Forum Confidential: A podcast by the Entrepreneurs’ Organization

On this episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the US East region! Our host, Derek Harp from EO Atlanta, will interview fellow EO Atlanta member, Branden Lisi.

On this episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the US Central region! Our host, Carmen Fiorilli from EO Cleveland, will interview Andrea Herrera from EO Chicago.

On this episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the Canada region! Our host, Marina Byezhanova from EO Montreal, will interview Parveen Dhupar from EO Toronto.

On this episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the Europe region! Our host, Nir Zavaro from EO Israel will interview Chitra Stern, an EO Portugal member.

On this episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the US East region! Our host, Derk Harp from EO Atlanta, will interview Matthew Weiss from EO South Florida.

Our host, Abeer Qumsieh from EO Jordan interviews EO Cape Town member Philipp Hartmann. Philipp is the dad of a set of twins and a set of triplets. He provides insights and tips on how to balance being an entrepreneur and his family life, including handling his agencies and clients during the crisis of COVID-19. Timestamped show notes 2:30 Philipp is a dad, a podcaster and serial entrepreneur 3:15 Founder and CEO of GSDH – a full service digital creative agency and The Factory - a digital performance production house 4:13 Philipp started a podcast called, Being Dad that can be found on Dadicated.com 7:40 The opportunity rose and we grabbed it. Some things only happen once 8:15 Two things that I think are valuable to share are: - Insisting on being right could come at a great cost, even when you are right - Trust your first instinct, the gut should be awarded veto rights 11:12 I’m trying to be very thoughtful on where I spend my time. Working with fellow EO member, Warren Rustand on my priorities 12:04 How are you handling the adversity and doubt with the circumstances we’re in? 12:37 Look at hard data, not social media 13:10 Make sure you have the right vision and think about where you want to be after the crisis 13:57 We defined certain must dos and must haves 15:00 This is not a drill, we are actually going into a recession 15:20 We were able to pivot the feeling from adversity and doubt to positive and grateful from the whole team 15:34 The EO community came together very quickly 16:43 Provides insights on what he does with his staff in regards to emotional resources, food parcels and freedom 17:20 How can you be a good leader during these tough times at home, in your community and at work? 18:06 Lead with vulnerability 18:43 Don’t be scared to say no and to say when you don’t know 19:14 What are your plans for the future? 20:00 By June 2022 I want live off my podcast, Dadicated.com, entirely 21:15 If we can empower one father, we can have a direct impact on society 21:59 What EO event experience or speaker was responsible for a change in your personal or business life? 23:08 Productivity Hack, quick-fire Q&A with Philipp Hartmann

On this episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the Canada region! Our host, Marina Byezhanova from EO Montreal, will interview fellow EO Montreal member Cyril Chaib.

On this episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the US Central region! Our host, Carmen Fiorilli from EO Cleveland, will interview Kevin Bonfield from EO Dallas.

On this episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the North Asia region! Our host, James Li from EO Beijing, will interview former EO China North president AJ Warner.

On the thirteenth episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the US East region! Our host, Derek Harp from EO Atlanta, will interview fellow EO Atlanta member Doug Ireland. Doug Ireland is the CEO/President of Freeland Painting in Atlanta, Georgia. An entrepreneur since he was 20 years old, Doug provides insight on how EO, his community, neighbors and most importantly his wife helped him become the successful business owner he is today. Timestamped show notes 3:00 Started entrepreneurship back at 20/21 years old – mobile oil change company 3:30 Officially started Relocation Moving Solutions in Atlanta where him and his girlfriend moved 6:10 EO Irony – 4% new companies only survive past 10 years, we always talk about that 4% being over a million from our Accelerator group in to full EO, how ironic that it’s almost the same 6:36 Family property, Freeland Property Group started 7:10 Luck or genius to tap into the housing market and ultimately opening a new business in a recession 8:53 Wisdom comes from errors and mistakes 12:30 Creating and starting a new business while working elsewhere – “look ahead” 15:40 Did $100k in sales as a side business during that first year 16:15 Freeland Painting started with homes – told neighbors and all friends 16:30 Joined Chamber of Commerce and used that as his market 17:15 To set apart from day workers, created a website, logo, branding and spoke about “we” 21:45 Second year we tripled 21:52 Becoming civically involved was beneficial 22:10 Marketing VP at Chamber of Commerce became interested in Freeland Painting 23:00 Small Business for 2011, made it to billboards and print 23:30 35-50% of business was coming from Chamber of Commerce during those pivotal years 25:35 “Relationships matter more than the brush and the ladder” 30:24 Ran for City Council office in 2011 and got elected – served 2, 4 year terms 36:53 “Copreneur” 40:56 What’s next for Doug? 41:50 This is where EO has been great – to be surrounded by other business leaders and people with brilliant ideas 42:45 EO Accelerator Program Graduate 18 months ago 44:35 Being a part of EO has a real world impact on how I think, how I act, how I deliver 45:30 I got lucky enough to ask to be involved and became a Board member earlier this year and that has been opening doors all over the place

