Podcasts about entrepreneurship award

A Brooklyn native thriving in Charlotte, Ohavia Phillips is a dynamic force in sports, media, and entertainment. As an electrifying emcee, in-arena host for The Charlotte Hornets, and award-winning entrepreneur, Ohavia lights up stages, arenas, and events with unmatched energy and impact.​From emceeing marquee events like the Jumpman Invitational, UNCF's Maya Angelou Women Who Lead Luncheon, and the Ally Tipoff, to hosting the Queen City Awards and Black Girls in Media celebrations, Ohavia's reach spans industries and audiences. She has been invited to presidential campaign rallies, partnered with esteemed organizations like the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and consistently commands the mic at the most influential and inspiring events.​Ohavia's media journey is equally impressive. She has been featured across every medium—from radio to television, news, and podcasting. Her magnetic presence and storytelling prowess have landed her collaborations with St. John Knits, Lexus, NPR, Power 98, V101.9, and more. As the founder of The cOHllab, a business highlight program showcasing thriving businesses from the Carolinas and beyond, Ohavia has carved a unique space to amplify voices, create powerful narratives, and inspire communities through her media endeavors.​Her accolades speak volumes: named one of the 50 Most Dynamic Women in the Charlotte Region, featured on Business North Carolina's Power List, and recipient of the Andre Leon Talley Icon Award. Ohavia's commitment to excellence in media and community impact has earned her numerous honors, including the Career Mastered Top Entrepreneurial Woman to Watch and Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award.​Ohavia's interviews have spotlighted prominent figures like Dell Curry, Muggsy Bogues, Stacey Abrams, Dr. Eric “ET” Thomas, J. Alphonse Nicholson (P-Valley), to name a few, solidifying her reputation as a skilled conversationalist and safe-space creator. She has also featured athletes, music icons, artists, and award-winning business owners in her conversations. Her authenticity online continues to shine, earning her a spot as one of Meta's top creators.​In everything she does—from fashion to sports and beyond—Ohavia lives her mantra of “leading with love and impact.” With dreams of establishing a multimedia empire through positivity and connection, Ohavia Phillips is not just living the dream; she's redefining what it means to create meaningful change in media, entertainment, and beyond.#DijeLoQueDijeFind Ohavia on @OHAVIAPHILLIPS on all platforms

On today's episode of The CLS Experience, we have a very handsome treat. He's a Mega successful entrepreneur and CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, bestselling author, Hollywood film producer, Grammy-winning jazz album producer, AND Emmy Award-winning TV show executive producer, JUST to name a few. Throughout his multifaceted career, he has been a part of multiple major startups, AND He is the Chairman of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, which works with entrepreneurs in 200 countries, NO big deal. He supports the White House, the State Department, the United Nations, and similar organizations internationally on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship programs, AND He was also honored with the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase and Citibank, Big facts! He's just a juggernaut in all facets of life and a terrific human being. Please welcome the multifaceted, inspiring, and trailblazing, the handsome and game changing, abundant Jeff Hoffman.  3:47 - Spirituality and Self-Belief  5:44 - Perspective, Purpose, and Rock Star Hires10:38 - Power of Rock Stars in Leadership19:29 - Scaling Success29:07 - Attitude Determines Outcome36:14 - From Software Engineer to World-Changing EntrepreneurConnect with Jeff Hoffman: https://www.jeffhoffman.com/ Check out World Youth Horizons: https://www.worldyouthhorizons.com/ To join our community click here.➤ To connect with Jeff Hoffman follow Jeff on Instagram➤ Order a copy of my new book The Reinvention Formula today! ➤ Join our CLS texting community for free daily inspiration and business strategies to elevate your day, text (917) 634-3796To follow The CLS Experience and connect with Craig on Social Media:➤ INSTAGRAM➤ FACEBOOK➤ TIKTOK➤ YOUTUBE➤ WEBSITE➤ LINKEDIN➤ TWITTER

On this episode of the Lead With Purpose podcast host, Tze Ching Yeung talks to Maria Remy about circularity and fashion. KEY TAKEAWAYS The problem in the UK is there's often quite a long time between swapping events where you don't know what to do with your clothes, you want to consume more because of the fast pace of fashion but you may not have the chance to do so. We created a digital platform to be the bridge between the events. CLOSWAP is a Tinder-based model, swiping right and left releases dopamine, you then match with people and you can choose to meet up with them or ship the items to them via same-day bike delivery.  People who are in fashion are often artistic people, they care about the purpose and the mission, which is great – that's what sells the product. But, if you make that a business that can sustain itself the impact will be larger over the long term.  Most people only care about themselves, which might sound pessimistic but it's reality, so you have to match the behaviours that are there: Over-consumption, dopamine-hit-requirement, short attention spans. Circularity is one of the only solutions to prolong the lifecycle of clothing. BEST MOMENTS ‘CLOSWAP is Tinder for clothes and Eventbrite for swapping events combined.' ‘Swapping is probably the least financially viable business to get into, we've never hosted an event that was profitable!' ‘Impact is the mission I want to pursue throughout my life.' ‘Apps like Vinted take too long, when I buy something I want it right now.' ABOUT THE GUEST Maria Remy is a former professional athlete turned marketing specialist, creative director and founder of CLOSWAP, winner of the Mayor's Entrepreneurship Award 2024 and a top 700 startup & social venture (according to Hult Prize) pioneering in circular fashion.  With a background in fashion styling and a passion for social impact, she leads with creativity, strategy, and a commitment to change. Maria is also the president of the Women in Business, driving diversity and innovation in the industry.  ABOUT THE HOST Tze Ching started her entrepreneurial journey back in 2007 with the launch of a sustainable clothing & home furnishing ecommerce business. Next, she created a sustainable fashion brand. In 2019, she launched a social enterprise to help raise awareness about the negative impact of fashion at schools & colleges.  Through the 15-year journey, she learned so much, but easily the most meaningful lesson learned was about the importance of marketing. She now focuses on channelling those insights to help others succeed through We Disrupt Agency, a business coaching, mentoring & digital marketing company.  Tze Ching's mission is to create a community of global change makers and to contribute to positive change in both people & planet. CONTACT DETAILS Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn

Last week I was honored to have a conversation with Jeff Hoffman. In this weeks highlight episode, I dig into one of his most memorable quotes, “the biggest piece of advice I've been sharing is that having a successful start up, it's not a funding game, it's a talent game“. I also review the source of his personal culture and Northstar: the single mom who raised him and his siblings by working three jobs.More about Jeff Hoffman:Jeff Hoffman is an award-winning global entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, bestselling author, Hollywood film producer, a producer of a Grammy Award winning jazz album, and executive producer of an Emmy Award winning television show. He is an Executive Producer and stars in the groundbreaking new TV series GOING PUBLIC, a show where viewers worldwide can invest in thestartups that Jeff is mentoring on the air. In his career, he has been the founder of multiple startups, he has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and he has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known successful startups, including Priceline.com/Booking.com, uBid.com and more.Jeff is the Chairman of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, which works with entrepreneurs in 200 countries, as well as being a founding board member of The Unreasonable Group, whose portfolio companies have raised over $11 billion in funding and have positively impacted more than one billion lives worldwide. He is also on the Advisory Board of CEED Global, the Centers for Entrepreneurship andExecutive Development, teaching entrepreneurship globally in developing countries. Jeff has supported the White House, the State Department, the United Nations, and similar organizations internationally on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship programs.Jeff is the Managing Partner of Jeff Hoffman Advisory Services, a strategic consulting firm that teaches exponential growth to business owners and entrepreneurs, as well as teaching innovation strategies to corporations and governments worldwide. Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, the Middle East, South America, Africa, and Asia. He supports entrepreneurs and small businesses on a worldwide basis. Jeff is also the founder and CEO of World Youth Horizons, a non-profit organization providing homes, schools, food, and health care to children in need around the globe. Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 70 countries. He speaks on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership, and is the author of the book SCALE, a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis.Jeff is a featured business expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more.Jeff recently received a Humanitarian Award from Disney and Be Great, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Tribune for his business and philanthropic contributions. He was honored with the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as

I had the privilege of speaking with Jeff Hoffman this week on the C-Change show. Among his innumerable accomplishments, he is the chairman of the global entrepreneurship network as well as a founding board member of the  unreasonable group whose portfolio companies have raised over $11 billion in funding he's been featured as a business expert on every major network and business publication and was honored with the Champion of Entrepreneurship award from JP Morgan chase, Citibank and rising Tide capital. Perhaps his most incredible achievement, was the successful sale of a company he founded, but it wasn't the money, it was the fact that not a single person voluntarily left the company during his tenure as the CEO. This man understands how to acquire and retain Rockstars. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from the deep insights of this extraordinary human being who had the courage to reject the  ‘nice guys finish last' culture and pioneer a culture of care without any role models.More about Jeff Hoffman:Jeff Hoffman is an award-winning global entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, bestselling author, Hollywood film producer, a producer of a Grammy Award winning jazz album, and executive producer of an Emmy Award winning television show. He is an Executive Producer and stars in the groundbreaking new TV series GOING PUBLIC, a show where viewers worldwide can invest in thestartups that Jeff is mentoring on the air. In his career, he has been the founder of multiple startups, he has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and he has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known successful startups, including Priceline.com/Booking.com, uBid.com and more.Jeff is the Chairman of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, which works with entrepreneurs in 200 countries, as well as being a founding board member of The Unreasonable Group, whose portfolio companies have raised over $11 billion in funding and have positively impacted more than one billion lives worldwide. He is also on the Advisory Board of CEED Global, the Centers for Entrepreneurship andExecutive Development, teaching entrepreneurship globally in developing countries. Jeff has supported the White House, the State Department, the United Nations, and similar organizations internationally on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship programs.Jeff is the Managing Partner of Jeff Hoffman Advisory Services, a strategic consulting firm that teaches exponential growth to business owners and entrepreneurs, as well as teaching innovation strategies to corporations and governments worldwide. Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, the Middle East, South America, Africa, and Asia. He supports entrepreneurs and small businesses on a worldwide basis. Jeff is also the founder and CEO of World Youth Horizons, a non-profit organization providing homes, schools, food, and health care to children in need around the globe. Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 70 countries. He speaks on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership, and is the author of the book SCALE, a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis.Jeff is a featured business expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more.Jeff recently received a Humanitarian Award from Disney and Be Great, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Tribune for his business and philanthropic contributions. He was honored with the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as

Somayeh Aghnia is a serial entrepreneur and technology founder who co-founded This episode of Inflection Points Joe speaks with Somayeh Aghnia, highly accomplished entrepreneur, technology founder and Geeks' Co-founder and CEO.Somayeh co-founded Geeks in 2008, a company that helps senior leaders design, engineer, and adopt appropriate software technology to accelerate their businesses. Additionally, Somayeh created WordUp, an AI language app that has been downloaded over 5 million times and founded a technology university.With multiple awards under her belt, including the Queen's Award for Enterprise in Innovation, the UK Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award, and the Gold Stevie Award for the most Innovative Company of The Year in Europe, Somayeh's experience and knowledge are invaluable to anyone looking to succeed in the technology industry.We discuss:1:17 Intro Introduction and choosing tech as a career3:50 IP1 Immigrating to the UK from Iran6:35 IP2 Being a changemaker at the core and founding Geeks16:59 IP3 Flat management structure hindering growth24:54 IP4 Using her superpower of Female empowerment32:36 The difficulty of English as a language being the driver for app Wordup42:11 Outro What is exciting Somayeh about eh next 12 months

Along with exhausting all your resources, education and determination can make a big difference no matter your industry! Today's guest, David Zamarin, tells us exactly how to get on the Shark Tank Show. He also explains how he invested the money into his education and the idea of nanotechnology, eventually leading him to develop the protective coating product, DetraPel.David shares his journey as a teenage entrepreneur and the behind-the-scenes when he joined the Shark Tank show, where he made a pitch to the sharks. What happens after the cameras stop rolling and how did his appearance on the show change the trajectory of his business? Tune in now and also learn the importance of sustainable businesses and their role in positively impacting the environment.Key Points from This Episode:David's background and what he and his business do.David shares his story of when he was an entrepreneur in his teenage years.How did David end up making $25k a month when he was in high school?David talks about his episode on the Shark Tank Show and tells us how he got in.What did David think when the sharks started making offers, especially since he was just 19 years old?How did airing in the show take his business into a company?David speaks about how functional his business was and their marketing lift at that time.What is the company doing today in a snapshot and how much capital does David have to infuse and raise from outside investors from the beginning?David's eco-friendly coating company and what it does.How did David raise capital for his company and how did he find investors?What is the ratio of capital to value?What is series A and what is the pivot there?The things that David is excited to be working on over the next couple of years.Links MentionedDavid Zamarin on LinkedInDavid Zamarin on InstagramDetraPel WebsiteAbout David ZamarinSneaker-head, serial entrepreneur, thrill-seeker, and proud founder of DetraPel, David Zamarin is the chief visionary behind his company which he brought to life in 2013 at the young age of 15.  David's passion and urgency to disrupt the growth trajectory of global challenges directly caused by irresponsible manufacturing is the driving force for the company's philosophy and purpose which is rooted in a commitment to developing innovative formulas that reduce environmental impacts and negative health effects. While David spends most of his time working on developing DetraPel, he recently graduated Magna Cum Laude from Babson College where he received the Entrepreneurship Award. A member of several youth entrepreneurship advisory boards, David seeks to give back to the entrepreneurship community and ignite the minds of young aspiring leaders.

