A band of 500 modern day superheroes đź’Ť Chris Turner, The Ring Finders
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“The strategy is the questions. You have to ask the right questions. If you don’t, you can be walking away from a smile.”
- Chris Turner
Show Notes
When Chris Turner was 12 years old he got a metal detector and fell in love with looking for history. Over the years, he would be on the beach or in a park and get approached by a frantic couple looking for their ring. Within minutes, he was often able to help them recover their ring.
These rings represent stories and relationships, and when they are lost, it feels as though the stories are lost with them. Chris started The Ring Finders in Vancouver to help people recover their rings and thus their stories. He documented these generous acts and caught the attention of a man in Illinois who invested in the mission.
Since then, Chris has built an online directory of 500 independent metal detecting specialists in 22 countries that go out in search of rings, most of which do it on a pay as you wish basis. We talked with him about the human nature of this work and spotlighting stories from the searches.
Just like when building a fire, there’s an order of operations you can follow to cultivate communities that burn bright.
In our book, Get Together: How to build community with your people, we take you through three stages of building a community: sparking the flame, stoking the fire, and passing the torch.
Here’s Chris on the second step of building a community, stoking the fire.
You can’t fake the funk.
What unfolded with The Ring Finders was driven by Chris’ personal passion. He had loved looking for history since he received his first metal detector as a little boy.
Later, when Chris was stopped on the beach in LA by a frantic couple in search of a lost engagement ring, something locked into place. “You only have to experience finding a lost ring once to see how amazing it makes someone you don't know feel.” Almost 600 rings later, Chris still does this work for the same reason--the smile of someone finding their ring and all the stories wrapped up in it.
Spotlighting stories.
To chronicle The Ring Finders’ many searches, Chris creates videos. He has close to 400 to date on his YouTube. What’s more, he empowers the 500 members in the directory to share photos and written stories for their blog each time they go out on an expedition and recover a ring.
“I feel like a proud grandfather every time a picture and story comes in,” Chris told us.
Attract new folks.
Shine from a big platform can amplify awareness to small grassroots initiatives. When actor Jon Cryers lost his ring and Chris was able to help him recover it, Jon tweeted about the experience. This benevolent initiative got major attention making national headlines in Canada and even in some places around the US.
Now, members are feeling the “Jon Cryer effect” and still getting calls because of that story. Stories like these help but they don’t solve everything. A survey was done that showed 4 in 10 married men lose their wedding band in their life. Chris hopes The Ring Finders becomes a household name so when that day arrives, these people know who to call.
Create New Leaders
Others have felt that same sense of pride and delight that Chris swears behind. Eleven years ago, one remarkable hand-raiser in Illinois discovered The Ringer Finders on the internet. This man reached out to Chris and financially supported him to scale his by creating a network of other Ring Finders around the world. To this day, he serves as a silent partner and reinvests money made back into the business.
Whether you want to expand globally or just sustain the magic of an existing group, you will have to pass the torch like Chris. Spread out ownership by encouraging hand-raisers to support you or lead in ways big and small. Growing a community demands taking responsibility as a leader to create more leaders.
👋🏻Say hi to Chris and Learn more about The Ring Finders.
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We published a book and work with organizations like Nike, Porsche, Substack and Surfrider as strategy partners, bringing confidence to how they’re building communities.
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