Our usual guests talk about journeys that they chose

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Bob Morais, a business anthropologist and expert in human behavior, particularly in the realm of marketing. Dr. Morais had a 35+ year career in advertising and market research and is a Lecturer at Columbia Business School. Morais digs into how AI is used today, the opportunities and pitfalls, how AI stretches the range of possibilities, AI "hallucinations" and why it's best utilized as a partner and collaborator rather than a substitute.

Morais was a Principal/Co-owner of a market research firm and spent years with advertising agencies rising to the role of Chief Strategic Officer. He has worked with Coca Cola, Danone, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Post Foods, Proctor & Gamble, Safeway, WD-40, Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissôtel, and many others. His books include Advertising and Anthropology; Ethics in the Anthropology of Business; and The Language of Branding. His articles have appeared in Forbes, Advertising Age, Huffington Post, American Anthropologist, Human Organization, Culture and Organization, and Medium.

Find all of our prior episodes at whatiwishiknewshow.com

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We’ve produced more than 40 episodes of What I Wish I Knew. Our prior guests talked about journeys that they chose to embark on: starting a company, solving a problem, building organizations, creating opportunities, or navigating life and career. In our current series, we’re probing into a trip that none of us opted into but we’re all on board anyway…and that is artificial intelligence. AI influences what we see, hear, buy, and think, how we navigate the world, and how we navigate daily life.

In this introductory segment, we discuss lessons from the

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Steve Fleck is the voice many people hear in their hardest moments, when their heart is jumping out of their chest, their mind is crushed, and the finish line is in sight. Fleck is a broadcast commentator for athletics, cycling, endurance, and running competitions. He’s the familiar soundtrack to events streamed on media like CBC, FLOBIKES, Ironman Live, and others. But how does one become the voice of sport, or anything else, for that matter?

It starts by knowing your stuff. And, in Steve’s case, doing it. He was an early competitor in triathlon. He’s a 9-time Ironman finisher with a best time of 9:04 and competed in the Ironman World Championships. In addition to broadcasting, Steve has coached elite athletes and is a founding board member of the Canadian Endurance Sports Alliance. In this episode of What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin and Simon Daw, Steve shares how his athletic career influenced his business career, how he transitioned from corporate work to a broadcasting career, and how he delivers a sense of the moment to his audience. He also offers a point of view on what event organizers should learn from the pandemic era.

It’s a story of expertise, resourcefulness, resilience, and, yes, endurance too. And it applies to anyone trying to turn a passion into a profession.

What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin & Simon Daw...

Life and career rarely go to plan. Breakthroughs happen on the ragged edge when things aren't quite going as expected. What I Wish I Knew podcast hosts Mike Irwin and Simon Daw explore lessons learned by leading athletes, creators, entrepreneurs, leaders, and difference makers. They all have three things in common: none are perfect, all are humble, and they've learned a few things along the way. In What I Wish I Knew, they share their lessons with you. Visit us at http://www.whatiwishiknewshow.com or email to [email protected]

Please like, share, and subscribe to What I Wish I Knew wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

Is there a secret to success? Absolutely. And it's probably not what you may think. 

Bert Thornton spent 40 years shaping careers (including his own) as Waffle House grew from a few restaurants in the American south to become a pillar of communities around the country. As president and chief operations officer, he believed that the growth of the company relied upon the development of its people. Building leadership skills throughout an organization is both an obligation and an opportunity. Now, there’s a gap between emerging leaders and those who can help guide them along the way. Mentoring can help bridge that gap…and, when done well, it can transform lives and organizations. 

In this episode of What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin and Simon Daw, Bert shares why mentoring can matter so much, the elements of an effective mentor/mentee relationship, and how to get started. He also covers how to foster creativity within systems…in a way that led to a product that Waffle House sells 11 million times a year. 

Bert is author of Find An Old Gorilla: Pathways Through the Jungle of Business and Life. The book is an essential guide for rising high achievers. He collaborated with Dr. Sherry Hartnett to write High-Impact Mentoring: A Practical Guide to Creating Value in Other People’s Lives. Available here: https://highimpactmentoringbook.com/

Bert currently serves as vice chairman emeritus of Waffle House, the largest full-service, 24-hour, sit-down restaurant in the world. He has served on the boards of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, the Georgia Tech Foundation, the Studer Community Institute, and the Museum School of Avondale Estates. He was a college football player at Georgia Tech and served in the US Army. 

What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin & Simon Daw... 

Life and career rarely go to plan. Breakthroughs happen on the ragged edge when things aren't quite going as expected. What I Wish I Knew podcast hosts Mike Irwin and Simon Daw explore lessons learned by leading athletes, creators, entrepreneurs, leaders, and difference makers. They all have three things in common: none are perfect, all are humble, and they've learned a few things along the way. In What I Wish I Knew, they share their lessons with you. http://www.whatiwishiknewshow.com 

Please like, share, and subscribe to What I Wish I Knew wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

Josh Hotsenpiller is one of those people you wish you’d known your entire life. And when you meet him, you’ll feel like you did. You see, Josh, devotes a big chunk of his time to building community and he does it with a goal to have a positive impact for all.   

