Crowdsourcing Expert Charles Best Helps DonorsChoose.org

A Note from Hope Katz Gibbs, publisher, Inkandescent Radio — I am a big fan of the Daily Om, a website that offers inspirational thoughts for a happy, happy, and fulfilling day. I often print these out and always put them into an email folder for future reference. When the topic, the Flow of the Universe, popped up this month, I took it as a good omen for I learned a long time ago that anything worth building has a rhythmClick here to listen to the podcast!

What do entrepreneurs need most? “They need to jump on that flash moment— a brief window of time when something shifts and the door to opportunity swings wide open,” insists Anik Singal, 34, who on the weekend of April 14-15 will host the grand opening of the first state-of-the-art Lurn Center. This expansive 26,000-square-foot entrepreneurship training and community center provides shared workspace, in-person and distance courses, camaraderie, community, and more. “Every entrepreneur has two choices when they feel the flash:Click here to listen to the podcast!

What if you could actually create the success you say you want in life? Could your fear of success get in your way? “The fear of failure is a somewhat common scapegoat in the world of excuses,” says Author, consultant, and executive coach Russell Bishop. However, when confronting the myriad challenges we face in life, one oft-overlooked limiting factor might just be what some have called the “fear of success.” That’s the topic we’ll be talking with Russell about onClick here to listen to the podcast!

What would you do if an international bike race — scheduled to bring 1,000 top cycling athletes and 450,000 people — was about to descend on your city? If you are an entrepreneur, odds are good you would find a way to put yourself, and your business, in the middle of the action. That’s exactly what BJ Kocen and Tammy Rostov decided to do when the two Richmond retailers founded West Main Village, a community of 35 restaurants, galleries, retailClick here to listen to the podcast!

If you love craft beer, then you’ve probably tossed back a bottle or two of Stone Brewing Co.‘s IPA and Porter. The #10 largest craft brewery in the nation, Stone generates $185 million in annual sales and employs more than 900 people. Why did Stone decide to open its East Coast plant in Richmond? Because the beer has gotten so popular around the country that the cost of shipping it caused the company to set up a second manufacturing plantClick here to listen to the podcast!

How did Jane Ferrara help bring Stone Brewery to Richmond? The CEO of the city’s Economic Development office says “transformational change” was the key to landing the big brewery. We are thrilled to interview Jane, our cover girl for the “May 2015 issue of Be Inkandescent magazine.”: She’s going to tell us about how she brought to Richmond Stone Brewing Co., the 10th largest craft brewer in the US that generates $185 million in annual sales, and employs more thanClick here to listen to the podcast!

Each February we talk about the power and importance of Love when it comes to operating a powerful, successful business. This year we thought it would be fun to feature a scientist who focuses not just on our professional lives, but also on our personal ones. That doesn’t mean the research that Andrea Kuszewski does has no connection to our companies. Rather, the science she studies has turned up some fascinating facts that cross the line between work and play.Click here to listen to the podcast!

At SeriousFun headquarters in Westport, CT, Steve Nagler (Director of Program Innovation and Evaluation) and Kelly Elliott (Interim Director, Camp Support Services) are hard at work making sure that thousands of children suffering from illnesses in 50 countries have the summer of their lives. That was the vision of actor Paul Newman, who in 1988 created this incredible program that in the years since has served 440,000+ children in more than 50 countries. SeriousFun has 30 initiatives worldwide, including 14Click here to listen to the podcast!

Sandler Training is a global training organization based in Baltimore, MD, with more than three decades of experience and proven results. Annually, the company spends more than 92,000 hours teaching its “against-the-grain” sales principles to small, mid-sized, and Fortune-ranked companies to effectively sell and communicate—and grow. Sitting at the helm is David Mattson, Sandler’s CEO and president, who oversees the organization’s more than 225 locations around the globe. Since 1986, he has been a trainer and business consultant for management,Click here to listen to the podcast!

Check out our Q&A with rock star Michael Franti — the American poet, musician, and composer who with his band Spearhead spreads the message of love, peace, and social justice. He is our January 2016 Entrepreneur of the Month in Be Inkandescent magazine. Franti is also the founder of Do It For the Love Foundation, which he co-founded in August 2013 with his partner Sara Agah. Learn more here. What advice does he offer entrepreneurs? Click here to read allClick here to listen to the podcast!

