These days, CEOs are kind of the new rockstars.
Our collective obsession with entrepreneurship and innovation has transformed the Zuckerbergs, Musks, and Bezos’ of the world into pop culture icons.
It can be easy to forget that Chief Executive Officer is a job - and a hard job at that. The role requires supreme efficiency, intense focus, and resolve. Every decision can have big consequences, and you need to be decisive in the face of uncertainty, criticism, and even self doubt.
So no matter where you are in your career, you can learn a lot by the way CEOs approach their work. But what does a typical day look like for a CEO?
Luckily, we happen to know one. In this episode producer Jeff Murphy talks with Awesome Office host and SnackNation CEO Sean Kelly to learn how he approaches his typical work day.
As you’ll hear, Sean breaks down how he approaches a typical day, shares the framework he uses to break up his week, and provides strategies for maximizing your effectiveness from when you wake up until your head hits the pillow. He also tells us his most important activities and responsibilities, and how those have altered as the business has scaled from less than 30 people to 150.
At Awesome Office, we often say that your company is like a sports team, and I think after hearing this interview you’ll definitely agree.
This week we’re bring you a conversation with Reggie Bush
Yes, that Reggie Bush: Super Bowl Champion, two-time NCAA National Champion, and Heisman Trophy Winner Reggie Bush.
Not only is Reggie a great storyteller, but he’s a thoughtful guy with a pretty unique life experience and point of view. As you’ll hear in this episode, Reggie shares some of the lessons he’s learned in his decade-plus NFL career that we can all apply as we seek to achieve excellence at our own organizations.
Recorded live at SnackNation headquarters in Culver City, CA.
This week on the podcast we’re featuring a recent presentation that I gave at the Human Capital Institute conference in San Francisco.
It’s all about transforming your company - not with things like new technology or processes or management techniques - but something a lot more fundamental to who we are. Human Connection.
As you’ll hear in a minute, I dig into the how and why of creating a NEW type of company - one where the goal is to help people become the best versions of themselves. That means your customers and your employees. (Especially the latter.)
I really wanted to share this presentation with you because it contains strategies, tactics, and stories that I haven’t told on this podcast before, but I know you’ll be able to apply at your company.
In this presentation I’ll tell you
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Recommended Reading
Starting a business is hard. Scaling a business is much harder.
That’s one of the biggest takeaways from our interview with Brandon Weber, the co-founder and chief product officer of VTS.
VTS is the world's leading asset management and leasing platform, transforming an industry that until very recently has resisted the technological innovations that others have embraced.
With one foot in computer science and another in real estate, Brandon is the perfect person to bring this stodgy industry into the 21st century.
In this interview, Brandon walks us through this journey, including the trials and tribulations of scaling, and tells us why he and his biggest rival ultimately decided to join forces.
Plus, Brandon tells us why he believes an addiction to “Type 2” fun is one of the keys to entrepreneurial success in any industry.
We all want to experience success. But how do you get there? Is it a straight line? When do you know to adjust course or make big moves away from your original strategy?
This episode will dive into all of this.
HUTCH is a Los Angeles company that boasts an innovative product, major funding from marquee investors, and has even appeared on the TV show Shark Tank.
If you weren’t paying attention, Hutch might look like an overnight success.
But when you dig a littler deeper, the real story is much more complicated.
Hutch’s story is really one of perseverance, and knowing when to pivot your business - even when doing so might feel incredibly scary.
In this interview, Hutch CEO and co-founder Beatrice Fischel-Bock dives deep into these topics and tells us how she and her team made the tough decision to change course midstream.
We also learn the philosophies behind Hutch’s one-of-a-kind company culture, how Beatrice and her co-founders have successfully mixed business and friendship, as well as her secret to crushing your next investor pitch.
Remember, if you like what you hear in this interview, we’ve got a ton more where that came from. Subscribe to us and never miss an episode, or tell a friend to spread the awesome.
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Recommended Reading
At Awesome Office, we think that education is magic.
If you've heard the show, you know we're big on personal growth, and there are few things as crucial to growth as investing in yourself via education.
But our current system of higher education isn’t without its flaws - in fact it’s been in the midst of massive disruption for the last ten years or so.
And while a ton of ed-tech companies have sprung up to solve many of the challenges that our system faces, there’s one area that has remained largely untouched - the college admissions process.
(If you just shuddered thinking back to the stress of getting into college... we're right with you on that).
Luckily this week’s guest Avriel Epps is here to change that.
Sometimes Virtual Reality gets a bad rap. Everything new is a little scary, and there’s a fear on the part of some that widespread adoption of VR means that we’ll somehow get “lost in the Matrix.”
