Christopher Lochhead Follow Your Different™

In this episode of Follow Your Different, we continue our run of legendary authors with today’s guest, Scott O’ Neil. He is the author of a hot new book called Be Where Your Feet Are: Seven Principles to Keep You Present, Grounded, and Thriving.

Scott O’Neil is the CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment. Which makes Scott the CEO of:

* The Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA

* The New Jersey Devils of the NHL

* The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey

* Dignitas, a pioneer in eSports

* A number of minor league teams

* A Venture Fund

* Real Estate developer / investor

* An Innovation Lab

Today, we get to hear what it takes to manage not one, but two of North America’s elite professional sports teams, and how they have dealt with COVID and its effect on the category. We also dig in to Scott’s view on what sports role is in society, and how leaders should deal with social change and justice.

Of course, we’ll have Scott pop the hood on how they turned the 76ers around and make them a winning team again. So if you love taking the long term in business and trying to figure out how business can make a difference as well as be successful, you're going to love everything about this episode.

 

The Role of Sports in Society

Scott talks about his enthusiasm on work, and being able to do so in areas that could use the work generated by his businesses. Though at the end of the day, he says that he is more of a “run to work, run home” type of guy.

He also shares his thoughts on the role of sports in a society. While there are some that argue that it shouldn’t have that much of an impact and influence, it is undeniable that it’s there. The question now is, how do you use that influence to make the world a bit better than before.

“The argument is, sports shouldn't have this kind of influence and impact. And I say, great, it does. I actually have an opportunity to help people and drive change in communities and bring people together and create community.

Coming off a pandemic, where we've had a year of being isolated, I don't think there's a better platform to build and deliver what we need more than anything else in the world right now, which is connection, and a bit of escapism, and community. And to do that where I get to do it every day is quite a blessing.” - Scott O’Neil

 

The New Roaring 20’s

When asked about how some companies are already gearing up for the end of the pandemic, Scott thinks that we are on the verge of a new Roaring 20s, much like what happened in the 1900s.

He is not far off the mark on this. Wall Street Journal has reported that companies today have more cash on hand than at any point in history, and the US consumer is wealthier now than at any point in US history. Which sounds so insane in the heels of this pandemic.

As the desire of people to reconnect and the mental health strain of being isolated escalates, there will be a huge demand for the category that builds up community and togetherness in the future, as everything opens up again.

 

“So you can imagine to watch an NBA game and be the only fan which I was at the game. I had this incredible boost of mental health, which I think is going to be the next great challenge over the decade. I think all this isolation and separation and anxiety that that we ar...

Creativity, innovation, and collaboration. These are words that get thrown around a lot in business. Yet too many business environments and company culture cultivate the exact opposite. In this episode of Follow Your Different, we discuss what business leaders, entrepreneurs, and creators of all times can learn from some of the greatest musicians in the world.

Our guests today are Panos Panay & Michael Hendrix, the authors of a rockin’ new book called “Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation”. Dr. Deepak Chopra says,

“For a long time, researchers have that musical intelligence can awaken the non-linear mind to healing, creativity, and innovation. This book is a roadmap for innovators, entrepreneurs, and those seeking new avenues for exploring and reimagining the future.”

You’ll want to stay tuned for this dialogue about the power of music as an insight to innovation and creativity. Pay close attention to why musicians are constantly creating and not editing, the power of curiosity, and their thoughts on how to build a legendary team.

 

 

Music is Everywhere

When asked why music seems to be all around and how it affects us, Panos Panay thinks it’s because music is primordial. Even as we are in our mother’s womb, our sense of hearing develops before everything else and we get exposed to our mother’s heartbeats.

For him, there’s something really elemental about music that is unlike anything else.

“It's the most basic human sense. It's what connects us to our humanity. And I would say what connects us to the broader universe. That's the universe is made of sound. Ultimately, we are made of sound.” – Panos Panay

 

 

Building Designs that Delve into the Unconscious

Michael Hendrix talks about Embodied Cognition. Simply put, it is the understanding of the world though our bodies, specifically through our five senses.

