エピソード

  • How to Build a Personal Brand That Actually Matters with Vanessa Errecarte | #29

    How to Build a Personal Brand That Actually Matters with Vanessa Errecarte | #29
    2026/07/16
    Can you build a successful career if no one understands the value you bring?In this episode of Ask For An Answer, Jim Fielding sits down with marketing strategist, educator, and author Vanessa Errecarte for a conversation about visibility, leadership, and why personal branding has become one of the most important professional skills in today's AI-driven world.Vanessa never planned to become an author. While teaching MBA students at UC Davis, she noticed a pattern. Some of the most talented people in the room struggled to communicate what made them different. As technology made expertise easier to access, standing out became less about credentials and more about helping people understand the value only you can create.That realization became Valuable and Visible, a book that challenges the traditional idea of personal branding. Instead of focusing on self-promotion, Vanessa argues that the strongest personal brands are built through service, generosity, and genuine expertise.Jim and Vanessa also reflect on their coaching relationship, the realities of writing a book while balancing career and family, and why asking for help is often the catalyst for meaningful growth.What Does It Mean to Be Valuable in an AI World?As artificial intelligence reshapes nearly every industry, Jim and Vanessa explore what technology can and cannot replace. They discuss why AI rewards people who think clearly, communicate authentically, and build trust over time. Rather than competing with technology, professionals have an opportunity to become even more human by developing relationships, sharing ideas, and leading with curiosity.The conversation also dives into coaching, confidence, family, entrepreneurship, and the discipline required to keep growing even after you've reached professional success.Key TakeawaysWhy personal branding is really about serving others instead of promoting yourself.How teaching MBA students inspired the ideas behind Valuable and Visible.Why AI is changing careers without replacing the need for human connection.The role coaching plays in building confidence, perspective, and long-term growth.How writing a book transforms the way you think about your own expertise.Why saying no is often more important than saying yes.The challenge of balancing leadership, entrepreneurship, and family life.How visibility creates opportunity long before you need it.Why authentic relationships will always outperform manufactured influence.The mindset shift that helps professionals stay relevant in a rapidly changing world.Meet Vanessa ErrecarteVanessa Errecarte is a marketing strategist, executive coach, UC Davis Graduate School of Management instructor, and the author of Valuable and Visible. Through her consulting, teaching, and coaching, she helps professionals and organizations build brands rooted in trust, expertise, and meaningful impact.✨ Connect with Vanessa:🌐Website: vanessaerrecarte.com💼 LinkedIn: Vanessa Errecarte♥️ Instagram: @vanessaerrecarte📖 Book: Valuable and Visible✨ Follow Jim Fielding & Ask For An Answer: 🌐Website: hijimfielding.com♥️ Instagram:@hijimfielding💼 LinkedIn: James (Jim) Fielding🔗 Podcast: Ask For An Answer, available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify If this conversation challenged the way you think about personal branding, leadership, or your own career, subscribe to Ask For An Answer and leave a review. It helps more thoughtful conversations reach the people who need them most.Chapter Timestamps00:00 Welcome and how Jim and Vanessa first connected through coaching and books02:06 The classroom insight that sparked Valuable and Visible05:53 Why personal branding matters even more in the age of AI10:25 Balancing entrepreneurship, family, and writing a book15:20 How coaching creates lasting personal and professional growth20:25 Why asking for help is a leadership strength30:23 Launching a book while managing real life35:14 The power of saying no and protecting your energy45:09 Why relationships shape every career opportunity50:17 What AI can never replace
    続きを読む 一部表示
    58 分
  • Why Do Curious Leaders Build Better Companies? | #28

