Afleveringen
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Today weâre speaking of all things sweet in life, with French trained pastry chef, and Group Head Pastry Chef at Black Star Pastry, Arnaud Vodounou.
Arnaud describes how his six year long training in Paris, covering all the basics of pastry making, gave him the foundation to be confident, flexible and creative in his craft today. A kind of intensive training that is rarely seen today.
Despite his extensive training, Arnaud hesitated when offered his first opportunity as head pastry chef, initially turning it down from fear of letting others down. (A type of humility that is arguably also missing today.) Jo and Arnaud discuss how others' confidence in our potential can push us into places we didn't think possible for ourselves.
Now a confident expert in his field, Arnaud speaks to the importance of continuing to look for creative inspiration for innovation, not just in coming up with new products but in improving the technical processes that form the foundation of pastry making. He describes this kind of creativity as the ability to improve with modern techniques but without a quality compromise. Chefs around the world are doing this and sharing new methods with each other today, which Arnaud says is a critical part of innovation for a traditional field that benefits from open collaboration.
Having worked as pastry chef - including at 2 Michelin star Parisian restaurant Taillevent - across France, Switzerland, Vietnam and Australia, Arnaud also speaks to diversity of experience he has lived, alongside personal learnings of adapting his approach as a leader. Pastry making after all is a precise art, but like everything in life, knowledge is gained through living and learning through failure.
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To look outside, Arnaud travels, either physically or online. Pastry is always in his head and anything can spark his curiosity to create something new and "sensational". But to do this Arnaud says it's important to be observational, to keep your head up and look out, because travel gives you access to different products and techniques no matter where you are.
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Arnaud Vodounou is Group head Pastry Chef for Black Star Pastry, based in Sydney Australia.
With over 16 years of global experience in the culinary arts, Arnaud has cultivated exquisite desserts across many prestigious establishments worldwide. Originating from France, his started his career in Paris, where Arnaud was quickly appointed the Head Pastry Chef at the famous Le Taillevent, a 3 Michelin star restaurant at the age of 24. Arnaud went on to work as the Executive Pastry Chef at the Grand Hotel Kempinski in Geneva, then taking a role as the Executive Pastry Chef at Aman Resorts in Vietnam. His career took him to Melbourne Australia in 2014 where he worked as the Executive Head Pastry Chef at local icon Chez Dre and Bibelot. Arnaud then took a pivotal role as the Group Executive Pastry Chef at George Calombarisâ Made Establishment, across multiple locations.
Arnaud's next venture took him to Sydney Australia where he currently oversees Blackstar Pastry, managing all pastry operations for multiple boutique stores across Australia, including Black Star Pastry's iconic Strawberry Watermelon Cake, acclaimed as the world's most Instagrammed cake.
Driven by the pursuit of perfection, Arnaud remains dedicated to elevating the pastry experience and continuous innovation. With a wealth of experience and an unwavering commitment to excellence, he continues to redefine the boundaries of pastry craftsmanship.
Follow Arnaud on InstagramCheck out Black Star... -
Data Scholar Michael Clark joins Looking Outside to discuss the value behind the data we collect and how the definition of data is changing.
Michael is a futurist focused on data, a digital payment and open banking and Vice President of Global Digital Transformation at Mastercard. His interest in the interconnection of data to other aspects of our lives has led him to become a leading voice in this space and to write a book on the topic. To explore the topic, he starts quite simply by defining what data even is. Speaking to how dataâs origin as a gift, quite literally the meaning of the word being datum or gift, has changed over time, Michael contextualizes not just what the concept of data is but how our relationship with it has changed.
There is a difference between holding data as a highly valuable thing, which captures peopleâs unique memories and stories, with viewing data as a byproduct of a transaction or a statistic. This changing idea or re-evaluation of data has meant we have lost sight of what the value behind that data is, or as Michael puts it, quite literally giving our âgiftâ away.
In observing the signals of change in the world, Michael says this is not what the future holds for data. Rethink the concept of data means economies may change based on the value thatâs ascribed to data, greater granularity may be ascribed to the true âcostâ of things and we may be able to even measure what is today unmeasurable.
Through his research for the book heâs writing, âData Revolutionâ, Michael provides a glimpse of the future of data, where it is more representative of your identity, where open and democratized systems provide greater sharing of economic rewards and where holders of data are required to operate more ethically as a cost of doing business.
Jo and Michael also discuss the role of private organizations in evaluating what data they even need to collect in the first place, as they look to build first party data loyalty programs. If an individual is re-evaluating how their data is used and the previously hidden value in it, how should companies be thinking about the future customer and the relationship they have with customer data?
Michael stresses the point of asking hard questions when it comes to data, particularly as the systems around it â like GDP driven by limited data capture, or even capitalism itself â are coming into question. Itâs what Michael says will help us better understand the interconnected nature of technology to every other system that maintains our livelihoods. As well as the role of experts in democratizing knowledge on the topic; as Michael says, âWhen you know stuff you have a duty of care to give back, to work with governments and regulators to help them understand itâ.
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To look outside, Michael gets outside, literally - out of his own head, into fresh air. This not only helps him get outside himself, but the forced push to stop what he's doing helps him to come back to it better focused. Michael says it's important to be comfortable stopping and simply doing nothing.
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Michael Clark is a data scholar, seasoned industry advisor, and innovation evangelist with over two decades of experience in cutting-edge technology solutions. Leading the data charge, Michael is redefining value and preparing institutions and governments for a future they havenât even envisioned. His upcoming book, Data Revolution: The New Currency of You, is a roadmap that will decode the world of data and prepare you for the data revolution.
Part of the Digital Labs leadership team at Mastercard, Michael leads Global Digital Transformation with a mandate to drive Disruptive Innovation, Agile Principles, and execution of Mastercardâs Digital vision, whilst also accelerating our clientâs digital...
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Today we welcome Elena Doms, climate tech leader and head of Earth Plus, on Looking Outside to discuss the progress and positive action taking place in the field of climate tech.
Having spent 11 years at Mastercard on the corporate side, and now in the entrepreneur space in a start up, Elena brings with her a pragmatic and motivating perspective to driving impact in the climate space through partnership with companies big and small.
Elena speaks to how she approaches climate change topics through an optimistic lens, despite the fact that the climate crisis is escalating and is riddled with anxiety and delayed by hardship. She says not despite this but because of it, climate innovation is becoming easier, because itâs no longer an issue that can be ignored but justifies a change in behavior and accelerates investment.
Called a speaker who delivers âgoosebumpsâ with her talks, Elena shares how her stories about climate change are intentionally personal, recalling her time growing up in the Arctic (now classified a zone of risk) and calling to personal stories she finds interesting in the climate innovation space that resonate with people. While the data and facts are important, she says what every one wants is a story with hope at the end. And for that to be told by someone whose values are visible and relatable. Elena says public platforms of communication help to enable this - especially for young people, or people who want to be taken more seriously.
