Disrupt Yourself Podcast With Whitney Johnson

My guest is Karla Ballard, the CEO and co-founder of YING, a peer-to-peer skill sharing platform that allows you to trade time rather than money for services (also known as a time bank). Karla’s first experience in “banking” was of a much more traditional variety—after graduating from the University of Virginia she was hired by MBNA America and soon after was selected to participate in their management development program. This gave her the opportunity to rotate positions throughout the entire company, and while working in the marketing department in Wilmington, Delaware, Karla became involved in a community program to teach youth financial literacy as a way of combating juvenile delinquency. Karla was able to take the bank’s interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and combine it with her commitment to the community to produce real-life results beyond a simple donation. Feeling the entrepreneurial itch, Karla created a consulting practice to work with local non-profit organizations on their strategy

For most graduates, a steady job is a dream come true (bonus points if it comes with good pay). When Shachar Orren completed her two-year mandatory service in the Israeli army, her parents thought she had achieved that dream: she was offered a full-time job working in military intelligence, with steady work, excellent compensation, and a healthy dose of prestige.                                                 She would be crazy to leave…right? But when a job popped up at her favorite magazine, Shachar leapt at the chance to become what she had wanted to be since she was a little girl—a writer. Despite conventional wisdom saying that she would be better off staying in military intelligence, Shachar knew that the best road to happiness was the one right in front of her. For complete show notes and links from this episode, visit https://whitneyjohnson.com/shachar-orren

My guest today is Harold O’Neal, a Tanzanian-born American pianist, film score composer, and record producer who has worked with the likes of U2, Jay-Z and Disney. I met Harold at a Silicon Guild/Black Sheep event a couple of months ago, and I was shocked by the amount of talent that effortlessly emanated from him. Whether performing an improvised jazz piece or Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, Harold merges with the instrument, almost maddening in his ability to use the music as a mirror for his soul. After struggle in his early hears came personal success, including playing with U2 in Ireland for Amnesty International and composing music for Disney’s “Tomorrowland” movie, Harold is now working with John Sviokla, author of The Self-Made Billionaire Effect, to show corporations and companies how to find the voice of their customer. It’s a workshop that involves music (of course), and Harold generously demonstrates a piece of that workshop on the show today.  For full show notes and links from this episode, visit http

My guest today is Tiffani Bova, speaker, author, thought-leader, and Growth and Innovation Evangelist at Salesforce. Her book, “Growth IQ: Get Smarter About the Choices That Will Make or Break Your Business” comes out this week, and after reading an advance copy I was thrilled to have the opportunity to sit down and go over some of the highlights with her. Tiffani likes to say that she is a recovering seller, because while she no longer carries a sales quota she still “bleeds sales blood.” Growing up on the islands of Hawaii, Tiffani early on had a mentor who showed her the ropes of business beyond learning about supply chains and P&L. One lesson became deeply embedded in her mind—experience is king. For links from this episode and further takeaways, visit https://whitneyjohnson.com/tiffani-bova

In today's episode, we will be discussing just one of the seven points of personal disruption: embracing constraints. All too often we find ourselves saying, "If only I had more time, more money, more health, expertise. If only Oprah were my fairy godmother, I could get something done!" And yet, when we take a moment to examine the role constraints play in the creative process and in our lives, we frequently find that they aren't a check on absolute freedom, but a tool of creation. With me to discuss this topic today is Orson Scott Card, an American novelist who has authored 70 books (and counting), best known for his work in science fiction. One might think that such a prolific author has very little to worry about in the way of constraints, but Orson Scott Card disagrees. “My favorite genre is romantic comedy or satiric comedy. But I never get to write that because, I have to make a certain income level, and the market for my work is generally within the science fiction and fantasy genre. When I step out of

