Better Faster Further

Chris is a former Chief People Officer helping early to late stage startups create human-centered organizations that scale and drive business outcomes. Chris has led the People, Talent and Workplace functions at amazing companies like Intercom, Affirm, Flipboard and Say Media. He was the first global head of people at all 4 startups, so in addition to helping scale the company, he helped build the People Function and set the initial People strategy.
When it comes to scale and growth in startups, aggressive headcount and revenue growth were front and center. He's built people teams from 5 team members to 1000 global employees.
After 22 years of experience in HR and Org Development roles, 12 of which in the top People/HR job, he's now focused on advising entrepreneurs and People/HR leaders on how to grow and scale, as well as entrepreneurs in the HR/People space on product and go-to-market strategy.
You can check out Chris and his current work by visiting: www.christobinadvisory.com

If you want to support the Better Faster Further podcast the best thing you can do is like, rate, review, and share the podcast. As always, if you'd like to contact us please never hesitate to email [email protected]

The Jeff Jones podcast Regan and Adam talked about at the beginning of the conversation is podcast #11.

Hey Everyone,

Adam here. Grateful to have the opportunity to talk all things Bigfoot 200 with my colleague and friend, Regan Bach. Debriefing the 200 mile endurance runs I've been fortunate to participate in over the last year has become a ritual. They each have taken on a different meaning and yielded different lessons. This one was fueled by gratitude which I found to be much more sustainable and joyful.

Not only do we talk Bigfoot but we also talk about Regan's upcoming race, Double Dipsea. Regan's no stranger to outdoor adventure and drops a little background on his preparation and mindset.

We'd love to hear from you. Please feel free to reach out to us anytime by emailing [email protected]. If you like what you hear, please rate, review and share the podcast.

Thanks for tuning in and check out the links below to learn more.

Conversation with Joe McConaughy

Conversation with Jeromy Zajonc

Conversation with Louis Selincourt

Team Better Faster Further

UltrAspire - special shout out to UltrAspire for their support at Cocodona and Bigfoot as well as not just caring for but really loving all their athletes and customers like family

Nick Waters is the writer, director & producer, of WORST ENEMY and founder of “The Movie House” which is his production company. Originally from South Florida, Nick was a nationally ranked swimmer growing up, breaking over a dozen state and national records, and was a member of the USA NCSA Junior National Team. Nick went on to earn his B.S. and M.A. degrees from Stanford University where he studied computer science and film history, screenwriting, and film production, and was a member of the varsity swim team, competing at the USA Olympic Trials.

Currently based in LA, Nick works as a director, writer, actor, and producer. His recent work includes writing and producing the 2022 horror feature film MARGAUX for Paramount Pictures and directing and producing a documentary on the war in Ukraine, WHEN WE DANCE. 

Nick was originally introduced to us via our good friend and colleague Jeromy Zajonc, who appeared on our BFF podcast previously and is episode 9.  

To learn more about Nick please follow any of the links below. And to connect with Better Faster Further please email [email protected].

Films:

When We Dance

Margaux

Socials:

Instagram

LinkedIn

Web:

https://www.whenwedancefilm.com/

LA Times Interview with Nick Waters for When We Dance

worstenemyfilm.com

When We Dance

Margaux

Today, we did something a little different. Instead of hosting a guest, we used an article that Regan Bach wrote titled "Line of Sight" - Why Thinking About Your Organization as Panes of Glass is Critical to Success" to have a thought provoking conversation focused on some of the simple but not easy critical success factors for every organization.

Regan has been a coach and a consultant to organizations of all sizes for close to 20 years. He opens doors for people, teams, and companies they never knew existed. His background is rooted in Sociology, Organization Development, Psychology, and Human Dynamics. He's been a pro athlete, traveled the world, and worked with some of the world's most famous companies. Facebook, PayPal, eBay, Google, LinkedIn to name a few. If you're interested in what it takes to create and operate a world class organization than spending time with Regan is a great step in that direction. Tuning into this conversation will introduce you to his thinking, experience, and impact.

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We'd love to hear form you. Tell us what you think of these conversations. You can reach us by emailing [email protected]. To learn more about Better Faster Further please visit us online. And last but not least, please rate, review, subscribe, and share the podcast. It's helps these conversations find more listeners.

Joe McConaughy is a very accomplished ultra-endurance athlete having completed FKT's (Fastest Known Time) on the John Muir Trail, Arizona Trail, Appalachian Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail. Joe is also an Ultra-Endurance Coach and has been Adam's coach for a couple seasons guiding Adam to a finish at the Moab 240 in 2022 and the Cocodona 250 in 2023. 

Regan Bach, Joe McConaughy, and Adam Odoski talk about Joe's background in becoming the athlete he is today, we talk about what makes a good coach/athlete relationship, the range of mindsets during multi-day events, and we recap Joe's win at Cocodona in 2022 and Adam's finish at the 2023 Cocodona 250.

In addition to being a professional athlete, coach, and wilderness guide, Joe is also a film maker. Told through film are Joe's stories of the Arizona Trail FKT, the Appalachian Trail FKT, the Long Trail FKT among others. Links to all of Joe's films can be found here. Additionally, if you're a runner and curious whatsoever about what having a coach can do for you please consider Joe. Reach out to him directly here.

