We’re doing a reboot of one of our absolute favorite episodes - our very first!
After surveying our listeners, we realized that many of our newer listeners had never heard some of our early episodes. To us, these early conversations are essential. Not only do we constantly reference the lessons we learned therein, but they really set the stage for the next year and a half of Q&A.
The Awesome Office Show is all about leading people, creating culture, and inspiring Awesome for companies of all shapes and sizes. So for the show’s very first guest, we went with someone who embodies the spirit of that mission; someone who has personally interviewed more than 1,200 candidates; someone whose passion for people and development permeates everything he does, and who has cultivated a culture of growth that helped transformed his company into the second fastest growing private company in America.
We’re talking about Quest Nutrition co-founder and Impact Theory founder Tom Bilyeu
Tom, along with his two partners, has completely reinvented the nutrition bar category in a periods of just a few years, and redefined what it means to snack healthy by creating healthy treats that taste like they’re bad for you, but actually are not.
Having grown up in Tacoma, Washington in a family that struggled with obesity, Tom felt a personal drive to segue into the health and fitness industry and help his loved ones and others like them revolutionize their relationship with food. As it would turn out, this new focus on something deeply personal and passion-based led him and his two partners to found Quest.
We expected Tom to drop some magic on our first episode, and he certainly didn’t disappoint.
One of the most fascinating things we learned about Tom is that he credits much of his success to a concerted effort to rethink — or even unlearn — the lessons of the past, including the fixed mindset and so-called “slave mentality” that plagued him early on in his career.
Tom had so much good stuff for us that we decided to give this conversation two episodes. So join us as we delve into the mind of Quest Nutrition’s Tom Bilyeu.
Key Takeaways
Links & Recommended Reading
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.