Action and Ambition

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Michael Stausholm Creates Wholesome Sustainability Through The Sprout Pencil and Spoon, Which You Can Plant After Use To Grow A New Plant Dec 15, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Phillip Lanos. Today’s guest is Michael Stausholm.

Michael Stausholm is the founder of Sprout. Since the company was founded in 2013, Sprout has sold more than 25 million plantable pencils in more than 80 countries from its head office in Denmark. Michael Stausholm began his career in the shipping industry, working for A.P. Møller/Mærsk, and traveled to Indonesia in 1993, where he lived for 14 years. His most significant interests are green entrepreneurship and sustainability. Between 1996 and 2006, he worked for Nike and Walmart companies, helping them establish more sustainable and responsible textile production processes.

You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it!

What has been Michael’s past experiences with podcasts? (2:32)

The way Michael usually prefers a conversation over an interview.
He thinks Interviews are things you can just Google, but a conversation is like an audience is a fly on the wall, and they weren’t supposed to hear the conversation.
Conversations also follow a loose arc, usually starting with who are you and where were you before your business.
In a conversation format, you can go into any detail you want, and it doesn’t have to be by the books like an interview.
That’s why the conversational format allows for a lot more engaging podcasts for your audience.

What were pivotal moments for Michael that helped him decide to start a company like Sprouts? (6:33)

When Michael started working in garments and textiles back in the mid-late 90s, he was in Asia, and it was still sweatshop conditions and factories with workers.
It was all about price, but then Walmart came. Along and they started questioning whether it wasn’t possible to give workers better conditions by paying them just a little bit more.
They gave workers what today are considered fundamental human rights, like allowing them to go to the bathroom during working hours and access to healthcare, and so on.
It made Michael realize how you can make a difference in people’s lives with small changes for the people you work with.
It doesn’t have to be about the price. If you make your workers happy and give them decent working conditions, they will work more efficiently and better.

What processes does Michael follow when preparing to speak? (11:22)

Michael has been speaking publicly for many years. For him, it doesn’t matter if it's 20 people or 1000; he is always nervous. He finds this amusing because he knows he knows what he’s talking about even if he is not the best expert on the subject.
Once he gets onto the stage or in front of a TV Camera, It’s challenging for individuals as consumers to understand what we as the human race can do about that.
For Michael, it is an essential, enormous impact.
That is where Sprout came from, Sprout is not going to save the world by itself, but it can help inspire people to do other small sustainable, environmentally friendly things in their everyday lives, eventually making a big difference.

What allows Michael to have the distribution access that he has? (13:46)

Michael states that itis the natural consequence of having a great product because it is also a great messenger.
Broadcast is all about being used as a messenger, and companies are using it as an icebreaker to explain their own sustainable and green messenger.
Parents are using it to explain to their kids how sustainability works. Therefore Michael thinks it is a natural consequence of the patented product.
Sprout is the only company in the world that is and can make seat pencils as they do.
Because Sprout focuses on sustainability, early on, they got a lot of publicity and media exposure from all over the world, which helped them get into new markets much faster than if they were selling closing products.

Sprout

Sprout creates unique pencils, and once your Sprout pencil is too short to write with, plant it and watch it grow into luscious flowers, fragrant herbs, fresh vegetables, or even spruce trees. The idea behind the Sprout pencil is that by taking small steps using simple, innovative solutions, positive change is possible.

Resources

Connect with Michael: LinkedIn

Sprout: Website

Connect with Phillip: LinkedIn

12-Year-Old Inventor Ayaan Naqvi Creates a Simple Yet Efficient Solution To Pets Breaking Your Christmas Ornaments Dec 12, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Phillip Lanos. Today’s guest is Ayaan Naqvi.

