From Science to Success to Service: Why Business Impact Leads Naturally to Giving Back with Martha Faraday

Dr. Martha Faraday opens by arguing that silence is a powerful tool, although using it requires giving yourself permission not to respond. She says people are hardwired to explain and defend themselves because, historically, exclusion from a community could mean losing access to food, shelter, and protection. Social media has changed the nature of community: many online exchanges are diffuse and have little connection to a person’s actual welfare. If an interaction will not benefit you, she says, continuing it only consumes time and energy that could be used more productively. Martha learned this painfully while building her equine business. Many people rejected her claim that what a horse eats is a major driver of health and illness, and online arguments often rewarded whoever was loudest and most persistent rather than whoever had the strongest credentials or experience. She eventually recognized people who were never going to become clients: they attacked her expertise, had a counterargument for every answer, and seemed interested only in fighting. She applies the same test to nonprofit fundraising: some people will never donate, so the useful response is to detach and move on rather than trying to convert them.

When the host asks when Martha began thinking about using her success for impact beyond her business, she tells the story of Brother Bear. The horse died with his head in her hands after starving in a grassy field. Although he was surrounded by food, neglected dental care meant he could no longer open his mouth properly. Routine dental treatment would have cost approximately $75 a year, but after nearly 30 years of serving people, nobody had taken care of his teeth. By the time he reached Martha, he was in end-stage heart failure and could not be saved. Martha describes the experience as a combination of rage at what was done and not done for him, and grief over a death that was entirely preventable. The Brother Bear Equine Foundation was born from that experience. Before Brother Bear, she had mainly worked with horses that other people considered impossible to save, using scientific knowledge to restore them. Afterward, she used her growing skills and reputation to bring together people who wanted to rescue abused, neglected, and discarded horses, especially those considered “unsolvable.” She says Brother Bear’s head will always be in her hands, and every animal saved is “Brother redeemed”—a life restored with love, dignity, and care.

Martha calls apathy “the great permission” for abuse and neglect to continue. It drives inaction, normalizes harmful conditions, and is the “kryptonite to change.” She identifies four entrepreneurial advantages that make business owners especially capable of creating social change. First, entrepreneurs are people of action: they envision a different reality and know how to challenge and move systems. Second, their expertise and business success give them credibility, allowing their voices to attract attention and commitment. Third, entrepreneurs serve as role models. Martha jokes, based on an ongoing exchange with her successful 96-year-old mother, that people rarely do what they are told. They are more likely to adjust their behavior in response to a trusted, high-credibility person’s example. Fourth, entrepreneurs know how to tolerate fear. Courage is not the absence of anxiety; it is being “sick to my stomach with anxiety” and acting anyway. Martha says abuse and neglect persist partly because people fear leaving the safety of the group by speaking up. She compares this with “The Emperor’s New Clothes”: one child’s declaration that the emperor is naked frees others to acknowledge what they already see. Entrepreneurs can be that voice by naming the obvious—such as a starving animal or a child whose shoes are held together with duct tape—and their capital, relationships, audiences, and influence can amplify the change.

Martha’s connection to horses began when she was four years old in Washington, D.C., where mounted police officers rode through her neighborhood. She remembers a large horse lowering its head, which was as big as her body, so she could touch its nose, along with the distinctive smell of horses. She loved them from that moment, although life’s twists and turns meant she did not own horses until her 40s. In her 50s, she tried to build a business helping horse owners feed their animals better so they could remain healthy. That idea failed because, as she explains, people generally do not pay to prevent a problem they do not yet have. The clients who did pay were desperate owners whose horses were already sick, injured, or dying, often after they had spent tens of thousands of dollars trying other approaches. About 30% of the cases she still works with involve animals that have been recommended for euthanasia. Her niche therefore became treating “impossible” cases while also helping anguished owners cope. She developed a national reputation for fixing animals considered unfixable. Brother Bear was especially painful because, despite that reputation, she could not save him. She refused to let his death become another meaningless loss, and that decision led to the nonprofit.

Martha says Brother Bear’s death has already produced a concrete result: in the nonprofit’s first two years, the foundation has saved 61 horses, with the year not yet over. His death mattered because it led to a structure through which other horses could reclaim their lives. The host then asks how people who want to help but do not know how can participate meaningfully. Martha’s first answer is that acknowledging suffering is already participation. Awareness removes anonymity, which otherwise makes suffering creatures and people easier to ignore. Refusing to look away is followed by speaking up for beings who are voiceless, powerless, and without choices. Tangible contributions such as volunteering and donating come next, but she rejects the idea that philanthropy requires substantial wealth. Most of her donors give between $5 and $50; one woman sends $5 when she can and sometimes $6 when she has been especially frugal. Martha says the helping intention behind those amounts is as meaningful as the intention behind a $100 gift. She illustrates the collective effect with simple arithmetic: if approximately 250 million Americans who say animals are like family each gave $5, that would produce $1.25 billion. If they gave $5 every month, it would be $1.25 billion monthly. Her conclusion is that when many people help, each person’s burden is small, and seeing the results also strengthens donors and encourages further action.

For people who want to give back but have not found the right cause or role, Martha’s instruction is: “Start with what haunts you.” She considers that more important than beginning with a strategic plan because the issue that keeps someone awake will sustain them when the work becomes exhausting. She admits that she wants to quit every day because she is tired of seeing helpless animals suffer, worrying about cash flow and veterinary bills, and receiving crisis calls late at night. What keeps her going is the memory of Brother Bear’s dying head in her hands. She offers possible starting points—children without enough food or winter coats, isolated elders in nursing homes, elephants in chains, starving dogs, and beaten horses—and says there is a “fast buffet of suffering” waiting to be addressed. The listener should identify the issue that makes sleep difficult, then apply their skills and resources to leverage change. Martha emphasizes that this is not necessarily a business plan; it is “the work of the heart.” She and the host both challenge the habit of waiting until one has made enough money to become generous. A person can begin now with a small contribution, and the right time to act is always today. Martha directs listeners to her website, social media accounts, and dedicated Facebook group, where day-to-day rescue updates, photos, and videos are shared. She also mentions a Newsweek article about apathy. The host says these links will be available through the episode page at EOFire.com by searching for “Martha.”