I hope you enjoy this talk with Jennifer Dennard from Responsive Conference 2016. Jennifer is the co-founder of Range Labs and the former Head of People and Culture at Medium, focusing on organization design, people operations, and diversity & inclusion.
Jennifer is passionate about helping teams work together better. In this talk, Jennifer talks about human resources and a future of work that is best for our employees.
This talk was recorded live at the 1st Annual Responsive Conference in September 2016. Learn more at http://responsiveconference.com
I’m pleased to share this talk at Responsive Conference 2017 with Charles Best (@CharlesBest), founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org.
Charles Best is an American philanthropist and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org, a crowdfunding platform for K-12 teachers serving in US schools.
Charles launched the organization out of a Bronx public high school where he taught history. DonorsChoose.org is one of Oprah Winfrey’s “ultimate favorite things” and was named by Fast Company as one of the “50 Most Innovative Companies in the World.”
This video was recorded at the 2nd Annual Responsive Conference in New York City in 2017. Learn more: http://responsiveconference.com
My guest today is the co-founder of the global phenomenon of AcroYoga Jason Neymar (@jasonnemer). I’ve followed Jason’s work for years, having watched the rise of AcroYoga at a distance over the last 10+ years, so it was a pleasure to sit down and talk about physical practice, the healing arts, AcroYoga, and much more.
I’m in awe of the global movement Jason has built, and we dive deep into some of the things he has done – and is doing – to make AcroYoga one of the most friendly and welcoming physical communities I’ve experienced.
I was connected to Jason by his co-founder and my dear friend Jenny Sauer-Klein. If you haven’t, I highly recommend listening to that conversation, as well.
As a physical nerd and athlete, I’ve long looked forward to talking about AcroYoga and I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Here is Jason Neymar.
Show Notes
2:30 Finding gymnastics and acro yoga 6:00 Designing AcroYoga to be accessible 10:00 Jason’s physical practice 12:00 Inclusivity and play 16:30 Discipline met with openness 19:00 Gymnastics as a gateway to movement 22:15 Pros and cons of social media and the internet 25:45 Remedies to cyber addiction 27:45 Healing arts of acro yoga 33:15 Emotional cycles in healing 36:30 Touch and gender barriers 41:00 Art and science of acro yoga 43:00 Physical disciplines Jason recommends 45:45 Find AcroYoga: Website Youtube Facebook 48:30 Future of acro yoga 50:30 AcroYoga Fest: Divine Play
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If you enjoyed this episode with Jason Neymar, I think you will enjoy my previous podcast episode with AcroYoga co-founder Jenny Sauer-Klein.
My guest today is Mark Fisher, who regularly shows up wearing a unicorn head – atypical of someone who runs several gyms in midtown manhattan. Mark is the co-owner of Mark Fisher Fitness and the consulting group, Business for Unicorns.
Mark and I share a common background in the performing arts, and it was fun for me to hear how Mark has taken that background and applied it to his entrepreneurial efforts both at his gyms and as a consultant. As someone who has long thought of creating a gym or physical center, I loved this conversation. Even more so, though, Mark’s passion for culture and people shone through.
I’m also pleased to share that Mark Fisher is going to be one of our speakers at Responsive Conference 2018, which will be taking place on September 24th and 25th in New York City. Pick up a ticket to hear him speak live.
I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!
Show Notes 3:30 Balancing ridiculousness at Mark Fisher Fitness 9:15 Starting a fitness business 12:30 Combining creativity with vision execution 15:00 Business for Unicorns 19:45 Soft skills in hard systems and the Unicorn Society 22:00 Current state of fitness 26:00 Advice for building a gym 31:00 Books:
I first got to know today’s guest through my work at Socos, alongside Vivienne Ming. Over the last several years, I’ve heard a name mentioned in a variety of unlikely contexts – by Chris Anderson, the CEO of TED, Perry Chen, the Co-Founder of Kickstarter, and Beth Comstock, the Vice Chair at GE.
My guest today is Sunny Bates, a behind-the-scenes master connector of many of the most innovative companies, personalities, and artists that you’ve heard of, and many that you haven’t.
Sunny sits on the board of Kickstarter, the MIT Media Lab, and TED. She advises companies like GE and Credit Suisse on new initiatives and is the go-to resource when companies like P&G and The Guardian need a new breakthrough.
As you’ll hear, Sunny is deeply committed to culture and the arts. I was startled to learn that she had hosted world-famous musician, Amanda Palmer, and blogger, Maria Popova, to her home for a house party.
In this interview, we discuss how Sunny has built an incredible network of innovators, spanning more than 40,000 people, how her enthusiasm for spontaneous encounters led to her role at Kickstarter, among others, and some of the trends she is most excited for in the future.
Please enjoy!