What got him interested on the topic was when he started to wonder why some designs do better than others. What he found is that it all boils down to how it feels when using said design. If you are given two tools with the same functionality but one feels more weighted or balance, chances are you’ll buy that one over the other.

“There's been plenty of studies that show that we humans give importance to thing that have weight. So in design, and we that's translated, for example, the tension on a car door is increased to make the car deal for heavier when you shut it. So you feel safer in the car, because they're actually been valued. They've been engineered to be so light to make the fuel efficiency better. But if you didn't have that tension, you wouldn't have the resistance. And you would go, oh man, this thing's too flimsy.” – Michael Hendrix

Panos adds that this was a problem with the early designs for electric vehicles, which they discussed in the book. They were designed to be lightweight for energy efficiency, but that backfired on itself. People thought it was too light, therefore it might not be as safe as traditional vehicles. So that’s one more thing to think about when creating your product designs.

 

 

Something Different

Michael talks about their book, Two Beats Ahead, and their thought process when writing it. First and foremost, they didn’t want it to be like most business books out there. While they are informative and helpful to some, it’s not exactly fun reading them.

So they are committed to not writing one of those books. They want something that is not repetitive and redundant to the point of making you exhausted by the end. Their aim was to write a book that was full of surprises and fun to read from cover to cover,

There’s scams, crimes, and frauds. Then there’s what Bernie Madoff did.

CNBC says that he committed the nation’s biggest investment fraud. The Wall Street Journal called it “the biggest ponzi scheme in history.” At sentencing, Judge Denny Chin called Madoff’s crimes “extraordinarily evil”. In the end, many people lost everything they had.

For those who are unaware, Madoff stole $19.5 billion, which he said had grown to $64.8 billion. Though not a single dollar or penny was ever invested in anything. He stole it, plain and simple.

Jim Campbell joins us in this episode of Follow Your Different, as we cover his book about the topic. His book, Madoff Talks, is already being considered as an authoritative source on this massive crime committed by Bernie Madoff that impoverished thousands of investors around the world.

What you are about to hear is a deep, shocking, and riveting dialogue that takes you through it all. From how Madoff did it, to the systemic problems with US regulators and the ongoing failure of the SEC.

The Hows and Whys of the Book

When asked how the book came to be, Jim talks about how he had built a connection with Bernie Madoff. What started as a simple correspondence culminated in over 400 pages of communication over several years.

Jim figured that with all the information he has, it would be a shame to not do anything with it. So began his mission to investigate and sort out the truths and lies about Madoff’s claims.

As to why he wrote the book, he had 3 major motives for it:

* He wanted to know how Bernie’s mind operated

* The architecture of the whole failure: It was not just Madoff acting alone, but the system enabling him to do so

* Whether or not Madoff's family knew about it

 “The mission to expose the failure of the system is the real takeaway of the book. People were interested in the sexy part: Bernie talking, what did Ruth know, and how the heck did he get away with it. Which is all fascinating and riveting stuff, but the takeaway is this is what had happened and how it happened.” – Jim Campbell

How Madoff Exploited the System

Jim shares how Madoff worked his way around the system, subverting 5 SEC investigations before someone finally figured it out.

Madoff did so by exploiting the system itself, in small ways to keep it unnoticeable. What surprised Jim is how Madoff ran a legitimate, squeaky-clean company to hide his other dealings. So while the company took the brunt of investigations, they couldn’t catch him on anything. Simply because there was nothing to catch on that front.

He further explains that the SEC did not have the right examiners on the case. They kept exonerating him on the wrong crime, which was Frontrunning. The final piece of it was the examiners were never allowed to talk to anyone else in the firm except for Bernie or his right-hand man.

“So he blocked them, he took advantage of the silos, and they kept investigating the wrong (thing). They chased the wrong rabbit.” – Jim Campbell

Penalties, or Lack Thereof

Jim goes on to iterate how Bernie Madoff gamed the system and played to its weaknesses. By studying how individual silos operate and the lack of communication thereof, he got away with a lot of things.

