Productive Flourishing Podcast

Key Takeaways:[3:13] Jennifer discusses finding her voice in the workplace equality movement as a professional, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and someone who recognizes their privilege.[5:25] Jennifer talks about carrying the LGBTQ identity as a source of challenge, and using it as a vehicle to transform her own leadership.[12:22] When getting leaders and insiders to enact lasting change, we need to focus on DEI efforts on the moral case, just as much, if not more than, the business case.[15:43] If you are an insider, you can push on other insiders to lead differently.[17:40] Up to 75% of change management efforts fail, especially the top-down-led ones.[21:01] We can find core issues that we can focus on, which will then create ripples of change. One example of this can be toxic masculinity.[33:01] We should recognize that the differences between us are ones we should face and name, rather than sweep them under the rug.[38:11] The journey of understanding others is challenging and may reveal things about ourselves that we never expected. It’s important to be patient, humble, and transparent about our experience. Humans don’t learn by shaming one another.[1:01:28] Leaning on others within your community is super important, and Jennifer talks about the profoundness of an ally showing up to help speak for someone who can’t.[1:09:49] Jennifer’s challenge: get comfortable with being uncomfortable.[1:10:44] DEI is a laboratory for human evolution, and it challenges us at the deepest level in the not knowing.Mentioned:Jennifer BrownHow to Be an Inclusive LeaderDEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing It Right, by Lily Zhengbell hooks This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

Can magic strike twice? As we learn in this episode, it most certainly can. Charlie welcomes Jadah Sellner, best-selling author, business coach, and the host of the Lead with Love podcast. Jadah shares wisdom from her own experience of going from the “green smoothie girl” to an anti-hustle and pro-sustainable leadership business coach. Jadah talks more about her #shebuilds movement, which helps founders build sustainable businesses without burnout, some tips on moving forward when you feel like you’ve outgrown your current situation, and how we can apply anti-hustle productivity in our personal and professional lives. Jadah and Charlie talk about their creative process of book writing, moving from fear to love, and how we can define our “enough” to move through the world more intentionally.Key Takeaways:[3:41] Jadah talks about co-founding Simple Green Smoothies with her then-business partner Jen, and the interesting journey to have the conscious uncoupling not only with a business partner but with an identity of a body of work that she built.[5:20] Can magic strike twice? The answer is yes.[5:58] What should you do when you feel stuck in a pattern, yet your heart and soul call you in a new direction?[10:08] Sometimes we need separation to rebuild on our own and find our way.[10:52] Jadah shares a few people and situations that helped her create her own skill set and tools to pull from in her current life.[11:13] How is She Builds different from anything Jadah has done before?[12:17] Pay attention to where your natural curiosity and interest lie.[14:31] Jadah is an immersive creator, and she talks about giving herself the space to process and creatively cocoon while she is going through the process of creative writing and output.[17:41] Things flow much more easily when we embrace the fact that each project brings a new creative process.[23:15] The core message behind She Builds is that hustle culture isn’t working for women.[32:51] Sometimes advocating for yourself also means having to push back deadlines and be honest with yourself and others that things may not happen on the exact day you plan for them to happen.[38:55] How can we move from fear to love? Jadah breaks down her definition of “L.O.V.E.”: lead, optimize, visualize, and expand.[41:23] In a world where your to-do list can be a bottomless mimosa, it’s important to have an intentional and practical relationship with your to-do list.[48:47] Jadah’s growth edge now is being in a creative process with her book.[50:43] Jadah’s challenge: define your “enough” number. It is personal for everyone and can help move you out of hustle culture.Mentioned in this episode:Productive FlourishingStart Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done, by Charlie GilkeyThe AcademyMomentum AppJadah Sellner@jadahsellnerLead with Love PodcastShe Builds: The Anti-Hustle Guide to Grow Your Business and Nourish Your LifeElizabeth GilbertNeil GaimanToni Morrison This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

