Most leaders shy away from it. It makes people uncomfortable, and the mere mention of it can  inspire off color jokes, or send grown men and women into fits of nervous laughter.

We’re talking about sex, of course. In the workplace.

Well, not sex exactly, but sexual energy. As author, coach, and expert Diana Chapman discusses in part two of this illuminating interview, to deny the existence of sexual energy in the workplace is to deprive your business of one of its most creative forces.

To be clear, we’re not talking about sex itself. In this context, sexual energy has more to do with creativity and an affinity for or attraction to ideas.

Like so much of what Chapman and her co-authors teach, the key is to recognize and acknowledge sexual energy dispassionately, as an objective fact, and to use the intelligence contained within it to your advantage.

Diana discusses this and a whole lot more in the conclusion of our interview.

Takeaways

• The difference between blame and accountability, and why new knowledge should be the end result of every mistake. 1:37
• A breakdown of the five primary emotions - fear, anger, joy, sadness, and sexual energy, and why sexual energy has more to do with creativity than sex. 4:47
• Diana tells us about her completion process, and why her company goes completely offline every December in order to work on Commitment #6. 9:59
• Diana shares her most surprising findings from twelve years of going through this completion process. 12:15
• Why withholding saps people of energy, and why clearing resolutions to completion is so energizing. 15:48
• How to integrate these practices for people who are new to your culture, and why curiosity is the key. 16:48
• Why the way you view the world has more to do with you than it does about the world. 18:30

Links

• Conscious Leadership Group
• Diana on LinkedIn
• Gay and Katie Hendricks

Recommended reading

• The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Chapman, Klemp, and Dethmer
• The Power of Full Engagement by Tony Schwartz

If you’ve ever listened to the show, you probably know that we get FIRED UP around this time of year. And not just for things like holiday parties and time spent with loved ones.

We get amped by the fact that the holidays are the perfect time to reflect, reset, and look ahead to the coming year. It’s a chance to think about who we want to be and how we’re going to get there.

Yep, it’s the time for ANNUAL GOAL SETTING.

(Fired up yet??)

There’s a bit of an art and science to setting proper goals. In fact, the vast majority of people who set goals - as in 92% - never achieve them. And only 45% of people even set them to begin with.

In other words, if you can set and achieve your goals, you’re truly in rarified air.

In this episode, we present a peak inside the culture at SnackNation and Awesome Office Inc. HQ with Sean’s annual goal setting presentation to his team. Sean has spent more than a decade refining his approach to goal setting, and shares his top ten tactics and strategies for getting it right. He also dives deep into one of the most important (yet most under appreciated) aspects of goal setting: the emotional aspect.

Here’s a quick recap of the ten steps to become the best version of yourself in 2017.

1. Set a Theme
2. Only Set 5-10 Goals
3. Attach a Why
4. One Goal for Each Area
5. Ensure Goals are Compelling
6. Make Specific & Measurable w/ Deadlines
7. Don’t worry about the HOW
8. Write them Down, Keep Visible
9. Write the Next Action Step for Each Next Goal
10. Get an Accountability Partner (Or 2)

For more tips for setting yourself up for success in the New Year, check out episode 62 - How to Start Your Year with a Bang.

If you’re a regular AO listener, you know that we’ve interviewed people from across the business spectrum - from first time entrepreneurs, to CEOs of hugely successful multinational brands, to scientists taking their cutting edge research to the market themselves. But there’s one business we just haven’t tackled yet.

The family business.

Thankfully Ginny Simon was kind enough to spend some time with us this week to tell us all about it. Ginny is the founder and CEO of GinnyBakes, a Miami-based company that makes gluten-free cookies and bake mixes, and that sees itself as a “gateway” to healthier eating. GinnyBakes is also a true family business, with Ginny’s son Michael and husband Steve playing integral roles in the brand’s daily operations and growth.

In the interview, Ginny sheds light on both the advantages and challenges of running a business with your spouse - both of which will probably surprise you - as well as what it took to finally convince her husband to wind down his law practice of 26 years and dive into GinnyBakes full time.

As Ginny tells it, their decision to join forces and bring son Michael into the fold is proving to be the right call. Today GinnyBakes has 35 employees, services more than 3,000 doors, and boasts deals with airlines and a thriving ecommerce business. Oh, and they also experienced 300% growth last year.