On the twelfth episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the Canada region! Our host, Marina Byezhanova from EO Montreal, will interview fellow EO Montreal member Shawn Johal. Timestamped show notes 03:40 Shawn is now a full-time business coach. 05:00 He explains how Warren Rustand accepted to be his mentor. 06:30 “The entrepreneurial journey”. 07:30 After selling your business, you have to have a plan, you have to know what would you do next. 08:30 To Successfully exit one business, doesn’t make you a successful entrepreneur. 09:40 According to Warren’s experience, he found out that a lot of entrepreneurs were unhappy when they sold their business. 11:30 “Are you excited to go to work tomorrow?” 12:40 “The book of joy” (Dalai Lama), treats joy as a deeper state compared to happiness. Joy as a journey and happiness as the goal. 14:00 Step away from the relationships that are not bringing you joy. 16:00 “I see myself as a business coach, a mentor.” 19:00 Shawn explains that he teaches his clients how to meditate and he addresses the importance of meditation. 21:00 Shawn used the “Scaling up” methodology from Verne Harnish, tripling revenue in 3.5 years in his company. 25:00 Leadership skills is something that you can develop over time. 26:00 “Charisma is a very deeper strength that a person can bring to the table. Someone who can look at a situation, remove themselves from the situation and be able to bring a very calm perspective that takes into account other people’s views.” 27:00 Charisma explains that charisma has a lot to do with influence. 29:00 Shawn shares that he was definitely not born an entrepreneur and that he doesn’t like rejection. 32:00 During University, Shawn studied communications. He wanted to be a documentary filmmaker. 34:00 The story of how Shawn started a company with his brother-in-law from scratch. 39:00 “I look back at my journey and I consider myself very naïve.” 40:00 Finding out what positivity bias is. 43:00 Shawn explains that it’s all about impact and credibility. 47:00 “I want to help Dals lighting being successful”. 49:00 Shawn’s biggest highlight at EO was his first event when he got to know Robin Sharma. 51:00 The GLA was Shawn’s second-biggest highlight at EO. 54:00 Leadership is what inspires me the most, and you are the real definition of a leader. Mentioned books: "The book of joy" "Scaling up"  “The greatness guide”

On the eleventh episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the Europe region! Our host, Nir Zavaro from EO Israel will interview fellow EO Israel member Amir Kfir. Forum mates, Nir Zavaro and Amir Kfir sit down and talk about the impact and principles they use in their businesses that they utilized in Forum. Timestamped show notes 3:12 Moderator in Forum for the last 20 years 4:30 Undergraduate in Psychology 6:32 Should everyone write a book? 7:52 What matters is what stays after we leave 9:26 What learnings would you give for entrepreneurs who have kids but do need to travel? 12:10 Need to be global, expand themselves relocate often in order to an impact at a significant level of magnitude 13:18 People are really eager to tackle big challenges; when you look around everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and in some way most of them are 15:28 What are the take home values that us small entrepreneurs take from these big organizations? 17:44 If you have a burn rate that is driven by money and salary and you’re not able to move quickly, you’re lost 19:39 Going outside of your Chapter is crucial 20:04 You don’t have to be geographically tied in order to have a group of people that you desire to work with 20:38 That is really taking advantage of the power of this network (EO) that we’re a part of 21:10 As entrepreneurs, knowing when to play second chair is crucial 21:30 There are two things that are important in partnerships that work well 24:37 There’s a lot from Forum that we can take back to our businesses 27:40 The most significant relationships that people remember, even the corporations, is the time when people cared for each other like human beings 30:02 Business at any scale is a fantastic place to apply these principles 32:20 Any quick and dirty advice you can give? 35:18 Is vulnerability a problem in a CEO, Founder, Partner internally and externally? 39:00 Even in an educational event is to learn from each other 43:00 Leverage the knowledge 45:12 Knowledge should transfer from one place to another through technology

