100 episodes

Christopher Lochhead Follow Your Different™ Podcast is a celebration of people, ideas and companies that stand out. A leader in the category “dialogue podcasts,” it feels like eavesdropping on a surprisingly captivating, candid, insightful, no-BS and conversation. Lochhead features legends whose names you will know and everyday legends who you’ll love getting to know. New York Times Bestselling author Hal Elrod calls it “one of the best podcasts of all time”, NBA Legend Bill Walton calls Lochhead “an exploding star – a quasar across the sky", Fast Company Magazine calls him “a human exclamation point”, The Marketing Journal says he’s “one of the best minds in marketing” and The Economist says he’s, “off-putting to some”.

Christopher Lochhead Follow Your Different™ Christopher Lochhead

    • Society & Culture

Christopher Lochhead Follow Your Different™ Podcast is a celebration of people, ideas and companies that stand out. A leader in the category “dialogue podcasts,” it feels like eavesdropping on a surprisingly captivating, candid, insightful, no-BS and conversation. Lochhead features legends whose names you will know and everyday legends who you’ll love getting to know. New York Times Bestselling author Hal Elrod calls it “one of the best podcasts of all time”, NBA Legend Bill Walton calls Lochhead “an exploding star – a quasar across the sky", Fast Company Magazine calls him “a human exclamation point”, The Marketing Journal says he’s “one of the best minds in marketing” and The Economist says he’s, “off-putting to some”.

    134 Wisdom At Work w/ Chip Conley

    134 Wisdom At Work w/ Chip Conley

    This is a powerful conversation about mid-life design with Chip Conley. He used to be the CEO of the second-largest based boutique hotel in the US. He then ended up joining Air BNB, to help the young founders of Airbnb navigate their growth in the hospitality category.



    Today, we talk about why Chip thinks people at their mid-life need to do a reset. Listen for what Chip calls his “emotional equation” and more ideas, based on Chip's new book Wisdom at Work.

    Boy Wonder to Modern Elder

    As we continue our run of legendary authors and entrepreneurs, we converse today with Chip Conley. He’s the founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the second-largest operator of boutique hotels in the United States. He started in 1987 at age 26 and held the position of CEO for nearly 24 years.



    In 2010, after having created and managed 50 boutique hotels mostly in California, Conley sold his company. He later joined the young business leaders of Airbnb. Today Air BNB is the company that created and now dominates a new travel category 

    “I was brought in as the old guy, to help them, because of my hospitality and leadership experience. But they taught me, as much as I taught them.” - Chip Conley

    Hard Truths for Midlife Professionals

    Chip candidly shares that unfortunately, for a lot of people in midlife and later is, they are not open to being curious.

    “They don’t want to look like an idiot at age 45 or 50 and so they're not actually that open to learning from someone younger than them. Yet, 40% of Americans today have a boss that is younger than them and by the year 2025, the majority of Americans will have a boss younger than them.” - Chip Conley

    He further added that we live in an era of digital intelligence. There is an impression that younger people are digital natives. They have more fluency and ability to learn in the digital world, hence tech companies usually hire them for senior roles.

    The Modern Elder Academy

    People in their midlife often ask, “how do I press the reset button?” Chip shares that one of the reasons why he created the Modern Elder Academy is to have a place for middle age professionals to have a pitstop in their lives.



    He stresses the importance of asking the following questions: 

    “What mastery have I mined? What wisdom have I cultivated and how can I harvest it? How can I repurpose it and frankly, what is it that I really want to do in my life, because I have been living the life that my parents wanted for me to live.” - Chip Conley

    To listen more about Chip’s advice to midlife professionals in getting wisdom at work, download and listen to this episode. 

    Bio: 

    Chip Conley



    The iconic boutique hotelier who helped Airbnb's founders turn their fast-growing tech start-up into a global hospitality brand, Chip Conley is a New York Times bestselling author whose manifesto on ageism, Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder, is inspired by his experience of being both a mentor and an intern in his 50s. 



    After selling the company he started as a rebel entrepreneur at age 26, Joie de Vivre Hospitality, Chip wasn't sure what was next. He could have retired at age 52. But the young founders of Airbnb came calling. 



