Awesome Office: Lead. Create. Inspire

There's no doubt about it - big changes are coming. New technologies like artificial intelligence and automation will fundamentally alter the way we work. But what will that look like, and how should companies adapt? This week on the show co-host Sean Spear interviews Chris Rising, the Founder and President of Rising Realty. Chris is a 19-year veteran of the real estate business, and someone who’s always been ahead of the curve in terms of building spaces that support how the most innovative companies work. We loved this conversation because it brought together so many of the big ideas that we care about on this show - everything from office space and its relationship to culture, to personal habits and productivity, to the big technological changes poised to transform our economy and the workplace. Sean met with Chris at Rising’s dramatic HQ in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. In this episode, Chris dives into his personal journey - including the lessons learned from his Jesuit education and his experience as a college football standout at Duke University - shares his daily habits, and explains why he thinks offices aren’t going away anytime soon. This one runs a littler longer than most, but be sure to listen to the end to hear a challenge that should have a big impact on your energy and performance. Recommended Reading The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg Flash Boys by Michael Lewis The Third Wave by Steve Case Links Rising Realty Chris on LinkedIn LEED Certification Kolbe Personality Test Special Offer for AO Listeners - Try SnackNation Market for FREE Introducing SnackNation Market.   For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too. SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep.  With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game. We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE. Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling). That’s SnackNation.com/AO.

Is it better to bet on a company with a great idea but with a team of B-level players, or one stacked with A-level talent working on an average idea? It’s a question that early-stage investors have debated for decades, but for this week’s guest there's no question about it - a great team beats a great idea, every time. That’s according to Ronen Olshansky, the visionary CEO behind Cross Campus, a Los Angeles based on-demand workspace and business event venue that provides peak office experiences to a community of creative professionals. Now if that name sounds a bit familiar, that's because Ronen is our first ever repeat guest on the Awesome Office show. After getting to know his story during our first interview (which we highly recommend listening to first), we knew we had barely scratched the surface with this insightful entrepreneur. In this interview, co-host Sean Spear digs deep with Ronen to learn more about the philosophies that underlie his life and business. We learn some fascinating info, including an update on the Cross Campus business, Ronen’s take on leadership and fundraising, the industries that are poised to go mainstream in the next 5-10 years, and why right now Los Angeles is the best place in the world to do business.   Recommended Reading The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis Onward by Howard Schultz The Moral Animal by Robert Wright Links Cross Campus (visit them!) Ronen on LinkedIn Special Offer for AO Listeners - Try SnackNation Market for FREE Introducing SnackNation Market.   For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too. SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep.  With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game. We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE. Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling). That’s SnackNation.com/AO.

When you hear the word “company culture,” what comes to mind? If you picture a whimsical work environment filled with highly social Millennial co-workers, cruising around on hoverboards and gathering around the company’s kegerator on Friday (or Tuesday) afternoons, you’re not alone. According to this week’s Awesome Office guest, you’re also completely wrong. In this episode, co-host Sean Spear talks to longtime friend and mentor Tony Knopp, the CEO and co-founder of InviteManager. Together with his co-founders, Tony has built the leading entertainment enterprise SaaS company, so he knows a thing or two about building high-performing teams. Tony is a fascinating, driven entrepreneur who reads two books per week, and who brought a ton of juice to this episode. In our conversation, he shares stories from his early days at StubHub, explains why he decided to strike out on his own at the age of 27, and details why InviteManager has made “relentless recruiting” one of their core tenets. One of the things we found most interesting was Tony’s take on company culture, and why he thinks most people miss the mark when it comes to building the right culture for their business. Recommended Reading “The Sure Thing,” by Malcolm Gladwell The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore Mindset by Carol Dweck Links InviteManager Tony on LinkedIn @TonyKnopp on Twitter Can’t Buy Me Love

Today we’re fired up to introduce our brand new contributing host, Sean Spear of Hughes Marino. Sean is one of my absolute favorite people. He’s someone who, like me, is fascinated with the intersection of personal performance, workspaces, and workplace culture, and how these things can make for better businesses and enhance all of our lives. He’s also someone with an endless curiosity and knack for stories, and he’ll be a perfect addition to the AO crew. I’ll still be doing my share of interviews and standalone segments, but Sean will be adding to the interview side of the equation, tapping into his impressive network of leaders and cultural innovators. In the coming weeks you’ll be hearing a LOT more from Mr. Spear, but for now I decided it would be fun to put him in the hot seat. In this episode, Sean tells us why he starts every day at 5 am, why he believes fortune favors the bold, and why you shouldn’t be afraid to, in his words, “fail epicly.” Links Sean Spear at Hughes Marino

