Overcoming Negative Thoughts

Confidence, Success, & Overcoming Negative Thoughts | Behind the Grind, Episode 004

In this episode of Behind the Grind, Brian and I answer some questions from our followers about what gives us confidence, how we define success, and overcoming negative thoughts distracting us from taking the next steps in our mission.

A mission that we accepted from the first step, but as the hills grow steeper and as exhaustion sets in, the challenge becomes a mental one for the entrepreneur to push through.

For both Brian and myself, this is where some of the most important battles need to be won, and through this episode we speak through our process for reminding ourselves of the mission, orienting ourselves in difficult times, and learning to trust our instincts when the path isn't clearly visible.

It isn't a process that is easy, but to make process, overcoming negative thoughts it is requirement for progress to be made.

 


About the Behind The Grind Series:

Through this podcast series, Brian and I will speak about the realities (as we know them) of entrepreneurship.

Videos will be available every Saturday, and audience participation is HIGHLY encouraged!

About Rich

Driven by the belief that change begins with a single step, I've spent the last 15 years in Asia working to engage, inspire, and equip those around him to understand their power to leverage innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership to solve "the big" challenges cities face.

Currently, as the Managing Director of Collective Responsibility, Executive Director of HandsOn China, and a Visiting Professor of Sustainability at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), I'm focused on building platforms that promote long term organizational capacity to address the economic, environmental, and social hurdles that China faces as the country’s economic growth accelerates.

Follow Rich:

Website: http://www.richbrubaker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rich.brubaker
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrubaker
Instagram: https://instagram.com/richbrubaker
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/richbrubaker

About Brian:

Brian Tam leads corporate teams through FIRST TIME EVER challenges. From new business models to fresh brands, as CEO of Let's Make Great! he guides multinational companies in China to systematically create the future and explore uncertainties.

He's the mind behind PROTO Innovation Cards and the author of Awrignawl Creativity.

Born in New York, and proudly raised in New Jersey - he has been in China since 2007, working to drive the fantastic change that is happening in China & the world. Let's Make Great!

Follow Brian:

Website: http://www.letsmakegreat.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brian.tam.56211
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamonline/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/letsmakegreat/


Successful Social Entrepreneur

5 Key to Becoming a Successful Social Entrepreneur | Rich Brubaker - Episode 005

In this episode,  I introduce what I believe are 5 key steps to becoming a successful social entrepreneur.

Each of them come from my observations of others, as well as through a regular reflection of my own path down social entrepreneurship.  A path that was not always straight, or easy, but through the lessons of success, and failure, have born out some of the truths that I share during this video.

A video that I hope will help you find success (and impact) more quickly by leapfrogging the pitfalls that I fell into in my early years, and through the implementation of processes that I have learned throughout the development of multiple organizations.

Organization that regardless of profit motive, were built differently, had different measures of success, but all required me to spend time focusing on each of the five keys prior to making any progress at all.

I hope you will find the video instructive as you look to build your own organization!

 

About Me:
Driven by the belief that change begins with a single step, I've spent the last 15 years in Asia working to engage, inspire, and equip those around him to understand their power to leverage innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership to solve "the big" challenges cities face.

Currently, as the Managing Director of Collective Responsibility, Executive Director of HandsOn China, and a former Adjunct Professor of Sustainability at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), I'm focused on building platforms that promote long term organizational capacity to address the economic, environmental, and social hurdles that China faces as the country’s economic growth accelerates.

Follow Me:
Website: http://www.richbrubaker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rich.brubaker
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrubaker
Instagram: https://instagram.com/richbrubaker
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/richbrubaker

Contact Me:
[email protected]

#Richbrubaker #socialentrepreneur #socialinnovation

 

 


Tom Stader

Managing the Stress of Nonprofit Leadership | Tom Stader, The Library Project

When I met Tom Stader nearly 15 years ago, both of our organizations were just getting off the ground, and over the last couple of years he and I have spent a lot of time together hashing through EVERYTHING. Including the challenges that both of us faced as we built out our organizations, the stress of that work, the impacts of that stress on us, and how we look back on that now.

Topics that I have rarely seen addressed publicly, but ones that I am honored Tom agreed to share as an update to his first interview with me two years ago. When everything was seemingly on the cusp of going to the next level.

