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The 3 (surprising) traits of a super successful entrepreneur

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The 3 (surprising) traits of a super successful entrepreneur

I questioned even telling you the guys name because I don’t want this to become a piece about how awesome he is. I’m not a fan of putting people on pedestals. In fact, I think it’s a dangerous thing to do as an entrepreneur. Not only does is put unwanted pressure on the person you’ve put up there, but it tends to make you shrink in their presence (been there, done that). And shrinking is never a good idea.

Anyhow, I will tell you his name because he’s a rad guy & I’m really stoked to be working alongside him. Svein is the founder of Starboard (one of the biggest SUP companies in the world).

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Business as a force for good — Here’s how

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Business as a force for good — Here’s how

Both men took a different path — Yvon chose to stay in business and commit to using his work as a force for good. Redefining what it meant to be a successful business (side note: If you haven’t already, go read his book Let My People Go Surfing, it’s incredible). And Doug transitioned out of the business world (he used to say ‘- to pay his rent for living on the planet’) and moved to Chile to concentrate on land conservation & environmental activism. His previous success (and the financial gain that came from it) enabled him to buy huge amounts of land in Argentina & Chile, in order to protect the fragile environment.

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Reaching maximum bandwidth

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Reaching maximum bandwidth

And so, at about 6 am, as I was flicking through the training manual that I’d just printed off for a final check, I fell down the stairs.

Not just a couple. I slipped at the top and bounced my way down the entire staircase, landing in a heap at the bottom somehow still holding my laptop in the air, with the hundred or so pages of workbook scattered around me.

It hurt. A lot.

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Back to school (anyone else got that vibe going)?

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Back to school (anyone else got that vibe going)?

My two worlds have collided. In the very best of ways. I've been spending more and more time exploring this concept of using business as a force for good. In purpose driven business. In conscious capitalism. That I noticed something interesting happening in my branding work - I realised that the clients that I was most excited to work with were those who were working towards something bigger than a paycheque. They were organisations who were making an impact - who were using their work to help important social or environmental causes. They were entrepreneurs who were doing epic work in the world and just needed help crafting it into an awesome brand.

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Please don’t make this mistake

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Please don’t make this mistake

So why am I so sure that brand clarity is such a vital piece of the puzzle? Because I’ve made the biggest mistakes of my career when I was lacking in it. Because I’ve worked with a whole bunch of startups who weren’t getting the traction they deserved because of it.

Instead, way too many businesses get fixated on zipping ahead thinking that branding is something a graphic designer does when creating a logo.

But to me, branding starts way way before then. Or at least, it should do.

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Be willing to throw it all away

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Be willing to throw it all away

Be willing to scrap everything and start fresh. If there's a niggling voice in your head (or in my case, my gut) saying ugh I don't like this, then listen to it. Because life is too short to semi-like stuff you're producing.

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Thoughts on following your bliss

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Thoughts on following your bliss

Often people mistake Campbell’s words ‘Follow your bliss’ to mean that you should just do the fun stuff. But in reality, the fun stuff and the stuff that lights you up can look quite different. Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a great time, but following your bliss is not always the easiest option. It is, quite often, the scariest option. The option that requires immense courage.

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Reflecting in Indonesia: 5 business lessons from the last 5 months

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Reflecting in Indonesia: 5 business lessons from the last 5 months

So I’m sitting here at a surf camp in the middle of the jungle in Java. My arms are aching from this morning’s surf, my belly is full of the banana pancakes I had at breakfast and I’m hanging out with a super nice bunch of surfers from all over the planet.

In short, life is pretty damned good right now. Days like these make me wanna press pause. Because seriously? This is as good as it gets.

The tide is too low to surf right now so we’re all kicking back and soaking this awesomeness in.