Tero Isokauppila radiates an undeniable energy. As soon as you meet him, you can tell he’s got an insatiable curiosity about the world around him. This 13th generation family farmer has lived in eight different countries, served in the Finnish military, and is currently making plans to fly to the edge of space in a Russian fighter jet. But his true passion is dealing ‘shrooms. Tero is the founder of Four Sigmatic, a company whose mission is to make medicinal mushrooms - some of the world’s most researched superfoods - more accessible to everyone. They do this through their best selling mushroom coffee, mushroom elixirs, mushroom cocoas, and other fungi-based products.    As we discuss in the interview, mushrooms are pretty magical. There are mushrooms that can eat plastic, clean oil spills, and even thrive in irradiated environments. As much as Tero is an innovator and an unconventional entrepreneur, he’s also seen firsthand how important people are to the process of making a great company. He talks to us about how key hires can help create a brand that people connect with, why he strives to never hold meetings, and the greatest challenge facing emerging CPG brands today. Key Takeaways Tero explains why he plans to fly to the edge of space in a Russian fighter jet. 3:21 The reaction Tero gets when he tells people he’s a “shroom dealer.” 7:40 How living in third world countries has affected Tero’s point of view. 14:36 How Tero’s relationship with mushrooms began foraging on his family farm in Finland. 15:30 The difference between entrepreneurship in Scandinavia and other parts of the world, and why Tero believes the U.S. is the best place on the planet to do business. 16:25 Why mushroom coffee is better for you than traditional coffee. 20:00 Why it’s important for Tero to go beyond the hype and “snake oil” perception traditionally associated with nutrition products.  21:20 Why mushrooms are so diverse and versatile. 23:00 The moment Tero knew he had something special with Four Sigmatic. 25:50 The greatest challenges facing emerging CPG brands. 30:30 Why, at the end of the day, your brand is your people. 32:45 Why Four Sigmatic tries never to hold meetings. 41:47 Tero describes Four Sigmatic’s cancer contribution program, and why he believes it’s better to have causes you believe in than a “pity product”. 46:10 Links Tero’s site http://www.teroisokauppila.com/ Four Sigmatic https://us.foursigmatic.com/ Instagram @iamtero https://www.instagram.com/iamtero/ Mushrooms and Santa Claus How to Nap on a Nail Mat Stem Cell Therapy Special Offer for AO Listeners - Try SnackNation Market for FREE Introducing SnackNation Market.   For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too. SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep.  With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game. We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE. Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling). That’s SnackNation.com/AO.

  We’re doing a reboot of one of our absolute favorite episodes - our very first! After surveying our listeners, we realized that many of our newer listeners had never heard some of our early episodes. To us, these early conversations are essential. Not only do we constantly reference the lessons we learned therein, but they really set the stage for the next year and a half of Q&A. The Awesome Office Show is all about leading people, creating culture, and inspiring Awesome for companies of all shapes and sizes. So for the show’s very first guest, we went with someone who embodies the spirit of that mission; someone who has personally interviewed more than 1,200 candidates; someone whose passion for people and development permeates everything he does, and who has cultivated a culture of growth that helped transformed his company into the second fastest growing private company in America. We’re talking about Quest Nutrition co-founder and Impact Theory founder Tom Bilyeu Tom, along with his two partners, has completely reinvented the nutrition bar category in a periods of just a few years, and redefined what it means to snack healthy by creating healthy treats that taste like they’re bad for you, but actually are not. Having grown up in Tacoma, Washington in a family that struggled with obesity, Tom felt a personal drive to segue into the health and fitness industry and help his loved ones and others like them revolutionize their relationship with food.  As it would turn out, this new focus on something deeply personal and passion-based led him and his two partners to found Quest. We expected Tom to drop some magic on our first episode, and he certainly didn’t disappoint. One of the most fascinating things we learned about Tom is that he credits much of his success to a concerted effort to rethink — or even unlearn — the lessons of the past, including the fixed mindset and so-called “slave mentality” that plagued him early on in his career. Tom had so much good stuff for us that we decided to give this conversation two episodes. So join us as we delve into the mind of Quest Nutrition’s Tom Bilyeu. Key Takeaways Tom discusses the “slave mentality” he held early in his career, and how he was able to recognize and break out of it. Tom explains why it’s so important for leaders to be vulnerable, and why you shouldn’t confuse vulnerability with weakness. Tom walks us through the difference between a fixed and a growth mindset, and explains why adopting a growth mindset has made all the difference in his life, his career, and his company. Tom takes us through his belief in the importance of disciplined practice, and how he tricks his brain into working through moments of boredom or frustration. Tom explains what he means when he says his job is to “free you from the matrix.” Tom describes the utility in listening to criticism no matter who its from, and how the adoption of a growth mindset led him to that conclusion. Tom describes the importance of culture, and why he made it an actual part of his job description. Tom talks about why he ditched the standard mission statement for Quest in favor of his “25 bullet points that every human being needs to know in order to achieve every dream they’ve ever head.” Links & Recommended Reading QuestNutrition.com InsideQuest.com Tom Bilyeu on Twitter The Quest Nutrition Belief System (25 Bullet Points) Mindset by Carol Dweck  