    He served as Airbnb’s Head of Global Hospitality & Strategy for four years — while also being CEO Brian Chesky’s mentor — and continues today as a Strategic Advisor to the company’s leadership. 



    While writing Wisdom@Work, Chip was inspired to build the world's first "midlife wisdom school," the Modern Elder Academy, with a 3-acre oceanfront campus in Baja California Sur, Mexico. 



    Chip is an active mentor to six young CEO founders in the hospitality/tech world, and serves on the board of Encore. org and the advisory board for the Stanford Center for Longevity. He believes curiosity is the elixir of life and started learning Spanish and surfin...

    • 58 min
    133 New York Times #1 Best Seller Ryan Holiday On Stillness, Wisdom, Faith, Peter Thiel & More

    133 New York Times #1 Best Seller Ryan Holiday On Stillness, Wisdom, Faith, Peter Thiel & More

    We continue our run of legendary Authors and today, our guest is NYT #1 Best Selling author Ryan Holiday. Ryan is one of the most important writers of our time and hanging out in his brain, makes you a different person! We talk about stillness, wisdom, faith, Peter Thiel and more!

    Interesting Topics

    Ryan is the author of Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue. The book is interesting enough as it is about how Paypal founder Peter Thiel took down Gawker Media, through a grand scheme that was founded on the issue with Hulk Hogan. Apparently, Gawker Media publicized an illicitly recorded home sex tape of Hogan.



    He also authored the books The Obstacle is the Way, Trust Me, I'm Lying and Growth Hacker Marketing” Ego Is the Enemy. Today, he shares about his recent book Stillness is the Key.

    “In stillness, I’m illustrating stoic ideas with stories from Zen philosophy and vice versa. I always want to be seeking out deeper ideas and diverse ideas. I think that’s ultimately how you learn and how you triangulate real truths.” - Ryan Holiday

    Old Soul

    Christopher remarked how Ryan reminds him so much about Adele, as he is an old soul stuck in a 30-something body. Christopher was astounded with his choice of topics ranging from Rome, Greece, Ancient History and the like. He is none like his contemporaries who are busy with social media and mindless online content. 

    “I got an advise a long time ago that you should write what you’re afraid about, or write what you are unsure about.” - Ryan Holiday

    Probably one controversial part of the book is the discussion about faith.

    “Part of this idea of surrender is saying ‘you know what, I’m going to accept this uncertainty a little bit. I will accept that this isn’t all about me, that I don’t know everything. I’m going to accept that there is “something” operating behind the scenes that have an agenda or perspective, or indifference to a regular human problem or issue.” - Ryan Holiday

    Stillness 

    Ryan shares how his conversation went with the publishers for his new book. He says he does not claim it as The Ryan Holiday philosophy as he merely translated and popularized the tried and tested ideas of smart people 



    To listen more about what Ryan learned while doing marketing for fallen fashion brand “American Apparel” and more on faith, wisdom and stillness, download and listen to this episode. 

    Bio:

    Ryan Holiday is one of the world’s foremost thinkers and writers on ancient philosophy and its place in everyday life. 



    He is a sought-after speaker, strategist, and the author of many bestselling books including The Obstacle Is the Way; Ego Is the Enemy; and The Daily Stoic. 



    His books have been translated into over 30 languages and read by over two million people worldwide. He lives outside Austin, Texas, with his family.

    Links:

    Ryan Holiday



    Twitter: @ryanholiday



    Instagram: @RyanHoliday



    Good Reads - Stillness is the Key



    We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter,

    • 54 min
    132 Sizing People Up w/ FBI Agent Robin Dreeke

    132 Sizing People Up w/ FBI Agent Robin Dreeke

    In this episode, we continue our run on legendary authors. We hang out with former Marine, FBI agent and Chief of the FBI Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program, Robin Dreeke.



    This guy used to hang out with foreign spies in an effort to get them to turn on their countries and help the US. He’s got some insanely valuable experience in how to communicate, and relate to people.

    Detecting Lies

    Christopher asked one of the most pressing questions any FBI agent has been asked, ‘how do you detect lying?’ Robin candidly shares “you don’t.” He further shares that even the best people in the world have 50% accuracy when it comes to detecting deception.