Benjamin Spall keeps his phone in the kitchen at night.  As co-author of the book “My Morning Routine: How Successful People Start Every Day Inspired,” and mymorningroutine.com, Benjamin has heard many highly successful people highlight the importance of keeping their phone away from them while they sleep. However, it still took over four years for Benjamin to finally adopt the practice. “It’s interesting that you can be given the same piece of information from many different people over and over and over again, but it’ll take you a while for that information to actually sink in and for you to do it.”  While the concept of morning routines is discussed widely today, back in 2012 it was mostly unrecognized in the field of personal development. After interviewing over three hundred individuals about their daily habits, Benjamin has a firm grasp on what routine actions can positively impact a person’s day. Separating yourself from your cell phone is only one element out of many: what time you wake up, what you d

My guest today is Peter Bregman, CEO and founder of Bregman Partners and author of the new book, Leading with Emotional Courage. In his book, Peter expands on the idea that if leaders are willing to feel everything they will build better teams and accomplish more difficult tasks. It’s a labor of love for Peter, who hopes that the book will help others become more willing to examine their feelings and be present in each moment.  “I've spent a lot of time trying to close the gaps between what we want to have happen in the world and what happens in the world, and how we want to be in the world and how we are. What we want to do in the world and what we end up doing. And there's a huge gap…there's constantly a gap and I'm trying to close it for myself; I'm trying to live up to my own expectations, and, and I'm trying to help other people close it.” I found many inspiring and fascinating nuggets in Peter’s book, as well as this interview, and I hope after you listen to this podcast you take the time to track down

If Caroline Webb looks a little tired or stressed, there is a good chance that someone will eventually turn to her and ask (with their tongue in their cheek), “Are you having a bad day, Caroline?” Caroline laughs when she recounts this, because as the author of the book “How to Have a Good Day,” she knows that people are watching her. All joking aside, Caroline Webb has made a name for herself in helping others reframe their day and find ways to look on the bright side. As the CEO and founder of the consulting firm Sevenshift, Caroline spends her days coaching companies, teams and individuals on how small behavioral changes can lead to lasting professional satisfaction and success. Originally a public policy analyst, Caroline recognized in her twenties that she was drawn to the “people side” of economics, and began maneuvering her way into responsibilities more in line with that interest than what she had worked on previously. Shifting to the private sector, she joined the team at the management consulting fi

My guest is Carine Clark, CEO of Banyan, a company that helps medical practices engage with their patients. A three-time CEO, she's been awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Technology in the Utah region, as well as Utah CEO of the Year. On top of all her many career accomplishments, Carine is also a mother and cancer survivor. Truthfully, Carine moved quickly through problems even before her cancer diagnosis. Looking at her career path is akin to looking at a game of Chutes and Ladders—she would seemingly slip down a few steps, choosing to take a job below her existing pay grade, only to rise far above everyone else in a short time frame. From large companies to small startups and back up again, Carine was not afraid to step back to slingshot forward, even if she appeared crazy to everyone else. Nestled into her career success is also Carine’s amazing battle with cancer, which we discuss in the podcast and I hope inspires you as much as it has inspired me. Show notes and links: https://w

My guest today is Philip Sheppard, composer, cellist, inventor, and a professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. How do I unpack everything from this episode? Philip is an engaging conversationalist, and coupled with his British accent (let’s face it, in America that carries a lot of weight) I feel like we could have easily expanded this episode to twice the length of the final cut. Philip has led what I consider a dynamic and interesting life, peppered with stories of dinner parties with royalty and recording music in the famous Abbey Road Studio One with microphones used by the Beatles. Phillip says he doesn’t have a “real job,” but he nevertheless is able to make the best of situations and do what needs to be done to be successful. Like many of us, he suffers from imposter syndrome, but instead of allowing that to prevent him from moving forward he leans in and learns whatever he needs to in order to accomplish the impossible. Full show notes at https://whitneyjohnson.com/philip-sheppard

