Heart of Business

In the first season of Heart of Business, we talked a lot about travel. We had wanderlust, but we were trapped at home. But now that we're able to start getting back out there, should we?

Tourism alone accounts for 8% of the world’s carbon emissions. On a 2500 mile flight, just one passenger’s share of emissions melts a square foot of arctic summer sea ice cover. But tourism is also 10% of the global GDP. Local communities and supply chains rely on that money. But again, not all of it is going back into those economies—70% of all money spent by tourists in Thailand leaves Thailand; 80% from the Caribbean.

What does sustainable, purposeful travel look like post COVID?

To find out, we talked to Zach Smith and Sam Blenkinsopp, both founders and CEOs of the next-generation travel companies Anywhere and Trippin, respectively.

In this episode, Sam mentions some resources for purposeful travelers. Here they are:

Regenerative Travel

Horizn Studios

Front's founding motto was "work happier." But is that even possible for people whose communities face discrimination and violence on a daily basis? In this episode, we talk to Front employees, leadership, and mental health experts to find out.

This episode contains frank and candid discussions of violence against Black and Asian Americans, and the mental health struggles that accompany working and existing as a person of color when those events happen. If you’re struggling with mental health at work, here are two free resources discussed in the episode:

Empower Work

Mental Health America

If you’re looking to be an ally or to support racial justice and equality, please consider supporting and donating to Empower Work and Mental Health America or one of the following organizations:

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Stop Asian Hate

In Fall 2020, the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) teamed up with YouTube to produce the SaveOurStages Festival — quite possibly the biggest virtual music festival of all time — to raise money for the Save Our Stages Act: life-saving federal aid for the nation’s independent music venues. They were the first businesses to close due to COVID-19 and they’ll be the last to open. Nothing exemplifies the heart of business more than artists, legislators, corporations, and fans coming together to save live music.

And there’s so much to talk about, from the logistics of organizing such an event with 30+ major artists, the technology to stream it around the world, and the ultimate goal of lobbying the US Congress to get involved and pass this legislation.

Many venues still haven't received financial assistance, so the emergency relief fund is still accepting donations to distribute to the most at-risk venues. Please consider donating here: https://www.nivassoc.org/

Watch SOS Fest on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCD5tcuAKGw&list=PL30kw0f7AkXqfLRKTnf9-ZB3p5uaQrYZc

Subscribe to Front Page for new episodes, bonus content and much more: front.com/blog

The second season of Heart of Business is here! In this new season, the episodes are a bit shorter, but the stories are front and center. Like the story of how musicians and fans came together to save an entire industry. And how public and private scientists developed a vaccine in record time to save millions. Or how travel is returning, but better and more sustainable than before. It's all this season on the new, improved Heart of Business.

Subscribe to Front Page for all the latest episodes, show notes, transcripts, and bonus content at front.com/blog.

It's been 25 years since the Winnipeg Jets moved from Canada to become the Arizona Coyotes. It's been almost as long since show producer Matt Klassen made the same move. If you're a fan of hockey, you've probably seen your fair share of news stories during that time about how "hockey can't work in a desert." About how the Coyotes are doomed.

Those arguments are pretty tired—Arizona has a thriving hockey scene, a huge nascent fanbase, and—oh yeah—a local kid who grew up to be one of the sport's top superstars in Auston Matthews.

But the narrative persists.

To be clear, growing the sport in the Southwest presents unique challenges—to say nothing of a global pandemic that shut down the league and closed arenas. That's why we wanted to talk to Coyotes' SVP Marketing Tania Moreno.

In this episode, Matt chatted with Tania about the challenges presented by Arizona's unique market, the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts the team is making to grow the game with non-traditional hockey fans.

In this episode of Heart of Business, Anthony and LB get a play-by-play of the last-minute cancellation of last year's SaaStr Annual because of COVID-19.

SaaStr's GM and SVP, Amelia Ibarra, had been planning for more than a year, only to be the last event cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions. She takes us inside the decision and the pivot to virtual events.

You'll also get a fascinating look at the inner workings of corporate events, told by someone who knows the game better than anyone.

And finally, you'll hear from Amelia what the future of the events space looks like, and whether there's truly a such thing as a "hybrid event."

Anthony and LK also do a deep dive into end-to-end operators like Peloton and Netflix, talk about companies going out of their way to get people vaccinated, and recap the one and only "cat lawyer."

In this episode of Heart of Business, Anthony and LB chat with Kulveer Taggar, CEO of Zeus Living, a short term rentals company offering furnished, ready-to-live-in rentals.

Kulveer shares how transparency and staying true to company values in the wake of the pandemic helped keep their business afloat and even come out stronger in the end.

The team endured a significant drop in bookings, experienced layoffs, took the customer-centric approach of issuing refunds to customers, and pivoted to serve other markets as people began to move to places like Miami and Denver.

Kulveer shares insight into his personal life—about taking care of his mental health and focusing on what's important after his co-founder's wife was diagnosed with cancer.

Anthony and LK also talk about Jimmy Choi, 3D printing, TikTok, and of course, GameStop madness.

LB and AK miss traveling so much, they're even looking forward to business travel. A redeye flight out of SFO sounds pretty nice to a cooped-up former jet-setter. But what if your business model is business travel? You're even more eager for people to get back on the road. In episode three, AK chats with TripActions CMO Meagen Eisenberg about her company's journey through the pandemic. In response to business travel grinding to a halt last spring, they took some pretty unprecedented steps to keep and grow customer relationships. They even went so far as to meet with some customers on a daily basis. If you're in customer success, you're probably wondering how that's even possible. Time to give this interview a listen!

You'll also get a deep dive on LB's best-practice strategy for new year's resolutions and how you can use it to inform your yearly goal setting. Plus, Heartbeats is back and we'll tell you how you can take a personally guided tour of the Andes from the comfort of your home as we run down the good news coming out of the business world.

In episode two, AK catches up with his former boss, Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight. They talk about how Gainsight hitched its fate not to a technology or a trend, but to its customers, and went all in on creating a community for them with the Pulse Conference. This interview was recorded before the announcement that Vista Equity Partners would be making a majority investment in Gainsight, valuing the company at $1.1B. But AK and LB discuss the role the Pulse movement played in helping the company reach this pivotal moment.

AK and LB also discuss some good news from Airbnb and Beautycounter, as well as recent public and private market movements that validate the importance of investing in your customer relationships.

In the inaugural episode, AK speaks with Ally Bashir, Head of Customer Experience at Snaptravel about how her team delivered amazing customer experience, found a new sense of purpose, and helped the company reach profitability -- all amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The interview was based on details shared in Fast Company and on Medium.

AK and LB also discuss #somegoodnews in business this week, including stories from TikTok and Disney World, and pay tribute to former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, who was an inspiration to anyone interested in the links between happy customers, happy employees, and long-term business success.