Elena also recounts how the idea for her start up, Earth Plus, an organization designed to clean the planet from pollutants using nature based solutions, began, inspired by tragically true research on forever chemicals in Belgium and their impact on peopleâs health. She says she has developed tremendous respect for people who run their own start ups as the expectation of progress and pace of innovation is at a level she hadnât experienced in the big corporate world.
On the big corporates, Jo and Elena discuss the pointlessness of pointing fingers, particularly at people in big corporations, as these businesses are full of funding and resourcing needed to help collaborate to scale climate innovation. Elena also stresses these organizations are full of people who want to make a difference. The challenge, she highlights, is in creating a compelling case for investment with every stakeholderâs interest in mind. As she puts it, making climate investment âthe candy everyone wantsâ.
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To look outside, Elena follows people in the climate space that she can learn from. She calls it a dynamic fast developing area and reminds herself not to be arrogant enough to not think she knows everything. She also reads books in different and unconnected areas and considers how to connect them into the climate space to enable unique ideas from contrasting topics.
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Elena Doms was born and raised in the Arctic. She spent 18 years there, surrounded by ice and boreal forests, witnessing climate change happen right in front of her.
Throughout her career Elena led an NGO, focusing on social impact. Worked as a Director at Mastercard, merging digital and sustainable transformations. Led teams up to 500 people and became a LinkedIn influencer with a video series âWhatâs new in Sustainability this week in 1 minâ.
Seeing her childhood home melt away and becoming a mother inspired Elena to quit her corporate job in search for real impact. In partnership with C-biotech, she launched Earth Plus, a start-up with a crazy bold mission: To create the largest soil & CO2 cleanup in history with nature. Earth Plus team collaborates with scientists to clean soils from chemical pollution and capture CO2 with plants. These plants are then turned into local circular construction materials that help decarbonize our...
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In this episode of Looking Outside, weâre exploring Culture and the role of brands leveraging or influencing it, with University of Michigan marketing professor and best selling author of For the Culture, Dr Marcus Collins.
Marcus has one foot in Academia and the other in marketing practice, having led strategy Wieden+Kennedy New York, which allowed him to go deep on the theory and science of culture, while helping brands to understand those systems of cultural norms to activate their marketing strategies in a more relevant and impactful way. To be able to balance the theory and practice, Marcus studied the social sciences, making his knowledge of culture less shallow and deeply nuanced.
On the show, Marcus explains how culture is shaped, defined and cultivated by people, to create uniformity and ânormalityâ. Because culture is a curation process to find others like us and create synergy in commonalities, Marcus explains that the curation process evolves from the definitions of âhow to behaveâ that youâre born into (that are ascribed to you), through to the cultures to subscribe to once youâre older.
Jo and Marcus discuss the challenge for marketers to more deeply understanding human beings, their values and behaviors (which often do not match) in the effort to predict human responses and effectively persuade towards a favorite action for our brands. To achieve this, Marcusâ advice is to follow the path of least resistance; to seek out the âcollective of the willingâ as he calls them, those people who are already leaning into the behaviors youâre looking to amplify. Itâs a marketers job to spot those collectives and to reflect in their work things that make these people feel âseenâ. This requires a certain level of intimacy with the customer that goes beyond easy segmentation by demographics or even psychographics.
In a world where brands are more intertwined with popular, social and sometimes political issues, itâs important to know what you stand for, your role to play and your right to play in responding to cultural movements (or not responding, purposefully). Marcus stresses that first and foremost brand owners must pay attention to changes in culture, because the mainstream, normal or âmiddleâ customer base is not necessarily representative of your future customer. After all, everything that started in the fringes, that was once small or weird, later became popular.
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To look outside, Marcus speaks to his nine year old daughter to get her transparent and unfiltered perspective. Her responses help Marcus poke a hole in the wall as she usually sees something that he does not see.
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Dr. Marcus Collins is an award-winning marketer and cultural translator with one foot in the world of practiceâserving as the Chief Strategy Officer at Wieden+Kennedy New Yorkâand one foot in the world of academiaâas a marketing professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. He has spent his career translating culture for brands and translating brands for culture, becoming the architect of some of the best-known advertising campaigns of our time. Marcus has championed strategies for blue chip brands such as McDonaldâs, Apple, Google, State Farm, Target, Peloton, and Budweiser, and even ran digital strategy for Beyonce. His honors include being an AAF Advertising Hall of Achievement Inductee, 2022 Cannes Lions Jury Member, a member of the 2023 Thinkers50 Radar Class and one of the favorite professors of the University of Michigan MBA class of 2022. He is also the recipient of Advertising Ageâs 40 Under 40 award and Crainâs Businessâ 40 Under 40 award.
His much-anticipated book, âFor the Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and Who We Want to Beâ, examines the influence of culture on consumption and unpacks how everyone from marketers to activists...
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Today weâre talking about catapulting your career into unexpected places, driven by self-reflection, self-determinism, and a recognition of your own self-limitations, with change advocate, and Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine, Jason Feifer.
Speaking to a range of successful entrepreneurs is a part of Jason's day job, but he's also a bit of a start-up thinker himself. Aside from his role as editor, Jason is a podcast host, newsletter writer, speaker, start up advisor, book author ⊠and perhaps most importantly, a reinventor, describing himself as an all purpose swiss army knife.
Rather than staying in the specialty field he had worked to define himself an expert in, Jason chose to rethink, and reconsider, who he was to people, to live up to the largest opportunity in front of him. Jason says a good starting point is to better understand yourself by creating a mission statement, not for what you do but what youâre skilled in and what you can uniquely create.
Jo and Jason also discuss working through trepidation that perhaps your success is a fleeting moment in time. That it may be a fluke, specific to the context, or unrepeatable. (A worry many successful people hold.) Jason advocates for sitting with the things you are good at and not discounting and offloading your strengths.
Jason also explores the role of nostalgia as a change barrier. The past provides comfort and predictability, but also the false belief that things from our past were better than what the future can bring. He says, âThe problem isnât changing but in defining yourself too narrowly" within the comfort of what was.
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To look outside, Jason leverages his trusted network who he can be vulnerable with. These are people who he can âthink out loudâ with, who give him honest feedback on ideas, and help him get out of his own head.
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Jason Feifer is the editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine, a podcast host, book author, keynote speaker, startup advisor, and nonstop optimism machine. His goal is to help you become more resilient and adaptable in a world of constant change â so you can seize new opportunity before anyone else does!
Find out more about Jason jasonfeifer.comSign up to Jason's newsletterBuy Jason's book, Build for Tomorrow on Amazon Listen to the Build for Tomorrow Podcast and the Help Wanted podcast Follow Jason on LinkedIn>>>
Looking Outside is a podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. The show is hosted by its creator, Joanna Lepore, consumer goods innovator and futurist at McDonald's. Find out more at looking-outside.com.
