now we’re in 36 states.

Marcia Barnes:

Oh, wow. Yeah.

Darye Henry:

So that’s been major because initially of course we’re like, Indiana, we have a great customer base here, but you start seeing your solution and what you’ve been dreaming about is actually impacting people across the state, across the US. And so that’s been really impactful for us to see as well.

Marcia Barnes:

It’s terrific, certainly picking up steam as you go along. So that’s been good to see too. I do always like to ask everyone who comes on the podcast with us to think about a time when you’ve seen somebody go through massive transformation. I find transformation is really what running business is all about. You’re trying to get from here to there, and in transformation there’s a noticeable change in form or substance. And you two have been working, living in this space where you have lots of opportunities to see greatness happening in people, but if you would each share a time when you saw someone really transform their lives and what that looked like to you.

San Pathak:

Yeah. I mean, I can go first. So this was a person that I used to work with, the first job I worked at, and this is a faith transformation. So I’m a person of faith, and I used to walk by this person every single day and something was just telling me to talk to him, and I was ignoring it, ’cause I mean, I didn’t know him, and he was new.

Marcia Barnes:

It’s uncomfortable.

San Pathak:

It was uncomfortable. Yeah, exactly. And you’re like, is this me or is this the Lord speaking to me? You know what I’m saying? But it was consistent every day. So finally I went up to him, I was like, hey, what’s going on? He was clearly very upset that day, and he was going through a separation with his wife, so he was kind of in the dumps. And I was like, I don’t know why, but the first thing that came into my mind was to ask him if he would mind if I came to his house to read the Bible with them. Very strange question, but I went out on a limb and I asked him, and he was like, yeah, that’d be cool. I was like, all right, let’s do it.

But what’s crazy too is that it started a bible study because more people from work would come to his, he had an apartment close to the house. We had people coming from work to join the Bible study at his house. And then eventually it was so many people, we moved it back to work. But anyways, about four Bible studies in he got lit on fire for the Lord. And so he was like, we need to go knock on doors and just share our faith with everybody. And I was like, okay.

Marcia Barnes:

Was part of you going, hold it.

San Pathak:

Yeah, exactly. I was like, that’s very uncomfortable even for me, that I shared my faith with you. But we did it. We did it for two years and knocked on almost every door in every apartment complex on the south side of Indianapolis. And there were folks that knew him that were telling me this guy, he used to fight people at work when you would’ve a problem, like physically be fighting people, and folks that knew him before and knew him after like, this is not the same person. So I don’t know what, it’s kind of a testament to God really, and how God could transform somebody’s life, transform their heart. They’re like, I don’t know what happened to him, but that’s not the same person that I used to know before he worked here and knew you.

Marcia Barnes:

Right. God can put it on anybody’s heart to connect with that guy and ask that question, how can I help? But he invited you, God invited you into what he was going to do with that gentleman. And I find that to be a deeply relational, romantic pursuit of my heart that God does all the time. So those are always beautiful times when that happens. And I’m going to bet you changed in substance and form too.

San Pathak:

Absolutely.

Marcia Barnes:

You’re not afraid to knock on a door anymore.

San Pathak:

No, I’m not. You know what I’m saying? And it’s interesting, ’cause God is, when he lays something on your heart, it made me really think about the times that I ignored it, and how could he have incorporated me into something that he was trying to do if I didn’t during those times. So I never again ignored a conviction that I felt to go speak to somebody.

Marcia Barnes:

Right. That’s awesome. Darye, what’s your transformation story?

Darye Henry:

Yeah, of course. San gave me time to think about it. I think, I’ll say mine, it’s the one I’m most familiar with. And I think it even goes back to this conversation about mentoring as well. So I was a rapper in high school, college, but included everything you can imagine about rap. You know what I’m saying? There’s a lifestyle…

Marcia Barnes:

And what would those things be? Because you say rapper like I should understand the label, but…

Darye Henry:

No, that’s true. So we had a big crew. Parties all the time. Obviously trying to talk to women all the time.

Marcia Barnes:

Talk to women.

San Pathak:

This is the most PG 13 [inaudible 00:30:53]

Darye Henry:

This is PG 13 version for sure.

Marcia Barnes:

We could just blank it all out and go sin, sin, sin, sin, sin.