    Why Do Curious Leaders Build Better Companies? | #28
    2026/07/09
    Bruno Gavino built a 30-person global digital agency from Lisbon. Then he started asking whether AI was quietly making everything his agency did irrelevant. His answer wasn't to panic. It was to build.What Happens When an Introvert Becomes the Face of an AI Company?Bruno Gavino is the CEO and founder of CoDesign, a digital agency based in Lisbon, Portugal, with offices in Boston, Singapore, and Los Angeles. He's also the creator of LLM Search Console, a tool that tracks how brands are showing up (or not showing up) across AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. He joined Jim all the way from Portugal for a wide-ranging conversation about building globally while staying rooted, leading teams through constant change, and why curiosity isn't just a nice-to-have. It's the only filter that matters in hiring.This episode covers a lot of ground fast. Bruno and Jim talk through what it actually feels like to run a service business at the exact moment AI is automating the services you've built your company around. They get into the regulatory patchwork both in Europe and the U.S., why the biggest AI models are trending toward generic, and why Bruno thinks smaller, more specific models may ultimately win for real-world business use cases.How Do You Build a Team That Thrives on Uncertainty?Some of the best material in this conversation is about hiring and culture. Bruno uses curiosity as a literal metric in every interview. His team members from unrelated departments conduct screening conversations specifically designed to surface how candidates think, not what they know. His rule of thumb: don't hire anyone you couldn't sit with in a car for three hours. He learned that one the hard way, after a run of great resumes that went nowhere.Bruno is also candid about the harder personal stuff. He talks about growing up with a grandmother whose philosophy of radical kindness still anchors him, a voice in his head that sounds very different from the corporate achievement pressure most founders carry. He discusses the challenge of always trying to fix everyone's problems, the discipline of learning to say no, and why, after 10 years of building, he still doesn't feel like he's winning.Jim shares his own parallel journey: leaving corporate at Disney and DreamWorks, learning Canva from YouTube videos, breaking his website the day of this recording, and discovering that being on your own forces a kind of nimbleness that nobody in a big organization ever needs. The conversation closes on agriculture, pomegranates, Portugal, and why both of them think the best leaders have more in common with good farmers than they do with most people in Silicon Valley.KEY TAKEAWAYSWhy measuring brand visibility across AI platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini is the new version of SEO, and why most companies aren't doing it yet.How to use curiosity as a quantifiable hiring metric, including what kinds of interview questions actually surface it.Why the broader and more general AI models become, the more opportunity opens up for niche, domain-specific alternatives.How building your team around where the talent lives, rather than where your office is, creates stronger culture than proximity ever did.Why the most dangerous hire isn't someone underqualified. It's someone with a beautiful resume and no chemistry.How European regulatory experience with GDPR is giving companies like CoDesign a faster adaptation cycle than their American counterparts as AI regulations ramp up.Why curiosity looks easy in younger workers not because they're smarter, but because they have fewer hard-won habits to unlearn.What it costs emotionally to build a company with a close friend, and the practices that keep the relationship intact over a decade.How radical kindness, modeled by a grandmother, became the anchor for a tech founder navigating an industry obsessed with speed and scale.Why founders who learn to say no to problems they can't control become measurably more effective than those who keep trying to fix everything.Meet Bruno GavinoBruno Gavino is the founder of CoDesign, a global digital agency headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal, and the creator of LLM Search Console, an AI intelligence platform that tracks brand performance across large language models. He also hosts the Voice of Experts podcast, where he interviews leading thinkers in AI and digital strategy.✨ Connect with Bruno:💼 LinkedIn: Bruno Gavino🌐Website: codedesign.org🔗Podcast: Voice of Experts✨ Follow Jim Fielding & Ask For An Answer:🌐Website: hijimfielding.com♥️ Instagram:@hijimfielding💼 LinkedIn: James (Jim) Fielding🔗 Podcast: Ask For An Answer, available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and SpotifyDid this conversation make you think differently about curiosity, hiring, or what it means to lead through change?If so, subscribe to Ask for an Answer and leave a review. It's the best way to help more people find the show.#LeadershipPodcast #AILeadership #...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    58 分
  • Can Small Acts of Kindness Actually Change Your Life? | #27