Connect with Jo and join the Looking Outside community on LinkedIn.
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All views are that of the host and guests and donât necessarily reflect those of their employers....
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On this episode of Looking Outside we explore the reality and risk behind the hype of AI, with Executive Director of the Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University, Founder of Open Insights, Data Scientist and AI expert, Usama Fayyad.
Usama has been in the field of AI for three decades and has lived through three AI hype peaks followed by three winters. In this conversation he contextualizes how the current infatuation with the âeloquenceâ of data-driven AI stacks up.
Usama first points to an important problem with AI - not with the algorithm but with the data sets that inform the outputs. As the first person to ever hold a Chief Data Officer title, Usama stresses how critical it is to scrutinize the data sets that are feeding the algorithm, as these large data sets are really the breakthrough in this wave of AI, he says, not the machine learning advancements, and the data is filled with errors.
Jo and Usama discuss the onus of the user in not over relying on the AI for our thinking, as the risk here is equally in erroneous output as it is in missing the âtrue contributionâ behind the source material. Usama puts this plainly to say AI has the potential to speed up banal tasks but can, for other tasks, be completely inappropriate â particularly when these require critical thinking and finding whatâs between the lines. The algorithm is auto completing answers based on information fed into it: that information may be incorrectly summarized, incompletely inputted, biased, misrepresented or just plain incorrect.
Usama says the user must be aware and in control, because at the moment most generative AI tools are like black boxes that hold things nobody understands. And when the AI gets it wrong, itâs up to us to catch the mistakes, otherwise a world of hurt in the form of misinformation, misrepresentation and perpetuation of bias lies ahead.
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Jump to key points in the episode:
4:28 The true advancements of AI and the current hype cycle8:22 Data curation that leads to misinformation, bias and unpredictability 12:40 Impact on critical thinking with over-reliance on AI16:30 Irresponsible and inappropriate use of AI22:00 Dangerous versus safe application via new tools25:00 Deepfakes, misinformation and disinformation by bad actors>>>
To look outside Usama works to catch his own bias â bias built on his personal experience, training, and business objective. He does this by taking a situation and trying to see its effect on someone's live he wouldn't normally consider. This forces him to consider interesting aspects he wouldn't otherwise like social and ethical impacts that may arise. He marries this with talking to people, specifically in asking questions he knows the answer to, seeking to understand why a different answer may be given.
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Usama joined Northeastern University Khoury College of Computer Science as Professor of the Practice, and the Office of the Provost as the Inaugural Executive Director of the Institute for Experiential AI. He continues as Chairman of Open Insights, a company he founded as a technology and consulting firm in 2008 after leaving Yahoo! to enable enterprises to get value out of their data assets and optimize or create new business models based on the new evolving economy of interactions.
He was the first person to hold the Chief Data Officer title when Yahoo! acquired his second startup in 2004. At Yahoo! he built the Strategic Data Solutions group and founded Yahoo! Research Labs. He has held leadership roles at Microsoft and founded the Machine Learning Systems group at NASAâs Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Usama has published over 100 technical articles on data mining, data science, AI/ML, and databases. He holds...
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Looking Outside comes to you LIVE from the Dubai Future Forum, the largest gathering of futurists in the world.
In this conversation we talk about disruptive technology and transformative blue sky innovation with Airbus Senior Vice President and Head of Disruptive Research and Technology, Dr Grzegorz (Greg) Ombach.
Greg describes the mindset shift he experienced in leading innovative transformation across various industries, each with their own lifecycle - from Telecommunications with 1 to 2 year innovation cycles, then to Automotive where it moved out to 7-10 years and now in the Aerospace industry where he has 30-50 years in sight. As Greg considers future disruption, he is looking out to the next 50 years with a clear goal in mind. For Airbus, this takes the ambition of the company from accessible air travel, to sustainable air travel, and then to aerospace.
Greg describes how this focus on transformation through disruptive technology requires active monitoring and proactive imagining. At Airbus, this is enabled firstly by enlisting open and curious people called 'Scouts' whose role it is to spot new trends across varied regions. These people are inhouse engineers who have a finger on the pulse of the air travel and aerospace ecosystem in which they operate daily and are therefore in the best position to assess the viability of the trends for the business. Accompanying this is the center of research where the 'Blue Sky Thinkers' live. Their job is to come up with moonshot ideas that are turned into pilots.
Jo and Greg also discuss the need to look more broadly, assessing a product based on its ecosystem - what keeps the structure standing on the outside as well as the components that keep it relevant on the inside.
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If Greg was not a futurist, he would be sailing around the world. He gets energy and drive from exploring new places, from discovering new places and being able to adjust the course based on the conditions.
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Dr Grzegorz (Greg) Ombach, is Head of Disruptive Research & Technology, Senior Vice President at Airbus. Greg is passionate about managing technological innovation from an idea to broad market adoption. His combination of technology, leadership and commercial expertise together with a truly global outlook, having worked across Europe, the USA and China, puts him in a solid position to drive international market success for high-tech innovations. As a Head of Disruptive R&T, he shapes Airbusâs ability to be the global leader in innovation and future technologies across all Airbus divisions. He works very closely with all businesses and divisions globally. Before as Executive Vice President, Head of Battery Systems Business and Group Strategy and Innovation at DrĂ€xlmaier, he was responsible for the strategy for the business and led the entire product commercialisation, from the initial concept to high volume production of cutting-edge technology in a premium market for the automotive sector. One example is the first high volume production of an 800V battery system for the Porsche Taycan. Earlier, he worked at Qualcomm as a Global Vice President and General Manager of a breakthrough automotive technology licensing business. He also has experience from Siemens VDO, Continental and Brose.
Greg holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Silesian University of Technology, Poland and a Certificate in Global Management from INSEAD, The Business School for the World. He has also been awarded Guest Professorship at the Zhejiang University in China.
Connect with Greg on LinkedInLearn more about Airbus--
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Looking Outside comes to you LIVE from the Dubai Future Forum, the largest gathering of futurists in the world.
In this conversation we talk about sustainable design with Arup's Director of Foresight, Josef Hargrave. Arup is focused on creating more sustainable built environments, and Josef speaks to how designing for the future needs to be anchored in decisions for the present, by understanding deeply the structural limitations and infrastructure of today.
Josef details several projects he's run for designing out to 2050 across geographies exploring building for cities, having worked in and with over 30 cities around the world. He boils success down to context: it's easy to identify what is changing in the world, but the effort should be in what it means to the project and stakeholders holding the brief. Contextualizing the environment you're designing for will influence how you design for the future and the future populations living in this infrastructure.
