#1 May Lindstrom: The power of having a North Star

Show notes

• Why does May's company have all new employees read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"? [0:03:29]
• What does May's company really do? [0:05:27]
• May's rural upbringing and why she left home [0:07:17]
• "The goal was to go until I hit the ocean or ran out of money" [0:09:24]
• "I come from a small town, but I'm not a small woman" [0:10:01]
• How did an artist end up as a formulator? [0:12:48]
• What is the job of the artist? [0:14:16]
• Being an idea manager [0:15:32]
• The tension between dreams and what can be made real [0:17:21]
• The responsibliity of a leader to keep dreaming [0:20:27]
• Success, self-sabotage... now what? [0:20:53]
• Exploring shame, success, scarcity, and abundance [0:22:54]
• Instagram perception vs reality [0:28:23]
• Dealing with imposter syndrome [0:29:40]
• The Infinite Game [0:34:26]
• Intentionally craeting a company culture and environment [0:36:07]
• The beauty of having your customers as your investors [0:37:47]
• What May Lindstrom skin REALLY does [0:38:23]
• The job of the Care Bear — and how to idenify one [0:40:30]
• The hardness of "soft" skills [0:43:26]
• What's expensive? Dropping your values [0:45:17]
• The beauty of bootstrapping [0:47:51]
• Challenges with retail alignment [0:48:24]
• May's north star: delivering love [0:49:57]
• Making tough revenue decisions [0:51:21]
• Retail inventory management issues [0:52:54]
• Walking away from 25% of her business [0:57:59]
• Canaries in the retail coal mine [0:58:23]
• How do you turn values into behavior in your org? [1:01:53]
• "Tells" that indicate a bad patrner fit [1:08:29]
• May's BIG product recall [1:10:55]
• The challenge of natural products [1:13:14]
• "I knew when I sent that email, there was a chance it could take us under... and it was the right thing to do" [1:19:43]
• What enables May to make hard calls that others wouldn't? [1:27:12]
• The cost of knowing what other people are doing [1:28:41]
• Fear of boredom - what keeps it interesting? [1:30:31]
• Choosing your "top of the mountain" [1:39:24]
• Who inspired/inspires May? [1:42:30]
• "The music is in the space between the notes" [1:46:08]
• What is the change May seeks to make in the world? [1:48:53]

People, books, etc mentioned

• Connect with May
  • Instagram
  • May's company: May Lindstrom Skin
    • The Blue Cocoon
    • The Honey Mud
• People
  • Simon Sinek
  • Seth Godin
    • the altMBA, where May and I met
  • Jerry Colonna
• Books
  • The Infinite Game, by Simon Sinek
  • Finite & Infinite Games, by James Carse
  • Shower whiteboard

Quotes

"The goal was to go until I hit the ocean or ran out of money" [0:09:24]

"I can have a can of cold potatoes for dinner if I can finish it with a butterfinger."

"What I am is an idea manager, and so it is my job to see, to hold the vision and build the space in which we can make that vision into a reality. And that is actually my job."

"I come from a small town, but I'm not a small woman."

"This is the first time where the reality far exceeds what I thought I was building...now is when I get to dream again."

"It'