Million Dollar Mind

For Jennifer Brown it has always been about "voice", from using her voice as a non-profit activist to performing onstage as a professional opera singer, to making sure all voices are heard in the workplace. Through her company Jennifer Brown Consulting and her recent book “How to Be an Inclusive Leader” she is educating employers so their teams can bring their "full selves" to work every day. There is a lot at stake in getting this right! Jennifer joins Julia Pimsleur to share her journey, along with what it was like for Jennifer when she lost her singing voice and how that gave her new purpose; why she sees herself as a "Trojan horse" and how she is using that to make big change; how Jennifer’s voracious learning allowed her to became an expert in her own business; and, why its crucial to understand the difference between diversity and inclusion.

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Alex Blumberg is one of the most celebrated entrepreneurs in podcasting. He worked for 20 years with one of the biggest names in public radio, Ira Glass, helping him to produce NPR’s beloved This American Life. Later, Alex launched Planet Money, the crème de la crème of financial podcasts. His journey to build and fund his own company, Gimlet Media, is carefully and hilariously documented in his ground-breaking podcast Startup. Gimlet now produces dozens of shows, many of them award-winning. And, recently, Spotify acquired Gimlet for $230 million. The super-power Alex has that has made all of this possible? Vulnerability. Alex shares his journey with Julia Pimsleur, including why Alex’s early jobs start helping Russian refugees and teaching middle school science prepared him for a career in podcasting; how Alex discovered and cultivated his signature storytelling style; how avoiding “emotional dishonesty” leads to greater success plus deeper connections; Alex lets us hear the very moment he blundered his way through his very first investment pitch; and, the romantic speedbump that prompted Alex to go all-in on pursuing his dreams.

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At first glance, Jean Thompson didn’t seem to be the likely, or obvious, CEO of a multi-million dollar chocolate company. She spent a big part of her career at Microsoft. And, when she became a mother, stepped out of the workforce for a decade. It took a force of nature -- an earthquake -- that set in motion her next sweet  career, as an investor and then CEO of the Seattle Chocolate Company -- even though few people thought she could do it, including, some days, herself. Jean joins Julia Pimsleur to share her journey and about the compassion and determination she cultivated that allowed her to turn around a once-failing company into a multimillion-dollar success story; the push she gave to the company to make jcoco, a chocolate with a social impact mission that has donated more than 4 million servings of food to those in need; and, the real reason why women love chocolate so much.

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If you run a business, at some point you will have a crisis. And if you run a big business you'll probably have a really big crisis, or many crises. That’s where Sam DiGennaro and her company DiGennaro Communications come in. Sam and her company DGC work with some of the top names in tech, innovation, and media like Hulu, Facebook, and Pinterest to respond to a crisis or communicate a big change. One of Sam's superpowers is helping clients take a step back, and think through how big the crisis actually is. Sam's pioneering spirit, a huge part of her success, was already full force as a teenager when she stood up in defense of her high school volleyball team. Sam joins Julia Pimsleur to share her journey, and how considering worst-case scenario is key; why smiling through everything is necessary for effective leadership; the importance of empathy; why meditation is one of her key mindset practices; and, the concept of "failing forward".

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Sarah Carson is the founder of Leota, a women’s apparel company which she has grown into a multi million dollar business. What's more, she's done this in the highly competitive fashion industry where only 14% of companies are run by women. She also happens to hold a black belt in Kung Fu, and one of the things she took away from her time competing is: only constant failure can lead to constant improvement (a pretty helpful mindset mantra if you want to be an entrepreneur). Before creating Leota, when she worked in the male dominated world of finance, she felt she needed to hide her femininity. That's part of what inspired her quest to reinvent power dressing with Leota. "Fashion for Real Life",  she calls it. Leota is named for her great-grandmother, and is built on the principles of empowerment, size inclusivity and optimism. Sarah shares her journey with Julia Pimsleur, including why, for Sarah, doing business differently is the only way to do business; why Sarah believes that striving for balance is striving for mediocrity; the shock of realizing she had limits, and what she did to manage them; and, the one big change Sarah changed in her schedule that transformed her life.

