Getting Work To Work

From her early journey playing music to dropping out of college and starting a branding agency with Ashleigh Hansberger, Sunny Bonnell has lived an extraordinarily rare life. In this interview episode of Getting Work To Work, Sunny shares about her relentless approach to life and work, why the belief in something to say is more valuable than something to sell, and the importance of owning who you are in a world that wants to tell you who you are and what you can and cannot do. Throughout the interview, Sunny shares about the book she wrote with Ashleigh, Rare Breed: A Guide to Success for the Defiant, Dangerous, and Different, the seven virtues and vices of being a rare breed, and the unique stories they unearthed to help bring the book to life.

"Tell me what to do," she said. I took a step back, thinking about the directions I gave to the class. Was I unclear? Where did the disconnect occur? I gave some additional information and said, "Just give it a shot." Ever since that moment in class, I've been thinking a lot about the need to be told what to do. I can look back over the years and see a pattern emerge: My own personal and professional innovations came when I blazed my own trail and didn't worry about what to do. "Tell me what to do," she said. A haunting statement that I can relate to more than I care to admit.

As someone who has been in the creative services business for over 13 years, I have heard it all. Just do this one thing and your creative problem will be instantly solved. Search engine optimization and keywords, the right mixture of hashtags, the perfectly crafted viral video—there's something satisfying about the search for the magic bullet solution. It gives hope that our solutions will work and we are valuable. But the less sexy reality I have been reminded of a few times this week: it's better to focus on getting better than searching for the perfect shortcut.

Have you ever wondered how adults learn and the best way to structure courses for them? That is a driving question for Janelle Allen, an instructional designer and educator for Zen Courses. In this interview episode of Getting Work To Work, Janelle and I talk about what adults need in terms of structure and environment, along with the critical role that community plays in successful learning. We also dive deep into a variety of topics including learner-centered design, how online courses are new to the world of business, the importance of building courses that have a positive and profitable impact on your business (as opposed to the myth of passive income), and the power of self-awareness in understanding when it's time to make changes.

Growing up, I was obsessed with listening to music and studying the liner notes to my favorites CDs and cassettes. I memorized song titles, track order, and length. There was so much to learn and take in: amazing illustrations, design, the folds and size of the booklet, typography, lyrics, and the personal messages to friends, family, and fans. To be honest, I'm a little sad at what's lost in today's world of on-demand digital music. I miss the intimacy of holding a small booklet in my hand as I listen to the music unfold in my sonic space. I miss the easy access to lyrics. And I miss those personal messages and acknowledgements—a time capsule of impact in the lives of the band. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, I'm going to explore the concept of liner notes and how we could do something similar to our digital work in order to bring back a sense of community and longevity.

Of the many books I'm reading right now, two of them are locked in a cage match, battling inside my mind over the topic of courage. That's right, courage. One view posits that courage is deeply connected to passion and is potentially dangerous. The other view is that courage is absolutely necessary to make any impact on the world whatsoever. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, I'm going to explore these two views of courage, share how I think they are more connected than the authors probably realize, and what I think the highway to the courage zone looks like.

How do you know if your marketing messages are impacting people? Enter neuromarketing, a type of marketing that combines direct response marketing with neuroscience, medical imagery, and the study of human behavior. This topic is the foundation of my conversation with Dan Russell, CEO and Founder of Vivid Labs, in today's interview episode of Getting Work To Work. We start with talking about the ways business can improve humanity and why that's a passion for Dan, how understanding his values changed everything for his life and business, the role of perception and transparency in the communication of value, and the role ethics play in the study and creation of campaigns utilizing neuromarketing.

I have a question for you: How are you aiming higher? I'm utterly obsessed with this question. On one hand, I think about where I've been, the problems I've struggled with, the mistakes made. And on the other hand, I think about where I'm going, the successes I've achieved, and the possibilities before me. More of the same really is not an option because the boundaries of my world as it exists are within reach. Thus, the question: How are you aiming higher? Do you stay a big fish in a small pond or take a risk and go beyond your pond?

I had so many plans for this episode and they all fell apart. I thought about special interviews or a retrospective episode with my favorite quotes from past episodes. I tried to schedule my heroes for a conversation. I thought about sharing words from the audience about what they've learned from the show. Instead, what arose from the ashes of my expectations was a reflection on what the past three years and 300 episodes has done for my life and work. There have been some awesome moments. But what I've enjoyed most has been exploring the imperfections: The botched edits; the missed calls; the awkward pauses; and the uninspired moments. This is where growth occurred. I found my voice in the willingness to make mistakes and keep moving forward.

Whose life are you living—the life others have created for you or the life you are making for yourself? This is the foundational question of my conversation with Sarai Johnson as we go cliff diving into what it means to be human, understanding our true selves, and wholeheartedly showing up every day. Sarai is the Business Alchemist for Melanie Spring Productions, and she shares extensively about her journey from the world of non-profits to where she is at today, working with other people and making things happen. We also talk about what it takes to pivot in both personal and professional settings, what transformation requires of us, and how we must honor human time as much as possible.