Many of us are familiar with the Chinese proverb about the fish: “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”
Rick Hartsell lives his life by the code of the latter. First, he helped fund a vegetable farm near Kathmandu. Then, a chicken ranch. Next, he purchased a 16-passenger bus that allowed locals to launch a taxi and tourism business. He regularly travels overseas with other concerned entrepreneurs to work with Indigenous leaders to fight human trafficking and extreme poverty — by setting up locally run businesses, including farms, food-vending carts, crafts shops, a bank that gives small-business loans and more — to provide self-sufficiency.
“We’ve learned that the best way to beat modern-day slavery is by helping poor families start self-sustaining businesses,” he says.
But how does he do it?
Hartsell, who lives in Bloomfield Hills, founded Somerset Painting in 1985, primarily out of frustration at not being able to find honest, reliable contractors to do the work he needed for his home. Over the years, Somerset (somersetpainting.com) has expanded to offer interior and exterior painting, carpentry, basement remodeling, masonry and more.
“I think the biggest thing that sets Somerset apart is the fact that you’re not just hiring a company — you’re partnering with a friendly team that’s easy to work with and excels at communication,” Hartsell says. “We love what we do, and clients can reach out any time and get a real-life person.”
No doubt due to this work ethic, Hartsell’s company burgeoned over the years — approaching 40 — to the point where now, he is in the fortunate position of being able to donate a portion of his profits from every job to fight poverty and human trafficking, “at no cost to our clients,” he points out. “The result is that a vulnerable child gets food, clothing and education.”
In 2008, Liam Neeson starred in the thriller Taken, which tells the story of an ex-CIA officer who set out to track down his teenage daughter, who was kidnaped by human traffickers while vacationing in France. Hartsell saw the movie.
“It really moved me,” he says. “I have two daughters of my own, and now five grandchildren. Girls being trafficked are often tricked, persuaded, drugged or forced into this abuse," says Hartsell, who travels often to assist relief teams in Asia and Africa.
“Our mission is to rescue and restore these girls into leaders of the community."
Once the girls are rescued, he says, they go from a safe house and then to a training center, where they may learn tailoring, hairstyling or how to run a cafe, for example. “When they graduate from the training center,” Hartsell says, “I go over and help them to learn how to run their business. I’m able to offer a lot of customer-service training.”
The Somerset credo, Hartsell says, is that “we passionately believe that every at-risk child — here in Metro Detroit and around the world — deserves the chance for a better future.”
A few years ago, a new neighbor moved into Hartsell’s subdivision. Ramesh Sapkota is the founder of Our Daughters International, a nonprofit committed to rescuing, restoring and supporting girls and women who’ve been trafficked. When Hartsell met him, they not only became close friends, but Hartsell assists in that organization’s rescue work, too.
When Hartsell was in college, friends often told him he would make a good pastor, and he eventually earned a master’s degree in biblical studies from Trinity International University in Illinois. Finding that his spirit was more entrepreneurial, he left the ministry after four years and started his business. But his calling to a higher power remains.
“I think what drives me at the deepest level is the idea of kindness,” Hartsell says. “In the Bible, there’s a verse that says ‘what is desirable in a man is his kindness.’
“My mom was super-strict — I would even say rather mean. I decided to go the opposite way, because I know what it’s like to not be treated with kindness,” he says. “I actually have a tattoo on my right arm that says ‘Chesed’ in Hebrew, which means ‘loving kindness.’
“Somebody once asked a little boy what loving kindness meant to him,” Hartsell says. “He replied ‘Well, kindness is when my mom makes me a peanut butter sandwich, and loving kindness is when she puts jam on it.’ I have the word for loving kindness, but I have not yet had the audacity to add a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich tattoo, too. The red in tattoos just isn’t quite right,” he laughs.
Never forgetting to take time for himself and his family, Hartsell is passionate about traveling and outdoor adventures. “I’m one of the few people that do powered paragliding,” he says. “I can take off out of Fox Hills Subdivision at the I-75 at Square Lake exit. There’s nothing quite like taking five steps and launching into the air and becoming a literal Skywalker. I highly recommend it.”
Hartsell likes to tell the story of meeting Michigan’s former attorney general, Bill Schuette. “I asked him if he knew of a business that was setting an example for working in trafficking issue that I could follow,” he says. “He stood there thinking for about 20 seconds before replying, ‘No, I can’t think of one.’ Then he looked me in the eye and said, ‘Why don’t you become that one?’
“And I said, ‘I will do just that.’”