    Can Small Acts of Kindness Actually Change Your Life? | #27
    2026/07/02
    Most people know they want more connection in their lives. What they don't have is a simple, honest practice for building it, one that starts with themselves and radiates outward. Timothy Hunter Mathews has been building that practice for years, and in this episode, he shares exactly how it works.What Does Relational Kindness Actually Look Like in Practice?Timothy Hunter Mathews wears a lot of hats. By day, he's an instructional designer who creates corporate training content. He also leads a thriving employee resource group, the Mining Fitness Cafe, focused on whole-person wellbeing with over 100 members. At his church, he's a care minister and grief counselor with more than 15 years of experience sitting with people in their hardest moments. And through all of it, he writes. His children's book The Night Before Pommas, available at select boutiques including Feliz Navidad in Sedona, Arizona, teaches kindness through the story of two dogs. His grief memoir I Promise captures the perspective of his rescue dog Lily Rose, a book that came out of loss and became, unexpectedly, a form of healing. Timothy and Jim met the way a lot of meaningful connections happen now, through LinkedIn. A comment thread turned into a direct message, which turned into a conversation, which turned into this. It's a fitting origin story for an episode about the power of small gestures and the circles of connection that surround us all.The Framework That Will Change How You See Your RelationshipsThe heart of this conversation is Timothy's handshake framework for relational kindness. There are people one handshake away: your family and close friends, the ones whose body language you can read from across a room. There are people two handshakes away: the neighbor whose dog you know but whose name you don't. And there are people three or more handshakes out, strangers in a grocery line who might be invisible to most of us, but don't have to be. Timothy has a gift for making the case that every one of those circles is an opportunity, and that tending to them is a skill you can practice. Jim and Timothy also go deep into grief. Both lost their fathers and have processed that loss in real time over the years. Timothy opens up about what it felt like to lose his dad and then his dog Lily Rose within a few years of each other, and why, for many pet owners, losing an animal can be as hard or harder than losing a person. They talk about why men don't share in mixed groups, what it feels like to be fully present in someone else's pain, and how kindness requires self-awareness before anything else. If you've ever tried to show up for someone while quietly falling apart, this conversation is for you.Key TakeawaysHow to use the handshake framework to identify who in your life deserves more intentional connection, starting with the people closest to you and expanding outward.Why relational kindness begins with how you treat yourself, and how your self-talk shapes your capacity to care for others.How to start a conversation with a complete stranger using the simplest possible tool: curiosity about what's in front of you.Why men are more likely to open up about grief in single-gender groups, and what leaders can learn from that about psychological safety in team settings.How to know when you're too close to a situation to be helpful, and why recognizing that limit is itself an act of kindness.Why the first year of grief is often the easiest because you can prepare for the hard dates, and what happens when you stop bracing for them.How writing from a specific perspective, in this case a dog's point of view, can process an experience that's too big to approach head-on.What makes pet loss feel different from human loss, and how to support someone going through it without minimizing what they're carrying.How small, consistent gestures, a wave, a meal, a note in a jar, compound into the kind of legacy people remember long after you've forgotten the moment.How to build trust with someone who has been hurt before, whether that's a rescue dog or a colleague who's learned not to show vulnerability at work.Chapter Timestamps00:00 Introduction: How Jim and Timothy Found Each Other on LinkedIn 02:00 Timothy's Work: Instructional Design, ERGs, and the Mining Fitness Cafe 05:30 Relational Kindness: The Framework That Starts With You 06:30 The Handshake Framework: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Connections 09:00 Kindness Across Cultures: Kansas, New York, LA, and Arizona 11:30 How Timothy Became a Grief Counselor and Care Minister 16:00 Knowing When You're Too Close to Help: Emotional Awareness in Caregiving 18:00 Jim's Grief: Losing His Father to Pancreatic Cancer 22:00 Why the First Year of Grief Is the Easiest and Why That Changes 24:00 What We Don't Know About the People Around Us 26:00 Losing Lily Rose: How Pet Grief Became a Book 28:30 How Lily Rose Chose Timothy at the Rescue 32:00 Pet Loss vs. Human Loss: Why It Hits Differently 38:30 Dogs as Teachers of ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    52 分
  • How Do Queer Founders Build Brands That Last? | #26

