Learning from Smart People Rob Oliver

John Louizes talks about how to scale your business on this episode of the Learning from Smart People Podcast with Rob Oliver. John is the owner and proprietor of Zeno’s taffy and ice cream shop. It is the world’s most famous taffy. He has expanded from a single store with 3 employees to 9 stores with over 50 employees. A super interesting guy, you will enjoy this interview and learn from it.

Here are some of the main points as John Louizes and Rob Oliver talk about how to scale your business:

· Zeno’s is a family operated business that started in Daytona Beach in 1948
· Having a family run business creates interesting management power dynamics
· Fear is a powerful motivator
· Growth can be a powerful and enjoyable experience
· Lower profit margins from multiple locations can be more profitable than higher profit margins from a single location
· Different generations have different skill sets and visions
· Reactive decisions are generally not good for business
· Identify your constituency and serve them
· Put your website on everything!
· There is no saltwater in saltwater taffy
· Be as creative as possible within your marketplace

You can connect with John Louizes and Zeno’s Taffy through the links below. When you order from the website, be sure to use the code “smart20” to receive your 20% discount.

Website: https://worldsmostfamoustaffy.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FamousTaffy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/famoustaffy/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zenoscandy/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnlouizes/

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Rob Kessler talks about how to find your niche in business on this episode of the Learning from Smart People Podcast with Rob Oliver. Kessler is the inventor of the Million Dollar Collar. In this episode, he talks about why he invented the collar and shares his entrepreneurial journey. As an entrepreneur, you will relate to some of his experiences and learn from others.

Here are some of the topics covered as Rob Oliver and Rob Kessler talk about how to find your niche in business:

· Necessity is the mother of invention. Kessler loves to wear a dress shirt but not a tie, how can you keep your shirt from crumbling if you don’t wear a tie?
· You can only go so far googling stuff, sometimes you need to consult a professional.
· Even though his Kickstarter did not get funded, he learned from the feedback
· Consumers will tell you what they want to buy, you just need to listen
· There’s a difference between feedback and criticism
· Don’t focus on problems, focus on solutions!
· Do tons of research on your concept
· Your patent can be a source of revenue
· Your passion is what will carry you through
· A great support network is invaluable
· You might need to take a partner whose strengths match your weaknesses
· The innovator and the implementer
· Never underestimate the power of good customer service
· Customer first, team second, company third
· Integrity is a huge part of life
· Part of integrity is putting out a super quality product
· You can harness the power of influencers
· Kessler thinks that NDAs can be fairly useless
· It’s hard to get investors when you just have a concept

You can learn more about Rob Kessler and Million Dollar Collar through the links below:

Website: http://MillionDollarCollar.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/milliondollarcollar
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/milliondollarcollar
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/robkessleriii

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You will learn how to become more strategic in your marketing from Drew Donaldson during this episode of the Learning from Smart People Podcast with Rob Oliver. Drew is a strategist, coach and consultant. His company, GroHaus, helps businesses become competent, strategic, and efficient in their marketing. He is also part of an organization that protects children from online threats. If you are looking for insights into how to improve your marketing, this is the episode for you.

Here are some of the topics covered as Rob Oliver interviews Drew Donaldson about how to become more strategic in your marketing:

· Rob gets some high praise about the name of the podcast
· Watching his parents who were small business owners, he saw the struggles of growing your business
· Being a problem fixer involves showing people what they are doing wrong (in a nice and kind way!)
· Being in a greenhouse doesn’t guarantee growth, there are many other variables to consider
· Nurturing a business in the same way you nurture a plant promotes growth
· It’s important to be prepared for the difficulties you know are coming
· The first step to success is “idea validation”
· Avoid some common mistakes when validating ideas
· The biggest influence in Drew’s business life was his mentor
· There are good “mind games” to play that will give you clarity
· There is a fine line between a dream crusher and a realist
· Lacking an open-minded attitude is one key to failure
· It pays to play the “What About…” Game
· Your ability to take criticism is directly related to your success
· All criticism is not equal!