On the tenth episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the US West region! Our host, Katty Douraghy from EO San Francisco, will interview EO Seattle member Marc Rousso. Marc Rousso is the CEO and Captain Vision of JayMarc Homes. In partnership with Jay Mezistrano, he builds luxury custom homes that people can’t help but fall in love with. Based in Mercer Island, Washington, JayMarc Homes is a boutique building firm that builds luxury presale, move-in ready and custom homes in the Greater Seattle, Mercer Island and Eastside areas. Timestamped show notes 0:58 Tracy Neal presents Forum Confidential Host Katty Douraghy. 2:39 Katty Douraghy presents his guest Marc Rousso. 3:40 Marc explains that he worked as a DJ at weddings. 5:00 He sold the business for $15,000. This was the seed money to buy properties and turn them into rentals. 7:00 It takes one dreamer and one executor to make it happen. 8:40 They became developers in their early 30’s. 9:24 “What is the 1% thing that we do, that no one else do?” 11:30 Face to Face Marketing. 13:00 Our company became really well known for being land developers. 14:00 All of the sudden, the market turned. 15:37 “We never imagined that the recession was going to last 5 years” 18:00 They had a 2 million dollars debt with the bank in 2010. 20:00 “Marc what you need to do is just start small.” 23:00 “One thing you don’t want to do when you raise money, is cry” 25:00 Buy from confidence and trust. 26:44 One bite at a time. 28:30 The emotional struggle. 29:30 “I don’t have a lot of money but I would love to have you as my mentor” 31:00 Who Marc was as a leader. 32:00 “I only had one person that I needed to prove something: myself” 38:00 Stopping growth to be moderate. 40:00 “It was important to have a great customer service. That allowed us to build the brand” 44:00 Everybody wants to be in the Seattle Market Place. 45:00 Brothers relationship. Great team and partnership. 46:00 The importance of authenticity and transparency as a leader. 47:00 One of Marc’s favorite things in Seattle: Ferry boat ride  

On this new Forum Confidential episode, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to Latin America and the Caribbean region! Our host, Gian Marco Palazio from EO Nicaragua, will interview EO EO São Paulo member Daniel Miglorancia. Timestamped show notes 1:00 Tracy presents Gian Marco Palazio 2:24 Gian Marco Palazio presents Guest Daniel Miglorancia 3:30 Daniel shares with the audience some background about how his professional life started 4:40 Daniel and his wife saw the business in America for the first time and then they bought the franchise for South America 7:19 Working with your partner: healthy work and personal relationship 8:49 “We learned how to give more space to each other. We learned a lot from each other” 10:27 How to achieve a successful family business and results: the most important thing is to be transparent. 13:00 His father’s dream was to give his children a better education than the one he had 15:00 “My door is always open” 16:30 When he was a young adult he started to pay attention to his father-in-law 17:50 Ways to improve in business 18:40 Problems and challenges in his company and a strong wake-up call 20:17 When you have the right partner and the same values everything is different 21:00 A hard experience that opened his eyes 23:00 “I can’t put the savings I have for my life in risk” 26:00 Going global and starting a social impact model 28:00 “If we want to change the world we have to do something about that with our businesses” 29:20 A great experience with Syrian refugees 30:00 My main challenge is not to micromanage anything anymore 32:00 “If we are not continuously stretching ourselves we are going back to that static state” 34:00 The horseback riding story 36:00 When Daniel was a kid everything was all about horses. When he grew up he was obsessed about motors 39:00 Daniel completed his 6th Ironman 40:00 He talks about exercising every day and how this 41:00 Two things that impacted Daniel the most at EO is Gestalt and Warren Rustand and his 10/10/10. 10 minutes to think about all the things that you are thankful for, other 10 minutes to visualizing your day and trying to plan and find your way to making it happen, and the last 10 minutes to read, to find good ideas and think about how to evolve in some areas in your life, get inspired with other people 44:0 Productivity hacks Links https://nuttybavarian.com.br/ Daniel’s favorite podcast host https://open.spotify.com/show/09Rlb3I3tzqeI5KRLDTyOb

