#3 Col Fink (Impactology Live Recap) "One person can make a mark, but it takes a tribe to create real impact"

What makes Humanitix story so unique, is that they developed a new model for charities. In the process, they’ve targeted and disrupted the global event ticketing industry…a highly profitable industry with inefficiencies and ripe for disruption.

Their business model is a timely experiment in what Humanitix calls, “compassionate capitalism”. This is a powerful call to action for those wanting to follow a for-purpose path.  Where profit and purpose are working in harmony.  The important lesson here: Humanitix has been laser-focused, developing a great tech product, and the customer’s experience has been at the heart of everything they do, and Humanitix is led by co-founders, Josh and Adam McCurdie, who have drive, conviction and purpose.

This episode is a masterclass in growing and scaling a social enterprise.  Overcoming scaling difficulties, building strategy, managing funders and partners, preserving culture, employee development and dealing with black swan events. 

In the past year, Josh, his co-founder Adam McCurdie distributed $4m to not-for-profit projects and this year on track to distribute $8-$10M.  That is huge. Significant traction in 3 short but complex years, since I last spoke with Josh in this kind of setting.

The themes of Preserving Culture and Playing to your Strengths.

Preserving Culture.
Whether you're nurturing a team culture or safeguarding the identity of your organisation, it's vital to prioritise authenticity and clarity on your company or team’s values. Josh spoke about “taking a hit as a team” during the pandemic – explaining the important role of unity and building trust, Josh discussed the importance finding employees that are passionate about Humanitix and also passionate about the work that needs to be done.  Josh spoke about implanting your “cultural heroes” into new teams and offices to galvanise and reinforce the right culture. Here are two questions to reflect on:

1. How are you actively maintaining and enhancing your team's values, ensuring they align with your daily responsibilities and interactions?

2. Are you clear about your company's culture, including the values and behaviours that are most beneficial to the success of your company? And well aligned are your behaviours to the culture of the company?

And finally, Playing to your strengths

Josh really knows himself and what he believes in. Whether it's with Humanitix employees, partners, funders, or just friends, people know where he stands. He's not one to just go with the flow and with what is conventional; he's found his own way to connect with and make an impact on those around him. Following your own path and playing to your strengths is key. It's about being true to yourself while being open to positive influences. This takes self-awareness, compassion, and strength. 

Josh shares his experience and the most practical advice for "playing to your strengths" is to identify what you're naturally good at and focus on leveraging those abilities.  

So, here's something to reflect on: 
Reflect on: 1. What are your strengths? Your weaknesses? What tasks or activities energise and motivate you? 
2. In what situations at work and in your personal life can you leverage your strengths to consistently excel? 

We’ve also adapted the original chat with Josh into a podcast episode, and it is a valuable companion to this episode – check out that episode, there is a wonderful backstory to Humanitix as part of Episode 5.  

Today’s episode we’ll hear from Joshua Ross, who is the co-founder and co-CEO of social enterprise, Humanitix, disrupting the global ticketing industry. 

Some important context, this interview you’re about to hear was part of Impactology Live, a global virtual event, where we interviewed 33 amazing people over 3 days…all interviews were streamed live, and the rich content provides us a chance to reflect on the key learnings from these chats. This conversation, provides an inspiring back story on Josh and his co-founder Adam McCurdie, and their brave decision to start a social enterprise with the ambitious goal of make a global impact on education projects. 

Josh is inspiring, brave, smart, focused and is rewriting the rules on what it means to start and grow a sustainable social enterprise and the role Atlassian has played as a major partner in their growth. The lesson from the chat you’re about to hear has stayed with me for three years…you’ll understand why when you hear about that one night on a rooftop in Sri Lanka, when the unwavering commitment and bond between Josh and Adam was forged to do something special in the social enterprise space…it wasn’t until a few years later, for the Humanitix idea to come to life…

There were so many important business and life lessons in this episode.  One life lesson Josh beautifully illustrated was the power of pursuing your dreams.  Not a phrase we share often enough with the right people in our life. 

Josh Ross candidly shared the unique dynamics (the rules), that underpin his relationship with co-founder Adam McCurdie AND also discussed the barrier to pursuing your dreams – loneliness. Inspired by Josh’s story, let's delve into these two themes: 

Josh and Adam have a unique, agreed rule for building a sustainable business relationship: "things will never be the same."  Workload and effort will ebb and flow with business priorities and will vary for each person and you need to accept that. This simple but powerful rule acknowledges the dynamic nature of entrepreneurship, fostering adaptability and resilience. Here’s the question for the day: How might embracing this mindset enhance your relationship with someone you work with closely? 

