Choose the Hard Way

What is the link between heavy metal and heavy innovation? How far-out is too far? How do you go from idea to market at scale? Let's find out. You read the CV's of some people and you think, is this a human being? Could one person really do this much in one life? My guest today is Krisztina Z Holly. She is one of those people and I can confirm that while she has done an inhuman amount of cool things, she is indeed a human being. Z is a legendary innovator, entrepreneur, advisor and talent amplifier. She launched and curated the first-ever TEDx event, founded innovation centers at MIT and USC and started up multiple companies. She was the entrepreneur in residence for the city of Los Angeles under Mayor Garcetti and she's been an advisor to the World Economic Forum and the Obama administration. Z says her superpower is identifying and amplifying hidden talent and has advised and nurtured dozens of entrepreneurs. When she isn't innovating, advising and changing the world through technology, Z is shredding on her mountain bike, skydiving, scuba diving, backcountry skiing and generally living life like a Mountain Dew commercial. If all you know about tech in LA is Silicon Beach, this episode is going to blow your mind. Find Z on Twitter and Instagram @krisztinaholly and at http://www.krisztinaholly.com.

If you dig this episode, please pass it on to a friend, hit subscribe and rate the show. This show is about more than me, my guests and an idea. It's about the community that you all have created around it, and I love to hear from you. Drop me a line at [email protected] or @hardwaypod on Twitter or Insta. Sign up for The Hard Way newsletter and get cool stuff worth knowing + updates on new episodes.More about Z:Z was Vice Provost for Innovation at USC and Founding Executive Director of MIT's Deshpande Center and USC's Stevens Institute of Innovation, investing >$5M in early stage ideas, launching 39 venture-backed startups from university research, expanding Boston and LA startup ecosystems and raising $7M for 3 pre-seed funds. Z has deep technical roots and operating experience as co-founder or key member of Stylus Innovation (acq by Artisoft), Direct Hit (acq by Ask Jeeves) and Jeeves Solutions (acq by Kanisa). She worked for the Space Shuttle Main Engine advanced manufacturing team and MIT Media Lab. She helps Fortune 500 CTOs identify tech trends as a TTI/Vanguard advisor. Z's unique network spans industries and continents. Several pioneering programs she sparked continue to scale, 40,000+ events and two decades later. As EIR for LA Mayor Garcetti, Z launched a non-profit supporting local manufacturing. She's been advisor and board member to two dozen organizations globally, including the Obama Administration and World Economic Forum. Storytelling is core to Z's impact. She's host of The Art of Manufacturing podcast and a Forbes contributor. She's coached hundreds of speakers (>14M views) and helped produce documentary series for NSF, HBR, Smithsonian. Her work appears in BusinessWeek, Economist, CNN.com, strategy+business, HuffPo, Big Think, Science Progress, NASA Ask. Z has a BS and MS in mechanical engineering from MIT. A member of YPO and Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society, licensed skydiver and SCUBA instructor, backcountry skier, adventure traveler, former quartermaster of the Black Rock City airport, Z lives in her hometown of Los Angeles.

Sign up for The Hard Way newsletter for updates on new episodes + a curated selection of things worth watching, listening to and reading, all with a Hard Way twist. What is a hazy IPA? How does a hops volcano happen? And what makes it so hard to start a small business outside of tech in the Bay Area? In this episode, I put my almost total lack of beer knowledge on full display in a conversation with my good friend, Regan Long. Regan is the co-founder, CEO and brewmaster of Local Brewing Co., a brewery and beer bar in the heart of San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood not far from the ballpark. They've brewed award winning beers, built a thriving business and have made videos of remote controlled monster trucks driving through beer can obstacles courses. The Bay Area is known as a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship. And it is. But a little known fact is that San Francisco can also be one of the most challenging places in America to start up a small business. During this interview, I reference a 2012 New York Times story about the two years of red tape, hurdles, NIMBYism and obstacles the founders of the Cole Valley Ice Cream Bar faced to open their business. When you're ready to have bureaucracy totally melt your brain, go read it here. Since that story dropped in 2012, with tech booming and with rising rents making it more and more difficult to staff service industry jobs, it has only gotten harder to start and operate a small business in San Francisco. In 2015, Regan and her partner Sarah Fenson opened Local Brewing Co., a brewery and beer bar in the heart of San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood not far from the ballpark. If you guessed it wasn't easy, you would be correct. It takes more than passion and a good idea to build a business that lasts. In this episode, we explore Regan's experience of walking away from an awesome job working for Mercedes Benz R&D as an intrapreneuer to start-up Local Brewing Co. and much more. Regan holds degrees in physics and oceanography and a brewing certificate through Seibel Institute of Technology World Brewing Academy. Learn more about Local at localbrewingco.com, follow them on instagram @localbrewingco and if you get a chance, stop by to grab a beer at 69 Bluxome Street in the heart of SOMA. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with a pal and take a second to subscribe and rate the show on iTunes or wherever you listen. Thanks to everyone out there who has dropped me a line and you can get in touch with me @hardwaypod on insta and twitter or via email at [email protected].

