Posts by Christopher Lochhead
028 Dorie Clark Reinvent You
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What exactly does reinventing yourself entail? Expert Dorie Clark joins us today for a conversation about designing one’s new identity, why social proof matters, and a lot more.
Winning Over the Team
To reinvent oneself means giving in to the want to go toward a certain direction. Once you figure this out, you also need to realize that a lot of the process is about winning over the internal team. Who you surround yourself with as you begin reinventing yourself matters a lot.
“Ironically in the reinvention journey, the people closest to you are gonna be the least supportive initially.” – Dorie Clark
People you’ve built relationships with are more tied to who you’ve been than you are. They come from a good place, not to mention that they have the most at stake in this reinvention. You need to develop a strategy to help them understand your intentions and see your determination.
The Power of Dormant Ties
Since reinvention involves established relationships with people, you must also grasp the concept of ties. These include strong, weak, and dormant ties. Dormant ties come from strong bonds shared with people who have gone off in directions completely separate to yours.
Dormant ties can be particularly powerful when rekindled, especially with the positive connection and thoughts that come with them. That you have some form of contribution to each other’s success makes it a lot easier when you reunite. With ties like so, you will find people to root for you in your process of reinvention.
Creation of Content
The other key component is proof that you can muster to support your new identity. People are skeptical, and you have to hammer it home that you are serious about them. This is where content creation around your new subject area comes into play.
“It’s a way of simultaneously demonstrating your expertise. It enables you to have a networking vehicle. It allows you to create these sustained reminders.” – Dorie Clark
To hear more about Dorie’s expert advice on reinvention, download and listen to the episode.
Bio:
Dorie Clark is “an expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives,” says The New York Times. She’s an adjunct professor at Duke University and a bestselling author.
Her book, Stand Out, was named the #1 Leadership Book of 2015 by Inc. Magazine. She’s also a regular contributor to HBR.
Links:
We hope you enjoyed Dorie Clark on this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
027 David Osborn Wealth Can’t Wait
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How do you overcome a compounded fear of failure to become legendary? On today’s episode, author, entrepreneur, and real estate investor David Osborn joins us in a conversation about making money, building capital, and so much more.
“You go to work for capital so your capital can eventually go to work for you.” – David Osborn
Thinking Big, Not Delusional
David started out as a realtor, working under his mom’s team for three years. Over time, he realized he no longer wanted to sell so he ventured out into setting up franchises. With the right company, time and work ethic as well as a dash of mistakes and failures, he and his team have sold billions.
When you focus on the delta of where you are and where you want to be, it becomes clear that making the first million is way too hard. But it’s just as important to think massively big, and not delusional, to get started. It takes so much longer and harder than people can imagine and be willing to admit, after all.
“People always look at the credit and the money that an entrepreneur makes and they way underestimate the amount of risk and amount of failure.” – David Osborn
An Idiot Prior to Success
David first opened up a franchise in 1996, and it took ten long years before he could make money. It was a sweet two years, until the massive crash of 2008. Luckily enough, he had a great company to support him through it. But not all entrepreneurs are on equal footing.
An entrepreneur that has to scramble all the way up will look like an idiot for ten years before they get rewarded. And sometimes, the rewards could be more than they probably should get.
“The reason is you spent those ten years where every day there’s a chance you could have nothing the next day.” – David Osborn
Overcoming Fear Through Crazy
It takes experiencing hurt and failure for fear to manifest. We find punishment, pain, and psychological difficulty so aversive that we steer clear of ladders going up.
Even the most successful entrepreneurs get afraid. But it’s finding the crazy force to drive you through the journey that spells all the difference.
To hear more about David’s views on free will and capital building, download and listen to the episode.
Bio:
After sticking out his thumb and traveling the world, David returned home to Austin, Texas broke and unemployed, at the age of 26. Though his travels may not have yielded wealth, they instilled the key motivation that he brings to every part of his life to create it — freedom.
Because to have everything you ever wanted takes the opportunity to design your life and believe it can happen.
Through this intention, David began to test his entrepreneurial merits alongside his business-partner mom in the world of real estate. The results were nothing short of remarkable. In less than 10 years, David would go on to build one of the top real estate brokerages in the world, founding over 50 companies.
Yet, more than anything else, the inherent freedom derived from his success awards him the time to focus on the importance on what matters most: being a proud father of two beloved daughters, a son, and husband to the wonderful and talented Traci Osborn.