The final theme was Pursuing your dreams – and the loneliness that comes with it, and pursuing your creams isn't just about dreaming big; it's about taking action, no matter how small, towards your goals. 

It can be tough to forge an unconventional path when everyone else you know is on a different route.  Starting something new on your own is daunting, but having the right friendship group around, who support you and lift you, even if they are on a different path, is super critical to your success. 

Consider this: How do the relationships within your close knit group contribute to your overall well-being and personal growth?  How do you hold each other accountable as friends?

Col Fink (www.colfink.com) has been described as a cross between Yoda and the Energizer Bunny. And what they mean of course, is “Col combines insight with energy, wisdom with enthusiasm, and ideas with action.  

We had the pleasure of chatting with Col, three years ago as part of our global event “Impactology Live”.  We’ve also adapted the original chat with Col into a podcast episode (Episode 3), and it is a valuable companion to this episode – check that out as well. There are two themes we explored post-chat with Col: the themes of Finding your way and Commitment.

“Finding Your Way”.  Hearing Col talk about “finding your way” and his motto of “No Heroes”, reveals some powerful insights. It's not just about being great at what you do; it's about finding a way to do what you love, your way.  Col promotes authenticity, and not just following trends just because others say so or because you see other doing so. The other part to this is questioning external influences steering your choices. Finding Your Way is more than a professional pursuit; it's moving in a direction that is better aligned with your passion and purpose.  Think about this.

"Are you mostly following the crowd, or are you truly doing things your way?"

And, “Does your path authentically align with your true self, or are your choices being guided by external pressures?”

The second theme revolves around Commitment.  

At the end of our chat, Col left us with a powerful insight —99% commitment falls short by 1%.  For Col, true commitment is achieving the unwavering 100%. And it's not just a numerical difference here, it's a shift in philosophy. 100% commitment means going all in, leaving no room for doubt or hesitation.  It's a mindset that recognizes that achieving excellence and realizing dreams requires patience and dedication.  Anything less, and you're settling for a near enough is a good enough mentality, which could impact your progress towards the success you deserve.

The final reflection question is:  

"How can you boost your commitment level from 99% to a rock-solid 100%, recognising that this extra 1% may make all the difference in achieving your goals?"

Col Fink, who is a speaker, author and advisor to solopreneurs. Col is wonderful human who has build a trusted personal brand of simplifying the complex and shares practical lessons to help us solve the tricky problems that can linger longer than they need to.

In this interview, Col discusses making an impact greater than what is possible as an individual. And Col shares that to achieve a meaningful level of impact, you are going to need a “supportive tribe of people” around you. Col shares a simple and highly practical concept, “The Learning Loop” to amplify this message.

Col shared, if you’re trying to create lasting positive change, that makes the world a better place, people are the ultimate impact multiplier, and that we cannot achieve everything we are strive for, on our own.

Let’s cover off two themes to help you explore his lessons more deeply:

Theme 1. Bring your discretionary energy.  The age old riddle, how do we get people to bring a higher level of discretionary energy to a project? Start with open communication, understanding what drives an individual and what their pain points and challenges are. Also, line of sight between their efforts and how it impacts the overall goal is crucial.  Finally, identify ways to reward and recognise them in a timely and meaningful way. This says to them, “I see your effort, and you’re making an impact – I thank you!”  Here's a question for you: “How can you create a space to better engage with people both within your workplace and community?” 

Theme 2. Nothing meaningful happens without “contribution”

Col discussed that Engagement is complex and nuanced – it is hard to attract and retain good people.

“The Learning Loop” consisted of four phases. 
1. Learning – learnt something new.

2. Challenge – being challenged in the process.

3. Progress – you make progress and receive a reward for your efforts, and

4. Contribution – share lessons and give back to your community – make the path easier for those starting out – and contribute to the advancement and development of your tribe.

The Contribution phase, is a form of paying it forward. It fosters a trusting, positive and supportive environment, it helps you building deeper relationships, and creates a ripple effect of gratitude and kindness – boosting the overall well-being of everyone in your orbit. 

So here’s a reflection question to ponder, well one big question with two little follow-up questions: 
“Is there someone in your tribe, at work or in your community, that could benefit from your advice and insight, where you can help them develop faster and avoid the pitfalls you may have faced? If so, when would now be a good time to reach out to them and line-up a chat? What will be the impact on them and you?

