Travelling the world, absorbing pain and wondering what to do with it đ˘
I illegally grocery shopped in Uganda when I was 7. (We lived in Tanzania in the early 80s where âinternational groceriesâ were thin on the ground. But bribing a border official could get you first-dibs on the âwarehouse saleâ of the month.)
I was rescued by a group of Trans women from a guy who grabbed my t!t in a movie theatre in India when I was 19. They came to my rescue because instead of sucking it up and slinking away quietly, like we were taught to do for our safety, I threw my coffee at him and yelled for help; and they heard me!
I started a company, making handmade chocolate for enterprises and gift delivery services when I was 20. It allowed me to afford a lavish life of constantly going out in my early 20s. It also ended by being my momâs gig for several years after I left it.
I was pulled over while driving someone elseâs car, in The Sultanate of Oman, without my license, because my friend was drunk when I was 25. And I talked our way out of it. (Alcohol is not kosher in the middle east)
I was made redundant from my job as a vice president in a quasi government agency in Dubai, when I was 9 months pregnant, because I didnât fit in at 35. They then tried to treat me unfairly in my settlement math, and I was having none of it. I called the CEO and got what I was owed, that same day. And resolved never to work for someone else again, if I could help it.
I married the real love of my life – Mithran Stone. (After getting that wrong once before in my 20s) And we decided to make Canada our home, also at 35. Because, you know, if everything is great, why wouldnât you rock the boat? I swore that one day he and I would build something cool together (besides a firecracker 10 year old). He didnât believe me at first. Now heâs the 3rd partner in the business đÂ
In my early 40s I met a cool bunch of people, via continuing education, and we worked in a collective, where possible. One of those people was the other love of life, my kinda-sorta twin, and second partner in the business – Will Lamont. We united in our love of pop culture and the ability to weave that into almost anything.
And together, we built ourselves an accidental flywheel (more on that in a second), in the form of a podcast that delves into the dark and twisty parts of many genius marketing minds.
Whatâs in a (funny) name? đš
âOh? You started a podcast, and became a runaway success? Tell me an original story, please. Yawn đ´â
I hear you, and I believe there is only one âclutter-cuttingâ reason so many bright minds were willing to lend their time and brain.
Because we are funny.
We constantly entertain in our content.
And it begins with the name and hook of our podcast âThe 4 am Reportâ.
Of course people will teach you their marketing tricks. But theyâll pull out their deepest, most intimate advisory when you ask them to frame it from a perspective of âwhatâs keeping them up at nightâ and how to solve it so other people donât suffer as well.
Itâs all in the tone and the entertainment value.
(The pictures of us day drinking with eye masks on donât hurt either)
Continuous improvement is my religion đ
Iâm obsessed with flywheels. (We all are, as a company)
Anything worth having feels hard and overwhelming at first. There isnât one grand action. However, magic — thatâll make the wheel move.
âThe process resembles relentlessly pushing a giant, heavy flywheel, turn upon turn, building momentumâŚ. You keep pushing in a consistent direction. Three turns … four … five … six … the flywheel builds up speed … seven … eight … you keep pushing … nine … ten … it builds momentum … eleven … twelve … moving faster with each turn … twenty … thirty … fifty … a hundred. Then, at some pointâbreakthrough! The momentum of the thing kicks in in your favor, hurling the flywheel forward, turn after turn … whoosh! … its own heavy weight working for you. Youâre pushing no harder than during the first rotation, but the flywheel goes faster and faster… compounding your investment of effort.â – Jim Collins
I am deeply, deeply impatient đ¤Śââď¸
I want you to think faster, talk faster, do that thing youâve been putting off – like NOW.
Do that other thing youâve been doing the same way for DECADES differently, because the way you do it is stupid đ¤ˇââď¸
Why do something in 10 steps if you can do it in 2?
You might not ALWAYS succeed. But surely you should try, yes?
Because if you donât, WTF is the point of all the mastery weâve achieved in our thinking, time and technology??
I donât hate pandemic-living đ¤ˇââď¸
Iâm not trying to be provocative – this works for me.
I believe that unless youâre facing loss of life, loved ones, or liberty, humankind needs to rise to the challenge and find innovation in this dark corner of history. I chose to create a fully remote workplace way before the lockdown made it mainstream. Why? Because itâs sh!t tons more effective.
When your back is up against a wall, you WILL make awesomeness come out your imaginary unicorn-horn. Itâs called survival instinct.
And at this particular moment in human history, our collective backs are up against the wall. I cannot wait to see what we do with it.
Which is why I created a company, no a CULTURE, of understanding what occupies our headspace and prevents us from tapping into amazing things. Hint: itâs usually bandwidth.
We canât fix ALL the problems, but the ones that involve creating (non-accidental) marketing flywheels we can đ
Peace
Susan