What’s fascinating and horrendous at the same time is that he could’ve easily been called out on his subterfuges had people been more thorough in their line of work. Yet Bernie had a trick for this as well, by usually calling in right before the weekend or after trade hours and seemingly burying details in “paperwork”, or having to check in a foreign office that doesn’t really exist.

When asked if heads rolled after the whole ordeal was made public, here’s what Jim Campbell had to say:

It’s easy to make the case that we are currently living at the most comfortable time in history. A lot of things are accessible to us with a push of a button. From getting information, entertainment, and even communicating over long distances, there’s an app to solve our problems. Though according to our guest, Michael Easter, we are having a “Comfort Crisis”.

According to the US CDC, 73.6% of Americans are either overweight or obese. That said, Obesity is a global problem, with at least 2.8 million people dying from it each year.

Our mental health is not exactly doing great either. Nearly 8 in 10 adults say the coronavirus pandemic is a significant source of stress in their lives, as reported by the American Psychological Association.

In this episode of Follow Your Different, Michael Easter discusses how we need to be active and outside to have a legendary life. We also talk about how to “embrace discomfort to reclaim ourselves”, and why being hungry is legendary.

 

The Comfort Crisis

Michael Easter shares how much more comfortable we are living right now compared to before. You don’t even have to go too far to compare; most of our modern-day comforts didn’t even exist a couple of decades ago.

According to Michael, the main issue with all this comfort is that nowadays, getting something you need takes little to no effort. This means have to move around less and being less active. This can lead not only to physical degradation, but mental health problems over time.

“We are moving about 14 times less than our ancestors. We spend 95 percent of our time indoors, and spend 11 hours and 6 minutes a day engaging with digital media. So we went from never having these digital media in our lives to now it's essentially become our lives. And that's had consequences for our attention, or awareness, how we spend our time and also our interactions with others. Things have really changed, and we're too comfortable now.” – Michael Easter

 

Changing The Perspective

One of the things Michael wants to point out is that we tend to take for granted how good we have it nowadays because we are constantly surrounded by convenience and comfort. We can’t really appreciate them unless there were periods of struggle or challenges to acquire them.

It’s like going to your favorite restaurant almost every day compared to only going after a long and tiring business trip. You tend to appreciate it more compared to when you are having the same thing almost every day.

“We don't have these moments that push back and are essential. Essentially, what are First World Problems anymore? So I think getting yourself out of your comfort zone in a variety of ways can do that, and give you a little more perspective on your life.” – Michael Easter

 

Challenge Yourself

Michael talks about how children are raised differently nowadays. Some parents only let their children do what they think is best, rather than letting the children experience it themselves. This often leads to mental health issues when they go out into the world. They can’t cope with the daily struggles and challenges because they weren’t allowed to experience them beforehand.

Michael explains this concept as toughening. He adds that it is important that we insert real challenges in our lives from time to time. Not only as we are growing up, but even as adults.

“In the book I talked about, there's a guy whose name is Marcus Eliot, and he's sort of the foremost sports scientist in the world. He does this concept that he calls Misogi, where once a year, they choose one challenging, truly epic task. The only rules are that it has to be really hard, meaning that you have a 50% chance of finishing it,

As children, most of us had a wide range of interests, ideas, and dreams. We all wanted to do and be a lot of things. Though somehow, Life can beat us up.

Sylvie Leotin grew up pursuing those interests and dreams. She did ballet, became a visiting scholar at Stanford's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and now a Healthcare Entrepreneur. Sylvie also has a deep background in engineering, robotics, artificial intelligence, as well as product marketing and management. She is also a cancer survivor.  

As a woman of color who have dealt with cancer, Sylvie has had a front row seat to the racial injustice faced by minorities in the American Healthcare System. So like other legendary missionary entrepreneurs, Sylvie decided to do something about it. She founded a company called Equify Health, and is on a mission to “elevate the experience and outcomes of patients of color in healthcare and medical research”.

In this episode of Follow Your Different, we have a very real, very deep, and personal conversation with Sylvie Leotin about empathy, survival, entrepreneurship, and many more.