Key Takeaways:[4:36] Tara talks about what led her to create the What Works book, a blend of her own personal quest to re-establish her relationship with work and goals, mixed with conversations with people who had all sorts of different relationships to productivity and goals.[6:08] In the process of Tara’s research for the book, it brought up a deeper conversation of how much culture, family, and upbringing have on our identity, which makes an impact on how we structure our work and the goals we set.[6:49] We are bombarded by marketing and societal messages that make us feel like we aren’t good enough, or aren’t doing enough.[7:22] Tara and Charlie discuss why we don’t do the things we really want to do, and why working on teams can be so hard, even though we are primed to work with others.[12:25] We unpack the validation spiral, and why it’s so common.[16:21] Externally, one of the ways that we play into the validation spiral is by saying yes to things, taking on projects, and spreading ourselves too thin to do anything impeccably.[20:23] So many of us are socialized to be the supporting actor when really we can be the lead actor in our own story.[24:01] Ask yourself: what resources do you need, and where might they come from?[33:15] When “shoulding” and “supposed to-ing” yourself, get clear and concrete about what exactly you are looking for. Try to get specific about numbers and benchmarks.[40:15] Why don’t we ask for help before we absolutely need it?[45:10] Get a support team together before you need the help.[52:12] As a community, we can learn to break down resistance to ask for help and more openly offer help to others without expecting much in return.Mentioned in this episode:Productive FlourishingStart Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done, by Charlie GilkeyThe AcademyMomentum AppBrokenDown GirlTara McMullinWhat Works: A Comprehensive Framework to Change the Way We Approach Goal SettingWhat Works What Works Network This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

Key Takeaways:[4:17] Mark talks about the experience of almost dying from a rare form of lymphoma when he was in his 30s, and how it was the introduction to facing the unavoidable work of the friction that comes with life.[5:32] We must face what is done to us, but we are more than what has been done to us.[5:41] Mark talks about how the pandemic showed our generation it’s time to learn to choose love over fear, and compassion over self-interest.[11:20] One of the first “faults” goes back to the Industrial Revolution, where this is the first time in history that where we live and work is separated.[17:16] Reality TV is our present-day virtual Colosseum.[27:23] Often spiritually, the safest place is in the center.[28:09] Every one of us has a daily and perennial choice between love and fear. But there’s a difference between letting fear move through you and obeying it.[34:38] Through solitude, we restore our direct connection to the universe, and through relationships, we restore the wonder of being human and compassion and kindness.[37:11] The bad news is we’re always falling. The good news is there’s no bottom.[47:56] Mark’s challenge and invasion: inhabit life fully by being as open-hearted and as loving as possible. This will require courage, strength, and kindness.Mentioned in This Episode:Productive FlourishingStart Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done, by Charlie GilkeyThe AcademyMomentum AppMark NepoSurviving Storms: Finding the Strength To Meet Adversity, by Mark NepoThe Social DilemmaThink Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day, by Jay SetiNo Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering, by Thich Nhat Hanh This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

Key Takeaways:[4:54] Lisa would consider herself mentally ambidextrous. She likes structure and hard problems but also enjoys free thinking. Both these qualities help her as a storyteller and entrepreneur.[5:04] Lisa talks about deciding that she wanted more out of early retirement than sitting and eating pancakes all day![8:36] As a polymath, you can both be multidisciplinary and singularly focused.[12:44] Sometimes people put themselves in a prison of their own making. Lisa talks about how we can lean into creativity and fun rather than being stuck feeling like we have to do one thing.[13:21] When we start thinking about making decisions that affect our evolution, we tie in three factors that make them super hard and high-stakes: we make a decision, it is non-reversible, and it seems like it’s non-recoverable.[15:02] Sometimes we think that we are failing, when we're really in the middle of succeeding, but the only way you know that is to know that you are trying a new thing and experimenting.[27:00] Lisa discusses how her definition of success was flawed and how she was basing success on outcome rather than creating a process that really reflected where her money and time were going, and if this matched her values.[38:26] Lifestyle changes can take time.[1:04:29] It’s often what we are ashamed of and embarrassed about that can lead us to really get what we want.[1:08:03] Lisa’s challenge to you: make yourself a “to don’t” list.Mentioned in This Episode:Productive FlourishingStart Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done, by Charlie GilkeyThe AcademyMomentum AppBehind the Brilliance PodcastLisa Nicole Bell@lisanicolebellA Whole New MindMr. Money Mustache This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

