1298: Going Against the Grain. And Why It’s Often Necessary by Kara Goldin on Embracing Risk & Fostering Creativity

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Work Daily, Episode 1298, Going Against the Grain and Why It's Often Necessary,

[00:00:06] by Cara Golden of CaraGolden.com. And I'm Dan and I'm with you every single day reading to you

[00:00:12] from these great blogs on work, entrepreneurship, and all sorts of related topics.

[00:00:18] And today I'm going to be reading to you from yet another brand new author to our show, so

[00:00:22] I'll tell you more about Cara's great list of accomplishments right after the reading. But

[00:00:27] for now, let's hear what she has to say and optimize your life.

[00:00:34] Going Against the Grain and Why It's Often Necessary, by CaraGolden of CaraGolden.com

[00:00:42] How can you be sure? You're betting this is what consumers want. That's not what experienced

[00:00:47] industry experts would do. Doubts and doubters. I wrote a whole book about them. Because I

[00:00:53] learned over the course of my career that nothing was more rewarding than fighting off those voices,

[00:00:58] both the ones in my own head and the ones from skeptics, and finding success in the end.

[00:01:03] To succeed, you have to be willing to stand up for what you believe, even if it means you go

[00:01:08] against conventional wisdom. I turned down plenty of advice from people seasoned in the

[00:01:12] beverage world because it would have meant acting counter to the brand I wanted to build

[00:01:16] and the company I wanted to lead. When I insisted on hint being bottled without

[00:01:20] preservatives, experts told me that I'd never be able to extend the product shelf life and

[00:01:24] distribute it nationwide. It's just not possible, I was told. Those were the facts that the experts

[00:01:30] knew at the time, and I recognized how their experience put blinders on them to see what

[00:01:35] was possible, to be able to innovate how a product was made or have any reason to.

[00:01:40] Eventually we were the ones who found a way to innovate the bottling procedure

[00:01:44] without using preservatives. Listening to the seasoned vets wouldn't have allowed us to

[00:01:48] think differently and innovate as we did. It took some tinkering, it took some time,

[00:01:53] but eventually our persistence paid off. Many times the advice I've received has come from people

[00:01:58] who were well intended. Friends who were worried for me when I left the tech industry expressed

[00:02:03] their concerns because they didn't see the purpose and meaning that I envisioned.

[00:02:07] The fact that these people I loved and trusted, doubted my why, made it all

[00:02:12] the harder to quell the doubts in my mind. Ultimately, I knew I needed to keep

[00:02:16] pushing further on my pursuit. I hoped that hint could help people get healthier.

[00:02:20] I believed that a powerful upside outweighed the risk of failure. And even if I couldn't

[00:02:25] turn hint into a thriving business, I believed that I could walk away with skills and knowledge

[00:02:29] that I might never have gained otherwise. And for me, that would constitute my purpose for

[00:02:33] continuing. Going against the grain builds grit and determination, even in quote unquote

[00:02:39] failure. Going against the grain requires creativity to think of solutions to problems

[00:02:44] that haven't been considered. Going against the grain exercises muscles you probably didn't know

[00:02:49] you have, and stretches you to learn key lessons through lived experience, the best way to learn.

[00:02:54] I knew from having grown up the youngest of five kids that my own observations and experiences

[00:02:59] were critical to my learning. When your gut tells you to go against the grain,

[00:03:03] even if it means rejecting seemingly expert advice, you're probably doing the right thing.

[00:03:08] I spoke to Arlen Hamilton, founder of Backstage Capital. She pointed to one characteristic that

[00:03:14] has driven her success in fields that she entered with relatively little experience.

[00:03:19] She said quote, I just knew that I had something that other people didn't have,

[00:03:23] which was a certain vision and the willingness to just go all in,

[00:03:27] end quote, the willingness to go all in so key. When that passion and curiosity take you

[00:03:34] further than any textbook or expert advice, well you stop at nothing to solve the problems

[00:03:39] in front of you. Esther Wojcicki is a trailblazing teacher, writer and entrepreneur who spent decades

[00:03:45] in Silicon Valley pioneering in the field of education. But that wasn't her first calling.

[00:03:50] She recounted to me her early forays into journalism back in the early 60s,

[00:03:55] when editors only offered her staff positions writing for the women's section of the newspaper.

[00:04:00] Can you believe that? She said, still irked by the experience decades later.

[00:04:05] So what did she do? She wrote the stories she wanted to write and sold them as a freelancer,

[00:04:10] and she started teaching journalism to high schoolers, cultivating a new generation of

[00:04:14] reporters and writers who along with her would go against the grain and reshape an industry

[00:04:19] with outdated ideas and antiquated power structures. You figure out how to move forward.

[00:04:25] That's the real value we bring when we challenge ideas and traditional ways of

[00:04:29] doing things. We clear out some of the received wisdom that's been passed down from generation

[00:04:33] to generation without question. We swipe away the cobwebs that obscure new ways of thinking.