Today, still rooted in his boundless sense of adventure, David continues to travel the world not only to be enlightened by new experiences but to share his insight and expertise with others so they, too, can truly be free.
Links:
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow – Amazon
We hope you enjoyed David Osborn on this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
025 Courage to be Different w/ Vineet Jain, Founder/CEO Egnyte
How do you carve out a counter-intuitive niche and be successful at it? On today’s episode, Vineet Jain joins us for a discussion about how he charted a path different from every other tech person’s. He also shares how it all paid off, ten years later.
Swimming Upstream to Grow
Vineet has built a business that has seen nine consecutive quarters of records. They did this against a landscape of massive competitors who at one time looked like they might really threaten Egnyte. And to achieve this, they had to niche down.
“Indeed, this company of ours has grown in the big shadow being cast by some of the players who had a lot more funding.” – Vineet Jain
Financing Against the Trend
Year over year, Egnyte had a compounded growth rate of 30-35% and wasn’t raising much money. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter of 2016 that their cash flow turned positive. But Vineet knew that this wasn’t enough to keep the company afloat.
In August of 2018, he pitched that they raised financing. This was despite the general trend that tech companies observed. Sure enough, Vineet’s confident promise was met, and Goldman Sacks came into the picture.
Divine Luck and Difference
Egnyte had a size disadvantage against other companies in their category. They had a little over 600 employees, so they had to figure out how to play to this asymmetry. Ultimately, they decided to focus on their product and the economics of customer acquisition.
“You cannot pick a fight with an enemy who has picked your weapon of choice.” – Vineet Jain
Even with how they tried to show how they were different, they didn’t escape being lumped with 100 other vendors. But the confluence of two factors helped them rise: the expansion of the category they belonged to and the adoption curve becoming mainstream. With a product that fit the market at an interesting period, they got higher demand.
To hear more about how Vineet worked to build Egnyte to reach its pre-eminence and raised a $75M-funding round, download and listen to the episode.
Bio:
Vineet Jain is the CEO and co-founder of Egnyte.
Prior to Egnyte, Vineet founded and successfully built Valdero, a supply chain software solution provider, funded by KPCB, MDV and Trinity Ventures.
He has held a rich variety of senior operational positions at KPMG and Bechtel. He has 20 years of experience in building capital-efficient and nimble organizations. Vineet earned a BS in Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering and received an MBA from Santa Clara University.
Links:
We hope you enjoyed Vineet Jain on this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
024 Brand Activism: Christian Sarkar
Why is it so hard for these companies to do what is right and fair? On today’s episode, activist Christian Sarkar joins us. He talks about brand activism and why business leaders need to embrace social causes beyond making money.
Uncontrollable Capitalism
Christian says that we have reached a point where the government can no longer control capitalism. There simply isn’t a set of rules to regulate it. This is peak irony, given how guard rails were put up to prevent a repeat of the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression.
“We have created a culture of governance that is very weak and, by design, has no teeth.” – Christian Sarkar
We have the free market and companies have to play by set, agreed-upon norms. The problem, however, persists. Nobody is addressing the things that endanger not only the economy but the society at large.
Paying Attention to Society
Christian co-authored Brand Activism: From Purpose to Action with Philip Kotler. The book espouses brand activism, something that most companies forget about in their pursuit of capital gains. Capitalism doesn’t pay attention to society enough.
Everyone is so concerned about getting the stocks up, but nobody knows about the three major problems that even the government can’t solve. These include the environment, income inequality, and population control. Neglect these three altogether, and you spell the end of not just your business, but also of the world.
Adopting Brand Activism
It is certainly difficult to create a brand that can lobby for causes that could save the world one person at a time. They don’t teach you charity and social responsibility in a business school. Every time, it is all about maximizing shareholder value.
There are companies who appeal for government funds to protect themselves from the backlash of climate change. The catch is that they have highly contributed to it. It’s time that business leaders choose between stepping up or sitting by the window of this freight train in a collision course.
“This is the problem with market-driven capitalism—that’s just blindly following the pursuit of value extraction.” – Christian Sarkar
To hear more about progressive brand activism and its importance, download and listen to the episode.
Bio:
Christian Sarkar is a Consultant, Author, Entrepreneur, Publisher, Artist, and Activist. With Philip Kotler, he co-authored (“The Father of Modern Marketing) of the bestseller “Brand Activism: From Purpose to Action”. He is also the editor of The Marketing Journal.