Jo and Josef also discuss how foresight done well should ultimately be about making yourself useful to the organization that you're a part of. As the company evolves over time, as Arup has in the 13 years Josef has been there, the application of foresight needs to evolve with it.
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If Josef was not a futurist, he would be an artist or designer. Or open a Chinese restaurant, so he can craft something by and for himself.
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Josef Hargrave is Global Foresight Leader responsible for the delivery of Arupâs foresight services, tools, and projects globally, leading a multi-disciplinary team of programme managers, designers, and consultants that specialise in trends research, design thinking, strategic planning, innovation programmes, thought leadership, and vision making for both internal and external clients. Over the past 10+ years, Josef has delivered projects in over 20 countries, working for some of the world's leading organisations in property, technology, chemicals, mobility, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, consumer goods, and finance.
Outside of Arup, Josef is an Associate Lecturer at Central Saint Martins as part of the MA for Innovation Management (London), a member of the World Cities Summit Science of Cities Knowledge Council (Singapore), a member of the International Panel of Experts at Urban Redevelopment Authority (Singapore), a member of the Friends of the Forum at Dubai Future Foundation (Dubai), and a member of the Advisory Board at Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (Manchester).
Connect with Josef on LinkedInLearn more about Arup--
Looking Outside is a podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. The show is hosted by its creator, Joanna Lepore, consumer goods innovator and futurist at McDonald's. Find out more at looking-outside.com.
Connect with Jo and join the Looking Outside community on LinkedIn.
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All views are that of the host and guests and donât necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2023.
OBOY &
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Retail, shopping and lovers of physical activations, this one is for you. But perhaps itâs for all of us who look at bringing our brands to life in physical spaces. Today on Looking Outside weâre speaking with top voice in retail, Curator of Shop Drop Daily & Chief Thinker at iiiF, Tim Nash.
Tim's passion for brands led to his career specialty in shop and retail design. He fell into the fashion industry, starting in visual merchandising, and then fell in love with inspiring brands to best show up in physical spaces.
As a natural creative who was always good at art, Tim helps brands find ways to reach their consumers in ways that spark a connection through visual cues, smart use of space, and rethinking the DNA across platforms.
This is a critical part of the brief, Tim says, as activations or campaigns built for a specific channel is old fashioned thinking - it breaks apart brand cohesion and dilutes the message. Brands need to find new ways to connect the dots across platforms, to offer the consumer something that makes them feel special but also delivers on the unique brand promise, no matter where theyâre shopping.
Having researched, created and curated in the retail space for over 20 years, Tim describes how the pandemic was a critical turning point for retail that not all brands saw or understood. Retail spaces designed for the city center, as the best (or only) way to buy what you need, is not how the world operates now. New brands are able to build a community without a physical space, and to shape their DNA to live across all sub-channels. A lot of older brands stuck in the middle still think retail first, with other channels âthrown inâ.
Jo and Tim discuss other critical moments of pause that need to take place for retail to properly set it up for the future â including the one where we re-assess the environmental or ethical impact of âfastâ retail, shopping and fashion. Tim says retail has traditionally been painted with a negative brush, but it has the ability to wash this away if we can move past cookie-cutter, formulaic and old school ways of creating not just retail places, but brand spaces.
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To look outside, Tim finds physical spaces that allow him to digest information and think through things. This can be city walk, a long train ride, or strolling through galleries and art exhibitions. It doesnât have to be a grand experience, just something small to properly disconnect with the physical world, and connect with his thoughts.
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Tim Nash is a strategic, forward-thinking creative dedicated to crafting immersive physical brand experiences that captivate the consumer.
With an extensive background spanning two decades in the retail industry, Tim has been the architect behind a variety of celebrated global brand activations and visual concepts that engage and delight customers IRL.
From a shop floor start to leadership roles within global businesses, Tim currently collaborates with a diverse portfolio of brands to curate innovative campaigns that relevantly talk to their audience.
Beyond this, he's the driving force behind Shop Drop Daily, a pivotal inspirational resource and authoritative voice on the future of the industry.
Follow Tim on LinkedIn and hereSign up to Shop Drop Daily shopdropdaily.com & on InstagramLearn more about -
Today weâre talking about the big topic of Sustainability within big business. Former Chief Sustainability & Social Impact Officer at McDonalds, Bob Langert, joins the show and shares his three decade long journey in making environmental change happen at one of the biggest organizations in the world.
An environmental activist at heart, Bob shares how he was able to take a topic he cared deeply about but was low on the company priority list, and over time use his passion to make people notice and act. Sustainability started as Corporate Social Responsibility and Bob recalls how in the 1980âs it was just starting to gain prominence and it took a long time for the topic to reach the mainstream status it has today in business. Companies need to be willing to change if they want to compete in a future environment 20 years from now which will look different to how it does today. Bob stresses the need for change agents within that; fewer people laying low and trying to stay out of trouble, more people who are open, patient and bring big ideas. Ultimately that passion and persistence helps the business, because as Bob says, âBusinesses that are satisfied and content are going to die.â
Bob does recognize that a key challenge in getting action on sustainability issues is trying to force it, either by being too emotional or pushing too hard. He describes how over time he achieved success by creating connections with people inside and outside the organization. These relationships rested on truthfulness, trust and empathy; putting yourself in othersâ shoes to see different ways of influencing them. That empathy allows you to see new allies, as often we assume people donât care, or will not be supportive, but they can surprise you. In fact some of your harshest critics can become your collaboration partners for change, or even your public advocates.
Jo and Bob also discuss the need for companies to be more proactive and preemptive, but that often, that comes with little glory, as a hero in a crisis is easy to find, but credit for preventing a problem often never happens. But issues, like critics, will never stop coming, and Bob says thatâs a reality you need to accept, and a target you need to bear on your back, when part of a big organization that needs to make money (and thereâs nothing wrong with that).
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To look outside, Bob reads a lot, particularly other perspectives of leadership and change through biographies. He also relies on travel to observe people across settings and cultures. He treats these as learning experiences that help him see things differently and promote a push beyond complacency, or accepting that 'things are the way they are'.
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Bob Langert led McDonaldâs Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability efforts for more than twenty-five years before retiring in 2015. Currently, he provides corporate sustainability consulting through Mainstream Sustainability.
Bob has been engaged in social responsibility issues at a global level since the late 1980s, leading environmental affairs, animal welfare, and Ronald McDonald Childrenâs Charitiesâ grants. He was appointed McDonaldâs first vice president to lead sustainability in 2006 with contributions spanning sustainable fish, coffee, palm oil, beef, packaging, extensive animal welfare progress, protecting the Amazon rainforest, nutrition strategy and CSR reporting, measurement, and accountability.
His book about McDonaldâs sustainability journey, The Battle To Do Good: Inside McDonaldâs Sustainability Journey, was published in January 2019.