As always, thanks for listening. If you like what you here, please rate, review, subscribe, and share the podcast. And never hesitate to visit Better Faster Further or email us directly at [email protected]

We had the unique opportunity of speaking with one of Patagonia's District Managers Christa Nenaber. Christa has worked at Patagonia for almost 12 years and has had a myriad of leadership positions during that time. She currently oversees the Central Region which includes 9 stores throughout Colorado and surrounding states.
Her connection with people and leaning into vulnerability is what drives her leadership style. Christa also opens up about making the brave (and arduous) decision to proactively get ahead of a potential major health issue, and how that decision has informed her life, leadership, and overall outlook. It's people like her opening up about the trials and tribulations of life that make doing the Better Faster Further podcast so special and rewarding. Her story is very inspiring, but also very accessible.
 
Christa and her husband live in Salida, Colorado and embrace getting outdoors as much as possible. She loves rafting, biking, camping and skiing.

Please join Regan and Adam for a conversation as Adam prepares to run the Cocodona 250 Ultra Race beginning at 5am May 1st. This race starts in Black Canyon, Arizona and finishes in Flagstaff Arizona. The race is 250 miles across the varied and beautiful landscapes of Arizona. It has almost 40,000 feet of elevation gain and will use a combination of single track trail, fire roads, and just a little bit of pavement to make it's way through some of the iconic towns of the west. Runners will pass through Prescott, Jerome, Sedona, and Flagstaff on this epic adventure.

Adam shares insight into his training and the emotional roller coaster that he experiences as he prepares for this race. Regan and Adam have known each other for more than 25 years so the conversation is rich, has history, and provides an honest dialogue of what it's like for Adam days before he embarks on this adventure.

If you'd like to watch the live stream of the race you can click here. Live runner tracking is found here and Adam is bib # 114.

As always, please feel free to reach out to Better Faster Further or contact Regan or Adam directly.

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

This time we had the pleasure of speaking with Michael Perman. Regan coached Michael almost a decade ago while he was the Sr. Director "Dean" of Innovation at GAP Inc. Since then, he's become the CEO and Chief Futurist of his own company C'EST WHAT? LLC, where he's helped develop global innovation strategies for Levi’s, Adidas, Banana Republic, Hyatt, Hershey’s, Nike, and Pottery Barn. He's also the author of "Craving the Future", and is a guest speaker and podcaster.

Michael speaks about his upbringing in the midwest during the "Silent Spring" (i.e. Rachel Carson + DDT), his interest in food and the environment, the critically important role innovation plays in shaping the future, as well as his leadership journey through corporate America and becoming the founder of his own company. We also ask him what he sees on the horizon for major trends coming our way and his answers are thought provoking.

If you're interested in learning more about Michael or C'EST WHAT, please reach out to him directly via email: [email protected]

If you'd like to talk to Regan, Adam or Better Faster Further please use any of the following email addresses to reach us directly:

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Annie is a Bay Area Native and a product of divorced immigrant parents from Vietnam. She's a mom to a 1 year old whom she loves dearly and a wife to a San Francisco FireFighter. She loves to run but these days most of her running is chasing after her 1 year old. She's a classically trained pastry chef that will one day make her debut in the culinary arts.

Annie is an ops person through and through. She started her career in accounting at Deloitte and then fell in love with the startup world. She's worked for some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley (Jeff Skoll, Peter Thiel, and Gil Penchina) and now she's the Director of Operations at a pre-seed/seed stage venture firm called Union Labs where her skills in Finance, HR, Marketing, and Bizops are extremely helpful to fund management, investor relations, and portfolio support. 

As mentioned, Annie loves to run but finds it hard to find the time. During this conversation, Annie commits to racing again and Regan and Adam may even join her!

To reach out to Annie please check her out on LinkedIn or email her directly at [email protected] and to learn more about all things Union Labs email [email protected].

As always, please like, subscribe, share, rate, review the podcast. All of these help the podcast be found by more listeners. If you'd like to reach out to Regan, Adam, or Better Faster Further please use any of the email addresses below:

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

I (Adam) met Jeff for the first time during the Moab 240 Endurance Event in October of 2022. Jeff led myself and the athlete and friend he was there to pace, Aaron Prevo, on an 80 mile journey up and over the La Sal Mountains. As one can imagine, we got to know each other really well over the couple days we spent together. Since that event in October, Jeff has transitioned from VP Strategic Sales at DXC Technologies to VP Sales - Americas at Orange. It was an honor to introduce Jeff to Regan Bach and Louis Selincourt, Managing Partners of Better Faster Further, so that the four of us could talk through the transition and ensure Jeff had an objective space to work and work out his plans. 

This is a fascinating conversation that follows the arc of Jeff's career and the importance of planning to achieve big things in life and business. During the conversation, Jeff talks about the important role his father, Bud Jones, has played in his life. His father is a retired Marine Helicopter Pilot, even wrote a historical novel, Snake Rolling in Hot, about Marine pilots, their crews, and fighting in Vietnam.  To reach Jeff directly, you can find him on LinkedIn.

Thanks as always for listening to the conversation. Please like, subscribe, rate and review the podcast. To reach us at Better Faster Further please email [email protected].