When people in the food industry meet Robyn O’Brien for the first time, they often remark, “Funny, you don’t look like one of them.”
“One of them,” presumably being the stereotypical food or environmental activists.
And to be honest, they're right. (To wit, Robyn does not wear Birkenstocks or tie-dye, nor does she have dreadlocks.)
In fact, Robyn is a self-described “conservative Texas mom” raised in a military family, and admittedly, the last person you’d expect to be leading a crusade to reform the food industry. Yet she is at the forefront of a movement to fundamentally rethink what goes into our nation’s food supply.
As a financial analyst in the food industry, Robyn began to undercover undeniable links in the chemical pesticides, GMOs, and antibiotics in our food and troubling health trends like the explosion of childhood food allergies.
Through her writing and her now Famous TEDx Talk, Robyn triggered an allergic reaction in the food industry when she dared to asked: “Are we allergic to food or what’s been done to it?” Today, she is a sought-after advisor and speaker, inspiring organizations and individuals to engage in the “New Food Economy.”
Robyn was a delight to interview, and as usual, the conversation took some unexpected turns. What we found most fascinating was Robyn's insight into her journey from financial analyst to food warrior. Fear, she says, was the one thing holding her back, but how leading with love (something she learned from her mother as a child) has given her the courage and resolve to bring these important issues to light.
Robyn’s now famous TEDx
Talk:
Key Takeaways
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Books
This is episode is brought to you by the snack geniuses at SnackNation.
SnackNation is a healthy office snack delivery service that makes healthy snacking fun, life more productive, and workplaces awesome.
To try a free SnackNation discovery box (featuring 15 delicious snacks your team will love), visit get.snacknation.com/ao. You'll also receive a complimentary copy of the 2016 Ultimate Guide to Creating An Awesome Office.
Our guest this week is Scott Svenson, the co-founder and CEO of MOD Super Fast Pizza. MOD is the pioneer in the fast casual pizza market and is now one of the fastest growing restaurant chains in the US, with 114 stores open today and plans to have 190 open by the end of 2016. Thats some serious growth.
There's no doubt that Scott is an accomplished leader - he and his wife have built multiple successful companies both in the US and UK.
But what impresses me most about it him is his calm demeanor, stoic nature and sense of confidence that he gives to others. He’s just got a really cool aura about him - like he is fully present and aware - and I know this is one of the many reasons people really love working with him, and why he has had so much success.
I had the fortune of meeting Scott at Harvard a few months ago, where we were both taking a leadership and executive management course that was developed through YPO, the Young President’s Organization. Scott’s company MOD Pizza was a case study for all of the 200 CEOs and business leaders there, and it was through this case study that I realized Scott and MOD have something really cool going on that we can all learn from.
What I found most fascinating - and what we talked about at length in this interview - is how MOD thrives with a business model that puts employee experience first.
Key Takeaways
Recommended Reading
Links
This is episode is brought to you by the snack geniuses at SnackNation.
SnackNation is a healthy office snack delivery service that makes healthy snacking fun, life more productive, and workplaces awesome.
To try a free SnackNation discovery box (featuring 15 delicious snacks your team will love), visit get.snacknation.com/ao. You'll also receive a complimentary copy of the 2016 Ultimate Guide to Creating An Awesome Office.
From day one, Riot Games has been about one becoming thing - the most gamer-focused studio in the world.
Co-founders Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck are both hardcore gamers, and from the outset, they’ve consciously built a culture that emphasizes player experience above all else - even revenue.
To preserve this ethos, the company only hires gamers, a practice they’ve continued even as they’ve scaled. Today, the company has more than 2,000 employees (or “Rioters” as they’re known internally), all of whom have firsthand knowledge of gaming and gaming culture.
The end result is an organization that is always in touch with its audience. And while Riot’s core consumer is sophisticated and at times demanding, Marc says these high customer expectations motivate Rioters to deliver superior gameplay.
By all accounts, this approach has paid off.
If you’ve never heard of Riot Games, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of their marquee title, League of Legends - aka, the most popular online game… ever.
What, exactly, does that mean? We’ll let the stats tell the tale.
We visited the stunning Riot Games HQ in West Los Angeles to speak to Riot president Marc Merrill, and to learn exactly how they’ve managed to build their unlikely empire.
The campus itself was a sight to behold. The sleek-yet-whimsical Riot offices feature a world-class cafeteria, an outdoor basketball court, a Korean style PC-cafe, a gorgeous onsite coffee bar called Bilgewater Brew, and surprises around every corner.
Marc and his team were generous hosts, and we can’t thank them enough for sharing their perspective on what makes Riot such a powerhouse in the gaming world.
Key Takeaways
Recommended Reading
Links
This is episode is brought to you by the snack geniuses at SnackNation.
SnackNation is a healthy office snack delivery service that makes healthy snacking fun, life more productive, and workplaces awesome.
To try a free SnackNation discovery box (featuring 15 delicious snacks your team will love), visit get.snacknation.com/ao. You'll also receive a complimentary copy of the 2016 Ultimate Guide to Creating An Awesome Office.
Life isn’t easy. Life isn’t perfect. But life is good.
That’s the motto that has propelled Life is Good - the lifestyle clothing brand that celebrates optimism - from a $200 initial investment in 1989 to a $100M company today.
This week, our Awesome Office guest is none other than Life is Good co-founder and Chief Executive Optimist Bert Jacobs. In the interview, Bert shares how he and his co-founder/brother John conceived of the company, and why placing optimism at the core of the brand has helped it reach millions of people.
As Bert tells it, before it was ever a company or a t-shirt, “Life is Good” was a spirit personified by Bert and John's mother, Joan, an eternal optimist who taught her children to turn the music up, enjoy the moment, and always remember to focus on the good things in life.
Ultimately, the pair took her message to heart, and made the spread of positive energy their lives work. In addition to the brand's uplifting message, Life is Good achieves spreads good vibes by donating 10% of net profits to the Life is Good Kids Foundation, and by holding events like the Life is Good music festival, which is set to return to Austin, TX in June of next year.
Bert was an incredibly honest, good-natured, and fascinating guest. He told us why he believes our disposition determines our happiness, why work/life is balance is an inherently flawed concept, and why the people who have the hardest row to hoe tend to gravitate toward the Life is Good brand the most.
Speaking to Bert put us in a great mood and taught us a lot about leadership and business, and we think listening to him will have the same effect.
Key Takeaways
Recommended Reading
Links
This is episode is brought to you by the snack geniuses at SnackNation.
SnackNation is a healthy office snack delivery service that makes healthy snacking fun, life more productive, and workplaces awesome.
To try a free SnackNation discovery box (featuring 15 delicious snacks your team will love), visit get.snacknation.com/ao. You'll also receive a complimentary copy of the 2016 Ultimate Guide to Creating An Awesome Office.