You can learn more about Drew Donaldson and GroHaus through the links below:

Website: http://grohaus.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GroHausPA/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gro.haus/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewrdonaldson

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We hear about how to take care of yourself and the planet from Cathy Nesbitt on this episode of the Learning from Smart People Podcast with Rob Oliver. Cathy practices laughter yoga and is an expert in vermiculture. What is vermiculture? You will have to listen to the episode to find out! Cathy is an award-winning environmental innovator who encourages people to live a more sustainable life.

Here are some of the topics that Cathy Nesbitt and Rob Oliver covered in their discussion of how to take care of yourself and the planet:

· When Toronto closed their landfill, they had to start exporting their garbage to Michigan
· Cathy’s solution was to reduce the amount of garbage by composting, indoors no less!
· Composting is turning garbage into gold
· Fear is just the unknown…
· It utilizes the scraps from food preparation, not from plate scrapings
· Worms eat half of their weight in food scraps daily
· Her journey to entrepreneurship started by taking a business course
· The next step was a booth at fairs where she started educating the public
· Her business grew from being completely local to having a web presence and serving people internationally
· The key to staying positive was our introduction to laughter yoga
· Dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins are all released when we laugh, have you had your DOSE?
· Laughter yoga is a form of laughter exercise, like sit ups
· Laughter is a full body experience
· To take care of the planet you need to take care of yourself

You can learn more about Cathy Nesbitt and Cathy’s Composters through the links below:

Website: https://www.cathyscomposters.com/
Website: https://www.cathysclub.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Squirm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CathysCrawlyComposters
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathynesbitt/

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Today’s topic is how to increase your emotional competency from Doug Noll on the Learning from Smart People Podcast with Rob Oliver. Doug was born with multiple disabilities and learned to overcome those. Today, he is a world-class mediator and peacemaker. His story is fascinating and I’m sure you are going to learn from what he has to say.

Here are several key points as Doug Noll and Rob Oliver discuss how to increase your emotional competency:

· Doug has a background as a lawyer where he learned about negotiation
· His understanding was shaken while studying martial arts
· Doug’s list of disabilities at birth was extensive
· The physical disabilities were painful, but the emotional issues were more difficult
· His own experiences in teaching himself gave him insights into how to teach others
· It’s about breaking things down into small, discrete pieces
· What is impossible today is difficult tomorrow but in three weeks we can be asking why did it take so long to get here?
· You can find deep meaning in life by serving other people
· There is a balance between emotionality and rationality
· We are 98% emotional and 2% rational
· The rational mind cannot see problems
· We teach people to be rational instead of emotional but that needs to change
· Emotional competency is about three things: emotional self-awareness, emotional self-regulation and empathy
· You can’t increase your emotional intelligence, just emotional competency
· Cognitive empathy is about emotional reflection
· Doug’s favorite laboratory is Starbucks
· You can listen another person into existence
· Most people are emotionally self unaware
· The majority of people stop maturing emotionally at 6 years old
· Emotional incompetency is passed from generation to generation
· Our emotions are often invalidated

You can learn more about Doug Noll through the links below. Especially check out the offer on his website.

Website: http://DougNoll.co/smart-people
Website: https://dougnoll.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dougnoll
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DouglasNoll
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/douglasenoll/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougnoll/

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Code: pIeacCy3txLv17moCDUG

We learn how to start or grow a business with Lindsey Lerner on this episode of the Learning from Smart People Podcast with Rob Oliver. Lindsey is a business development expert. She has a passion for community building and social entrepreneurship. During the conversation you will hear about how she started her first company while she was in college. She is all about developing partnerships, brand alliances and collaborative efforts.

Here are some of the main points as Rob Oliver and Lindsey Lerner talk about how to start or grow a business:

· Lindsey’s struggle to find the right place for her after high school
· How she became a fake rock star’s manager
· The power of matchmaking between local businesses and musicians
· Art is a business and business is an art
· The arts and science students had to minor in business and the business students had to have a minor in arts and science
· There are only solutions, no problems
· Everything is interconnected, people, problems, everything…
· When you don’t know what you don’t know, it’s easier to put yourself out there
· Utilizing music as a tool for economic development
· Do well financially but also do good for your community
· Diversity provides richness to your work but also can increase stress
· Stigma and bias exist but they exist in other people

The easiest way to connect with Lindsey Lerner is through the links below:

Website: http://www.lindseylerner.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindseylerner/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/llerner/

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