 

Sylvie’s Mission

As someone who has navigated through the American Healthcare System, Sylvie Leotin knew the hardships that a person of color goes through to get proper healthcare. So when the COVID pandemic started, she started looking into reports on mortality rates and such.

What she found was heart-breaking. She learned that people of color were dying at higher rates. Upon digging further, she observed that it was not just for COVID or cancer-related ones, but every serious chronic illness.

“As a cancer survivor and someone that got a second chance to live, I felt really deeply distraught. I really felt that this is unfair. It really shouldn't be your race, your ethnicity, that is dictating that you have a right to health. So I started to do some research to look into this more deeply.” – Sylvie Leotin

 Using Her Setbacks as Motivation

When asked why she felt deeply connected to this cause, Sylvie shares that it was probably because she battled cancer and experienced these healthcare issues herself.

While she would still be distraught and concerned about these issues regardless, she feels that she wouldn’t be doing all she is doing right now had she not had cancer.

“I think cancer took me close to mortality, close to being hopeless, close to feeling the biggest pain that I have ever felt in my life. And I really understood what it's like to be so sick, that you can die of the sickness. I don't think I would’ve understood if I just knew people, or even my family who died of cancer. I think cancer really opened up this huge well of compassion inside me, for the suffering of people in the world, but even more specially for the suffering of people that are affected by life threatening illnesses. And if there is anything I can do to help change that and make some people less hopeless, it will be a life worth living.” – Sylvie Leotin

Mission-Driven Entrepreneurship

Sylvie talks about how she had the insight on her current mission. As a designer, she can see the things that were poorly designed in the system as she experienced things firsthand. If she can relate it to healthcare providers, it can make a difference for future patients.

The opportunity to turn her pain and experience into easing the experience for other people felt transformative for her.

While it started as something to improve other cancer patient’s experience, it soon expanded to other serious illnesses as Sylvie saw more of the disparity and how Equify Health can help those in need.

“I have witnessed so my first experience was more altruistic. But it was very visceral to go to treatment every day. While I was in the waiting room for a long time, and I was very distraught by the fact that I went to one of the top five cancer centers in the country.

In this episode of Follow Your Different, let’s have a very different dialogue about Sex.

It seems like we might be living at a time where the very category of sex is changing, and there are a few megatrends going on.

First, we seem to be in what The Atlantic calls a “sexual recession”. The Atlantic reports: “In the space of a generation, sex has gone from something most high school students have experienced to something most haven’t.”

It turns out that people in their early 20s are two and a half times as likely to be abstinent. Though it’s not only limited to the younger generation. Even Gen Xers and Baby Boomers are having less traditional sex over the years.

The second one is about increased loneliness. According to the HBR, rates of loneliness in the US have doubled over the past 50 years. Nowadays, around 40% of Americans say that they are lonely.

The third is about Digital Sex. It has been reported that the porn industry is now worth nearly $100 billion, and uses more bandwidth than Facebook, Amazon, or Netflix.

It seems that porn continues to reach new heights with the advent of new technologies and categories:

* In 2018, a Japanese man spent 2 million Yen on his wedding to an AI hologram.

* Toronto has opened a new category in the form of Sex Doll Brothels.

* OnlyFans has seen a spike of creators and registered users since Covid, who are mostly there for adult content.

* AR and VR sex is on the rise

We talk about all this and more with our guests, Amy Baldwin and April Lampert of the Shameless Sex Podcast. They are here for a fascinating, no-holds-barred dialogue about Sex. This is a very frank, descriptive, and dare I say deep conversation.

 

Sex Education

Amy and April talk about the current state of sex education in the US. To most families, sex is not a topic that they are comfortable talking with their children. Though there are schools that have sex education classes, it mostly consists of anatomy and topics about abstinence. Most young adults tend to learn on their own, either through their friends, from experience, or from porn.

While they do not shun consumption of porn, both think that porn should not be used as an educational tool.   

“I think it really depends on where you're growing up. Luckily, we have the internet now. But like April said, there's porn, and we are not anti porn. We are anti porn as a sex educator, unless it's educational pornography.” – Amy Baldwin

They believe this is where they come in, to correct misconceptions brought about by bad information or unrealistic expectations people get from hearing stories or watching porn.