    Instead, what Robin looks for when speaking to a “subject” are verbal and non-verbal signs of stress.

    “I never like to tell someone or think that someone is deceiving or lying, I just think in terms of ‘they don’t have transparency with me.’” - Robin Dreeke

    Famous Cop Questions

    One of the most famous cop question, as seen in movies, is the suspect's whereabouts. Robin shared what these cops are looking for is a direct answer.



    Robin personally shared his personal guidelines when he is questioning a subject: (1) Seeking thoughts and opinions, (2) Speaking in terms of their priorities, (3) Validating them and (4) Empowering them with choices;

    Similarities With Sales

    Robin shares that he must have had the hardest sales job in the world. His product is selling American patriotism to foreign diplomats, wherein affiliation is also considered to be illegal. 

    “From rapport, you build trust. From trust, you get a healthy relationship.” - Robin Dreeke

    Other than that, he confirms that his learnings, which he wrote in the book Sizing People Up is highly beneficial to sales or business people in general.



    For the part where Robin talks about the real FBI secret for solving crimes, download and listen to this episode.

    Bio:

    Robin is a best-selling author, professional speaker, trainer, facilitator, and retired FBI Special Agent and Chief of the Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program. Robin has taken his life's work of recruiting spies and broken down the art of leadership, communication, and relationship building into Five Steps to TRUST and Six Signs of who you can TRUST. Since 2010, Robin has been working with large corporations as well as small companies in every aspect of their business. Whether it is newly promoted leaders, executives, sales teams, or customer relations, Robin has crafted his People Formula for quick results and maximum success. 



    The Military Leader



    Although Robin always aspired to become a great leader, he realized from his time at the United States Naval Academy and in the United States Marine Corps that leadership was much more than just telling people what to do: a great leader uses interpersonal skills to inspire action, rather than demand the compliance of others.



    The Spy Catcher



    Upon entering service as an FBI Special Agent in 1997, Robin began his journey as a counterintelligence specialist and behaviorist in the agency's efforts to thwart the efforts of our country's greatest adversaries. Serving in New York City, Norfolk VA, FBI Headquarters, Quantico VA, and Fredericksburg VA, Robin received advanced training and experience in the area of social psychology and the practical application of the science behind relationship development and trust, ultimately leading the FBI's elite Behavioral Analysis Program.



    The Behavioral Analysis Expert



    Robin has built his highly effective tools for all aspects and stages of interpersonal communication and relationship development. Robin has combined all these tools and techniques and created a one-of-a-kind formula for success with people. Today, Robin is a recognized expert, author,

    • 1 hr 10 min
    131 How to Build Billion Dollar Startups w/ David Sacks

    131 How to Build Billion Dollar Startups w/ David Sacks

    In this episode, we have a real conversation about legendary entrepreneurs and investor David Sacks about how to build billion-dollar startups.



    We talk about how startups go off the rails and what is ok and not ok to lose money on. We also touch on why B2C strategies have become powerful for B2B companies and many more! If you’re an executive or an entrepreneur, even if you’re outside of tech, get your pen ready. there's a ton on this episode!

    Legendary VC 

    We continue our run of legendary VCsc with David Sacks. He was a co-founder of PayPal, Founder, and CEO of Yammer and Founder of Craft Ventures. Some of his investments include Facebook, Uber, SpaceX, Palantir Technologies, Airbnb and Bird



    This is another great example of the power of a real dialogue podcast.

    "You know the old line of 'nobody ever got fired for buying IBM'? I think that the modern version of that saying would be 'no one ever got fired for buying the category leader' and if you become the category leader, you just get all these sales by default." - David Sacks

    Going Off The Rails

    David shares how he witnessed high profile companies going off the rails for several reasons. He noted that aside from product-market fit, there are other mundane reasons why these companies fail. Here’s the big list that could go wrong in high growth companies:

    “One is commoditization, the rest of the world catches up the startups innovation. Two, cost of customer acquisition, a bunch of reasons it could happen. Third, margin problem, negative gross margins. Fourth, external dependency. Fifth, leaky bucket, there’s a problem with retaining customers. Sixth, regulatory compliance, then, sales compliance problem, that’s seven. Eight, doing things that don’t scale. Nine would be the founder psychology problem which is pushing things too far and tenth, company culture problem. One the 10.1 mark, macro shock where the company goes out for financing and isn’t able to raise around because of one of the problems I mentioned in them. Everything comes to head and you had a car crash.” - David Sacks

    The Challenge for Startups

    One of the greatest fears of startups Is commoditization. David says there is always a risk of the competition catching up in terms of software design. He encourages startups that it is a trade-off to make, to move fast enough to maintain market leadership.