Ayaan is a 12-year-old kid-entrepreneur born and raised in Shelton, CT. Ayaan and his family are known for being the local family who made it into “the tank” for their product, Kudo Banz. Following his family’s footsteps, Ayaan has big dreams of going back to Shark Tank for his invention. Ornament Anchor. is the founder of Ornament anchor, which keeps your ornament from falling off the tree, keeping them in place, making sure they’re secure.

You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it!

Tommy Alastra and Hugo McDonaugh Balances Each Other Out To Create Cryptograph, Utilizing Digital Scarcity Like Never Before Dec 11, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Phillip Lanos. Today’s guests are Tommy Alastra and Hugo McDonaugh.

Tommy Alastra is a producer and actor, known for The Iceman (2012), Dallas in Wonderland, and Jackals (2017). Tommy is the co-founder of Cryptograph.

Hugo McDonaugh graduated from Warwick University back in 2013. He went on to work in wealth management at the C. Hoare & Co. private bank in London. After a year of working there, he decided to pursue a master’s at ICBS, which is where he met fellow Cryptograph co-founders. Hugo is a big believer in the idea of sustainable philanthropy, and he is the Director of an Education technology and consultancy business that works between the UK and China.

You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it!

How did Cryptograph come to be? (0:37)

Back in late 2017, NFT tokenization on unique content was getting started on Aetherium.
Hugo and two of his co-founders were looking at the space and decided they had to do something there.
They had an incredible opportunity and level of innovation that was happening in the space.
The concept of NFT’s and the ability to create digital scarcity was a huge part of the opportunity.
They looked at what they could take from the physical world, what people could not collect digitally with this layer of scarcity. They started this idea of autographs.
People used to collect autographs physically, so Hugo and his co-founders brought them to the digital world.
That was why Cryptograph was created; it then morphed into different beasts.
After a year of development, they raised their seed, and they got the idea on paper out there.
The technology was built, and they had the platform ready, but they needed to find the supply side of the market.
They had to find the content and the creators. Hugo and the other co-founders had a tech background but not an entertainment background, so they needed to find the missing link.
Through a relative of Hugo, who was in London at the time. Hugo met with him and told him the idea behind Cryptography and what they were missing. Hugo’s relative had said he needed to speak to a friend of his.
From that connection came Tommy, and that was where Hugo and Tommy’s relationship started.

What piece were they missing to make Cryptograph Succesful? (6:08)

Hugo and Tommy met and Tommy’s guys in the domain space kind of vetted the tech which was something they needed.
As an entrepreneur, we often put people in the room who can answer questions we don’t often have the answers to.
Being a successful entrepreneur is largely based on bringing in people for your weaknesses.
As an executive producer, part of T%ommy’s job is bringing elements in and allow them to do their respective duties and give them the dignity of the experience.
Tommy wanted the best answer about this auction system the guys had invented.
Tommy thought they could license it outside of the domain space and domain world.
Because they loved technology, they wanted to participate in the parent company and close their round essentially.
They got more than a licensed partner; they got a partner and some significant assets to go along with their business.
They are excited for the next phase of Cryptograph to launch in about nine months.
Cryptograph and digital scarcity and snackfood content, people can connect with their favourite icons and artists and have a little piece of their idols.
Cryptograph was born to be cryptology with autographs.

Cryptograph

Cryptograph Technologies is committed to helping clients solve their business challenges and drive value with comprehensive IT solutions and digital services. Since its inception in 2010 as a Middleware support provider, Cryptograph has come a long way in the technology business—expanding its operations overseas and proliferating service capabilities across more than 16 industries. We now have a growing workforce of over 1500 and are present in 6 countries, including the USA, South Africa, and India.

Resources

Connect with Tommy: IMDB

Connect with Hugo: LinkedIn

Cryptology: Website

Connect with Phillip: LinkedIn

Nick Graham Helped To Launch and Build Hotwire and After 20 Years They're More Excited For The Future Than Ever Before! Dec 10, 2020

Show notes

Today's sponsor is Green Chef(https://www.greenchef.com/). Go to GreenChef.com/action80 and use code action80 to get $80 off including free shipping!

