New Year's Revolutionary

In this first "Ask Me Anything" episode, I try to answer a question from my buddy Phil. He and his wife are expecting their first child in the next few weeks, and he sent me a prompt asking about how to prepare for being a dad. Thank you, Phil!

In this episode I recap the past ten interviews, and share the biggest lessons I learned from each of my guests.

A first generation immigrant from Colombia, Jack has built a thriving business helping clients create buildings, brands and strategies through The Power of Design. I can’t wait to share this inspiring conversation where we cover a lot of ground, including:

• Jack's big podcasting milestone, and what he's learned from his experiences podcasting so far.
• Jack's incredible story of coming to America and getting into the architecture business.
• The Power of Design, and why it's important.
• What architects actually do.
• Jack's thoughts on self-doubt, and pushing through adversity.
• Three approaches to bidding on work and considering pricing, differentiation and value proposition.
• Time management, and what it means to actually be "productive."
• Jack's "car analogy" for achieving balance in life.
• How to improve relationships, and the importance of building trust not just with others but with yourself.
• Why Jack doesn't have any nonfiction recommendations for me.
• How Jack plans to "Do Better This Year" by trusting himself more.

Cheers, Jack!

Dino H Carter is the founder of D Branding in Hollywood, California. With over 20 years of experience in marketing and branding, Dino has developed a unique philosophy and approach to these disciplines. This was such a fun interview - we covered a number of topics including:

• Driving cattle!
• Marketing vs. branding: what’s changed over the years, and what’s stayed the same.
• Unique challenges and opportunities in the cannabis industry.
• The three most important questions to ask yourself when branding, and an overview of how Dino helps clients answer these questions using The W System guide.
• The interplay between Trust, Values and Relationship when building a brand.
• The current landscape of online marketing.
• The importance of mindset, including some nonfiction recommendations (What Great Brands Do)
• How Dino plans to “Do Better This Year.”

Cheers, Dino!

John Epsey is the co-founder of Defiance Ventures here in Charlotte. A software developer by trade, John has started and exited several companies and advised tech startups across numerous industries, and in this episode we talk entrepreneurship, sales, and so much more. A few topics that we cover:

• How John answers the question, "what do you do?"
• John's journey to becoming a "Serial Entrepreneur."
• The importance of programming/software development as a skill set.
• What makes a person, or a company, "good at selling?"
• Best practices for managing projects and people.
• The importance of cultivating "intellectual curiosity."
• Health and fitness.
• How John hopes to "Do Better This Year."

Cheers, John!

Rachael Green is the founder of Rach Green Cocktails, and provides everything from virtual cocktail classes, to bartending workshops, to bar program development programs - all in the spirit of "making education a party."

Rachael and I got connected through her content on Instagram (@rachgreen_cocktails), and with her background in brand management and social media strategy she was able to explain to me exactly how that happened. In addition to geeking-out on all things cocktails, we discussed a number of other topics that I've often struggled with: things like developing a personal brand, navigating different social media platforms, and bringing your authentic personality to your content. I learned a lot from this very fun conversation.

Cheers, Rachael!

Andrew Wilen is Co-Owner of Chef Alyssa's Kitchen here in Charlotte. My wife and I love Chef Alyssa’s kitchen – the food is amazing, the events are fun, and Andrew and I cover a lot of ground during this episode including business, family… and of course, Festivus.

As a Charlotte local, it's been a pleasure to watch Andrew and Alyssa's business grow - I remember years ago first seeing Alyssa on TV doing a cooking demonstration, then hearing about their expansion into a larger facility, then reading about their new brunch options, then seeing them at the top of all sorts of lists for cooking classes and entrepreneurship, and then stumbling upon their name in a Food & Wine article just this week.

In a word, it's impressive.

But I have to say the thing that impressed me most during this interview was Andrew's relentlessly positive attitude. At a time when many local businesses are struggling, Chef Alyssa's Kitchen has managed to pivot and continue to deliver great products and services through at-home deliveries and virtual cooking classes. Whether he's running a business, giving back to the community, or taking on the responsibilities of being a new dad, Andrew does it all with a smile.

Andrew, thank you so much - this interview was a blast!

Show Notes:

• Festivus [01:47]
• Andrew's journey after Elon, and how he met Alyssa [7:10]
• How Andrew and Alyssa decided to start Chef Alyssa's Kitchen [11:05]
• Overview of Chef Alyssa's Kitchen (pre-COVID-19) [15:35]
• How Chef Alyssa's Kitchen grew into new revenue streams, and how that helped position them to pivot in response to COVID-19 through delivery and virtual cooking classes [19:05]
• Andrew's "community-first" approach to marketing [24:54]
• How Andrew and Alyssa are enjoying the joys (and challenges) of being new parents and owning a business [29:38]
• A day in the life, and how Andrew and Alyssa balance responsibilities and try to leave work at the office [36:35]
• Big question: does Andrew get to have gourmet meals at home all the time? [39:35]
• Specifics on virtual cooking classes [41:12]
• How Andrew plans to "Do Better This Year" [44:04]

Jurgis Kirsakmens is the developer DrinkControl, an iOS and Android Mobile app used for tracking and monitoring alcohol consumption. DrinkControl allows users to easily track their drinks and convert them into standard units of alcohol. The app lets you know when you go over the limit set by moderate drinking guidelines, and see how much money you've spent and calories you've consumed with your drinks.

Jurgis's journey to becoming a programmer in Riga, Latvia is fascinating, and in this episode we get into everything from building apps to building companies.

Thank you, Jurgis!

