Meet John McCarthy

We were lucky to catch up with John McCarthy recently and have shared our conversation below.

John, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

My Dad, John McCarthy, Sr. My Dad is an incredible inspiration. He grew up really poor in a row home in Philadelphia, and eventually became the first person in his family to graduate from college. When he started working after college, he told me that he learned to show up before others, stay later than others, and outwork people. As such, I grew up with this mentality.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I currently serve as the Executive Director of TeamSmile (www.teamsmile.org) AND serve as the Founder and Executive Director of the Small College Basketball Foundation.

My full time role is with TeamSmile, and I’m really proud and excited that we are making such a tremendous impact on the lives of children throughout the country. Our Mission is to provide children in need with a life-changing dental experience through the power of sports. In short, we conduct large-scale dental clinics in stadiums and arenas throughout the country in conjunction with teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA, and more. Since inception, we’ve now conducted over 275 programs, served over 55,000 children and provided over $20 million in free dental care and oral health education. Since I’ve arrived in 2017, we’ve almost quadrupled our annual revenue, added the Dental Home Project to connect children with a dental home, and served tens of thousands of children. It’s been a pleasure and honor to serve those in need.

In regards to Small College Basketball, we’ve created and established the Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame Classic, five (5) National Awards, the National Awards Show, the SCB Association, the SCB Podcast, a robust and active social media component…..and we’ve built the Tribute to Small College Basketball within Hy-Vee Arena in Kansas City, MO. It’s been a thrill to watch this dream become a reality, and it’s my intent that Small College Basketball will live on, well beyond my lifetime. It will be a big part of my legacy.

Over my career, I’ve been a college basketball coach, Athletic Director, Commissioner, Director of the NAIA National Championship, public speaker, author, and Executive Director of three charities. It’s been very rewarding, as I’ve had the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of others.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Empathy, listening and the ability to communicate (in multiple ways).

To elaborate a little further, I encourage others to learn to have empathy for others and really try to listen to them. Try to feel their emotions, and feel what it’s like to be in their situation. Truly listen and feel with your heart. Additionally, the ability to articulate your message, both verbally and in writing, is a skill that is really important.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

I’d like to answer this slightly different than the way that the question is written…… I think that’s it’s crucially important to read, and it’s important what we read. Reading is one of the key ways that we learn, and how we grow our intelligence, our mind and our worldview.

As my brother, Jeff, has mentioned to me, one of the most important traits that a person can have is to be curious. As Ted Lasso famously said, “be curious, not judgemental”. Whether you’re reading books, magazines, articles, internet blogs, etc……learn to read, and be CURIOUS!

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