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition. Today's guest is Nick Graham, travel expert and head of online travel site Hotwire. As the brand gears up to celebrate its 20th anniversary, we talk all things travel, digital, and the internet. Since its inception in 2000, Hotwire has evolved constantly to accommodate ever-shifting traveler preferences and trends––with countless innovations to stay ahead of the curve, and ultimately solidify its place in the market as the last-minute booking go-to for millennials.

Amid a rapidly changing travel scape, Nick speaks to the key evolutions and travel trends impacting the industry over the years, including the rise of last-minute and on-the-go booking, the rise of the domestic “quickie” trip, and much more.

He also shares how the business has evolved over the last 20 years, including the impact of the recent pandemic and key predictions for the travel booking industry for the next 20 years.

You're going to love this episode. Let's get to it!

How Eve Goldberg Turned Tragedy Into Triumph. Hear About Her BIGVISION Dec 10, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to another episode of Action and Ambition. Today's guest is Eve Goldberg. She's an amazing entrepreneur with a huge heart. Eve founded BIGVISION in January 2015, a year after her 23-year-old son, Isaac, passed from an accidental drug overdose. She was motivated to do something to help young adults in recovery learn to live fun, meaningful, sober lives. You're going to love this epside.

Ross Gordon Is A Serial Entrepreneur And Avid Angler Who's Life Purpose Is To Be “Rescuing People From The Indoors" Dec 10, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to another episode of Action and Ambition. Today's guest is Ross Gordon. Ross is the CEO of Catch Co, a company selling products and experiences for the modern angler. Ross turned his hobby into a lifelong dream, and the company is very keen on helping others to explore their passions. Catch Co’s “hero” product is the Mystery Tackle Box. The product is a monthly subscription box with an expertly curated selection of the best bait and tackle to succeed at the local fishing hole. You're going to love this episode, let's get to it!

CR Celona Uses His Faith In The Power Of Human Beings To Help People Start Their Own Movements For Giving Back To Society Dec 10, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Phillip Lanos. Today’s guest is CR Celona.

Celona is the Founder/CEO of CLUSTER, a new on-demand social impact platform. It empowers Millennials and Gen Z to create, share, and scale the causes that matter most to them. CR has 20 years of Digital Media Management experience with National Senior Agency + Client Relationships. Influencer Marketing Founder. He specialized in; Ad Sales, Lean Thinking, Business Development, Social Media, FTC/GDPR Compliance, SaaS Product Development, Scalable Growth, and Emerging Technologies.

You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it!

What is CR About? (1:03)

A large part of their mission is tied to the idea that people are powerful.
CR believes that the majority of people do not know how powerful they are.
For example, CR says, imagine you are taking a selfie and you post that selfie you might get 100 followers and 10 interactions, and that would be an achievement.
Then say you post a selfie of you with a kitten you just rescued, something very human and you post that out to your friends, and suddenly you see 10x more followers, likes, and comments.
What you realize from that is social functionally is social but we need and seek human interactions.
We, as humans, seek positivity, and we also seek real things.
The irony of digital media is that it extracted the human from a lot of those behaviours and a lot of what we get from that is that these platforms are very insular in nature.
Each person has functionally built their own micro-publishing platform.
If everyone is powerful, which they are, a lot of us like giving back because the feeling of it is a quite powerful inside of us.
When you help someone else, you feel better about yourself.
CR thought what if there was a platform that allowed you to simplify giving back, utilizing your existing digital platform and an echo chamber for the things you care most about.
What if all of that gave you better engagement, more reach allows you to be discovered, and eventually, maybe that way of giving back that you love could be turned into a potential opportunity, future for income.