Show Notes:

• How Jurgis and I got connected through my blog post [00:00]
• His journey to becoming a developer, which includes starting and selling a company employing over 300 people [00:00]
• How his role expanded from developer to management, marketing and other business functions, and how he managed that change [12:00]
• How he got into iPhone mobile app development specifically [14:30]
• His team's first app project which, in his words, "failed miserably" [16:30]
• How the DrinkControl app idea got started [20:00]
• His philosophy on tracking drinks, and whether that comes at the expense of having fun and being "in the moment" [23:40]
• Answering the question, "how do I learn how to code?" [28:09]
• How he would approach developing a hypothetical "mood monitoring" app from scratch with no prior experience [31:30]
• How Jurgis plans to "Do Better This Year" [36:00]
• Habit development, working in a "flow state" vs. finishing projects [39:30]
• Closing thoughts on app development and how it fits into the bigger picture of business, marketing and sales [43:00]

Managing tasks at work and at home has never been easy. COVID-19 hasn't made it any easier. Which is why I'm so excited to release this week's podcast episode, where I had the privilege of interviewing Julie Ireland, Senior GTD Coach at GTD Focus. When I first heard about Julie’s Getting Things Done or “GTD” Coaching services, I figured it was just about being more productive. Turns out, it’s about a whole lot more.

GTD Focus is the Exclusive Partner for the delivery of Getting Things Done® (GTD®) individual coaching in the United States and Canada. Their workflow coaching services are one-on-one intensives that will drill down to the core of how you work, coach you in making better tactical and strategic decisions, and guide you in building sustainable systems that will better support your flourishing, amidst rapid change and growth.

Julie's work is fascinating, and my take on GTD is that it's more of a philosophy and a mindset than an instruction manual. But I have to say the thing I was most impressed with was how open and present Julie was during our interview. It was contagious (not a great word to be throwing around right now but I can't think of a better one) and before long we were both talking about big picture topics, such as:

• Managing through crisis
• Getting help vs. DIY
• Creativity, where it comes from and how structure plays into it
• The benefits of testing and "trial-and-error"
• The challenges we've seen with COVID-19, as well as the bright spots of graciousness and generosity
• Books (obviously)

At the end of the day, this interview was about coaching. That word means a lot more to me now, and based on what I've seen Julie is everything a coach should be.

Show Notes:

• How this episode almost didn't get recorded, and how Julie and I got connected via Scott Wurtzbacher (episode 1) [00:40]
• Julie's introduction to GTD [2:30]
• What it means to have a coach, coaching vs. DIY and the importance of being vulnerable [8:15]
• The essence of GTD and the work that Julie does [12;30]
• COVID-19. Managing tasks (as well as expectations) while working from home [19:50]
• The importance of knowing what you're saying "no" to when deciding whether to say "yes" to something else [25:50]
• Julie's "fast-food" analogy to managing email [29:25]
• The "five 'I's" of GTD [31:55]
• Once your daily tasks are done, where does the next big thing come from? [38:33]
• Recommendations for getting started with GTD, including setup guides [39:46]
• Julie's approach to prioritizing nonfiction, and her "read watch and listen" list, and the importance of making decisions based on [41:20]
• The different horizon levels of the GTD model, the importance of making decisions that are in alignment with your values, and how Julie applies the GTD principles in her personal life [47:17]
• Several favorite books Julie and I have in common  [52:45]
• How Julie used GTD principles to pursue her passion for painting [56:03]
• GTD Focus, and its nuanced approach to helpin clients through GTD in alignment with their learning styles [58:35]
• How Julie plans to "Do Better This Year" [1:01:14]

References

• Getting Things Done, David Allen
• Ready for Anything, David Allen
• The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron
• Mindset, Carol Dweck
• The War of Art, Steven Pressfield

In this episode of the New Year's Revolutionary podcast, I had the privilege of interviewing Rich O'Neill, owner of Elite Functional Performance (EFP) here in Charlotte. 

Rich is a certified personal trainer with over 30,000 hours of personal training experience. He uses his skills to first evaluate each client's bio-alignment and functional mobility. He then begins to organize a system of movements designed to alleviate pain, improve functional movement and avoid further injuries down the road. I've experienced this process first hand, and am excited to continue working with Rich and his team on my own fitness development.

We covered a lot of ground in this episode. I was blown away by the depth of Rich's knowledge about physical fitness and nutrition, and his ability to distill and explain it in ways that made sense. We talked about Rich's unique entry into the field, and how that has shaped his approach and perspective. We discussed his thoughts on coaching, nutrition, books, routines, and the challenges of work/life balance as a business owner.

(One thing we did not talk about was coronavirus. We recorded this a few days before the response really started developing here in North Carolina. Hopefully this will be a nice respite from the news!)

Show Notes:

• How we got connected via Scott Wurtzbacher (episode 1) [00:45]
• How Rich first got introduced to fitness and nutrition, and overcame personal injury in the process [1:49]
• Rich's immersion into the "Fitness Longevity" philosophy through his mentor Sam Iannetta [10:35]
• How certain habits can lead to pain and injury down the road, and how they can be corrected in the gym [19.30]
• Coaching vs. DIY in personal fitness [24:44]
• Nutrition, and Rich's thoughts on recent trends (keto, paleo, Whole 30) [27:50]
• Intermittent fasting, and timing protein intake with your workouts [35:30]
• Two supplements that the average person might be deficient in [40:00]
• Book recommendations on fitness, and the importance of understanding both anatomy and physiology [43:10]
• Rich's morning routine which starts at 3:36 a.m. (a new record for the NYR podcast!) [50:00]
• Entrepreneurship, and the challenge of running a business while maintaining a work/life balance [53:40]
• Rich's plans to "Do Better This Year" [59:20]

References

• The Anatomy of Movement, by Blandine Calais-Germain
• Joint Structure and Function,  by Pamela K. Levangie and Cynthia C. Norkin
• The E-Myth, by Michael E. Gerber