    How Do Queer Founders Build Brands That Last? | #26
    2026/06/25
    When every other brand raised prices and chased scale, Ingrid Nilsen and Erica Anderson did the opposite. They listened to their community and lowered theirs. That's not a marketing strategy. That's a values decision, and it changed everything.What Does It Actually Take to Build a Brand on Your Own Terms?Ingrid Nilsen and Erica Anderson are back. Co-founders of New Savant, a Brooklyn-born fragrance brand known for its deeply personal, story-driven scents, they joined Ask for an Answer in Season One, and the response was so strong they're back for Pride 2026 with a full-year update. This episode is an honest conversation about what building a real business actually looks like.Since their last conversation, a lot has shifted at New Savant. They brought on angel investors, overhauled their manufacturing and fulfillment, and made the counterintuitive call to lower their prices after finding new operational efficiencies. They're in the middle of a complete repackaging: new vessel, new mist bottle, new cohesion across the product line. And through all of it, they've stayed focused on the one thing they won't outsource: the soul behind the scent.How Do Co-Founders Navigate the Hard Moments?One of the most honest stretches of this conversation is about the pressure points inside a co-founder relationship. Ingrid and Erica talk openly about a significant setback right before the holiday season, a missed detail that derailed a collaboration they'd both been counting on. What could have become a blame spiral didn't, because they've both put serious work into emotional maturity and communication. Their "annual fight in the woods" ritual, spontaneous walks in nature where the real conversations happen, is one of the most quietly wise leadership frameworks you'll hear on this show.Jim and Ingrid and Erica also dig into the new American dream for small business founders, the anti-commodification movement driving consumers toward indie brands, and why authenticity isn't just a brand value. It's a survival strategy in 2026. The episode closes on Pride, with each of them sharing one word that captures what this season means: fun, risk and courage, and resilience.KEY TAKEAWAYSHow listening to customer data, not just requests, can lead to a pricing decision that builds more loyalty than any campaign.Why co-founders who invest in their personal relationship first tend to make better business decisions under pressure.How to use AI tools for complex operational work while protecting the creative core of your brand from automation.What "brand flywheel" thinking looks like for an early-stage CPG company navigating e-commerce and growing retail presence.Why the founders who survive long enough to matter are the ones who can separate disappointment in a situation from disappointment in a person.How walking side by side, literally outside, can lower the emotional stakes of a hard conversation between co-founders.What the transition from hand-produced to outsourced manufacturing actually costs a founder emotionally, and how to stay connected to your brand's origin story through it.Why 600 customers who've bought 11 or more times are worth more strategic attention than any new customer acquisition campaign.How to evaluate a packaging change using both financial data and community feedback without compromising your brand identity.What queer-founded brands have in common with the Gen Z creators currently outperforming legacy studios, and why authenticity is the through-line.CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS00:00 Introduction: Pride 2026 & Returning Guests01:30 New Savant Update: What's Changed in a Year04:00 The Decision to Lower Prices (And Why It Worked)07:00 Angel Investors, Capital, and the CPG Flywheel09:30 Ingrid Goes to Perfumery School in Paris13:00 Building Scent From Scratch: Molecules, Memory & Story17:00 The New Vessel: How Customer Feedback Drove a Hard Decision24:30 Storytelling as Brand Strategy for an Indie Founder28:00 The Real Work of a Co-Founder Relationship33:30 The "Annual Fight in the Woods" and Conflict With Grace39:00 Loyalty, Community Building, and the 600 Repeat Customers42:30 The New American Dream: Building a Business on Your Own Terms45:00 What Makes a Scent Soulful vs. Commodified49:00 Anti-Commodification and the Return of Authentic Indie Brands51:00 Pride 2026: Fun, Risk, Courage, and Resilience54:30 Closing: What's Coming Next for New SavantMeet Ingrid Nilsen and Erica AndersonIngrid Nilsen is a creator, community builder, and co-founder with a background in digital storytelling and a newly minted certificate from Givaudan's perfumery school in Paris. Erica Anderson is a CPG operator, startup builder, and co-founder with deep experience in brand strategy and business scaling. Together, they run New Savant, an independent fragrance brand built around queer identity, personal story, and uncommonly differentiated scent.✨ Connect with Ingrid and EricaWebsite: newsavant.com💼Instagram: @newsavant💼Ingrid Nilsen: ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    58 分
  • John Weinstein: The Educator Who Built America's First Queer Leadership Program & Why the LGBTQ Community Needs Intergenerational Mentors Now More Than Ever | #25

    John Weinstein: The Educator Who Built America's First Queer Leadership Program & Why the LGBTQ Community Needs Intergenerational Mentors Now More Than Ever | #25
    2026/06/18

    What if the future of leadership is being built by people courageous enough to be fully themselves?