What does CR mean with our design is our culture? (29:01)

There is a lot of ethos that we follow.
CR’s company is fairly new for a lot of his teammates. For CR, however, it is familiar because he came up with the concept and built it.
Even though CR lost his father at a young age, he still felt lucky because his father recruited their CTO out of the CIA at the end of the cold war.
The CTO is currently CR’s uncle Stuart, and he was CR’s father’s business partner for the 15-20 years they were together where they did some amazing things.
They also had catastrophic failures and wild ideas, but whenever CR has called with them, they reflect on everything. It is like having a vision of his father’s life to CR.
When CR says or does certain things his uncle will call him up and say his dad used to do that, he’d ask if CR knew he did it and most of the time CR would say no.
Not everyone associates their family with their business, but CR has found it largely beneficial even though he is big on working with friends.
People say do not make business personal, but CR finds that everything is personal regardless. He tries not to let things hurt or phase him, but life business is personal, and his missions are personal.
CR believes managers make all of the difference, and he was lucky that early in his career, he had a highly reviewed automotive website that discovered him.
That was how CR got into technology. CR started as a street racer in New York, even though it was a lot of fun, CR says it is best to do racing on an actual racetrack.

Clusters of Change

Clusters of Change provides mentorship and tools to inspire and help clusters, ecosystems, innovation agencies and governments employ new scalable models and become entrepreneur-driven entities that spur exponential growth. It's time to move away from 'clusters-as-usual' and join the movement for 'clusters-of-change'!

Resources

Connect with CR: LinkedIn

Clusters of Change: Website

Connect with Phillip: LinkedIn

Lorna Johnson Undergoes a Profound Awakening In The Middle Of Her 15 Year Corporate Career and Quits To Pursuit Her Path Of Enlightenment Finding Happiness, Success and So Much More Dec 08, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Phillip Lanos. Today’s guest is Lorna Johnson!

Lorna Johnson is a spiritual teacher, genius alchemist, transformational coach and author. She teaches SuperConscious Awakening. Lorna was an executive in corporate America for 15 years where she helped build and run multimillion-dollar businesses and then went through a soul death, experienced several nervous breakdowns, became suicidal and was diagnosed with two mental illnesses. She then underwent a profound awakening and the birth of her new soul, which led her to launch her ground-breaking transformational business, bringing it to $1 million in revenue in ten months using unconventional means.

You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it!

How did Lorna find success during her darkest times? (0:21)

Lorna had an excellent career for about 15 years. She was part of corporate America, and during the time of following the path that everyone follows, Lorna was doing well, she sat on boards of companies, she helped build and grow great companies.
On the outside, everything was great, but on the inside, everything was falling apart. The people that Lorna works with now generally have the same story. Lorna now works with people who have a spiritual calling, and have spent their lives scared of that calling.
They were unsure if that calling would bring them money and allow them to live the life that they want to live. There’s a lot within their culture and their myths that spirituality is a noble path of its own and you shouldn’t have to make lots of money from it.
You should be comfortable in the sense that you aren’t starving. Lorna travelled the path herself; she chose to push through the course. She realised that her corporate job did not allow her to live her purpose.
Lorna came from a lot of priests and missionaries, but her message was quite different from their belief systems. Lorna talks a lot about a feminine God or the feminine divine. She feels she is now living her purpose.

How does Lorna teach her message to others? (8:58)

One of the most confronting aspects of Lorna’s teachings is that there are no victims in life. Lorna is not a victim to her mind; she chose her mind.
Before she incarnated she picked this mind not knowing it was going to be very “wet”. When she checked herself into the clinic, and she got all of the neuropsychological tests, she was there for three days, and they scanned her brain.
The doctor said he would talk to her about the ADT stuff later, but he wanted to show her her brain compared to others, and he showed her how her brain was wired opposite of most people.
She chose that because that is what’s required for her to bring through the next level of spiritual teachings that are here and ready for people to hear. She has a different way of looking at the world and processing information. She sees it as her blessing.
It is also her curse. She says it was not the universe that was against her, but instead, she wouldn’t let her higher self have the driver’s seat in her life, and that is what caused her suffering, and eventually, she found the courage to pursue her higher self.