Links:
Amazon – Brand Activism: From Purpose to Action
We hope you enjoyed Christian Sarkar on this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
023 Sex & Intimacy w/ Allana Pratt
How does an orgasm relate to the birth of a planet? Intimacy expert Allana Pratt joins us on this special episode. The podcaster slash author shares how she unlocked her sexuality, why sex is sacred, and why our sexual energy is key to a life lived happily.
From Nerdy to Naughty
Allana hadn’t always been the naughty, confident woman that she’s now known for. She started off as the nerdy, insecure girl who always felt out of place. Eventually, she hopped on her uncle’s 18-wheeler semi from British Columbia to Los Angeles to follow her dreams.
She moved to the States and has been a dancer since she was five, doing jazz, ballet, tap, and theater. And instead of taking over their family’s pharmacy, she moved to Tokyo. On her very first show, 19-year-old Allana had to wear a G-string and fishnet tights—something she has never done before.
Coming to Terms with Sexuality
She ought to have enjoyed the experience of her first Tokyo show. But at the time, she hadn’t figured out the sacredness of sexuality just yet. And neither did she own the power of her radiance.
“I believe that our sexual energy is life force energy.” – Allana Pratt
To Allana, a person’s sexual energy is the same energy that spins the planet, blossoms a flower, and creates the birth of a child. And the energy of an orgasm? It’s the very same energy that births a planet.
Beyond the Bedroom
At the core of it, sexual energy is as pure as everything else that makes the world what it is. It’s the root of existence itself within our bodies. When people learn to let go of all judgment to sexuality, they also learn to feel a lot more authentic and safe.
Many of Allana’s clients come to her with shame or guilt, thinking they’re weird or broken because of their sexual desires or the way they choose to have contact. This, she says, is the very reason why she loves to be that safe space for people. When people drop into their bodies and do the work to forgive themselves, there starts to be a buzz that will flow through all aspects of their day-to-day.
“Yes, sometimes the ‘deliciousness’ has a ‘bow chika bow wow’ energy, like a real sexual energy when we think of sensuality in the bedroom. But sometimes, this delicious energy is tenderness, care, healing, patience, listening.” – Allana Pratt
To hear about more on intimacy and relationships and what it means to have Queen Energy, download and listen to the episode.
Bio:
Intimacy expert Allana Pratt inspires open-hearted living with delicious sass. Featured on CBS, TLC & FOX, this cum laude graduate of Columbia University is the author of 3 books. She’s a coach to celebrities and the host of the sexy empowering show “Intimate Conversations LIVE”.
After working with thousands of men and women who struggle to open their hearts again in the aftermath of a harsh breakup, Allana helps them learn how to date again and find lasting love.
She inspires women to embrace their sacred erotic nature to attract all the love and attention they can handle. She heals men’s emasculated hearts, cures their ‘nice guy’, and awakens their ‘noble badass’ so they can create hot, healthy intimate relationships.
Allana’s passionate devotion to helping men and women reclaim their joy, freedom and personal power is rooted in her own experience. Allana grew up insecure, ashamed of her body and afraid of men. She endured a brutal custody battle that threatened to compromise her joy, softness and feminine power.
Yet Allana sat in the fire embracing the experience as a spiritual teacher. She emerged more courageously vulnerable and radiantly loving than ever before.
Allana’s joy for life is contagious. She savors being a mother and pole dances for pleasure.
She challenges and inspires her clients to be unapologetically true to themselves and to bow in reverence to their exquisite spiritual and sexual nature.
Links:
AllanaPratt.com – Intimacy Expert for Men
We hope you enjoyed Allana Pratt on this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
007 Dr. Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell – Secret Lives of Elephants
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Today Christopher talks with Dr. Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell the world’s leading expert on elephants. Dr. O’Connell-Rodwell explains how she discovered that elephants are just like us, they communicate through the ground and what all this means for human beings.
“Are (we) going to allow elephants to exist. Aside from poaching, it’s a land-use issue” – Dr. Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell
Recognizing Boundaries
Like the US/Mexico border issue, elephants struggle with similar issues. They recognize where it’s safe to be, when it’s hunting season and when to sneak into the cornfields when it’s ripe. Like humans, elephants know when is the best time to raid a resource.
“Like humans…the great leaders have an equal balance between carrot and stick. They are respected because they are tough but they are also soft.” – Dr. Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell
Historically humans have always put themselves above other species. We are now at a time in history where we must re-evaluate that paradigm. There are critically endangered species and it’s up to us to decide whether they survive.