But as this week’s guest James Iliff tells us, that isn’t likely. Why? Because virtual reality isn’t about cutting yourself off from the world, it’s about expanding your experience of the world, and enhancing our understanding of who we are as human beings.
James is the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Survios, an “active VR” company based in Los Angeles. James and his team create groundbreaking interactive content powered by their cutting edge immersive technology. Translation - they make super fun VR games like Sprint Vector and Raw Data. And the best part - these games actually get you off the couch and moving.
In this interview, James provides a deep dive on the world of virtual and augmented reality, which he believes will massively change the way we live in the very near future. As he describes, gaming and entertainment are only the first movers for VR. The platform has the potential to transform a wide variety of fields, including education, psychology, real estate, and travel.
James also tells us about the genesis of Survios, the company’s awesome LA headquarters, and the unique culture that they’ve developed to support Survios’ groundbreaking work.
Links
Recommended Reading
We’ve talked a lot about why your work environment is so important when it comes to maintaining an outstanding company culture, but no one has summed it up as succinctly as this week’s guest, Russell Shubin:
“Form follows intention.”
These three simple words are a guiding principle for Russell, and in the context of his life’s work, they point to creating spaces where companies can innovate and individuals can thrive.
Russell is the co-founder of and a partner at Shubin Donaldson, a leading architecture and design firm that create awe-inspiring commercial interiors.
In other words, he builds Awesome Offices for a living.
In this episode, Russell discusses how the firm’s residential work has informed how they design commercial spaces, how your office environment can actually set your company up for growth, and why the Shubin Donaldson internal culture has been so crucial to their success.
Russell also walks us through the firm’s “Occupy” series, a weekly employee-led teaching and learning session that takes place in the firm’s onsite metal- and woodshop.
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.
Hmbldt CEO Gunner Winston doesn’t want to settle for best-in-class.
In part, that’s because hmbldt’s space - the cannabis industry - is so nascent, that beating their competitors just isn’t a big enough challenge.
But more than that, Gunner sees medical marijuana as simply a consumer product, no different than a lot of other CPG brands. And in the CPG space, a superior brand is a gigantic competitive advantage.
So Gunner and the hmbldt team are setting their sights higher. They’re not on a mission to build a best-in-class brand, but a world class one.
Picture the Coca-Cola of Cannabis.
By all measures, hmbldt is on a path to do it. TIME magazine named their dose pen - a revolutionary design that regulates the amount of THC patients ingest based on their needs - one of their top 25 inventions of 2016.
In this interview, co-host Sean Spear goes deep on these ideas and a ton more, learning about Gunner’s background as a hedge fund investor in consumer products, his introduction to the medical marijuana industry, and the personal habits that have helped him transition from Wall Street to the wild west of cannabis.
Links
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.
By all accounts, LA’s Rareform was doing pretty well. They had a unique product that was clearly resonating with Millennial consumers - one of a kind bags and accessories made from repurposed vinyl billboards.
Then a little thing called “Shark Tank” happened.
In this week’s episode, co-host Sean Spear sits down with Rareform co-founder and managing partner Aric Avedissian. Aric takes us through the company’s early beginnings, telling us how his brother Alex came up with the idea while working with a non-profit in El Salvador, and why Aric first said “no” when he came to him with the idea.
He also describes the outsized impact that their recent Shark Tank appearance has had on Rareform’s business, as well as what it’s really like to pitch your idea to the likes of Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, and “Mr. Wonderful.”
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.
There's no doubt about it - big changes are coming.
New technologies like artificial intelligence and automation will fundamentally alter the way we work. But what will that look like, and how should companies adapt?
This week on the show co-host Sean Spear interviews Chris Rising, the Founder and President of Rising Realty. Chris is a 19-year veteran of the real estate business, and someone who’s always been ahead of the curve in terms of building spaces that support how the most innovative companies work.
We loved this conversation because it brought together so many of the big ideas that we care about on this show - everything from office space and its relationship to culture, to personal habits and productivity, to the big technological changes poised to transform our economy and the workplace.
Sean met with Chris at Rising’s dramatic HQ in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. In this episode, Chris dives into his personal journey - including the lessons learned from his Jesuit education and his experience as a college football standout at Duke University - shares his daily habits, and explains why he thinks offices aren’t going away anytime soon.
This one runs a littler longer than most, but be sure to listen to the end to hear a challenge that should have a big impact on your energy and performance.
Recommended Reading
Links
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.
When you hear the word “company culture,” what comes to mind?
If you picture a whimsical work environment filled with highly social Millennial co-workers, cruising around on hoverboards and gathering around the company’s kegerator on Friday (or Tuesday) afternoons, you’re not alone.
