Today we’re talking with Yam Regev, the founder of Zest.is, a content distillery focused on providing actionable content to its users. Yam shares how combining a human touch with automation became essential to Zest’s rapid growth.

Zest has gone from 0 to almost 18,000 weekly active users in just a year, and a lot of that growth is thanks to the fact that Yam personally responded to every single content submission when Zest first started.

That human touch created a powerful WOW moment for Zest’s users, which created a positive feedback cycle that brought them back over and over.

So listen to how Yam was able to achieve this super-human feat by being smart about when to automate & when to be human, and how his commitment to the unscalable led to Zest’s success.

(And make sure to tune in next week, where Louis and I are going share what the next phase of this show is going to look like.)

Enjoy!

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• [00:01:23] What Zest is, and what led Yam to found it
• [00:04:22] How Zest works
• [00:07:55] How Zest created a human buffer for content
• [00:10:12] The difference between content and knowledge
• [00:12:18] Yam’s user-first and human-centric approach to growing Zest
• [00:17:18] How Yam responded individually to all of the content submitted to Zest
• [00:22:01] How Yam scaled the process of individually answering each submission
• [00:25:11] The kind of responses that Yam got from his personalized emails
• [00:32:53] Zest’s user success methodology
• [00:35:49] How success is defined at Zest
• [00:40:57] How Yam would help people understand that people-first is the most sustainable way to grow
• [00:44:42] Resources that Yam recommends

Today we’re talking with Josh Braaten, a marketing consultant and founder of Brandish Insights, about the lessons he learned when he formed his own Super PAC to take on the US government and fight for net neutrality.

He shares the backstory of what led him to create a Super PAC in the first place, and then deep-dives into the practical insights he gained while crafting a message to resonate with his target audience, such as:

• How to focus on helping people with the issues they are facing without needing to sensationalize
• How leading with common principles can open the door for people to listen to your message
• How to start taking action in the face of an overwhelming amount of things to do.

Josh was a pleasure to speak with and someone I look forward to staying in touch with outside of the podcast, so I hope you find some value here as well.

Enjoy!

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• [00:01:43] Josh’s background and work
• [00:03:01] How Josh got interested in net neutrality
• [00:04:14] The process of forming a super PAC
• [00:13:22] Why Josh decided that a super PAC was the best way to fight for net neutrality
• [00:14:49] Josh’s next steps after forming America’s Internet
• [00:17:20] What Josh realized about running a successful campaign with a super PAC
• [00:19:49] Driving leads that lead to conversions
• [00:23:59] Why it’s important to avoid sensationalism
• [00:29:17] How you can persuade people by finding principles that you have in common with them
• [00:32:39] What a principles-based discussion looks like
• [00:35:13] What it was that allowed Josh to think he could make a difference with a big issue like net neutrality
• [00:45:20] Resources that Josh recommends

Today we’re talking with Jane Garza & Kim Perkins from NOBL.io, an organization founded to help teams change the way they work for the better.

Jane & Kim share how they’ve helped teams successfully reach higher levels of motivation & collaboration.

And it’s a far cry from the rewards and punishment systems that researchers have learned from rats in mazes 60+ years ago.

Instead, they highlight the importance of:

• How meaningful work is one of the most powerful driving factors for people
• Moving away from a fear-based approach work to a strength-based approach
• How leaders can shift toward making space for more meaningful work

In today’s episode, we talk to Focusmate founder Taylor Jacobson about human-to-human accountability and how it can help us beat procrastination and achieve our professional and personal goals.

If you’ve ever sat down to work on a task and then suddenly minutes—our hours—have passed without you accomplishing much, you’re not alone. Taylor experienced that situation enough times to know something had to change: so he created Focusmate, an app that pairs people with an accountability partner for live, virtual co-working sessions. 

Focusmate’s vision is to improve the way millions of people work by helping them keep on task and get their jobs done. As you’ll hear in this episode, I tried it myself, and I can personally vouch for it!

In addition to hearing the story of how the app came about, we cover powerful ideas such as:

• How pairing people with an accountability partner helps improve focus and achieve goals
• Why relying on willpower is not an effective way to change behavior
• How vulnerability and being willing to admit our mistakes enables us to be more productive
  

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• [00:01:04] How Taylor ended up being interviewed for this episode
• [00:03:30] How Taylor’s interest in accountability partners got started
• [00:07:25] What happened when Taylor moved to India for his first startup project
• [00:10:54] The event that sparked the idea for Focusmate
• [00:13:00] Why Taylor believed that other people would benefit from Focusmate
• [00:20:26] Why relying on willpower alone to change a behavior isn’t effective
• [00:23:59] How Taylor used accountability to develop Focusmate
• [00:26:49] How many people are part of Focusmate now
• [00:27:03] How Nir Eyal got involved in Focusmate
• [00:28:28] How Taylor would convince people who feel skeptical about accountability
• [00:32:57] Resources that Taylor recommends
  

Today we’re talking with Erica Peterson, the founder of Moms Can: Code.