Darye Henry:

Exactly. And then on top of that, what we were rapping about as well. But in the middle of all that, even the group we were in, everyone, we all were, all had broken lives, things that were going on. And for me, my household growing up, single mom, but my dad was an addict, and so that impacted a lot. And so I didn’t grow up with a father in the house, and there was a strong desire for that. It’s kind of interesting, I didn’t have a strong desire, and then all of a sudden, God put me in a family situation where I was visiting a family, and I got to see that dynamic of having a father. Now all of a sudden I was like, man, I wanted that. I missed it all of a sudden. And then a month or two later, my dad passed away.

Marcia Barnes:

Oh, goodness.

Darye Henry:

But that’s where I met my pastor. And it’s funny because he couldn’t get the standard pastor of the church because you had to be a member and all that, but the pastor that came got out of addiction also, and that was a sermon I needed to hear.

Marcia Barnes:

Glory.

Darye Henry:

Yeah. So that pastor really, he became a mentor to me and a father. And that really changed my outlook on life, if you think about it, because I think, up to that point, it was all depressing, hopeless, type of thing. And he gave me a vision of something different. And so I think from there with that hope and then also obviously belief in Christ, that was obviously the most significant change once that happened. But that took me from a, like San was even just saying, for somebody who, I was probably on fire for all the wrong things, suddenly on fire for the right things.

And so I felt like that was the big moral shift. Without that part happening in life, none of the other stuff that’s happened since then could have happened. And of course there’s been other significant changes even lately. I’ll just say this, at 20 years old, I would’ve never, I don’t think my 20-year-old self, we even liked, you know what I’m saying? That’s how opposite it is, who I’ve become. But I’m very happy where I’m at and kind of what we’re doing. And also happy that, again, we can be working on something where I can actually pour my passion into, that something I can consider life work. That’s a mixture of so many things that I love to do. But yeah, that was probably the most significant change I can think of.

Marcia Barnes:

And your crew.

Darye Henry:

Yes, crew too. We all did. We all did. That’s significant too, because it’s hard where, and when I say crew, I mean we’re talking about, now, initially it was like 10 people, but you’re talking about a crew of seven people all kind of collectively going, you know what I’m saying? Making a decision to follow God, that’s significant.

Marcia Barnes:

It is indeed.

Darye Henry:

It was very unique and it grew accountability and love and care at the same time. So it was pretty awesome.

Marcia Barnes:

Are you still connected with the folks from the crew?

Darye Henry:

Yeah, we are.

Marcia Barnes:

Yeah?

Darye Henry:

Yeah.

Marcia Barnes:

I’m going to bet there’s a lot of transformation that’s been happening over the years there.

Darye Henry:

Yeah, there has. And going back to even the model of where one person, and it just spreads because the impact that every person has made too. And just like San said, and San was part of that crew too, so we’re all part of it, but the impact, how it goes from one person to the next to the next, and that’s just been wonderful to see.

Marcia Barnes:

Right. That’s remarkable. Thanks for sharing those stories. That’s really remarkable. And I think our listeners can see what I see in you guys, and the reason why we come behind you and try to help you here from Valve+Meter and connect you to folks that are investors and things is because I think, and we think that this is a story that God’s trying to get out into the marketplace to do his will. So how do people get in touch with you about investing and getting this thing really going?

Darye Henry:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, they can always email, one, either me or San. So my email is just darye@afterschoolhq.com. It’s D-A-R-Y-E.

San Pathak:

My email is San, S-A-N at afterschoolhq.com.

Marcia Barnes:

Great. If I’m a program provider, how do I connect with AfterSchool HQ?

San Pathak:

You could just head over to afterschoolhq.com and then you can click, get started.

Marcia Barnes:

Okay.

San Pathak:

And that’s all you need to do.

Marcia Barnes:

And if I’m a parent or a kid that’s looking for a connection through your platform, same thing as a provider would do, or is that…

Darye Henry:

Yeah, you can always reach out. So a lot of times we’ll have, especially if you’re in Indianapolis, there’s some directories we have, but you can always email support@afterschoolhq.com just to learn, reach out and say, hey, how can I find a program in my area? And even the other thing you could do is suggest an area or programs that should work with us as well.

Marcia Barnes:

That’s fantastic. Gentlemen, thanks a lot for your time today. I’m super excited about what you’re doing in our city, in our state, in our country, and the world. You’re going to heal the world with this type of work so thank you very much.

Darye Henry:

Appreciate it. Thank you, Marcia.

Narrator:

Thank you for joining us for Here We Grow. This show is proudly brought to you by Valve+Meter Performance Marketing. Be sure to check out the show notes for exclusive content that will help you become a transformational leader. For more, visit mathbeforemarketing.com/podcast.