Unmask Your Unknown Potential

The following blog post is from Brother Mitchell Holmes, State Senior Deacon for Pennsylvania DeMolay and PMC for Templar Chapter. 

Have you ever been scared to do something? Whether it would be entering a haunted house or a scary movie? If you said no, I'm sorry to say that I don't believe you. Sometime in your life, you have been scared to do something. On October 17, 2014, I made one of the best decisions in my life; joining DeMolay. Before I joined, I remember that I was worried about joining because I knew it would change me. At the time, I was a video gamer and I was worried about it interrupting my game time. I also knew that I had to commit to going to the meetings and events that our Chapter was holding. So, my personality kicked in and I said, “Yes, I would like to join.” I was always willing to try it out, and if I didn't like it, I just wouldn't come back. I went to the next meeting and filled out the necessary paperwork. At the time I had joined, there were only five members. Most of them older guys between the ages 16-18. Being thirteen at the time, I was very quiet. A year goes by, and what was five of us, became three members. A year after that, there were only two members, Bro. Chris Johnston and myself. At the time, I was considering quitting or switching chapters because throughout the time I was there, my Chapter did nothing. 

One day, my Chapter Advisor came to me and said, “Mitch, we need you to be Master Councilor.” When he told me that, I became scared. Mainly because I never had taken a major leadership role before in the Chapter. He then told me to prepare a term plan for the next meeting. That July, I had gotten installed as Master Councilor. I implemented several things, such as a Chapter website, membership incentives, and a newsletter. I was able to bring in three members to my Chapter. Along with that, the members I brought in, brought in members. What became two of us, became eight within eight months. I was able to take a struggling Chapter, and make it active again. While I was doing it, I never knew that I was a natural leader. I discovered things about myself that I would have never been able to figure out if it weren't for DeMolay. Being part of DeMolay has made me communicate, lead, and develop myself for success in life. I had unmasked my unknown traits through DeMolay.

The primary message for this story is to discover yourself. DeMolay is great for that because it touches on all the skills we need in life. Whether it be Robotics Club or Spanish Club, get involved because you can only discover yourself if you're involved with something. You can discover different traits besides leadership. You might find out that you are a good artist, writer, public speaker, treasurer, singer, etc. I want you to UNMASK YOUR UNKNOWN by being involved! 

I did a TED talk last year about my story in DeMolay. The video they had originally shot, had audio issues. So they had to record it again. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/JioVtGS2iV0

Selling the DeMolay Product

In order for DeMolay to grow, chapters must find ways to sell the organization to the general public. DeMolay is a worldwide organization, however when brought up in conversation with our peers, a lot of people know nothing about us. As members and advisors, it is our job to get the word out to the community. Sometimes that means putting on the salesman hat and selling the organization the best that we can. How do we do that? Here are some examples of how to sell DeMolay, and some examples from chapters in Pennsylvania to prove that these methods work.

Advertise in Publications
One of the best ways to advertise DeMolay is to promote in the local community newspaper. Recently, Elizabethtown Chapter and Chester Pike Chapters have done just that. Chester Pike Chapter advertised their local flea market to the community, while also explaining briefly what DeMolay was in the advertisement. Elizabethtown Chapter publicized the activities they participated in within the community, including the Dodgeball for Dyslexia Tournament and the Chicken Pot Pie Dinner they hosted.

Promote within the local Schools
I've mentioned this example before, but since it deals heavily with the membership growth of Pennsylvania DeMolay, it's worth mentioning again. Friendship-Bray Chapter has recently sent flyers and other information to local school to help promote the organization to the young members of the community. Rob Caroselli, an FBC advisor, is also a Principal of Fox Chase Elementary School, which has helped promote DeMolay to the young men of their school. FBC has brought in 9 members to DeMolay so far this year because of this, and looks to bring in even more in the near future. Since this took place, other chapters across the state have started to put together programs to target local school districts as well.

Get your Government Officials to buy in to the product
This year for DeMolay Month, we had several DeMolay Chapters that received proclamations from local Government Officials. This means that they show support to the program. Congratulations to Allentown, Pilgrim, Friendship-Bray, Chester Pike, Elizabethtown and all the other chapters that have reached out and received support from their local Government Officials.

How did these chapters have so much success in promoting the organization? There are a few factors that go into selling your product:

Know your target audience: Recognize who it is you plan to reach out to, and find the right way to promote to that group. If you're reaching out to youth, you may want to impress upon them the fun activities that we provide. If you're trying to reach out to the parents, you may want to explain to them the scholarship opportunities, honor roll challenges and other activities that will make a parent happy. If you're reaching out to a local Representative, explain the community based activities and offer a helping hand. 

Confidence: This is one of the biggest keys to success. The way the product is presented is important to know whether a person is buying in. If your excited about what you're promoting, a customer will acknowledge that and be more likely to buy in themselves. Remain calm and remembers what drives you in DeMolay.


Keep it simple: The saying "less is more" is very true. Make sure all of the facts are covered, without dragging on for long periods of time. If they seem interested enough to ask questions, that means they are engaged and want to know more. If its a news article that you are writing, keep it to a few paragraphs.

Hopefully this helps give some insight into promoting DeMolay. Go out there and sell DeMolay proudly!

Until next time - "Dad" Joe Pullin