Langert received his BA from Lewis University and his MBA from Northwestern University. In 2007, Langert was named as one of the 100 Most Influential in Business Ethics by Ethisphere.
Follow Bob on -
In this episode of Looking Outside we venture into dark futures with global futurist Nikolas Badminton, crossing over the line of realism into dystopia.
Nikolas spent 30 years at the front line of emerging futures, aiding organizations and governments in the anticipating risks that lie ahead and shaking people out of unrealistic expectations. He says now he is hired to do the type of work heâd normally get fired for, as, often, Nik is tasked with telling people the future they are excited about is not going to happen, and prompting frank conversations. He uses âimpossibleâ scenarios to paint preposterous futures, those ideas about the future that appear ridiculous, in order to bring people out of their self interests or away from a yearning for nostalgia.
While positive futures are important, Nik says facing into the fact that âbad stuff does existâ is the important starting point. We often see plans or goals that are so far out, particularly in government policies, that are psychologically disconnected from the people planning them and therefore arenât designed to provide anything tangible enough to motivate people to act.
Jo and Nik also discuss the need to help organizations see beyond the âgarbageâ that is out there about emerging risks and trends, often sensationalized, by painting change as accretive, with layers of complexity constantly building, instead of as hinging on a âswitchâ from one state to another. Nik describes the need to bring people into future states by first taking them into the hybrid state where things are transitioning, seeking out evidence of the future to provide the missing link between disruption and strategy. Often we hear change is happening faster than ever before, but Nik counters that; âIf you think things are happening quickly youâre not paying attentionâ.
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To look outside, Nik moves away from his work quite literally by cycling around Toronto's water parks and trails, while listening to music or a podcast. He says through this, his thoughts become clearer and he is happier.
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Nikolas Badminton is a global futurist speaker and Chief Futurist that mentors top executives and the highest levels of government to explore desirable futures, anticipate unforeseen risks, and strengthen strategic planning.
He has spent 30+ years working with leadership at over 400 leading organizations at the frontline of futures, strategy and disruption - including NASA, Disney, Google, Microsoft, Intel, IBM, WM, JP Morgan, Verizon, VISA, TD Bank, American Express, BISCI, ISACA, Rolls Royce, Procter & Gamble, US Department of State, UK Home Office, United Nations, and many more.
Facing Our Futures: How foresight, futures design and strategy creates prosperity and growth - is Nikolasâ number one best selling book and has been named as JP Morgan Private bankâs âNext Gen Pickâ for their prestige 2023 Summer Reading List to guide new leaders to ignite curiosity and embrace futures thinking.
Nikolasâ essential research has been featured by the BBC, VICE, The Atlantic, Fast Company, Business Insider, Forbes, Sunday Telegraph and many others. He appears on SIRIUSXM and CTV regularly, was a key advisor to the âAge of AIâ series with Robert Downey Jr, and appears in the Franklin Institute's series â2050â.
Find out more about Nik Badminton at www.futurist.comFollow Nik on LinkedIn, YouTube and Blue Sky. Check out Nik's -
In this episode of Looking Outside, we speak with someone crazy enough to think one company can make a difference, social entrepreneur Moritz Everding. Moritz founded food start up SOCHILI to act on his vision of creating food with purpose.
Combining his love of spice, his experience in business innovation and his passion for positive social change, Moritz created his business from Germany with far reaching impact into sub-Saharan Africa. On this episode, Moritz speaks to his conviction that a profitable business idea, whether by someone inside a big corporation, or an entrepreneur, can and should be pressure tested against social, ethical and environmental standards.
With his business model, Moritz balances the desire to make a big difference, in this case to 600 million people living without access to electricity, with the long term sustainability behind a small but growing product idea. He shares how his business was created to give back, visibly and transparently, directly to the farmers who supply the chilies for his hot sauce, most self-evidently in that for every bottle sold, the company is able to give first time access for its farmers to electricity for one day.
Jo and Mo also discuss the distinction between a profitable social enterprise and an NGO and that itâs still the responsibility of the start ups, who are often much more severely critiqued for their social, ethical and sustainability initiatives, to not act like charities, but to live by the standards of social consumerism in giving people more of what they want. In this case, a delicious, great looking, functionally-smart product that also ticks the socially-responsible boxes. Itâs no easy feat but Moritz believes it is possible, and is motivated in encouraging more food businesses to go the same way.
Moritzâ belief that profit and purpose can go hand in hand also inspired him to start his Purpose Projects podcast where he gets to research a variety of topics changing the global food landscape, speaking directly to the social entrepreneurs working to make it happen. Social consumerism is the way of the future, Moritz says, and he is a living and breathing example of it.
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To look outside, Moritz started a testing community. He asks community members, who all have varied perspectives that touch on the 17 SDGs, to pressure test (and taste test) the product against his impact model. Moritz says it's easy to get stuck in one lane, only listening to reaffirming positive feedback. To get outside his comfort zones, he seeks honest and varied perspectives from this community.
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Find out more about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): sdgs.un.org/goals Listen to the Seth Goldman episode mentioned on ActivismListen to Moritz' own podcast, the Purpose Projects Podcast (in German)--
Moritz Everding is Founder & Managing Director of SOCHILI. Crazy about impact, crazy about hot sauces - Moritz is a social entrepreneur and advocate of purpose in the business world. As founder of the food start-up SOCHILI, he proves that social impact can also be tasty and spicy. With every single 'SOCHILI good hot sauce' the business empowers farmers in the Global South in the truest sense of the word: 1 hot sauce = 1 day of electricity.
Connect with Moritz on LinkedIn Find out more about -
Another Aussie joins us on Looking Outside to explore the power of laughter and positivity through comedy, with stand-up comedian, actor and TV personality, Monty Franklin.
Having lived in the US and toured 42 states over the last ten years, Monty has performed to more than a million Americans, and whether itâs on stage or at the bank, he speaks to the privilege of making people forget their troubles, even for a little while. He says laughter is one of the greatest things people can experience, and it's his role to find the kind of comedy that is relatable; stories about day to day life that despite being his, are not really about him but his listeners.
Story crafting has been an interest area for Monty since he was little, whether it was standing up and telling stories in front of his (funny) family, learning about the stories that shaped his home country of Australia, through indigenous culture, art and The Dreaming, or exploring the stories that live within other art forms like film or music.
Today he funnels his love of storytelling into his comedy shows or in his writing. Monty says all we leave behind on this earth are the things we hear, learn and pass down. So itâs either in the fields of education or storytelling that we pass on the history of the world and learnings of our time on it.
Monty speaks to positive stories about good people, doing good things for each other, as the ones weâre drawn to today, despite seemingly being divided by politics. Monty believes 99% of people are good and want to get along, and what helps in that is thinking outside the parameters of what we perceive as true; to consider a different take on things and not shut ourselves off to the evolution of ideas.