On the eighth episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the APAC region! Our host, Erik Ten Have from EO Indonesia will interview EO Malaysia member George Gan. Timestamped show notes 1:11 Tracy Neal presents Forum Confidential Host Erik ten Have 3:00 George presents himself. 4:05 The guest talks about his youth and how he learned about leadership with his mom. 6:28 George explains how he studied a degree in England, UK. During those days he communicated through letters with his family, once a year ye bought a phone card to call his family. 7:45 The first months in England were very excited for George. He took advantage of the opportunity it was given to him and he was motivated to get the degree to start working after that. 8:50 “I made a conscious decision that if I had a degree from the UK, and my knowledge from my home base I would put myself in a very unique advantage that I had the Asian heritage knowledge and the exposure to a more advance way of doing things.” 9:20 After his graduation he worked in London for 4 years as an accountant. Then he decided to go back to Malaysia and start his own entrepreneurial journey. 12:40 The guest talks about how his ambition of being an entrepreneur started. 14:29 How he set up his first office. 17:00 He sold his first company when he was 32 year old. 20:00 When George became the Motorola distributor for China and started scaling. 24:00 George explains how he lost his company and spent some very painful years after that. 26:11 When his Forum came up for him and were there for him. 27:30 “I’ve learned that good people can do bad things.” 28:35 His Forum mates became his soulmates. 30:14 “I became the most amazing father in the world. My life transformed. That uptown was my family, I found clarity in terms of who I am.” 31:15 EO is his tribe, he has been in EO for 22 years now. 32:30 “I came to the realization that I am hitting 60 years old. There is urgency of time now and I must be careful how I spend my time.” 34:30 George shares that he has a durian (Asian fruit) farm and he is going to create a retreat location at his durian farm.

With over 18 years of cross-functional experience in technology, entrepreneurship and organizational development, Zeeshan Aftab is an entrepreneur, technologist and philanthropist. He is the co-founder of 10Pearls and has grown the company from inception to a thriving organization, serving both large enterprises and exciting start-ups. Timestamped show notes 1:00 Tracy Neal presents Forum Confidential Host Abeer Qumsieh. 1:49 Tracy Neal presents the most distinctive features of Jordan. 2:40 Abeer mentions that Pakistan is one of the oldest and prosperous civilization in the world. She also describes that the word Pakistan means “the land of pure”. 4:00 Zeeshan explains why his business is called 10Pearls. 5:05 The podcast guest, Zeeshan Aftab talks about his childhood, how he was homeschooled in the early ’80s and that he comes from a very humble background. They were six siblings. 5:40 Zeeshan spent his childhood in Singapore and Turkey, and learned on his own. 6:30 When he was 18years old he didn’t knew what to do with his life. 7:40 Zeeshan explains how homeschooling has affected his todays success. It has helped him to be more independent, thinking out of the box, proposing different solutions. 9:10 Abeer express that when you first start a business, it is really common to make a lot of mistakes. She asks Zeeshan which were his mistakes. 10:30 Zeeshan talks about the importance of being fearless, using your first judgement, learn from failures. He says that sometimes mistakes are a blessing. 12:20 How did the idea of 10Pearls came into his mind. 14:00 Zeeshan dives into adversity in his business and his highs and lows. 17:08 Explaining how the 10Pearls team was built, based in a growth mindset. 18:40 Revealing Marketing secrets. 20:40 Lead by example and inspiration. First deserve, then desire. 22:00 Certain failures are good for you. You have to have a strong mind and a strong persistence. 23:40 “I’ve made a promise to spend time with my family”. 25:00 Retirement plans. Retiring is a phenomenon that occurs when you think you have accomplish something. 26:35 Leaders always create leaders, not followers. 27:00 What has impacted you the most within EO? Warren Rustand and Forum training. 28:15 Productivity hacks.

