Ask An Innovator

SUMMARY

Nicole Miller is on the show today. She is the Managing Director at Biomimicry 3.8. Josh and Nicole talk about innovation in sustainability. We learn what Biomimicry is and how Nicole got started in this space. We also dig into how we can pull creative ideas from the natural world to influence how we package something or even how we build a business.

Nicole has some great answers to our HotSeat questions and really helps us consider what impact innovation is having on the environment. And conversely – how we can use the environment to impact innovation.

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NICOLE’S FAVORITE PRODUCTS

We asked Nicole to provide us with some of her FAVORITE products that are sustainable and low waste as we thought you may want to see some examples of the things she covets and uses in her daily life. From Nicole:“In terms of overall being intentional about what I buy, I also look for where it’s made (think carbon footprint!), by who, and with what materials. For clothes aim for 100% natural (i.e. wool, cotton, linen) materials –  most clothes are a mix of synthetics meaning they can’t be recycled and probably made w/ materials that have microplastics).”

* Lemongrass Shampoo bar – * Herbivore Pink Clay Facial Cleanser* Bamboo toothbrush * Bite Toothpaste tablets* Aura Cacia Daytime Argan Facial Oil Serum (this has a pump so not totally plastic-free) * Farmacy Honeymoon Glow  (again a pump – need a solution for that!) * Farmacy Sleep Tight  – the packaging on this is just beautiful!  

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Biomimicry 3.8Biomimicry Blog – SynapseResources to ReconnectProject Positive

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We've been podcasting here at Ask an Innovator for a year now. A year, folks. That's a long time. We're pretty thrilled with all the amazing interviews we've had. We're so excited to keep bringing you innovative news and all sorts of ideas on how to keep innovating. Whether it's innovation culture, new technology or startup interviews - we'll have you covered.

If there are any episodes you'd like to hear or a topic of innovation you think we've missed - drop a comment and let us know!

Why did we even start Ask an Innovator? - 00:00

An introduction to Josh Barker - 02:05

Innovation Myths - 05:08

How we learned that building the right product is key - 08:13

Innovation projects and what to do with all that data - 13:49

Look at data in a regimented way & an IoT project - 16:43

Innovation is better together - 22:56

Gina Chung is the Vice President and Head of Innovation Americas at DHL. Gina leads the research and innovation activities of DHL and is in charge of the DHL Americas Innovation Center: a state-of-the-art platform to engage startups and industries on the future of logistics. Since 2012, she has shaped DHL’s global innovation agenda by driving a portfolio of projects focused on the rapid testing and adoption of technologies such as collaborative robotics and artificial intelligence across DHL’s operations.

Brad & Gina chat about DHL's new Innovation Center and how it creates a unique customer-centric approach to logistics. They cover everything from how DHL is predicting trends to why startups are important to DHL's innovation process.

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SUMMARY

Alex Hejazi the founder of Ballbox joins us, today, to discuss how Ballbox is creating an item share revolution. With kiosks full of sporting equipment, beach chairs, and AR/VR sets – they are swiftly innovating in this space. They are setting up kiosks around the country at the beach, in apartment buildings and even at hotels.

Alex walks us through validating the Ballbox idea, the process of creating these kiosks and how they’ve made business decisions. From how they picked the locations to choosing what items to carry in the kiosks.

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TIMESTAMPS

Learn a little about Ballbox – 00:55How Alex validated the Ballbox idea – 03:52How to make Ballbox scaleable – 06:33The Ballbox ‘go-to-market’ strategy– 08:36Understanding how different products appeal to different target audiences – 13:36How Ballbox is working with retailers and providing value– 15:52Ballbox’s fundraising journey and growth – 17:32Innovation Hotseat with Alex – 19:4

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Erin Srebinski [00:00]: Hi everyone. Alex Hejazi is here on Ask an Innovator today. Alex is the founder of Ballbox. Ballbox is an innovative company pioneering the item sharing revolution. So, what is the item sharing revolution? Ballbox is building kiosks to rent items like beach chairs, virtual reality systems, electric massagers and everything in between. They are setting up these on-demand kiosks at the beach, in apartment buildings, and at hotels. They even offer package delivery to their kiosks for easy pickup. Such a cool concept and definitely worth checking out. Ballbox was recently named one of the top 50 startups to watch here in Chicago. So, let’s dive in.