 

Shameless Sex Podcast

When asked about how open they were when talking on their podcast, Amy shares that they didn’t begin like that. While they do talk boldly and bravely about sexuality in their podcast, it wasn’t the case when they were younger.

They also believe that we can all talk boldly about sex if we want to.

“I believe we all can speak really openly and boldly about sexuality. Just like with anything, if we practice enough and we want to, (but) not everyone needs to speak the way we do.” – Amy Baldwin

As you know, the United States of America is in a deep, much-needed conversation about race, equality, justice and policing. This was sparked in large part by the killing of George Floyd and now his murder trial.

In this very special episode of Follow Your Different, we are honored to bring you this legendary dialogue with one of the most qualified, experienced, and highest-profile law enforcement leaders in America, Dr. Cedric Alexander.

You've probably seen Dr. Alexander on stage giving a speech or on television. Yet unlike TV, where you only get a few minutes with him today, we go deep, like you can only go on a real dialogue podcast. This is a very special conversation that you'll surely enjoy.

Reimagining Policing

According to Dr. Cedric, rethinking policing is not a new thing. They have been thinking of new ways for policing to serve the community and get them involved. He said that they have made significant progress with it under the former President Obama’s directive, as part of the Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Unfortunately, it got shelved as a new administration was ushered in.

Though regardless of which administration is in play, police departments and officers have to understand that the times are changing. They might get tired of the community asking for transparency from them, but this is not a bad thing. It only means that the community wants to be involved in ensuring public safety, and they should embrace that.

 “Because public safety is only as strong as the public in the police department joined together, police cannot do it by themselves. And the community cannot do it by themselves.” – Dr. Cedric Alexander

On Defunding the Police

Dr. Cedric Alexander then talks about the calls to defund the police, and how he thinks it is the wrong approach to reimagining Policing as a whole. Police departments need that budget to do the things that solve their cases and carry out their mission to the community.

What Dr. Cedric suggests is that the police should be specific on what they have to do for the community, and focus on that alone. Set standards on those specific tasks and duties, and hold them to those standards. As of right now, he believes that people are asking police to do things that they're not trained to do.

“We have to really define and be very clear about what we want police to do in our communities, and not take monies away from them. Though they need to find other monies to fund some of these other social service organizations that can get the people who are struggling with homelessness, mental health issues, and domestic issues. You don't take that out of police budgets. You let them have what they need in order to provide good public safety. Hold them accountable to that, with some ways to measure that success.” – Dr. Cedric Alexander

The Importance of Community Policing

Dr. Cedric goes back to his point on Community Policing, and how important it is to build a great relationship with the community you protect. Since no matter how technologically advanced or highly-skilled your police department is, getting information to solve crimes will be harder when no one in the community is cooperating with you.

That's exactly what Community Policing means in its most basic fundamental term. It means that the police and the community have a relationship. It means that both are supportive of public safety in the community. Since at the end of the day, all that authority that comes with the police officers’ job is only as valuable as the community giving them the legitimacy to do it.

“I tell police officers this all the time, you've been given the authority by the state. But it is the communities that give you alone your legitimacy, in order to carry out your function. When we have a trusting relationship,

Have you ever wondered what it takes to upend one of the oldest categories ever? To create real, radical innovation and do something that almost everyone in the industry said was impossible? If so, you're going to love this dialogue with our guest, John Spagnola.

In this episode of Follow Your Different, John Spagnola talks about how he redesigned an old category and broke through expectations and preexisting ideas in the Spirits category. He is the epitome of a pirate , dreamer, and innovator.

John Spagnola is the founder of Ublendit, THE pioneer in custom Spirits category. They create custom blended spirits for hotels, bars, nightclubs, and restaurants so they can have their own unique, custom-branded and blended spirits.

Ublendit: Breaking the Fixed Mindset

John talks about Ublendit and how he didn’t want it to be just another spirits company. At the time, the formula for making a spirits company was as follows: You build a brand, market it to distributors, and hopefully get your brand into different establishments through said distributors.