Ginny was a delight to interview - and we think you’ll agree that her “sweet” story is one worth devouring.

Key Takeaways

• Ginny tells the story of going from a mother of four boys to the CEO of a natural products startup, and how being a mom prepared her for the demands of a growing business.
• Ginny describes the moment that she knew she was onto something with GinnyBakes.
• Ginny pinpoints the greatest challenge she has faced as an entrepreneur over the last six years, and how she has learned to overcome it.
• Ginny also explains the biggest obstacle in the food business, and why part of her company’s mission is to fix it.
• Ginny explains how (and why) she brought her husband and sons into the business, and lays out the challenges and advantages of doing so.

Links

• GinnyBakes Website
• Ginny on LinkedIn
• Ginny on Instagram

On the surface, feedback seems like an uncontroversial topic. Most of us probably agree that accurate, timely feedback is critical to our jobs, no matter if we’re a junior team member or at the top of the organization. But in reality, our understanding of feedback is mostly one-sided - especially when it comes to leadership.

While most leaders focus on techniques and strategies for providing feedback for others, only the top leaders focus on the right way to receive it.

Why? Because even for the most accomplished among us, feedback is scary.

When we receive feedback, often our first instinct is to put up our defenses. We are naturally averse to it. We bristle at the idea that we aren’t perfect, and believe that recognizing feedback will reveal our flaws and shatter our perception of ourselves.

But as this episode reveals, to deny feedback is deprive ourselves of one of the greatest gifts in life. Because while change might be inevitable, growth is optional. Growth is up to us, and much of it depends on our ability to receive the feedback the world is gifting us, in all its forms.

Yep, as it turns out, receiving feedback is an art unto itself. Here’s how to master it.

(This episode was recorded live in front of the team at Awesome Office HQ in Los Angeles.)

• Why receiving feedback is just as - if not more - important than giving it. 5:05
• Why feedback is fundamental for growth, and the difference between change and growth. 5:30
• Why it’s so hard to receive feedback, and the first step to becoming open to it. 7:05
• The benefits of recognizing imperfection in ourselves, including the impact on relationships. 8:29
• Why it’s better to find the truth than to be right, and why teams who see reality for what it is are the ones who win. 9:27
• Only when you are not willing to change are you able to achieve great things, and why feedback that triggers your defenses is actually a gift. 12:28
• How to practice conscious listening. 15:31
• The importance of body language and posture when receiving feedback. 17:05
• Why it’s important for both parties to repeat the feedback. 17:42
• How to evaluate the feedback you receive. 18:56

Commitment 8 - Express Your Zone of Genius

• This commitment is all about finding that one thing that you do well and love to do. Similar to concepts like "unique ability" and flow state,  your "zone of genius" is the area where you make the most valuable, creative contribution.

Commitment 9 - Remember to Play

• Contrary to what most of us are taught earl in life, work doesn't have to be nothing but stress, misery, and toil. Play, laughter, and improvisation are vital to being productive and fulfilled. (Besides, what good is life without a little bit of laughter?)

Commitment 10 - Consider the Opposite of Your "Story"

• We all have a "story" - it's the way we see the world, the assumptions we take with us when we approach problems. The idea here is to consider that the opposite of your story is as true or truer than your own.

Commitment 11 - Be Your Own Approval

• Commit to being your own source of approval, rather than relying on it from others.

Commitment 12 - Recognize You Have Enough

• How many times have you caught yourself saying "if only I had enough time. Enough money. Enough support. Enough space. Enough energy." This commitment reminds us that this imagined state of "enough" is never going to happen, and asks us to be satisfied in what we have now - and get stared solving problems!

Commitment 13 - See People as Allies

• Whether or not you consider someone an ally or obstacle is largely a matter of choice. So which would you rather have, enemies or allies? Choose allies. 

Commitment 14 - Win for All

• Recognize that life is not a zero-sum game and commit to creating win-for-all outcomes.

Commitment 15 - Be the Resolution

Recommended Reading

• The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Klemp

Or are you open to outside interpretations, curious about the world around you, and committed to learning more about yourself and those around you?

In other words, are you leading below or above the line?

That’s the topic of today’s special #SPKup episode as I explore the concepts contained in The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, a fantastic read and a book that’s proven to be a true game changer for me.

