Podcast Episodes | Life on Brand

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Why and How Visioning Works by Ari Weinzweig

Episode 15: Let’s Make Sauerkraut with Social Capital featuring David Klingenberger of The Brinery

by lifeonbrand | Aug 24, 2020 | Podcast Episodes, Season 2

Hungry? Thirsty? As an Ann Arbor business owner, why not provide nourishment for the community with traditionally fermented foods?

Today’s guest is David Klingenberger, founder and chief fermentation officer (CFO) of The Brinery—which processes more than 200,000 pounds of local family farm vegetables yearly to make sauerkraut, hot sauce, tempeh, and kimchi.

Episode Highlights:

3:03 Turn of the Century: Let the farming and fermentation begin!
5:00 Why start The Brinery? Adventurous spirit mixed with agriculture to feed people.
6:05 Social Capital: With less than $1,000 to invest, use power of connections.
11:35 Fermentation: Ancient form of food preservation and evolution of civilization.
13:30 The Brinery’s Tagline: Stimulating your inner economy—what it represents.
17:20 Playing Business: Story behind The Brinery’s catchy jingle that fits brand perfectly.
18:21 Food Entrepreneurship: Fermentation takes time and adds layer of complexity.
19:49 Capital Intensive: 40 barrels in 40 nights and funding from family and friends.
21:10 Go to Market: Hit the ground running to get products ready for larger markets.
26:57 Generalist vs. Specialist: Don’t do too many things at the same time to scale up.
29:35 Lessons Learned: Believe in products and be a proud food artisan to make sales.
35:15 Buyers/Customers: Find fit by managing connections on relationship channels.
37:23 Sideline Businesses: Achieve success with core products and grow vertically.
39:35 Definition of Success: Being happy and healthy in mind, body, and spirit.
42:03 Sense of Humility: Strength of being self-aware and knowing what you don’t know.
44:10 Moments of Self-Doubt: Hold yourself accountable to levels of emotional maturity.
45:55 Lasting Lessons from Failures: Adapt to control products, processes, production.

Links and Resources:

The Brinery

Zingerman’s Deli

Ann Arbor Farmers Market

Chris McCandless (Into the Wild)

Jiro Dreams of Sushi Documentary

Jason Fried of Basecamp

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An Inconvenient Truth (Movie)—Al Gore

Episode 14: Stop Waiting for Someone Else to Change the World with Jeff Sorensen and Jeff Pituch

by lifeonbrand | Aug 17, 2020 | Podcast Episodes, Season 2

When you were in college, what did you spend most of your time doing? Socializing? Stop waiting for someone else to change the world.

Today’s guests are Jeff Sorensen and Jeff Pituch from optiMize, a student-led organization at the University of Michigan. The program supports and funds self-directed student projects that make a positive social impact. Go blue!

Episode Highlights:

2:34 What is optiMize, and why is it unique? Makes the world more just and sustainable.
5:45 Busy Work: Stop waiting for someone else to change the world.
7:15 Risks and Responsibilities: Try early on while you have time, not past your prime.
10:25 Let students define what success looks like, not what society says it should be.
11:03 Basic Education: Learning well-established information is important.
12:35 optiMize Taglines: Why not me? Call to action for inclusivity and social innovation.
17:00 Easy Sell: Students want more out of their education than what they’re getting.
24:48 Entrepreneurial Energy: Dedication and pure luck to work together, not in silos.
31:00 Programmatic Design Perspective: Students understand what students need.
32:31 What entrepreneurial skills lead to success? Persistence and perseverance.
36:05 Self-Awareness Skills: Passion for solving problems from personal experience.
40:25 Tangible Skills: Shameless outreach and communication to talk about ideas.
45:48 Human vs. Artificial Intelligence: Science will solve everything; it knows a lot.
49:21 What role will education play in the future? No grades; co-curricular experience.
57:27 Learn to Adapt: Save yourself or serve others by saving the world?
1:02:00 Success Defined:
- Self-satisfaction and peace of mind knowing that you did your best.
- Reflect on values by focusing on relationships, respect, and responsibility.
1:03:36 Self-Doubt: Able to help without all the answers and still make an impact?
1:06:45 Lasting Lessons from Failures: Don’t panic, and practice what you preach.
1:09:14 Easiest and Hardest Startup Parts:
- Hard to take care of yourself and get money from the university for the students.
- Easy to do purpose-driven work and let others make their own decisions.

