The Farmhouse Podcast

Not many can boast both “magician” and “lawyer” as previous means of employment, but Howard Tullman, dubbed “the most accomplished, best-connected entrepreneur you’ve never heard of,” by Inc. magazine in 2012, isn’t your average businessman.

From pioneering educational ventures (Tullman was heavily involved in the revival of Kendall, an accomplished culinary school in downtown Chicago and founded Tribeca Flashpoint Academy, which seeks to modernize and digitize the tradition arts/media college curriculum) to invading the music industry (he produced a Tony award-winning musical and lead the mid-nineties online publishing revolution for clients such as RollingStone.com), Howard’s resume is anything but short.

And, though the industries that Tullman’s touched seem to vary, Howard assures that there are three pillars that make businesses of any kind successful: 1., Be the industry standard; 2., Provide documentation and objectivity; and 3., Be something nobody can afford not to be a part of.

How do you measure the success of an entrepreneur?

For serial business-creator Brad Keywell, that question is often answered with another question: “How old were you when you first started your own business? And how did it do?”

The litmus test is stolen from Warren Buffett, but for Keywell, it’s a pretty accurate gauge of how the Groupon co-founder’s life would go. From homemade greeting card guilds to a Sunday morning bagel-and-orange-juice delivery service, Brad’s humble beginnings gave way to a slew of start-ups later in life, among them Groupon, MediaBank, Echo Global Logistics and new wave education and (now) Windy City mainstay, Chicago Ideas Week.

In today’s episode of the Farmhouse Podcast, Brad chats Lightbank (his newest venture), how business partnerships, like marriages, have “their own kind of intimacy,” and why Keywell thinks college is not a full time job. Oh, and if you’re looking for counsel on how to make a quick buck, look elsewhere than this Michigan native for advice: “Most overnight successes are ten to twenty years in making.”

Entrepreneur since birth, Academy for Global Citizenship Founder and Executive Director Sarah Elizabeth Ippel’s passion for education is singular. Sarah Elizabeth joins Paul Earle on the latest episode of the Farmhouse Podcast to discuss her history as a non-profit impresario and schooling-for-a-new-age guru.

Sarah Elizabeth is the leader of one the most progressive charter schools in the city, a learning center where students participate in yoga, farming and are fostered as the next generation of globally mindful leaders. The AGC, as its called, has its roots in a bike ride Sarah took to the Board of Education when she was 23-years-old. The Academy for Global Citizenship opened three years later, in 2008, and has since been recognized by former First Lady Michelle Obama and former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

The Academy for Global Citizenship resides on Chicago’s southwest side.

In this episode, we’re joined by Nick Kokonas, co-founder of Alinea, Next and the Aviary, to talk about his journey from hustling as a derivatives trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to becoming one of the world’s most innovative minds in the culinary business.

In our latest podcast, Chief Storyteller Dan Chodrow sits down with Lollapalooza co-founders Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction and Mark Geiger, head of the Music Group at William Morris Endeavor, to discuss the concept of reinvention, the universal power of music and the importance of bringing disparate elements together to spur innovation. Listen as Farrell and Geiger reminisce about the revolutionary impact of Lollapalooza over the years and why the festival has become perhaps the most influential of the globe's music gatherings.

Meet the self-described knucklehead and only man to have invited over 400 million people to dinner, Chuck Templeton. Founder of Opentable, the world's leading provider of restaurant reservations, Chuck's entrepreneurial spirit has taken him from waiting tables to redefining the restaurant industry. Now chairman of white hot Chicago food delivery start-up Grub Hub and actively involved in a number of other high-growth enterprises devoted to social good, Chuck talks with Farmhouse about driving his passion.