Jo and Monty also chat through the ups and downs of Aussie relocation to America, particularly in having to âstart overâ no matter what success was previously gained, of benefiting from the strength of the Aussie brand (a testament, Monty says, of the âgood peopleâ that went international) but also wearing its novelty-factor ⊠and even after so long feeling a little out of place.
While Monty admits that it is an ego-boost to be âin the limelightâ, he says great comedians listen more than they talk. And while being on stage gives you a thick skin for critique, youâre not immune to feeling hurt from negative comments, or from having good and very bad days, which reinforces the need to strengthen your mental health to handle the swings of life, which ultimately should be expected because you canât be up and laughing all the time.
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To look outside, Monty listens to TED Talks in the morning. A 12 min video over breakfast on a range of topics gives him a fresh perspective and knowledge about something new and interesting. Monty says learning this way is quick and he gets something surprising from it every time. Once a year, Monty also takes a surf trip, with his friends and without a phone.
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Monty Franklin is an Australian born stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television personality, now based in LA.
He tours all over the world headlining some of the biggest comedy clubs and also opens for Rob Schneider, Joe Rogan and Jim Breuer.
Monty was on Ep #1794 of The Joe Rogan Experience and he is currently appearing in 'Real Rob' on NETFLIX, season 1&2.
He has had roles on 'New Girl' - FOX, 'Becoming Bond' - Hulu and is the creator and star of 'The Manny' - TV Pilot.
Montyâs numerous television stand-up performances include AXS TV's Live At Gotham, Channel 10s The Circle, Foxtelâs Stand Up Australia, and as part of The Comedy Channelâs special â The Best Of Stand Up and Comedy Gold.
Monty has produced, written and starred in two TV Pilots of sketch-comedy show No Monkeys on Bikes for Channel 7, co-hosted a weekly radio show on Fox...
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In this episode of Looking Outside we explore living your life and career curiously through an openness to learning with trained pharmacist and director of the Novartis Pavillon exhibiting the wonders of medicine, Marcel Braun.
Marcel studied pharmacy but throughout his career has remained open to entering new fields and living in new places, something he calls both accidental in drifting from one opportunity to another, and intentional as he ticked off âdream rolesâ from his bucket list. From roles in forensic accounting, corporate philanthropy, even national pharmacist for Vanuatu, and across disciplines ranging business administration, biology and chemistry ⊠Marcel has worn many hats. He credits this to both chance (âWhat are the odds that I got to do everything I did?â) but equally to openness; as opportunities came up, scary or divergent as they may have been, Marcel first and immediate said yes, then worked out how to make it happen second.
Committing yourself to new career paths doesnât mean it has to be forever, as Marcel says, âA career is like a ladder, you can climb up and realize itâs leaning on the wrong wall.â Just as shifting careers doesnât mean a complete departure from what you did before. Today Marcel heads up the exhibition in Basel, Switzerland for Novartisâ Pavillon, an exhibition that displays the past, present and future of medicine. While this may seem like a departure from pharmaceutical research or philanthropy, Marcel explains itâs connected, as much of the work in medicine is about good communication. Medicine, science and treatments are detailed topics with complex histories that must be explained simply.
Jo and Marcel, both having lived and worked in various parts of the world, also explore what it means to adapt to and learn a new culture when relocating (in Marcelâs case, more then 11 times). Marcel says for him itâs about learning the culture through curiosity, as often it is little differences that mean an act can show offense or respect. He also credits being able to speak at least a little of the native language in building comfort and confidence, and to staying away from âtoxicâ people who are unhappy with their experience (in other words, donât just hang out with frustrated expats).
Marcel and Jo also discuss the benefits of building interdisciplinary skills, as a way to create more unique career paths and a unique identifier for yourself by combining seemingly unconnected backgrounds, training or cultures. Marcel did this, wearing his âpharma backpackâ along with his âfinancial backpackâ, and found itâs the cross-over of varied disciplines that helps you find new solutions to old problems.
Despite having pushed himself into so many varied careers, Marcel says he wished he had said yes to more things. As itâs often the case that you underestimate what youâre capable of until you push yourself to the point past discomfort. But itâs only when you keep your radar wide, and stay open, that you find those new opportunities because often, âYou canât imagine what else could be out thereâ.
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To look outside, Marcel became a passionate beekeeper. This is something that he never dared to start with extensive travels, and now has the time, patience and perseverance for. This is Marcelâs place to settle and be in the ânowâ, because when youâre in the beehive you have to focus. He calls the experience fully immersive, from the noise of the bees to the stickiness of the honey, and therefore uses it as a way to refresh his senses like a holiday. And even though he has been stung painfully and many times, 15-20 stings per year, it doesnât deter him, in fact it reminds him constantly to stay in the moment.
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Marcel Braun is the Director Novartis Exhibition at the newly opened Novartis Pavillon in Switzerland. Marcel took the âWonders...
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In this special LIVE episode of Looking Outside, recorded at the Insights and Innovation Exchange event in Texas, we look more closely at the symbols and signs that surround us, the study of Semiotics, with semiotician, author and marketer, Dr Rachel Lawes.
Rachel blends her 20 years in Market Research and her academic training as a Social Psychologist, with a focus on how people communicate through the study of semiotics. Rachel describes this as looking more deeply and critically at what is at face-value, and how that can help us make more deliberate decisions.
Stressing this point, Rachel says that semioticians can very easily become theoretical or academic; in essence become enamored with the art of hypothesizing what things mean, and often forget that that all this theory needs to be actionable to inform business strategy.
Having authored two books on the topic that explore semiotics in the marketing and retail landscapes, Rachel speaks to how semiotics can help give brands a competitive advantage by paying attention to what is often missed. Rachel describes this as the unique tipping point from natural observation, which everyone does in noticing what is obvious, to looking at whatâs not said and seen and what that tells us.
Jo and Rachel also discuss the importance, for those of us in the job of observation, to catch when weâre over-analyzing things, because over-studying something can be dangerous, and what's critical is to remind ourselves about what is truly represented and representative of human culture.
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To look outside, Rachel travels. This allows her to get a little uncomfortable and gain exposure to new experiences and people she wouldnât otherwise have had.
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Dr Rachel Lawes is a semiotician and marketer, and one of the original founders of British commercial semiotics. Through Lawes Consulting Ltd, established in 2002, she supplies semiotics to brand owners, ad agencies and marketers around the world. Her specialties include pharmaceuticals, banking and aviation, as well as everyday consumer goods.
Rachel is author of two ground-breaking books on the business applications of semiotics. âUsing Semiotics in Marketingâ (2nd edition published in 2023) is the first book to set out a step-by-step course in semiotics for marketers and market researchers. Her other book, âUsing Semiotics in Retailâ, is the winner of the Sales & Marketing category of the Business Book Awards 2023.