It is an interview that I would say is the most important to date, and I hope that viewers will see that while the work we are all doing is "good", it is really, really, really tough sometimes.

Not a reason not to do it, but something that needs to be more honestly approached, and for which founders need better support.

About #EntrepreneursForGood Series:
Through this series, we speak with Asia based entrepreneurs whose mission it is to bring solutions to the environmental, social, and economic challenges that are faced within the region to learn more about their vision, the opportunities they see, and challenges that they have had to overcome.

It is a series that we hope will not only engage and inspire you, but catalyze you and your organizations into action. To identify a challenge that is tangible, and build a business model (profit or non) that brings a solution to the market

About Tom Stader:
Tom Stader is the Founder and Board Chair of The Library Project, an organization that donates libraries to under financed schools and orphanages in Cambodia, China and Vietnam.

He believes that education is the key motivator to breaking the cycle of poverty that exists in the developing world. In 2006 at the age of 32, Tom had a simple idea to donate libraries to two orphanages in Dalian, China. Soon after those libraries were complete, Tom founded The Library Project.

Since then, Tom and his dedicated team have completed 2000 library donations, impacting over 1,000,000 eager young readers. Tom is passionate about International Social Entrepreneurship and improving rural literacy.

About Rich:
Driven by the belief that change begins with a single step, Richard Brubaker has spent the last 15 years in Asia working to engage, inspire, and equip those around him to take their first step.

Acting as a catalyst to driving sustainability, Brubaker works with government, corporate, academic and non-profit stakeholders to bring together knowledge, teams, and tools that develop and execute their business case for sustainability.

Follow Rich
Website: http://www.richbrubaker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rich.brubaker
LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrubaker Instagram: https://instagram.com/richbrubaker
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/richbrubaker

Contact Rich
[email protected]


Is Building a Product or a Service Based Company Easier? | Behind the Grind 003

In this episode, Brian and I speak about my experience building product and service based companies.  Was a great conversation about a topic that I have been thinking a lot about as I have spent the last 18 months building a product.

Something I have really enjoyed, but like with a service based business, has its own time, place, and purpose.

Was another really interesting discussion!


About the Behind The Grind Series:

Through this podcast series, Brian and I will speak about the realities (as we know them) of entrepreneurship.

Videos will be available every Saturday, and audience participation is HIGHLY encouraged!

About Rich

Driven by the belief that change begins with a single step, I've spent the last 15 years in Asia working to engage, inspire, and equip those around him to understand their power to leverage innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership to solve "the big" challenges cities face.

Currently, as the Managing Director of Collective Responsibility, Executive Director of HandsOn China, and a Visiting Professor of Sustainability at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), I'm focused on building platforms that promote long term organizational capacity to address the economic, environmental, and social hurdles that China faces as the country’s economic growth accelerates.

Follow Rich:

Website: http://www.richbrubaker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rich.brubaker
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrubaker
Instagram: https://instagram.com/richbrubaker
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/richbrubaker

About Brian:

Brian Tam leads corporate teams through FIRST TIME EVER challenges. From new business models to fresh brands, as CEO of Let's Make Great! he guides multinational companies in China to systematically create the future and explore uncertainties.

He's the mind behind PROTO Innovation Cards and the author of Awrignawl Creativity.

Born in New York, and proudly raised in New Jersey - he has been in China since 2007, working to drive the fantastic change that is happening in China & the world. Let's Make Great!

Follow Brian:

Website: http://www.letsmakegreat.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brian.tam.56211
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamonline/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/letsmakegreat/


Why I Bet on Social Entrepreneurship over Corporate Sustainability | Rich Brubaker - Episode 004

In this episode, I speak to the fact that while corporate social responsibility, and corporate sustainability, have been hot topics that have produced a lot of really interesting programs, the biggest opportunities for fixing the problems we face will be landed by social entrepreneurs.

Individuals, and organizations, who have a mission for change, can build a platform that actually delivers a solution to the environmental, social, or economic problem faced.

 

 

About Me:
Driven by the belief that change begins with a single step, I've spent the last 15 years in Asia working to engage, inspire, and equip those around him to understand their power to leverage innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership to solve "the big" challenges cities face.