You are what you overcome. Choose the Hard Way.

Sign up for The Hard Way newsletter for updates on new episodes + a curated selection of things worth watching, listening to and reading, all with a Hard Way twist. What is a hazy IPA? How does a hops volcano happen? And what makes it so hard to start a small business outside of tech in the Bay Area? In this episode, I put my almost total lack of beer knowledge on full display in a conversation with my good friend, Regan Long. Regan is the co-founder, CEO and brewmaster of Local Brewing Co., a brewery and beer bar in the heart of San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood not far from the ballpark. They've brewed award winning beers, built a thriving business and have made videos of remote controlled monster trucks driving through beer can obstacles courses. The Bay Area is known as a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship. And it is. But a little known fact is that San Francisco can also be one of the most challenging places in America to start up a small business. During this interview, I reference a 2012 New York Times story about the two years of red tape, hurdles, NIMBYism and obstacles the founders of the Cole Valley Ice Cream Bar faced to open their business. When you're ready to have bureaucracy totally melt your brain, go read it here. Since that story dropped in 2012, with tech booming and with rising rents making it more and more difficult to staff service industry jobs, it has only gotten harder to start and operate a small business in San Francisco. In 2015, Regan and her partner Sarah Fenson opened Local Brewing Co., a brewery and beer bar in the heart of San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood not far from the ballpark. If you guessed it wasn't easy, you would be correct. It takes more than passion and a good idea to build a business that lasts. In this episode, we explore Regan's experience of walking away from an awesome job working for Mercedes Benz R&D as an intrapreneuer to start-up Local Brewing Co. and much more. Regan holds degrees in physics and oceanography and a brewing certificate through Seibel Institute of Technology World Brewing Academy. Learn more about Local at localbrewingco.com, follow them on instagram @localbrewingco and if you get a chance, stop by to grab a beer at 69 Bluxome Street in the heart of SOMA. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with a pal and take a second to subscribe and rate the show on iTunes or wherever you listen. Thanks to everyone out there who has dropped me a line and you can get in touch with me @hardwaypod on insta and twitter or via email at [email protected].

You are what you overcome. Choose the Hard Way.

Sign up for The Hard Way newsletter for updates on new episodes + a curated selection of things worth watching, listening to and reading, all with a Hard Way twist. What is a hazy IPA? How does a hops volcano happen? And what makes it so hard to start a small business outside of tech in the Bay Area? In this episode, I put my almost total lack of beer knowledge on full display in a conversation with my good friend, Regan Long. Regan is the co-founder, CEO and brewmaster of Local Brewing Co., a brewery and beer bar in the heart of San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood not far from the ballpark. They've brewed award winning beers, built a thriving business and have made videos of remote controlled monster trucks driving through beer can obstacles courses. The Bay Area is known as a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship. And it is. But a little known fact is that San Francisco can also be one of the most challenging places in America to start up a small business. During this interview, I reference a 2012 New York Times story about the two years of red tape, hurdles, NIMBYism and obstacles the founders of the Cole Valley Ice Cream Bar faced to open their business. When you're ready to have bureaucracy totally melt your brain, go read it here. Since that story dropped in 2012, with tech booming and with rising rents making it more and more difficult to staff service industry jobs, it has only gotten harder to start and operate a small business in San Francisco. In 2015, Regan and her partner Sarah Fenson opened Local Brewing Co., a brewery and beer bar in the heart of San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood not far from the ballpark. If you guessed it wasn't easy, you would be correct. It takes more than passion and a good idea to build a business that lasts. In this episode, we explore Regan's experience of walking away from an awesome job working for Mercedes Benz R&D as an intrapreneuer to start-up Local Brewing Co. and much more. Regan holds degrees in physics and oceanography and a brewing certificate through Seibel Institute of Technology World Brewing Academy. Learn more about Local at localbrewingco.com, follow them on instagram @localbrewingco and if you get a chance, stop by to grab a beer at 69 Bluxome Street in the heart of SOMA. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with a pal and take a second to subscribe and rate the show on iTunes or wherever you listen. Thanks to everyone out there who has dropped me a line and you can get in touch with me @hardwaypod on insta and twitter or via email at [email protected].

