Breakthrough Builders

On this episode of the Breakthrough Builders Podcast, Jesse is joined by the writer Daniel H. Pink. Dan and Jesse have a far-reaching conversation that touches upon:The formative role of reading in Dan’s childhood, and the importance and randomness of having access to great libraries as a son of the State of Ohio (4:33)How Dan becomes so enthralled with a subject that he chooses to write a book on it (which he’s now done 7 times!) (6:35)The high regard in which Dan holds the structure of a book, and the high bar he sets for himself in continually revising his initial structural hypotheses as he writes (8:53)How Dan developed a writing style that’s intellectually coherent and wonderfully accessible (11:01)The importance of cross-disciplinary thinking in today’s world (14:08)How Dan asks the right questions in his research to obtain valuable and insightful responses (15:50)The importance of constantly pushing to get feedback from people who have “taste and judgment” – and who will also be radically candid with their feedback (18:06)The “wide diet” of reading that Dan recommends if one is interested in growing and improving as a writer (20:07)Reflections on the applicability of the theses of three of his books – A Whole New Mind (2005), Drive (2009), and The Power of Regret (2022) – to our world today (21:28)The distinction and relationship between “Big P” and “Little P” Purpose in our lives, and how Dan sees “Thinking as a form of Doing and Doing as a form of Thinking” (25:34)Regret as a specific case of the more general case of the need to embrace paradox in our lives (27:59)Dan and Jesse also discuss Dan’s favorite Ohio sports memory, the authors he admires most, what he sees as his biggest professional breakthrough (hint: it’s not what you think), and his view on who really won the Toledo War. Guest BioDaniel H. Pink is the author of five New York Times bestsellers, including his latest, The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward. His other books include the New York Times bestsellers When and A Whole New Mind — as well as the #1 New York Times bestsellers Drive and To Sell is Human. Dan’s books have won multiple awards, have been translated into 42 languages, and have sold millions of copies around the world. He lives in Washington, DC, with his family.  Helpful LinksDan’s official website and TwitterTED Talk “The Puzzle of Motivation,” viewed over 28 million timesDan on the Armchair Expert podcast with Dax Sheppard and Monica Padman - March 2022 Dan speaking about the 4 kinds of regret and what they teach us about ourselves (in light of his worldwide study on regret and his latest book)The Worldwide Regret Study, insights from which formed the foundation of Dan’s latest book The Schrödinger's cat thought experiment, which came up no fewer than three times in 30 minutes in Dan’s conversation with Jesse

As companies around the globe struggle to find a new normal way of working —questions abound: How do we manage people’s desire for flexibility with the imperative to keep colleagues connected? And how do we make sure that we don’t regress to work models that have historically excluded much-needed voices and perspectives?Perhaps no one thinks more about questions like these than Atlassian’s Work Futurist, Dominic Price. For nearly ten years he’s been leading efforts at the enterprise tech company to create a flexible employee experience based on listening, not speculation. And in his talk with Jesse, Dominic describes ways to embed earnest empathy into your own ways of working. Listen for his advice on how to drive change from within your organization, his reflections on delivering his immensely popular TED talk, and instruction on how to do a Personal Moral Inventory that helps you achieve balance in your life.(6:46) The foundations of earnest empathy(11:28) How to build belonging with authentic leadership, not labels(14:10) Reflections on the journey to becoming a work futurist and accomplished public speaker(23:54) How to make change happen from inside an organization(27:54) Exiting the pandemic: hopes and fears(31:38) The nuance of purpose(34:45) Using the Personal Moral Inventory as a tool for achieving balanceGuest BioBorn to Joy in the harsh Manchester Winter of ‘77, Dominic Price has a career that has reached far and wide through Europe, US and Asia PAC. An accomplished TED speaker, Dom is proud to work at Atlassian, the home of the most intelligent t-shirt wearers in business. As the resident Work Futurist. Dom is Atlassian’s in-house “Team Doctor” helping Atlassian scale by being ruthlessly efficient and effective, and spends over half his time helping our customers navigate transformation, agility, leadership, and the future of work.Dom has a deep passion for elite human performance, highly effective distributed teams, and building thriving businesses. He has previously been the GM Program Management for a global gaming company and a Director of Deloitte.Helpful LinksDom on TEDxSydney: What’s your happiness score? *viewed over 1.7m timesDom Writes: Why you should swap resolutions for a Personal Moral InventoryAlso, might be time to spring clean your work habitsThoughts on The Future of WorkDom’s Website, LinkedIn and Twitter

