There’s always that middle-school guidance counselor on television sitcoms who tells a worried pre-teen that if they just do what they enjoy for a living, it will all work out in the end. They will be happy. They will make enough money. And they will, somehow, be making the world a better place.
With Nick Rauber, however, it rings true. Rauber, who is a general dentist and partner with Dr. Daniel Bankhead in Aesthetic Dentistry Group, has a job he loves that also gives him free time to enjoy hobbies and to be a dedicated volunteer, organizer and fundraiser for several organizations. Being a business owner before the age of 30 would be quite a feat on its own, but Rauber has seemingly boundless energy and compassion for those he’s encountered.
When Rauber was 17, he started a fishing rodeo called Swollfest that now raises upwards of $300,000 a year for the American Diabetes Association. Rauber and a group of friends also got together several years ago and started Dancing for Dystrophy, which raises money to improve the quality of life for local children with muscular dystrophy. And, if that wasn’t enough, Rauber and a partner founded the Outdoor Wish Foundation to fulfill sporting-related wishes for terminally ill children.
His list of volunteer efforts is almost exhausting to read. He helps with everything from the Greater Baton Rouge Dental Association to the Greater Baton Rouge Community Clinic. “I just stay very organized,” he says.
But Rauber isn’t merely motivated by the idea of giving back to the community. For him, it’s personal. “My stepdad was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1993,” he says. And Rauber grew up with Huntington’s Disease in his family, and a sister with Downs Syndrome. “Those things engrained charity, compassion and empathy into who I am today,” he says. “[It’s] also, why I do what I do today.”
Age: 29
How do you make yourself heard in the discussion ?on how to move Baton Rouge forward? “You get things done. Let your activities speak for you.”
Click here for the complete list of 2009’s Forty Under 40 winners.
