Enough Little Things Add Up to Big Things
“Giving back isn’t a someday milestone. It’s what happens in the small moments you choose to show up, right where you already are.”
Retoro Capital Investments
Don't Overcomplicate
Many people think they have to be retired to volunteer. A demanding career, an active family, and just getting enough steps in a day can be overwhelming for high achievers who view giving back as a major effort to change the world. So they wait to do it big, do it right, forgetting that little things in the meantime add up not only to serve communities, but also to teach our kids that philanthropy can be done anytime, even when busy, at any level of financial means.
And most people believe an eight-figure portfolio or a seven-figure net worth means you’re done. Enjoy private jets, a boat, endless beaches, and golf. For my husband, Troy Powell, and me, as parents of six kids, it just meant we didn't have to work corporate anymore. It gave us the margin to do stuff in our local communities, like showing up on a rainy Saturday in Juneau, where we lived 5 months last summer, armed with rain ponchos, rubber gloves, and a car of complaining kids to participate in the community clean-up day.
Drippy rain with our ponchos flapping, we filled yellow bags with junk along the roadside. We had to entice our kids with pizza and hot chocolate. At the end of the day, driving home, seeing hundreds of yellow bags strung along the roads and sidewalks awaiting pickup, we saw the impact of what one person can contribute when enough people keep showing up.
In our last issue, we spotlighted Christopher Borden and 🎼Harmonie Borden🌺 making huge waves in the philanthropy world. Today, we spotlight Emma Powell and Troy Powell, making small but consistent contributions on the front lines of donating and volunteering.
This highlights what we talk about at every meeting of Retoro Capital Investments: higher returns, less risk, and using the freedom those two create to give back in ways that actually matter.
We are living proof that the third part, giving back, isn’t just marketing fluff. Serving is what happens in the in between, whether we're still working the grind, or when the quarterly checks show up, and we no longer have to trade hours for dollars.
This holiday season, we’re putting the spotlight in each newsletter issue on the partners who make Retoro different. We're sharing our stories of building financial and time freedom to make a greater impact because those who invest with us also value philanthropy.
We've seen firsthand that the more money we make together, the more we give away, and the more hours we donate. These spotlights are to help spark ideas, family discussions, and taking action on how we can earn more, give more, and start now.
That soggy Juneau morning is just one drop in the bucket we are filling.
Impact Should Start Where You Already Are
High achievers like you dream of philanthropy as big checks or starting a foundation. Even Dave Ramsey has "giving back" as the final Baby Step 7, but we should be starting well before that. We’ve learned the opposite is true: the small, consistent stuff is what actually moves the needle, and it’s something you can do right now, even with calendar chaos or kids in tow. In fact, kids in tow is even better.
That soggy Juneau morning, our kids learned more about service, filling yellow bags in the rain, than they would have as adults watching us found a non-profit. One of our daughters still brags that her bag had the grossest find of the day.
Back in Utah, where we spend most of the year, we find many opportunities to get involved without much pre-planning. We have pulled weeds at the charity garden so the food bank can feed more families. Some early mornings, we put on hair nets and package cheese at the charity dairy that ships pallets to food banks and disaster zones. We have been on a dog-walking crew at the Humane Society, or informally, we mentor young people, donate meals, and visit with the elderly in our family and neighborhoods.
We also do the quiet stuff most people never see: Troy teaches Sunday School, I play the organ at church, we tithe 10%+, and the kids run their own service projects at youth night and serve in many other ways. It's nothing flashy, just steady.
Giving back happens in many ways, big and small
You don’t have to wait until you’re retired or “have enough” to start.
Grab a trash bag and join the next highway or park cleanup in your city (most happen spring and fall).
Walk dogs or socialize cats once a month at your local shelter. Bring the kids, especially if they are animal lovers.
Spend two hours weeding at a community garden or food-bank farm. The produce goes straight to families who need it.