David Meltzer believes that mistakes ‘promote and protect us’. It’s a hard-earned belief—his own story substantiates the idea that with the right mindset, no setback is permanent. In his talk with Jesse, David describes his journey from humble beginnings in Ohio to becoming wildly successful and rubbing shoulders with sports legends as the CEO of Leigh Steinberg Sports. He also describes the undoing of that success—a downfall he recounts with inspiring vulnerability. He identifies the people, moments, and insights that helped him build back to a joyful life. Throughout the conversation, he shares profound ideas for how to become a fast learner, develop more empathy, find hidden reserves of gratitude, and reach your ultimate potential. And he and Jesse share a memory of an Ohio sports memory that any NBA fan will know well.(4:21) The power of ‘starting today’ when addressing big problems(8:17) David as a ten-year old: disadvantaged but ambitious(10:02) Landing a lucrative job with Leigh Steinberg Sports(11:35) Experiencing the compounding effect of bad behavior(17:04) How telling the truth illuminated a path forward(18:11) Advice for building a brand—the importance of frequencyGuest BioDavid Meltzer is the Co-Founder of Sports 1 Marketing and formerly served as CEO of the renowned Leigh (“Lee”) Steinberg Sports & Entertainment agency, which was the inspiration for the movie Jerry Maguire. David has been recognized by Variety Magazine as their Sports Humanitarian of the Year and awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. He is also the Executive Producer of the Bloomberg and Apple TV series 2 Minute Drill and Office Hours.His life’s mission is to empower OVER 1 BILLION people to be happy! This simple yet powerful mission has led him on an incredible journey to provide one thing...VALUE. As part of that mission, for the past 20 years, he’s been providing free weekly trainings to empower others to empower others to be happy.Helpful LinksDavid’s websiteWatch Season 1 of Office HoursThe Playbook podcastDavid on LinkedIn and Twitter

From practicing, teaching and leading at The Cleveland Clinic to her new tenure as the Chief Medical Officer at Qualtrics, Dr. Adrienne Boissy has been one of the healthcare industry’s greatest champions for imbuing empathy into the patient experience. In her talk with guest host Susan Haufe, she describes her journey as a builder: from navigating a childhood that often felt unsteady and unsafe, to becoming a neurologist, to finding her ultimate calling as an experience-minded executive working to transform healthcare. Throughout the episode she shares profound ideas about how to give yourself grace and overcome obstacles. And she leaves us with a look at the future of the healthcare industry, offering poignant ideas about how we can leverage technology to make the patient experience more humane and compassionate.(05:07) Adrienne at 12: Who’s the person we would’ve met?(08:28) Her healthcare journey, from researcher to chief experience officer(14:53) How to take a ‘Failure Bow’ and move on(19:01) Why everyone should think more about how they spend their time(23:13) On the importance of gratitude(32:14) Using technology to facilitate human connection and empathy in healthcare(34:33) Post-interview conversation with Jesse and guest host Susan HaufeGuest BioDr. Adrienne BoissyAdrienne Boissy, MD, MA, is the Chief Medical Officer at Qualtrics, where she shapes the strategic direction of patient and employee experience in the healthcare industry, including technology design, research, consulting and innovation in experience management. She is the former Chief Experience Officer of the Cleveland Clinic Health System and a current staff neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis. A compelling speaker and thought leader, Dr. Boissy has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Washington Post, Forbes, and The Atlantic, among others. Susan Haufe (Guest Host)With 20 years of experience combining the tools, discipline, expertise, and passion to design and drive a customer-centric culture, Susan Haufe is known for organizational transformation built on brand promise, purpose, and values. She currently serves as the Chief Industry Advisor for Healthcare at Qualtrics. Prior to joining Qualtrics, Susan served as the inaugural Chief Experience Officer for Yale New Haven Health, developing the vision and roadmap to support the execution of critical initiatives, including centralizing patient experience functions across the health system.Helpful LinksLearn more about Dr. Boissy’s role at QualtricsTED appearance: Can Empathy Help Us Heal Healthcare?A useful exercise: Your Pie Chart of HappinessAlso check out: Our Breakthrough Builders episode with New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s Rick EvansDr. Boissy on LinkedIn

Maureen Farrell’s The Cult of We chronicles the rise and fall of WeWork—the once-transcendent real estate company founded by now-maligned magnate Adam Neumann. But whereas other works have focused almost entirely on Adam’s tragic character, her book takes a broader lens: exploring not just the man but the conditions and constructs that enabled him.In her talk with Jesse, Maureen expounds on the story she wrote while also reflecting on her own journey as an author—why she chose to devote her first book to this subject, how she managed to complete it during the pandemic with co-author Eliot Brown, and the important role that persistence played in uncovering the riveting stories that make The Cult of We such a compelling and essential study of entrepreneurial audacity and institutional delusion.(7:31) Establishing the scope of the story(10:28) Key takeaways for readers(13:04) Advice for aspiring authors(15:17) Maureen reads a favorite excerpt from the book(22:13) Lightning Round: Maureen’s recommended reads & moreGuest BioMaureen Farrell reports on business for the New York Times, covering big money and private capital. Prior to the Times she worked at the Wall Street Journal, where she was a recipient of the Newswomen's Club of New York's Nellie Bly Award. Farrell previously worked at Forbes, Debtwire, and Mergermarket, where she covered deals, bankruptcy, and startups. She is a graduate of Duke University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is based in New York.Helpful LinksThe Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup DelusionLatest NYT article: The New Financial SupermarketsQ&A with Maureen for Duke ArtsMaureen on Twitter and LinkedIn

