Meet Troy Belmer

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Troy Belmer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Troy below.

Troy, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I believe my purpose found me, in a way. It took many years and maturity on my behalf before it would find me. As I grew through my 20’s and 30’s, I really found satisfaction and comfort in helping others. I found that I would do more to help others than I would to help myself. The feelings from helping others became far greater than the feelings of helping myself or doing for myself.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My life requires a lot of focus on balance. In addition to being a husband, dad, son, brother, son in law, brother in law, uncle, cousin & friend, I have to balance my life between several entities.

I have a full time career as a Sales Manager for Gordon Flesch Company. My career success relies greatly on my ability to help the team improve their skills through professional development and stay driven to succeed.

I am on the mental health board for Unity Point / Black Hawk Grundy Mental Health Center. I am also a member of the Cedar Valley Suicide Coalition. Candice and I are members of the Elks Lodge in Waterloo as well.

In addition to that, I’m the co-founder of Alive & Running Iowa. Alive & Running Iowa is a non – profit organization that was started in 2010. Our organization was started by my wife, Candice & myself, along with our friends, Ryan & Melissa Nesbit. Ryan & I have been friends since we were five years old, classmates from K-12. In January of our sophomore year, we lost a friend to suicide. Rodger Dos had taken his own life and it has had a lasting impact on our lives. We decided to take our experiences and start this organization with the hopes of preventing others from losing their “Rodger”. We started with a 5K run / walk in Dunkerton, Iowa. We had over 450 people show up the first year and we were shocked. We had no idea so many people had been impacted by suicide and were willing to come together to support one another. Starting in year two, our annual event became a two day event. On Father’s Day weekend, we host a remembrance ceremony on Friday night followed by the 5K run / walk on Saturday morning. This is our major event and fundraiser. We have seen a tremendous following over the years and the support is humbling.

Today, we are focused on three areas of suicide. The first side we focus on is prevention. We believe education can prevent suicides. We offer QPR & ASIST trainings free of charge. This can be done at churches, schools, social clubs, commercial businesses, non – profit organizations, etc. Over the past two years, we have partnered with My Ascension, utilizing Emma Benoit and her story to help give others hope that life is worth living.

Secondly, we offer grief support for those who have lost someone to suicide. We offer two supports groups that people can attend free of charge. We have a group that meets at Heritage United Methodist Church in Waverly on the 2nd Saturday of each month. We have a group that meets at Cedar Valley Hospice in Waterloo on the 4th Thursday of each month.

Thirdly, we focus on supporting mental health facilities. Over the years, we have donated over $70,000 to UnityPoint, MercyOne and Black Hawk Grundy Mental Health Center, all located in Waterloo. The funds have been used to purchase items that improve the patient experience. Items purchased include things like security cameras, group therapy seating, outdoor furniture, desks for patients, etc.

I mentioned that balance is a key part of my life. Believe it or not, I still make time for myself, family and friends. I said “make time” because I believe we have to make time for the important things in your life if we want them to happen. I’m an exercise enthusiast. My daily workouts consist of running, cycling, weightlifting and yoga. I enjoy playing golf with Candice and our son, Jayden. I have a 1967 Chevelle that I bought when I was 15 years old and that is also a favorite summer pastime for me. I enjoy traveling with family and friends. It’s not hard to convince me to hit up a country music concert, either.

Although balancing my volunteer efforts with my full time career can be exhausting, it is also very rewarding. Hearing from others how needed we are and how much we have helped others makes it all worthwhile. I live by a mantra of helping others. I have found life is much more rewarding when I am helping others vs serving myself #peoplehelpingpeople

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?

Time management is a skill that has enabled me to lead this life. If it wasn’t for my ability to time block tasks and hold tight to a schedule, I would not be able to handle multiple projects simultaneously. It takes continuous discipline to master the art of managing time.

Understanding sales and marketing has been instrumental in growing Alive & Running Iowa. If you talk to any non – profit organization, they will tell you that fundraising is always an area that needs improved. I constantly look for content to share on social media that I feel is pertinent to our following and will help us to gain more followers. I also believe transparency is an integral part of our marketing plan. You don’t have to look far to find a story where a non – profit was not using funds appropriately. Because of that stigma, I am very open on our social media about where we spend the money that others give us. We are a 100% volunteer led organization. The only member of our board who receives money is Ryan. He is paid as an independent contractor for the trainings he teaches.

I’m thankful that I was raised by parents who constantly had me around others. I was always spending time with other kids, adults, etc. Being in those situations from a young age taught me to be comfortable around others and made having conversations with others easy. I spend time talking with everyone from teenagers to senior citizens. I talk with everyone from those at their lowest point to CEOs of large corporations.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

This answer involves two parts of my life. Growing up, my parents are responsible for building and developing me at my core. They always pushed me to be my best. It wasn’t just encouragement. They would talk to me about why I felt I wasn’t my best and they would work with me on plans to be where I wanted to be. They also lead by example. They have been superior role models to me. I never had to look far to see how life should be lived, how to love others and how to have fun.

In my adult life, I would give tons of credit to my wife. As most of you know, opposites attract. Candice and I are complete opposites in so many ways. Her strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa. She has a way of getting me to look at things from another view. She will often challenge my ideas or beliefs. We have some great conversations about these things. She has definitely made me a more well rounded and better human.

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