You are what you overcome. Choose the Hard Way.

Sign up for The Hard Way newsletter for updates on new episodes + a curated selection of things worth watching, listening to and reading, all with a Hard Way twist. What is a hazy IPA? How does a hops volcano happen? And what makes it so hard to start a small business outside of tech in the Bay Area? In this episode, I put my almost total lack of beer knowledge on full display in a conversation with my good friend, Regan Long. Regan is the co-founder, CEO and brewmaster of Local Brewing Co., a brewery and beer bar in the heart of San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood not far from the ballpark. They've brewed award winning beers, built a thriving business and have made videos of remote controlled monster trucks driving through beer can obstacles courses. The Bay Area is known as a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship. And it is. But a little known fact is that San Francisco can also be one of the most challenging places in America to start up a small business. During this interview, I reference a 2012 New York Times story about the two years of red tape, hurdles, NIMBYism and obstacles the founders of the Cole Valley Ice Cream Bar faced to open their business. When you're ready to have bureaucracy totally melt your brain, go read it here. Since that story dropped in 2012, with tech booming and with rising rents making it more and more difficult to staff service industry jobs, it has only gotten harder to start and operate a small business in San Francisco. In 2015, Regan and her partner Sarah Fenson opened Local Brewing Co., a brewery and beer bar in the heart of San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood not far from the ballpark. If you guessed it wasn't easy, you would be correct. It takes more than passion and a good idea to build a business that lasts. In this episode, we explore Regan's experience of walking away from an awesome job working for Mercedes Benz R&D as an intrapreneuer to start-up Local Brewing Co. and much more. Regan holds degrees in physics and oceanography and a brewing certificate through Seibel Institute of Technology World Brewing Academy. Learn more about Local at localbrewingco.com, follow them on instagram @localbrewingco and if you get a chance, stop by to grab a beer at 69 Bluxome Street in the heart of SOMA. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with a pal and take a second to subscribe and rate the show on iTunes or wherever you listen. Thanks to everyone out there who has dropped me a line and you can get in touch with me @hardwaypod on insta and twitter or via email at [email protected].

You are what you overcome. Choose the Hard Way.

Ethan Gold is a prolific songwriter, producer, composer and performer. Pitbull's tagline is "Don't stop the party." Ethan Gold's tagline is "Making sensitivity cool again." His dad is the Beat-adjunct writer and novelist Herbert Gold. his mother Melissa was killed in a helicopter crash along with legendary rock promoter Bill Graham. As he tells it, he grew up in San Francisco during the harsh period that followed the summer of love and his experience growing up during those dystopian times informs much of his work. I met Ethan in the early 2000's through mutual friends. I was working as a journalist in LA and he was living in an apartment across the street from my girlfriend at the time and working on music. Turns out he was working on what would later become the critically-acclaimed art-rock album Songs From a Toxic Apartment. He played everything on the album and produced it himself. Since those days, I've mainly stayed in touch with Ethan through his awesome newsletter, which you can sign up for here. He has kept woodshedding and putting out music and soundtracks for films that I love. I've always admired his persistence, his dedication to his craft and his steadfast commitment to pursuing his creative vision. What I didn't know was that a few years ago, Ethan had a very serious head injury that took away almost everything that was normal about his life. He had to relearn how to do things we all take for granted and that experience ultimately taught him a new way of being. Catch Ethan everywhere @ethangold and at www.ethangold.com. Like Tool, he has recently released his digital catalogue on Spotify, so be sure to go give his work a listen and hit subscribe. It's awesome. And if you're lucky, catch him playing somewhere in person. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with a pal and take a second to subscribe and rate the show on iTunes or wherever you listen. Thanks to everyone out there who has dropped me a line and you can get in touch with me @hardwaypod on insta and twitter or via email at [email protected]. Be the first to hear about new episodes and things worth knowing when you sign up for The Hard Way newsletter here.

