Chasing The White Rabbit

Chasing The White Rabbit is all about sharing stories of incredible and inspirational people who’ve achieved success. It’s about digging into the life-altering moments that culminate in something beyond your wildest imagination. Success is so much more than hustling; as you climb your way to the top you need to change the way you view the world. This show has just hit its milestone 10th episode, so join me for a double-digit celebration as I reflect on some of the most thought-provoking quotes from our most motivational guests.

It began as an intense passion for gaming and grew into a philosophy – a way of life. Yu-Kai Chou is one of the earliest pioneers of a concept called ‘gamification’. Having put his “heart and soul” into the game ‘Diablo II’ and spending countless hours levelling up his character, he realized that time would’ve been better spent levelling up in real life. Turning the daily grind into a game, he became his own RPG character, and was hooked on the thrill of honing and enhancing his skills. This realisation led to a number of business ventures, culminating in the founding of The Octalysis Group which helps companies engage with consumers through behavioural science and gameful design. In this inspiring conversation, he explores the frameworks you can adopt to begin excelling in your life.

At just 23 years old, Alex Masmej is already making waves in the crypto space. He believes technology has the ability to change the world and views the blockchain revolution as the key to achieving this. His main focus is decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs. These are self sovereign, open source organizations which reside on the Ethereum blockchain, and allow decision making to be coordinated at an unprecedented scale. In this in-depth interview, Alex explains how DAOs can make donating to causes like the recent Australian wildfires, easier and more transparent, why society needs to make these applications more mainstream, and how they will revolutionize the way we spend money.

This week’s white rabbit is health, one which we are forever chasing, whilst often going in the wrong direction. Professor Kevin Folta is on a mission to help people make sense of the rights and wrongs of what to eat. Kevin is a horticultural sciences professor at the University of Florida, and also hosts the weekly podcast ‘Talking Biotech’. Spending much of his childhood growing and eating vegetables from his garden, his passion has developed over many years, and that enthusiasm really cuts through in this insightful conversation. Kevin believes divisions are being created where they don’t need to exist when it comes to healthy eating. Whilst figuring out who to believe, he says you might want to know that any health benefits gained from going non-GMO are probably down to cleaning up your diet and dropping the junk food, rather than eliminating hormones. He even has some fascinating thoughts on why the prevalence of allergies and other issues are on the rise – and it might not be what you expect. 

From extensive work with nonprofits, to work on the Riordan fellowships at Anderson Business School, Alex Lawrence now sits as the assistant dean of Anderson and has built his life around giving back to the community. He’s made mentoring and helping people his life’s mission, and believes that staying connected to all of the communities you’ve been a part of in your life is the key to fulfilment and success. In this compelling discussion, Alex describes why he’s so passionate about creating a better future for young people. He explains how going down the rabbit hole means reassessing the currency you trade in - relationships, not money, and offers practical advice on how to find your true values to construct your brand and raise your profile. This conversation centres around Anderson Business School’s three pillars and the values that Alex embodies; think fearlessly, drive change, and the importance of shared success.

Following a long career in sales and trading at Goldman Sachs and Nomura, Karan Wadhera went on to make a string of exciting career moves. In college, he worked with the likes of Snoop Dogg and John Legend on raising their digital profiles. He also co-founded, and still works with, MissMalini.com, one of India's best-known digital media and entertainment brands. Karan now works within the cannabis industry as managing partner at the leading venture capital firm Casa Verde Capital, whilst sitting on the board of eleven cannabis companies. He’s a prime example of going down the rabbit hole; quitting his steady job and solid pay packet without knowing what was on the other side. That leap of faith raised concerns from parents and friends, but Karan forged on. This episode is a story of exploration, constantly searching for opportunities, hustling – and jumping in with both feet.

What began as a last-minute attempt to do something good grew into an initiative spanning 150 cities around the world. HashtagLunchbag was born one Christmas in LA when AJ Fresh gathered his friends and headed to the local grocery store to buy enough food to feed 100 people. Following a challenging year, AJ’s therapist prescribed volunteer work, but he struggled to find meaning through traditional methods. So he decided to give back on his own terms, preparing the food with his friends over a basketball match and champagne, and it was life changing. This small act was the catalyst to his founding of a range of impactful endeavours, from Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen, to On Purpose Ventures and the Living Through Giving Foundation. In this thought-provoking conversation, AJ Fresh explains how volunteering threw him down the rabbit hole, why it’s the most beautiful thing he has ever done, and why everyone should ask themselves: “Why is the world a better place because you were here?”

When you’re looking to quit your job to start something big, you can’t take an average approach. Whether you want to be an operator, an investor, an advisor or director, or to lead an organization, Todd Gitlin has a six-dimensional framework you can operate from. Todd is the founder of Safire Partners, an executive search firm focused on early stage and growth companies. In this episode, hear how to put into practice his six-pronged approach for evaluating career options. You’ve got to look at pay, company brand, learning opportunities, relationships, fulfillment and brand legacy. Todd helps to make sense of the risk and uncertainty in switching careers. But don’t forget, going down the rabbit hole is a job in itself!

It started as a desire to create an epic after-party, a space to bring together creatives and like-minded individuals. But Xenii quickly became one of the most exciting production companies in Los Angeles, and the local nightclubs feared the competition so much they’d have SWAT teams in full riot gear sent to try and shut them down. Pia Lindstrom is one of the founders of the company, which arranged parties hosting the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jessica Alba, starting in a place lent to them by Paris Hilton. Having established a track record of building entertainment brands, Pia is now president and chief executive of The Cult Collective, which helps creatives and businesses boost their profiles. This has given her the chance to work with companies like Goldman Sachs, Microsoft and Google. She believes anyone with a brain and some “street smarts” can create something successful. Her advice? Just do it, don’t think about it too hard, and just try to make something cool.

Having no knowledge of jewellery didn’t stop Jason Arashben from becoming one of LA’s most successful jewellers. Now CEO of Jason of Beverly Hills, he has tapped into his incredible skills as a communicator, creating a multi-million dollar operation in the process. Jason took a deep dive down the rabbit hole, and launched his first six-figure business from scratch selling trinkets in his senior year at college. Ignoring jibes from his father that he was ‘throwing his life away’, Jason took a tonne of risks, which resulted in taking on the likes of LeBron James, Jessica Alba and Ashton Kutcher as clients. Pushing the limits of convention with his eccentric pieces, Jason created his own philosophy on entrepreneurship. Driven by the people who said he couldn’t achieve his goals, he now lives his vision, tapping into a broad market of customers. Find out how to follow his example and shift your mindset to start something truly successful and live your dream.