Looking Toward 2020: 3 Takeaways from Conversation Nation

For those of you who’ve been following along with me recently, you know I’ve been talking to some interesting entrepreneurs and industry leaders during my Conversation Nation interviews. As a young entrepreneur myself, it’s extremely important for me to speak with, and learn from, others forging unique paths for their own businesses.

Have you caught up on the Conversation Nation video series yet? If not, you can access all of it on YouTube.

Most recently, I’ve been discussing the concept of Ethical Business and how it applies to different companies’ missions. And after speaking with leaders from all different industries, from consumer packaged goods to small business insurance, I’ve gathered some important lessons that resonates with me as I enter 2020 - and beyond. 

Looking for your own inspiration to bring with you into the new year? Check out the 3 major takeaways I gathered from Conversation Nation so far. 

3 Overarching Themes:

1. People - Putting people first, and considering how your business decisions will affect them, is essential when building any type of business.
2. Process - The leaders who choose to do the extra work, tackle the “hard stuff,” and take on what most other won’t are often more successful. Business outcomes will stem from the route you take to get there. 
3. Progress - As leaders, we can’t only think about how our decisions affect the present; keeping the future in mind is essential if you want to remain relevant tomorrow.

People 

The topic of “people” was a common thread in every single one of my conversations. Whether it was Justin Kamine of KDC Ag talking about bettering the environment through tackling the issue of food waste, or Jay Bregman of Thimble giving small business owners access to affordable insurance, each guest noted the importance of putting people first. 

These businesses’ values and missions focus, first and foremost, on how to make the world a better place for others. I see this as an important lesson to keep in mind, especially as I continue to grow my own business.

How is my company serving the needs of people? How are we helping not only consumers, but our own employees thrive? How are we keeping consumers’ data private and protected as technology continues to evolve? 

A statement that really resonated with me came from Justin Kamine;

“You can prioritize people and still make a profit.”

Oftentimes businesses lose sight of what’s really important and instead just focus on the bottom line. However, in most cases, we can do both - consider the needs of people and make money at the same time. How? By understanding how our product or service can serve a need and be profitable because of that.  

Gary Arora runs the Seeds of Change Accelerator for MARS, which aims to get startup food brands off the ground. One of the main criteria for selecting the companies to participate in the program was the answer to this: “Are they helping to create the meals of tomorrow?” This question gave me my own food for thought that I could translate from the context of the CPG industry to my own tech business. Is my team creating the technology of tomorrow? Are we doing so with the understanding of how it will affect people’s lives? 

At Holler, people are at the center of what we do. Our mission is to deliver useful, relevant content in conversations at just the right time - to make interactions better and easier to understand. As a tech brand, we also care about the integrity of our product and how it can benefit users in a safe way. 

Process

One great idea can spark change or even lead to a new business venture, which was apparent in a lot of the conversations I had. But, after you discover that idea, you need to consider the long-term process that’s going to help you achieve success. 

With a solid process often comes hard work - and those who are willing to go the extra mile usually achieve more favorable results. Tackling the hard stuff was something many of my guests were extremely familiar with. 

Jay Bregman noted how much work it took to start Thimble, an insurance company for small business owners. Getting it off the ground required approvals from each state, not to mention millions of dollars in funding. He did the work that many people wouldn’t do in order to launch a business that he’s passionate about. Our conversation gave me things to consider about how I run Holler.

Am I doing everything I can in order to take my company where I want it to go? Am I doing the things most other people wouldn’t dedicate the time or effort to? Am I taking the path, and making the right decisions along the way, that will lead us to success?  

As I continue to innovate in 2020, I’ll think about how important process is when evolving a business. At Holler, better serving the consumers that love our content is always a priority. The process that gets us there, and keeps moving us forward, is clearly important. So far, hiring the right people, establishing solid partnerships, and innovating our tech efficiently allowed us to do big things in 2019. And we’re looking forward to what’s to come next year. 

Progress

The topic of Ethical Business lends itself naturally to the concept of “progress.” How do we operate in the present while also thinking ahead to the future? All of the business leaders I talked to were forward-thinking innovators who consider the impact their companies will have for years to come. 

Gary Arora talked about how even though MARS is a 100+ year-old CPG brand, they’re always thinking about what’s next and testing out new marketing tactics to remain relevant, no matter the year or decade. 

Conversely, Nunbelievable is a brand new player in the CPG space, but they’re also forward-thinking. Co-founder & CMO Kuda Biza noted the importance of being an approachable brand in a world where people are flooded with advertisements (both online and offline). Although they’re aiming to help tackle a serious issue like hunger, Nunbelievable’s marketing strategy is strictly playful and uplifting, helping them to stand out.

Both of these conversations, although very different, taught me that no matter how old or new your brand is, there’s always opportunity to transform your business to meet the changing wants and needs of modern consumers. 

For me, the concept of progress is extremely important. As a tech brand, we’re constantly thinking about how we can be at the cutting edge of technology.

How can we continue to make our offering better so consumers will stay engaged and loyal? How can our content evolve in order to resonate with people in the current moment? But even more important to us is the topic of data privacy and protection. How can we continue to improve our product to make sure the end user is always secure? 

Wrapping it All Up 

Conversation Nation gives me an opportunity to speak with some of the best and brightest leaders across all verticals. Through these talks, I’ve walked away with some valuable lessons to consider as I move forward into 2020. The overarching themes: People, Process, Progress. As a takeaway, this translates to: Always move forward, with a solid plan, and people in mind. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed the series thus far. Stay tuned for more episodes of Conversation Nation in the new year!