If you’ve ever wanted to do interesting projects with friends and family but traditional business ownership models didn’t feel quite right, this episode is for you. Kate Strathman is an artist, writer, and rebellious spirit. As a multidisciplinary business owner, Kate taps into each of these traits to help others build equitable team structures and dream up alternative business models that may have never previously existed. In this episode, Kate talks about the definition of a collective and how it differs from a cooperative, how to know what purpose, structure, and operating model to use, and what to do when you know it’s time to shift. Kate also discusses how we can better create value for people through our business. Key Takeaways:[3:56] Kate talks about how someone with an art degree and a love of wandering around India ended up in bookkeeping and a finance consultancy.[12:35] Kate defines a cooperative as a business that is owned by the people that benefit from it. There are different types of cooperatives. A worker co-op is a type of business where the employees directly own and control the business, generally on a democratic basis of one person/one vote.[15:20] In a worker co-op, ownership derives from working in the company, rather than investing in capital.[23:20] Pay and power are not the same things. Just because you have 50/50 ownership in the business, it might not necessarily mean you get paid the same.[28:07] Kate talks about some of the conditions that skew us towards a co-op versus more of a standard partnership: the number of people, owner obsolescence, and creating a multi-generational structure.[49:11] What is the line between resilience and interdependence?[51:27] Kate’s challenge: think about one way the structure of your business could shift to benefit all the humans and communities it touches. Mentioned in This Episode:Productive FlourishingStart Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done, by Charlie GilkeyThe AcademyMomentum AppWanderwell ConsultingKate StrathmannSimple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits!: 4 Keys to Unlock Your Business Potential, by Greg Crabtree, with Beverly Blair Harzog This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

This week, New York Times bestselling author and essayist Esmé Wang joins the show. Esmé first talks about growing up with immigrant parents, and how that shaped her ideas of accomplishments and what it meant to succeed as a creative. She details how she went on to go to Yale, became a scientist, and then veered onto the path of writing and how her illness taught her to just “be” instead of always trying to be productive. She shines a light on the lessons she learned from having her book rejected 41 times before being selected as a once-in-a-decade award winner. Esmé is also the founder of The Unexpected Shape Writing Academy.Key Takeaways:[2:51] When you’re a creator and dealing with disabilities and chronic illness, one of the things you have to accept is that your plans don’t always work out the way you want them to, because life happens.[3:19] Esmé talks about growing up as a professional writer with immigrant parents from Taiwan who put a very high emphasis on attending an Ivy League school and productivity.[12:02] One of the problems of living a creative life and unconventional path is that the normal markers people would use for success may not be there.[13:05] Esmé’s first book was rejected 41 times before it was picked up by a publisher. She talks about how luck plays a role in success.[17:53] We all have the same hours in a day as Beyonce, but definitely not the same level of support![21:01] Esmé discusses her own dealing with illness as a person that put high importance on output and productivity.[25:07] How can people with chronic illness and disability reframe the way they look at productivity and time management in a way that doesn’t lead to frustration and disappointment?[28:01] Culture and our capitalistic society are obsessed with productivity.[35:08] Able-bodied people often don’t realize how much it takes for someone with a disability or chronic illness to do the things they view as “normal” or easy.[38:41] How the Momentum App can help.[42:22] How we can better communicate with the people in our lives when we need a break or are running out of energy.[53:24] Challenge: write down EVERYTHING you do in a day. Everything. You are doing way more than you think you are.Mentioned in This Episode:Productive FlourishingStart Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done, by Charlie GilkeyThe AcademyMomentum AppEsmé WangThe Unexpected Shape AcademyAdam GrantBrené Brown This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

Tara Newman is the Founder and CEO of the Bold Profit Academy and host of the Bold Money Revolution. She joins the show today for a conversation about the importance of remembering why most of us start businesses and seek out entrepreneurship, how common growth strategies can lead to a lack of resiliency, and how service providers can avoid the mindset of selling themselves. This is a great episode for those wanting to make their business work for them and their life, rather than having their life be working for their business. Key Takeaways:[3:58] Many of us come to entrepreneurship out of necessity. Tara talks about her diagnosis of Lyme Disease, and how getting COVID-19 also flared up her EB Virus. To heal, she needed proper time and space to focus on her health journey, which having your own business can allow. [8:00] The pandemic cycle introduced new layers that we hadn’t had to consider before. This resulted in many of us having to re-engineer our businesses. [15:26] Why it’s detrimental to condition your reward system to seek likes, followers, and comments rather than true value. [19:32] Tara explains how the online business model is the most costly thing she has ever seen. [23:03] Tara is a big believer that you can be a millionaire without having a million-dollar business. [24:49] There is no regulation for digital advertising and research shows that up to 88% of ad clicks are fraudulent. [27:45] Publicly held companies are cutting their ad revenue and marketing because they know they can make sales without them. [38:07] The biggest benefits to having a profit-first framework as a method. [48:05] What has Tara learned as a wartime leader? Mentioned in This Episode:Productive FlourishingStart Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done, by Charlie GilkeyThe Productive Flourishing AcademyMomentum AppTara Newman: Bold Profit Academy This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

