121: Top 20 Countdown

Top 20 Countdown: Week 1

Welcome to Innovation City—powered by Venture Cafe—where Tyler Kelley and Michael Johnson, Co-Founders of SLAM! Agency, interview innovators, creators, and disruptors to discover how business is changing in the modern world.

Created and produced by SLAM! Agency in cooperation with Venture Cafe St. Louis and Venture Cafe Miami, Innovation City gives you an inside look at how rapidly business and culture are changing thanks to increasing diversity and inclusion, heightened creativity, and a stronger and better-connected business community. Venture Cafe is the largest combined gathering of entrepreneurs and innovators anywhere in the world. Events are held every Thursday in St. Louis, Miami, and other leading innovation cities around the globe.

Today’s episode is the first of several highlight shows where we are taking a look back at our top 20 favorite interviews and conversations of all time. With over 120 episodes and 2 seasons worth of amazing interviews, the Innovation City and Venture Cafe teams have been blown away by the amount of talent and innovation our guests have and are achieving in their local businesses and communities. Today’s featured guests include:

• Rodney Bullard, VP of Corporate Social Responsibility at Chick-fil-A, Inc.
• David Karandish, Founder & CEO at Capacity
• Amanda Pizarro, Co-Founder of Salty Donut

Some key points from Rodney at Chick-fil-A:

• Be intentional about being a friend others
• How to move past biases
• Rodney’s book, Heroes Wanted: Why the World Needs You to Live Your Heart Out
  • The 9 C’s: Calling, Commitment, Compassion, Connection, Conviction, Community, Courage, Charity, Confidence
• Being intentional and believing in your own capacity to help others
• Everyone is a hero and it starts with conviction and calling
• Confidence is everyone’s superpower
• True community comes from individuals embracing their own heroism
• Listen or watch Rodney’s full episode here

Some key points from David at Capacity:

• Start entrepreneurship early (high school to college) while the stakes are low
• Making sure you have a transferable piece of knowledge from any failure
• Taking time off to think about what you wanted to do next
• Look at what is going to have a big impact on the way people work/live and what technology (if applicable) would still be around for years to come
• Listen or watch David’s full episode here

Some key points from Amanda at Salty Donut:

• Research what’s missing in your industry and try to fill that void
• Perform thorough research and really understand how the industry works
• Look at other markets and how businesses run differently in them
• The importance of self-discipline when starting a business
• Taking obstacles as learning moments for the future
• Pushing through the hard times (even when you’re questioning or thinking of quitting)
• Listen or watch Amanda’s full episode here