    In this Pride Month conversation, Jim Fielding sits down with educator, scholar, and queer leadership pioneer John Weinstein, Provost of Bard Academy and Simons Rock at Bard College and founder of the Bard Queer Leadership Project. Together they explore how far the LGBTQ+ community has come, why Pride still matters, and what it takes to prepare the next generation of leaders.

    John shares his personal journey navigating education as an openly gay leader, the lessons he learned about authenticity and code-switching, and how creating spaces of belonging can transform lives. The conversation also dives into mentorship, chosen family, intergenerational learning, and the responsibility we all have to preserve LGBTQ+ history while building a better future.

    Whether you're part of the LGBTQ+ community or an ally, this conversation is a powerful reminder that progress happens when we honor our history while boldly imagining what's next.

    Listen in, celebrate Pride, and discover why the leaders of tomorrow are already showing us what's possible today.

    In This Episode:
    • Why queer leadership brings unique strengths to the table
    • The importance of intergenerational mentorship and chosen family
    • How authenticity, visibility, and community shape future leaders

    Mentioned in This Episode:
    • Bard Queer Leadership Project (BQLP) at Simon's Rock
    • Bard College All Pride
    • No Ego by Jim Fielding
    • Leading Queer podcast hosted by John Weinstein and Carlos Stevens
    • Skylar Baylor, author and queer leader
    • The Laramie Project
    • Matthew Shepherd
    • Sliding Doors (film)
    • The Adjustment Bureau (film)
    • Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken"
    • Bard Microcolleges

    Timestamps:

    00:01 – Welcome and how Jim and John met

    03:26 – What Pride Month means in 2026 0

    4:16 – Are things really worse for LGBTQ young people now?

    08:08 – Out with colleagues, not yet with students

    09:28 – The student who thought John was out the whole time

    11:15 – What semi-closeted leadership actually looked like

    13:58 – Returning to Simon's Rock as a fully out campus leader

    20:00 – Code switching: not inauthenticity, wisdom

    26:26 – "I'm teaching students to be the kind of leader I have yet to become."

    29:26 – How the Bard Queer Leadership Project was born

    36:28 – Mixing teenage and adult learners in the same queer leadership room

    38:34 – Why intergenerational mentorship is non-negotiable

    53:03 – "It took me until my 50s. I want people to get there in their 20s."

    56:34 – Reclaiming patriotism as a queer act

    01:01:03 – Why there is no silver bullet for fixing education

    01:03:17 – Legacy and what comes next for the BQLP

    ✨Connect with John Weinstein:

    Institution: simons-rock.edu

    Podcast: Leading Queer

    LinkedIn: John B. Weinstein

    ✨ Follow Jim Fielding & Ask For An Answer:

    💼 Instagram: Instagram: https://instagram.com/hijimfielding/

    🌐 Podcast: Ask For An Answer

    Website: hijimfielding.com

    #JohnWeinstein #BardCollege #SimonsRock #QueerLeadership #LGBTQ #Pride2026 #PrideMonth #QueerEducation #LGBTQLeadership #Intergenerational #AskForAnAnswer #JimFielding #OutLeaders #LGBTQMentorship #QueerHistory #Education #BardQueerLeadershipProject
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1 時間 6 分
  • Ryan Stana | From $600 a Week to 7 Global Offices: The RWS Story, Private Equity & Being a Gay CEO in Entertainment | #23