Currently, as the Managing Director of Collective Responsibility, Executive Director of HandsOn China, and a former Adjunct Professor of Sustainability at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), I'm focused on building platforms that promote long term organizational capacity to address the economic, environmental, and social hurdles that China faces as the country’s economic growth accelerates.

Follow Me:
Website: http://www.richbrubaker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rich.brubaker
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrubaker
Instagram: https://instagram.com/richbrubaker
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/richbrubaker

Contact Me:
[email protected]

#Richbrubaker #socialentrepreneur #socialinnovation

 


Monish Siripurapu

Let People Feel it, Believe it, and Go For It | Monish Siripurapu, Ant Studio

In this episode of Entrepreneurs For Good, I sit down with a fantastic young entrepreneur named Monish Siripurapu.

Initially learning about his work through the UNEP video Indian architect looks to nature to cool without chemicals, we sat down for a couple of hours (in the rain) to discuss the challenges he sees, the products he is building, and how he is looking to create a decentralized business model to bring it all to scale.

He has a lot of energy, big ideas, and I certainly look forward to seeing his products come to market!

About #EntrepreneursForGood Series:
Through this series, we speak with Asia based entrepreneurs whose mission it is to bring solutions to the environmental, social, and economic challenges that are faced within the region to learn more about their vision, the opportunities they see, and challenges that they have had to overcome.

It is a series that we hope will not only engage and inspire you, but catalyze you and your organizations into action. To identify a challenge that is tangible, and build a business model (profit or non) that brings a solution to the market

About Monish:
Monish Siripurapu is the founder principal of Ant Studio based out of New Delhi. He graduated from the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), Delhi in 2009. He received the prestigious JN Tata scholarship in 2015 for his PG Diploma in Robotic Fabrication from Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), Spain.

In collaboration with his colleagues, he has won many national and international architectural competitions and has been published in renowned architectural journals.

Follow Monish :
Website: http://www.ant.studio/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monish-kumar-80072740/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mo_antstudio

About Rich:
Driven by the belief that change begins with a single step, Richard Brubaker has spent the last 15 years in Asia working to engage, inspire, and equip those around him to take their first step.

Acting as a catalyst to driving sustainability, Brubaker works with government, corporate, academic and non-profit stakeholders to bring together knowledge, teams, and tools that develop and execute their business case for sustainability.

Follow Rich
Website: http://www.richbrubaker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rich.brubaker
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrubaker
Instagram: https://instagram.com/richbrubaker
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/richbrubaker

Contact Rich
[email protected]


Leap of Faith

Taking the Leap of Faith into Entrepreneurship | Behind the Grind, Episode 002

In Episode 2 of Behind the Grind, Brian Tam and I speak about his leap of faith into entrepreneurship.  Not knowing exactly to expect, but knowing that by jumping from a corporate job into entrepreneurship, he was in for an interesting adventure.

It's a great conversation about vision, product development, and developing a business without actively selling.

About the Behind The Grind Series:

Through this podcast series, Brian and I will speak about the realities (as we know them) of entrepreneurship.

Videos will be available every Saturday, and audience participation is HIGHLY encouraged!

About Rich

Driven by the belief that change begins with a single step, I've spent the last 15 years in Asia working to engage, inspire, and equip those around him to understand their power to leverage innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership to solve "the big" challenges cities face.

Currently, as the Managing Director of Collective Responsibility, Executive Director of HandsOn China, and a Visiting Professor of Sustainability at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), I'm focused on building platforms that promote long term organizational capacity to address the economic, environmental, and social hurdles that China faces as the country’s economic growth accelerates.

Follow Rich:

Website: http://www.richbrubaker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rich.brubaker
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrubaker
Instagram: https://instagram.com/richbrubaker
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/richbrubaker

About Brian:

Brian Tam leads corporate teams through FIRST TIME EVER challenges. From new business models to fresh brands, as CEO of Let's Make Great! he guides multinational companies in China to systematically create the future and explore uncertainties.

He's the mind behind PROTO Innovation Cards and the author of Awrignawl Creativity.

Born in New York, and proudly raised in New Jersey - he has been in China since 2007, working to drive the fantastic change that is happening in China & the world. Let's Make Great!

Follow Brian:

Website: http://www.letsmakegreat.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brian.tam.56211
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamonline/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/letsmakegreat/


Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Asia is the Best Place for Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation

As Asia's cities to urbanize the next 2 billion people, the opportunities for Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation are going to be HUGE.