OUR CHATMatt and I discussed his favorite roles, how colleges are missing the mark in terms of preparing kids for job search and career success, and how this gap might get closed.He shared his observations on mistakes he sees kids making on the job search front, and shared advice he wish he'd have heard himself when he was first starting out!ABOUT MATTMatt is co-founder and CEO of National Service Group (NSG), which operates College Works Painting, Empire Community Construction, Home Genius Exteriors, and SMJJ Investments. Under his leadership, NSG grew from a small Southern California-based business into an international company. Matt serves on the Board of multiple organizations and is past chairman of Entrepreneur's Organization, a worldwide-business network.His accolades include the Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award from the Orange County Business Journal, the OC Metro 40 Under 40 and EY Entrepreneur of The Year Awards Finalist. Passionate about mentoring millennials and gen Z, Matt shares entrepreneurial insight with high-profile publications including the Wall Street Journal, Inc., ABC, CBS and more, and as the host of “The Edge of Excellence” Podcast.LEARN MORE: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/matthew-stewart-5257314/Website: collegeworks.com/Podcast: Edge of Excellence

Creativity through the lens of a Speaking & Storytelling Strategist"Creativity to me is giving yourself permission to play."Crushing it. Two words with unlimited potential of possibility. That describes the life path perfectly for Kymberlee Weil.How else could one possibly explain a person who holds the distinction of NCAA Woman of the Year, 4th Degree Master Level Black Belt, MBA educated, Author of two books on technology, Founder of an award-winning software company, Winner of both The Association for Women in Communication's Women of Achievement Award and The Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award for Professional Services, Trainer of over 300 TEDx speakers, Improv Comedy performer and trainer, International Speaker and creator of StorytellingSchool.com that specializes in High-Stakes Short-Form Storytelling to help thought leaders expand their influence….and we're just getting started!Kymberlee's determination to defy her own barriers fused with her unique combination of Storytelling, Spontaneity, and Strategy has resulted in a powerful communication approach that has drawn the likes of CEOs, Celebrities, High Net-Worth Individuals, Influencers and Entrepreneurs the world over.If you want more Kymberlee, you can find her here:Links:Website: https://storytellingschool.com/Podcast: https://storytellingschool.com/podcast/IG: https://www.instagram.com/storytellingschool/Mari's Awakening Creativity FREE GuideMari's Awakening Creativity 7 Day Challenge

In this episode I have a very powerful conversation with Kymberlee Weil, founder of the storytellingschool.com.We talk about how you can become an amazing storyteller, how you can connect in a powerful way with hearts and minds of your customers. How you can become a better speaker, so that every time you speak or you write people really pay attention and connect with your message on much deeper level.Please leave us a review, for every review you will get a training course as a gift from myself worth over $500.Kymberlee holds the distinction of NCAA Woman of the Year, 4th Degree Master Level Black Belt, MBA educated, Author of two books on technology, Founder of an award-winning software company, Winner of both The Association for Women in Communication's Women of Achievement Award and The Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award for Professional Services, Trainer of over 500 TEDx speakers, Improv Comedy performer and trainer, International Speaker and creator of StorytellingSchool.com that specializes in High-Stakes Short-Form Storytelling to help thought leaders expand their influence.Join Kymberlee free Masterclass on 14, 15 December 2021.FREE MASTERCLASS - DECEMBER 14 AND 15https://storytellingschool.com/masterclass/Links:Website: https://storytellingschool.com/Podcast: https://storytellingschool.com/podcast/IG: https://www.instagram.com/storytellingschool/ 

On this week's SBAM Weekly Podcast, Michael Rogers talks with Kevin Begola, owner of Bridge Street Exchange in Fenton. He recently was honored with the Small Business Association of Michigan's 2021 Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award. “I think being a good entrepreneur is just waking up with a dedication and passion every day to kind of move forward and always kind of chase what you're tracing at the moment,” he says. The Small Business Association of Michigan is the only statewide and state-based association that focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan's small business community. We have been successfully serving small businesses like yours in all 83 counties of Michigan since 1969. We're located in Lansing, just one block from the Capitol. Our mission is to help Michigan small businesses succeed by promoting entrepreneurship, leveraging buying power and engaging in political advocacy. When small businesses band together through the Small Business Association of Michigan, they achieve more than they could on their own.  Our 28,000+ members are as diverse as Michigan's economy. From accountants to appliance stores, manufacturers to medical, and restaurants to retailers, what unites the SBAM membership is the spirit of entrepreneurship…a spirit that drove you to start and continue to operate your own business because you believe you can do something better than anyone else is doing it! (music licensed from www.jukedeck.com)

In this episode we make the trip over to the ever lovely Joni Rogers Kante's stunning OC estate to talk knowing your goal, walking in faith, and watching the birth of an empire! As the self made Founder, CEO and Chairwoman of the makeup direct marketing company SeneGence, Joni explains how she set out to liberate and financially empower women through providing the tool as well as, more importantly, a wonderful product for women to harness, embody, and further empower their friends neighbors and everyone in their reaching in the process transforming themselves into self made moguls of their own. A true saint and powerhouse in equal measure, Joni Rogers Kante is someone to take notes from, and maybe perhaps a bit of her magic dust will touch your life as well! We can all hope so!While juggling the responsibilities of single motherhood, Joni Rogers-Kante developed a business plan and set out to make her dream of an innovative cosmetics company a reality. In 1999, she founded SeneGence®, and the company has since become a globally recognized leader in the industry. To Joni, the commitment to high-quality products that bring value to consumers and their communities is just as important as a flourishing business.After Joni learned that cosmetic companies consistently use the same ingredients in different products that tout “unique” claims, she knew SeneGence had to stand out from the rest. She set off across the globe with a team of scientists and botanists to find exceptional ingredients for SeneGence's product formulations.​Today, these ingredients are used to help produce the amazing results SeneGence SkinCare and Cosmetics are known for. SeneGence products are on the cutting edge of technology with original, patented, and proprietary formulations that really work! ​In 1999, Joni partnered with an award-winning scientist to develop a patented, never-before-seen liquid lip color: LipSense®. Better than any lipstick or lip stain available, LipSense quickly skyrocketed in popularity for its long-lasting ability. With a simple three coat application, LipSense delivers gorgeous color that stays on for up to 18 hours. And that was just the beginning of a long line of products that really work! Joni also wanted to offer one of the most lucrative compensation plans in the industry, designed for women who are serious about building their career from home. This business model of earning additional income by selling products that really work took off!​Today, the SeneGence line of anti-aging skin care and long-lasting cosmetics includes over 300 products, sold by tens of thousands of Independent Distributors across the globe. SeneGence has core operations in the USA, Canada, Australia, Mexico, and Hong Kong, with products available in many other territories across the globe. ​Joni currently serves on the Direct Selling Association's (DSA) Board of Directors. In 2018, she received Direct Selling News' Bravo Award and the Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award by the Orange County Business Journal. Joni is an active member of the Orange and Creek County communities and is also the author of Million Dollar Lips. In June 2020, Joni was installed as a Board Member of the Direct Selling Education Foundation. And stay tuned until the end where we interview some of Joni's top brass who rightfully sing her and SeneGence's praises, you'll hear it first hand how their experience with this wonderful woman has forever changed their lives. Thank you for watching

We all love good stories. The ones that make us laugh, cry, scream, and have nightmares at night; every story that generates a feeling is certainly a story to remember. My present and everything I am I owe to my story and the person who gave me reasons to share it with the world, today's guest, Kymberlee Weil. Do you want to be remembered? Then you have to listen to this episode where we will be talking about storytelling and how this incredible tool can change our lives. AND, Because attention in the modern currency, DO NOT miss out on Kymberlee Weil's free Storytelling MasterClass this week and let storytelling become your superpower. ABOUT KYMBERLEE WEIL Crushing it. Two words with unlimited potential of possibility. That describes the life path perfectly for Kymberlee Weil. How else could one possibly explain a person who holds the distinction of NCAA Woman of the Year, 4th Degree Master Level Black Belt, MBA educated, Author of two books on technology, Founder of an award-winning software company, Winner of both the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award for Professional Services and The Association for Women in Communication's Women of Achievement Award, Trainer of over 300 TEDx speakers, Improv Comedy performer and trainer, International Speaker and creator of StorytellingSchool.com that specializes in High-Stakes Short-Form Storytelling to help thought leaders expand their influence….and we're just getting started! Kymberlee's determination to defy her own barriers fused with her unique combination of Storytelling, Spontaneity, and Strategy has resulted in a powerful communication approach that has drawn the likes of CEOs, High Net-Worth Individuals, Influencers and Entrepreneurs the world over. CONNECT WITH KYMBERLEE WEIL FREE Storytelling MasterClass Website: https://storytellingschool.com/ Podcast: https://storytellingschool.com/podcast/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/storytellingschool/ WHAT YOU WILL HEAR [3:52] Meeting Kymberlee Weil. [11:43] Why are stories important now more than ever? [14:06] Stories make connections. [16:49] Be remembered. [20:46] Freezing time. [23:21] The storyteller DNA. [26:29] Kymberlee's master class. [30:07] The main elements of a story. [36:40] Turn your story into a reflection. [39:57] Forget about chronological stories. [45:10] The biggest mistakes storytellers make. [51:00] Where to find our guest. If you look at the civilized world and think, "no thank you," then you should subscribe to our podcast, so you don't miss a single episode! Also, join the uncivilized community, and connect with me on my website, Facebook, or Instagram so you can join in on our live recordings, ask questions to guests, and more. Find Traver on Instagram @traverBoehm Get a copy my book, Man UNcivilized Join the UNcivilized Nation before registration closes on July 31st Start your journey to become the man the that the world failed to teach you how to be.

"Kath Blackham is a global leader in AI technologies and the Founder and CEO of VERSA, a digital transformation agency powered by conversational AI. The first agency to operate a 4 day work week in Australia, VERSA has been named by Fast Company as one of the best workplaces for innovators globally. Specialising in the integration of conversational voice and AI technologies, Kath and her team are paving the way for digital transformation in Australia and abroad. Kath is a trailblazer for all things digital and new ways of working. She joins us today to discuss her vast experience with conversational AI and how it's transforming communication and consumer experience globally. We discuss: • The future of conversational AI and the difference between automation and augmentation • Walking her talk - launching the Versa website using real time conversational AI to direct user enquiries and navigation (even when some of the team had their doubts!) • How the team at VERSA have honed their products to meet market demand, including working alongside global companies such as Google and Amazon Kath had an outstanding year in 2020, gaining national recognition for her innovation and leadership in the digital sector. She was named Media Executive of the Year by CEO Magazine, was a finalist for CEO of the Year, and won the Entrepreneurship Award for ARN's Women in ICT Awards. Not stopping there, in 2020 Kath was also named Woman of the Year, Executive Leader of the Year, Mentor of the Year and Leading Entrepreneur/Founder in B&T's Women in Media Awards. VERSA Website: https://versa.agency/ Kath's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathblackham/ Follow us: @_nakedambitions www.naked-ambition.com.au

Just as there are no two recipes that contain the exact same ingredients or measurements, there are no two success stories exactly the same. Recipe For Success features entrepreneurs, visionary leaders and innovators of all ages who will share their ingredients that make them successful – personally and professionally. Let's get cooking! Wayne Gill is an entrepreneur, business attorney, strategist, and minister. He started his law firm around his kitchen table with a $250.00 retainer which he turned into more than a million dollars in annual revenue in roughly 30 months. He then joined forces with several partners to create the largest minority-owned law firm in the country, which at its apex, had annual revenues of 80 million dollars and 20 branches. He is a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut where he majored in English and was a Teaching Assistant to distinguished Professor of English, James Miller. He later graduated from The George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C., where he obtained Honors in Trial Advocacy and was a law clerk to the Honorable Arthur L. Burnett, Sr., Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Trial Court. He's also a graduate of the NMSDC executive education program at the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University. He and his wife, Sharon founded the Oasis Compassion Agency, a community ministry which assisted hundreds of families to restore their dignity by providing them with food, clothing, biblical counseling, job training and resources required to triumph over adversity. They are co-founders of Sharon Gill International, a business coaching and training consultancy for entrepreneurs and developing leaders. He's won numerous professional awards, such as Northwood University's Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award and Macy's Crystal Award for Outstanding Minority Business Advocacy. He's a speaker on topics of personal and organizational leadership, entrepreneurship, and spiritual growth. He's published several books, including “Tales My Grandma Told Me—A Business Diversity Fable, “This Business of Supplier Diversity,” “The Runner,” and the recently released, “God Help Me: I'm Stressed!” He's been featured in several publications, including Fortune Magazine Online, and maintains a robust social media following across several platforms. For more information about Junior Achievement of South Florida, visit https://www.jasouthflorida.org. Follow us on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jasouthflorida LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/junior-achievement-of-south-florida/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasouthflorida Twitter: https://twitter.com/JASouthFlorida

Amazon FBA AcquirersInvestors are pouring money into the Amazon space. They’re acquiring hundreds of brands and bringing them under one roof, an Amazon Aggregator business. We’ve seen consolidation in countless sectors historically and the Amazon FBA space is no different. Aggregators are jumping into the market with large funds bringing high levels of professionalism into the brands they acquire and accelerating their growth. The aggregators in turn hope to produce profits for their investors. Boosted Commerce$137 Million in funding, 30+ brands acquired. Boosted Commerce buys, builds, and grows high-quality commerce brands. The team is composed of entrepreneurs and eCommerce experts dedicated to growing your business while maintaining the integrity of your brand. Learn about all Amazon Aggregators here http://amazonaggregators.com/Our Guest:Sarah D. Vice President Operations at Boosted Commerce. sarah@boostedcommerce.com LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sdajani/Sarah Dajani is VP of Operations at Boosted Commerce, overseeing the brand management of food & consumables categories. With over a decade of experience in management and growth, Sarah has a track record of growing eCommerce businesses' profitability. Her experience strongly focuses on CPG brands, having held executive positions at a Fortune 500 as well as VC-backed start-ups. She founded a gourmet pastry CPG company in London, for which she was awarded the C200 Women in Entrepreneurship Award. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Princeton University, an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business, and a certificate in pastry from Le Cordon Bleu Paris.About My Amazon Guy: An 160+ client full-service Amazon Agency in Atlanta, Georgia. We grow hack sales through traffic and conversion improvements. PPC, SEO, Design, Catalog Merchandising, and more all in-house. #boostedcommerce #amazonaggregator #FBAAquirirerMy Amazon Guy Podcast and Videos: Podcast.MyAmazonGuy.comYouTube.com/MyAmazonGuyWebsite: MyAmazonGuy.comOther Social Media links:https://www.facebook.com/myamazonguys/https://www.linkedin.com/company/my-amazon-guyhttps://twitter.com/myamazonguySupport the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/myamazonguy)

Crushing it. Two words with unlimited potential of possibility. That describes the life path perfectly for Kymberlee Weil. How else could one possibly explain a person who holds the distinction of NCAA Woman of the Year, 4th Degree Black Belt, MBA educated, Author of multiple books on technology, Founder of an award-winning software developing and licensing company, Winner of both the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award for Professional Services and The Association for Women in Communication's Women of Achievement Award, Trainer of hundreds of TEDx speakers, Improv performer, International Speaker and creator of StorytellingSchool.com that specializes in High-Stakes Short-Form Storytelling to help people expand their influence….and we're just getting started! Kymberlee's determination to defy her own barriers fused with her unique combination of Storytelling, Spontaneity, and Strategy has resulted in a powerful communication approach that has drawn the likes of CEOs, High Net-Worth Individuals and Influencers the world over. If you want more Kymberlee, you can find her here: Check out her website here: https://storytellingschool.com Listen to her podcast, Storytelling School, here: https://storytellingschool.com/podcast Make sure to follow her on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/storytellingschool _______________________________________ To check out CURED nutrition and their various wonderful CBD products, click here: https://bit.ly/3hVQivi. Use the code LOVEBOMBS at checkout, and you will save an extra 10% and get FREE shipping. I use it every day and cannot recommend it more highly. They're fantastic (especially the ZEN pills)! Seriously. SO GOOD. _______________________________________ Follow me on Instagram @LongDistanceLoveBombs: https://www.instagram.com/longdistancelovebombs Looking for a heartfelt gift? Visit my print shop here: https://www.longdistancelovebombs.com/theshop Sign up for my weekly newsletter! Each week, I share a personal story and my favorite books, tunes, articles, and ideas. Click here: http://eepurl.com/T0l91. It's easy and takes five seconds. Check out a list of 120 of my favorite books here, including many my guests have written and recommend reading: https://www.amazon.com/shop/longdistancelovebombs Here is all of my favorite stuff on the planet: https://www.longdistancelovebombs.com/favorites --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/longdistancelovebombs/message

Join us for an amazing cooking demo and wine pairing with Food Network’s Chopped contestant, Chef Sophia Manatakis! Our resident wine expert, Fotios Stamos, will do the honors of pairing Chef Sophia’s exquisite and flavorful dishes. A little bit about Chef Sophia: Graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York City and owner of Uncle Nick’s Greek Cuisine, NYC. Sophia is a Greek and Italian-American chef who has appeared on the Food Network’s Chopped and winner of the Family Food Showdown cooking competition. Manatakis is also a recipient of the Orthodox Christian Network “30 Under 30 Entrepreneurship Award”. Sophia has recently published Our Greek Kitchen, the first of many cook-calendars, has a thriving catering business, and is a private culinary instructor. Sophia’s intensity and passion for culinary art is unmatched. Chef Sophia will be demonstrating 2 recipes along with 2 amazing wines. See the recipes and wines here. Sophia's website Sophia's Instagram

Thursday, March 4, 2021, 1-2 pm Courageous Conversations with Sheree welcomes special guest Jeff Hoffman, Founder of Priceline. Jeff will be sharing his brilliant perspective on business Pre, During and Post COVID19. You don't want to miss it. Tune in this Thursday at 107.5 FM or WRUU.org and take away practical, relevant, and innovative entrepreneurial solutions. Jeff Hoffman is an award-winning global entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, bestselling author, Hollywood film producer, a producer of a Grammy Award-winning jazz album, and executive producer of an Emmy Award-winning television show. In his career, he has been the founder of multiple startups, he has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and he has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known successful startups, including Priceline.com/Booking.com, uBid.com and more. Jeff is the CEO of Driving Force Enterprises, a strategic consulting firm that teaches exponential growth to business owners and entrepreneurs, as well as teaching innovation strategies to corporations and governments worldwide. Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, the Middle East, South America, Africa, and Asia. He supports entrepreneurs and small businesses on a worldwide basis. He is the Chairman of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, which works with entrepreneurs in 180 countries, as well as being a founding board member of The Unreasonable Group, whose startup companies have operations in 185 countries and have raised over $4 billion in funding. He is also the Global Chairman of Dream Tank, a worldwide youth problem-solving network. Jeff supports the White House, the State Department, the United Nations, and similar organizations internationally on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship programs. Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 60 countries. He speaks on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership, and is the author of the book SCALE, a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis. Jeff is a featured business expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more. Jeff was honored with the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation from the US State Department. Jeff received the Commitment to Excellence Award from CitySummit in 2019, as well as receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award and being inducted into the Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship. He was also honored with the Best of the Best Award from the national CEO association (Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization). Outside of the world of technology, Jeff has produced TV shows, has produced movies in Hollywood, has produced musical events including concerts, tours, and charity events with such artists as Elton John, Britney Spears, NSYNC, Boyz II Men, and others, and serves on numerous charity and non-profit boards.