Josh Barker [00:46]: I’d love to hear from you about your background and who you are and where I think Ballbox, right? That’s the thing and I want to learn a little more about ball box.

Alex Hejazi [00:55]: Yes, so I’ll just give a kind of this story about myself. I grew up kinda up the road in Ann Arbor, Michigan grew up there ended up going to Michigan State, studied finance and graduated 2016 I made my way down to Chicago and when I got here, you know, I guess this is kind of the story about Ballbox but I got here and found myself at the parks and beaches all the time. You have like three months out of the year where it’s actually enjoyable to be outside. I would be at the beach and realize that didn’t have a football to toss around, beach blankets, speakers, like literally everything I used to be able to find in my garage. It wasn’t there anymore. You know, when you move down you kind of keep it lean.

Cindy Poiesz and Mickey Burnett from Evolve Brands join us on AAI today. Evolve Brands prioritizes eating nourishing food that can sustain you in between meals, or more mindful snacking. Cindy & Mickey school us on all things plant-based snacks and what the consumer REALLY wants.

Learn how Cindy got started and how she and Mickey are scaling Evolve to become a household brand. Listen in for a glimpse into startup life. Additionally, they explain how changing packaging and the form of of your product can change the demand.

USE CODE: CITY for a 20% your next Supernola order at www.eatsupernola.com

What is innovation in the snacking industry? – 00:46

Innovation is authenticity – 02:07

How Evolve Snacks got started - Cindy's story 03:46

How did Evolve Snacks grow? – 06:41

How Packaging and Form can be innovative for the snack industry – 10:02

The challenges of having a small CPG company - why it's hard being small – 14:05

Why networking is essential – 14:52

How being small allows for more agility and quick decision making– 18:10

Always listen, to consumers, customers, and retailers – 21:21

Spencer Gordon is the VP of Digital at Anheuser-Busch, he's been with AB his entire career. He even launched Draftline, an in-house creative agency that is full service with over 70 people across 42 brands.

Josh and Spencer talk about the changing digital marketing landscape, where Draftline fits into that and how marketing is changing to be more iterative, agile and nimble.

Innovation is new solutions to an ever-changing environment - 00:52

What is Draftline? What problem is it solving? - 01:15

What does marketing look like for brands like Budweiser & Michelob Ultra? - 05:30

Using data to better understand the customer - 11:25

Marketing Personalization and localization - 13:54

How to evolve your team to be more agile and iterative - 16:21

How the AB innovation process has changed - 17:57

Innovation Hotseat - Spencer answers some more personal questions - 20:53

The most fascinating thing in innovation right now - 27:28

Ask more questions and other key takeaways - 28:47

How can we do a better job of supporting women in technology? Women-owned businesses tend to hit a lot more roadblocks than their male-driven counterparts. Nicole Yeary is the Founder and CEO at Ms. Tech, a company focused on advising women on how to start and scale companies. She talks with Josh about the challenges of fundraising and why she created an inclusive group for women to talk about those pain points.

Welcome back to Ask an Innovator! It’s 2020 and we’re here with some new and exciting episodes for you guys. Kicking us off is Tyler Clark. He is the Director of Public Affairs & Innovation at Serafin and Associates. He comes to Serafin from the Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT) so we asked him all the questions about innovation in the government.

Josh and Tyler get into what innovation in the government means right away. They chat about how trust is essential and respecting that trust is even more important. Furthermore, they discuss how being thoughtful for your citizens (or customers!) is essential to how you approach innovation.

