Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Hebert.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up on a small farm in South Louisiana and at age 14, I was crowned Miss Acadiana. This crown ultimately changed my life forever. I raised money with my fellow festival queens for the Ronald McDonald House of Memphis and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in order as a project to purchase basketball goals and VCR’s for the families living at RMHM. Our group of young queens traveled with our mothers to Memphis, TN; it was the first time I crossed north of Interstate 10 and I remember being so excited to travel… but I never thought it would change my life. Our group cooked a gumbo and hosted a Mardi Gras carnival at the RMH of Memphis where over 50 families who were currently in treatment at St. Jude attended. That evening, I met a little boy named Dalton and he had not eaten in days due to intense chemo treatments but I decided to tell him all about our South Louisiana gumbo and how delicious it was. Long story, he ate an entire bowl and his family was extremely grateful. The next day, we toured St. Jude and right then, I knew that God had showed me my vocation… I was to do something for childhood cancer but I never imagined it would be Sky High.
Years passed and life produced some serious hurdles for me to jump over; from my parents divorce, mothers drug addiction, fathers depression, brothers expulsion from numerous schools and to put the icing on the cake, the week my mother returned home from rehab, my grandfather had a massive heart attack and our house burned to the ground with all of us bearly escaping. At one point, I remember looking to the Sky begging God to make it stop.
I moved in with my best friend, Christl during my senior year of high school when landing a job working at Edie’s restaurant. I would work on weekends and sometimes skip school to earn grocery money. During college, I lived life to the fullest while working two jobs and studying. My senior year, Billie Menard, the same amazing lady who took all of her queens to Memphis, asked me to help with a fundraiser for St. Jude. At the time, I was studying for the LSAT and near graduating from ULL but, I said yes and joined the team in efforts to raise funds for a place that touched my heart so many years prior. Since I grew up on a farm, it would only be obvious to host a sporting clay fundraiser right? Well, thanks to my dad, I did just that! I assembled a team with the vibrant women that I worked with at Edies and three months later, Sky High had blown its goal of raising $10,000 out of the water raising a total of $50,000 net to give to St. Jude and RMHM. I remember traveling to Memphis in 2007 like it was yesterday.
We celebrated a huge accomplishment and met Bryce Norwood, who happened to be the nephew of one of our committee members, Jill. Bryce was battling Wilms Tumor and there he lay quietly in his red wagon surrounded by beautiful college girls; yes, he perked up and wanted his “Sky High girlfriends” to hang around just a little more 😉 We formed a quick and close bond with the Norwood’s and hosted their family at 4-M ranch weeks later to fulfill Bryce’s dream of hunting with his Daddy. That weekend is still in my heart day after day and I look at Bryce’s photo every morning while getting ready for my day. Bryce earned his angel wings just four weeks after our ranch adventure – it was Valentines Day.
So, that’s the full story. Soon after applying for our 501C3 status, I moved to Houston and with the help of faithful friends, mentors, donors, Board members, volunteers and countless others, Sky High has entered year 11 donating over $7.5MM in support of childhood cancer. We benefit St. Jude, RMH of Memphis and Texas Children’s Cancer Center amongst others by hosting over 17 special events across Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Our style is different, we mix the mission (providing comfort, funding research and saving lives) with passion, fun and a sense of culture that I cannot explain. We are proud to run to lean donating over .70 cents of every donor dollar back to the cause which is not easy when you specialize in events and only have four and one half staff members; I still work in the oil and gas industry while leading Sky High so, yes, my life is bananas but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
You might ask “What’s next” for Sky High… we plan to grow our internal event footprint, obtain new corporate partners and expand some of our comfort programs while reaching an $8.7MM annual revenue goal by 2020 and enter into several multi-million dollars pledges to build infrastructure at TCH, St. Jude and RMHM. Why? To save more lives – to CLOSE THE GAP for the 20% who do not survive. That’s the bottom line, we will do whatever it takes to end childhood cancer.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I never believed those commercials where fancy red sports cars turned sharp curves on new black pavement perfectly while wind blew in some models hair… reality is driving a 2008 Chevy Tahoe on a road full of potholes and slowing down at some of those sharp curves or I would hit the ditch; and no, I would do my hair and makeup in ten minutes upon parking before the first meeting.