As you’ll hear in this episode, the entire leadership team at Awesome Office HQ is currently reading (or re-reading) this amazing book, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to share some of my learnings as I explore its valuable concepts yet again.

We only cover half the points in part one, and will pick up again in part two.

Here’s a quick recap of the points we Cover

Commitment 1 - Radical Responsibility  

• The idea with this first commitment is to locate the “cause and control” inside us, not in external events. This means we stop believing that the world should be a particular way, and instead believe that the world just shows up.
• In the second part of this process, we move from rigid, closed mindedness to curiosity, learning and wonder (something that naturally occurs if the first shift happens.)
• But most of all, radical responsibility is not about being right! Letting go of the need to be right is something all top tier leaders do.

Commitment 2 - Learning through Curiosity

• Conscious leaders are passionately committed to knowing themselves (the basis of curiosity) and allow themselves to wonder.
• Success here depends on approaching people with an unreasonable benefit of the doubt, especially those you manage. Be truly curious in what they say.

Commitment 3 - Feeling All Feelings

• So many leaders stay in their head and don’t access their guts or hearts enough. To be an effective leader, you need to acknowledge all your feelings.
• Emotions are just energy in motion. They’re neither good nor bad - they just are. The key is learning how to deal with your emotions and process them. Every feeling we experience is a way for us to grow and improve in awareness.

Commitment 4 - Speaking Candidly

• According to the book, the team that “sees reality the best wins.”
• So many people are scared to speak candidly, but when they do that they’re robbing themselves and other people from the natural flow of energy, from what really needs to be said.

Commitment 5 - Eliminating Gossip

• Gossip is defined as anything said with harmful intent, that you wouldn’t say in front of the other person. While gossip is a manifestation of our species’ desire for deep social bonds, it no longer serves us, especially in business.
• Here we break down why we gossip, and discuss strategies for reversing and avoiding our tendency to engage in this destructive behavior.

Commitment 6 - Practicing Integrity

• Remember that integrity has nothing to do with being right or wrong, it’s all about being whole. (The root of integrity is integer, after all.)
• We discuss the importance of not blocking the natural flow of energy, and the Four Pillars that help us maintain our integrity.

Commitment 7 - Generating Appreciation

• For this commitment, we talk about what it means to give people the unreasonable benefit of the doubt and why leaders need first and foremost to pay attention.
• Additionally, we dive into the various reasons why people don’t accept appreciation, and what masterful appreciation really looks like.

Again, that’s just part one. We’ll cover Commitments 8-15 in part two next week.

Recommended Reading

• The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Klemp
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In fact, he’s a renaissance man of sorts. Dr. Antoun Holds a Master’s in Health Care Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, a Master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins, and an MD and MS from St. Joseph University. On top of that, he holds four separate executive positions at places like the Health Systems Reform, the University of Chicago, the Journal of Health Systems Reform at the academic side, and the Global Healthspan Policy Institute. (I’m exhausted just typing that.)

But we were most interested in L-Nutra, the company for which he serves as CEO, and that’s poised to be the single most disruptive nutrition company in the 21st century.

It all comes down to the science of fasting. According to Dr. Antoun and his fellow researchers, fasting could hold the key to preventing many of the chronic illnesses that occur later in life. In fact, Dr. Antoun contends that it’s no coincidence that these conditions occur in our golden years. It turns out, most are actually symptoms of aging itself.

The key discovery is that when we fast, our bodies go into a protective, regenerative state, effectively reverse the process of aging, and therefore helping prevent and delay the onset of age-related chronic illnesses.  

Building on these findings, Dr. Antoun and L-Nutra have developed a product called Prolon, meal kits that don’t register as food to the body. Prolon causes the body to enter a regenerative fasting mode, while still providing proper nourishment.

We dive into this and a whole lot more, including Dr. Antoun’s upbringing, his views on leadership, and why creating positive change means finding alignment in both the public and private sectors. Needless to say, this was a fascinating, illuminating conversation.