There were those who commented that while John might start out with this completely new idea he had, he’ll eventually move into the same model eventually.

John was having none of it.

“The more I go into it, the more I thought: no, you're totally wrong. The way you're thinking about is totally wrong. There are so many angles that we can manipulate here, that you're not even thinking about.” – John Spagnola

John has always been into trying new things. Creating something that was game-changing and can disrupt the status quo was the dream. He feels fortunate that his investors shared the same views as he did and were willing to take risks.

 Going Against the Grain

John further elaborates as to why most spirits companies follow the traditional category model. Eventually, it all boiled down to how big of an investment it can be, that they think it won’t be worth their time. Most of the people who tried having multiple blends end up discarding underperforming ones and just focusing their effort to their best-selling ones.

“I kind of understand where people come from for there, but there's all these new, different elements that have opened up to allow us to, to be so versatile.” – John Spagnola

John went against the grain and pushed forward with his custom-blended and branded spirits, and have not look back since. Nowadays, there are technologies that allow businesses to blend spirits in smaller scales, much like what Ublendit is doing. Yet John and Ublendit has the distinction of being the trailblazers for the category.

Knowing Your Market

As a Category Designer, one has to do their due diligence and know what you are working with. Otherwise, how can you change a category to something your target audience cares about?

This is exactly what John did by going around and doing research on the target market. He identified what the pain points of various businesses are, and create something new that solves those issues.

After doing his market research, he found two major factors that interest people. The first one was price, because they need to make money. The other one was having custom labels to promote their own brand.

So John got to work in combining these two factors, and a new category was born. As for his clients, they wished Ublendit was created sooner.

“The thing that stuck with me is (he said,) you're giving me goose for $5. He literally said, I wish that I had found you 10 years ago when I started this company. I was like, well, we weren't there yet. We didn't exist yet. He's like, well, now you have us forever.” – John Spagnola

To hear more from John Spagnola and how to be a legendary category designer, download and listen to this episode.

BIO:

In Hebrew, the name “Mosha” means “Salvation”. That was the name of a 13-year-old boy who was forced into a Nazi concentration camp, and spent the next five years in 18 more. Yet somehow, he lived.

In this episode of Follow Your Different, Daniel Gefen shares a real, raw dialogue about his grandfather Mosha, and how he has influenced Daniel’s life and his drive to become a podcasting entrepreneur.

You’ll also hear about how Daniel embraces faith, family, and philosophy to guide his life, and how he turns frustration into fascination.

Mosha, the Survivor

Daniel shares the story of his grandfather, Mosha. Mosha was a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. He was shot, buried alive, and hanged twice, yet he somehow managed to live on.

After the war, Mosha fled to Switzerland. He had no money, no connections, and couldn’t even speak the language. While all he had was himself, he made full use of his talents. He built a farm by himself, and continued to build himself up until he had his own hotel business.

Yet even as a multimillionaire hotel owner, Mosha had always strived to live a simpler life. All his focus was on how he could help others be happy.

“The reason he opened the hotel wasn't to make money. The reason he opened the hotel was because he wanted to serve people. That's how he lived his life. He lived in a very small little apartment above the hotel his whole life, didn't drive a car, and gave away pretty much almost all of his money to charities.” - Daniel Gefen

Giving Voice to Others through Podcasting

Daniel talks about how the more recent generations have become too focused on themselves.  While it’s not a bad thing to have some self-love, being too wrapped up with oneself can narrow one’s view.

Sometimes, focusing outwardly and living for something or someone else can give you a higher purpose. For Daniel, it was giving voice to those who have long yearned to share their stories through his podcasts.

“I kind of feel like my career is all about giving people exposure right through podcasting. My whole career is all about giving people the opportunity to promote and share their stories and get themselves out there on the biggest podcast. Ironically, I feel like I'm doing something that my grandfather couldn't do.” - Daniel Gefen

Don’t Lock Yourself in a Should Prison

Daniel describes how his grandfather’s past trauma has also affected future generations of the family. One of the affected parties is his father and Daniel's relationship with him growing up.