Simon Cohen’s doctors thought it was a heart attack. Back in 2006, the self-professed workaholic was on a business trip in China on behalf of Henco, the global logistics company he founded in Mexico at the age of 24. But not everything was going well. Simon could barely eat, and only slept a few hours at a time. He spent his days meeting with his partners in Hong Kong, and stayed up all night working with the team back in Mexico. On the last day of the trip, he felt a jolt of pain in his chest - so powerful that it knocked him off his chair at dinner. The next thing he knew, the 32 year old former Olympic-level swimmer found himself in the back of an ambulance racing to the hospital. The experience was nothing short of life changing. As a high level athlete, Simon had taken his good health as a given. As it turned out, he had a rare heart condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW), and the intense stress of running Henco was threatening his wellbeing. After taking some time to recover, Simon decided he had to make a change - and the results speak for themselves. Henco, a company in a notoriously stressful industry, has been named the sixth place to work in Mexico, and the number one logistics company to work for in Mexico six years in a row.  Simon told us how he achieved this amazing turnaround, as well as what he means when he says his goal is to treat his employees like “human humans.” Key Takeaways Simon explains why the key to creating high performing companies is happy people. 4:59 How Simon and his team have made Henco the 6th best place to work in all of Mexico, and the best place to work in the logistics industry six years in a row. 6:36 Why Simon thinks it’s important to make his employees feel like owners. 7:25 Simon explains what he means when he says it’s important to make people feel like “human humans.” 9:05 What’s different about catering your culture to Millennials, and why it’s important to do so. 12:00 How people who don’t have Simon’s mindset can embrace Henco’s management principles for their benefit. 12:42 Why there’s still stress at Henco, despite the high level of happiness and satisfaction. 14:22 Simon describes the moment that changed everything for him, and inspired him to make happiness a priority in life and business. 16:03 Why Simon decided to stop taking the pills to treat his stress and anxiety, and decided to change his lifestyle instead. 21:30 Why happiness is Henco’s number one competitive advantage. 24:34 Simon’s formula for a great relationship. 26:18 Simon on the importance of giving, and how it can be a multiplier for value. 31:46 Simon shares his biggest struggle today at Henco, and why happiness is like a muscle. 32:45 Links Henco Simon Cohen on LinkedIn Richard Sheridan on Awesome Office Special Offer for AO Listeners - Try SnackNation Market for FREE Introducing SnackNation Market.   For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too. SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep.  With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game. We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE. Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling). That’s SnackNation.com/AO.