Key Takeaways

• Dr. Antoun explains the science behind fasting, and how it has the potential to prevent chronic age-related illnesses.
• Dr. Antoun explains why our healthcare system is broken - and why “sick care” might be a more accurate name for it.
• Dr. Antoun explains the term “health span,” and why increasing our health span - not our lifespan -  should be the goal.
• Dr. Antoun makes the point that age related diseases come in series, and they might be better thought of as symptoms of aging rather than as illnesses in their own right.
• Dr. Antoun explains how they developed Prolon, how it works, and why it has the potential to disrupt healthcare as we know it.
• Dr. Antoun talks about his upbringing in Lebanon during the Palestinian occupation, and how years of struggle and hardship shaped his personality and forged his formidable drive.
• Dr. Antoun recalls his early days as a cardiologist, and how he actually lost patients simply because they couldn’t afford healthcare.
• Dr. Antoun explains how his journey from medicine to public policy to business is actually part of a three-pronged strategy to affect change.
• Dr. Antoun explains his role in the war against aging, and why there has to be alignment between the public and private sectors.
• Dr. Antoun explains how he is able to hold so many executive leadership positions, and shares his number one leadership trait.

Links

• Prolon Website
• L-Nutra Website
• Harvard’s Know Thyself Course
• Dr. Antoun on LinkedIn

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Ronen Olshansky knows a thing or two about awe-inspiring offices.

That’s because Ronen is the co-founder and CEO of Cross Campus, a Los Angeles based on-demand workspace and business event venue that provides peak office experiences to a community of creative professionals. Each of the four Cross Campus locations is a highly designed, highly social experience where inspiration, productivity, and creativity thrive.

Cross Campus is one of those places you have to see to believe, and if you live in Southern California, we highly recommend visiting one of their locations in Santa Monica, Downtown LA, Pasadena, or the South Bay. Featuring flex work spaces, a bar, and even meditations rooms, they often feel more like a high-end luxury hotel than a co-working space.

We’re not the only ones who think CC is great - President Barack Obama chose the flagship Cross Campus Santa Monica location for his summit on LA’s Silicon Beach tech scene.

In the interview, Ronen takes us through his upbringing and his decision to attend Yale at age 16, explains why he left Wall Street for tech in the early 2000s, as well as the lessons he learned running a bar on an island off the coast of Brazil - lessons that he still applies at Cross Campus to this day.

Ronen also share the three things every office needs to create a thriving company culture, and why having a blast is the key to it all.

Key Takeaways

• Ronen explains why it’s difficult for an entrepreneur to be successful without being obsessed with his or her idea, and why the real challenge is sustaining that intensity over the long haul. 3:24
• Ronen takes us through his upbringing, including his trouble with authority, his undergrad experience at Yale, and his foray into Wall Street. 6:10
• Ronen tells us why he left the financial industry to open a bar on Florianopolis island in Brazil, and how that experience informed the launch of Cross Campus many years down the line. 7:56
• Ronen dives into his time as a carbon credit trader in Moscow. 12:05
• Ronen explores the idea that Ivy leagues “handicap you,” and that while Yale was ultimately the right place for him, why elite universities might not be right for every aspiring entrepreneur. 17:00
• Ronen explains why he sees himself in the hospitality business rather than commercial real estate space, and explores why some companies might better serve their employees by thinking about their own business this way. 19:10
• Ronen dives into Cross Campus’ world class event curation, which has hosted everyone from Elon Musk to Tim Ferriss to President Barack Obama. 20:01
• Ronen explains why we’re in the age of the Experience Economy, and why the only way to communicate a differentiator sometimes is to have someone experience your product for themselves. 21:05
• Ronen tells us why Cross Campus DTLA installed a meditation room, and why it’s become the most requested feature for members at other locations. 26:24
• Ronen walks through the three things every office space needs to support a productive culture, regardless of industry. 37:37
• Ronen reveals the single best KPI for Cross Campus - and for any business. 41:37
• As an angel investor, Ronen talks about the greatest indicator that a company is going to make it. 43:13
• Ronen explains how to identify the A-players on your staff, and makes a case for only hiring them. 51:17

Links

• Cross Campus (visit them!)
• Ronen on LinkedIn

Recommended Reading

Peak by Chip Conley.

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Imagine this: you’re a young, bright student at the top of your class with dreams of attending a top university. Up to this point, you’ve been able to earn excellent grades and handle life’s challenges with relative ease.

Suddenly, at age thirteen, you’re thrust into a brand new culture. You don’t speak the language, your classmates make fun of you for reasons you don’t quite understand, and you’re back to square one academically. You still dream of gaining acceptance to a world-class college, but you have just five years until you start applying.