Yet he doesn’t blame his grandfather nor his father for it. Instead of letting things stay as it is, Daniel strived to reach out and build a strong connection with his father.

Rather than focusing on what other people should do, Daniel decided to focus on what he could do for them. He also learned to choose what’s best given the situation, rather than hoping for that perfect ending.

“I have a mentor, a rabbi, who many times has said to me, “You know, do you want to be right? Or do you want to be happy? You can't always have both. Sometimes you can. But a lot of times, you cannot have both. So what do you want? You get to choose.” ” - Daniel Gefen

To hear more from Daniel Gefen and on how his grandfather inspired him to be an entrepreneur, download and listen to this episode.

Bio:

Daniel Gefen is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Gefen Media Group - a podcast production and booking agency helping clients build a loyal following through the power of podcasting. He is also the host of the top-rated podcast show called 'Can I Pick Your Brain?' which has exceeded over 150,000 downloads and was named top 26 podcasts to listen to by CIO Magazine. He has interviewed over 100 thought leaders, Billionaires and celebrities.

Most leaders want to build a legendary business and be socially and environmentally responsible at the same time. Sadly, many get caught in a false dilemma between doing good in business and doing good in the world. In spite of that, there are companies that strive to do both and continue to prosper to this day.

In this episode of Follow Your Different, Dr. Gero Leson shares how Dr. Bronner’s has become the pioneer in the global movement to establish socially just and environmentally responsible supply chains. So if you care about building a long term, successful business that dominates its niche and makes a giant difference in the world, you're going to love everything about this conversation.

Having an Impact on the World

If you’re looking for a company that has an impact on the world, look no further than Dr. Bronner’s. They have spent 70 years showing everyone that you don’t have to choose just one to maintain good growth. They back up this claim by ranking as the second highest scoring B Corp in the world.

Dr. Gero Leson attributes this success to having an authentic brand and being consistent about it all these years. He believes that the causes they address speak to the general public, particularly to people who advocate saving the planet.

“There are many other things. Of course, it's the quality of our product, no doubt. But I think it's also the messaging and then the action (we take). It's what we do to have an impact beyond just making soap. I think that package speaks to people, and we have a fantastic team that's all driven by the same vision.” – Dr. Gero Leson

Standing the Test of Time

Dr. Gero shares his thoughts on how Dr. Bronner’s is still relevant after all these years. Despite having new ideas and products launched, they have stayed true to their desire to have more natural and sustainable products and ingredients in the market.

As for their sustained growth, Dr. Gero explains that they don’t focus on it. He knows it sounds like a cliché, but that mindset helped them explore new ideas that others would find risky.

“This is not about cashing out, getting a few millions in the bank and then retire and just sit on the board of philanthropic organizations. The Bronners’ and most of our executive team just love being able to make decisions and bring about change, and that drives me alive. This is the biggest fun ever. I could retire, but that would be so boring. It's just so much fun to use your business to bring about change, honestly.” – Dr. Gero Leson

Precision and Creativity

Nowadays, it is normal to have your Executive offices and your production line separate.  Yet for the longest time, Dr. Bronner’s has kept it all in one place. This leads to a unique contrast of seeing everything work with exact precision, but in an environment driven by everyone’s creativity and individuality.

 “It is really fun to watch normal people respond to this. I sometimes bring in the chiefs of our projects and they're very normal people. They come there and they say, “Huh, there's a very interesting, great atmosphere here”. Its a very unique contrast of normality, efficiency, planning and at the same time, you have wildness and independence driving.” – Dr. Gero Leson

To hear more from Dr. Gero Leson and his thoughts on building a business that thrives while making a difference, download and listen to this episode.

Bio:

DR. GERO LESON is Vice President of Special Operations at Dr. Bronner’s, the top-selling brand of natural soaps in North America.

After joining the company in 2005, he helped it transition to sourcing all its major ingredients directly from certified fair trade and organic projects.

Under his leadership, Dr. Bronner’s has become a pioneer in the global movement to establish socially just and environmentally...