It is a process that has created sizeable challenges with local environments, economies, and societies, and as millions pour into cities, the increased demands will only continue to stretch every system we rely on to deliver food, energy, healthcare, education, housing, etc, but through these stretches will come a tangible need for solutions.

For me, this is why I see Asia as the best place to be if you want to solve big problems as a mission driven entrepreneur.

The opportunity to solve real needs, AT SCALE, and be in a place where the business model will only grow stronger over the next 15 years, as governments are investing into the infrastructure and ecosystems that serve as the foundations, investors build their portfolios, talent moves into the space, and impact is beginning to be seen.

It is an exciting time, and in this video I spend a few minutes speaking to the excitement I have around the potential for social entrepreneurship & innovation, the fundamentals I am seeing, and why the mindset around big ideas meeting big problems is the breading ground for amazing work.

Hope all is well, and have a great end to your week!



About Me:

Follow Me:
Website: http://www.richbrubaker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rich.brubaker
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrubaker
Instagram: https://instagram.com/richbrubaker
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/richbrubaker

Contact Me:
[email protected]

#Richbrubaker #socialentrepreneur #socialinnovation


Behind the Grind

New Series: Behind The Grind (of Entrepreneurship)

In this episode, Brian and I introduce our new series, Behind the Grind, a series focused on diving into the realities of entrepreneurship.

To get things started, we both speak about how we ended up in entrepreneurship and why we think now is the time for this series. There isn't much structure, but there are some great stories, and we hope you enjoy it!

About the Behind The Grind Series:
Through this podcast series, Brian and I will speak about the realities (as we know them) of entrepreneurship

About Rich

Driven by the belief that change begins with a single step, I've spent the last 15 years in Asia working to engage, inspire, and equip those around him to understand their power to leverage innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership to solve "the big" challenges cities face.

Currently, as the Managing Director of Collective Responsibility, Executive Director of HandsOn China, and a Visiting Professor of Sustainability at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), I'm focused on building platforms that promote long term organizational capacity to address the economic, environmental, and social hurdles that China faces as the country’s economic growth accelerates.

Follow Rich:

Website: http://www.richbrubaker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rich.brubaker
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrubaker
Instagram: https://instagram.com/richbrubaker
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/richbrubaker

About Brian:

Brian Tam leads corporate teams through FIRST TIME EVER challenges. From new business models to fresh brands, as CEO of Let's Make Great! he guides multinational companies in China to systematically create the future and explore uncertainties.

He's the mind behind PROTO Innovation Cards and the author of Awrignawl Creativity.

Born in New York, and proudly raised in New Jersey - he has been in China since 2007, working to drive the fantastic change that is happening in China & the world. Let's Make Great!

Follow Brian:

Website:  http://www.letsmakegreat.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brian.tam.56211
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamonline/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/letsmakegreat/


Now is the Best time to Be a Social Entrepreneur!

With a seemingly endless supply of reports on the impacts of climate change, the social pressures in cities, and the fragility of our food systems, NOW is the BEST TIME to be a social entrepreneur.

Driven by a mission to solve the greatest human challenges, unlike 10 to 15 years ago when the term became popular, the challenges that our systems are facing as we urbanize hundreds of millions of people a year are now tangible.  AND with that tangibility comes engagements, catalysts for change, and a better understanding of the value proposition for solutions.

Solutions that were once seen as "good", as trade offs, as something required government subsidies to make viable, or had to attract "patient investors" that were willing to put their money into investments with a lower expectation for return.

For me, those days have past, and while many will find it difficult to accept the challenges we face, now is the best time to see those challenges as the foundation from which to build ideas, teams, and organizations.


About Rich:
Driven by the belief that change begins with a single step, Richard Brubaker has spent the last 15 years in Asia working to engage, inspire, and equip those around him to take their first step.

Acting as a catalyst to driving sustainability, Brubaker works with government, corporate, academic and non-profit stakeholders to bring together knowledge, teams, and tools that develop and execute their business case for sustainability.

Follow Me:
Website: http://www.richbrubaker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rich.brubaker
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrubaker
Instagram: https://instagram.com/richbrubaker
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/richbrubaker

Contact Me:
[email protected]

#Richbrubaker #socialentrepreneur #socialinnovation