Dr. Andrew Weil is the world-renowned leader and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine — which is a healing-oriented approach to health care that encompasses body, mind, and spirit. A Harvard University-trained doctor, he is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona’s Health Sciences Center. Dr. Weil is also the author of 14 books, including 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, and Healthy Aging. And, he is our star Entrepreneur ofClick here to listen to the podcast!

Who says crime doesn’t pay? Not Louis Ferrante, an associate of the Gambino family, who by age 21 had netted millions for his employers. “My natural talent for management led Mafia bosses to rely on me,” explains the man who went on to pay a big price for the crimes he committed — more than 8 years in prison. While in prison, Ferrante realized there was more to life than what he knew and decided to go straight. He alsoClick here to listen to the podcast!

What does it take to successfully work in the global marketplace? In this podcast interview, we get the inside scoop from our August 2013 Truly Amazing Woman Jennie Walker, director of Global Learning at Thunderbird School of Management’s Najafi Global Mindset Institute. In her new book, “Developing Your Global Mindset,” which she wrote with world-renowned globalization expert Mansour Javidan, the authors take us through the Nine Steps to Creating a Global Mindset. Scroll down to learn more about those mission-criticalClick here to listen to the podcast!

Reading Partners is a national nonprofit organization that provides volunteer-led, one-on-one literacy tutoring to more than 5,500 elementary school students in 103 schools in low-income communities across six states and the District of Columbia. It delivers a highly effective, research-validated program that has helped thousands of children master the fundamental reading skills they need to succeed in school and beyond. We are here today in Oakland, CA with the organization’s CEO, Michael Lombardo, to learn more about this exciting initiative,Click here to listen to the podcast!

Award-winning science journalists Ashley Merryman and Po Bronson made headlines in Sept. 2009 when they released “NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children.” Indeed, their anti-parenting manual is an insightful exploration of themes and issues that transcend children’s (and adults’) lives: intelligence, racism, civility and aggression, honesty and deception, morality and kindness, peer pressure, risk-taking, and the growth of family relationships. Their new book, Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing, which was released in Feb. 2013, is another fascinating explorationClick here to listen to the podcast!

Sonja Kristiansen’s love story with the hair salon Blo began in her hometown of Vancouver. No one else could tame her thick Scandinavian mane. In 2012, the 20something (aka, “Blonde, James Blonde”), put down the puck at her marketing position with the Vancouver Canucks to take over Blo Union Street in San Francisco with her sister, Merete. When not in-bar and spreading good hair around San Francisco, Sonja hearts weekend getaways and sipping vino. Sonja’s mantra: Good hair cures everything.Click here to listen to the podcast!

Futurist and author Derek Woodgate is the CEO of The Futures Lab, a futures-based consultancy based in Atlanta, with six satellite offices around the world. The firm specializes in creating future potential for major corporations and institutions, especially in the fields of entertainment, media, culture, communications, and new communities. He spent nine years as a British diplomat, and 13 years as a corporate executive, and is an authority on the application of emerging and immersive technologies and the changing humanClick here to listen to the podcast!

From modern classics to items that are great for gifting, BeGood Clothing on Union Street in San Francisco will have you responsibly dressed from beanie to socks. Every item purchased donates back, which is still a somewhat novel concept in the world of retail, explain say founders Dean Ramadan and Mark Spera. “We started BeGood Clothing because of our fascination with sustainability in fashion,” says Spera. “Our buyers seek fashionable and contemporary lines that are affordably priced so that weClick here to listen to the podcast!

Educator Charles Best came up with a very big idea one day back in 1999 while eating lunch with his fellow high-school teachers in the Bronx. “My colleagues and I were talking about books that we wanted the students to read, field trips we wanted to take them on, and art supplies that we needed—but we all knew these ideas wouldn’t go beyond the teacher lunchroom because of funding issues,” explains the founder of www.DonorsChoose.org, one of the nation’s firstClick here to listen to the podcast!

Hello! This is Hope Gibbs, your host for the Inkandescent Entrepreneur Show. We are thrilled to be here to today with marketing master, author, and entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki. We first met Guy at the Empowered Women’s conference in Miami soon after he published his 2011 book, Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions. In it, he explains: “Enchantment transforms situations and relationships. It converts hostility into civility and civility into affinity. It changes skeptics and cynics into believersClick here to listen to the podcast!