According to this week’s Awesome Office guest, you’re also completely wrong.
In this episode, co-host Sean Spear talks to longtime friend and mentor Tony Knopp, the CEO and co-founder of InviteManager. Together with his co-founders, Tony has built the leading entertainment enterprise SaaS company, so he knows a thing or two about building high-performing teams.
Tony is a fascinating, driven entrepreneur who reads two books per week, and who brought a ton of juice to this episode. In our conversation, he shares stories from his early days at StubHub, explains why he decided to strike out on his own at the age of 27, and details why InviteManager has made “relentless recruiting” one of their core tenets.
One of the things we found most interesting was Tony’s take on company culture, and why he thinks most people miss the mark when it comes to building the right culture for their business.
Recommended Reading
Links
Today we’re fired up to introduce our brand new contributing host, Sean Spear of Hughes Marino.
Sean is one of my absolute favorite people. He’s someone who, like me, is fascinated with the intersection of personal performance, workspaces, and workplace culture, and how these things can make for better businesses and enhance all of our lives. He’s also someone with an endless curiosity and knack for stories, and he’ll be a perfect addition to the AO crew.
I’ll still be doing my share of interviews and standalone segments, but Sean will be adding to the interview side of the equation, tapping into his impressive network of leaders and cultural innovators.
In the coming weeks you’ll be hearing a LOT more from Mr. Spear, but for now I decided it would be fun to put him in the hot seat. In this episode, Sean tells us why he starts every day at 5 am, why he believes fortune favors the bold, and why you shouldn’t be afraid to, in his words, “fail epicly.”
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Simon Cohen’s doctors thought it was a heart attack.
Back in 2006, the self-professed workaholic was on a business trip in China on behalf of Henco, the global logistics company he founded in Mexico at the age of 24.
But not everything was going well. Simon could barely eat, and only slept a few hours at a time. He spent his days meeting with his partners in Hong Kong, and stayed up all night working with the team back in Mexico.
On the last day of the trip, he felt a jolt of pain in his chest - so powerful that it knocked him off his chair at dinner. The next thing he knew, the 32 year old former Olympic-level swimmer found himself in the back of an ambulance racing to the hospital.
The experience was nothing short of life changing. As a high level athlete, Simon had taken his good health as a given. As it turned out, he had a rare heart condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW), and the intense stress of running Henco was threatening his wellbeing.
After taking some time to recover, Simon decided he had to make a change - and the results speak for themselves. Henco, a company in a notoriously stressful industry, has been named the sixth place to work in Mexico, and the number one logistics company to work for in Mexico six years in a row.
Simon told us how he achieved this amazing turnaround, as well as what he means when he says his goal is to treat his employees like “human humans.”
Key Takeaways
Links
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.
Livio Bisterzo tried something different.
What if, he wondered, instead of starting with a product, you started with a brand proposition? What if you first built a story that your audience believed in? A big, powerful story, one that resonated with consumers, retailers - anyone who came across it? Something more akin to a tribe or a movement? What would happen?
Big things, it turns out.
This week our guest is Livio Bisterzo, the founder and CEO of Green Park Holdings, makers of the super popular Hippeas brand organic chick pea puffs. (If you’ve ever been to a Starbucks, you’ve likely seen their bright yellow, smiling packaging.) In just a year’s time, the brand has launched in 18,000 retailers - and the number is growing virtually every day.
Livio joined us in the Awesome Office / SnackNation HQ for a live interview in front of the team there. In the episode, Livio discusses the process of building the Hippeas brand from the ground up, and why a focus on story has made all the difference. He also explores the lessons he learned from his working class roots, why he believes there are no 9 to 5 entrepreneurs, and the link between brand and culture.
Key Takeaways
Links
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.
Seeing as February is the time of year most closely associated with love, we're shifting gears this month to focus on love, compassion, and empathy in the workplace.
For many, love in the workplace is still a bit of a taboo subject. It wasn't long ago that the office was a strictly unemotional place. Heavy emotions just weren't discussed, let alone celebrated or rewarded.
But times have changed. More and leaders have realized that a loving and giving culture doesn't just make for an enjoyable work life, but for a more profitable business as well.
This week Sean tackles how to create a more loving, giving, and profitable company, offering his top nine tips for making this happen.
Sean goes into much more depth of course, but here's a quick rundown of his suggestions:
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.
Each year, 190 CEOs from 40 different countries gather at Harvard Business School for an intense week of learning, teaching, and sharing. It's a truly special program organized by the Young President's Organization that brings together some of the best and brightest leaders around the globe.
