To The Top: Inspirational Career Advice

Today we're sitting down with Raffi Grinberg, author of "How to Be a Grownup: The 14 Essential Skills You Didn't Know You Needed Until Just Now." After walking away from Wharton's MBA program just two weeks before it started, Raffi challenged conventional wisdom and created a wildly popular college course teaching the life skills most schools never address. His journey from management consultant to educator offers a refreshing perspective on designing a meaningful life in a world that tries to program our decisions. In this enlightening conversation, we explore:

• Why breaking free from "default programming" is essential for creating a life you won't regret
• How to identify your unique "superpowers" and leverage them for greater career fulfillment
• The critical transition from an achievement mindset to a contentment mindset without losing your ambition
• Why making counterintuitive life choices—like moving next door to your best friends—can lead to deeper happiness than following the traditional script

Ximena Vengoechea has been UX researcher at companies like Twitter and Pinterest. She is the author of several books including the one we discuss today titled Listen Like You Mean It: Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection. 

Her writing has been published in The Washington Post, Newsweek, Fast Company, CNBC, The Muse, among others. She writes a regular newsletter on personal growth and human behavior at ximena.substack.com.

In this inteview we discuss:

• How to Listen Beyond Words - Discover techniques to understand the emotions and unspoken needs hiding beneath surface-level conversation.
• When to Switch Listening Modes - Learn to identify your default listening style and how to adapt it based on what others actually need from you.
• Turning Any Topic Into an Engaging Conversation - Find out how to remain genuinely curious about subjects that don't naturally interest you by focusing on the person sharing them.
• Setting Healthy Boundaries While Listening - Master the balance between empathetic listening and protecting yourself from carrying others' emotional burdens.
• The Power of Being Fully Present - Understand how mindfulness, reduced note-taking, and self-awareness create the foundation for meaningful connections.

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Jeff Byers is the co-founder and CEO of Momentous, a leading vitamins and supplements brand. He played college football at USC under legendary caoch, Pete Carrol. He also played in the NFL. 

In this episode we discuss:

• How focusing on the only two things you can truly control—attitude and effort—can transform your approach to challenges in both work and life.
• Why consistent leadership creates trust, and how showing up the same way every day (like Pete Carroll did) makes it easier for people to follow you.
• The importance of not letting external achievements define your worth, and how Jeff's career-threatening injuries helped him realize "football doesn't define me, I define me."
• When to prioritize mission over money, demonstrated by Jeff's decision to pull a profitable product that didn't meet his company's standards.
• Why embracing personal evolution is essential, and how giving yourself permission to reinvent yourself every 6-12 months creates space for growth..and more

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In a candid conversation from his Miami office, veteran tech executive Dave shared insights from his journey from IT consultant to running companies with thousands of employees. A former wrestler and Division I athlete, Dave's path has been anything but conventional - from managing a help desk at 24 to leading multiple successful exits and navigating the volatile crypto space. Known for interviewing every single employee when he joins a company (whether it's 20 or 100 people), his philosophy centers on humility and service to others. "If someone isn't humble, doesn't matter what their talent stack looks like," he says about his top hiring criteria. After raising millions in capital, managing over a dozen acquisitions, and developing innovative business models that disrupted established players, Dave's most profound insight might surprise you: success isn't about being the smartest person in the room, but about being the most willing to learn from others. His advice to spend 100 hours a year mastering new skills (just 18 minutes daily) offers a practical roadmap for continuous improvement in an era often characterized by quick fixes and instant gratification.

Here's what you'll learn from this interview with Dave:

• How a veteran tech executive approaches hiring - why humility trumps talent and experience, and his unique strategy of interviewing every single employee when joining a company
• A practical framework for skill development: the "100-hour rule" that explains how spending just 18 minutes daily on any skill can put you in the top 5% of practitioners
• Why focusing on individual employees first (rather than company objectives) counter-intuitively leads to better business results, and how to implement this "servant leadership" approach
• Inside stories about raising capital and scaling companies - including how investors often act like "sheep" and why it's sometimes harder to raise $500K than $5M
• A contrarian view on career development - why "do what you love" is bad advice, and how to instead build a career by systematically stacking skills and choosing the right mentors

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Jared and Jordan Schmidt are brothers who disrupted the cutlery industry by making high-quality, beautifully designed knives affordable. They share the life and career lessons they learned through their journey that led from a concept to a successful company. You can find Schmidt Bros knives in over 10,000 retail locations across the country. 