Rachelâs PhD is in social psychology. She is a Fellow of the Market Research Society.
Follow Rachel on LinkedIn and InstagramLearn more about the work Rachel does through Lawes Consulting: lawes-consulting.co.ukBuy a copy of Rachel's books from koganpage.com with a special Looking Outside 20% discount, using the discount code "SEMIOTICS".Rachel's books, Using Semiotics in Marketing and Using Semiotics in Retail, are also available on Amazon.Read more about the story behind the Princess Diana photo at the Taj Mahal.--
Looking Outside is a podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. The show is hosted...
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Are some people simply more cut out to take on big responsibilities, where lives are at stake, or is it actually just good training? In this episode of Looking Outside, we explore the mindset and skills of preparedness in Flying with commercial airline pilot, Ricardo Nunes.
Being responsible for hundreds of people on the plane is not something Ricardo takes for granted. While many of us would find that extreme level of responsibility crippling, Ricardo says the confidence comes from understanding the weight of the responsibility, and taking that seriously by training for the worst.
Ricardo describes how preparation has been pivotal to surviving challenges faced in his aviation career and prior to that, before he crossed to âthe dark sideâ, when he flew Search and Rescue helicopters for the Portuguese Air Force. Itâs all in the training, Ricardo stresses, as while the scenarios faced are different, the way to think through them is the same.
Jo and Ricardo also explore the intersection of flying and foresight, in how anticipatory thinking allows you to âfly ahead of the planeâ. Explaining that the mindset is similar in the military as in foresight, particularly in leveraging methods like scenario planning, Ricardo says constantly testing out different pathways in flight means he is prepared for unforeseen situations so that when a tough decision has to be made, its already been thought-through.
While the life of a pilot may seem both illustrious and solitary, the success of the airline industry and its crew is entirely dependent on being humble and highly communicative. Ricardo explains how airlines strictly follow a âjust cultureâ; where decisions, omissions and actions are reported or called out without reprimand. It is only by showing, not hiding, mistakes that the airline industry maintains a culture of trust and builds on knowledge that leads to its incredible safety record.
Ricardo also speaks to how this kind of approach in pushing yourself into complex and challenging situations, and consistently training for them, makes you a better person ⊠one who is less prone to panic in the moment, and one who can enjoy a unique life (for example, where you get the travel the world). Train hard and fight easy, as they say in the military.
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To look outside, Ricardo says to talk to someone different; someone who doesnât do what you do for a living or doesnât think the same way. Sometimes you need an outsider view to help you think outside the box.
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Ricardo Nunes is a former Portuguese Air Force pilot turned commercial airline pilot with a passion for foresight and scenario planning.
Ricardo began his career in 2005 in the Portuguese Air Force, where he flew various fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, including the DHC-1 Chipmunk, TB-30 Epsilon, Allouette 3, and EH101 Merlin. He flew numerous Search and Rescue (SAR) missions, eventually becoming a SAR captain in 2011.
In 2013, Ricardo transitioned to the civilian world, where he now logs thousands of flight hours aboard Airbus A320/321 aircraft, connecting Lisbon to destinations in Europe, Africa, and the Americas with over 5,000 flight hours under his belt.
But flying is not Ricardo's only passion. He is also a founding member of the Portuguese Foresight Association, a non-profit organization established by like-minded individuals to promote foresight and future studies in Portuguese society.
Despite his busy schedule, Ricardo remains true to his Lisbon roots, where he was born and raised. He holds a Master of Science in Air Transport Management from City, University of London, and post-graduates degrees in Foresight, Strategy, and Innovation from the Lisbon School of Economics (ISEG), and in Management from the NOVA School of Business and Economics.
He has never lost his love for flying or his...
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Lars Behrendt joins us for this episode of Looking Outside, discussing the bureaucracy, ego and over-perfection that gets in the way of great innovating ⊠in other words, Innovation Bullshit.
Now a voice of influence in the innovation space, particularly in his home country of Germany where he gets 10 million content views weekly, Lars shares how he âengineeredâ a voice of authority in order to break through the clutter of innovation nonsense; with a few cuss words, a ton of humor and big hit of straight talk.
Believing innovation shouldnât take years and cost a fortune, and most definitely shouldnât be designed to death, Lars shares how he orchestrated a new way of innovating in just one week (through his company Granny&Smith) that allows real customers to make a decision on whatâs a good idea, based on the most important metric of success: real sales.
Jo and Lars discuss why innovation without execution is bullshit, and why no one but the customer is the real expert in what a good idea is. Besides, as Lars says, real market feedback is the fun part of innovating. He makes this shift in process successful only by getting absolute commitment upfront in a fast, iterative process where skepticism is left at the door and a safe bubble is erected with risk-averse people unwelcome. Why? Ultimately, people in the process who are âtrying to find a problem, will create a problem.â
Lars also discusses the plight of engineers, product designers and innovators who invest heart and soul into a system that often fails them; through roadblocks in getting a product to market, or a poor process of pre-testing that relegates the idea to failure. And how lowering the bar is a pivotal change that must happen in the innovation system.
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To look outside, Lars goes deep on one single topic, completely blocking out all other distractions. He says only in this zone of intensive focus, while often exhausting and high pressure, can you discover new ways to approach old problems.
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Lars Behrendt is considered one of the leading international innovation developers because he has been gaining real practical experience for more than 15 years, which makes him a true innovation expert. As a managing partner of the Granny&Smith Innovation Lab, which he founded in 2006, Lars has gathered profound expertise while working with numerous Dax corporations and Fortune 500 companies.
Born in Northern Germany, he started his company as a creative engineering firm and quickly became an innovation insider to major corporations.
Today, he works for 7 out of 9 of the most innovative German companies. He is also a co-developer and driver of numerous groundbreaking innovations and supported companies like IBM, Telekom, BMW or Volkswagen in their innovation processes.
Together with his team he co-developed more than 50 startups and launched countless innovations with the world's most renowned companies.
Learn more about the innovation process run by Granny&Smith: www.grannyandsmith.com & Lars Listen to the Boiler Room podcast (in German).Buy Lars' book Get Real Innovation.Follow Lars on LinkedIn--
Looking Outside is a podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. The show is hosted by...
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In this episode we discuss the future of snacking with daydreamer, sunshine chaser and optimist, Matt Weiss. Matt founded his own upcycled snacking company, RIND Snacks, and lives by the mantra of making weird and wonderful things happen, even if it feels impossible.
In this chat, Jo and Matt discuss what health means in the context of personal happiness and fulfilment, from what you eat, to the lens through which you see the world, to self awareness of what gives you sustenance (food or otherwise!).
Born and raised in Miami in the 70âs and 80âs surrounded by an abundance of tropical fruit and a great grandmother who lived to 100 with great vitality, Matt describes his passion for making the food industry a little more in tune with mother nature, and therefore with fewer shortcuts and a little less of the âperfectionâ weâre used to seeing in whatâs pre-packed and produced at scale.