That’s exactly the challenge that lay before Harrison Tang, the CEO and co-founder of Spokeo and today’s Awesome Office guest.

Despite the deck stacked against him, Harrison was able to quickly master English, gain acceptance to Stanford University, and launch Spokeo with his college roommates upon graduation. Today Spokeo is the leading people search engine, with more than 18 million unique monthly visitor, and $78 million in revenue for 2015. Spokeo is also home to a unique company culture, one reflected in its numerous quirky conferences rooms - including the bacon-themed meeting space where Harrison recorded our interview.

According to Harrison, those early experiences after immigrating to the U.S. from Taiwan were hugely formative, and helped him develop a process to tackle any challenges that arise - one that he still uses to this day.

With his engaging stories, inspiring journey, and practical advice, Harrison was a delight to interview. Through it all, Harrison hasn’t lost his trademark optimism, sense of humor, and work ethic. We think you’ll enjoy this one as much as we did.

Key Takeaways

• Harrison explains why he and his co-founders chose to set up shop in Pasadena rather than Silicon Valley. 3:25
• Harrison delves into the hiring challenges - and benefits - of being located a little bit off tech's beaten path. 5:30
• Harrison takes us back to his upbringing, and shares his inspiring journey to Stanford University after coming to the U.S. at age 13 from Taiwan. 8:08
• Harrison describes the unusual way he mastered English as a teenager. 8:54
• Harrison tells us how this experience taught him to overcome the biggest challenges Spokeo faced as a business, and why optimism has been so important to his success. 11:03
• Harrison explains why adversity is an asset, and what he means when he says, “When there’s a tiger chasing after you, you run for your life.” 14:26
• Harrison tells us the greatest lesson he learned from his parents. 17:30
• Harrison talks about the origins behind Spokeo, and walks us through the pivot that led to their massive success. 19:04
• Harrison describes the advice he would give his younger self at the beginning of his entrepreneurial career. 26:02
• Harrison breaks down his process for dealing with challenges and fears. 28:12
• Harrison tells us the habits that help him optimize his work and be the best leader he can be. 32:56
• Harrison explains why he insists on respecting people’s time and giving his own time to his employees and colleagues - even when it seems like he doesn’t have enough of it. 33:47
• Harrison describes the impact that fatherhood has had on his leadership abilities. 39:22
• Harrison tells us the origin of Spokeo’s infamous bacon room, and how it reflects the company’s unique culture. 40:53

Recommended Reading

• Emma by Jane Austen
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

Links

• Spokeo
• @spokeo on Twitter
• @twhman on Twitter

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The end of the year brings with it that inevitable holiday lull, and it can be tempting to take your foot off the gas.

But the best companies and top performers know that those sleepy November and December months are a prime opportunity to generate momentum and slingshot themselves towards success in the New Year.

Here at SnackNation and Awesome Office HQ we’ve just wrapped up our Q4 quarterly planning, and after some reflection, we thought it would be a good opportunity to share our top tips for closing the year out STRONG.

That’s what this week’s #SPKup is all about - 9 ways to help you end your year with a bang, and start your new year off right.

1. Review your goals from earlier in the year.

Even if you aren’t on track to hit all your goals (you probably won’t be), look to create some momentum going into the new year by reassessing what you can do in the time remaining.

2. Use our 3x3x3 Matrix to track habits, objectives, and projects

Print these out and put them on your desk. Read them daily, and review and assess against them weekly. I like doing this on Sunday mornings.

Download our handy spreadsheet HERE.

3. Create your New Year’s goals now.

This is so important if you want to successfully crush your goals this year. There are many great ways to do this, but I love this format - the 5-4-3-2-1 model. That is:

• 5 things you need to do
• 4 things to STOP doing
• 3 new habits
• 2 people to hold you accountable (and yes, set accountability meetings now - can take some time)
• 1 new belief

Download our 5-4-3-2-1 worksheet HERE.

4. Don’t just create your goals, get started on them early!

Use November and December as a Training Ground for your goals without the pressure.

5. Make sure you give yourself a break between Christmas and New Year’s

This means thinking and planning ahead so you don’t have to catch up during this period of rejuvenation. Also make sure to take care of your self and be smart about your health.