In the CPG space, most entrepreneurs, start with a product. They might stumble upon some product innovation, and see their job as merely to figure out how to sell it. Things like brand and story are usually afterthoughts. Livio Bisterzo tried something different. What if, he wondered, instead of starting with a product, you started with a brand proposition? What if you first built a story that your audience believed in? A big, powerful story, one that resonated with consumers, retailers - anyone who came across it? Something more akin to a tribe or a movement? What would happen? Big things, it turns out. This week our guest is Livio Bisterzo, the founder and CEO of Green Park Holdings, makers of the super popular Hippeas brand organic chick pea puffs. (If you’ve ever been to a Starbucks, you’ve likely seen their bright yellow, smiling packaging.) In just a year’s time, the brand has launched in 18,000 retailers - and the number is growing virtually every day. Livio joined us in the Awesome Office / SnackNation HQ for a live interview in front of the team there. In the episode, Livio discusses the process of building the Hippeas brand from the ground up, and why a focus on story has made all the difference. He also explores the lessons he learned from his working class roots, why he believes there are no 9 to 5 entrepreneurs, and the link between brand and culture. Key Takeaways Livio takes us back to his roots in Milan, describing his working class background and sharing the top lessons he learned from his hardworking parents. 1:57 Livio describes the culture shock he experienced moving from Italy to England to attend University, and why he believes high-growth companies don’t happen in Italy 5:04 The difference between “sales” and “hustling.” 6:56 The traits that helped Livo survive and become a successful entrepreneur after early failures. 7:46 Why Livio decided to build a brand story rather than sell a food product. 9:14 Why it’s so important to focus on story and aspirational fit. 11:24 How Livio and his team built the Hippeas brand. 15:00 Why having a competitor or “nemesis” can both help or hurt a startup CPG brand, and why innovation in the natural foods ecosystem is always consumer led. 21:20 Why we’re currently experiencing the greatest change in the food supply since the 1950s. 23:20 The habits that most contributed to Livio’s success. 25:30 Livio’s biggest failures, and what he learned from them. 26:35 Why there are no 9-5 entrepreneurs. 28:30 How Livio’s changed since the lean years. 32:57 The importance of culture in the Hippeas brand. 35:20 Links Hippeas Livio on LinkedIn JKR Special Offer for AO Listeners - Try SnackNation Market for FREE Introducing SnackNation Market.   For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too. SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep.  With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game. We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE. Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling). That’s SnackNation.com/AO.

Seeing as February is the time of year most closely associated with love, we're shifting gears this month to focus on love, compassion, and empathy in the workplace.  For many, love in the workplace is still a bit of a taboo subject. It wasn't long ago that the office was a strictly unemotional place. Heavy emotions just weren't discussed, let alone celebrated or rewarded. But times have changed. More and leaders have realized that a loving and giving culture doesn't just make for an enjoyable work life, but for a more profitable business as well. This week Sean tackles how to create a more loving, giving, and profitable company, offering his top nine tips for making this happen. Sean goes into much more depth of course, but here's a quick rundown of his suggestions: Encourage people to share their fears and dissents. Remember, the only way we can create change is by engaging with people who think differently than we do. 10:22 Create forced moments of connection.  Break open departmental silos to encourage greater empathy and understanding. 14:00 Openly integrate the practice of gratitude at your workplace. Gratitude makes it virtually impossible to feel angry or fearful. 16:48 Get real with a charity or cause you care about. All charitable giving is laudable, but get max value by having your team give in a hands-on way. 18:01 Integrate love, giving, selflessness or collaboration as a core value. Are these things important to your culture and business? Then make it official! 20:11 Hire for empathy, especially at the management level and above. Remember, you don’t need rockstars as managers; you need people who yearn to make other people rockstars. 22:25 Celebrate moments of selflessness, and build recognition around them. People have a funny way of doing the things you recognize them for. 27:20 Encourage your leadership and management team to deliver five “wow” moments per week. This can be as simple as writing hand written notes.  29:06 As a leader, put yourself first and encourage others to do the same. If you don’t care for yourself, you can’t take care of (or lead) others. 31:03 Links Sean's Miracle Morning episode. Jim Rohn   Recommended Reading Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday   Special Offer for AO Listeners - Try SnackNation Market for FREE Introducing SnackNation Market.   For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too. SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep.  With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game. We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE. Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling). That’s SnackNation.com/AO.

Each year, 190 CEOs from 40 different countries gather at Harvard Business School for an intense week of learning, teaching, and sharing. It's a truly special program organized by the Young President's Organization that brings together some of the best and brightest leaders around the globe.  Among them, AO's own Sean Kelly.  Sean's back this episode to give us his top learnings from another immersive week at HBS. And like year's past, the week was full of breakthroughs and surprises. One of those surprises - the telltale signs when it's time for an employee to move on. As we've said before on this show, effective leaders know that retention shouldn't be an end-all-be-all priority. High-growth businesses depend on individual growth - both  personal and professional. Often, "graduation" out of a role - or even a company - is an inevitable outcome. But there are also instances when it's to both party's benefit if an employee simply moves on. This was a heated topic during the summit, and Sean lays out the telltale signs when this should happen. That's not all. Sean also shares why good is sometimes the enemy of great, how to measure the potential growth in a new hire, and the best stories he heard from this phenomenal group of leaders and thinkers.    Special Offer for AO Listeners - Try SnackNation Market for FREE Introducing SnackNation Market.   For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too. SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep.  With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game. We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE. Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling). That’s SnackNation.com/AO.