Tyler provides a ton of awesome insights into how we can lay foundations of trust to take care of our customers. Finally, the discussion centers around how innovation is defined as changing things to make them better. What is the future of government? Find out what Tyler thinks by listening in!

Thank you, Tyler for joining us! We’re looking forward to an amazing 2020!

What’s on your mind?

Are you interested in being interviewed or know someone innovative perfect for this podcast? Leave a comment below.

You, yes you – post a review ✩✩✩✩✩ or share AAI with your friends. More reviews mean more interviews means more innovation comin’ atcha.

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Connect with Tyler:LinkedInTwitter

In addition, here are some other episodes you may love:

* Listen to the 1st Ever Ask an Innovator Episode

* DHL’s Innovation Center is the Future of Logistics

* Ballbox is Launching an Item Share Revolution

* How to Innovate in the Snack Industry

* How Marketing Process Drives Innovation | Ep. 33

This week we interview Jochen (Joe) Renz, the Managing Director at New Mobility Studio. Josh and Joe jump right into considering innovation in big data, moreover how data will be as essential as oxygen. They talk about smart products and a human-centric system of systems.

The system of systems diagram mentioned in the beginning can be found below.

A big theme throughout this episode is the interconnectivity between products. How products will talk to and charge each other for services or data. This is definitely applicable in the mobility space, but will also become pertinent to many other industries.

Joe presents how products will be their own economic agents and how objects will trade data information in the future. He brings up a tangible example of the lights charging both he and Josh for the amount of time they used the conference room.

In conclusion, the conversation turns to how consumers will trust innovation in big data, who that data will belong to and obviously the genius of Elon Musk.

What’s on your mind?

Are you interested in being interviewed or know someone innovative perfect for this podcast? Leave a comment below.

If you enjoyed #askaninnovator – before you leave – post a review ✩✩✩✩✩ or share AAI with your friends. Innovation is more fun together!

Connect with Ask an Innovator: LinkedInFacebook Instagram

Learn More about Rocket Wagon Venture StudiosConnect with Rocket Wagon Venture Studios on Twitter

Listen to our Latest Episodes:

* Listen to the 1st Ever Ask an Innovator Episode

* DHL’s Innovation Center is the Future of Logistics

* Ballbox is Launching an Item Share Revolution

* How to Innovate in the Snack Industry

* How Marketing Process Drives Innovation | Ep. 33

Episode Notes:

What’s up? Aram Karapetian is on Ask an Innovator today. Aram is the President at Woodland Foods. Woodland Foods is a company dedicated to helping people experience the world through culinary exploration. You can learn more about them here. Today the topic is innovation in food, so let’s get after it.

Aram impresses that innovation is imagination. He teaches us how Woodland Foods empowers every team member to be an innovator and why that’s valuable. Furthermore, he tells us why companies need to be diligent about providing education for their employees so they have every resource at their disposal.

Obviously, food is also a huge part of the discussion. How is Aram driving innovation in food?

First and foremost, sourcing new ingredients is key. Supporting that with a sound supply chain infrastructure is also essential.

Secondly, Aram talks about how the mindset around food and health is changing. He and Josh discuss how consumers are becoming more conscious. Not only of their impact on the world but also the impact that food has on their bodies. Furthermore, they chat about how getting the consumer to experience the world through food is the end goal.

Finally, Aram divulges his secret on how to avoid salad fatigue and where he believes the future of food is headed.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode and we’ll catch you next week!

What’s on your mind?

Are you interested in being interviewed or know someone innovative perfect for this podcast? Leave a comment below.

If you enjoyed #askaninnovator – before you leave – post a review ✩✩✩✩✩ or share AAI with your friends. Innovation is more fun together!

Connect with Ask an Innovator: LinkedInFacebook Instagram

Learn More about Woodland FoodsConnect with Woodland Foods on LinkedInConnect with Aram on LinkedIn

Listen to our Latest Episodes:

Innovation is Learning | EP. 027INNOVATION IN COLLABORATION | EP. 026Innovation Through Entrepreneurship | EP. 025