Born to Inspire. Committed to Giving.

In an exclusive interview with Baird’s John Ramseyer, Cole Hardman shares the amazing story of his life. Discover how he overcame a dire prognosis at birth, his gratitude to those who helped make that possible, and what drives him as Director of Development for Seattle Children’s Hospital today to help people like you and companies like Baird make a meaningful difference in the lives of children and families across the Pacific Northwest.

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Transcript:

John

I'm John Ramseyer with Baird. Private wealth management here today talking with my friend Cole Hardman. About his work. With Seattle Children's Hospital, thanks for being here, Cole.

Cole

My pleasure, John.

John

Cole, I've known you for a long time, and I know the story of your life and especially considering how it began, it's really inspirational. Do you want to share those details with our listeners?

Cole

Happy to. Yeah, John, when I was born, premature in the Seattle area, I was rushed to Seattle Children's at four hours old for an emergency surgery with my face blue and low oxygen. This was a big surprise to the whole family not knowing there were any complications beforehand. I had a diaphragmatic hernia which consists of a hole in my diaphragm and my internal organs shifted all over the place. As a result, the emergency surgery was to put my small intestine where it belongs and allow the one lung to develop. As a result, I only had a 40% chance of surviving this complicated surgery and was expected not to live a full life past the age of two. In addition to many other birth defects – back problems, visual problems, hearing problems – that we later learned of in my time at Seattle Children’s after the first year in the in the hospital and, subsequently, 18 years of my life was spent at Seattle Children's.

John

Incredible. So you, you beat the odds. You get out of the hospital to become this remarkable young man, and then you go back to Children's Hospital and get a job there. So what made you decide to to go back to Children's and maybe especially to get into the gift development area at Children's Hospital?

Cole

Absolutely. I mean, I was fortunate and unfortunate right to spend so much time in Seattle Children’s that I got real exposure to the great care at that time and learned about so many wonderful people, met so many wonderful people and, as a result, I was asked to participate in some fundraising events back in the 90s and that really opened up my eyes to what the community does to support Seattle Children’s and the long, rich history it has in our community. As a result, I was able to share my story, inspire others, and and the reaction of the Community support to help kids to live the healthiest life possible just was really inspiring. And I knew that I wanted to give back and provide opportunity for the next generation and the next generation to have that pathway to live the most fulfilling life, healthy life possible. And I am so fortunate to be in a position to help kids and to help our organization be better.

John

So great. So, you know, Seattle Children's relies on corporate and individual gifts quite a bit and could you describe – kind of tell us about the areas where that's helpful for Seattle Children’s.

Cole

Absolutely, but first I just want to acknowledge, you know, Baird’s support. It's a little more meaningful and personal than just the corporate support for me, having spent so much time with your firm through my family and my father.  The culture at Baird is truly about helping the community in an authentic, meaningful way. And I just – I'm so struck in awe of the ongoing generous support you’ve provided over the years to Seattle Children’s. Especially in my time of – coming up on seven years – and just you know you've touched on so many different wonderful programs that we offer from mental health, autism work to pediatric Cancer Research to providing scholarships for underrepresented communities to learn how to become scientists. Really just a breadth of wonderful programs that you have helped us with and continuing to do so, such as uncompensated care to help families receive the best care possible, regardless of their financial ability to pay and and ensure that they receive that world class treatment. So really thank you and to Baird for your support.

John

Well, we thank you and we're in awe of you, Cole. And you're just so inspirational and what you decided to do with it is just really special. So thanks so much for sharing your story with us.

John

And thank you to everyone listening. If you want to be part of the difference being made by Cole and his colleagues at Seattle Children's, I encourage you to visit give.seattlechildrens.org.