The Cannonball Mindset

4 continents, 2 languages, 1 Turkish bath. Just a few of the surprises Torian Richardson had for me during our Cannonball Mindset interview.

Torian is the CEO & Founder of Guanxi Universal, which is currently producing a Madagascarian documentary. But that's really just a side gig for him: His main job is teaching businesses about solidarity, which is technically under the D&I (Diversity and Inclusion) space, but Torian thinks the word "diversity" is much more nearsighted than solidarity.

Torian's a very unique kind of guy: He's African American, grew up in Chicagoland, speaks Mandarin, has been to 70 countries, and became the first person in his family to go to college (got his master's in China, and completed 2 different leadership programs with Harvard).

Now, he's a thought leader who uses individual stories to bring the world closer together.

Put yourself in this scenario: your dad is running tryouts for your town's baseball league…

When the time comes to get picked for a team, your dad tells you that you didn't make a team. But, he says, if you work hard enough, maybe next year there will be a spot for you.

That's exactly what happened to Steve Strauss when he was 14 years old. He could have let that ruin his self confidence or held a grudge against his father, but that's not the kind of household that Steve grew up in.

Instead of taking this defeat personally, he vowed to get better and make the team next year. This sort of upbringing fueled Steve to become a serial entrepreneur who is constantly challenging himself to be better every single day.

Chad and Steve have known each other for decades. Chad was over Steve's house constantly while they were growing up and they were even roommates in adulthood.

Chad sat down with Steve for this episode of The Cannonball Mindset to talk about Steve's family growing up, lessons learned along the way, and entrepreneurship.

What do people like most about Joe Pusateri? Maybe it's his firm handshake, or perhaps his business acumen. Or maybe it's his classes on negotiation. Or maybe it's his standup comedy.

Honestly, his sincerity captivated us the most.

Joe is the president of Elite Homes, Inc., and Chad sat down with him for an hour and a half in Louisville, Kentucky.

Inclement weather prevented their golf plans, so they remained indoors. As the snow fell outside the windows, Joe gave the backdrop of his life, sharing stories of leadership, homebuilding, and motivation.

Don't miss this episode of the Cannonball Mindset.

There's a large number of people young and old with detrimental mindsets. Whether it's a focus on perceived scarcity, a sense of entitlement, or unteachability, many people fail at discovering the abundance they could.

There's no one who understands better the failure of these mentalities and the joy of breaking out of them than Amer Syed.

Amer is a VP of Sales and Marketing in the new home industry and winner of the GHBA Rookie of the Year Award. He's had an amazing career as a sales agent and an even more fulfilling career as a leader of teams of agents.

But what stands out most about Amer is his story of becoming a person who practices an abundance mindset and sees selflessness as the key to ultimate success and fulfillment.

I have twin 14-year-old daughters. One of them came home recently and said, "Hey dad, I want a Lovesac."

So, like any good dad, I hunted down the guy who put this idea into her head. (I was very confused on what was going on. I didn't realize she just wanted furniture.)

Turns out the inventor's name is Shawn Nelson, founder and CEO of LoveSac, the company you may know of because of their giant bags filled with foam (they aren't beanbags, but they look like beanbags).

Out of every founder, mover, and shaker I've had on Cannonball Mindset, only one has given me goosebumps with his life mission and vision.

It's time to meet Shawn Nelson.

Recognition is invaluable in development and inspiration of employees. The check meets the bills, but the rockstars with great aspirations should have a place to shine.

In this episode, Lisa Parrish, Chief Creative Chick at Team PMP, talks to me about her path to taking over her family's company. Her father knew the people he was serving and wanted to make a difference, a passion she came to share.

People from all over the world come to accept their awards. What started as a modest awards show in California has become a globally recognized event within the industry.

With 75 thousand shows and more than 20 million subscribers, Hulu has made a powerful impact on culture and the SVOD category (Subscription Video on Demand).

I sat down with Jim O'Donnell, Hulu's VP of West Coast Advertising Sales. He gave me all the details of Hulu's powerful culture on our Cannonball Mindset podcast.

Jim's career may seem rather diversified: ESPN, Martha Stewart, Vogue, and even a startup, GOOD Worldwide Inc. But here's the commonality: He's only worked places he really loved: He's a phenomenal home cook, loves hanging out with his wife and daughter, and enjoyed the financial infrastructure of ESPN.

But when you talk to Jim, he's especially proud of the culture at Hulu.

That's probably because of how much fun they have.

There's something unique about coming home, going through the front door, and having your family rush up to you and say hello. A home isn't simply a place to sleep — it's where you taught your kids how to ride a bike, where you camped in the backyard, … In Scott's words, "It's a book of memories."

I had a chance to spend the day with Scott Laurie, CEO of Olson Homes. You should hear him talk about building houses. Words like "community," "opportunity," and "memories" are what you'll hear around him.

Scott joined me for our Cannonball Mindset podcast. More fascinating than his passion for homes, was his passion for how he builds homes — the incredible attention to customer service that every person in this company has.

We've had amazing guests on our podcast. I'm not sure we've ever had one quite like Kara Goldin.

As a child, she was a competitive gymnast.

As an adult, she grew AOL's ecommerce revenue to $1B … as their youngest executive in company history.

She's on Forbes List of Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs.

She's on Huffington Post's list of 6 disruptors in business, next to Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.

She's a wife to one, a mom to four, and an activist to many.

She's the owner of Hint — a $100M business built from offering fruit-flavored water, with 0 calories and 0 diet sweeteners.

She sat down with us on our Cannonball Mindset podcast and told us all about changing the beverage industry — She let us in on conversations with her kids, why she started her company, her first sale, and how her experience from silicon valley made her an outsider in the beverage space. Hint: It was a good thing.

You've probably heard of Dan Schawbel in your circles. He made it onto Forbes 30 under 30 in marketing and advertising, Inc. magazine's 30 under 30, and Business Insider's Most Innovative People Under 40 list.

If you follow him on Instagram, you know his passion and mission in life is to help his generation (Millennials) from student to CEO. He wants to be a resource for Millennials whether they need support building their career, improving their personal lives, or somewhere in between.

As a New York Times bestselling author, serial entrepreneur, Fortune 500 consultant, millennial TV personality, global keynote speaker, career and workplace expert and startup advisor, he's got a lot to say about achieving more in your life.

Whatever that might look like for you, we talk about five ways to start today.