• Eat alkaline foods (all illness thrives in acidic environments)
• Wash your hands like crazy, give fist bumps more than high fives, and keep Purell at your desk
• Get sleep, especially during holiday party season
• Take vitamin C (I take 1-2K mg in morning and during day)
• If you’re attending holiday parties and drinking, take lysine  

6. Don’t overindulge

Don’t start the New Year behind the eight ball! That’s not to say don’t indulge, but make sure you offset indulgences with healthy choices or activities.

7. Finalize all of your travel and plans in the first half of October

There is great freedom in commitment and knowing what you’re going to do over the holidays, which can turn very stressful if you’re rushing to do things.

8. Reset your clock

Ask yourself, how do the shorter days impact you?  Maybe you’re like me, and prefer working out later in the day during the winter because it gives you an extra boost to close the day out. The point is, do what you need to do to adjust to the shorter daylight hours.

9. Go into the holidays with clear set personal objectives

This can mean creating meaningful connection with your friends and family. What’s more important than relationships? Than human connection? Than family? So why do so many of us not enter holiday weekends without objectives, when we have so many goals in the workplace.

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What’s up Awesome Officers, this week we’ve got a special episode featuring a talk that Sean gave at the recent SHFM National Conference in Arizona.

In it, Sean describes what he believes to be the single most important thing - not just in the workplace, but in life - that we must focus on in order to live happy, productive and fulfilled lives. And we’ll tell you right now, it’s probably not what you think.

As Sean admits, this episode is personal. In crafting this talk, Sean strove to be as vulnerable, open, and transparent as possible in order to connect with his audience. The talk was by all accounts a success in that regard, and we hope that you’ll connect with the ideas in this podcast too. 

Key Takeaways

• Sean explains why human connection is the most important thing in life, and details the evolutionary science that helps explain why this is the case. 3:46
• Sean explores why gossip was actually a matter of life or death to our prehistoric forebears. 4:50
• Sean explains why the common conception of the successful dominant “alpha male” isn’t quite right. 5:53
• Sean points out a contradiction: why human connection is at an all time low, despite the fact that we live in the most connected age in human history. 7:00
• Sean shares a personal story about growing up in Northern Michigan, and some choice advice from one of his mentors. 8:34
• Sean takes a critical look at himself as an entrepreneur in his twenties, and why describes why he felt like it was him against the world. 9:29
• Sean tells us how he learned he’d become something he’d never thought he’d be - a (biological) drug addict. 10:55
• Sean breaks down the feel good chemicals that drive our behavior, and names the analogous street drugs that mimic their effects. 11:28
• Sean describes the moment he realized he was addicted to selfish chemicals, and wasn’t focusing enough on the social chemicals the enable longer lasting happiness and fulfillment. 16:17
• Sean identifies what he believes is the source of all suffering, and the quickest way to alleviate it. 16:30
• Sean explains why Millennials are poised to bring about radical social change, and create a world that emphasizes social bonds and human connection. 16:50
• Sean revisits the advice his mentor gave him, and modifies it in light of what he learned since he became an entrepreneur. 19:05

Links

• @Seanpk on Twitter'
• Sean on LinkedIn

Recommended Reading

• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
• The Fourth Turning by William Strauss

Megan Miller wants to know… why aren’t you eating bugs yet??

And for good reason - evidence suggests that protein sourced from insects just might be the key to fixing the world’s global food system.

Luckily for all of us, the bugs in question come in the form of delicious BittyFoods snacks, which include chocolate chip cookies and Chiridos, their signature tortilla-style chips.

Megan Miller is a digital strategist turned food pioneer, and the co-founder of BittyFoods, a company that makes a bevy of snacks made with their signature high-protein cricket flour.

The environmental science behind cricket farming is fascinating, but what we loved about our conversation with Megan was hearing how her vision and fearlessness empowered her to create something, well… a bit crazy.

Megan launched the company from her kitchen, baking and mashing crickets she purchased from a local pet store. Since then, she and Bitty have come a long way. The company has earned accolades and attention from national media, and recently secured national distribution for their products. (They also use much higher quality crickets these days.)

Megan was a delight to interview as she described how she and her co-founder have staked a claim at the intersection of deliciousness and craziness. We think you’ll really like this one.