    Ryan Stana | From $600 a Week to 7 Global Offices: The RWS Story, Private Equity & Being a Gay CEO in Entertainment | #23
    2026/06/11
    What does it take to build a global live entertainment company from scratch at age 21, with no investors, no loans and two roommates answering your phones for $3 off the utility bill? In this episode, Jim Fielding sits down with Ryan Stana, founder and CEO of RWS Global, the world's premier one-stop shop for live entertainment, to tell the full founder story from a living room in New York City to seven headquarters across the globe.Ryan produced shows for Royal Caribbean, Six Flags and Disney before most people his age had a 401k. He bootstrapped the entire business for over two decades, bought three companies during COVID, then walked into 42 private equity meetings himself with his laptop and a presentation he built from scratch. This is one of the most honest, specific and genuinely inspiring entrepreneurship conversations the show has ever had.In This Episode:Growing up in Greensburg, Pennsylvania with two entrepreneur parents and why that wired Ryan for businessQuitting his job, setting up a phone line in his apartment and landing a $200,000 Clear Channel contract on his first pitchWhy creativity and operations have to have equal respect, and what happens when they don'tThe one-stop shop model: how RWS produces original shows, costumes, casting and choreography for one checkHow Ryan bought the legendary Binder Casting agency to preserve a mentor's legacy, and what that unlocked for his talent pipelineBootstrapping for 20 years: why he never took a loan or an outside investor and how operations funded every bit of growthLosing himself as a leader after COVID and the moment he reclaimed his identity and culture with "my way or the door"Why he pitched 42 private equity firms himself instead of hiring a banker, and what he learned in every roomThe transition from operating CEO to executive chairman: what it feels like to hand off the baby you raised for 23 yearsWhat leaving space in your morning schedule does to your brain when you stop filling every hour with callsBeing an out gay CEO in corporate entertainment and why holding your husband's hand in a flyover state is an act of changeWhy visibility in small towns matters more than visibility in New York or LATimestamps: 00:01 – Welcome & how Jim and Ryan met through mutual friend Rema Awad 03:05 – Ryan's background: Greensburg, PA, child performer and theme park show obsession 06:12 – Senior year of high school: "Maybe I want to produce this." 07:19 – Writing corporate shows in college as a one-stop shop for hire 09:23 – Quitting his job, setting up a fake phone operation in his apartment and launching RWS at 21 10:59 – Never burn a bridge: the email that launched everything the next morning 12:00 – Walking into Clear Channel in Times Square and winning a $200,000 contract on day one 15:28 – First hire, first office and 23 years of zero outside funding 18:22 – Bootstrapping principle: the money that comes in is the money that goes out 24:00 – The acquisition strategy: buying companies to build the full vertical 27:32 – Buying Binder Casting to save a mentor's legacy and unlocking Broadway and Radio City 29:01 – What a true one-stop shop looks like from a client's perspective 33:26 – "Every dream I had has come true. Now I want to make everyone else's dreams come true." 34:10 – How RWS not only survived COVID but came out stronger through acquisitions 35:52 – Losing himself as a leader post-COVID and reclaiming his culture 38:38 – The decision to bring in private equity and why he did it himself 40:00 – Pitching 42 PE firms solo and getting 13 interested 41:42 – Choosing minority ownership and why the right partner showed up at the last minute 43:53 – 7 global HQs and an office open somewhere in the world around the clock 50:00 – The transition from CEO to Executive Chairman: what changes and what doesn't 54:56 – "It's like being a smoker without cigarettes": the honest truth about stepping back 58:20 – Morning walks in Miami with no phone and what the brain does when you let it rest 59:38 – Control the controllable, but leave space for the possible 01:00:50 – Being an out gay CEO in corporate entertainment and the responsibility that comes with visibility 01:04:53 – Why mentorship is the bridge to the next generation's success 01:06:47 – Happy Pride and what comes next for RWS GlobalMentioned in This Episode:RWS Global (rwsglobal.com)Binder CastingRoyal Caribbean, Six Flags, DisneyRadio City RockettesThe Lion King, Chicago the Musical (Broadway)Jim Fielding's book: Control the ControllableClear Channel WorldwideConnect with Ryan Stana: LinkedIn: Ryan Stana Website: rwsglobal.com✨ Follow Jim Fielding & Ask For An Answer:💼 Instagram: Instagram: https://instagram.com/hijimfielding/🌐 Podcast: Ask For An AnswerWebsite: hijimfielding.com#RyanStana #RWSGlobal #LiveEntertainment #Entrepreneurship #FounderStory #StartupStory #BootstrapBusiness #CEO #PrivateEquity #AskForAnAnswer #JimFielding #...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1 時間 13 分
  • Brent Ridge & Josh Kilmer-Purcell: The Beekman 1802 Boys on Building a $100M Brand From a Bar of Soap, Winning the Amazing Race & What Pride Means in 2026 | #23

    Brent Ridge & Josh Kilmer-Purcell: The Beekman 1802 Boys on Building a $100M Brand From a Bar of Soap, Winning the Amazing Race & What Pride Means in 2026 | #23
    2026/06/08
    What does it take to build a $100 million beauty brand from a single bar of goat milk soap on a farm in upstate New York? In this special Pride Month episode, Jim Fielding sits down with both halves of the duo behind Beekman 1802, Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell, for one of the most honest, joyful and wide-ranging conversations the show has ever had.