On this week's episode, I chat with award winning entrepreneur Chidinma Emodi Chukwuemeka, Co-Founder of The Footwear Academy in Nigeria. Chidinma was named Network Start-Up Woman of the Year 2019 and received the Star of Business & Entrepreneurship Award at the YALI West Africa Nigeria Cohort 4. She is currently a YALI RLC Entrepreneurship Mentor and a pioneer member of the administrators of The Young Enterprising Women in Africa network (YEWA), a nonprofit group geared towards empowering and enabling women entrepreneurs in Africa. She learnt shoemaking at Accademia Riaci, Florence, Italy and has since used her work at The Footwear Academy to improve the lives of shoemakers in Aba and Lagos state, Nigeria by enabling them produce export standard footwear products through training, job matching opportunities and access to quality/affordable raw materials. She is pioneering a mastering footwear project that will train 100 young people in Aba, Abia State and 30 youths in Ihiala LGA, Anambra State. The Footwear Academy are the recent winners of the Proudly Made in Aba Hackathon - winning a grant prize of $50,000 from Ford Foundation. They also took 2nd place in 2017 at the Open Mic Africa startup Pitch competition organized by Techpreneur Africa and MIT Legatum. They are proud winners of the March 8th Initiative by Friends of Prof, winning a NGN 1 million grant.Chidinma's African Business Story is dedicated to the creation fo jobs and the empowerment of women and youth.AFRICAN BUSINESS STORIES WEBSITE:www.africanbusinessstories.comAFRICAN BUSINESS STORIES INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/afribizstories/AFRICAN BUSINESS STORIES FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/afribizstories

Sharon and Wayne Gill are entrepreneurs whose passion is to help organizations, emerging and established entrepreneurs, and leaders to build organizations and teams that succeed financially as well as socially while embracing faith in the process.Sharon is a gifted leader and strategist who specializes in building organizations (public and private) from the ground up. For more than 20 years, Sharon has leveraged values-based leadership principles to enable fast-growth organizations to identify, nurture, and accomplish purpose-centered visions. Sharon works to create company cultures and visions where team members are developed, empowered, and freed to innovate. Her goal is to constantly exceed the expectations of her clients.Wayne Gill is an entrepreneur, business attorney, strategist, and minister. He started his law firm around his kitchen table with a $250.00 retainer which he turned into more than a million dollars in annual revenue in roughly 30 months. He then joined forces with several partners in creating the largest minority-owned law firm in the country, which at its apex, had annual revenues of over 80 million dollars and 20 branches.She is the author of, “Comeback With Confidence,” a manual for those needing strategies to reenter the workforce after an unexpected job loss, “What Business Are You In?” for struggling female entrepreneurs, and “The GORGEOUS Woman,” a faith-based study on how women can leverage their faith to reach their maximum potential.Sharon also maintains a highly visible social media presence and is one of the top leadership influencers on Linkedin. Her leadership videos, posts, and insights receive multiple thousands of views from around the globe, per day. She’s appeared in numerous magazines, podcasts, and television programs where she shares her leadership and organizational management expertise with the world.He and his wife, Sharon, founded the Oasis Compassion Agency, a community ministry that helps thousands of families restore their dignity by providing them with food, clothing, biblical counseling, job training, and resources required to triumph over adversity. They are also the Co-founders of Purpose Centered Leadership, a training consultancy for developing leaders.Wayne's won numerous professional awards, such as Northwood University’s Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award and Macy’s Crystal Award for Outstanding Minority Business Advocacy.He is a speaker on topics of personal and organizational leadership, social entrepreneurship, and spiritual growth. He’s published several books, including “Tales My Grandma Told Me—A Business Diversity Fable, “This Business of Supplier Diversity,” “The Runner,” and the recently released, “God Help Me: I’m Stressed!”He’s been featured in several publications, including Fortune Magazine Online, and maintains a robust social media following across several platforms...Reach and Connect with them on the following Social Media Links:Website: https://www.sharongill.com/Sharon's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharongillinternational/Wayne's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayne-gill/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SharongillinternationalInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharongill_bizcoach/

