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Conversations with founders in transition
It isn’t just about the tactics and the strategies but also about the inner experience of being in business. By sharing new insights and ideas with you we hope you’ll be inspired to look inside yourself to find out what’s really getting in the way.
While you have the knowledge and experience to take your work to another level maybe what’s stopping you is the lack of self inquiry.
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Coping with loss in business
CHRISTINA KISLEY
This is recording of the live webinar that Laurence and Carlos have been hosting during lockdown in the UK and across the world.
We were joined by Christina Kisley, our long time friend and Alptitude alum. She’s co-chair of Conscious Capitalism in Atlanta and is an executive coach for leaders, executives and entrepreneurs with 20 years of experience.
For this episode we talk about loss. When we downplay loss and don't allow ourselves to grieve we store up that emotion so that next time we have a loss we feel exponentially worse. This is because the new loss, even if it's relatively smaller, lights up all the grief that's still in our system. We're all currently suffering from a loss of some kind whether it may be as tragic as the loss of a loved one or even the loss of a dream. Rather than push those unpleasant feelings away we need to lean into them and just feel. We can't think our way out of grief we can only feel our way through it. Many people try to "silverline" the loss and try to find something positive from the event. But there's no actual need to do so, it can just feel bad, and that's okay.
With the help of the amazing Christina Kisley we share the Kubler-Ross model on the different stages of grief and relate them to what we're seeing around us and experiencing ourselves. We hope it helps you deal with any loss that you're experiencing in your businesses and personal lives and gives you a way to process what's going on.
In this episode I talk to Rob Day about the traps and pitfalls of founding an agency business.
Who wants to think about exit strategy when you’re doing work you love? Who can think of exit strategy when you’re too busy trying to feed the beast? And why even think of an exit? If there’s a need to exit why did we start the business in the first place?
If this story sounds familiar to you then you’ll relate to this episode of the podcast with Rob Day, cofounder of Liquid Light, a digital agency based in Brighton. Amongst other things he now coaches agency founders by sharing his knowledge and awareness of the hidden traps and pitfalls of founding a service based business. If you’re early in your journey then you’ll learn what to look out for as you grow your business.
If you’re a seasoned agency founder you’ll probably nod your head in agreement and maybe be inspired to look at your work differently.
Happy endings
Alexander Kjerulf
Alexander Kjerulf is the founder of Woohoo Inc and is the original Chief Happiness Officer.
Laurence and I first met Alex over 6 years ago when we went to a conference in Denmark for innovators trying to change the world of business.
He’s an amazing guy with an infectious positive energy. When we were over there he invited us to dinner and it was my first experience of Cards Against Humanity. I can’t remember ever laughing so much.
Alex’s mission is to bring more happiness and positivity to the world of work. He does this by giving talks and running workshops for companies all across the world. He’s written a number of books and built up a network of positivity professionals who use his materials and resources to impact more businesses.
However, after doing this work for 16 years Alex has decided to take a break. He’s found himself having less energy and motivation and is less happy at work, which isn’t a great place to be for a Chief Happiness Officer. Listen to this episode to find out how Alex started the business, what it was like in the early days, how it’s grown and why in 2020 he’ll be shutting it down for at least 6 months and maybe, forever.
Building a business and sell it… that’s b*&%@ks
Ray Richards
This episode is with Ray Richards, founder of Do Something Different.
It’s a meaty one in which the conversation covers 10 year plans, cottage renovations, business goals, life goals, selling companies, self-awareness and leadership.
Ray is fascinated by behavioural flexibility and is on a mission to make the world a better place by helping people make better behaviours.
He's also an experienced entrepreneur who's sold two businesses and is now in the process of growing his third. Along the journey he's learned many things not only about business but about himself. He says he's "inherently lazy" but what he really means is that he doesn't want to spend all hours of the day on work, as he's got other things he wants to do. We may not become the next Steve Jobs, but we'll build a business that does the job of making us happy. And that's what Ray wants. To do work and build a life that makes him happy.
Listen on to hear his thoughts about leadership and how he needs to lead now.
Does creating impact always have to take effort and hard work? Can you make change without forcing it?
According to Rei Chou it is possible. You just have to hold on less tightly to the outcome and be more honest about why you need to be a changemaker. This takes some inner work, which according to Rei is an exploration into what you don’t know that you don’t know about yourself.
Rei is a former marketing creative now Reiki master and healer and also founder of The Feast. The purpose of The Feast is to gather people who can share in their abundance (their gifts and talents) so that they can effortlessly help each other. I believe this work embodies Rei’s perspective on how creating impact can be easier and more joyful.
For some people it’s hard to let go of the belief that big change takes hard work. But if you can believe that it’s possible maybe you can make it reality.
This episode is a bit of a deep one but I recommend you stick with it. If you’re struggling at work or in your business and you can’t see a way forward maybe the thing that’s getting in your way is actually you. Once you get out of your own way life will get a lot easier.