Show Notes 2:30 Sunny’s connections 5:30 Building a network 10:30 Adding value to other’s work and lives 13:30 We learn quickest alongside an expert 16:45 Exploring our creative side 19:15 Kickstarter 22:00 Looking at the big picture 24:30 A career as a series of projects 29:00 Trends in the future of work 32:15 Equality 34:45 Acknowledgment and gratitude 38:00 It’s never too late to give thanks or apologize 39:45 Compensation 44:00 Books: The State of Affairs by Esther Perel 46:30 Website: sunnybates.com Twitter: @SunnyBates Ted Talk
My guest Andrew Barnett (@andrewbbarnett) is the founder of Linea Caffe, a coffee roastery and wholesale company, which was one of the first vendors we began working with at Robin’s Cafe in 2016.
In this interview, we discuss how Andrew first introduced himself to me in those early days of the cafe, the humanness that he brings to his work, and his deep knowledge of coffee.
We discuss how the coffee industry has changed over the last 20 years, what it takes to create a thriving business, and why Andrew loves food service. He shares how he thinks about his company and what he does to build an inclusive culture at Linea Caffe.
If you’re interested in a unique perspective on building successful businesses and cultures, I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.
Show Notes
2:15 How Andrew and Robin met 5:15 Andrew’s interest in coffee and human service 8:30 The antithesis of Starbucks 11:30 Roasting coffee 13:45 Cup of Excellence program 17:30 The “Ah Ha” moment 20:00 Linea quality 24:45 Selling Echo Cafe to Intelligentsia 26:15 Third wave movement 28:15 Moving back to San Francisco and starting Linea 31:15 Andrew’s approach to people 35:00 Linea’s retail and roasting locations 37:30 What made this work for Andrew 40:45 Future of coffee 43:45 Find out more: Linea Website
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If you enjoyed this episode of the Robin Zander Show, you might also enjoy listening to my conversation with Steve Hopkins (@stevehopkins) on coffee, culture and the Future of Work.
My guest today, Srini Rao (@unmistakableCEO), is an author and the founder and host of the popular podcast, the Unmistakable Creative, where he’s interviewed over five hundred creative people. Former guests on the show include Tim Ferriss, Simon Sinek, and Seth Godin. His first, self-published book The Art of Being Unmistakable got the attention of media personality Glenn Beck, sold over 15,000 copies and hit the “Wall Street Journal” bestseller list.
My conversation with Srini starts and ends with surfing, which we both have a passion for, and forms the outline for his new book Unmistakable. Srini credits surfing with the launch of his podcast and the Unmistakable brand, and using surfing analogies to teach the principles of creating unforgettable work. We discuss behavior change, and how incremental steps add up over time – whether in a physical practice like surfing or in building a brand or business. We discuss the art of the interview, and what Srini has learned about people – and about learning – from conducting over 500 interviews.
I hope you enjoy this interview with my guest, and host of the Unmistakable podcast, Srini Rao.
Could you do me a favor? If you’ve enjoyed the Robin Zander Show, I would really appreciate a review on iTunes. Reviews help others find the podcast, and more importantly let me know that you’re enjoying what you’re hearing. Thank you!
Adam Rosendahl (@Adam_Rosendahl) is the founder of the global creative events company LATE NITE ART. Adam and I reconnected at last year’s Design for Dance conference, but as it turns out also went the middle school and played soccer together as kids. In the decades since Adam has been a high school teacher, volunteered with a homeless shelter, and led Outward Bound trips which are leadership with at risk youth in the Mississippi bayou.
Along the way, Adam began leading creative, collaborative pop-up events, and now runs the company LATE NITE ART, which creates creative, collaborative, stylish and also playful events for corporate audiences. Adam details whatLATE NITE ART is and how it works early on in the interview.
Learning anything worth learning is tough. And especially for those of us who want to not just learn a skill but excel, there are a lot of ups and downs. It seems that the more exciting a venture is, the more I’m liable to turn manic-depressive. This is actually the reason I created the header of the Learning Curve Experiments blog- to remind myself that learning is full of ups and downs, victories and setbacks, along the way.
So when I saw this video recreation of Ira Glass’ talk on “Closing the Gap” it struck a cord. It is hard to fathom Ira Glass as other than the calm and loving voice we know him to be. (Even if you don’t know his name, you’ve heard his voice.) But apparently even Iran Glass was once a beginner.
Ira gave a talk at Reed College in 2010 during which he insisted that when he started out in radio he sucked. Ira Glass not good on the radio? Inconceivable! But in watching this video I’m reminded that in any endeavor we can only start from where we are and move forward from there. The more we try, the more our skills catch up to our taste.
So here’s to taking steps forward! And maybe – just maybe – celebrating some of the pit-falls along the way.