BGBS 045: David Barnett | Popsockets | Surprisingly Useful From “after-school sports dork” to CEO of Popsockets, David Barnett left a ripple in the world with an invention that revolutionized how we hold phones. And to think it was originally made out of glued clothing buttons. By accomplishing his purpose of increasing people's happiness, even if just a little everyday, David teaches us that no impact is too small. That “doodad” that he built in his living room has reached unimaginable heights, selling well over 200 million units and jump-starting a movement worldwide. Above all, you'll learn in this episode that David has an intuitive mind. You could say that his years enveloped in philosophy and questioning the nature of reality cultivated an inventor's mind. Examining the abstract allowed David to imagine something that didn't exist, and yet, his intention was only to solve an individual problem. Little did he know, there was much more to come, including sharing the wealth with important causes. We admire David's ability to make something surprisingly useful out of a simple annoyance, inspiring us to ask, how can we turn our own frustrations into action? In this episode, you'll learn... 8-15-year-old David was always an entrepreneur, thinking up ideas like a bike repair business and mixtape business David saw his grandfather as the most successful person he knew and therefore wanted to do anything he did to achieve similar success. At the time it was business An epiphany in college led David astray from business for a significant amount of years to delve into philosophy and physics David became completely engrossed in philosophy and became a professor Frustration led to the invention when David created a "Popsocket" out of buttons to prevent tangling his headphones There was no “eureka” moment with the handmade button detangler for a long time until his friends and family made fun of him enough to make a real prototype that got people excited The insurance package from David's house burning down made great funding for Popsockets David's wife contributed the name, “Popsockets” The original Popsockets was a case with two grips that expanded and collapsed When sampling his product with his students, David realized that people were using Popsockets for a different reason than its initial purpose, which led to a standalone grip Although David never wanted to give up, after receiving his third defective shipment of 30,000 grips and exhausting his finances, he felt for the first time that he might be forced to Today, the Poptivism program is a way for you to purchase a grip and send 50% of the profits to a charity of your choice Resources Popsockets Poptivism Original Kickstarter campaign Quotes [29:23] I suppose it was just frustration with wasted time. So when I notice that my time is wasted more than once on the same problem, I tend to take action. [34:08] My friends and family motivated me by making fun of me to start tinkering with mechanisms to get the buttons to expand and collapse so that it would look a little more respectable and also have more functionality. [55:37] One of my original goals, when I decided to commercialize this invention, was to generate wealth for myself so that I could use that wealth for good causes. [59:17] All of our products, we try our best to include the three ingredients which the original product has. One is the empowering quality, so it just makes using a phone so much better. The second is the fun or magical feature—that it's surprisingly fun. And it's surprisingly useful.  Podcast Transcript David Barnett 0:02 When we get right down to it, I was all excited. And they would just contradict themselves, you know, one contradiction after another. And when I pointed out, they'd laugh it off. And I think to myself, I can't laugh that off this is it like this is the foundation of reality and you're contradicting yourself. There's nothing funny about that. We need a real theory here to understand what's going on. And eventually, it just frustrated me so much. So I walked out of a lab, a physics lab, halfway through the lab, I hadn't done any work. And the first half, I was just sitting there looking around at the other students, and looking at my lab book thinking to myself, I can't do this. The rest of my life there. It's so detail-oriented and they don't really want to address the fundamental questions. So halfway through, I walked past my professor waved to him, he didn't know what I was doing, walk straight over to the philosophy department and got an application to apply to their master's program at CU. Marc Gutman 0:56 Podcasting from Boulder, Colorado. This is the Baby Got Backstory Podcast, where we dive into the story behind the story of today's most inspiring storytellers, creators and entrepreneurs. I like big backstories and I cannot lie. I am your host, Marc Gutman, Marc Gutman, and on today's episode of Baby Got Back story. How a philosophy professors frustration with his perpetually tangled headphone cords prompted him to invent what might be the most recognizable mobile phone accessory today. All right. All right now if you like and enjoy the show, please take a minute or two to rate and review us over at Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Apple and Spotify use these ratings as part of their algorithms that determine the ratings on their charts. Ratings help us to build an audience because we get discovered people find out about us, which then helps us to continue to produce this show. If you haven't gone ahead and given us a review and you think that we're deserving please please go ahead and do that that would be greatly appreciated. This is Episode 45. And today's episode is oh, so worthy of 45. I want you to think back to 2012. This is the time of the iPhone three Marvel's The Avengers has just released in the theaters. The Space Shuttle Endeavour has had its final flight. And Barack Obama is elected for his second term. Homeland the TV show is the talk of the watercooler and Facebook goes public among concerns that they'd be able to make money. funny to think about now. It is also the year that David Barnett, philosophy professor at the University of Colorado, launched his Kickstarter campaign for Popsockets. I want to take a moment here and call out his Kickstarter video. I have personally been involved in creating and advising and several Kickstarter videos. And I'm still not sure what his campaign was selling or promising. But what I can tell you is that it's one of the best Kickstarter videos I've ever seen. We'll make sure to link to it in the show notes. And I highly recommend you check it out. But let's get back to popsockets. And I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that if you have a mobile phone, which I know you do, little side thought Do you know anyone without a mobile phone today? Anyways, I know you have a mobile phone. So I'm going out on a limb and going to say you have either personally used seen or know someone who has used or seen a popsocket. You know, those little plastic buttons stuck to the back of a phone or case that open accordion style and have that satisfying little pop when extending and collapsing. And there's something magical is David will explain about this piece of plastic and rubber hay and I'm sure it's some sort of advanced material. And I'm using terms like plastic and rubber loosely just bear with me. And there's a draw. That's in explicable the invention started as a way to solve a very real problem. David's headphone wires kept getting all tangled. And as you hear, anything that either frustrates David or cost him time moves him to action. But while the inspiration was tangled headphones, what he found was that most people were using Popsockets as a grip. Today, Popsockets have shipped over 200 million Popsockets all over the globe, and the business has been structured to serve a greater purpose. David Barnett is the founder and operating CEO today and this is his story. So David, you're best known for inventing and running with the company Popsockets. I think at this point, if you don't know what a Popsocket is, you're probably living Under a rock. they're just about ubiquitous I'm sure you were hoping they're they're more ubiquitous but as far as I'm concerned they're they're fairly ubiquitous. When when you were a young kid when you were young boy was like eight year old David like an inventor and into inventing things? David Barnett 5:15 I yeah, he was he was a little hustler. I like to say, so little eight year old through I'd say 15 year old David was an inventor. And I say more generally a hustler because he was just constantly coming up with ways to start a business. So more of an entrepreneur, starting businesses, for instance, a bike repair business, even though I had no idea how to repair a bike, it didn't stop me from opening a bike repair business in my neighborhood. I had a mixtape business in I think fourth grade. Because my sister's boyfriend had a bitchin album collection. I thought I'd take advantage of that by making mixtapes for the other students and selling them. And then I had a string of other businesses. Marc Gutman 6:03 Oh, the irony, if you still had that mixtape business right now, you would have about a billion hipster customers that would be all over I love the idea of a mixtape business. That's like, that's so great. So where'd you grow up? What was that? Like? Where'd you grow up? What would your parents do for a living? David Barnett 6:20 Sure, I grew up southeast of Denver, Colorado, out in out on the outskirts of suburbia. So we were on the edges of suburbia. And then I watched it grow as I grew up, around us. And let's see, my father was a manager of a retail store called medianav. Back in the day, it was eaten up by Macy's, which I don't think exists anymore today, but just a general retail store. And my mom occasionally worked as a secretary for CPA firm, but maybe 50% worked and 50% an at home mom. Marc Gutman 7:00 And so was would you say by all accounts, your upbringing was fairly normal or standard, or was there anything a little bit different about it? And by the way, what do you call the outskirts of suburbia? What was that at that time? David Barnett 7:14 It was unincorporated Arapahoe county at the time. So it wasn't part of any city. We were in a county but not in any city near Cherry Creek Reservoir is as most for those familiar with Colorado. We're right near that reservoir and houses were just popping up left and right. Douglas County, the fastest growing county in Colorado didn't exist yet. I watched it come into existence. Sorry. One point is the fastest growing County. And now there's just miles and miles and miles of development and neighborhood after years of development across fields that I used to play and Marc Gutman 7:55 yeah, I'm imagining a little bit like the scene from a Spielberg movie or like et or like, you know, one of these communities, there's communities sprouting up and there's kids kind of running all over the place and and as people are discovering suburbia and the new sort of the new wave, and you know, when you were in middle school in high school outside of being a hustler, what other interest did you have? Wow, that's a David Barnett 8:19 good question. I was a snake hunter in grade school. So I was in a gang and our gang road, road road little dirt bikes and hunted for snakes. And then in middle school and in middle school and high school I became part of a gang called the after school sports dorks. We did not name ourselves that but that's what one of the jocks on the football team named us in between probably beating me up. He called us the after school sports dorks because my friends and I would get together after school and make up games with basketballs, volleyballs, golf balls, whatever it was. So people would see us around the neighborhood, playing our made up sports games, after school sports dorks. That's really what I was. With my friends after school, I wasn't I wasn't much into school. I have to say. I had a lot of fun. Marc Gutman 9:12 Yeah. And so you mentioned like, you know, kind of you get this nickname the after school sport dorks and you kind of threw in there that maybe you're getting beat up or chased around from time to time it was it was high school tough? Were you a little bit in that, that outcast crowd? David Barnett 9:28 No, it wasn't tough. I wasn't in the, in the I went to large High School. So I had a lot of clicks. But my click was a mix of actually, actually athletes. So they were on some varsity teams just not not the football player, cheerleader crowd, right. So that's who I'm thinking of as the guy who, who might give me a Negi or a Snuggie and put me in an occasional headlock. Maybe give me a nice charley horse. But I cannot I cannot by any means say that I was an outcast and had a tough I had a nice group of friends and and did all right socially. Marc Gutman 10:09 Alright, well when you're in the nice group the after-school sports dorks are hanging out like where do you think you were gonna go like after after high school? Where did you did you you know I have your your bio here and I see that you were a philosophy major at Emory which I find a little bit in contrast when you say you really weren't into school because I don't really think of philosophy majors of not being in the school, but we'll talk about that. But I mean, did you Was that your plan? Did you think you were going to be a philosopher? like How'd you end up at Emory? David Barnett 10:36 I thought I was going to be a business person in high school and grade school and middle school. I looked up to my grandfather, he was a successful businessman. And he was vice president of a company called Chris Kraft. And I just admired him that was what I thought of as success because he was the most successful person around me had thought and business happened to be what he was engaged in. So I figured I'd be a businessman and I had been a hustler, you know, in my life and an entrepreneur. And then I went to Emory, because I checked it, I checked the box off on the common application where you get to choose from a list of colleges to apply to and you didn't have to fill out a separate application for each one. That seemed efficient to me. So I just checked off a bunch of boxes, checked Emory and it was the best school I got into. And that's why I was at Emory. That's why most of my friends at Emory read, it's that we've gotten rejected from the Ivy League schools in the better schools. And so that was our answer. When you asked why we were there. It's a good school Emory, but it was often not people's first choice. And then once I got to Emory, I, I took a big turn away from business, probably from eating hallucinogenic mushrooms, I'm guessing, sitting around with my friends thinking, Wow, I can't be a businessman in my life. What a waste of a life. I've got to do something else I've got to do philosophy or physics or science. So some kind of epiphany in college about the meaning of life led me away from business and onto a pretty significant detour for for many years before I got back to my roots as a hustler. Marc Gutman 12:12 And so your grandfather worked at Chris craft, the motorboat company is that the right company? David Barnett 12:19 that's what they that's what that brand is known for. He he was a executive vice president. So he and somebody else ran that company. But really how they made their money was was in media. So they, they acquired they sold Warner to Time, but in the Time Warner deal. When Time became Time Warner. They sold United Television to Paramount for the UPN network. They own a bunch of TV stations, radio stations, they own Chris craft boats and sold it off and they owned was it paper, some some Aircraft Company? They had their hands in a lot of different businesses. And Marc Gutman 12:59 It's kind of the era of the multinational conglomerate, and doing all those kinds of different businesses where you're like, why is Chris Kraft selling, you know, packaged foods? David Barnett 13:12 Why are they getting in fights with Rupert Murdoch, I remember there are articles when I was a kid about how Chris Kraft was the white knight like saving. I don't know, united television, or maybe was Warner Brothers, I think they save Warner from a hostile takeover from rupert murdoch. And that was all those were the exciting days where there were hostile takeovers, and like you said, multinational conglomerates. Marc Gutman 13:35 And so what was interesting about that to you like when you saw your grandfather, and what was his name, by the way? David Barnett 13:41 Lawrence Barnett Marc Gutman 13:43 Very, very strong vice president name. It's very good. If I was gonna cast at Lawrence Barnett. I think that would be it. But like, what, what do you remember about him? Like, why was that appealing when he had all these other influences around you? David Barnett 13:58 He really was the just, he just seemed successful to me. His wife, by the way, was Broadway, a Broadway star she started in in, she was Sarah Brown, and in Oakley original Oklahoma on Broadway. She was in Guys and Dolls as one of the main characters. And the two of them when I visited them, they just seem successful to me. And it's not that I admired so much what they did, I think just as a child, subconsciously. That was my only option in front of me. Not that not that the rest of my family members were failures or anything, they just seemed exceptionally successful. And they and by the way, they happen to do business. So have they been exceptionally successful, and they were both physicist, I would have been a physicist. I think it was just for me what success was and I was driven to be successful as a kid. Marc Gutman 14:49 And then you got to Emory and you talk a little bit about it. That sounds like you went on a bit of self discovery yourself. I mean, it is a pretty big change I have to imagine from Denver at the time and And you're you're at Emory. And you're your experiment and you're you mentioned some psychedelics, you're, you're deciding what to do with yourself like, like, why philosophy? David Barnett 15:11 Wow, I, I remember, I was taking some economics as an economics major. And one of my classes was full. I don't think I've ever told anybody the story. But I remember standing in front of a wall with schedules and, and lit course listings. And I had to choose a different class because I couldn't take the class that I had signed up for. And there was a beautiful girl standing next to me. And she chose some philosophy class. And I thought, Well, that seems like a good idea. So I ended up enrolling this in this philosophy class. Because she did. And I loved it. It just opened my mind it stimulated me I found is so much more interesting than the other classes I was taking. So I started taking more and more philosophy classes, because I found them just stimulating and intellectually rigorous and lively. So that got me into philosophy. And, and it was a totally different sort of philosophy from the philosophy I ended up doing and getting my PhD. But it's still open my mind to Unknown Speaker 16:15 anything happened with the girl. David Barnett 16:16 I can't really I highly doubt it. So I guess since I don't remember any answers, no. Marc Gutman 16:24 If you can't remember, the answer is always No. So you're, you're at you're at Emory. And you've, you've been turned on by philosophy and you decide to get into that and in put some rigor into philosophy and, and and then what happened? Where'd you go from Emory? David Barnett 16:42 It's an exaggeration to say put some rigor into it, it woke me up, I liked my classes. But I have to say, when I wasn't in class, I was not studying unless it was an all nighter right before an exam. I was having a lot of fun in college, so and I don't regret it, I would do it again, I had so much fun. But when I finished Emory, I thought to myself, okay, now I'm ready to learn and get serious. And I was ready to become a physicist. I wanted to understand the nature of reality, and the nature of the universe. And so I moved back to Colorado where tuition was lower, because I, my grandfather paid for my college, my undergrad, but he was not going to pay for any further school. So I was going to have to pay for my own school, which meant in state tuition, and living in the dorms and being serious. So I went to University of Colorado, put myself in the dorms, I had a lot of friends in Boulder, I stayed away from my friends to be serious. And I took full load of math and physics and chemistry, all the courses i'd need to prepare for a Ph. D. program in physics. And I just immerse myself in it. So I was a serious student there for the year and a half a year and three quarters, preparing for a Ph. D. program in physics. Marc Gutman 17:59 Did you understand your reality? Did you find the answer? David Barnett 18:03 I didn't. So I yeah, I found it stimulating. I enjoyed the classes. But I was sitting in a physics lab, I ended up debating with my physics professors quite a bit and being disappointed with their answers. I felt like we would get, we would start debating, we'd get to the crucial questions about the nature of reality, say the interpretation of quantum physics. And we get right down to it, I was all excited. And they would just contradict themselves, you know, one contradiction after another. And when I pointed out, they'd laugh it off. And I think to myself, can't laugh that off. This is it like this is the foundation of reality, and you're contradicting yourself. There's nothing funny about that. We need a real theory here to understand what's going on. And eventually, it just frustrated me so much. So I walked out of a lab, a physics lab, halfway through the lab, I hadn't done any work in the first half, I was just sitting there looking around at the other students and looking at my lab book thinking to myself, I can't do this, the rest of my life there is so detail oriented, and they don't really want to address the fundamental questions. So halfway through, I walked past my professor waved to him, he didn't know what I was doing, walk straight over to the philosophy department and got an application to apply to their master's program and CU. Marc Gutman 19:18 And did you feel? I mean, it sounds like you felt full of conviction. And hey, like, I'm real confident in this decision, or was there at all a little bit of like, Oh, crap, what did I just do? David Barnett 19:29 No, I was confident. I was happy with the decision, even though I didn't really even know what philosophy was. I had taken an undergrad, gotten an undergrad degree in philosophy, but like I said, it was a totally different sort of philosophy. And so what I was about to immerse myself in here at CU, I really didn't know. And it was totally foreign to me. When I started taking these classes. I had no idea what was going on. What they were talking about why they were talking about these topics, why they mattered. It took me a good couple of years. To really appreciate what the method was, and then why I thought it ended up thinking why, why it was better suited to my interest than the methods of undergrad philosophy. Marc Gutman 20:12 So how the rest of that period of your education go? David Barnett 20:15 It was great. Some of the best years of my life spent my days thinking about really interesting topics, the nature of thoughts, the nature of consciousness, I also did a lot of philosophy of physics. So I ended up being able to address those questions that, that I felt that I wasn't able to address with the physics professors. And so interpretations of quantum physics in general relativity, philosophy of math, even. So I fell in love with it, really, and then ended up pursuing a PhD. I went to Cornell gotten into their Ph. D. program, and then I transferred to NYU, and ended up getting a PhD in philosophy at NYU. Marc Gutman 20:57 And then was that your plan? Did you think hey, like, I'm getting higher education in philosophy, and I'm going to teach it at a university. That's my plan. David Barnett 21:07 That is the plan, though, you'll find people in PhD programs in philosophy, and probably probably a lot of topics would never use the word teach, because it's so the emphasis is so much on research, rather than teaching. It's more, I'm going to devote my life to researching the subject matter. And oh, by the way, I'll teach and that's how I make my money. And that's how you keep your job, of course and get tenures is based on the research, not the teaching. So yeah, I was passionate about the subject matter and passionate about that a career in philosophy as a professor, Marc Gutman 21:42 What was the subject matter that you were so passionate about that you were like, Hey, I'm going to devote my life to this? David Barnett 21:48 So I ended up doing a lot of work in philosophy of language, the fountain, so that's sort of the foundation of, of language, in philosophy of language, you don't ask particular questions about, say, English or Japanese or French, you ask more fun, fundamental questions about the nature of language. So you would ask what, what must any language look like? What are the basic building blocks of a language? And what is meaning? So our sentences, sentences I'm uttering right now means something to you, I'm communicating thoughts to you right now. What are these things the the meanings of my sentences, or I just call them thoughts, they end up the things we're communicating are actually our thoughts, right? So I quickly moved from philosophy of language into philosophy of the mind. And you ask, what is the thought? What sort of thing is it? And it can't be related to humans, either, because you could imagine an alien having a thought or coming down and communicating with us. So it's not, you know, some neural pattern in our brain, it's got to be something more abstract. And that can then lead to more questions about consciousness and what what the nature of conscious being is. So I did philosophy of language, some metaphysics that I hate to say that word on outside the context of philosophy, because it can mean lots of things to different people. But that's generally just the nature of reality, what sorts of things exist and what categories and things exist? So philosophy of mind philosophy of language and metaphysics, were my, my main areas, Marc Gutman 23:20 heavy stuff, I like it. I feel like we could spend hours just talking about that, but we'll spare a little bit maybe some other time. We'll get into that I'd love to. I'd love to dive deeper. But you're, you know, you, you finish up your graduate program at NYU, I'm assuming and correct me if I've got this right or wrong. You come back to your your one of your alma mater, see you and you become a professor in philosophy. Is that is that? David Barnett 23:44 Yes, it was. It was a little more of a circuitous route back to CU. I started as a professor at Davidson College in North Carolina. And then I transferred to University of Vermont, which I which I loved. I like Davidson too, but really loved University of Vermont being in Burlington, it was much like boulder and then I did have the opportunity to come back to Colorado, which I did so I took that opportunity I think in around 2006 and came back for a tenure track position here at CU Boulder. Marc Gutman 24:21 Was that at that like at that moment? Are you thinking hey like I'm I've done it like I'm back in Colorado? I'm a professor in the the discipline that I'm that I'm want to be in like are you what's going on for you content? Are you? Are you kind of like getting restless? David Barnett 24:39 No I was very much content even though sad leaving Vermont. I really loved it there. I was happy there. But Colorado was a place. I wanted to end up long term and in academics, you don't typically have the opportunity to choose your, your destination. So for me, I'm getting the opportunity to Come be a tenured professor at Boulder ultimately, be a tenured professor, that was a massive opportunity for me to be back here. And I was very much happy with it. So, and I was still passionate about philosophy to Marc Gutman 25:15 Are you kind of doing what we today call a side hustle is the hustler and you showing up in different ways before kind of like we get to the the big idea, but like, Are you trying other things? David Barnett 25:27 No, not at first, I was still squarely immersed in philosophy. So I spent, I spent my days when she's when I compared to today, they were relatively empty. But in philosophy, you know, I only had one, if I got a great night of sleep, which meant nine and a half 10 hours of sleep, then I had about two hours of good concentration time in me the next day where I could really be productive and solve problems and think through some issues. And then the rest of the day was mountain biking, playing, preparing for a class maybe. So it was a great lifestyle. But it didn't involve subject matter-wise, it didn't involve anything but philosophy. Marc Gutman 26:10 And so you're filling your days with philosophy and you're filling your mind with expansive thoughts. And let's talk about what's going on with your earbud chords. what's what's happening. David Barnett 26:24 So let's see 2006 I think is when I arrived at CU, I might be wrong, but roughly then. And then in 2010, I think by 2010, four years later, I had this right, I think I had secured tenure for myself. So I didn't really have the pressure anymore to to publish, publish, publish. And I also had a lot of papers that I'd written that I just hadn't submitted to journals yet. So pressure was off. In terms of research, I was also starting to burn out. So I just was frustrated spending my days trying to convince these other professors of of things that I thought, I just thought were totally obvious. And that I just asked myself, do I want to spend my life trying to convince these extremely stubborn people of some simple points? Or could I do something else. So it was already in my mind that I that I was I was getting burnt out. And then one day, I got frustrated for the 30th time pulling my tangled headset cords out of my pocket. So I hopped in my car went to a local fabric store, Joanne fabrics, till the first solution ended up gluing a couple of big clothing buttons to the back of my iPhone three, with a couple of little spacer buttons underneath them. So I could wrap my cord around my headset and prevent the tangle. And that was the beginning of the popsockets journey. Marc Gutman 27:54 Well, that's interesting to me. I mean, a lot of times, you know, I say that businesses are started are one of three ways or all three ways frustration, inspiration or desperation. Certainly, that story illustrates some of those. But I'm also sensing in your own life. There's this moment where David gets, you know, you take it, you take it, you take it and then it's just you can't take it anymore, and you're gonna take action, you're going to MIT take a solution, you're not going to allow things to frustrate you. You're going to make a change, right. And I think that's really cool that like you're proactive, you know, you're like, Hey, I'm not just gonna, like let this insanity repeat itself. But like walking me through a little bit like, you know, I love the I love the image of you taking action and going to Joe and fabrics. But yeah, I think we also need to set the stage a little bit. I mean, you know, ear headphones, and earbud headphones, you know, we're becoming quite ubiquitous. They had the long wires. I mean, we're getting to a point, you know, David were probably in like, five years ago to tell the story and kids are gonna be like, what are earbud wires? Like, what? What are those? And, you know, so like, I mean, what's going on? I mean, are you just pulling it out a jumble in your pocket? And you're just like, like, I mean, Are you frustrated? Are you like kind of cursing Apple under your breath thinking like, like, why? Like, why don't they do this better? I mean, what's going on for you before you really take action and get those buttons? David Barnett 29:21 Sure. I suppose it was just a frustration with a waste wasted time. So when I noticed that my time is wasted more than once on the same problem I I tend to take action, whether it's organizing my stuff better in drawers so that I can find it next time and not waste time looking