When she became pregnant during her studies at West Virginia University, Erica was told that this ‘life choice’ did not fit with her career progression as a graduate student.

Instead of accepting that pregnancy and parenthood can hold someone back from professional achievement, Erica eventually created Moms Can: Code, a global community of moms who are learning to code and a training program to teach moms to code both online and in their local communities.

This is an important conversation about the role of women and parents in the (tech) workplace, and one that shows why it shouldn’t be a black or white decision between choosing to work or being there for your family. Enjoy!

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• [00:01:44] How Erica came to found Moms Can: CODE
• [00:07:03] What Erica did after receiving negative feedback about becoming pregnant during her graduate program
• [00:08:39] How difficult the decision was to leave her graduate program
• [00:10:11] How long it took Erica to apply for a new lab position
• [00:12:24] How long Erica thinks is the right amount of time to wait before going back to work after having a baby
• [00:16:05] What happened when Erica decided to take time off from the lab she worked at after having her baby
• [00:21:16] The Family Medical Leave Act and how it affects mothers
• [00:24:00] How doing science activities with her son and other parents and children helped lead to Erica founding Moms Can: CODE
• [00:25:52] How the culture affects the way employers think about family leave
• [00:36:51] Why being there for your family is as important as being there for your work
• [00:38:25] How Erica launched Moms Can: CODE
• [00:45:52] What happens when someone becomes a member of Moms Can: CODE
• [00:48:10] How the creation of the airbag demonstrates why women need to be involved in STEM
• [00:53:19] Why fathers need to take parental leave
• [00:57:54] The resource that Erica thinks will help people understand the need for a family-inclusive culture
• [01:02:53] How people can find out more about Moms Can: CODE

Today we’re speaking with George Mumford, the mindfulness coach to some of the world’s top performing athletes.

Over his 20+ year career, George has helped teams such as the LA Lakers, The Chicago Bulls, and the New York Knicks reach new levels of focus, flow and presence.

Both Michael Jordan & Kobe Bryant directly credit George with helping them level up their game, and Phil Jackson, the coach of the Laker’s and Bull’s during their winning streaks, calls George his secret weapon that allowed him to win 8 NBA championships.

So why are we featuring him on this podcast?

Because the state of presence and flow that he helps athletes, Olympians, and global executives to achieve is a state that allows us all to focus our full potential to the moment at hand, free of the stress of what’s coming and free of the baggage of what may or may not have just happened.

In other words, a state that enables you to reach your peak creativity, inspiration, motivation, and drive.

Enjoy!

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• [00:01:19] George’s connection with Sharon Salzberg
• [00:01:57] How George’s experience with chronic pain and addiction led to his interest in mindfulness
• [00:02:56] What led George out of addiction
• [00:06:04] The type of results George saw when he first started mediation
• [00:09:23] How George went from learning about meditation to teaching mindfulness to sports teams
• [00:12:19] What kinds of practices George helped the Bulls implement
• [00:14:51] What George’s sitting practice looks like
• [00:19:41] What George’s teachings enabled already top athletes to do that they couldn’t do before
• [00:26:22] The importance of being able to let go of things
• [00:31:40] How to overcome negative self-talk
• [00:37:19] How to become aware of negative self-talk
• [00:41:14] What someone should do if they want to start a mindfulness or meditation practice
• [00:44:42] Books that George recommends

Today we’re talking with Peter Docker, co-author of the book, ‘Find Your Why.’

Peter is an Igniter and Implementation Specialist on Simon Sinek’s Start With Why team, where he’s helped companies in 88 countries around the world achieve the extraordinary by uncovering their higher purpose.

Peter shares several incredible stories about the power of finding your why, including:

• Why he quit his job just days after listening to Simon’s now famous TED talk
• The time he was forced to make a near-crash landing as the 1st officer of a 150-passenger commercial flight
• How as an officer in the British Royal air force during one of the Gulf Wars he and his team dug deep and found a deeper purpose that drove them to incredible feats of accountability

Peter is an incredibly engaging speaker, and this conversation left me feeling charged and inspired, and I hope you end up feeling the same way.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• [00:05:04] Peter’s introduction to the Start With Why movement
• [00:08:37] What Peter was doing when he began working with the Start With Why organization
• [00:10:01] The impact that Peter’s work has had on him personally
• [00:12:09] What it looks like to help an organization find their context
• [00:14:46] What kind of difference it can make when organizations go from understanding their content to understanding their context
• [00:19:36] How finding the why is the antidote to ego
• [00:27:11] What sets apart organizations and leaders that are able to transform their companies with their why from those who don’t
• [00:39:57] What it looks like when changing an organization doesn’t start from the top
• [00:44:13] Resources that Peter recommends for people who are looking to discover their purpose or act on their purpose
• [00:46:02] Strategies you can use to begin with their own personal development
• [00:49:32] How discovering your personal why can become a driving force of clarity and focus in your life
• [00:51:40] How to find out more about Peter and his work