Elephant’s and Their Value System
Dr. Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell says they have a value system but it’s also character driven. You have the confident matriarchs that help other elephants if they are in distress and then the young inexperienced ones will become nervous, scream and slap others away.
It’s a similar dynamic with the males, there are the aggressive brutes that others don’t want to follow because they are so aggressive. The leaders are the ones who have balance a good balance between strength and also the ability to be soft. Much the same as in human culture, the elephants with the best balance are followed.
To hear the rest of what Dr. Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell has to say about what we can learn from elephants and why they are so important to our future, download and listen to the entire episode.
Dr. Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell’s Bio:
She has dedicated the past twenty years of her research career studying elephant communication and how their societies are constructed and maintained, resulting in numerous scientific publications.
She is the author of the internationally acclaimed nonfiction science memoir, The Elephant’s Secret Sense (Free Press, 2007), which highlights a novel form of elephant communication as well as the elephant’s conservation plight.
Her photo book, An Elephant’s Life (Lyons Press, Fall 2011) conveys the complicated social lives of elephants through images, and her co-authored, The Elephant Scientist (Houghton-Mifflin, Scientist in the Field series, Summer, 2011), is designed to attract the 6-8th grader to a career in field biology.
Along with over thirty peer-reviewed journal articles, her essays have appeared in a number of popular magazines, including Smithsonian Magazine, The Writer and Africa Geographic.
Her work has been covered by multiple international popular magazines, newspapers, radio shows and documentaries.
Links:
We hope you enjoyed Dr. Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell on this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
006 Jason DeFillippo Great Grumpy Stuff
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Today, podcast legend Jason DeFillippo once again joins Christopher Lochhead to get their grump on. They trade stories of flying robots sulking in space, health-food baby names, and why convenient use of facial recognition is both flabbergasting and questionable.
“I know that feeling that you get when you give up just a little bit of yourself to these people and you just don’t know where it’s gonna end up someday.” – Jason DeFillippo on fear of giving away ID for convenience
The Future is Here
Facial recognition for security checks is a very interesting concept that is bound to happen in the future. But using one’s face as a convenient way of logging into automated systems can be a bit tricky. The margin of error must be very slim, or else the technology could birth a mountain of challenges.
“Everybody’s doing facial recognition, face ID, and things like that. But, nobody’s doing it right.” – Jason DeFillippo
In Atlanta airport, the busiest airport in the world, Delta now allows the use of a passenger’s face as a boarding pass. It is said to be 98% accurate. But the question remains: is 98% good enough?
AI Robot Sulking in Space
The $6M flying robot CIMON was recently reported to be sulking in space. More than a colleague, the robot was to supposed to befriend the team of astronauts in the international space station. But then things have gone awry, like a Tinder date gone wrong.
One day, the robot started playing, “The Man-Machine” by Kraftwerk. One of the astronauts, Gerst, bobbed to the first 46 seconds of the song before giving up and asking the robot to stop. But CIMON hasn’t stopped playing the less pleasant playlist.
“They could’ve tested this on the ground first. You didn’t need to actually send the robot up there to do this.”
“Kale” is Now a Baby Name
There has been a slew of health-food baby names for a while now, like Saffron and Kiwi. But recently, Kale has risen up the ranks as well. It’s not much of a surprise, even if a bit distasteful.
To hear more grump stories, download and listen to the episode.
Bio:
Jason is a full-time podcast producer and editor for The Jordan Harbinger Show as well as the Creator and Co-host of the Grumpy Old Geeks Podcast.
Jason has been building websites since the early days in 1994 for clients that range from small businesses to million dollar websites for blockbuster films to his own start-ups.
In 1994 he created the groundbreaking website Spewww which was nominated for a Webby in the first year the awards were held in 1998. In 1995 a new media company in Santa Monica moved him out to Los Angeles to build the first website for Epson America. Since then Jason has launched over 250 websites for major corporations like Paramount Pictures, Sony, Warner Brothers, and Disney.
He also created the two time SXSW Weblog Award winning Blogrolling service as well as co-founded the global blog network Metroblogging. He has worked at several startups in San Francisco including Technorati and 8020 Media, the publishers of JPGMagazine.com, and statistical aggregator Metricly.