for something. And this had just been too many times where I found myself standing, picking at this at this bundle of wires that were tangled and wasting whatever it was two or three minutes before I could even use the headset. And then something's like you said something just snapped and I thought I can't To deal with this anymore, it's not like I lived right next to the fabric either I lived up in the mountains, so I hopped in my car and drove, you know, 20 minutes to the fabric store without a solution in mind just to kind of walk the aisles and look for a solution for myself. Marc Gutman 30:17 This episode brought to you by Wildstory. Wait, isn't that your company? It is. And without the generous support of Wildstory, this show would not be possible. A brand isn't a logo or a tagline, or even your product. A brand is a person's gut feeling about a product service or company. It's what people say about you when you're not in the room. Wildstory helps progressive founders and savvy marketers build purpose-driven brands that connect their business goals with the customers they want to serve. So that both the business and the customer needs are met. This results in crazy, happy, loyal customers that purchase again and again. And this is great for business. If that sounds like something you and your team might want to learn more about, reach out @ www.wildstory.com and we'd be happy to tell you more. Now back to our show. Of all places, why Joann fabric? I mean I think like if I had this, you know and by no means am I a man-man so I'm not going to get guns or like Home Depot, but I'm probably going to like Rei or like I don't know, like I'm thinking of like maybe a you know that that's probably where I would go what what prompted you to go to join fabrics and think of buttons? David Barnett 31:41 Sure, I can't remember exactly. But I'd say putting myself and myself back in those shoes. It would either be macaque ns, which is the the hardware store that has everything under the sun. And it probably has this probably has a Joanne fabric somewhere in the store, or Joanne fabric. I don't know why I started with Julian fabric. And I didn't have buttons in mind. At first, I was just going to walk the aisles to look for something to build, I certainly didn't have in mind that there would already be a pre existing solution. So that's why I didn't go to Rei, or store, you know, mobile accessories store that might already have something, I was going to build my own solution. And fortunately, oh my god, this is some of the best fortune I've had in my life. I did not Google this problem. Had I looked for a solution for this online, I probably would have found a YouTube video showing somebody point sticking out their pointer finger and their pinky finger and holding their two middle fingers down with their thumb, and then wrapping their cord really quickly around the two horns of the bowl that you make when you stick your pointer finger in your your index finger and your pinky finger out. You quickly wrap your cord around the two. And that's what I ended up doing later on after the after I use the invention mark as a grip. It's a great solution to so I would have never been at Popsockets had I seen that video. Marc Gutman 33:06 And so when you're injured when fabrics and you get the button going, was it a bit of a eureka moment? Or was it like oh like okay, this will work. And I'm just gonna do this and move on with my life. David Barnett 33:19 I say the latter. There's just a, I'm happy with a solution for myself. Not really Eureka. Marc Gutman 33:26 Cool. And so you're using the solution you're wrapping your wires and things seem to be going well. When do you start getting a sense that this might be something that other people want? David Barnett 33:40 Not? Well, geez, I'm guessing here, but I'm guessing it was a couple of months. What happened was that my friends and family poked fun at me for having these enormous clothing buttons on the back of my little iPhone three. Remember, the iPhone three was tiny compared to current phone. So it was kind of like the Zoolander phone. And I had these huge inch and a half diameter buttons on the back of it that occupied the entire back side. So it looked absurd. And my friends and family motivated me by making fun of me to start tinkering with mechanisms to get the buttons to expand and collapse. So that it would it would look a little more respectable and also have more functionality. And so it wasn't until after I did that and prototyped the solution I landed on the accordion solution that it occurred to me that I could start selling these because when I prototype that I at one point ran into some kids in the Quad of CU boulder around this big grassy area. I ran into some kids maybe middle school age, and I showed them a prototype and their eyes just bulged out. their jaws dropped open. They went into this trance of I have to have that and that's the moment that that I thought to myself. Oh God, I could sell a ton of these or at least At least a few thousand. Marc Gutman 35:02 Well, I want to thank you for bringing up Zoolander. It's one of my favorite all time movies, I'd say it's a top five comedy of all time. So So thanks for that just a little bonus. But thinking about this, like, how do you go about you're a cu professor, you're not a prototyper? You're not someone that designs, you know, molded plastic goods like how did you go about prototyping this and prototyping that according design? David Barnett 35:28 Sure. So I went into Ali Baba. And I found, I just picked randomly, I don't recommend that people do this. I randomly found a prototyping group and the guy's name was Cade Wu. And this guy, Cade Wu, would accept my files. So I also taught myself 3d CAD software called SolidWorks. And I started making models of these accordions actually first tried hiring an engineering student, but that lasted a couple of weeks, maybe a few weeks, so frustrating having to tell somebody make this little change, make that little change, and then wait a few days for the changes. And so instead of just taught myself and started cranking on the software, and I would send these models off to Cade Wu in China, and I believe, two or three weeks later, in my mailbox, I'd get, I don't know, 30 or 40 prototypes from different models, maybe I'd send him six months, six different models. And he'd send me two or three or four of each of these models. And they were they were terrible. I can tell you, that was terribly disappointing. When I received them, they did not function at all, they didn't expand or collapse. They were nothing close to the final product. Marc Gutman 36:45 And so what do you think? Are you like, this is a wait, like, maybe I'm just wrong is this is this a waste of time, like this is just not? David Barnett 36:51 It's odd, because I have fond thoughts of Cade Wu I really like Cade Wu. And yet, Kate would cause me so much suffering and pain. So I have mixed feelings about Cade Woo. On the one hand, I have fond thoughts of him. On the other hand, he sent me off on the wrong path again, and again, I didn't realize it for at least a year. But he was telling me that he was using certain materials, for instance, polyethylene, or polypropylene. And so I would get these prototypes. And I think, ah, my design is bad. I need to redesign it. And I totally redesigned that accordion, again, and again, and again, based on these prototypes, and after about a year, I figured out he was lying to me about the materials he was using. I'd say you Santa preen eight, nine or five, some material, I'd research he'd say, okay, Santa preen 8905. And he sent it to me. A year later, I realized he couldn't possibly be using these materials. It just doesn't work. You can't use these materials with the process that he had a prototyping process. And so looking back I had, I had just assumed again and again that my design was off. But in fact, the material was wrong. I don't know where I'd be today. If he had been honest with me what what the Popsocket grip would look like today? It might be totally different. The design. Marc Gutman 38:11 How'd you find out he was lying. Like what? You know, what do you know about these materials? David Barnett 38:17 I ended up hiring a design firm. When I had a Kickstarter campaign. In 2012, I hired a design firm called spec design in the Bay Area to help me design the case. So the body of the case, I had worked quite a bit on the accordion. So the main component, and I worked with them, and they started working with Kade Wu, and they were getting these prototypes. We were getting them, you know, every few weeks, and they didn't notice he was lying either. But then at some point, once somebody that the design firm, an engineer made some comment to me. And it all just I had an epiphany, I thought to myself, holy cow, this guy has been lying to me for a year, and they didn't even notice it. You can't use these, you can only use the materials I was requesting injection molding. And that's just not for prototyping, and it takes months and months to build the tooling. And then you inject the hot, you know, molten plastic into these tools. The materials just can't be prototyped the way he claimed to be prototyping, I'm sorry, infer that he was using something called a cast urethane and that that's what made up all the samples he'd been sending me. Marc Gutman 39:26 Did you guys have it out or what happened there? David Barnett 39:28 No, I still like Cade Wu for some reason. I still like Cade Wu to this day. I guess I maybe that's maybe that's one of my faults is that I'm pretty charitable. I thought to myself, okay, what he was doing is he was just trying to find a cast urethane, that mimicked the material I was requesting most closely. So if I asked for a Santa cream at 8220, he would look up the specs of the material and think okay, I'll use this urethane and it will most closely relate Assemble that. And that's what he always did, I'm guessing. Marc Gutman 40:03 So it sounds like you're investing some significant money. I mean, you're you're hiring design students, you then go get a design firm in the Bay Area, which I am assuming just based on what I know about design firms in the Bay Area is not cheap. Like, how much money are you investing in this? And like, why are you investing in this? Like, what's your thought? David Barnett 40:26 Sure. I was burning through cash. By the time I had a Kickstarter campaign, I think I asked for maybe $12,000 in the campaign back then the campaigns were much smaller than they are today, most of them, and maybe I ended up raising 18,000 or something. I burned through that in a few weeks. So it's not as if I hope that that would really fund the whole project. It was mostly a PR activity. But I had, let's see, I had spent my savings and I was starting to go through some of my retirement. And then fortunately, my house had burned down at the end of 2010, in the form of fire here up in Boulder, big fire that took about 240 homes, burned my hometown, and just a couple months before it burned my hometown, I had raised my limits on my insurance suspiciously. But I raised I raised my limits, and it triggered a massive increase in the limits for my contents. So after my house burned down, I was sitting on a really nice insurance package, I use that money for Popsockets instead of replacing the contents of the house. So I lived in an empty house. And then I got married and lived with with my new wife and in the rebuild house. And it was mostly empty for years, until I got some money from the Popsockets business. But I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, ultimately, on this business. When you ask why. And I don't know. I guess I was obsessed. I wanted to see it through and had I lost everything I would have been fine. I would have just tried something else after that. Marc Gutman 42:05 So I cannot be imagined imagine what your fiance's thinking. I mean, she totally cool with this it like is like that going well? Or is there some dissent? like yeah, I'll marry you in live in an empty house while you burn all those gas on a plastic thing for your phone? David Barnett 42:26 It depends on whether she's going to listen to this interview the answer to that question. I'm assuming she's not In which case, the real answer is no, she was not nowhere close to being okay with this. And she said she married a philosophy professor. And then she felt tricked. She got, she got somebody who was obsessed with starting up a business, spending enormous amounts of time starting a business while being a professor. So she didn't get the time that she thought she'd had with me. Since my summers were occupied. On the popsockets business, I spent all of our money on popsockets. And she thought it was a ridiculous product. As did all my friends. They nearly all of them just thought it was silly. So the answer is no, she was she was not with me on that one. Marc Gutman 43:16 Got it. Like I wouldn't think so. But businesses like this a lot of times not. And so when you're doing the Kickstarter is Popsockets. The name at that time? David Barnett 43:25 Wow, that is a good question. I'm pretty sure the answer is yes. It's 95% confident that it was called Popsockets. By that point, it started off as iButtons. And fortunate I never really liked that name, I came up with that name. It was also a term of affection. Ibuttons. So you could say that to somebody, Ibuttons. It's just a sweet thing to say. But then a big company threatened to sue me because they had a product called an iButton. And they did not like the fact that I got the Ibuttons.com URL. So I had them give me about $20,000, which I needed in order in exchange for giving up that name. And using a name that I liked a lot that it was popsockets. Marc Gutman 44:09 Where'd that name come from? David Barnett 44:11 That came straight from my wife, that is her big contribution to Popsockets. Maybe we had toyed around with sockets or pop one at one or the other was in the air and then she put it together. Marc Gutman 44:21 See, she was behind you. She got it like you know, it's like, she came up with the name. David Barnett 44:26 She's good for something for sure. Marc Gutman 44:29 And so you fund your Kickstarter and to the tune of $18,000 and I'm assuming you're just like, Easy Street, you're just moving product and you have no problems. Is that how it goes down? David Barnett 44:44 That's right. Within a year I was a billionaire. I didn't lift a finger. So no, it was it was rough. It is much easier today for sure. I was running out of money. The 18,000 was nowhere close to really fun. I eventually found some investors around town just through through people that I've met. So these were strangers who had faith in the idea when I pitch it to them, I raised a few hundred more thousand dollars. As I was starting the business, I didn't launch until 2014, two years after the Kickstarter campaign, I had massive manufacturing problems. That's partly why I didn't launch until 2014. And the factory just couldn't get the case. Right. It was originally a case with two grips that expanded and collapsed. Marc Gutman 45:33 And pretty much in the original form that will or the the common form that we know it as now which is like the the button with the accordion. Was it just that with the case? David Barnett 45:43 Yeah, it was two of those since the kicks if you look at the Kickstarter campaign, it was that a case with two integrated Popsockets grips that expanded and collapsed. And the factory I chose just couldn't make a case they had an over mold. So a soft material that was molded to a hard, hard plastic. And they they really just didn't know how to do it. And month after month, after month passed by they had to throw away the tools because they had revised them so many times. And so and then version, the version of the iPhone change by the time we had got the case, right? That was an old version of the phone, I think were the iPhone five, by the time I actually launched the company out of my garage in 2014. And I had by that time develop the standalone grip that that has been the popular product. Marc Gutman 46:29 Yeah. And what was the insight on that? Like, what was the big aha moment that less is more? David Barnett 46:34 Sure. It, it likely, likely has its source in in feedback from my students. So when I was a professor, I handed out some cases, some prototypes of the original product to my students. And by the way, they would all when I would ask them, Would any of you use this product to keep your headset tangle free, and nearly all of their hands would go up in the air? So I finally got some samples, I handed them out. And then I watched them over the course of a few weeks to see who would who would stop using the product, how many of them would stop using the product, those who kept using it? What were they using it for? And I noticed the ones who kept it on, we're not using it for headset management, they were using it for the grip function and the stand function, but mostly the grip function. And yet the grip was not in an ideal location, there was one grip that was too high and one grip that was too low, because I had two of them on the back so that you could wrap your headset around them. And that made me think look, I should invent just a standalone product that can be placed ideally for the grip function. And when I launched the Kickstarter campaign, I ended up licensing the original invention with a case to case made out of Atlanta. And thought, well, they can run with this Well, I developed a standalone product that was not under license. So that's what I did. They worked on the case for six months, and then they ended up Never launching a case. And in that time I developed the standalone product. Marc Gutman 48:03 And at that point, did it just take off? I mean, I I have this recollection that, you know, at one point, it was like I didn't know what Popsockets were. And then they were everywhere. Like they were just like, everywhere, like and people had them and they just became they just became part of you know, popular culture. I mean, it was that the way it felt for you? Or was the getting the standalone product to get traction was that was that a challenge? David Barnett 48:29 It certainly took some effort that first year, I mean, we flip the switch and turn on the website. And I had no marketing dollars, I had no experience no connections to retailers. So I just turned on a Shopify website, I hired a couple of, of people who had been doing some landscaping. So they were in my garage, little big hands and war bear these two huge guys that were selling sitting in my garage ready to fulfill orders, I flipped the switch. And nothing happened. Of course, we got no orders, we got no orders the next day or the next day or the next day. And I thought to myself, hmm, somehow we got to get the word out that this exists. And I went to a promotional Trade Show in Las Vegas, just by chance I had a friend who offered to share a booth. And it was a huge hit there. So that was my first break. These are people looking to put logos on products and give them away for free. And it was clear to the distributors at this trade show that the Popsocket grip was a perfect billboard for your for your logo and for getting impressions. So I had a big crowd around my booth. And over the course of the next four or five months, I ended up selling batches of 3000 5000 7000 to T Mobile Yahoo, you know these big brands through distributors that then got them into the hands of thousands of people. And then I started seeing the traffic come to the website because we had a I don't know if it's a critical mass but we had enough of them out there. Public, that word of mouth was spreading. And then two other things were happening at the same time that year celebrities somehow got ahold of them the first year in 2014. To this day, I don't know how but Gigi Hadid, Ryan Seacrest, and remember Woody Harrelson, his wife, somehow, I got word that she was calling it a life changer from somebody that heard that. So they were showing up in People Magazine and on social media using the grip, and we saw a hotspot in LA on our website, customers around Los Angeles. And then third, we were planting these grips in middle schools in Colorado. So we're encouraging these schools to use them as fundraisers. And that started a third flame, you could say, the middle schoolers took to this product and started telling their friends about it. So those three elements came together. And by the end of 2014, we were seeing some really nice growth month over a month, it was starting to you're starting to see that hockey stick growth. And then we saw about 10 times we were selling each month, we were selling about 10 times what we were that month, the prior year, for the next couple years. 1516. And we were named the fast second fastest growing company in the US in 2018, with a growth rate of 72,000% over three years. And it was mostly just a viral phenomenon over those few those first three to four years, I'd say. And then exploded into retail, in I think 2016 and 17. So over the course of a few years, what you described as correct. Marc Gutman 51:31 Yeah, and prior to that, I mean, really before this, this validation moment where you go to the trade show, and and for promo products, and people are like, okay, like, and I have to imagine that, like when you got those first orders, you're like, Alright, I'm on like, I'm not crazy. But so but you know, prior to that, I mean, are you thinking of giving up? Are you thinking of like, hey, like I have sunk enough money into this, I have put enough energy into this, this just may not happen? David Barnett 52:01 No, I hadn't considered giving up. There was one moment that I vividly recall, where, where I did for the first time, I feel that I might that I might be forced to give up. So it was when we had an office on on Pearl Street in Boulder. And we received a shipment of about 30,000 grips and packaging. It was maybe the third major shipment we received. We weren't in any retail stores yet. So we're selling on the website and promo. And they were all defective. This was the third time in a row. So I had never gotten a pure, high quality product, I had always received shipment of defective product that gel was defective on the first 30,000 I received my friends and I had to pull off, it's tough to get gel off these by hand, pull off 30,000 gel stickers and put new gel on the bottoms of them. But this third shipment, the packaging was all just blowing out and the plastic from the accordion was sticking through the gel so far that it wouldn't—it hit the back of the phone before the gel did. So the grip would just fall right off the phone. My stomach just sank when I opened up the shipment and there was $1,000 in the bank account, I probably owed $30,000. And that was it. I had no more cash. I didn't have any investors lined up to give any more money. And we were sitting on defective products. So I remember taking a walk on the street thinking to myself, this is not good. And it could be the end of us. Marc Gutman 53:35 But here you are today. And you're the you're the CEO still have Popsockets and give us a sense of what Popsockets looks like today, like how many employees and like approximately how many units are going out at this point? David Barnett 53:48 Sure. Well, pre COVID, we were about 300 employees headquarters in Boulder. We have a design office in San Francisco with about 20 people. An office in Europe offices in Singapore, Seoul, Korea, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, we now have an office in Colombia in Bogota. So we're a global company now. We've sold well over 200 million units, I'm guessing probably closer to 300 million I haven't checked in recently. But you know, we're going through a high volume of grips each week and post COVID we have fewer people. So we unfortunately did have to lay off quite a few people. For a low quite a few to preserve our cash when COVID hit and the stores all shut down globally. We are coming back from that though we're doing quite well and we're hiring again. So that should give you a sense of the size and we have ambitions to be far bigger mostly so that we can make a more positive impact. We have a poptivism program. It's really important to me and the brand that gives back to Whatever charity our consumers chooses, choose, so you can come design your own group on our website and tag any charity and half of the sale of that grip will go to the charity. And the bigger we are, the more we can invest in programs like that. Marc Gutman 55:14 Yeah, and I was planning on asking about there's anything else that you'd like to talk about? I mean, why? Why poptivism? How do you say that again? Like it's like a tongue twister, David Barnett 55:23 poptivism kind of activism activism with a pop at the beginning. Marc Gutman 55:27 Yeah, I just need to like practice it. Poptivism, poptivism. So, you know, like, why, like, Why use the thing you built for that? David Barnett 55:36 Sure. So my, one of my original goals, when I decided to commercialize this invention, was to generate wealth for myself so that I could use that wealth for good causes. I personally care about animal welfare issues, hoping to end factory farming. And also climate change, particularly as it relates to these the former issues. So those are my personal causes that I would support. But I realized a couple years into business that all of the employees wanted to make a positive impact in the company is probably positioned better than myself to make that impact. And at that point, I created a department of do goods, I hired a director of due goods, her sole responsibility was to do good. she teamed up with some nonprofits that support people with mobility issues, Parkinson's, ALS, arthritis, we raised money for these organizations that support people with these challenges. And then we got 10s of thousands of grips into their hands, because it makes it easier for them to hold their devices and the grip. But we thought we can make a bigger impact if we open this up as a platform to everybody and all charities. And that's positivism, positivism is a platform that encourages people to make a positive impact by designing their own grip. So you can come on you can do right now you just go to our website, you can design your own grip, you tag a charity, a 501, c three, and the grip will go live, maybe in a week, 50% of all the sales will will go to that charity, and you can start seeing the impact you make Marc Gutman 57:16 right away. That's incredible. And do you ever like just like, look around and you know, as I heard you talking about how many employees you are employing and and where you're located globally and poptivism and like, do you ever just look around like, this is a I created this? I don't mean, I don't mean it like in a in a vain way or an arrogant way. But like, I created this out of an idea. And that idea was like these little plastic things that you stick on your phone, you know, like, like, it just must be an incredible feeling. David Barnett 57:51 Yes, It's surreal. It used to be more surreal, I spent a decent amount of time standing in this one office room have one of our offices that had a glass wall overlooking the warehouse, the production facility. And I look out there and think this is just insane. I mean, it's a, it's like a crazy dream. All of these people are working on this little doodad that I created in my living room with all this hard work. And then when I traveled to China, and I'd walk into these factories where there were hundreds of people, just lines and lines of people sitting working on this product, there were huge crates out in the parking lot, just giant stacks and stacks of boxes. With tractors and these trailers coming to pick them up. I thought this is just insane. It's so crazy. Eventually, I came to accept it. So this the surreal nature of it started to fade. But I still have that sensation, especially when we hire really talented people who have these amazing backgrounds, I think to myself, how did we get to this point where we could attract talent like this? All from just messing around on the computer in my living room? So many years ago? Marc Gutman 59:03 What do you think it is about the the grip, the Popsocket that just is that just speaks to people that just says hey, like, I want that because I do think there's something there's something special about that inanimate object. David Barnett 59:16 Sure. All of our products, we we try our best to include three, three ingredients which the original product has. One is the empower empowering, quality, so it just makes using a phone so much better. The second is the fun or magical feature, that it's surprisingly fun, and surprisingly useful. I mean, look, you've got the most valuable company in the world or at least was at one point Apple creating this device that has a massive flaw. You can't hold it and it's just an awful experience. Once you've used a popsocket grip for a couple of weeks if you try to hold an Apple phone It's almost comical. It's just an awful, awful experience. So I think it is sort of a magical experience when you start using this and you think, Oh my God, what a much better experience. This is even if you didn't think you needed it. And then third, it's the expressive feature people love to express themselves. With grips, it's a much easier way than changing up their cases to put a different style on put a different statement on like a bumper sticker, or a different utility piece. So you could have lip balm on one day, or a little storage for, for something that you want to keep with you one day, and we have a bunch of other functional items coming out soon. Marc Gutman 1:00:40 And we'll make sure to link to all that in the show notes. And David, as we come to a close here, we're coming up on our time, I have two final questions for you. The first is, what's the future look like for you and Popsockets? David Barnett 1:00:52 Sure, well, I'm staying with Popsockets for the future, I'll be the CEO. I have been working hard recently to rebuild our teams post COVID. And post a big transition with leadership. And we intend to build a strong, global brand that makes little life changers. So all of our products, we think will will increase people's happiness, even if it's just a little bit every day. And positivism too, these programs we think of as little life changers. We're not curing cancer, but everything we do, we hope makes people just a little bit happier. And you'll see in two to three years, you really see that the brand we have here in the US will start spreading even though we've been international for a few years, our brand strength, I think will will start catching up to the US and will be a significant global brand, making a positive impact every day. Marc Gutman 1:01:51 So David, if that high school version of you that high school, David, that was in the after school sport dork crew ran into you today, what do you think he'd say? David Barnett 1:02:04 That's really funny, I have a video of this that I can share with you. We had sorry, there was an award ceremony for some Entrepreneurship Award, I think that I won, and I couldn't be there. So we made a video, an acceptance video. And we had a boy who looked kind of like me when I was a kid. And after school sports dork, and he accepted the award. And part of what he said was He's like, I think and maybe someday I'll invent something, something kind of useful. Maybe that helps you listen to your music better. So what would he say? He was probably cocky. He probably said, Yeah, I knew this. I'm a little disappointed in you. But I thought this would happen. Marc Gutman 1:02:46 Whoa, whoa. And that is David Barnett, the founder and CEO of Popsockets, I still can't wrap my head around a little plastic extendable button, becoming such a part of our culture, employing 300 people, and continuing a movement all over the world. This is the power of entrepreneurship, literally thinking of an idea, imagining something that never exists, and then making it a reality, putting it out into the world and changing the world. David Barnett and I say this very seriously, is changing the world with popsockets in a way that will have an impact forever. Whether it's bringing joy to someone with mobility issues, assisting in a s

