Paradoxical

Today I’m joined by Danielle Ruttenberg. She’s a trained glassblower, entrepreneur and mother of two young children, and co-founder of Remark Glass, a fully-sustainable, zero-waste custom glass studio located in the revitalized Bok Building in South Philadelphia.  Combining art and sustainability, Remark Glass fulfills its mission of creating sustainable art and manufacturing practices by employing traditional glassblowing techniq...

After having kids, Jessica Mathews made quite the career pivot! As is so often the case, though, there are things from her past career (family law attorney) that have helped her succeed in building Dancing Zebra Safari into a successful business where she helps others plan once (or more) in a lifetime adventures. Beyond the pivot, we also talked about specialization and why it matters for your business, the challenges of running a ...

Being a visionary entrepreneur isn’t without it’s challenges, and certainly has it’s ups and downs. Rich Cohen, founder & CEO of Elevate Packaging, is very familiar with these. As someone who was thinking about sustainability long before others in his industry, it took him some time (and some challenging sacrifices) to gain traction, but Elevate is now a leader in the realm of compostable packaging, and Rich continues to be a power...

So, I'll admit upfront that I'm a fan of MERGE4's socks, and you'll hear that pretty clearly in this conversation with Cindi Busenhart, their CEO & founder.

Cindi’s a big believer in the power of team and you’ll hear that throughout this episode, as well as how she’s used her past experiences in business and a very clear focus on values to build MERGE4 into a unique sock brand.Bio: Cindi Busenhart, the Founder and CEO of MERGE4, has...

Ok, you’re probably not in the wine business … so why listen to this episode? Well, Fritz knows a lot about how to be successful in small business while being efficient with his time & energy and honoring himself and his identity. So, there’s a lot of strategies you can adapt to your business that you’ll hear about in our conversation.

Some of the topics we explored include:

* The magazine article that inspired Fritz’ career path

* ...

Today’s guest is Mary Jenner, founder of The Butterfly Pig, a business that creates doll-sized medical devices for children, to help them understand medical procedures and lower their anxiety around them.

Here’s some of what we explored in our conversation:

* The intersection of experience, interests, and identity that contributed to the beginning of The Butterfly Pig.

* The origin of ‘The Butterfly Pig’ name.

* How the ‘How hard could...

Reid Edgar is thinking differently about his environmentally-focused laundry detergent brand, Spot. He’s not the first one to do laundry detergent sheets, but he’s definitely the first to go about marketing a product like this in the way he is. Why? He’s thinking big. Listen in as we talk about why Reid created Spot, how he’s gone about developing and marketing the product, and his next idea for bringing environmentally-focused pro...

Elaine Frei is a landscape designer by training, but a balloon … artist? sculptor?(take a look and decide for yourself) in her business. Not wanting to settle for making beautiful, artistic spaces with her work, she’s also found ways to make a difference with it, too.

While listening, check out the Luft website or their Instagram so you can get a sense of the work Elaine and the Luft team do, as I don’t think it can be captured in ...

What happens when a maker who plays disc golf, cares about the environment and has a background in marketing starts experimenting in their garage? Well, in the case of today’s guest, Jesse Stedman, you get Trash Panda Disc Golf, a Colorado business that makes flying discs out of recycled plastic.

Listen in as we talk about Jesse’s journey, including

* Why it took a decade to go from inspiration to action in starting up Trash Panda

*...

I’m honored to have author, podcaster, speaker, and new(ish) Substack-er as my guest for this week’s episode of Paradoxical. Her book Pivot was a valuable tool for me in my business journey, and her latest work, Free Time, is another great resource for those of you with small or solo businesses who are looking to get more done in less time (and with less effort). We covered a lot of ground in our conversation, including:

* Jenny’s...

My guest for this episode of Paradoxical is the CEO & co-founder of Cambium Carbon, Ben Christensen. Ben, a Forbes 30 Under 30 lister and TedX speaker, is a thought-leader and industry expert. Cambium Carbon is a limate-tech start-up that works with cities to divert wood waste, local manufacturers to create sustainable products, and demand partners for offtake they are creating a new regenerative supply chain for urban wood.Listen ...

I think curiosity is one of the most powerful tools we have when it comes to problem solving, creativity, and innovation. If you’re trying to build a successful, innovative business that’s making a difference and serving people powerfully, getting better at being curious will take you a long way in that direction.

Especially when it’s an alternative to judgment, a tool that comes with very limited upside and a whole lot of downside....

My guest this week is Aubri Thompson of Rebrand Skincare. Aubri is a cosmetic chemist and sustainable beauty expert. In 2020, she started Rebrand Skincare, a refillable skincare company in the Bay Area. She holds a BS in Chemistry and MS in Chemical Engineering from University of California, Berkeley.

Me, I never made it past my first semester of college chemistry, but I love how Aubri has combined her degree, her desire t...

Imagine setting out on a new business journey after a life-altering loss, and shaping it into a model that challenges traditional corporate structures. That's what you'll hear about today as Elisabeth Barton, the co-founder and CEO of Echo Adventure Cooperative, joins me for this episode of Paradoxical.

If you've ever wondered about how a cooperative differs from a traditional business, this episode will en...

What does the world of 12-step programs have in common with a famous business book? Well, listen in to this solo episode and you'll find out, learning a useful growth framework along the way. 

I'll dig into the complex relationship between denial as a survival skill and the undeniable power of information, exploring one of my favorite lessons from Jim Collins' must-read business book, Good to Great.

How does someone take a 30-year career in social work and use it as a foundation for a successful business teaching guitar? Well, David Feldstein, my guest for this episode of Paradoxical, has done just that. Listen in for the story of his journey and how he's leveraged his social work experience to create a safe, positive, and engaging learning environment for his young guitar students.

David's values about teac...

Have you ever been caught in the oversimplified dichotomies of 'good /  bad' or 'right / wrong'? Today, I'm talking about the importance of nuance in decision-making. Social media often exacerbates the challenge we can have with finding nuance, favoring simplified, polarized viewpoints. But, the truth is that there's a lot of value and power in the grey areas. By exploring those, we can find creative s...

In this episode, Lissy Alden, founder of MYNDY, shares the story behind MYNDY and provides a master class on metal fitness; what it is, how to improve yours, and how MYNDY supports people with improving their mental fitness.

Ever wondered how it feels to build a community, or the challenges one faces while starting a company? Lissy goes into detail about the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of her entrepreneurial journe...

Join us as we talk with Forest Linden from Clarity Lab about his journey to becoming a strategist and marketing expert for businesses. Discover how Forest's unique approach has helped many entrepreneurs find the right path to success.

Forest and I talk about the challenges and opportunities in online business, myths and truths, and what’s working now when it comes to doing business online.

In this episode, w...