Check out the video of this interview with Col Fink via YouTube

Tasos Katsaounis was born and raised in Dallas Texas, where his family owned a bar and grill. Whilst helping out in the family business, Tasos spent 22 years in business consulting, until he decided to take the road less travelled. 

Tasos is part of a growing breed of entrepreneurs, applying years of experience, maturity, and intuition to forge a new path and follow his passion.  In Tasos' case, building the Bread Man Baking Co, into an independent commercial bakery based in Houston. Today, Bread Man Baking Co. is partnering with some of the country's top chefs, hotels and grocery retailers.

26min 46sec: Reflections and questions to test your thinking and help you put the learnings into action. There are some wonderful life lessons about backing yourself and pursuing your why, in this case for Tasos…building strong community connections through the art of baking bread. 

Tasos talks with clarity and authenticity and there are three themes we explore: evolution, community connection and conviction.

Evolution: Tasos shares this in the context of his evolution as a leader. Running his own business, he now has a heightened self-awareness of his decisions and how more than ever, he is accountable for his actions…nurturing a growing business and hiring good people who depend on him and he depends on them.  The question for you is, how do you hold yourself accountable for your actions? Are you an effective leader? And why?

Community connection – this is an obvious point of difference for Tasos and The Bread Man Baking Co, building community connections in an engaging, simple, and authentic way.  Tasos is nurturing community brand advocates, who are super passionate and loyal. That’s powerful!  
Which local business would you highly recommend because of their brand promise and product? Now let that business owner know what you think of them and share it with a friend.  If you have a business, how are you building brand advocates? Do you know why your customers select you and not a competitor?
 

Conviction. Tasos said, “I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to do.”  Tasos has a strong conviction on what he is trying to build…there was no point in our interview where he spoke about his product. Tasos has a strong growth mindset, meaning he is focused on finding solutions to the challenges that emerge when growing any business.  My question to you is, “are you doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing?”

Full Video of Interview

Tasos Katsaounis was born and raised in Dallas Texas, where his family owned a bar and grill. Whilst helping out in the family business, Tasos spent 22 years in business consulting, until he decided to take the road less travelled. 

Tasos is part of a growing breed of entrepreneurs, applying years of experience, maturity, and intuition to forge a new path and follow his passion.  In Tasos' case, building the Bread Man Baking Co, into an independent commercial bakery based in Houston. Today, Bread Man Baking Co. is partnering with some of the country's top chefs, hotels and grocery retailers.

26min 15sec: Reflections and questions to test your thinking and help you put the learnings into action. 
There are three themes we reflect on with this conversation with Tasos.  Belief, Identity and Bravery.

1. Belief – Tasos, with all the uncertainty of the unknown put his trust in a passion, baking bread, that defined his why. Tasos mentioned how he had a belief this would work…so much about mindset, particularly when after 22 years, you say sayonara to a way of working that is hardwired and innate. So, the question for you is, what do you enjoy doing, that doesn’t pay your bills, that enables you to find flow?  Is this worth exploring?
2. Identity – Tasos spoke about redefining his brand, losing his identity to build credibility to a new stakeholders.  As a problem solver, Tasos had the insight to know this is a problem he needs to solve to succeed…the 22 years of consulting kicking into gear here.  How would you define your brand?  How would people define your brand, when you’re not in the room?  Are there parts of your brand that you need to let go or refine to get you to the next phase of growth, for yourself or your business.
3. And finally, brave. Tasos said it nicely, ‘nothing happens without taking a risk.’ The question for you is ‘what is the next brave and big decision that could change course of your life for the better?”

Look out for Part II with Tasos Katsaounis in Episode 2.

Full Video of Interview

Welcome to The Impactology Podcast, a podcast for people who want to live with more meaning, work smarter, and have more impact at what they do best. 

Impactology explores the art and science of impact and in each episode, we’ll connect you to famous names and names you’ve yet to hear, all of them inspiring and all having an impact in the work they do and life they lead. 

Have you had the experience of having a conversation with a friend, or hearing something…and in that moment, ideas collide in your mind like two asteroids to create something bigger? This is Impactology. 

We believe more than ever that every conversation, every lesson, every idea, can open a door to a new opportunity for personal growth that you didn’t think was possible.

This is where you can be inspired by storytelling that allows you to grow, learn and achieve your goals and aspirations.

Host: George Liberopoulos

Website: www.impactology.com.au

Instagram: @impactology_

Instagram: @george.liber

Facebook: @impactologyaust