    “Everyone is running around with their hair on fire but they’re afraid that their innovation gets copied. If you’re not moving fast enough, you’re on a bit of hamster wheel. If you’re not moving fast enough, you’re running in place.” - David Sacks

    To hear about David’s thoughts on how to define and dominate a market category, what areas of technology David thinks have the most promise and more, download and listen to this episode.

    Bio:

    David Sacks is a highly accomplished  entrepreneur and investor in internet technology firms.



    He is general partner of Craft Ventures, a venture capital fund he co-founded in late 2017. Previously as an entrepreneur, Sacks was the founding COO and product leader of PayPal (acquired by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion) and Founder/CEO of Yammer (acquired by Microsoft in 2012 for $1.2 billion). 



    In 2016, he led the turnaround of Zenefits as interim CEO.



    In 2017, Sacks co-founded blockchain startup Harbor as an incubation of Craft Ventures.



    His angel investments include a href="https://en.wikipedia.

    • 1 hr
    130 Grumpy Old Geek Jason DeFillippo

    130 Grumpy Old Geek Jason DeFillippo

    He’s back! Podcast legend and co-host of Grumpy Old Geeks podcast, Jason DeFillippo joins us for another dynamic conversation about deep fakes, streaming services, and tech that will or will not change your life in 2020.

    Deep Fakes and Video Editing

    Undeniably Christopher’s favorite topic with Jason, they talk about deep fakes and astounding editing to produce fake news. Christopher cites a Forbes article about CNN Reporter Jim Acosta allegedly pushing a White House intern. 

    “It was edited to remove 2-3 frames of the film, to speed up, when he pushed the person and they removed the ‘pardon me, ma’am’ out of the audio. That was just creative editing.” - Jason DeFellippo

    Moreover, there was also another video circulating the interwebs that make it look like Sarah Sanders was intoxicated in public. It doesn’t end there because they also talk about Gal Gadot, the most recent actor to play WonderWoman, who apparently appeared in a porn video. Clearly another deep fake.

    Have You Heard About “Hearables?”

    Apparently, hearables are the new category king and queen for 2020 as different brands introduced a “smart” earbuds. Although Christopher is a fan of the attempt to create a new category, Jason says the products really mean nothing.

    “That’s the thing, they’re not smart. They are just conduit to your phone. If you go out without your phone, they don’t work. they get real dumb, real fast.” - Jason DeFellippo

    Aside from this, Jason rants about adding more gadgets to charge. He says he has 7 gadgets at the moment and he would prefer using wired earphones/plugs due to the sound quality. 

    The Field of Streams

    Jason shares that around 7 years ago, on his podcast Grumpy Old Geeks, they have predicted this will happen. Everybody saw the popularity of Netflix and all the content creators decided they should make their own platforms. 

    “I think we’re going to see consolidation coming. People are going to start doing deals with each other to get bundling packages.” - Jason DeFellippo

    Jason also predicted that households would just pay for around 3 streaming service, max. 



    To hear more information about Jason DeFellippo and to listen to more of his comments on deep fakes, tech for 2020 and streaming services, download and listen to the episode.

    Bio:

    Jason is a full-time podcast producer and editor for The Jordan Harbinger Show as well as the Creator and Co-host of the Grumpy Old Geeks Podcast.



    Jason has been building websites since the early days in 1994 for clients that range from small businesses to million dollar websites for blockbuster films to his own start-ups.



    In 1994 he created the groundbreaking website Spewww which was nominated for a Webby in the first year the awards were held in 1998.



    In 1995 a new media company in Santa Monica moved him out to Los Angeles to build the first website for Epson America.