Key Takeaways

• Megan tells us how she got into the whole cricket business in the first place. 4:35
• Megan describes the taste of cricket flour for people who haven’t had it before, and explains how they sourced the original insects. 8:35
• Megan breaks down the environmental advantage of cricket protein versus other types of protein. 10:15
• Megan describes how regions of the world that eat insects helped inspire the flavors of some of their signature products. 15:02
• Megan talks about the genesis of the name Bitty and considers the possibility of expanding to other insects. 16:05
• Megan describes her real apprehension about becoming the “crazy cricket lady.” 17:00
• Megan explains the process of sustainably raising crickets, and the possibility of certification for cricket farming in the near future. 19:43
• Megan goes back to her Childhood and tells us an experience that shaped her personality and helped her developed her grit and resolve. 21:15
• Megan talks about bootstrapping the company in its earliest days. 23:58
• Megan describes the greatest challenges the business has seen, and how they overcame it. 25:55
• Megan explains how she keeps her sanity while running a fast-growing business in such an unusual niche. 31:55

Links

• BittyFoods.com
• Megan on LinkedIn
• Justin’s Nut Butters

The beautiful thing about innovation is that it almost always starts the same, humble way - with a person and an idea.

Our most impactful technological achievements - the printing press, the internal combustion engine, the iPhone - all started with someone who saw a problem and dared to envision a solution.

It’s what Chris Powell calls “the art of the possible,” and it’s what has sustained his passion for the HR space for the last two decades.

Chris Powell is the CEO of BlackbookHR, a software company that equips organizations to leverage workforce insights that impact productivity, performance, retention and culture.

Chris also represents a bit of a rarity in the world of HR tech - a founder who actually spent most of his career in HR.

Because while most founders in the space come from a software development background, Chris has spent 20 years in the trenches as an HR exec with companies like Marriott, Scripps, and Deloitte.

This means Chris has tackled people issues from every side of the equation, and for all types of companies, from major corporations with thousands of employees in offices around the globe, to nascent startups experiencing growing pains for the first time.

As you’ll hear in the episode, Chris took some time from a vacation on Martha’s Vineyard to share some of his veteran insight with us. We talked to him about why companies tend to know their customers and vendors better than their own employees (and why this is a problem), why human behavior doesn’t allow for stasis, and how to foster the art of the possible with your employees.  

Of course, two decades in HR means that Chris has seen and heard it all, and he also shares his most outrageous story from the front lines of the HR desk. (Trust us, it’s a good one.)

Key Takeaways

• Chris explains why he got into the HR space, and what inspired him to stay in the field for more than two decades. 5:09
• Chris describes the “holy grail” that he’s been chasing in his career. 6:39
• Chris breaks down why human behavior doesn’t allow for stasis, and why it’s therefore the wrong state to strive for in business. 7:39
• Chris shares the #1 lesson he learned from his days selling cars to Ford dealerships that he still applies as a CEO and business leader. 9:07
• Chris relates a story from his days as an HR exec at Scripps, and tells us why relationships are more important than competency. 11:34
• Chris tells us about his childhood growing up in Memphis, TN, in a family with 7 siblings, and how that experience taught him how to deal with people. 12:45
• Chris also shares a story about a family trip to Nashville that taught him a valuable leadership lesson that he carries with him to this day. 14:43
• Chris explains why companies tend to know their customers and vendors better than their own employees, and what leaders can do to change that. 18:04
• Chris explains the genesis of BlackbookHR, and the ways they surface insights for the companies they serve. 28:43
• Chris tells us his craziest story after 20 years on the frontlines on the HR side of the house. 33:42

Links

• BlackbookHR
• @xrispowell on Twitter
• Chris on LinkedIn

Recommended Reading

Joe Cross is an Australian entrepreneur and filmmaker whose “reboot” concept empowers business leaders to take control of their health by making simple lifestyle changes.

But before he was the picture of health and wellness and a beacon of hope for thousands across the globe, Joe Cross was on death’s door.

By age 40, Joe’s health was in disarray, despite a flourishing career as a day trader and investor. As Joe explained it to us, he was focused on “wealth and not health,” and while he wasn’t looking his weight ballooned out of control. 100 pounds overweight, loaded up on steroids and suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease, Joe was at the end of his rope.

Enough was enough.

Sick and tired of being sick and tired, Joe discovered that the power to change was within his control, and that he could “reboot” his health and his life by making simple lifestyle changes. He lost the weight, cured his own disease, and threw all the pills away.

