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 JT Olson spent 23 years developing young people with Southwestern. After leaving SW in 1997, JT partnered with Joel Broadbent (another former Southwestern sales manager) in a successful executive search firm here in Nashville. That firm, Haystack Associates, is still going strong 10+ years later. However, in the last year and a half JT has left Haystack Associates and is putting the skills he learned at Southwestern to work with his new passion, Both Hands Foundation.
JT sold books for 6 summers (1975-1980), becoming the sales leader to the students from Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri. JT was the heart of the Elite Eagles organization. Those of us who did not have the pleasure of working with him personally, remember his vivid canine descriptions during the  dogology part of sales school. JT and his wife Sara (Mattox), who sold for four summers, spent over 20 years creating a Southwestern legacy that lives on today. JT said, "The best part of being a Sales Manager were the Awards Banquets. It was always fun to see someone at the end of the summer and remember what they were like before they sold. The growth they experienced made all the hard work worth it."
JT and Sara have been married for 25 years and have 5 children ranging from 7 to 20 years old. Jeff is a junior at Baylor, Daley & Nick are in high school, Max is in the 8th grade and Gracie, whom they adopted about 6 years ago from China, is in elementary school. JT says Gracie keeps him thinking young.
Within the last year and half JT started what he truly believes God laid on his heart: to start Both Hands Foundation. The idea for Both Hands came as the result of a simple letter JT wrote years ago to a friend. He wrote asking if his friend would sponsor him while he golfed. The funds would go to a wonderful ministry for women in crisis pregnancies. JT's friend sent his letter back with a handwritten message saying that he'd gladly support his efforts if he was working on a widow's house instead of playing golf.
For five years that letter stuck with JT, until another friend and SW alumni, Don Meyer, along with his wife Mary (Crooks), who were adopting four children from Moldova, expressed their need to  raise funds to pay for it. That's when the idea for Both Hands grew legs. The Olson's and Meyer's recruited other friends, found a widow's house in need of repairs, got local businesses to donate supplies and food, and hundreds of people sent in checks to sponsor the workers that day. It was a day JT will never forget! They raised enough money to put a dent in the Meyer's adoption expenses, and totally transformed Miss Lucille's house: Success story numbers one and two! Since then, Both Hands has done 19 more projects and with the help of over 500 volunteers has raised over $210,000. They have made quite a difference for 19 widows and helped 29 orphans get a little closer to their forever families, including SW alumni Bill & Lisa (Marsh) Kersey, who are adopting from Honduras.
 Both Hands goal is to do projects on a nationwide basis. They are looking for old SW Bookmen/women who might be interested in helping put together projects in their communities for families who might choose this form of fund-raising. Each project needs a Project Manager to help bring it all together and it fits perfectly in the skill set of someone who recruited a team or managed an organization. The best part is the feeling you get when it’s all over. The widow is speechless with gratefulness, the family has been given a leg up on the high cost of adoption, and all the workers are standing around smiling! It’s similar to the feeling you got when someone on your team thanked you for getting him/her into the greatest summer job in the world. See the impact Both Hands is making by checking out the video below.
When asked how he felt his Southwestern experience has impacted his success JT answered, "I think the success principles that I was exposed to during the 23 years I spent at SW have permeated every aspect of my life. No matter what you do, whether it's business of some sort, or raising a family, or making a marriage work, the principles of a positive attitude, working hard, goal-setting, and not giving up when it's tough are essential to your effectiveness. The people skills I learned are invaluable and I use them every day, whether I'm talking with a widow, encouraging an adoptive family, or helping put together a team and a project. I can't imagine going through starting up a non-profit business in this economic climate without the tools Southwestern gave me. I am thankful to all the people who helped me make it."
Be sure to check out http://bothhandsfoundation.org for more information.
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