In this episode we discuss: 

• How to spot and execute on a market gap: See how they identified the need for affordable premium knives and built a business around it
• Why opposing skills can create perfect partnerships: Discover how a philosophy major and a business graduate complemented each other to build a national brand
• How to disrupt a traditional industry: Learn their strategies for challenging established norms and introducing innovative designs that competitors now copy
• The power of patient networking: Understand how they built retail partnerships over years, not months, expanding from a garage to 10,000+ stores
• How to scale while staying lean: See how they grew to national distribution with just 30 employees by cultivating the right company culture
• Why some "old school" wisdom still works: Learn the two simple philosophies from their father that guided their major business decisions and more..

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This interview explores the journey of Albert Chow, co-founder of Silk & Snow, a Canadian sleep & lifestyle company that started as a mattress-in-a-box business. Chow discusses how his immigrant parents and blue-collar background influenced his business approach, particularly his focus on supply chain transparency and quality manufacturing. Through organic growth and without outside funding, the company evolved from a Kickstarter campaign in 2017 to a successful acquisition by Sleep Country in 2023, maintaining its commitment to sustainable, high-quality products throughout its growth.

In this episode we discuss:

-Why Albert emphasizes the importance of staying true to your values, even when faced with trends or easier paths

-Why he advocates for strategic risk-taking, noting how he first "de-risked" his life (established career, marriage, home) before starting his business

-Why operating with a healthy amount of fear can be a powerful motivator

-Being passionate about what you do is essential since your career occupies 60-70% of your life

This is the story of Amir Loloi, the founder of Loloi Rugs, one of the largest rug companies in America. It traces his remarkable journey from arriving in Dallas as a 16-year-old Iranian immigrant in 1976, barely speaking English, to building a 650-person company that has transformed the rug industry. Through early jobs at Burger King and driving an ice cream truck, to spending 25 years learning the rug business before starting his own company, Amir shares how his father's advice to "walk a straight line" shaped his business philosophy of integrity and constant improvement. The interview explores how he built his success through reputation and relationships, eventually bringing his two sons into the business to help create a lasting legacy. It's a quintessential American dream story that illuminates the power of perseverance, the importance of reputation, and the value of staying focused even after achieving success.

Dan Martell is the bestselling author of “Buy Back Your Time” and a growth coach for business leaders.

He is also the founder of Martell Ventures, a portfolio of companies that makes over $100M in revenue.

After spending time in jail and rehab at the age of 17, Dan turned his life around.

He taught himself to code, founded and led 3 tech companies to exit, and has invested in over 60 startups.

Dan was named Forbes Top 10 Business People to Follow on Social Media and is a highly sought-after speaker, including events by Tony Robbins, John Maxwell, and other top leaders.

His content, keynotes, and coaching programs have helped thousands of clients unlock growth, get fit, and develop the mindset to become the best version of themselves.

In this interview we discuss:

-How to implement the methodology of Buying Back Your Time

-How to structure our time to maximize our energy

-The most common pitfalls to watch out for when trying to maximize buying back your time

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Coach Jon Gruden won a Super Bowl as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He previously led the Oakland Raiders to prominence, and hosted Monday Night Football. He's currently joined Barstool Sports and has a YouTube channel called Gruden Loves Football where he breaks down game previews and interviews NFL players and coaches. In this episode we discuss:

-the traits of a Gruden Grinder

-why it's important to be a lifelong learner (or to accumulate knowledge)

-lessons from Bill Walsh and Al Davis

-how to build your adaptability muscle

-how to handle pressure better

-how to improve your attention to detail

-why it's important to be ready when opportunity knocks and more

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