During her corporate jobs, how did Lorna cope with things before diving into metaphysics? (20:55)

Lorna says that she was living two lives, her nine to five life and then her evening and weekend life. During the evenings and weekends, she was going to retreats and going to workshops.
Daily she was talking to her intuitive or psychic self or her shaman, getting readings. She studied a lot of archetypal work and a lot of Yung’s work until she got certified as a union dream analyst.
She studied metaphysics and philosophy in college, and she already had a robust, holistic base, She devoured all knowledge she could find, but the problem was that they did not apply to the message she was trying to convey.
Most people know, but they think that alone is enough. It satisfies the realisation that there is no meaning in their nine to five job and feels a lack of authenticity. She found a home between the people who are considered the black sheep of the world.
But it allows people to be disingenuous with their spiritual path because they don’t apply it to their nine to five world and that is what Lorna did for 15 years until she came into her spiritual path.

Dark Euphoria

Home of the Luxe Godhead, this is a portal of consciousness that will transport you through a black hole, and out into the multiverse. The rules are different here. It's dark and uncomfortable. They will show you where consciousness began. They will show you how to play with the codes of the time. They will show you real magic. Prepare to become a true master of manifestation and alchemy.

Resources

Connect with Lorna: Instagram

Dark Euphoria: Website

Connect with Phillip: LinkedIn

Moira Taylor and Raynae Taylor Are Moving Mountains for Home Owners To Find Them The Home Of Their Dreams Dec 07, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Philip Lanos.

Let’s get to it! Today’s guests are Moira and Raynae Taylor. Mother-daughter team Moira and Raynae Taylor are the Owners of Taylor Made Realty based in Atlanta and they work with buyers and sellers, they offer property management services and have their own real estate school.

You’re going to love this episode.

What advice can Moira give to someone looking to move to Atlanta? (3:00)

Georgia is one of the few states that are still fairly affordable to enter into.
Anyone entering would be able to buy an entry-level home for below $200,000.
An intermediate buy on their second or third home would probably be able to place home at the mid-two-four hundreds.
Therefore Georgia has a pretty affordable market.
Atlanta is the number one market for anyone looking for jobs.
There are a lot of companies that are headquartered there.
The opportunity for jobs is great and the price of living is low.
Someone could come in on an entry-level basis and they could easily enter the home and job market.
Particularly people coming from California or New York notice the massive change in the cost of living.
Some people selling their homes in California come to Atlanta and are blown away by the fact that a lot of them can almost buy a new house in cash and double the square footage they had before.

How can people prepare to buy a home? (4:35)

The number one thing is savings. Having your money ready and your down payment correct at the time of purchase is important.
Credit is the second thing to look at.
Lastly, your level of income also played a factor.
But going back on the first thing, you have to be able to in that price range and you have to be able to pay your down payment because very few products in that range do not require a down payment.
FHA requires a 3.5% downpayment, which is not a lot but you still have money to put down.
Something in the traditional sense of convention lending will require around a 20% down payment.
New homeowners or first-time buyers will typically go for the FHA product to still have money left after.
The 3.5% does not include your closing costs which would normally be around 3-6% of the purchase price of the home.
The lowest amount you should set aside is close to 10%.
The right way to do it however is to have about 20% set aside before you start looking at homeownership.
The realistic factor however is that a lot of people won’t have that amount of money saved.

What culture do Moira and Raynae have within the workplace? (15:35)

They are very close-knit and family-oriented.
This extends to people who work with them as well, they feel like family.
They focus on building that culture with an open door policy.
They really care about their employees and they make them feel like they actually want to celebrate their birthdays.
They want to know when they’re going to have their baby and even celebrate their anniversaries.
They do lunches together and they talk about more than just business at meetings.
They want to make sure that everyone has a good time working there.
They also have a strong team that knows how to get the job done so they do not need to micromanage and they get to celebrate and empower their employees to do their jobs happily and efficiently.