On the sixth episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the US Central region! Our host, Carmen Fiorilli from EO Cleveland will interview EO Cincinatti member Tim Rettig. Episode Summary Intrust CEO Tim Rettig is a guy who knows how to get the ball rolling and keep it rolling. Since Intrust first kicked off in 1992, while Tim was still a student in UC’s College of Engineering, he has been running with success down the IT outsourcing field, bringing with him a team of loyal players to help keep the action moving at a fast pace. As a second-generation technology entrepreneur, Tim was born with the desire to inspire change in the world and every day he plays toward this goal, finding and incorporating cutting-edge business practices that allow clients to use technology to share data and connect. Listen now! Timestamped show notes 0:55 Tracy presents Carmen Fiorilli 2:24 Guest Tim Retting explains how long has he been in EO and explains what his business is about 3:15 Tim has an IT Manage services business. He started the company while he was in college. 4:30 Tim’s father started a software company in the 70s 5:00 Tim was not planning to start a business but he started to earn money for his education 7:00 Tim explains the story of his company 9:30 He had a large client who needed to migrate their systems in one weekend. The owner of the company disappeared and all his employees showed up on Monday morning and they had to answer all the HR questions to the employees. 12:00 After this experience he decided to put better exit plans for his companies. 13:00 Better transparency in the finances of the operation 13:50 Our finances are now completely open to our employees. 17:40 Tim’s mentor was his father 18:00 What was the spark that made you realized “EO is for me”? 19:00 As soon as I joined EO I realized about the global impact versus local impact that EO had. His Forum is also a huge value for Tim. 20:00 EO and the UN 22:15 The speaker that impacted me the most was Dave Rendall: “What makes you different makes you unique” 23:40 The importance of his orange suit

On the fifth episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the South Asia region! Our host, Kanika Dewani from EO Nagpur, in India will interview EO Gurgaon member Gaurav Jhunjhnuwala.  Episode Summary Gaurav Jhunjhnuwala discovered that he had retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic disorder that leads eventually to blindness when he was in his teens. Since then, he felt that every day is the worst day of his life. In this episode, he talks about how his mindset changed and how he is able to not only live as normal as possible but also thrive in his personal and business life. Listen now! Timestamped show notes 0:50 Tracy Neal presents Forum Confidential Host Kanika 1:13 Tracy presents New Delhi 2:10 Kanika presents her guest Gaurav Jhunjhnuwala 3:01 Gaurav talks about his genetic disease retinitis pigmentosa 3:50 Gaurav explains how he uses a text to speech software to communicate 4:40 Kanika asks Gaurav how was his journey losing his vision 5:00 Gaurav talks about his childhood 6:30 Guarav’s operating mindset during his adolescence was “Every day is the worst day of my life” 8:00 Facing a new challenge: moving to the University Campus 9:00 Trying to fit in and wanting to be like anyone else 10:30 “The biggest issue I was facing was myself” 11:50 Gaurav dropped out of college and went back home in Hong Kong 12:50 “My parents were really supportive”. He addresses that he has been very lucky to have the parents that he had 13:30 Studying in Houston with a spiritual mentor. “He told me there are four most important days in our lives. The day we born, the day we day, the day we find out our purpose and the day we achieve that.” 15:00 Today, his purpose is to inspire everyone around him to live their life to the fullest and to lead the best version of themselves that they can 15:22 At age 22 he started his journey of figuring out his purpose 15:40 Visiting a hospital in south India 16:00 It’s not about what has happened to me, it is rather how I respond to what has happened to me 16:00 I always had a business mindset 17:00 Joining the Education business and creating the Netflix of Education in India 18:40 Gaurav talks about being the owner’s son. He learned that responsibility was something it was not going to be given to him, but it was something he had to take for himself. 20:00 Gaurav tells how he met his wife 20:25 Focus on five things in life: Family, relationship, career and health 21:30 “I want to pull myself out of my comfort zone” 22:00 Gaurav started his own company from scratch 23:15 The importance of good communication in marriage 24:40 “This is the life we have chosen and we are going to get through it one way or another” 27:00 When he had to give up books that was something very difficult for him to handle. Audiobooks really helped him. He tried to apply what he had learned in audiobooks in his own business 28:50 The most important part was understanding and accepting what was happening to him 29:30 Because of EO: Mentoring session I with his parents to have a better relationship 30:40 My Forum had played a pivotal part in my life. 31:30 I feel it’s even more important for someone like me to interact with people, and get them to see that just because an individual has a disability doesn’t mean that they can’t add value to the world