Matt shares his transition from being in management consulting for over two decades, to creating and running his own company, and in particular the shift in disciple required to motivate a group of people to rally behind his own vision. A family business, Matt shares how RIND allows his children to also learn from the evolution of the company; sharing in its successful growth but also seeing first hand the sacrifices needed in making something happen when no one else will.
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To look outside, Matt looks literally outside! Taking time to daydream clears his restless mind and allows space for imaginative thinking. By resetting his mind, and ensuring he is doing work not just âbusy-nessâ, Matt usually comes up with great ideas.
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Prior to RIND, Matt Weiss spent 20 years in investment research at Baron Capital covering food & beverage. Matt is a founding partner of Naturally New York, an organization supporting and connecting members of the local natural products community. In 2010, Matt founded Friends of Chelsea Green, a non-profit that helped fund and create a new public park in lower Manhattan. Matt lives in New York City with his wife and three children. He graduated with a B.A. from Duke University, is a CFA Charterholder and an avid birdwatcher.
Connect with Matt on LinkedInFind out more about RIND rindsnacks.comFollow RIND on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok--
Looking Outside is a podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. The show is hosted by its creator, Joanna Lepore, consumer goods innovator and futurist at McDonald's. Find out more at looking-outside.com.
Connect with Jo and join the Looking Outside community on LinkedIn.
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All views are that of the host and guests and donât necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2023.
OBOY and Midnight Daydream music features in...
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Inspired by a conversation at the 2023 CES Food Tech Expo, today we discuss how one of the most traditional industries is being transformed through Culinary Creativity, with CEO and Founder of Hungry House, a platform for creative chefs, Kristen Barnett.
In creating Hungry House, Kristen shares how she puts the values of both the chef and the customer first, by focusing on food quality. Her platform allows the customer to add more meaning to the choices they make in how they explore and sustain through food, while the culinary creator, the chef, can ideate a full story around what they bring to the plate.
Stories are a critical path to the future of food, Kristen says, because food has always been about more than just what you eat but the stories around the farmer, the sourcing, the produce, the chef. âItâs always been about content,â she says, and through her direct to consumer platform, Kristen is able to nurture chefs to create compelling content and meaningful meals.
Kristen shares how she has always been a food lover, and wanted that to be part of her career, but experiencing lyme disease in her early 20's caused her to re-asses how what she ate and her lifestyle were part of the symptoms and solutions of her health. Her âearly life crisisâ pushed her to make a hard pivot towards a career dedicated to food with a passion.
Both in the food industry, Jo and Kristen also discuss how the food ecosystem is being disrupted, and how behind the food tech fads and old-school brand of the white-hat chef, sit creative culinary minds who know how to integrate food ideas, with compelling social content and convert it to commerce.
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To look outside, Kristen goes to food pop ups anywhere sheâs traveling but especially in her home city of New York. She says food pop ups showcase the new ways in which consumers can access food and chefs innovate in how to get their food to people, which yields different ways to think about things like a constant source of inventive thinking.
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Kristen Barnett is the founder & CEO of Hungry House, a NYC-based startup that partners with digitally-native chefs to bring their culinary ideas into reality through the Hungry House platform.
Kristen started her career in the New York City office of The Boston Consulting Group. She unfortunately soon began to struggle with her health after contracting Chronic Lyme disease and she became seriously ill. Desperate to feel better, she turned to dietary change to feel better and she had miraculous results. Determined to make a bigger impact, she left consulting to pursue a career in the food industry.
Since then, sheâs worked at Dig (formerly Dig Inn) where she was Director of Strategic Operations and led supply chain strategy, menu development and their food delivery and ghost kitchen business. Kristen then went on to join Zuul, a ghost kitchen tech startup where she served as Chief Operating Officer and led product strategy to develop a proprietary tech platform and multiple virtual brands. Zuul was acquired by ghost kitchen competitor, Kitchen United in summer 2021, after which, she went on to found Hungry House.
Having borne witness to the explosive growth in the ghost kitchen industry, mainly with a commoditized and unhealthy product offering, she founded Hungry House in summer 2021 to create the first direct-to-consumer ghost kitchen company focusing on sustainability, diversity, quality & transparency.
Kristen graduated from Cornell University magna cum laude and is passionate about plant-based eating and supporting other women in the food industry through a semi-regular women-in-food dinner series.
Follow Hungry House on Instagram & -
In these volatile and uncertain times, it can feel harder than ever to achieve things for ourselves and our teams, so today we take a cue from the performance experts, speaking about Motivation with mental performance coach, Lauren Johnson.
The stakes are high for professional athletes, but they cope with the same challenges as all of us; building mental toughness to persevere physically, and creating positive habits to practice towards exceptional results. Lauren learnt this first hand working with the New York Yankees, coaching them to perform past the point of physical and mental exhaustion.
Today, Lauren shares the principles of psychology that apply whether youâre an athlete or marketer. The principles of: self awareness to know your own signals before you burn out, self control to react appropriately in the space between external stimulus and your response to it, and of the laws of diminishing returns, beyond that point at which we are truly effective, whether we realize it or not.
As two perfectionists, Lauren and Jo discuss the flaw it reveals of inflexibility. It's consistency which makes us effective. And high quality input should be achieve over time rather than all at once. Lauren also stresses that our motivation should focus also on the people we lead, because building their competence â also slowly, and not all perfect at once â will build their confidence. That confidence should then serve them in the big moments when it matters most.
Now a keynote speaker who holds a Masters in Performance Psychology, Lauren shares honestly that this wasnât her dream, but a tragedy and the ultimate disappointment in her life led her down a new path of opportunity she has embraced to help others.
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To look outside, Lauren turns to her training in recognizing that space between the stimulus and subsequent emotional reaction, using rational thinking to process what sheâs seeing, thinking and feeling. (An arguably pivotal skill to train in devise times.) She also turns to her husband, who knows when to prompt to that kind of rational thinking.
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Lauren Johnson is a mental performance coach and keynote speaker. She works with CEO's, professional athletes, and fortune 500 companies through national speaking engagements, educational training workshops and consulting. Prior to opening her own consulting practice, Lauren served as the Mental Conditioning Coordinator for the New York Yankees. She received her Masters Degree in Performance Psychology from National University. Lauren's practical, straight-forward advice and mental performance strategies helps individuals become elite decision makers because her belief is you become elite by choice, not by chance.
Download Lauren's free motivation guide & learn more about her work at laurenjohnsonandco.com
Follow Lauren on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn
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Looking Outside is a podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. The show is hosted by its creator, Joanna Lepore, consumer goods innovator and futurist at McDonald's. Find out more at looking-outside.com.
Connect with Jo and join the
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