Taylor Made Realty

The Taylor Made Realty team has over 35 years of combined experience. They pride themselves in providing premier services with integrity and personalized customer service. Possessing a vast industry background in property management and realty services they currently serve metro Atlanta and all surrounding counties.

At Taylor Made Realty they take a unique approach to property management and real estate. Through their property management services, they leverage their background in structuring investment portfolios to maximize returns for their clients. Additionally, they are not only active in the real estate industry but teach courses to other agencies and companies to stay current on the latest trends and changes that would benefit their clients.

Resources

Connect with Moira: LinkedIn

Connect with Raynae: LinkedIn

Taylor Made Realty: Website

Connect with Andrew: LinkedIn

Donna Giraud Creates And Tells Stories Through Her Artwork Which She Uses To Inspire People To Be Better People Dec 04, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Donna Giraud.

Donna Giraud is one of Vancouver's most sought-after abstract artists. She strives to tell stories through texture where the viewer can envision a world thriving because of love, hope, and kindness. Donna's work is hanging in private and commercial spaces all over North America.

You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it!

How did Donna get to where she is now? (1:47)

Donna is an abstract painter that lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
She has spent the last 10-15 years, creating a niche for herself in the art world.
She paints large textual pieces, and her vision is to tell stories through the texture that she makes on canvases.
Her words are usually about how we are better together, hope, and kindness.
From the very beginning, art found Donna.
She was always attracted to the abstract form. There is something about standing in front of something that doesn’t necessarily look like something and having the viewer go through a journey of figuring out what it means.
It is not about what the artist was trying to say but rather what the viewer feels it means for themselves.
Over the years, Donna found people stopping in their tracks when they get to her work and bawling positive tears.
Donna thought that she had a gift to tell stories, and she wanted to share this gift with the world.
Donna wanted to live her life positively, and she has always wanted to shed light on negative things.
She has no space for toxic people’s energies.
She started to pay attention to people and their conversations.
Her art has evolved, and paying attention to people helped her build it even further.

How did Donna cope with the pandemic? (13:47)

Before they went into quarantine, Donna was prepping for one of her solos shows that she does annually.
She also runs a gallery in Yaletown, which is a swanky neighborhood in Vancouver.
She runs the Gallery with three other artists, and she plans her annual solo shows six to eight months in advance.
This massive event with bartenders, doorkeepers, and lots of artwork was going to launch in May, and then COVID happened.
No one was getting together in groups of hundreds, let alone outside of your house.
Donna had to do something. She had to choose whether they would ride it out and see what happens later on, or she could try something different.
Donna considers herself quite tenacious, and so she decided to try something different.
She taught herself how to pivot and adapt to go online. She created an entire portion of her website for her virtual show.
Her husband filmed her in the gallery by herself. They went around and spoke about all of the artwork.
She laid out the website so that people could come ‘in’ and join them.
It took a lot of work and adapting mere minutes before the show, but it was a huge turning point in Donna’s career.
From now on, she will always do a virtual component.
She sold 8 out of 11 pieces within 48 hours to all the new people who have never even seen her art in real life.
People historically have to take the time to see a piece of art, fall in love with it, discuss it, but with the virtual show, the purchase button was continually going.
The virtual show was a big success. She made eight more pieces and launched another show in September.
That show almost sold out as well.
The virtual shows have given Donna and her gallery recognition among people not just from Vancouver but worldwide.
People are getting comfortable with the idea of purchasing and just being online and having confidence in the whole process.
As an artist, this has been the most financially rewarding year so far.

Donna Giraud Art

"I paint my soul on canvas, and I believe art should make you feel something. I believe in inspiring others by sharing secrets, so we can all succeed, and I believe that buying art should be a positively unforgettable experience."

~ Donna

Resources

Connect With Donna: Instagram

Donna Giraud Art: Website

Connect With Andrew: LinkedIn

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