On the fourth episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the North Asia region! Our host, James Li from EO China North, in China will interview EO member Ta-Wei Wang. Episode Summary Ta-Wei is an education industry professional from Seattle, Washington with nearly 15 years of education management experience. Ta-Wei's educational career began in 2005 in South Korea. His six years in South Korea brought him experiences in teaching, faculty training, content development, center management, and franchise expansion. In 2011, Ta-Wei moved to China to develop a new education program and later moved on to co-found Shang Learning to serve as the Director of Education. In this episode, he shares his path as an education industry professional and the challenges Education faces nowadays. Tune in now! Timestamped show notes 0:58 Tracy Neal presents Forum Confidential Host James Li 3:19 Ta-Wei Wang presents himself, he was born in Taiwan and his family moved to Seattle when he was 4 years old 4:26 After graduating he wanted to travel abroad for one or two years. He went to South Korea to teach English, from that experience he was able to do R&D, curriculum development, becoming a faculty manager and train teachers. 5:25 From South Korea he moved to Beijing and was able to help start two different education companies, helping students with their admissions processes, to fulfill their dreams to be able to study abroad. 6:44 To the question: “Is being an entrepreneur something that you are born with or something that is developed over time?” He responded that thinking back to his childhood he started working in his family business at 11 years old, at the chain of a Chinese restaurant. Thanks to the experience of learning the value of money at a very young age, a lot of that work ethic was already in place when Ta Wei turned 16 and started getting a job. 7:40 A lot of the jobs that he got were on the entrepreneur spectrum. It is something that Ta-Wei enjoyed, being able to start companies. 8:30 He learned a lot of his work ethic from his father who works in the cooking business. which he learned from his father. His father never missed a day of work, never complained about was he was doing. Ta Wei Wang addresses that hard work does pay off. 10:00 One of his biggest challenges was that he was teaching English but he was rejected because he had a non-American looking name and I looked Asian. 11:00 Luckily a company in Korea looked beyond that and now the market has become a little savvier and looking for people that share the same experience that their children are going through - being a person who was born in Asia and studied in the United States. 12:00 In the education industry this is very common. It is so stereotypical and racist but also understandable. 13:22 To being able to hire good mentors or good educators you have to look to their background. 14:00 We get to hire American looking people that went to Harvard or Stanford or Yale. They come over to be teachers and the thought for a lot of parents is like “this person will be a great teacher”. But that’s not always the case. 15:15 When looking at who might be a good educator, the most important thing is how you can effectively deliver the information. 16:40 The Programs I have been working on, help students develop critical thinking skills and XXI century skills such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creative thinking. 20:30 One of the large challenges that his company faces is that before a lot of the focus was on the memorization of knowledge. We have to educate families that now knowledge is at the tip of your fingerprint and the important thing is being able to know what to do with this knowledge. 23:30 Most of our classes don’t have any grades and the question is how do you measure progress? We do it through project-based learning. 26:00 Ta-Wei Wang talks about his mentor, who was his boss in the Korean company. 29:00 Joining the Chapter and being in the Forum has helped Ta-Wei discovered himself more deeply.