I was 21 when we hosted our first clay shoot and 22 when we filed our 501C3 paperwork. I had no idea what I was doing, but I just did it! I did it by surrounding myself with people who were smarter than me and I recognized then that my talents were this and my lack of knowledge and experience was that… so, I filled in the gaps with those amazing people. From creating By-Laws several years after operating, applying for a gaming license to host a raffle, to adding men to our Board of Directors, it was not easy and a huge learning curve. Ten years in, we hired La Salle University to undergo Board training, and although it was one of the best decisions that we ever made, we have an 18-month laundry list of action items to complete. (Five young women operated Sky High for the first seven years! No staff and no office while working our everyday career!)
The positive is that we have the most solid team we’ve ever had and everyone is eager to learn more and do more to grow and fulfill the mission of saving lives.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Sky High – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Sky High is a 501C3 nonprofit organization and our mission is to bring the community together through fundraising events to provide comfort, fund research and save lives of those fighting pediatric cancer and other life threatening diseases. We specialize in sporting clays, golf tournaments, banquets, silent and live auctions. We are known for always putting the cause first, our donors are able to touch and feel where their dollars are going by meeting the patients and families at our events or visiting the hospitals where we host annual carnivals. Secondly, we combine our grassroots culture with energy, passion, fun, laughter and some of the best food on the planet. We pay attention to the small details from registration, lighting, food, beverages to the entertainment. Our event coordinators and volunteers are
The industries best and do whatever it takes to get the job done with a smile. We showcase and try to always honor our donors, sponsors, and volunteers – I can’t explain it, it’s magical!
I am most proud of the true love and dedication of our team. We are a family and we encourage our family to grow to add new members daily and that’s what sets us apart. We are a big, hardworking, passionate family on a mission to help another family who needs comfort, research for their child’s disease and for us to ultimately help save their child’s life.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We recently finalized our three-year strategic plan and have a goal to double revenue by 2020. There are numerous things that have to fall into place to accomplish these goals like hiring additional staff, locating larger office space, expanding our regional volunteer committees, rotating and replacing Board members, adding ad-hock committees, implementing structural volunteer training, hosting events in Oklahoma City and Ft. Worth oh and I should probably retire from oil and gas, so I can solely concentrate on donor relations. Just a few small things to do in a very short amount of time. No big deal! 😉
Opportunity wise, Texas Children’s Cancer Center has presented two pledges totaling $20MM to build their first T-Cell Therapy Center and enter as a Founder in their Global Hope program that will help save thousands of children in Africa battling cancer and in return allow doctors in the US to better understand rare childhood cancer diseases. So… $20MM sits on the table for our Board of Directors to decide on in June as well, as three other major pledge opportunities to support St. Jude and two Ronald McDonalds Houses.
Lots of good changes, growth, and opportunities to impact more lives. Wish us luck and donate 😉
Pricing:
- $15.00 – monthly reoccurring donation in support of our .50 cent challenge program
- $25,000 – Internal Family Member sponsorship. 2-year annual agreement. Grants access to all internal events (more details online)
- $50,000 – Internal Family Member sponsorship. Grants access to all internal events (details online)
- $100,000 – Internal Family Member sponsorship. Grants premie access to all internal events and marketing on select print. (Details online)
- $250-50,000 sponsorships PER annual event specific to the region (details online)
Contact Info:
- Address: Sky High
9800 Richmond Ave Suite 335
Houston, TX 77042 - Website: www.skyhighshoot.org
- Phone: 713-714-8587
- Email: admin@skyhighshoot.org
- Instagram: Skyhighforkids
- Facebook: Skyhighforkids
- Twitter: Skyhighforkids
Image Credit:
Joe Reuss, Quy Tran, Megan Michaelis
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