Learn today some of the biggest business secrets from a successful entrepreneur, best-selling author and motivational speaker Jeff Hoffman. Tune in today and listen as Rob and Jeff discuss how businesses are overcoming challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic, how entrepreneurs should be constantly looking for new opportunities and why it is important to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Many businesses both large and small are facing huge challenges in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Larger businesses have begun to slim down their operations which should result in cost reductions for the company. The pandemic has offered a time of reinvention for many businesses, it is an opportunity to reinvent your business to take advantage of ‘the new normal'.   Disruption and chaos should be the alarm clock for an entrepreneur. When disruption and chaos happen, that alarm should have you just out of bed and look at the opportunities everywhere. Big companies that have been in the industry a long time are not as agile as small businesses. This is the time to reinvent and is the opportunity for the small businesses to take huge market share as they are able to adapt to the new conditions way faster than the big companies can.   Often we forget the fact that entrepreneurship is about all industries, not just the technology industry like many people tend to think. Entrepreneurship should be renamed to ‘self-determination.' it is not a job, it is a mindset. It is the mindset of saying ‘I am going to change the future'. Have the mindset that your product or service can change not only your future but the future of the world. At the heart of entrepreneurship is problem-solving.   You as a leader, cannot scale until you can let go, and you can't let go until you can empower and trust. In order to be able to power and trust, you must surround yourself with people that are smarter than you. Put in the effort to go and find talented people and spend your time trying to convince them to join you. Surround yourself with people smarter than you, lead from the bottom and not the top. Dedicate time to hunting for talent and taking care of it, not running the company all the time.   Social media is creating a whole new generation of people who think that if people ‘like' you, the better the world is. We have evolved into this world where people think that self-worth is judged by how many ‘likes' or ‘followers' you have rather than the actual merit or impact you have on others. It is better that people have an impact on ten individual people in this world than have a million likes on their social media page. Social media is important, but it is becoming the most important thing and that is a bad sign.   To be disruptive means to not accept the way something has already been done. It is not assuming that just because ‘experts' before you did it that way that makes it the right way. Don't accept the rules, leave open the possibility that there might be a better way to do this and give it a shot. You should never fear failure, you should fear not trying. Being disruptive is to actually believe that there might be a better way to do something. Even if all the experts are telling you it is not the way it works, what you should be saying is ‘well it might be soon.' BEST MOMENTS   “As well as the horrible negatives that came with COVID there is also the positives which gave opportunity everywhere for the people that move fast.”   “You don't have to give money until you have it, but you should give time as soon as you can.”   “Do you know who responds to your job postings? People who lost their jobs and need a new one. Do you know who doesn't respond to your job postings? The best person in the industry.”   ABOUT THE GUEST Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker and bestselling author In his career, he has been the founder of multiple startups, he has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and he has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known successful startups, including Priceline.com/Booking.com, uBid.com and more.  Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 60 countries. He speaks on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership, and is the author of the book SCALE, a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis. Jeff was honoured with the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase and Citibank, as well as receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award and being inducted into the Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame.   VALUABLE RESOURCES https://robmoore.com/ ABOUT THE HOST Rob Moore is an author of 9 business books, 5 UK bestsellers, holds 3 world records for public speaking, entrepreneur, property investor, and property educator. Author of the global bestseller “Life Leverage” Host of UK's No.1 business podcast “The Disruptive Entrepreneur”   “If you don't risk anything, you risk everything”   CONTACT METHOD Rob's official website: https://robmoore.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robmooreprogressive/?ref=br_rs LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/robmoore1979 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine if young people in low-income communities were taught about money and small business? Today’s guest has done exactly that. Steve Mariotti is a prominent advocate for entrepreneurship education worldwide. He currently serves as Senior Fellow for Entrepreneurship at Rising Tide Capital in Jersey City. He is the founder and former president of the global nonprofit Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), and the author of 44 books, textbooks, and articles exploring the transformative power of entrepreneurship for low-income communities. In his riveting personal memoir of his early career as a New York City public high school teacher, Goodbye Homeboy: How My Students Drove Me Crazy and Inspired a Movement, Steve Mariotti shares the touching story of how he discovered that teaching even the most disenfranchised and disillusioned children about small business lights a fire for learning in them and transforms their futures. This experience inspired him to found NFTE to empower at-risk youth to create pathways out of poverty.   Steve founded NFTE on his public high school teacher's salary in 1987. He led teams that raised more than $150 million for NFTE's mission over 26 years, building NFTE into the leading global provider of entrepreneurship education for low-income youth from Chicago to China. Today, NFTE operates in 23 locations in 10 countries and has served nearly one million young people.  Steve soon discovered there were no textbooks available for teaching entrepreneurship to young people, so he wrote groundbreaking textbooks, including the Golden Lamp Award-winning high-school textbook Entrepreneurship: Starting and Operating a Small Business, and the junior college textbook Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. Steve is also the author of the popular Young Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting and Running a Business.  Approximately 1.2 million copies of Steve's books, textbooks and workbooks have been sold or donated worldwide, including to prison educational programs like ITEM (Inmates Teaching Entrepreneurship and Mentoring), which Steve co-founded with Joe Robinson in 2004.  In 2012, Steve was inducted into the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame. His multiple awards include: Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year; Bernard A. Goldhirsh Social Entrepreneur of the Year; New York Enterprise Report 2012 Founders Award for Social Entrepreneurship; National Director’s Entrepreneurship Award from U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency; Association of Education Publishers Golden Lamp Award for best curriculum (2002) and best math curriculum (2010); ACE/Currie Foundation Humanitarian Venture Award; USASBE Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year; CEO Club Social Entrepreneur of the Year; America’s Top High School Business Teacher. Steve has been profiled on national media, including ABC Evening News and 20/20. A Council on Foreign Relations member, he has lectured at The World Economic Forum, Davos and other forums and universities. Raised in Flint, Michigan, Steve received his B.B.A. in business economics and his M.B.A. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Mr. Mariotti has also studied at Harvard University, Stanford University, Brooklyn College and Babson College. He enjoys attending lectures on physics at the Institute for Advanced Studies in his current hometown, Princeton NJ.  In today’s conversation, Steve shares his story, how he overcame his personal learning disabilities and PTSD and used that experience to launch his teaching career, which ultimately led him to found NFTE and empower over a million young people to date.   Key Takeaways  Approximately 900,000 students drop out of school in the US, and they come from about 600 schools – called dropout factories. If we mess up the education of a young person, it doesn’t really matter what else we do afterwards. Many kids who grow up in poverty are unaware of the different prices for an item or production structure behind it; they only know the retail price. If we can eliminate poverty we can eliminate a lot of the problems we have, and then we can deal with other higher order problems. Those of us in the US need to look at countries like Finland with nearly a 100% literacy rate and Singapore who is so far ahead academically, and ask how ourselves we can get better. Every child should learn about small business. Resources Goodbye Homeboy: How My Students Drove Me Crazy and Inspired a Movement Connect With Steve Mariotti and NFTE NFTE Website: nfte.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NFTE Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/NFTE Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/NFTE Steve Mariotti Website: https://www.stevemariotti.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SteveJMariotti Twitter: https://twitter.com/SteveJMariotti Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steve.mariotti