[00:04:39] That's how we evolve. That's how we innovate. Through trial and error, learning from our

[00:04:44] mistakes and oversights. One of my all-time personal heroes Ruth Bader Ginsburg is famously

[00:04:49] quoted as saying, real change, enduring change happens one step at a time. Be part of that

[00:04:56] first step. Stand up for what you believe in. Find a way to do what you believe is possible.

[00:05:01] Be the change you want to see in your world. While it can be a lonely road at times,

[00:05:06] it can also be a gratifying path to take and a rewarding one too.

[00:05:14] You just listened to the post titled Going Against the Grain and Why It's Often Necessary

[00:05:19] by Cara Golden of CaraGolden.com. We're driven by the search for better,

[00:05:25] but when it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all.

[00:05:30] Don't search. Match with Indeed. Indeed is your matching and hiring platform with over

[00:05:37] 350 million global monthly visitors and a matching engine that helps you find quality

[00:05:42] candidates fast. Ditch the busy work. Use Indeed for scheduling, screening, and messaging.

[00:05:47] 93% of employers agree. Indeed delivers the highest quality matches compared to other

[00:05:53] job sites. One of the things I love about Indeed is that it filters out those incompatible applicants,

[00:05:58] so when you're hiring, the process is much faster and you only have to consider applicants

[00:06:02] that are already likely to be a great fit. And listeners of this show will get a $75

[00:06:07] sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com. So just go to

[00:06:14] Indeed.com. Right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast.

[00:06:20] Indeed.com slash startup terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed.

[00:06:27] You don't need me to tell you that something always comes up when you're running a small business.

[00:06:32] Take the pain out of payroll benefits and HR and put the joy back in running your business

[00:06:37] with gusto. Gusto's payroll and HR services can make it a little easier.

[00:06:42] Gusto was designed for you, the small business owner. They take the pain out of

[00:06:46] running a business automatically calculating paychecks, filing payroll taxes,

[00:06:51] setting up open enrollment. Gusto does it all want more time tracking, health insurance,

[00:06:58] 401k, onboarding, commuter benefits, offer letters, access to HR experts. Well, you get the idea

[00:07:05] with gusto. You can focus on the joy of running your business and it's super easy to set up

[00:07:10] and get started. And if you're moving from another provider, gusto can transfer all your data for

[00:07:15] you. So it's no surprise 94% of customers are likely to recommend gusto. 94. And here's the

[00:07:22] best part, because you're a listener, you get three months totally free. All you have to do is go

[00:07:27] to gusto.com slash owd. Again, that's gusto.com slash owd. And I'm telling you, you're going to

[00:07:36] love gusto. Get started today. And thanks a lot to Kara for letting us share her work with us.

[00:07:42] And a bit more about her. Entrepreneur Kara Golden is founder and CEO of Hint Incorporated,

[00:07:49] the San Francisco based company which produces the leading unsweetened flavored water. Hint also

[00:07:54] recently launched a sunscreen spray that is oxybenzone and paraben free and scented with

[00:07:59] Hint Fruit Essence. Golden has been named among Fortune's most powerful women entrepreneurs

[00:08:04] and Forbes 40 women to watch over 40. The Huffington Post listed her as one of six

[00:08:09] disruptors in business alongside Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. Further accolades include being

[00:08:15] among EY's entrepreneur of the year 2017 Northern California honorees as well as SF Business

[00:08:22] Times most influential woman, EY winning woman 2012, Fast Company's most creative people in business,

[00:08:29] Fortune Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink 2015, The Gold Stevie Award for Female

[00:08:35] Entrepreneur of the Year, AMAC's Open Forum's Women to Watch and the Marketers that Matter Award

[00:08:40] for Brand Building Small Company. Previously Golden was vice president of shopping and

[00:08:45] e-commerce partnerships at AOL where she led the growth of its startup shopping business to a

[00:08:50] $1 billion enterprise. Kara also hosts the podcast The Kara Golden Show and her first book

[00:08:56] Undaunted Overcoming Doubts and Doubters was released in October of 2020 and became a

[00:09:01] Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestseller. Kara is also an active business speaker and writer,

[00:09:06] a member of C200 and a member of SF Bay YPO the world's premier chief executive leadership

[00:09:12] organization. In 2016 she launched The Kara Network a digital resource and mentoring platform for

[00:09:18] aspiring and established entrepreneurs. Kara Golden lives in the Bay area with her family

[00:09:23] and three labradors and you can come by karagolden.com to learn more that's K-A-R-A-G-O-L-D-I-N

[00:09:32] and that's going to do it for another edition of Optimal Work Daily I thank you so much for

[00:09:35] tuning in and I do hope you do the same tomorrow where I'll have another episode

[00:09:40] and where your optimal life awaits.