And if he can do it, so can all of us.

Joe documented this journey from obesity and illness back to health and vitality in his first film, Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, a runaway success that has been viewed by countless people around the world.

Joe was gracious enough to spend some time sharing his amazing story, as well as strategies that can help all of us improve our health, longevity, and vitality, and do the work we were meant to do. 

Key Takeaways

• Joe describes his reboot technique, and how it’s transformed his life.
• Joe shares one simple change the average business leader can do to start living a healthier lifestyle.
• Joe describes the “Two Rule,” a way to avoid sabotaging your health and nutrition goals while eating out at business meals.
• Joe breaks down the 80/20 rule that guides his healthy lifestyle, and explains why maintaining a balance is so vital to your longterm health.
• Joe shares a story about attending a rock concert in his youth that illustrates what a huge epiphany discovering a plant-based diet was for him.
• Joe talks about the replacement vs. restriction dichotomy, and how replacement is the key to long term success when it comes to lifestyle changes.
• Joe dives into his personal story, describing how he left high school at 17, became a courier for a merchant bank, and then a trader on the floor of Sydney’s Futures Exchange.
• Joe descibes his life as a trader, and how he lost $200k on his worst day.
• Joe explains how his obsession with work led to his ballooning weight and deteriorating health, and what he did about it.  
• Joe tells us why it’s so important to climb a tree and make sure we’re in the right jungle instead of blindly hacking away with our machetes (so to speak).
• Finally, Joe tells us why he became a filmmaker, and the role that storytelling plays in enacting positive social change.

Links

• Reboot With Joe
• @JoetheJuicer on Twitter

Joe’s Films

• Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead
• Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead 2
• The Kid’s Menu

Recommended Reading

• Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman

Happiness. Does it really matter?

Ask most business leaders fifteen years ago, and you’d be hard pressed to find one who thought that happiness was a primary concern, especially within the organization.

Work is about results, and happiness is incidental. Or so the thinking went.

Then came along a little company called Zappos, with a visionary CEO named Tony Hsieh who realized that delivering happiness was a unifying theme throughout the business. Not only did delivering happiness sum up the ideal experience for his customer, but making happiness a primary concern internally actually drove results.

There’s no one in the world who understands the power of Happiness better than this week’s guest, Jenn Lim.

Jenn is the CEO and Chief Happiness Officer of Delivering Happiness, a consulting firm she founded with Tony Hsieh to inspire science-based happiness, passion and purpose at work, home and everyday life.

Jenn was a foundational team member at Zappos, and in 2010 she led the launch of Tony’s book Delivering Happiness, which has sold over 600,000 copies worldwide.

Jenn refers to Delivering Happiness as a book that became a company that became a global movement.

We caught up with Jenn on a Hawaiian “workcation,” and she digs deep in this interview, telling us about her upbringing, her days as an angst-ridden, Camus-reading teenager, and her own happiness journey, which includes stops at UC Berkeley, San Francisco tech, and Zappos. Eventually, this path led her to the principles of positive psychology that form the basis of Delivering Happiness.

• Jenn takes us through DH’s happiness framework, and explains the difference between pleasure, passion, and purpose - as well as why a sense of purpose has the highest likelihood of creating sustainable happiness. 5:33
• Jenn walks us through her childhood, and explains how her experience as a first generation American shaped her perspective on what “success” and “happiness” mean, as well as how those constructs changed over time. 8:53
• Jenn describes one of the lowest moments of her life, and explains how this experience inspired her to focus more on discovering her own life's purpose. 13:37
• Jenn describes the life-changing events that led her to focus on positive psychology and the science of happiness. 21:22
• Jenn tells us about her introduction to Zappos, and the not-so-great first impression that CEO Tony Hsieh left on her. 22:25
• Jenn describes how her working relationship with Tony flourished, and tells us about the bonds that forged between them while scaling Mt. Kilimanjaro. 24:13
• Jenn walks us through the number one business case for workplace happiness, and lays out a strategy for creating values that actually mean something. 26:55
• Jenn tells us the story behind Zappos’ famous culture book, and how she brought the project from idea to launch.
• Jenn shares a formerly-held belief about happiness that has since changed.  40:00
• Jenn describes how the world of work will be different ten years from now. 46:12