Jeff Hoffman is a successful Entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide Motivational Speaker, published Author, Hollywood Film Producer, a producer of a Grammy winning jazz album, and Executive Producer of an Emmy Award winning television show. In his career, he has been the founder of multiple startups, he has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and he has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known successful startups, including Priceline.com/Booking.com, uBid.com and more.  Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, the Middle East, South America, Africa, and Asia.  He is the Chief Evangelist and a founding board member of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, which works with entrepreneurs in 175 countries, as well as being a founding board member of The Unreasonable Group. He supports the White House, the State Department, the United Nations, and similar organizations internationally on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship programs.  He speaks on the topics of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Business Leadership, and is the Author of the book "SCALE", a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis.  He is a featured Business Expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more.  Jeff was honored with the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation from the US State Department. http://JeffHoffman.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhoff

Jeff Hoffman is a successful Entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide Motivational Speaker, published Author, Hollywood Film Producer, a producer of a Grammy winning jazz album, and Executive Producer of an Emmy Award winning television show. In his career, he has been the founder of multiple startups, he has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and he has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known successful startups, including Priceline.com/Booking.com, uBid.com and more.  Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, the Middle East, South America, Africa, and Asia.  He is the Chief Evangelist and a founding board member of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, which works with entrepreneurs in 175 countries, as well as being a founding board member of The Unreasonable Group. He supports the White House, the State Department, the United Nations, and similar organizations internationally on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship programs.  He speaks on the topics of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Business Leadership, and is the Author of the book "SCALE", a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis.  He is a featured Business Expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more.  Jeff was honored with the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation from the US State Department. http://JeffHoffman.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhoff

Jeff Hoffman is a successful Entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide Motivational Speaker, published Author, Hollywood Film Producer, a producer of a Grammy winning jazz album, and Executive Producer of an Emmy Award winning television show. In his career, he has been the founder of multiple startups, he has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and he has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known successful startups, including Priceline.com/Booking.com, uBid.com and more.  Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, the Middle East, South America, Africa, and Asia.  He is the Chief Evangelist and a founding board member of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, which works with entrepreneurs in 175 countries, as well as being a founding board member of The Unreasonable Group. He supports the White House, the State Department, the United Nations, and similar organizations internationally on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship programs.  He speaks on the topics of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Business Leadership, and is the Author of the book "SCALE", a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis.  He is a featured Business Expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more.  Jeff was honored with the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation from the US State Department. http://JeffHoffman.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhoff

Jeff Hoffman is a successful Entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide Motivational Speaker, published Author, Hollywood Film Producer, a producer of a Grammy winning jazz album, and Executive Producer of an Emmy Award winning television show. In his career, he has been the founder of multiple startups, he has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and he has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known successful startups, including Priceline.com/Booking.com, uBid.com and more.  Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, the Middle East, South America, Africa, and Asia.  He is the Chief Evangelist and a founding board member of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, which works with entrepreneurs in 175 countries, as well as being a founding board member of The Unreasonable Group. He supports the White House, the State Department, the United Nations, and similar organizations internationally on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship programs.  He speaks on the topics of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Business Leadership, and is the Author of the book "SCALE", a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis.  He is a featured Business Expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more.  Jeff was honored with the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation from the US State Department. http://JeffHoffman.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhoff

About This Episode: Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, published author, film producer, and a producer of a Grammy-winning jazz album in 2015. He has been the founder of multiple startups, has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known companies, including Priceline.com. uBid.com, ColorJar, and more. Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses in more than 150 countries. He also serves on the boards of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, Unreasonable Group, and Global 1000. He supports the White House, the US State Department, the United Nations, and foreign governments on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship. Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 50 countries, on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership. He is the co-author of the book SCALE, a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis. Jeff received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the national CEO council for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship, and he received the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation.   Find out more about Jeff at:  Jeff on LinkedInJeff@colorjar.com   See the Show Notes: www.jeremyryanslate.com/610   Sponsors:Podcoin: Get paid to listen to podcasts and this podcast! Get 300 free podcoins using our promo code "create" head over to  https://www.podcoin.com/ Audible: Get a free 30 day free trial and 1 free audiobook from thousands of available books. Right now I'm reading "Extreme Ownership," by Jocko Willink head over to www.jeremyryanslate.com/book 

About This Episode: Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, published author, film producer, and a producer of a Grammy-winning jazz album in 2015. He has been the founder of multiple startups, has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known companies, including Priceline.com. uBid.com, ColorJar, and more. Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses in more than 150 countries. He also serves on the boards of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, Unreasonable Group, and Global 1000. He supports the White House, the US State Department, the United Nations, and foreign governments on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship. Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 50 countries, on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership. He is the co-author of the book SCALE, a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis. Jeff received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the national CEO council for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship, and he received the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation.   Find out more about Jeff at:  Jeff on LinkedInJeff@colorjar.com   See the Show Notes: www.jeremyryanslate.com/610   Sponsors:Podcoin: Get paid to listen to podcasts and this podcast! Get 300 free podcoins using our promo code "create" head over to  https://www.podcoin.com/ Audible: Get a free 30 day free trial and 1 free audiobook from thousands of available books. Right now I'm reading "Extreme Ownership," by Jocko Willink head over to www.jeremyryanslate.com/book 

Guest Bio:Greg Warnock, PhD is co-founder and managing director of Mercato Partners, where he is involved on the boards of Sphero, SteelHouse, and Stance. Greg is a technologist, innovator, and entrepreneur with a proven history of building and growing companies.Prior to Mercato Partners, Greg was co-founder and managing director of vSpring Capital, an early stage venture capital fund. Before vSpring, Greg was principal in more than 20 M&A transactions and launched several businesses spanning technology, consumer, biotech, and marketing.Greg was also the founder of Junto Partners, an entrepreneurship education initiative designed to train and mentor aspiring entrepreneurs, and is a past chairman of the board for the Community Foundation of Utah. Greg has been named Utah Business Outstanding Director and Utah Business Mentor of the Year, and was honored with the Supporter of Entrepreneurship Award by Ernst & Young.Greg received a B.S. in computer science and an M.B.A. and PhD in Entrepreneurship and Venture Finance from University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business. Greg enjoys collecting and restoring muscle cars.

Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, published author, Hollywood film producer, a producer of a Grammy winning jazz album, and executive producer of an Emmy Award winning television show. In his career, he has been the founder of multiple startups, he has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and he has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known companies, including Priceline.com. uBid.com, CTI, ColorJar, and more.   Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia. He supports entrepreneurs and small businesses on a worldwide basis, serving on the boards of The Unreasonable Group, the global board of directors of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (supporting entrepreneurship in over 170 countries), the US State Department’s GIST program (Global Innovation through Science and Technology, working in 49 emerging nations), the APEC Startup Initiative (the Asia Pacific Economic Council’s 21-member nation association), and many others. He supports the White House, the State Department, the United Nations, and similar organizations internationally on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship programs.   Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 50 countries. He speaks on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership, and is the author of the book SCALE, a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis.   Jeff is a featured business expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more.   Jeff has been honored with the Best of the Best Award from the national CEO association (Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization) as well as receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award and being inducted into the Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship. He also received the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation.   Outside of the world of technology, Jeff has produced TV shows, has produced movies in Hollywood, has produced musical events including concerts, tours, and charity events with such artists as Elton John, Britney Spears, NSYNC, Boyz II Men, and others, and serves on numerous charity and non-profit boards.     In this episode, Karen and Jeff discuss:         Success Story of Jeff         Commit to Get Leads o    Learn one new thing, that you don’t need to learn every day. Then think of that idea as a puzzle piece that you are gathering to solve a problem not otherwise solved.         Consult to Sell o    Schedule days out of your office and with your customer. Go to where your customer is and hang out, not for selling, just to find out what they are needing.         Connect to Build and Grow o    Document your processes, automate what you can, and outsource those things that you can.         Success Thinking, Activities and Vision o    Your attitude determines your outcome. Part of success is focusing on what’s possible, not what’s not possible.         Sweet Spot of Success     "Instead of complaining about the life you have, why don’t you design the life you wish you had? You can live any life you want to life, as long as you find a way to become valuable to the people you want to be around. You do that by finding a way to solve problems they need help solving."- Jeff Hoffman     Connect with Jeff Hoffman:   Twitter: @SpeakerJeff Website: JeffHoffman.com Book: Scale: Seven Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back LinkedIn: Jeff Hoffman     About the Podcast   Join host Karen Briscoe each week to learn how you can achieve success at a higher level by investing just 5 minutes a day! Tune in to hear powerful, inspirational success stories and expert insights from entrepreneurs, business owners, industry leaders, and real estate agents that will transform your business and life. Karen shares a-ha moments that have shaped her career and discusses key concepts from her book Real Estate Success in 5 Minutes a Day: Secrets of a Top Agent Revealed.   Here’s to your success in business and in life!     Connect with Karen Briscoe:   Twitter: @5MinuteSuccess Facebook: 5MinuteSuccess Website: 5MinuteSuccess.com Email: Karen@5MinuteSuccess.com   5 Minute Success Links   Learn more about Karen’s book, Real Estate Success in 5 Minutes a Day   Subscribe to 5 Minute Success Podcast   Spread the love and share the secrets of 5 Minute Success with your friends and colleagues!     Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Women make up a significant part of Redding Startup ecosystem and help define what it means to be an entrepreneur in Redding. We celebrate this with the Women in Entrepreneurship Award. It was shared by Jenna Zint of turbansfortots.com , Anne Ballard of TheCrowningJewel.com and Christine Sullivan of TwinSparrow.com. They join Kirk to share about their adventures discovering what it means to be women in entrepreneurship. It's a story of struggle, success, discovery and finally owning the term Entrepreneur. 

I step in when you want to double and triple growth. Diana Pereira is committed to her clients in a way that's inspiring. She's one of the Founders of the Impact Hub in Santa Barbara, and the Founder of Balance Financial Management, located in the Funk Zone of Santa Barbara. We know her from the early days of the Impact Hub when it was still a dream, and she presented the vision at the Santa Barbara Library, several years ago. Since then, the Hub has grown into a center for entrepreneurship in Santa Barbara. Her work at the Impact Hub was recognized with a highly coveted Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award in 2018 in the Green and Entrepreneurship category. Note: We're going to interviewing the 2018 winners over a period of months, to help celebrate the work that the organization is doing. Diana sees her company's role at Balance as the backbone to startups and non-profits. She said she's been doing payroll and accounting since she was eleven years old and has been a CFO for over 15 years. She lights up when you ask her about success stories at the Impact Hub. Her current favorite is Cognixion, founded by Andreas Forsland. They're on the cutting edge of AI, creating products that accelerate and enrich human communication and connection. One of the things that I appreciate about Diana is that she sees herself as a part of the team. If you poke a view into her office in the Funk Zone, you'll see an excellent brick room, windows on two walls, and a shelf that wraps around the room that has computers, that everyone stands up to work on. It's cool, and if they need to sit or take a meeting, they're in the Impact Hub, with plenty of room to spread out when they need to. Congratulations to Diana, and the rest of the 2018 SOE Winners.

What is needed to attract investors, the importance of a team, and how to enagage the right people for your company.  Develope a plan that will scale. Hire the needed technical, marketing and leadership expertise to raise capital and to build the business. Episode Highlights: What is needed to attract an investor The importance of the team How to attract and scale your team The Foundation -  What really needs to be in place to attract seed round investment? Pick up 1-2 key customers with a working prototype Seed round: Have team, some customers, some revenue, working model. & need funds. What is typically the right scenario for a TCA investor? TCA- a 20-40% small percentage are open for execution delivery role. *Understanding, awareness & belief What is the biggest hurdles you see from entrepreneurs? Giving up equity is often the big issue. Angel members open to teaming up as a co-founder. Building the Team - How do we attract the right person? Resources How to scale a team. Long term engagement, needs of the business. Operator, needs to give up “control”. Use advisors to vet talent, first reluctant to bring in the help. Scale When to start? Evaluation & Planning Analogy of championship sports teams- key pieces of the puzzle but not all the right pieces at the right team. Hicham Semaan is an experienced CEO, GM, senior executive, angel investor, senior, and board member to CEOs, management teams, private equity, startup companies. He is a respected leader with strong vision, value creation, turn around, and acquisition expertise, and has successfully grown and exited businesses. Hicham is considered an expert in the technology, education, and real estate industries and has been a featured speaker at several industry events. He is the newly elected Tech Coast Angels-Orange County President and has received the “Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award” from the OCBJ and was recently named “New Investor of the Year” by Tech Coast Angels. Check out the Blog on the Stride Search, Inc site for the supplementary “show recap” article with detailed takeaways/insights from the interview.

Today I am super excited to have my first Billionaire guest on my show. The truth is that while I was preparing for this interview I asked myself the following question …what separates a Billionaire from a Millionaire? In fact once i’m asking that question I ask myself ‘What separates a Millionaire from someone struggling to pay the rent?’ Is it luck? Is it connections? Is it skill? Is it IQ? Is it raw determination and passion or is it something else? Well… who better to ask than someone who has made the journey to the top.     Jeff Hoffman is a serial entrepreneur, international speaker, published author, Hollywood film producer, Grammy Award-winning jazz album artist, philanthropist and one of only 2,000 Billionaires in the entire world. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known companies, including Priceline.com, Booking.com, uBid.com, ColorJar, among others. He also serves on the boards of companies across the globe, supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses in more than 150 countries. He also supports the White House, the US State Department, the United Nations, and foreign governments on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship. Jeff is also a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 50 countries. He is also the co-author of the book ‘SCALE’- a how-to guide for growing your business. He’s been featured on countless media outlets including Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, ABC, NPR, Forbes, Inc., Time Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, among countless others. Jeff received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the national CEO council for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship, and he received the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan, Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation. Outside of the world of business, Jeff has produced movies, and  musical events including concerts, tours, and charity events with artists like Sir Elton John, Britney Spears, N-SYNC to name a few   So how does he do it all? Let’s find out … It is my absolute pleasure and honor to bring to you the one and only … Jeff Hoffman What you will learn: The 7 ingredients to becoming a billionaire How to overcome the guilt of making a fortune How Amazon became the largest marketplace How to become more lucky How to win a gold medal in your industry How to scale your company beyond yourself How to know when you’re ready you sell your company How impacting one person is like impacting the world How to increase your chances of getting an investment … and MUCH MORE Interesting highlights: Jeff realized that he couldn’t have everything even as a Billionaire Jeff has written on his wall ‘Ideas are welcome here but execution is worshiped’ Jeff shares what he would do if he went broke today and had to start again from scratch Jeff shares a crazy story of how one of his employees bought a house for his mother with cash   Jeff’s #1 practical advice:  Your success is someone else's miracleTweet This Wanna pick Jeff’s brain?   Join my exclusive FB group now (https://www.facebook.com/groups/canipickyourbrain) ! Resources & Links: Scale (https://www.amazon.com/Scale-Seven-Proven-Principles-Business/dp/1591847249/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502895793&sr=8-1&keywords=scale+jeff+hoffman) (Jeff’s book) The Self Help Addict (http://www.theselfhelpaddict.com) (My book) Get Featured (http://www.GetFeatured.com)  (Sponsor)   Did you enjoy this episode? Then  please subscribe to my podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/can-i-pick-your-brain-entrepreneur-business-podcast/id1076916148?mt=2) , so you can get automatic updates whenever another episode goes live (and you will be helping me get to #1 on iTunes!)

