The fine print, in plain English
Guidelines & privacy
Every video is reviewed
Nothing appears publicly until a member of our team has watched and approved each individual video. Anything hateful, harassing, unsafe, or exploitative is rejected.
What stays private
Your email, phone number and last name are only visible to the review team. Public pages show your first name, city and state, plus the videos you chose to record.
What does it mean to rally behind someone?
Rallying isn't about deciding who deserves help more. Every person who shares their story here should be treated with dignity and respect. A rally simply tells Pace and the Zero to Hero team: this story connected with me, and I think Pace should hear it. Community rallies are one signal the team may consider when discovering stories, but popularity never guarantees selection. Pace and the Zero to Hero team make all final decisions.
How rallying works
Everyone gets one free daily rally, and book bonus rallies can be added on top of it. Anyone can rally. We limit how often one person can rally behind the same story and apply anti-abuse checks. Official book bonus rallies are permitted; bots, scripted rallies, fake or duplicate accounts, and any other unauthorized manipulation are not.
How stories are shown
The story grid defaults to the newest stories, so people who just shared are seen. You can also filter by state, find stories near you, see what the community is rallying behind right now, or open 'Discover someone new' — which surfaces the stories that have been seen the least, so support spreads instead of piling on the same few people.
Sharing a story
Sharing is the single most helpful thing you can do. Every story page has share tools, and shared links only ever contain what is already public: a first name, a city and state, and the videos that person chose to record.
Location on the map
The Next Hero Could Be Anywhere map shows approximate locations only — city and state, grouped together. We never publish or plot a street address, a precise coordinate, or anything finer than the city someone chose to list.
Book bonus rallies
You get free rallies every day — you never have to spend anything. If you buy Pace's Zero to Hero book, we say thank you with 10 bonus rallies per book. Purchases are checked by hand against our order list, so allow 3–5 business days for the rallies to land, and use the same email for your book order and your account. Bonus rallies have no cash value, can't be bought directly, transferred or refunded, and they don't guarantee any outcome.
No guarantees
Sharing your story is not a guarantee of selection, funding, publicity, or any other outcome. Please don't submit expecting financial help.
Reporting a story
Every story page has a report option. Reports go straight to the review team, and content can be hidden while it's being looked at.
Removing your story
You can ask us to take your story down at any time by replying to the email we send after you share it.
About this project
The Next Hero (thenexthero.com) is part of Pace Morby's Zero to Hero project and upcoming book. You can learn more about the book at pacesnextbook.com.