Links:
Some of the topics covered:
- US airport opens first fully biometric terminal
- There’s an AI robot sulking in the international space station
- “Kale” is a baby name now
- Marriott’s breach response is so bad, security experts are filling in the gaps — at their own expense
- AI News Anchor Makes Debut In China
- Dude uses drone to catch cheating wife, does play, by play on You Tube
We hope you enjoyed Jason DeFillippo on this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
005 Dushka Zapata and Heather Clancy – Niche Down: The Power of Being Different
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Why is Niche Down, a book meant to be shared with everyone, so personal to its authors? On this episode, Dushka Zapata and Heather Clancy join Christopher to talk niching down, why being different is a superpower, and so much more.
Starting Out Differently While Young
Christopher, half the dynamic duo behind Niche Down, had to deal with what makes him different quite early. He knew he was smart in certain areas and not so much in some. Reconciling his weaknesses and strengths proved very difficult.
“My life has been one giant dichotomy, one giant bipolar adventure.” – Christopher Lochhead
He was highly talented in music and drama but got 4 out a 100 in math. It wasn’t until he was enrolled to a fine arts school that he finally gained his footing. Around the same time, he began to realize, in waves over time, that being himself was the way out of everything.
Looking at Different Things
Then there is Heather, the kid who was brought up to be a well-rounded student. She was amazing at math, in fact taking advanced classes on pre-calculus and physics. While she was programmed in different ways, she knew that she wanted to pursue the creative field.
Heather could have gone in so many directions she was shoved into. Her parents encouraged her to look at different things. But she was never one to jump off a cliff on her own accord.
A Natural Intersection
Heather and Christopher have known each other for 25 years. In their many interviews, Heather realized that Christopher did a lot of the pushing.
Their friendship bloomed from Heather’s penchant for asking questions that helped Christopher change his thesis on a lot of things. Other times, she helped him form a messaging of things that he wasn’t ready for just yet. Coupled with her fascination with entrepreneurship, they eventually became a team.
“I was always so interested in helping those people tell their stories… What makes you different? What did you choose to do that? So when he (Christopher) thought about this book, it just sort of was a natural intersection, I think.” – Heather Clancy
To hear more about the conception of Niche Down and Duska’s microscopic examination of Heather and Christopher’s team-up, download and listen to the episode.
Bio:
Heather Clancy
Heather is a long-time celebrated journalist and co-author of Niche Down.
Dushka Zapata
Dushka is one of the famous writers in the Q&A platform, Quora.
Links:
We hope you enjoyed Dushka Zapata and Heather Clancy on this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
004 Andre Iguodala – NBA Legend
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What does it take to become an NBA World Champion with a team built on a culture of fun and dedication? Finals MVP Andre Iguodala of the Golden State Warriors joins us today to give an insider’s view. How do you come up with a thoughtful life design?
Finding His Way to the Bay
Before he joined the Warriors, Andre had seen his fair share of rainy and muggy days. It was during that time that he chose to sit back and watch basketball a lot. Seeing his opponents and the certain kind of joy they had, he soon realized that he wanted to be in a place where he could enjoy basketball.
“I just paid attention and it’s kind of being aware of your surroundings. That’s what kind of brought me here.” – Andre Iguodala
Strengthening the Team’s Core
Warriors’ head coach, Steve Kerr understood the ups and downs of playing in the NBA. The environment and mood of the team ultimately affect performance on the court. As coach, he gave the players the freedom to enjoy what they do.
Everyone appreciates this mentality that the coach has. He’s all about supporting everyone and wanting them to succeed. This strong core enables them to build a culture that is key to their success as a team.
Success from Building Culture
A lot of people would say that in order to have success, you need to have the best talent. This is true. But Andre has seen other teams with strong individual talents that fall apart from the lack of a great match of personalities and well-founded culture.
“You can have all the talent in the world but if you don’t have the right culture, their personalities don’t fit, there’s just gonna be a lot of dysfunction.” – Andre Iguodala
There’s plenty of factors that come into play when aiming for success. And a team should act like a machine, with its members on the same page, on the same path, and moving at the same pace.
“What the team has been able to do here is find the right personalities to fit the culture that we have built here.” – Andre Iguodala on the Warriors
To hear more about the Warriors, Andre’s business sense, and his investment in Silicon Valley, download and listen to the episode.
Bio:
Andre Iguodala is a professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an NBA All-Star in 2012 and named to the NBA All-Defensive Team twice.
He won a championship with the Warriors in 2015. Andre was also named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player that year. He was also a member of the gold-winning national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and 2012 Summer Olympics. (Source: Andre Iguodala- Wikipedia)
Links:
We hope you enjoyed Andre Iguodala on this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!