On this new Forum Confidential episode, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet  to take you to Latin America and the Caribbean region! Our host, Gian Marco Palazio from EO Nicaragua, will interview EO Guadalajara (Mexico) member Guillermo Ortega.   Episode Summary Guillermo Ortega, COO and co-founder of iTexico, shares his professional journey and reveals that it’s all about persistence. He brings a unique perspective to the world of IT entrepreneurship and explains how EO helped him face adversity. Listen now! Timestamped Show notes 2:30 Guillermo Ortega presentation 3:37 Professional background 6:06 Sometimes you need to learn how to let go 7:45 Cross border Company 9:13 The Forum has been really helpful 12:40 My style to run the business is to be present 15:50 Childhood 18:00 Persistence, persistence and persistence 19:00 Keep the pace with technology 23:36 I want to get involved with a Mexican unicorn in the next 10 years 28:40 My legacy is what I’m doing every day 34:00 Difficult days, April 2009 36:00 First things first 37:00 Reputation is one of the most important things 38:30 My mindset as an entrepreneur changed 41:00 The impact of Forum 44:00 Productivity Hacks

On the second episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the US West region! Our host, Katty Douraghy from EO San Francisco, will interview EO member Kinari Webb. Episode Summary In 1993, Dr. Kinari Webb was an undergraduate studying orangutans in one of the most virgin tropical rainforests in Borneo, Gunung Palung National Park. There, she came across a disappearing natural environment and the enormous health needs of the local communities. She realized that these two problems were connected and founded the non-profit organization Health In Harmony. In this episode Kinari shares her story and the challenges she had to face. Tune in now! Timestamped Show notes 3:35 Kinari Webb’s start 5:04 No data known 6:00 Face the deepest parts of your soul 7:25 Radical listening 8:50 Ask the people who is facing the problem 10:35 I realized how blessed I was 13:34 The journey of Kinari’s organization 15:30 Gunung Palung National Park 17:18 The Box jellyfish episode 23:23 The most transcendent experience Kinari ever had 25:28 A truly alive moment 27:36 Post traumatic growth 29:59 We need to start taking care of the world that supports us 31:48 Teaching the Doctors 33:00 There is a powerful force in the teams that surround us 33:23 Entrepreneur Program to help the community create their own business 34:50 Education is not related to intelligence, it’s related to opportunity 36:00 The exquisite beauty of nature 38:30 I found my tribe 39:40 The Forum is the core 41:30 Productivity hack: stop drinking caffeine 43:40 The 7 minutes app  

On the first episode of Forum Confidential, we’re boarding the EO Global Jet to take you to the APAC region! Our host, Erik Ten Have from EO Jakarta, in Indonesia will interview EO member Jody Dharmawan. Episode Summary President Director of PT. Lee Cooper Indonesia, Jody Dharmawan talks about the beginnings of EO Indonesia and explains how EO has helped him in his entrepreneurial journey. He addresses the importance of having a purpose in life and accepting oneself defects. Tune in now! Timestamped Show notes 2:50 EO Indonesia origin 3:55 “The peer to peer learning path is something that amazed me” 5:23 The consequences of Asian crisis 6:37 How I should build this chapter? 7:40 Participating in Global Events 8:30 Jody presents his family business 9:25 Brand names 10:45 Building a real partnership 11:51 Understanding the differences of people 12:06 Asking other to help me to overcome my weaknesses 13:20 Through the EO journey I’ve come to realize I should be more comfortable about my own self 14:23 Two terms as a Global Forum Chair 15:22 Learn how to lead leaders 16:04 Align the purpose 17:11 Listening to everyone is important 19:50 Run meetings virtually 20:55 Because of the Forum tools we now know how to communicate with each other 22:55 I’m happy I’ve served the Global Board 24:18 Facilitator’s skills can be applicable to family, business 26:25 Get up early and go for a run. Then meditate 28:20 How to build Rapport 29:50 Is your belief still serving your purpose? 31:30 Trust the process 34:04 We never teach how to learn how to learn 34:34 The importance of unlearning 35:55 I was taught to suppress the emotion 37:00 What is your plan in 10 years? 38:15 Fear of uncertainty 40:00 What is my purpose in life