From apparel to handbags, Rebecca Minkoff’s designs are described as personifying ‘downtown romantic sensibility and Bohemian rocker style.’ It’s the kind of clarity you don’t achieve, especially in the highly competitive fashion industry, unless you’ve built and evolved your brand with the same care you’ve put into designing and launching your products.In her talk with Jesse, Rebecca discusses her journey as a brand founder— from being the brand to needing to expand and articulate the brand’s product signatures and core values. She describes the inequities that led her to launch the Female Founder Collective and launch the Superwomen podcast. She talks about her efforts to normalize kindness and inclusion in the fashion industry, and she identifies her own secret sauce as a leader and mother for balancing vulnerability with indomitable spirit.(3:27) Taking her brand from organic growth to purposeful expressions(6:30) What was different about launching a fashion brand in 2005? And where is the industry headed now?(9:37) Launching the Female Founder Collective(14:12) Highlighting the importance of diversity and addressing the impact of the pandemic on women in the workplace(19:57) Hosting the Superwomen podcast: opening up the conversation for vulnerability(22:55) Lightning round: Get to know Rebecca and her secret sauceGuest BioAfter developing an affinity for design while in the costume department in high school, Rebecca Minkoff moved to New York City at only 18 years old to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer. In 2001, Rebecca designed a version of the “I Love New York” t-shirt as part of a five-piece capsule collection. Today, Rebecca Minkoff is a global brand with a wide range of apparel, handbags, footwear, jewelry and accessories—playful and subtly edgy designs that integrate the elements of bohemian femininity with a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll.In September of 2018, she established the Female Founder Collective, a network of businesses led by women that invests in women’s financial power across the socio-economic spectrum by enabling and empowering female-owned businesses.Helpful LinksRebeccaminkoff.comFemalefoundercollective.comCNBC: How Rebecca Minkoff Started Her Business with $10,000 and an Appetite for RiskRebecca’s podcast: SuperwomenRebecca on LinkedIn and Twitter

Rachel Tipograph implores aspiring founders to: “Know what your superpower is, and how you can align it to a problem you want to solve.” It’s a playbook she’s lived out—as she leaned on her own particular brand of fearlessness to embrace ‘crazy’ marketing ideas as Gap’s youngest-ever Global Digital Director; to found MikMak to help businesses e-commerce-enable all their digital channels; and to use her influence as an investor to champion diversity, equity and inclusion at the founder and executive levels.In her talk with Jesse, Rachel reflects on her early years as a student, intern, and self-identified member of the ‘digerati’. She describes how being born into a family of small-business owners spawned an entrepreneurial spirit, but also deep reflections on the inequities that have historically accompanied lines of succession. She identifies the forward-thinking insights that led to the founding of MikMak. She outlines the criteria that guide her personal investments. And she leaves us with a look at the future of media, commerce, and the workplace experience. (2:59) From NYU, to saying goodbye to Hollywood internships(6:07) Digital Directing at Gap: Sans-scrutiny, try crazy things(10:40)  When not everyone had a voice in the family business(13:35) Not a female founder. A founder. (17:11) Diversity at MikMak: the progress and the challenges(19:04) The deepening intersection of media and commerce(24:54) The future of of the workplace experienceGuest BioRachel Tipograph is the Founder and CEO of MikMak, a global eCommerce enablement and analytics platform for multichannel brands. MikMak has earned recognition for its workplace culture and DE&I efforts as a “Fastest Growing Company in America” and “Best Place to Work” by Inc Magazine, “#10 Startup in the United States” by LinkedIn, “Breakthrough Brand” by Interbrand and “Nineteen Technologies Underpin AI And Analytics For Retail” by Forrester.Rachel has also been recognized as a thought leader by leading media publications including Forbes (“30 under 30 Who Are Changing The World”), Fast Company ("The Most Creative People in Business") AdAge ("The Most Creative People of The Year"), Adweek ("The Young Influentials Shaping Business and Culture") and many more.Helpful LinksMikMak’s websiteRachel’s podcast: Brave CommerceCrunchbase: MikMak secures $10M Series AAppearance on Forbes: Building An E-commerce Presence That SellsRachel on LinkedIn and Twitter