Last year I held a special live coaching session with Stacy Olsen Distefano, and at the end of the episode I put out a call to my listeners to see if anyone else felt brave enough to take the leap. Michelle Seymour Smith answered the call, and today you will hear another live coaching session that digs down deep into what motivates Michelle, what holds her back, and what she can do to disrupt herself. Sometimes when we hear about people disrupting themselves we imagine huge, sweeping changes. In Michelle’s case, she’s not looking to change companies or move, or even change jobs. She simply wants to take deliberate steps to make her feel like she’s empowering herself at work. She loves the company she works for. Having joined the team in its early days as a startup, Michelle feels an immense sense of achievement to see how much it has grown, and looking back she can see what an important role she played in that growth. It quickly became apparent that Michelle is not looking for a completely new path—she alread

Today’s guest is Zach Obront, co-founder of Scribe (formerly Book in a Box), a company that helps entrepreneurs and innovators turn their ideas into a book. When Zach Obront was in college, he started a high school. A bit silly? Possibly, in retrospect. But Zach has never had an issue with out-of-the-box thinking. The next company he created, Handy Monkey, was a mold removal company he started when he realized that mold removal companies in Toronto did not understand the ins-and-outs of SEO and internet advertising. He and his partner wanted to prove to the skeptical owners of these companies that internet marketing would solve many of their problems, and the only way they could think to prove that was to create a company themselves and make it profitable. “[E]ventually what we decided was the only way we were gonna be able to kind of make that change in that industry, is just to do it end to end, and show them that the Internet works, and therefore, we can generate leads, and therefore, we can build a team,

We are pleased to welcome Nate and Vanessa Quigley, the husband and wife team behind Chatbooks, a revolutionary method of printing photo books that focuses on helping families quickly (and economically) tell their story. In the past four years, Chatbooks has grown from a small start-up to a company that employs over 140 people and has sold over 5,000,000 books worldwide. Chatbooks is not the Quigley’s first entrepreneurial venture; in fact, it’s not even the first photo-centric business that Nate has developed. Twenty years ago Nate pitched the idea to Vanessa that they should produce a scrapbooking supply catalog. Vanessa, an avid scrap booker, was enthusiastic about the idea, but the reality of starting a business was too cost prohibitive at the time. As with most business stories, timing is everything, and both Nate and Vanessa admit that this idea for Chatbooks came at the right place and time, but in order for it to work their entire lives had to be disrupted. Vanessa had never participated in any of Nat

When Sloane Davidson graduated from college, there was a plan. Having just completed a post-college trek around Europe, Sloane was excited to leave Pittsburgh and start her new adventure working at a resort, the next stepping stone on her path to conquer the dining services industry.  She was due to start work in Florida on September 15… 2001. When the 9/11 terrorist attack occurred in New York City, Sloane’s plans came to a grinding halt. Beyond flights being cancelled and the tourism industry in general tanking, Sloane found that she didn’t want to leave her family. “I sheltered in. Like, I wanted to be home. I wanted to pick up my sisters from school. I wanted to eat dinner with my family…and I just really felt thrown off from whatever it was that I thought I was doing, even if it wasn’t very serious or…a big job. And I contemplated a whole lot of different career paths.“ When we talk about disruption, it is typically in a very personal context. What Sloane, and many others of her generation, experienced w

My guest today is Chester Elton, the New York Times bestselling co-author of The Carrot Principle, which has sold over 1.5 million copies to date. He has been described by the Toronto Globe and Mail as “an apostle of appreciation,” a moniker which he has whole-heartedly embraced. Coming from an athletic and competitively-minded family, Chester has always seen value in recognizing individual accomplishments. While selling televisions in New York City Chester was given the opportunity to work as a recognition program salesman to pharmaceutical companies, a service he felt was not only necessary in the corporate world, but noble. Chester soon approached his boss about a potential way to increase sales: write a book. If their company could be seen as a “thought-leader,” clients would come to them, hopefully in droves. His boss was very excited about the idea, but there was a catch: he wanted Chester to write the book. “He goes, ‘I love that idea.’ He says, ‘Write the book.’ And I said, ‘Kent, you give me these c