He’s done it in as an entrepreneur, leader, and pastor. He’s founder & CEO of JUNO, a rapidly scaling online events platform that delivers connection, education, and engagement. He founded Wisdom Capture which helps organizations share the collective insights of experience across geography and time. He founded Profits 4 Purpose to help companies and their employees support their most passionate causes with charitable giving. He founded Crowd Hub which helps organizations and brands build ongoing connection and engagement with their most important audiences. His companies have served clients ranging from Apple, Google, and Unilever to the United Nations.   

In this episode of What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin and Simon Daw, Josh shares principles and lessons he collected along the way that have fueled the growth of his teams, companies, and even his own sense of happiness.

What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin & Simon Daw...  

Life and career rarely go to plan. Breakthroughs happen on the ragged edge when things aren't quite going as expected. What I Wish I Knew podcast hosts Mike Irwin and Simon Daw explore lessons learned by leading athletes, creators, entrepreneurs, leaders, and difference makers. They all have three things in common: none are perfect, all are humble, and they've learned a few things along the way. In What I Wish I Knew, they share their lessons with you. http://www.whatiwishiknewshow.com   

Please like, share, and subscribe to What I Wish I Knew on Anchor, Apple, Google, Spotify, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.  

Get in touch with Josh Hotsenpiller: https://www.junolive.com/ 

Ambition is defined as a strong desire to achieve. But what does it really mean, in real life? And how do you turn your ambitions into reality? In this mini episode from What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin & Simon Daw, we talk with four people who absolutely can offer insights on how to achieve your ambition.

In 13 minutes, they share 4 secrets to turn your ambitions into reality. It’s the sort of advice that anyone pursuing higher goals can readily apply to their daily work.

What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin & Simon Daw

Life and career rarely go to plan. Breakthroughs happen on the ragged edge when things aren't quite going as expected. What I Wish I Knew podcast hosts Mike Irwin and Simon Daw explore lessons learned by leading athletes, creators, entrepreneurs, leaders, and difference makers. They all have three things in common: none are perfect, all are humble, and they've learned a few things along the way. In What I Wish I Knew, they share their lessons with you.

Please subscribe, follow, and rate us on your favorite podcast platform. And join our community at WhatIWishIKnewShow.com

Camilla Barnard believes people should be able to feel good about loving food, not guilty. Her starting point was one of those good-for-you foods that may not taste so good: muesli. Trouble is that muesli is a commodity category dominated by big food companies, famous brands, and basic store products. Few would have the audacity to start there. She wasn’t a veteran of the food industry nor an expert in consumer marketing. And yet, her company, Rude Health, has become a familiar sight on store shelves and shopping baskets across the UK and Europe.   

In this episode of What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin and Simon Daw, Camilla talks about how not knowing can be a strength, how Instagram has changed consumer behavior, and how creativity and attitude often leads to better solutions than expertise alone. 

Camilla Barnard co-founded Rude Health in London in 2005 with her husband, Nick. Rude Health is on a mission to make the healthy choice a celebration, not a sacrifice, with their range of over 75 foods and drinks and a team of 45 glass-half-fullers. As well as being a full-time mum of two, Camilla is the creative brain behind the business’s marketing and brand development and is on a mission to inspire everyone to be in rude health by joyfully challenging the assumption that health food has to be bland and boring.

What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin & Simon Daw... 

Life and career rarely go to plan. Breakthroughs happen on the ragged edge when things aren't quite going as expected. What I Wish I Knew podcast hosts Mike Irwin and Simon Daw explore lessons learned by leading athletes, creators, entrepreneurs, leaders, and difference makers. They all have three things in common: none are perfect, all are humble, and they've learned a few things along the way. In What I Wish I Knew, they share their lessons with you. http://www.whatiwishiknewshow.com 

Please like, share, and subscribe to What I Wish I Knew wherever you find your favorite podcasts. As always, we welcome your ideas and feedback at [email protected]

Connect with Camilla Barnard: https://rudehealth.com/

David Taylor has been named one of the world’s 50 leading marketing thinkers by the Chartered Institute of Marketing. His specialty, however, is in real-world, applied marketing…the sort that delivers growth in revenue and in regard. And whether the brand is a product or the proverbial brand you, Taylor has pragmatic advice shaped by 28 years’ experience leading growth projects for some of the world’s biggest global brands. 

In this episode of What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin and Simon Daw, David talks about his transition from engineer to marketer, crucible moments in life, the four classic marketing mistakes to avoid, and the rise of insurgent brands.  