Matt Kalish saw an opportunity to bring avid sports fans like himself closer to the sports they follow. And out of that opportunity came DraftKings, the ubiquitous platform that has been a leading player in the growth of fantasy sports gaming.In his talk with Jesse, Matt describes the conditions, insights, and strategic moves that positioned DraftKings for success. He discusses his early years as an entrepreneur and gaming enthusiast, the importance of product-led growth, and the innovations that DraftKings is bringing to the fan experience across sports leagues; all while offering advice on how to build in line with your own purpose.(4:42) Matt’s early years before venturing into corporate America(9:43) Discovering how to build products for “skin-in-the-game” fans(13:16) Scaling from Daily Fantasy to other offers and experiences(18:28) Using customer data to push advertisers, networks, and leagues to embrace experiential innovation(21:46) Turning competency and passion into opportunity(27:00) Keeping the customer at the center of everythingGuest BioMatt Kalish is President of DraftKings North America. Kalish co-founded DraftKings in 2012 and is accountable for all North America revenue, bringing together all marketing, operations, and related analytics functions. Kalish has led his team to go beyond the industry standards by finding ways to improve DraftKings’ customers’ game experience by introducing more sports and ways to play, driving DraftKings towards offering the most comprehensive platform for skin-in-the-game sports fans available in the US. Moreover, he maintains a strong focus on DraftKings’ consumer protections to ensure the company maintains high standards of integrity and responsibility.Helpful Links DraftKings websiteMatt’s podcast with Gary Vaynerchuk: Props & DropsForbes: The First Five Years of DraftKingsThe Verge: DraftKings signs up real NFL players to use in ‘gamified NFT collections’About DraftKings’ commitment to responsible gamingMatt on LinkedIn and Twitter

Perhaps no food and drink company has reinvented itself so expertly over the years, or refined and ended its brand to be more vibrant, more culturally relevant and more inclusive as has Pepsi. Head of US Cola Marketing Todd Kaplan has been the architect of many of those bold moves and transformational ideas.In his talk with Jesse, Todd describes his journey to becoming a steward of one of the world’s largest and most culturally connected consumer brands. He recounts his experience working with the Olympics at Visa. He tells the story of the Pepsi Max Field of Dreams project that often seemed impossible, but ultimately came to life in vivid detail for one grateful fan and an enthralled public. He reflects on launching Pepsi’s LIFEWATR and Bubly brands with core insights about the consumer. Throughout, Todd cites instances where moving with purpose and persistence helped turn audacious dreams into breakthrough brand experiences.(4:07) Todd describes his early years in sports marketing and formative work with the Olympics(10:02) Seizing the opportunity to make connections at Pepsi(12:15) If you build it…(The Pepsi Max Field of Dreams project)(16:57) Embracing and understanding the consumer’s mindset(19:39) Branding with purpose: the ins and outs(22:59) Launching LIFEWATR to refresh consumers and support the arts(26:26) How to react when people say ‘no’ to an idea you believe inGuest BioTodd Kaplan is the Vice President of Marketing at Pepsi where he is responsible for leading PepsiCo’s flagship brand. Since Fall 2018, Kaplan has brought a challenger mindset and culture-forward perspective that has been foundational to turning around and re-energizing the Pepsi brand.  Under his leadership, the Pepsi brand has delivered twelve consecutive quarters of positive sales growth (and counting), along with significant increases in brand equity and all-time highs in creative effectiveness. Todd was recently named one of the “Top 25 Most Innovative CMO’s” in the world by Business Insider.Helpful Links The Drum article: Pepsi’s VP of Marketing says “start backwards” to create ads fit for modern cultureMeet the LIFEWATR ArtistsWith Gary Vaynerchuk: The Strategy Behind Pepsi's “Challenger” Brand ApproachTodd on LinkedIn and Twitter

During this 40th episode of Breakthrough Builders, host Jesse Purewal reflects on the 39 episodes produced thus far. It’s part year-in-review, part host-tells-all as he sits down with Studio Pod Media’s TJ Bonaventura and the team behind the show for an enlightening conversation about storytelling with empathy, favorite moments with guests, and everything in between (there’s even some hockey talk).   (0:57) Describing the show’s origins and evolution(8:45) Jesse identifies four main themes of the show so far w/ episode reflections(15:14) The importance of empathy: why we all need to be continuously understood, and re-understood(17:08) Looking ahead to 2022(17:57) Favorite pods, the Dream Guest, & more: Jesse answers a lightning round of questions from the Breakthrough Builders teamReferenced Episodes Building with Purpose: Robert ChatwaniThe Spirit of Possibility: Gurdeep PallCreating Customer Love: Sheila VasheeEmbarking on Purpose: Lakshmi ShenoyAuthoring Encouragement: Sean TaylorDiscovering Vulnerability: Brad BalukjianInclusive Inventor: Jenny FleissFaith in the Future: Rob LoCascio