Show up at church, synagogue, mosque, or the local Rotary, plugging in to whatever your community already has going. Teach a class, play the piano, and coach the youth sports team. Those roles are always open.
None of this takes extra money. It only takes a calendar you control. For us, the investment distributions from Retoro replaced the corporate grind to hand our calendar back. That's also what drives us to utilize the fund to help other families gain more control to donate more money and time.
It makes Saturday mornings less about catching up on emails and more about hair nets, dog leashes, youth sports, yellow trash bags, and dirt under our nails.
You don’t need eight figures to start. You just need a little breathing room. The consistent little stuff is what teaches your kids (and reminds you) that giving back isn’t a someday thing. It’s a today thing.
Going Global Is Easier Than You Realize
Chris and Harmonie Borden didn’t mess around. They built Elevate Côte d’Ivoire from the ground up: registered nonprofit, local learning hubs, paid training programs, the whole thing.
Troy and I looked at that and thought, “We love what they’re doing, but we are not signing up to run a charity with global reach.” So we didn’t.
We just asked, “How can we help?”
Turns out the answer was simple: show up on Zoom with the skills we already have.
For a year, I taught a live English class to their students in Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria. Troy rain a training series teaching Descript short-form video editing so the same graduates can create social media clips that help their clients. We’re talking 60–90 minutes a week, from our RV in Florida and our kitchen table in Utah.
The students are sharp, most have university degrees, but the local economy can’t absorb them. Some were local farmers, and I helped write grant requests for updated equipment. Others were coders making introduction videos for potential clients to demonstrate their English skills. We also hire the virtual assistants at Retoro in many capacities, empowering them financially.
Global reach with no flights required (yet).
Our investment distributions don't just support our own family. We hire those who can earn, and we donate to those who need more help.
You can do the exact same thing, just ask around who's doing something amazing. Serving with no passport, no overhead, and no starting your own 501(c)(3).
Teach a skill once a week on Zoom (English, Excel, Canva, video editing, bookkeeping, music, whatever you already know).
Mentor one person for 30 minutes a month through platforms like Elevate or similar programs in the Philippines, Kenya, and Latin America.
Hire a virtual assistant from one of these programs.
Global giving used to mean writing a check and hoping they spent it on what they promised. Today it can mean opening a laptop and sharing what you already do every day.
Chris and Harmonie took the hard road and built the runway. We just get to land planes on runways that other people have created, and you can too.
You don’t have to fly to West Africa to live Retoro’s third pillar of giving back. You simply need the same vehicle we use: finding ways to contribute, supported by consistent, low-risk cash flow from private investing.
Final Thoughts
It is often difficult to share where we are serving, as we feel we should do so anonymously. There is value in faceless giving, and there is also value in promoting service to help others think about ways they can contribute.
Even finding photos for this article was tough because we didn't think to document most of the service at the time. Taking more photos, sharing more online is an act of service, not ego, if done in a spirit of promoting acts of kindness.
Three easy ways to move forward today:
Please share comments about ways you are already serving in your community: the discussion sparks ideas in others looking for ways to give back that might be a great fit into their busy lives. Everyone has a different way to contribute, and your way could be the inspiration to get others started!
If you'd like more information on supporting Elevate through donations or virtual assistants with a supportive structure, please reach out soon, or reply or DM "ELEVATE" to receive the 2026 Impact Summary.
If you'd like to see if Retoro fits your own giving back goals and invest with those who truly value making an impact on our communities and worldwide, schedule a 30-minute call to see if we are a good fit. We’ll look at current fund performance, upcoming deals, and how the model can fund whatever higher purpose matters most to you. There's no pressure, no annoying, relentless follow-up, open to accredited investors only.
P.S. Next issue: Retoro partners ZASHA SMITH, P.E., and Lisa Field Moore, MBA, share stories on how an IT guy and real estate photographer built an 8-figure portfolio, kept family first, and still found time to impact lives.
P.P.S. The sooner you get started, the sooner you'll wish you'd started sooner!