My guest today is Laura Vanderkam, an expert on time management who's 2016 TED Talk "How to Gain Control of Your Free Time" has been viewed over 5 million times. She is the author of several books on time management, including Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done, which was released in May of this year. Laura did not go to college to become a time management guru. She admits to a mild interest in productivity, having read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People at a young age, but it wasn't until she had to balance having a child and building a journalism career that she began to look at how people spent their time. What Laura found was that much of the narrative surrounding how people spend their time isn't very accurate. While many people believe that they are busy and never have time for anything, the truth is that if something unexpected happened--such as a water heater breaking or a basement flooding--we are all able to "magically" create more time in our schedule to handle the emerg

Today’s guest is Pat Flynn, a highly successful blogger and podcaster who teaches people how to make a “Smart Passive Income.” Some people choose disruption, but many times disruption comes when we least expect it. In 2008, Pat Flynn was happy with his life. Working as the youngest Job Captain in the history of his architectural firm, he was on track for his dream occupation—world famous architect. When the national economic crisis hit Irvine, Pat found himself suddenly without a job and without any realistic prospects for employment. He wasn’t sure where to go or what to do when a timely podcast changed his life forever. “I discovered a show called “Internet Business Mastery,” and one of the first episodes I listened to was…a guy being interviewed on that show, who was making six figures a year helping people pass the PM Exam, or the Project Management Exam. And that was my first kind of “Aha!” moment in all this…I took a number of exams to get to where I’m at now, and one of them in particular, which was

Our guest today is June Cohen, a pioneer in the web industry for her work at HotWired (the web division of Wired magazine), author of “The Unusually Useful Web Book,” and the force behind bringing the informational and often inspirational “TED Talks” online and out to the world. She confounded WaitWhat?, a content incubator to develop original media properties over time, and the podcast “Masters of Scale,” which explores the theories behind how companies grow and scale their business. June Cohen has always been “hopelessly interested in everything.” Travel, graphic design, theater, writing, web technology, journalism—June wants it all. In college, she changed her major several times before landing on political science, meanwhile completing full minors in human biology, African American studies, and anthropology. She has a seemingly natural ability to succeed at everything, and while it makes me jealous, it also raises the question: without the constraint of only being good at a few things, how does she get an

In 1988, college student Jonathan Bush climbed on top of a pile of wooden slats in the middle of an unfinished housing development and looked out over a gathering of political volunteers, “Okay,” he announced. “Here’s how it’s gonna go. My name is Jonathan Bush, and we in the next four days are gonna win this election.” “This election” was for his uncle, George H.W. Bush, in his first campaign for president. Jonathan didn’t think much of the speech at the time; he’d given thousands of such stump speeches to volunteers before, and would go on to give many more before the campaign was over. However, months later, after the White House had been won and his uncle sworn in as President, Jonathan had more than one person tell him that his speech was a seminal event for the campaign. “I mean I did everything wrong. But I had been allowed a little bit like Gladwell to have my ten thousand hours of speech giving, and then it mattered all of a sudden and I was on top of this pile of sticks that I had created…I had gon

A silly little thing that takes over the world—to me, this is the simplest definition of a disruptor. My guest today is Becky Douglas, and her “silly little thing,” which began at her kitchen table with a handful of friends, has gone on to change the lives of thousands of individuals in India and beyond.   After a family tragedy disrupted her life, Becky, a mother of nine children, found herself in India on the path to adopting a beloved tenth child. While there she was appalled to see the prevalence of beggars on the street, due in large part to those with leprosy being shunned and having no other avenue for survival. Becky had assumed, as many Americans do, that leprosy was no longer a problem in the world, but after only ten days in India, Becky knew that somebody needed to do something to help.  “When I got home I couldn’t sleep. Those images just haunted me at night. And I remember, I just kept thinking, gosh, why doesn’t somebody do something? Are there really millions of people that live this way? So f