Taylor is also author of eight acclaimed branding books, writes one of the world’s top branding blogs, and is a highly rated teacher at London Business School. He has designed and delivered training programs for leading companies including AB InBev, Mars, Mondelez, Old Mutual, Pladis, and WD-40. Prior to founding The Brandgym in 2002, David worked with P&G before doing an MBA at INSEAD and running the Paris office of Kantar Added Value. Taylor also delivers brand training available to all called Mastering Brand Growth. 

What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin & Simon Daw... 

Life and career rarely go to plan. Breakthroughs happen on the ragged edge when things aren't quite going as expected. What I Wish I Knew podcast hosts Mike Irwin and Simon Daw explore lessons learned by leading athletes, creators, entrepreneurs, leaders, and difference makers. They all have three things in common: none are perfect, all are humble, and they've learned a few things along the way. In What I Wish I Knew, they share their lessons with you. http://www.whatiwishiknewshow.com 

Please like, share, and subscribe to What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin & Simon Daw wherever you find your favorite podcasts. We welcome your feedback and ideas for guests. Contact us at [email protected]

Connect with David Taylor: 

https://thebrandgym.com/

https://thebrandgym.com/blog/

https://academy.thebrandgym.com/courses/brandgym-mastering-brand-growth-program-4

Jasmine Burton is an industrial designer by training and a social impact designer by choice. She’s a believer that design can help solve important societal problems…and that the next iPhone or app isn’t necessarily one of them. Instead, she’s taking on one of the biggest health problems in the world and one that, ironically, has also had little innovation over the years: sanitation. 

In college, she founded Wish For WASH, a social impact startup intended to bring innovation to sanitation. She and her team won a 6-figure innovation prize. Within weeks, they were working on the ground in Africa to test their designs. She has since worked in Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Ethiopia, and the US. Her innovation success and willingness to take on big nasty problems, like sanitation, is quite a story. That’s why Jasmine has delivered more than 130 speeches on global stages and has been featured by the likes of CNN, Fast Company, TedX, and Wired.

In this episode of What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin and Simon Daw, Jasmine talks about “design as functional art”, “designing for dignity”, and offers a perspective on the role that companies, institutions, and individuals should play in integrating social good into daily work. She seeks to couple design thinking and business acumen with evidence-based science to accelerate access to universal health and sanitation for all. 

Along with serving as CEO of Wish For WASH, Jasmine is founder of The Hybrid Hype, a woman-owned global consulting firm which brings a multi-disciplinary approach to problem solving. She’s currently social enterprise fellow at Emory University. She earned a master’s degree in public health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine where she was a Rotary Global Grant Scholar. She is an industrial and product design graduate of Georgia Tech. 

What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin & Simon Daw... 

Life and career rarely go to plan. Breakthroughs happen on the ragged edge when things aren't quite going as expected. What I Wish I Knew podcast hosts Mike Irwin and Simon Daw explore lessons learned by leading athletes, entrepreneurs, experts, and difference makers. They all have three things in common: none are perfect, all are humble, and they've learned a few things along the way. In What I Wish I Knew, they share their lessons with you. We welcome your feedback at http://www.whatiwishiknewshow.com 

Please like, share, and subscribe to What I Wish I Knew wherever you find your favorite podcasts. 

Connect with Jasmine Burton:  https://jasminekburton.squarespace.com/

The world today is deeply divided over politics, covid, race, culture, values, religion, and many other issues. Bridging that chasm is perhaps harder than it’s ever been and yet maybe never more important than it is right now. Dr. Gaye Theresa Johnson of UCLA shares a perspective that fear overhangs much of that discord and recognizing the source of that fear is vital to building cooperation. 

In this episode of What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin and Simon Daw, Dr. Johnson talks about the capacity for compassion that we all have and how we can find ways to tap it. She gets into how to approach important conversations with curious mindset rather than a furious one. She covers how we can turn to our own history for examples of cooperation across boundaries. She talks about the power of kindness and compassion. And she makes the case of learning from the young in their ability to find joy in everyday life. 

Dr. Johnson is an expert on race, cultural politics, and freedom struggles as well as the connections between them. She is Associate Professor of Chicana/o and Central American Studies and an affiliate in the Department of African American Studies at the University of California at Los Angeles. She is the author of three books: Spaces of Conflict, Sounds of Solidarity: Music, Race, and Spatial Entitlement; Futures of Black Radicalism; and the forthcoming Rings of Dissent. She’s an in-demand speaker, award winning faculty member, and teaches one of the most popular courses at UCLA. When you listen to this episode, you’ll easily understand why. 

What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin & Simon Daw... 

Life and career rarely go to plan. Breakthroughs happen on the ragged edge when things aren't quite going as expected. What I Wish I Knew podcast hosts Mike Irwin and Simon Daw explore lessons learned by leading athletes, entrepreneurs, experts, leaders, and difference makers. They all have three things in common: none are perfect, all are humble, and they've learned a few things along the way. In What I Wish I Knew, they share their lessons with you. http://www.whatiwishiknewshow.com 

Please like, share, and subscribe to What I Wish I Knew wherever you find your favorite podcasts.