Behind the scenes: “Impact” cost me 15 pounds but the payoff has been priceless

It is 3:14 in the morning. With my wife’s robe as a pillow, I am curled up in a ball on my bathroom floor, in absolute physical agony, and I couldn’t be happier.
Maybe I should rewind.
You see, about 18 months ago, I was sitting in a meeting with a potential new partner and began mindlessly daydreaming when a booming voice asked an open-ended question that jolted me into a new reality.
“What about you? What would you do if you could do anything you wanted,” asked Vanderbilt’s Steve Distante.
I answered immediately, “I’d make a documentary.”
Steve laughed because, without knowing, I had just stumbled into one of his passions. I had also stumbled into the executive producer of our new video project, Impact.
“What do you think about impact investing,” he asked.
I had no idea that with two simple questions, the direction of my life was about to change forever and send me on an exciting new journey.
This journey sent me around the world and around the block to examine impact investing. From Haiti to the United Nations, we have explored impact investing, but most importantly, we have been able to showcase Impact and illustrate how it was really changing lives.
You see, at InvestmentNews we talk a lot about adding “show to the tell” when it comes to the stories we report. This project has been the ultimate example of us putting our money where our mouth is.
This project has been the beginning of an incredible journey. This was a journey that sent me to the “beaches” of Haiti, which were really landfill. (It was also in Haiti where thanks to some of the local food, I caught an illness that cost me 15 pounds and led me to my current agony on the bathroom floor.) It has sent me to the shores of Wilmington, N.C., where I broke boards with active, rival gang members.
Thanks to Steve’s diligence, exuberance and desire, this is a journey that is just beginning. We are excited to continue working on a full-fledged feature-length documentary, “Igniting Impact,” that I am confident will make a big splash in this industry and beyond.
Above all else, this has changed my life, supplying me with an amazing array of stories, and above all else, giving me new purpose.
If I learned anything from this journey, it is the knowledge that, at my core, I am a storyteller and there are untold stories of impact that are happening worldwide that need to be told.
The idea of being able to these stories make me smile, even while curled up on the floor of the bathroom.
Matt Ackermann is the director of multimedia at InvestmentNews. He produces all of our video content including the documentary, Impact, about impact investing.