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Ali Hartman leads a double life: She's a finance executive in New York City, pursuing an ambitious career --- and her other life is running a general store in the small town of Grafton, VT. She and her husband moved there from Brooklyn a few years ago, and fell in love with general store that was the heart and soul of the town. Shortly after they moved there, the general store closed. Instead of bemoaning the loss, Ali and her new friend June decided to take over and reinvent the store, bringing it into the 21st Century and online, along with new products and services. In just a year, MKT Grafton has served more than 75,000 people in a town of only 350. Ali was raised in a social justice activist household, and realized that to be a change-maker you need to do it from a base of business knowledge. Running the general store seemed like a natural move, and was an opportunity to make a big change in her own community. Ali shares her story with Julia Pimsleur, including how she put her trust in her business partner and both of their spouses to do something they never thought they'd do; how a "never give up mindset" of resilience that came of her athletic background has been an important tool; and Ali's best mindset practices, including putting your attention toward your intention.

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It takes a pretty big leap of faith to abandon your cushy six-figure salary when you just bought a house, and you come from a family where success means getting promoted higher and higher. Angie Raja did just that. She quit her job, and she and her husband launched RIMSports -- a colorful workout gear company that, after 10 months, hit a million dollars and kept going!

"RIM" Stands for Resistance In Motion, which refers to an idea Angie explained to host Julia Pimsleur of staying in motion to accomplish one's goals, despite the resistance one might be putting up to change. It's also a great idea to name your company after a mindset practice! Angie shares how a desire to wear a pink pair of Nike's inspired a business; how Angie react the day the company hit a million dollars in sales; her second mindset shift; how Angie washes her mind of roadblocks; and, the advice she’d like to give herself when she cofounded the company.

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How did the guests on "Million Dollar Mind" get their powerful mindsets? What tools and techniques allowed them to get a "make it happen" mindset? In this episode, Julia Pimsleur teaches the principle of "limiting beliefs" and why yours are probably keeping you from reaching your goals. Pimsleur shares an easy four-step process to "bust" limiting beliefs. Once you find the belief holding you back, you can come up with a new more empowering one, and get unstuck. Take a listen and get ready to bust through your own limiting beliefs - it's easier than you think!

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Nihal Mehta is an entrepreneur turned VC, running a $100M fund with offices in NY and San Francisco. He was an investor in companies you know like Uber and Airbnb and and a variety of mobile tech companies that exited to the likes of Google, Spotify and Microsoft. Nihal's career has ridden in part on a wave of serendipity and a motivation from a young age to do things that empower others. Whether investing in promising entrepreneurs, promoting gender parity, or simply offering a listening-ear and some introductions to pretty much anyone who asks, Nihal believes in doing what he can to add fuel to entrepreneurial fires. Nihal joins Julia Pimsleur to share how he is taking chances in order to be more courageous, and how his mindset practices help him find focus and recharge; and how, after years of hearing two-minute pitches from entrepreneurs, what happened when he got his "two minutes."

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"It's not going to work, you’ll fail, I don't get it." These are words that entrepreneurs seeking investment or strategic partnerships have heard time and again, and the words heard many times by Sarah Kugelman, founder and CEO of Skyn Iceland (a $20M lifestyle brand in skincare capturing the attention of A-list celebrities). Sarah, who successfully raised $25 million dollars to build a pioneering company in online beauty retail and sold it to one of the biggest players in the industry, was convinced her mindset would carry her past those objections when building her next business. When you know you’re right and don’t listen to people who are naysayers or who haven’t absorbed your pitch, just keep believing in yourself until you eventually succeed. Sarah joins Julia Pimsleur to share what stress does to your skin; how she overcame a disastrous moment in her company when 80% of her business disappeared overnight  and she couldn’t even get access to her inventory; and, about the mindset practice that has set Sarah on the path toward running a billion dollar company.

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