1,000 Espressos

Our theme this month is growth; our guest today is David Rose, founder of Rose Computer Technology Services. Like all of our topics, growth means something different to each of us. A Google search on the word growth produces 1,560,000,000 results. Top among these results are economic growth, fixed versus growth mindset, and investment growth. 

There has been a shift in business during the pandemic from generalization to greater specificity. Business growth has become dependent upon companies and organizations becoming extremely good at what they do best in order to stay competitive in the marketplace. For our guest, cyber security is the foundation of business growth. 

A positive mindset—especially during the pandemic—is also essential to business growth. Knowing when to grow the business in order to prepare for an anticipated post-pandemic economic boom depends on the amount of risk you’re willing to take which depends on your mindset. Our guest keeps his positive with golf and Qi Gong but also by trusting the people he hires to “do their thing.” For him, with more growth and more success come greater opportunities f to give back. 

 Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a double shot and join us.

The theme of our conversations this month is Growth; our guest today is Jon Kuypers, Director at the Greater Burlington YMCA Camp Abnaki. For him, curiosity and cognitive flexibility are essential aspects of personal growth to which he attributes his own ability to help others. The seasonality of Camp gives Jon the opportunity to start fresh each year. “It’s a chance to grow the positivizes and a chance to reset… I have to be a different camp director now than I was when I started eighteen years ago.” 

The structured freedom camp provides is an invaluable environment for kids to make decisions, learn to compromise, think for themselves, manage their time, and communicate—essentially preparing them for the challenges and opportunities of college, career, and ‘adult’ life.

An important aspect of personal growth for him is acting as a role model by acknowledging past mistakes and also acknowledging the great fortune he has to learn from his staff and new group of campers he welcomes each year. 

Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a double shot and join us.

The theme of our conversations this month is Growth. This introductory conversation brings up some interesting questions such as ‘Is growth the right goal for your business?’ and ‘Is economic growth the primary goal in business today or is there something possibly more sustainable going on?’ and ‘How do we find a less burdening business approach with respect to people and the planet?’

The conversation also comes around to personal growth, which ultimately comes back to our recurring theme of self-awareness. During this conversation recorded on April first, a blizzard was blowing through Vermont; LJ pointed out that in the face of such a challenge, nature keeps going just as we must do during the challenges presented by the global pandemic. LJ ties it all up with a bow when he says, “At the other end of growth is abundancy.” 

Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a double shot and join us.

Today we wrap up our conversations on the topic of Faith. Faith of course means something different to each of us, but it is fair safe to say that faith in the most general sense is a willingness to believe that something might be true, and then acting on that belief. 

Here’s an interesting concept from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: “By living our faith, we will find evidence that strengthens our belief. Faith is not thinking that what you believe is a fact, quite the opposite. Faith is a choice to believe in something with no concern for proof.”

“Faith is about looking forward. It carries with it a certain optimism.” With that optimism, faith also creates new neural pathways in the brain that make way for intentional positive change...  

Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a double shot and join us.

In this episode, we speak with Meg Smith—director of the Vermont Women's Fund (https://vermontwomensfund.org/) supporting the advancement, self-sufficiency, and economic and social equality of Vermont women and girls—on the subject of Faith. 

According to a recent article in the Harvard Business Review 'Entrepreneurs Feel Closer to God Than the Rest of Us Do.'  Supported by a  grant from the National Science Foundation, the study found that entrepreneurs pray more and attend church or temple more often than their counterparts in the business world – you have to have faith in yourself in order to start a business.

Here’s a quote from the article: “There’s a confidence that can come from your religious beliefs. And maybe the individualism and autonomy associated with entrepreneurship are reflected in the idea of a more personal, direct relationship with God.”

Faith means different things to different people. For agnostic listeners such as myself, faith need not have a religious context. We can think of faith in ourselves, our ideas, faith in our communities, in democracy…  

Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a cup and join us.

In this episode of 1,000 Espressos, our conversation on faith with guest writing coach Paula Diaco takes some interesting turns. Questions of confidence and worthiness are answered by virtue of faith—whether in oneself, a higher power, or in business processes. The leap of faith that is often necessary to make positive change is usually made only after emotional depths are plumbed. Some of the best business decisions are not always practical but founded on faith. 

The concept of mindset (and the mental fitness and practice required to change the way you think) is very closely related to faith. “It is when we are up against it,” (life’s difficult circumstances) that faith and a mindset based on the possibility that things can be different, that we often make our most significant progress. Our guest admits that opening oneself up to such possibility is incredibly difficult.  

Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a double shot and join us.

This is our first in a series of conversations on faith. Whether your faith is in God, the universe, or flying spaghetti monsters, having faith gives us a boost. A recent article in Inc. Magazine contends that faith in something bigger than yourself can engender success in a business startup. It makes you feel as if you are not alone, it helps you dream big, it inspires creativity and a sense of purpose. It strikes me the faith is the bread and wine of entrepreneurialism – you have to have faith in yourself in order to start a business. 

In our talk this week, LJ explains that faith for him presents itself as a feeling of connectedness. He also has great faith in the outcomes of his coaching practice. Whether or not the “Ah-ha” moment happens he is confident that his approach will produce positive outcomes. This is based on his natural positivity and his faith in the self-preserving aspect of human nature. 

Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a double shot and join us.

Our wrap up on Connection starts with culinary humor and ends with self-realization. 

We often define ourselves through our connection with others; some have said that we are our best selves only in connection with others. In this conversation, Jane suggests that connection to self is foundational to the possibility of connection with others. 

We discuss artists Suleika Jaouad and Frida Kahlo finding their creativity in isolation and the possibility that people in isolation are sometimes better able to find connection to their own creative ability, to their dharma, or their true calling. We also discuss the juxtaposition of our need for connection to one another with our need for self-realization. 

Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a double shot and join us.

This month our topic is connection. Social connection is the key to mental health; it can also be essential to a business’s vibrancy. One of the most important and effective coping strategies that we all have (in life and in business) is the utilizing our social network. COVID-19 tosses a monkey wrench into our normal networking strategies but gives us an opportunity to get creative. 

Today we’ll explore what connection means and how to find it in our new connection paradigm. Our guest Mollie Lannen, president of CW Print + Design, depends upon connection to do her best work. According to her we may initially establish networking connections in order to grow our business and ultimately find, as many of us have during the pandemic, that those connections help us survive. 

Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a double shot and join us.

The topic of conversation this month on 1,000 Espressos is Connection. Humans are wired for it. Social connection is essential to our well-being. It can lower anxiety and depression, help us regulate our emotions, lead to higher self-esteem and empathy, and actually improve our immune systems. Little exchanges like the ones we have at the coffee shop or even socially distanced on the sidewalk actually nurture our sense of self and make us feel like we’re part of a community.

Though the pandemic is a shared experience all of us can relate to, some of our favorite modes of connection are changing. In our conversation this week with Katey Gordon Foster, we discuss finding the silver lining in this new connection paradigm.

Whether your drink is an espresso, a Cappuccino, a latté, a cortado, or even a decaf, pour yourself a double shot and join us.