Among them, AO's own Sean Kelly.
Sean's back this episode to give us his top learnings from another immersive week at HBS. And like year's past, the week was full of breakthroughs and surprises.
One of those surprises - the telltale signs when it's time for an employee to move on.
As we've said before on this show, effective leaders know that retention shouldn't be an end-all-be-all priority. High-growth businesses depend on individual growth - both personal and professional. Often, "graduation" out of a role - or even a company - is an inevitable outcome. But there are also instances when it's to both party's benefit if an employee simply moves on. This was a heated topic during the summit, and Sean lays out the telltale signs when this should happen.
That's not all. Sean also shares why good is sometimes the enemy of great, how to measure the potential growth in a new hire, and the best stories he heard from this phenomenal group of leaders and thinkers.
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.
Sure, a lot of leaders are starting to come around on the idea of company culture. But what about subcultures? How do they work, and how might they have a place in your business?
What do we mean by subculture? We mean a distinct team or department culture within an already well-defined company culture.
We wanted to know how these smaller cultures develop, why they might be necessary in your organization, and how to go about shaping and defining them. To help us find out, I spoke to Chelsie Lee, the VP of Customer Success and Experience at SnackNation.
Think of this episode as a case study on office subcultures, and our subject is SnackNation’s Member Success Team (or MST), a team that embodies this idea more than any we've seen. Not only did we have Chelsie weigh in, we also had a chance to hear from her amazing team to get their take on how these ideas work in practice, and how this subculture affects their productivity, job performance, and overall wellbeing.
Chelsie and her colleague Clay Telfer also share the eye-popping employee rewards and appreciation program that they rolled out for 2017. Think of it as a video game achievements program made real - complete with custom-made badges for unlocking milestones and participating in team campaigns. It’s utterly unique, and in our opinion perfectly illustrates the identity and culture that this team embodies.
Huge thank you to the tenacious team builders on the Member Success Team, especially Chelsie, Clay, Kelsey, and Lexi for taking time out of their schedules to chat with me.
Key Takeaways
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.
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
Links
Recommended reading
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.
So you’ll understand our excitement when we found out that we landed one of the book’s co-authors, Diana Chapman.
Diana has been a trusted advisor to over 700 organizational leaders and many of their teams. Clients from Genentech to Yahoo! value her clarity, compassion, ferocity and playfulness, and she’s a well-respected facilitator for the Young Presidents Organization.
In this episode, Diana revisits some of the topics from our initial exploration of conscious leadership, but gives a much deeper understanding of both how to do it, and why it’s so important, both to our businesses and our lives.
Diana also sheds new light on the subject of stress, and explains how many of us are actually addicted to the adrenaline that comes along with it. It's why so many of us consider ourselves "always on," and wear the term "workaholic" like a badge of honor. Ultimately, Diana teaches us that all this stress is damaging our health and limiting our teams' ability to succeed.
Diana was an amazing interview, and it’s such a rare treat to read such a transformative book and then have the opportunity to go even more in-depth with the author herself.
Diana also brought so much magic to the table that we decided to release this one in two parts.
Top takeaways:
Links
Recommended reading
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.
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.
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.
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.
If you’re anything like me, I’m guessing you grew you up with this familiar maxim:
As long as you set your mind to it, you can be whatever you want to be.
Now what if I were to tell you that this idea was flawed, and might actually lead you down the wrong path?
Still with me?
That’s exactly the idea that we explore in this week’s episode of the Awesome Office Show, which is all about helping you discover your life’s authentic purpose. And it's pretty important stuff, for it’s a sense of purpose that gives us a lasting sense of fulfillment.
As Sean uncovers, the key is to listen to the feedback that life gives us in order to discover our strengths and take the path that’s right for each of us. It’s not just about discovering your strengths and your passions, but pointing them towards something even greater - your authentic life’s purpose.
Sean recently gave a version of this presentation to a group of young investors in Mexico City, and thought it would be relevant to our Awesome Audience. Here are the main points.
Key Takeaways
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
Links
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.
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.)
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.
Commitment 8 - Express Your Zone of Genius
Commitment 9 - Remember to Play
Commitment 10 - Consider the Opposite of Your "Story"
Commitment 11 - Be Your Own Approval
Commitment 12 - Recognize You Have Enough
Commitment 13 - See People as Allies
Commitment 14 - Win for All
Commitment 15 - Be the Resolution
To see more of what the 15 Commitments look like in action, check out the Conscious Leadership Group.
Recommended Reading
Introducing SnackNation Market.
For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too.
SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep. With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game.
We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE.
Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling).
That’s SnackNation.com/AO.