    From the 51% rule that saved their business partnership to the psychology of why LGBTQ people are wired for creativity, from winning the Amazing Race to the real difference between kindness and niceness, Brent and Josh bring equal parts wisdom, warmth and wit to every topic Jim puts in front of them.

    In This Episode:

    • How Beekman 1802 grew from goat milk soap wrapped by neighbors to a major beauty brand sold at Ulta
    • The 51% rule: the surprisingly simple system that ended years of business disagreements between partners
    • Why "being nice is a deferred payment plan" and kindness always costs you something upfront
    • The theory that LGBTQ creativity is really just lifelong problem solving, and why that's a superpower
    • How winning the Amazing Race came down to one rule: no cheerleading, no fighting, just focus
    • The unexpected phone call from a CBS executive at a cookbook signing that started it all
    • Why Brent and Josh believe the business may have actually saved their relationship
    • What it feels like to be a visible gay couple in the South right now and why just going to dinner is an act of activism
    • The "boys" problem: why even running a $100M company, language still has the power to diminish
    • How to use your privilege well, especially during Pride season when the community needs its elders most
    • What cocktail o'clock taught them about protecting their relationship from their business

    Timestamps:

    00:00 – Welcome back, Brent. And introducing Josh

    01:03 – Did the vision for Beekman 1802 ever match the reality?

    02:53 – Starting with kindness: "How can we lift as many people as possible?"

    06:01 – Do Brent and Josh ever disagree? (Oh, yes.)

    08:40 – The 51% rule: how to make decisions as equal partners

    10:11 – Why LGBT couple founders may be more successful than straight ones

    13:30 – Creativity is problem solving: the LGBTQ superpower

    20:09 – 80 employees, Ulta stores and what Beekman looks for in talent

    23:34 – "The ultimate act of kindness is transparency"

    25:31 – Kind vs. nice: why they are not the same thing

    26:46 – "Being kind has an immediate cost. Nice is a deferred payment plan."

    29:18 – Josh on the Amazing Race: "It was the hardest thing I've ever done."

    30:16 – Why their age and Gen X doubt actually helped them win

    35:16 – "The middle-aged gay couple never wins. Our job is to be everyone's friend and gracefully exit."

    37:21 – Did the show Hacks owe them royalties? (The goat milking episode)

    39:32 – Inside a week at the farm: cocktail o'clock and how they protect their relationship

    41:08 – "The business may have saved our relationship."

    44:18 – A gay Shark Tank? Jim pitches a TV idea live on air

    46:47 – "What do the boys think?" Why that phrase still stings at $100M

    51:46 – Safe spaces, moving to Atlanta and what it means to turn your gaydar back on

    57:33 – What Jim, Brent and Josh believe it means to be elders in the community right now

    Mentioned in This Episode:

    • Beekman 1802 (beekman1802.com)
    • Beekman 1802 Almanac (their book)
    • The Amazing Race, CBS
    • The Fabulous Beekman Boys (Planet Green reality series)
    • Hacks (HBO Max)
    • Schitt's Creek
    • QVC / HSN

    Connect with Brent Ridge & Josh Kilmer-Purcell:

    Website: beekman1802.com

    Instagram: @beekman1802

    Instagram: @josh.kilmer.purcell

    ✨ Follow Jim Fielding & Ask For An Answer:

    💼 Instagram: Instagram: https://instagram.com/hijimfielding/

    🌐 Podcast: Ask For An Answer

    Website: hijimfielding.com

    #BeekmanBoys #Beekman1802 #BrentRidge #JoshKilmerPurcell #LGBTQEntrepreneurs #Pride2026 #PrideMonth #GayOwned #SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #AmazingRace #Kindness #AskForAnAnswer #JimFielding #LGBTQBusiness #BeautyBrand #GayCouple #QueerJoy
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1 時間 2 分
  • Fabrice Houdart: A Global View of LGBTQ Rights, Community Unity & What Comes Next for Pride | #22

    Fabrice Houdart: A Global View of LGBTQ Rights, Community Unity & What Comes Next for Pride | #22
    2026/06/04
    Only 4% of LGBT people live in the United States. So what is happening to the other 96%? In this special Pride Month episode, Jim Fielding sits down with Fabrice Houdart, former World Bank and United Nations human rights officer and one of the most respected global voices on LGBTQ economic empowerment, to take an honest, unflinching look at where the community stands right now and where it needs to go.

    From the erosion of rights in Russia and Senegal to the slow but real progress in India, Fabrice brings a global lens that most conversations about LGBTQ rights simply do not have. He and Jim also get deeply personal about what it feels like to be a visible, proud gay man navigating a world that feels like it is moving backwards, and what it will take to move it forward again.

    In this episode:

    • Why 96% of LGBT people live outside the US and why that context matters right now
    • The gradual erosion of rights in Russia, China and Senegal and what it warns us about at home
    • Why the LGBTQ community has never clearly defined what success actually looks like
    • The case for economic liberation alongside legal rights: only 3 out Fortune 500 CEOs are out
    • Why community unity is fracturing and what the NIMBY mentality inside our own movement is costing us
    • The debt every visible LGBT person owes to those who came before them
    • Why corporate withdrawal from Pride may not be the crisis people think it is
    • How to use LGBTQ spending power, savings and investment as tools for change
    • Why looking backward at Stonewall and the AIDS era may be slowing down the movement today
    • How to protect your mental health and avoid doom scrolling when your community is under attack
    • Why the answer to this moment is not a single unifying leader but a coalition of economic, political and cultural voices

    Timestamps:

    00:01 – Welcome and Fabrice's background: World Bank, UN and two nonprofits

    03:28 – Coming to the US at 22 to come out and 25 years as a global citizen

    05:14 – Only 4% of LGBT people live in America. What about the rest?

    07:24 – Russia, China, Senegal and what global setbacks tell us about the US right now

    11:19 – The LGBTQ community has never defined what success looks like

    12:47 – Economic liberation: board seats, Fortune 500 CEOs and the power of our money

    23:30 – NIMBY in the LGBTQ community: the Palm Springs story

    29:06 – Are trans issues really dividing us or is that just an excuse?

    31:04 – The debt every out LGBT person owes to those who fought before them

    33:32 – Who could be the unifier for this community right now?

    36:31 – Why copying the playbook from Stonewall or the AIDS era will not work today

    39:39 – Digesting January 2025 and the double whammy of federal and state rollbacks

    43:00 – Working on the piece you can actually influence

    45:44 – Doom scrolling, occupied consciousness and keeping part of your brain on the future

    48:38 – Surrogacy, global perspective and recognizing the Trojan horse tactics of opponents

    51:41 – Corporate withdrawal from Pride and why reclaiming community ownership may be the answer

    52:51 – Using LGBTQ savings, retirement funds and investment as tools for collective power

    Mentioned in This Episode:

    • COPPA (economic empowerment of LGBT people in the Global South)
    • Free and Equal (UN Human Rights LGBT campaign)
    • The Advocate
    • Harvey Milk
    • Larry Kramer
    • Brian Sims

    🔗 Connect with Fabrice Houdart:

    LinkedIn: Fabrice Houdart

    ✨ Follow Jim Fielding & Ask For An Answer:

    💼 Instagram: Instagram: https://instagram.com/hijimfielding/

    🌐 Podcast: Ask For An Answer

    Website: hijimfielding.com

    #FabriceHoudart #LGBTQRights #Pride #PrideMonth #LGBTQCommunity #QueerLiberation #EconomicEmpowerment #HumanRights #AskForAnAnswer #JimFielding #LGBTQPolitics #GlobalLGBTQ #PrideHistory #LGBTQLeadership #QueerPolitics
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1 時間