    Since then Jason has launched over 250 websites for major corporations like Paramount Pictures, Sony, Warner Brothers, and Disney. 



    He also created the two time SXSW Weblog Award-winning Blogrolling service as well as co-founded the global blog network Metroblogging.



    He has worked at several startups in San Francisco including Technorati and 8020 Media, the publishers of JPGMagazine.com, and statistical aggregator Metricly.

    Links:

    Website – Jason DeFillippo



    Twitter

    • 49 min
    129 How to go from Sales Rep to Chairman of The Board in Silicon Valley w/ Elisa Steele

    129 How to go from Sales Rep to Chairman of The Board in Silicon Valley w/ Elisa Steele

    In this episode, we are taken for a ride on how to go from sales rep to Chairman of the board with the amazing Elisa Steele. We have a powerful conversation about how she went from sales rep to regional sales to CMO, then CEO.



    We also talk about what she’s learned from working in massive tech companies like Microsoft and Yahoo and many more, Wait for the part where she gives advice on how women can design legendary careers and have children too.

    From Sales Rep to CEO

    Elisa Steels is the Chairman of the board of two publicly traded tech companies, Cornerstone on Demand and Namley. She’s also on the Board of $25B Splunk. More of her career background includes former CEO of Namley and Jive and former CMO of Skype, and Yahoo.



    She candidly shares what she learned from her career in these huge tech companies and from smaller entrepreneurial companies. From the time she graduated, she had a clear vision of what success looks like and she believes she will achieve it through sales. 

    “If I went into sales, then its really clear. If I’m successful, I made or overachieve my number. Nobody can be subjective about that. If I go into some of these other fields, that was like, a complete mystery to me, how do I know if I am actually gonna make it? - Elisa Steele

    Legendary Career Woman

    Initially, Elisa shares the only one thing she wished for her career: to not work with other people. The second thing she wished was to have financial independence. She believes that if women do not build resources for themselves, the critical decisions will be left to other people other than themselves. 

    “I was motivated by the fact or maybe even terrified by the fact that I wouldn’t have choices in life if I didn’t have resources. If you don’t have resources, then decisions in your life are up to somebody else. Resources equals choice.” - Elisa Steele

    For Elisa, resources generally are assets. It is representative of the things that help women make a decision on what they want to do. Creating some wealth will make those choices, especially those that are critical in life.

    How to Disagree and Commit

    Elisa is a powerful executive and she shares the thought of disagreeing, but still committing. She describes herself as a consensus builder.

    “Being the smartest in the room doesn’t actually help anybody. You have to actually make decisions and together, execute, because strategy is nothing without strong execution. Executiion is everything. Even if the strategy is off, you can still win, if you execute. Disagree but commit and be one team.” - Elisa Steele

    To hear more information about Elisa Steele and to listen to his tips on how to go from sales rep to chairman of the board, download and listen to the episode.

    Bio:

    Elisa Steele is the Chairman of the Board at Cornerstone (CSOD) and Namely; Board Director at Splunk (SPLK) and an advisor to Advisor to Tile and people.ai.



    She’s the former CEO of Namely  and Jive Software, Inc., 



    Ms. Steele served as Chief Marketing Officer and Corporate Vice President, Consumer Apps & Services at Microsoft Corporation, a worldwide provider of software, services and solutions, and Chief Marketing Officer of Skype, an Internet communications company, from 2012-2014. 



    Ms. Steele also has held executive leadership positions Yahoo! Inc. and NetApp, Inc. 



    Ms. Steele has served as a member of the board of directors of Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc., a learning and human capital management software company, since 2018. 



    Ms. Steele holds a B.S. from the University of New Hampshire and an M.B.A. from San Francisco State University.

    Links: 

    Linkedin - Elisa Steele



    ...

    • 56 min

Customer Reviews

Business Improv ,

This show is one of the best

Christopher and guests are experts in their fields, and can they talk! Deep dives into an array of interesting topics are always though provoking and engaging. Hear here!

Quirstyn ,

🤝

Good listen. Everyone should give it a chance. 👍🏼

Dayylonn ,

Welp

I’ll give it 3 stars even tho ian watch none of it or listen to it 😂

Top Podcasts In Society & Culture

Listeners Also Subscribed To