Links and Resources:

optiMize

Jeff Sorensen’s Email

Jeff Pituch’s Email

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Mark Zuckerberg

Michigan Prison Doula Initiative

Rusted Root – Send Me On My Way

Episode 13: Fake It Till You Make It Applies to Those with Morals with Joe Malcoun

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Changing Your Company from the Inside Out: A Guide for Social Intrapreneurs by Christopher J. White and Gerald F. Davis

Episode 13: Fake It Till You Make It Applies to Those with Morals with Joe Malcoun

by lifeonbrand | Aug 10, 2020 | Podcast Episodes, Season 2

Fake it until you make it when pursuing professions and exploring intrapreneurism. Do the hustle—from watering plants to managing millions of dollars.

Today’s guest is Joe Malcoun, CEO of Nutshell, a sales automation customer relationship management (CRM) platform. Also, Joe is the co-founder of Cahoots coworking space, founder and president at CKM Capital Partners, and co-owner of the Blind Pig music venue.

Episode Highlights:

2:50 Path to Success: Pre-entrepreneurial part and experiences of Joe’s early career.
4:25 Entrepreneur vs. Intrapreneur: What’s the difference? Move the needle from within.
8:20 Right the Wrongs: Fake it till you make it, when possible to deliver substance.
12:16 Joe had the job that people wanted. But he wanted to be confident and in control.
15:19 Who do you want to work with? Seeking partners to learn from and get deals.
16:51 Firing Customers Concept: Abuse, harassment, and language not acceptable.
21:18 Big Fish, Small Pond: Career suicide to move back to Ann Arbor, Michigan?
23:54 Motivation: Make an impact and hold yourself accountable in the community.
30:33 Too busy? Joe can’t do it all, not enough resources, but willing to offer support.
33:20 Just Say No: Focus and find discipline to filter responsibilities at front and center.
35:55 Educational Mistakes: Get good at hiring good people to build a strong team.
38:02 Win or Lose: Preach self-awareness to accomplish what you want to accomplish.
40:58 Signs of Burnout: Feeling anxious, irritable, disengaged, and recurring dreams.
44:15 Positive Reputation: Joe earns success earnestly from those in his community.
45:50 Self-Doubt: You’ll make mistakes. How do you handle them? Own and fix them.
49:21 Easiest and Hardest Parts: Celebrate small wins, focus, and hire great people.
51:45 Sleep, See Kids, Go to Work, Free Time: Non-negotiable parts of Joe’s day.
53:03 Life’s Plans: Fortunate in many ways; surprised to be CEO of tech company.

Links and Resources:

Joe Malcoun on LinkedIn

Episode 11: Rebrand, Rename to Communicate Authentic Culture with Pete Baker of Duo Security

Episode 12: Destroy Dreams and Do Something w/ the King and Queen of the Shrooms, a.k.a. Chris Carrier and Deana Wojcik

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Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer Album

Episode 12: Destroy Dreams and Do Something w/ the King and Queen of the Shrooms, a.k.a. Chris Carrier and Deana Wojcik

by lifeonbrand | Aug 3, 2020 | Podcast Episodes, Season 2

Sick of Silicon Valley? Shift from being an engineer to a dirtbag for less responsibility. Choose a lifestyle of mangos and mushrooms. But the no-brainer idea of growing mushrooms being easy became idiotic.

Today’s guests are Chris Carrier and Deana Wojcik from The Mushroom Factory. Wanting a break from their software and education careers, they started something unique by making creative reuse of available resources.