Known as the Queen of Pain, Rebecca Rusch is a 7x World Champion in sports ranging from adventure racing to whitewater rafting to 24-hour solo mountain biking. She has won the biggest monuments in off-road bike racing including four Leadville 100 mountain bike titles and five total wins at the Dirty Kanza in the 100-mile, 200-mile and 350-mile XL races. She holds the fastest known time for mountain biking the Kokopelli trail from Moab to Fruita, was on the first team to summit and descend Mt. Kilimanjaro on mountain bikes and she was a member of the Raid Gauloises Adventure Racing World Champion Team. She's also an entrepreneur, author and has her own world-class gravel race, Rebecca's Private Idaho. In 2016 she was the first person to ride the entire length of the Ho Chi Minh trail. That trip was captured in the feature-length documentary Blood Road. It tells the story of Rebecca's journey to try to reach the crash site and final resting place of her father, a U.S. Air Force pilot shot down over Laos during the Vietnam war, 40 years later on the anniversary of his death. I've written about Rebecca before as a journalist and have had the chance to hang out with her a few times at gravel events and at SXSW where we both spoke a few years back. She's not just one of the most accomplished endurance athletes in all of sport--she's an incredibly humble and thoughtful person. My dad also served in Vietnam. He came back alive. Watching Blood Road truly moved me on many levels, and after I saw it, I knew I wanted to explore the film and the impact that the process had on Rebecca. In this interview, we talk about the many ways that experience has transformed her as an athlete and human. You can learn more about the film at www.bloodroadfilm.com. Catch Rebecca on Insta @rebeccarusch and at www.rebeccarusch.com. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with a buddy and take a second to rate the show on iTunes or wherever you listen. Thanks to everyone out there who has dropped me a line--you can get in touch with me @hardwaypod on insta and twitter or via email at [email protected]. Be the first to hear about new episodes and things worth knowing when you sign up for The Hard Way newsletter here.

Dan Doty is co-founder of Evryman, a company that brings men together to exercise their emotions so they can lead more successful, fulfilling lives. Early in Dan's career, he spent over 600 days in the backcountry working as a wilderness therapy guide for disadvantaged and at risk young men and taught public high school in the Bronx. Later he worked as a producer and director on outdoor-based films and TV shows including the Meat Eater series (hosted by Steve Rinella). You might have caught Dan on the Joe Rogan podcast or the Today Show or read about Evryman in Men's Health. It's a movement that's growing fast. You can connect with Dan @danieldoty on Twitter, find him at dan-doty.com, catch his TEDx talk, "What the World Needs from Men," here and go to Evryman to learn more about their retreats, leadership training, men's groups and wilderness adventures. Evryman's trajectory has been up and to the right, but it has taken Dan a lifetime of learning for Dan to get to this point, and it's not smooth sailing just yet. He shares the wild story about the path that brought him to this point and the unseen, but acutely felt, sacrifices he has had to make to live his dream. If you dig this episode, please tell a friend about it and take a second to rate the show on iTunes or wherever you listen. Shoutout to everyone out there who has dropped me a line, you can be in touch with me @hardwaypod on insta and twitter or via email at [email protected]. Be the first to hear about new episodes and things worth knowing when you sign up for The Hard Way newsletter here.