Joining with us today is a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, published author, film producer, and has been the founder of multiple startups. Jeff Hoffman is the Founder of Priceline.com which is now valued at more than $60 Billion. In this interview, Jeff will talk about the reality, why he believes that it is important to read and learn about things that have nothing to do with whatever it is that you are working on, and the sooner you embrace his techniques, the better off you’ll be in your life and business. Turn up the volume and get some extremely valuable words of wisdom from Jeff Hoffman when it comes to building an extremely successful business and genuinely grabbing life big! In this episode, you will learn: What Jeff's method of "info-sponging" is all about. Why Jeff feels that being curious is very important in today’s world as entrepreneurs and as people that want to make a difference. Jeff's question for many years in his life. What Jeff thinks the definition of the world’s most successful people are like. The common traits of the world’s most successful people. Jeff's technique to model what he saw that the world’s most successful people are doing. Why is it so important who we surround ourselves with. The 3 reasons you’ll never be successful in anything. Jeff shares his definition of success. Why it is important not to miss opportunities or moments of inspiration that can be incredibly valuable. The formula to get where you want to be in life. How Jeff sources his info for his daily info-sponging. What Jeff is trying to accomplish in his mission today. Plus so much more! Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, published author, film producer, and a producer of a Grammy-winning jazz album in 2015. He has been the founder of multiple startups, has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known companies, including Priceline.com, uBid.com, ColorJar, and more. Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses in more than 150 countries. He also serves on the boards of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, Unreasonable Group, and Global 1000. He supports the White House, the US State Department, the United Nations, and foreign governments on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship. Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 50 countries, on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership. He is the co-author of the book SCALE, a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis. Jeff is a featured business expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more. Jeff received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the national CEO council for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship, and he received the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation. Outside of the world of technology, Jeff has produced movies, has produced musical events including concerts, tours, and charity events with such artists as Elton John, Britney Spears, NSYNC, and others, and serves on numerous charity and non-profit boards.

Mirza Tihic left war torn Bosnia as a refugee to find a better life. Since then he as chased his dreams and become a well respected Entrepreneur and specialist in the world of Entrepreneurship. He is the CEO of Bey Designs, Co-Founder of North Side Learning Center, a consultant, and adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at Syracuse University. In 2015 he won the Whitman School of Business Management's Dedication to Entrepreneurship Award.Bey Designs are handcrafted gifts using all natural, recycled and reclaimed materials. Their cubes feature the unique skylines of New York City, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, and Denver. These unique gifts have been features as a 'Forbes Top 10 Gifts for Travelers' and 'Featured in the New York Now Show Guide Cover'.Topics covered in this episode: The importance of education, Sustainability, Solving Corruption, Immigration, Creating a business to help others, Teaching from a place of experience, and so much more.You are only as good as your next Mission! - Mirza TihicWebsite: http://beydesigns.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beydesignsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bey_designs/Twitter: https://twitter.com/bey_designs

''The quality of your life is 100% dependent on the quality of the people in it.'' - Jeff Hoffman What can you do when the only people in your circle of influence don’t believe in you? How could stepping out of your comfort zone change the trajectory of your life and give you new perspective on the world? Have you ever wanted to scale your business, but don’t know where to start? These are just a handful of the powerful questions that serial entrepreneur, Jeff Hoffman, answers during today’s powerful conversation on the Front Row Factor podcast. Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, and published author. He has been the founder of multiple startups, CEO of both public and private companies, and senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known companies, including Priceline.com, uBid.com, ColorJar, and more. Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, co-author of the book SCALE, a teacher for innovation workshops to major corporations, and a featured business expert as seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more. Jeff received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the national CEO council for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship, and he received the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation. Outside of the world of technology, Jeff has produced movies, has produced musical events including concerts, tours, and charity events with such artists as Elton John, Britney Spears, NSYNC, and others, and serves on numerous charity and non-profit boards.     In this comprehensive discussion, Jeff describes his entrepreneurial journey, including the lessons he’s learned along the way and what it truly means to succeed. We talk about creating a vision and accomplishing big goals, how to make it as an entrepreneur, tips for scaling your business, the power of contribution, powerful front row moments, and a whole lot more! Here’s a quick breakdown of our chat… [12:50] What can you do when the only world you know doesn’t believe in your biggest goals and dreams? [15:00] Are we really all that different? Find out what Jeff discovered from traveling to 90+ countries, including the real truth about what connects and divides the human race. [20:00] Learn how to embrace the beauty in others, surround yourself with amazing people and create unforgettable front row moments that can positively impact the world! [25:50] What does it truly mean to be successful? Listen to Jeff’s surprising definition and the tool he used to design the ultimate life! [31:09] Long-term plans get punched in the face! Learn how you can create a strong vision and successfully accomplish your toughest goals. [34:20] Discover the 2 most important steps you can take in order to succeed as an entrepreneur.... And guess what? Money has nothing to do with it! [36:08] Should you scale your business? If so, how? As the co-author of Scale: Seven Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back, Jeff will tell you exactly what you need to know! [40:39] The 3 most important questions to ask yourself that influence how people remember you when you die. [43:03] Don’t miss this incredibly powerful recipient story that defines what it really means to live life in the front row.   [53:39] Jeff’s advice to anyone who wants to give back but has no idea where to start. ''Every human being should have their own red carpet moment.'' - Jeff Hoffman Enjoying the show? For iTunes listeners, get automatic downloads and share the love by subscribing, rating & reviewing here! Links and Resources [BOOK] Scale: Seven Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back [TALK] The Power of Wonder: Jeff Hoffman at TEDxWallStreet [SITE] Priceline [INTERVIEW] The Year of Thank You with John Israel [SITE] Front Row Foundation [SITE] The Miracle Morning [SITE] GoBundance [SOCIAL] Twitter, LinkedIn If you’re enjoying the show, let us know about it HERE o/

Beth Fuller is the 2012 Kentucky Elementary Teacher of the Year Also, Beth is the 2012 recipient of the Gheens Institute for Innovation Creativity and Entrepreneurship Award for Ruff Ruff Readers. Beth is the author of What Did You Learn Today: Implementing Family Message Journals K-12 and Oliver Overcomes Obstacles: Our Resilient Hero.

Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, published author, film producer, and a producer of a Grammy-winning jazz album in 2015. He has been the founder of multiple startups, has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known companies, including Priceline.com. uBid.com, ColorJar, and more.   Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses in more than 150 countries. He also serves on the boards of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, Unreasonable Group, and Global 1000. He supports the White House, the US State Department, the United Nations, and foreign governments on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship. Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 50 countries, on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership. He is the co-author of the book SCALE, a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis. Jeff received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the national CEO council for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship, and he received the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation.    

Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, published author, film producer, and a producer of a Grammy-winning jazz album in 2015. He has been the founder of multiple startups, has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known companies, including Priceline.com. uBid.com, ColorJar, and more.   Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses in more than 150 countries. He also serves on the boards of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, Unreasonable Group, and Global 1000. He supports the White House, the US State Department, the United Nations, and foreign governments on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship. Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 50 countries, on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership. He is the co-author of the book SCALE, a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis. Jeff received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the national CEO council for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship, and he received the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation.    

Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, published author, film producer, and a producer of a Grammy-winning jazz album in 2015. He has been the founder of multiple startups, has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known companies, including Priceline.com. uBid.com, ColorJar, and more.   Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses in more than 150 countries. He also serves on the boards of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, Unreasonable Group, and Global 1000. He supports the White House, the US State Department, the United Nations, and foreign governments on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship. Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 50 countries, on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership. He is the co-author of the book SCALE, a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis. Jeff received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the national CEO council for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship, and he received the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation.    

 Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, Hollywood film producer, and a producer of a Grammy winning jazz album in 2015. In his career, he has been the founder of multiple startups, he has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and he has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known companies, including Priceline.com. uBid.com, CTI, ColorJar, and more. Today Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia. He supports entrepreneurs and small businesses on a worldwide basis, serving on the global board of directors of Global Entrepreneurship Week (supporting entrepreneurship in over 130 countries), the US State Department’s GIST program (Global Innovation through Science and Technology, working in 49 emerging nations), the APEC Startup Initiative (the Asia Pacific Economic Council’s 21-member nation association), and many others. He supports the White House, the State Department, the United Nations, and similar organizations internationally on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship programs. Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 50 countries. He speaks on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership, and is the author of the book SCALE, a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis. Jeff received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the national CEO council for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship, and he received the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation.

Urban-jazz harpist Mariea Antoinette will release a special edition of her Billboard Top 5 album “Straight from the Harp” on September 25 in conjunction with receiving a Phenomenal Women in Entrepreneurship Award from the National Council of Negro Women. The Allan Phillips-produced disc that peaked in the Billboard smooth jazz albums Top 5, “Straight from the Harp,” connects with a balanced set list of soul-infused originals and R&B classics. Showcasing Antoinette’s gorgeous, graceful and sensual harp theatrics amidst down home funk grooves, ebullient pop harmonies and spacious jazz improvisations, the record was purposely crafted to fulfill the artist’s mission to smash limiting preconceptions, banish borders and offer adventurous new possibilities for her celestial stringed instrument. Follow Mariea on Facebook and Twitter.

"A new kind of innovator can wipe out incumbents in a flash. The shock waves from big-bang disruptions emanate far beyond information-based goods and services." These are the statements from Harvard Business Review's article "Big-Bank Disruption" by Larry Downes March 2013. Our Guest today has done exactly that by revolutionizing the travel and Hotel industry as Co-founder of Priceline.com. Jeff Hoffman-successful entrepreneur,CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, published author, Hollywood film producer, and a producer of a Grammy winning jazz album in 2015. In his career, he has been the founder of many startups,CEO of public and private companies. He's been part of a number of well-known companies including Priceline.com. uBid.com, CTI, ColorJar, and more. Serving on the boards of companies globally and supports entrepreneurs and small businesses on a worldwide basis, serving on the global board of directors of Global Entrepreneurship Week in over 130 countries, the US State Department’s GIST program:Global Innovation through Science and Technology in 49 emerging nations, APEC Startup Initiative a 21-member nation association, and many others. He supports the White House, State Department & UN. Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker on the innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership, and author of SCALE, a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff is a featured business expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business,CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and publications including Forbes, Inc.,Time, Fast Company, the WSJ, and more. Jeff received numerous awards including the JP Morgan Chase's Champion of Entrepreneurship Award. Producer of movies, musical events including concerts, tours and charity events with such artists as Elton John, Britney Spears, NSYNC and serves on numerous non-profit boards. 

67: Dr. Michael H. Morris holds the James W. Walter Eminent Scholar Chair at the University of Florida, and was formerly the Malone Mitchell Chair at Oklahoma State University. In addition to starting three ventures, he has built top-ranked entrepreneurship programs at three major universities. A pioneer in curricular innovation and experiential learning, his entrepreneurial outreach efforts have facilitated the development of hundreds of ventures. He has also consulted to a large number of corporations around the world. Dr. Morris has published eleven books and over 130 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is co-editor of the Prentice-Hall Entrepreneurship Series and a Past President of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Dr. Morris has been awarded the Edwin & Gloria Appel Prize for contributions to entrepreneurship. A former Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Morris was selected as one of the top twenty entrepreneurship professors in the U.S. by Fortune Small Business, and is the recipient of the Leavey Award from the Freedoms Foundation for impacting private enterprise education and the Dedication to Entrepreneurship Award from the Academy of Management. He received his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech.

Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur and motivational speaker. In his career, he has been the founder of multiple startups, he has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and he has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff's vision has created many successful well-know companies, including priceline.com, uBid.com, CTI, ColorJar, and more.Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 50 countries. He speaks on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership, and is currently writing a book on how to scale a business, which will be published worldwide in the summer of 2014. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis.Jeff is a featured business expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more.Jeff received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the national CEO council for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship, as well as receiving the 2012 Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital.Outside of the world of technology, Jeff has produced movies in Hollywood, has produced musical events including concerts, tours, and charity events with such artists as Elton John, Britney Spears, NSYNC, and others, and serves on numerous charity and non-profit boards.  Don't miss this powerful show to take your LIFE and your BUSINESS to the next level! 

Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur and motivational speaker. In his career, he has been the founder of multiple startups, he has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and he has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff's vision has created many successful well-know companies, including priceline.com, uBid.com, CTI, ColorJar, and more.Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 50 countries. He speaks on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership, and is currently writing a book on how to scale a business, which will be published worldwide in the summer of 2014. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis.Jeff is a featured business expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more.Jeff received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the national CEO council for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship, as well as receiving the 2012 Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital.Outside of the world of technology, Jeff has produced movies in Hollywood, has produced musical events including concerts, tours, and charity events with such artists as Elton John, Britney Spears, NSYNC, and others, and serves on numerous charity and non-profit boards.  Don't miss this powerful show to take your LIFE and your BUSINESS to the next level! 

Health Chat with Kat with special guest Dr. Kathy Gruver, PhD, as a practitioner and speaker and her books and DVDs. I encourage you to check back frequently to learn more about natural ways to take care of your health and explore about other helpful resources like websites, books, DVDs and products. Thanks so much for visiting and have a healthy day. Kathy was honored this year with the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award in health and fitness by the Santa Barbara Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. It was a true joy to be recognized by this organization and the community for all my hard work in building up my business and helping people heal.http://www.thealternativemedicinecabinet.com/

Presented to Mr. Henry Getz. Includes remarks by Peter Klein and Lew Rockwell. Recorded at the Mises Institute on 5 June 2013.

Ralph Adamo, CEO & President of Integrity Wealth Management joins our show to discuss his article "Cultivating Warm Prospects on LinkedIn". In his article, he explains 3 techniques for using LinkedIn to your advantage and 5 insights and cautions based on firsthand experiences. Chris Dyer, CEO of PeopleG2 was recently nominated for the Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award by the Orange County Business Journal. After his nomination, Chris contacted his fellow nominees to receive insight and connections.  Chris' firm creates risk management solutions for all human capital related transactions and decisions.

   Dr. Kathy Gruver, author of The Alternative Medicine Cabinet and host of the TV series of the same name has earned her PhD in natural health. Gruver's second book, Body/Mind Therapies for the Bodyworker is currently available and Conquer Your Stress with Mind/Body Therapies will be released in June 2013. Dr. Gruver has studied mind/body medicine at the famed Benson-Henry Institute for Mind/Body Medicine and pursued further education at the National Institutes of Health.      Dr. Gruver has been featured as an expert in countless publications and has written dozens of health and wellness articles. She has appeared as a guest expert on over 100 radio shows and has done over 60 educational lectures around the country. She has also served as an expert witness for massage negligence and ethics cases.      Dr. Gruver was the recipient of the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award in 2012 by the National Association of Women Business Owners Santa Barbara. And was nominated for the Gutsy Gal Awards in 2013. She maintains a massage and natural health practice in Santa Barbara, CA and offers phone and email health consultations.      She has also produced an instructional massage DVD, "Therapeutic Massage at Home; Learn to Rub People the RIGHT Way" and is a practitioner with over 20 years of experience. Kathy was featured on Lifetime Television's "The Balancing Act" in 2011 speaking about natural health.

Steve Rosol, President and CEO of Mars Air Systems discusses how his firm experienced business growth through exporting. Mars Air Systems manufactures high quality air curtains that protect building environments from energy loss and wind-borne dust, dirt and fumes, along with flying insects. Mars Air Systems just unveiled new branding to celebrate their Golden Anniversary, and is looking forward to 50 more golden years. Jason Lucash, Co-Founder of OrigAudio joins our show after winning Orange County Business Journal's "Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award" and being named Entrepreneur Magazine's “Entrepreneur of the Year”.  Jason will discuss how he managed to grow his company into a multi-million dollar internationally known company in just three years. OrigAudio offers innovative solutions for music portability by providing an outlet for customers to become creators of style, set their own trends, and showcase their unique music personalities.

Hayes Drumwright, Founder and CEO of Trace3 is host Ric Franzi's featured guest.  They discuss Trace3's rapid growth, culture, and related topics.  Ric explores with Hayes how his selection as a 2011 OCBJ Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award finalist has affected him as an Orange County business leader.

Paul Roberts, Founder and CEO of West Coast Marketing joins Ric Franzi for a interactive discussion of CEO Peer Groups, Ric's first book "CRITICAL MASS: The 10 Explosive Powers of CEO PEER GROUPS" and the 8 Nominees for the 2011 Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award who are CRITICAL MASS for Business clients.