Episode Highlights:

2:15 Hit the Road: Failed startup journey from Silicon Valley to Michigan-made business.
4:19 Adventure Index: What do we want in the next phase of life? What boxes to check?
4:58 Detroit: Interesting, less expensive with access to outdoors and friendly people.
6:38 Livin’ the Life in Hawaii: Why live out of a truck? Money doesn’t drive happiness.
8:15 Growth Opportunity: Grand adventure being Ill-equipped, homeless, crisis of faith.
10:29 Why mushrooms? Dive deep into dreams and hobbies only to suffer from burnout.
11:23 Fungus and Mold: Mushrooms are beautiful, but forever strange.
14:30 The Mushroom Factory: Evolution of planting seeds, putting roots down in Detroit.
17:29 Urban Farming: Grow by addressing food injustice and unconventional reuse.
19:20 Marrying Skills/Backgrounds: Clinging to what’s familiar out of fear, fight through it.
23:05 Ask for Help: Being just stupid enough, supportive, and willing to share.
27:55 First Sale: Shuffle in and shove a shoebox of mushrooms over the counter.
30:58 Worth the Money: Shift from stressful struggle to ask for money for food.
32:00 Starting a Business: An assault on your ideals and hard to be humble to survive.
35:10 For Better or Worse: You’re your own boss and need to be fully engaged.
36:43 Open Source/Closed Loop: Put something out in the world but remain responsible.
43:00 Social Media Role: Presence matters to attract and educate customers.
44:30 Food Safety: Tech rules, tools, and problems associated with growing mushrooms.
46:33 Defining Success: Experience and recognize it; not a destination but mindset.
47:55 Moment of Doubt: Spent savings on warehouse to deal with environmental issue.
50:37 Lessons from Failures: Simple answer is to ask for help before you’re in too deep.
54:55 Easiest and Hardest Parts: Selling niche product and managing finances.

Links and Resources:

The Mushroom Factory

DO Something Conference

Build Institute

Rose’s Fine Food

Grown in Detroit

Episode 11: Rebrand, Rename to Communicate Authentic Culture with Pete Baker of Duo Security

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Episode 10: Why Rishi Narayan is a Jack of all Trades, Master of None—or is he?

Episode 11: Rebrand, Rename to Communicate Authentic Culture with Pete Baker of Duo Security

by lifeonbrand | Jul 28, 2020 | Podcast Episodes, Season 2

Design is inherently a communication art. If you’re not trying to say something or make a point, it’s art open to interpretation. However, designers are often not given the credit that they deserve for making a business impact.

Today’s guest is Pete Baker, Director of Brand, Creative, and Digital Strategy at Duo Security in Ann Arbor. Before Duo Security, Pete ran his own brand studio, established a photography business, and to top it off, he has an amazing beard—better than most and the host.

Episode Highlights:

2:08 Despite Duo Security’s success and passion for architecture, Pete’s a brand guy.
4:50 Design and Photography: Differences and similarities—communication or art.
6:00 Sophie’s Choice Moment: If Pete had to choose, more or less, which wasn’t a job.
7:20 Wildly Disparate: Growing up in a small town lacking creative outlets.
11:00 Catalyst: Do your own thing, do it all yourself, and start your own legit business.
16:12 Freelance to Full-time: Moving back to Michigan to dispel in-house design stigma.
19:58 Ann Arbor’s first ‘Unicorn’ of Silicon Valley-type success and sudden validation.
28:25 What brand means? It’s not just the logo, but the gut feeling about a company.
30:31 Product, People, Process: Everyone plays a role in positive customer service.
32:33 Duo Guidelines: Internal and external brand match—easy, effective, trustworthy.
34:50 Cultural Niceness: Duo Security brand authentically influences culture, vice versa.
39:50 Scio to Duo: Rebrand/rename company to communicate security and useability.
44:43 Brand Principles and People: Marty Neumeier on what a brand is and is not.
46:22 Pete paraphrases Steve Jobs to define brand and the biggest marker of success.
47:33 Doubtful Moments: Pete suffered from imposter syndrome around security space.
51:00 Lessons Learned: Designers deserve credit for making a business impact. Stick to your point of view and sense of self. Don’t compromise.
52:30 Easiest and most difficult parts of starting businesses? Management experience is necessary to know what to do and be responsible for building a successful team.
56:16 How to identify real vs. doppelganger Pete in alternate universe? Gray hair.
58:46 Ann Arbor Art Center: Creative people can have careers, not just a studio.

Links and Resources:

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