Jeff Provenzano, aka Jeffro, makes his living skydiving, BASE jumping and wingsuit flying as a member of the Red Bull Air Force. Jeff is a stuntman who has appeared in films including Ironman 3 and Godzilla and he is a champion competitor with over 20,000 jumps under his belt. He has trained elite military units in canopy flying and has been part of multiple world record-setting group jumps. He has insane energy and if you follow him on Instagram @jeffprovenzano, you'll see that he trains as hard as any pro athlete in the NFL, NBA or other pro sport. In this interview, we talk about how he forged his own path from art school and skateboarding to becoming one of the foremost human flyers on the planet and what he had to give up to make it happen. I originally connected with Jeff because of something he posted on Instagram that is the embodiment of what it means to choose the hard way (you can see the original post on Instagram here): "I want to share something with all of you. In case you were wondering, or maybe this just gives you insight on how my world works on a professional level. I receive many messages from you, my followers, showing positive support and encouragement and I appreciate that and love you. On the flip side I also receive messages like, "must be nice to get everything for free" or "how do I become a Red Bull athlete and just travel around like you?" Some people have never made a single Skydive and they want to do what I do. Seriously. I get messages like this all the time and I am blown away (also somewhat entertained) by how blind and lazy people are. It's good to be a dreamer and I am one too, but if you want to know how I got to where I am today it is simple. The answer is so simple, but no one wants to hear it. First of all, if anyone knows anything about sponsorships and working relationships with companies you will know that nothing is free. It's a real job. Second, if you are looking for the magic wand, well, there is no such thing as magic. The simple answer is you gotta do the work. You have to be the hardest worker. You have to want to work and be driven to work. By no means am I sitting around playing video games waiting for the phone to ring because I am a world class champion skydiver and I think I deserve this or that. No one wants to work with that person. Instead put the controller down and start doing something that will get you one step closer to your dreams (unless you want to be a pro gamer then that's cool) So instead of waiting for the genie to pop out and turn your lazy ass into a successful whatever it is you dream of becoming, try clearly defining your goals, create a realistic plan on how to get there and start grinding, today. There is no other way. Be relentless and work your ass off to get there. Life is what you make of it. So dream big, make a plan and work on that plan every damn day! If that seems overwhelming, take it one step at a time like a marathon runner. Start with a clear understanding of what needs to happen to cross that finish line. It's not an uber. There are no short cuts. Determination will get you there." -Jeff Provenzano Thanks so much to all of you who have given me a shout to let me know you're digging the show. Very much appreciated ! If you enjoy this episode, please get a friend to listen to it, too, and take a second to rate the show and leave a review. You can find more about the show at www.choosethehardway.com and you can get in touch with feedback, questions or what have you on Twitter or Insta @hardwaypod, or send an email to [email protected].

Phil Gaimon is an ex-pro cyclist and the creator of the wildly popular YouTube cycling series, The Worst Retirement Ever. He previously joined me for episode 5 where he talked about his transformation from an overweight kid into one of the best pro cyclists in America and his evolution as a creator and entrepreneur. Phil is the author of two memoirs, a creative force and had planned to spend this summer on a cross-country tour to use his YouTube series to raise money for the No Kid Hungry charity. Then he had the opportunity to qualify for the 2020 USA Cycling Olympic track team and decided to pursue that goal, too. A month into his van tour, a track race at the velodrome in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania went sideways and Phil had a horrible wreck that put him in the hospital for a week with broken bones and a collapsed lung. Only a month out from the wreck, Phil joined me for this conversation to discuss what happened, how he is physically and emotionally processing the injury and how he used it as a chance to amplify his efforts to help No Kid Hungry. You can donate to his No Kid Hungry drive here. Check out the new business Phil launched during his recovery at www.icelegs.com. You can find him on Twitter & Insta @philgaimon, at www.philthethrill.net, and on Strava.com/athletes/philgaimon. During this episode, we talk about several bicycle track racing events. You can see a video of a points race here and a team pursuit race here. And check out Phil's video about his attempt to qualify for the Olympic team here. If you enjoy this episode, please get a friend to listen to it, too, and take a second to rate the show and leave a review. You can find more about the show at www.choosethehardway.com and you can get in touch with feedback, questions or what have you on Twitter or Insta @hardwaypod, or send an email to [email protected].