Steven Kotler is a New York Times bestselling author, an award-winning journalist, and founder and executive director of the Flow Research Collective. He joins the show to talk about how we can access flow and empathy during times of crisis, and how we can learn from the innovation over the pandemic and keep it as we move forward. Steven also talks about the inspiration behind his best-selling thriller, The Devil’s Dictionary.Key Takeaways:[3:47] Steven talks about starting his career in journalism and expanding his interest in disruptive technology and how people get and stay in their flow.[6:50] Steven talks about his thoughts on being a rational optimist, and what we mean when we say radical humanism.[11:12] How did COVID-19 disrupt the way we work and live when it comes to both AI and material revolution and how can we embrace these changes moving forward?[26:30] The four best tools to manicure our nervous systems are gratitude, mindfulness, exercise, and regular access to flow. It is imperative that we take advantage of these during a crisis.[28:44] How do we cooperate at scale at speed without a war driving us forward?[30:01] Steven talks about his book, The Devil’s Dictionary.[43:25] Are we going to use these technologies to fix the globally broken supply chain? That’s an open question.[46:53] Steve explains how we need different models for sharing value at scale than what we currently have.[51:02] In order to solve world problems, we need empathy for all beings, plants, animals, and ecosystems.[52:00] If you’re interested in creativity and innovation, and entrepreneurship, you need to tamp down the brain’s negativity bias and make room for new information. The easiest way to do that is through empathy.Mentioned in This Episode:Productive FlourishingStart Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done, by Charlie GilkeyThe AcademyMomentum AppSteven KotlerThomas PoggeDevil’s Dictionary This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

In this episode, Angela is back as we discuss why it’s important for founders, business owners, and entrepreneurs of all kinds to consider a sabbatical or a “slowbatical.” Just as it sounds, a slowbatical is a time to slow down, recover, and recharge from career stresses. As a society, we have reached a critical point where we are no longer just working hard but working towards imminent burnout; burnout that will cost you, your clients, your employees, and your bottom line. If you’re reading this and thinking, “I can’t do that,” then this episode is especially for you.Key Takeaways:[2:56] When reflecting on this episode, Angela realized she and Charlie continued to have the “burnout” discussion without ever taking a break to recharge.[7:41] What is a slowbatical? And why it’s more attainable than a true sabbatical.[9:59] So many of us have reached a tipping point where today’s pace is driving us to burnout on a detrimental scale.[10:42] One positive of the pandemic is we have begun talking more about burnout and the need for slowing down; even though it was at a tipping point before COVID-19.[12:48] When we talk about burnout, most people think about being incapacitated but there are levels of burnout. Oftentimes, it’s more gradual than a dramatic implosion.[14:53] Rather than waiting for a falling out, it’s best to plan for what to do if there is burnout.[16:06] The OEN April panel discussion spared an important issue which is why there is so much pressure and threat of burnout on founders and small business owners, especially.[23:55] It’s okay to recognize what role privilege plays in the need for sabbaticals and slowbaticals without discounting the importance.[27:07] While this episode has an emphasis on founders, it is just as important for those with side hustles or traditional jobs to allow themselves the mindset to slow down.[30:24] There may be a cost to taking a break, but there will likely be a bigger cost to not taking one.[34:48] What and when founders and business owners can plan for sabbaticals and slowbatticals.[44:48] It’s time to stop saying, “I can’t” when it comes to sabbaticals and slowbaticals. And start asking, “Why?”[46:15] The two questions you need to ask when thinking about a slowbatical are 1) What are you making space to do more of? 2) What are you making space from?[49:00] Time and time again, people that take slowbaticals find that results remain relatively the same.[54:15] Angela has not only helped clients and seen their growth with slowbaticals but she’s also had to examine and struggle with this in her own life.Mentioned in This Episode:Productive FlourishingStart Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done, by Charlie GilkeyThe AcademyMomentum AppOEN April PubTalkWanderwell“Under Pressure” — The Portland Business JournalYNABHell Yeah or No, by Derek Sivers“Relax for the Same Result,” by Derek Sivers This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe