It’s 3pm. You’re sat at your desk and it’s time to do the daily hour or two of admin work you’ve been procrastinating for the past week and a half…
As you mentally brace yourself for the mundane task that lies ahead, know that the dryness can easily be remedied for as I have found the perfect podcast to actually make you excited for admin hour to begin: How I Built This with Guy Raz.
Guy Raz interviewing Lisa Price, founder of Carol’s Daughter, at the HIBT Summit
I specifically choose this podcast series to listen to whilst at my desk as the length of each episode varies greatly from 15 minutes, all the way to 1 hour and 15. The variation allows you to pop on the appropriate length episode (depending on the task you are about to do), so that you don’t have to leave parts of the show for the next day.
Guy Raz sets a very different tone to the show from the other interview-type podcasts, like WSJ Secrets of Wealthy Women. The pace of each episode is generally a lot more relaxed with theme music being incorporated throughout to set the story-telling style of each interview.
Raz breaks up each episode by introducing the guest and the company in question, spending some time briefing the listener on their success story before playing audial clips of the conversation between the founder and himself. I feel like the tone of conversation is a lot more organic and I walk away with a greater level of understanding behind each company’s rise to the top, as he walks us through the start-up from beginning to present day.
My favourite interviews so far are:
- Michael Dell’s story from being a dorm room salesman to becoming the youngest CEO to head a Fortune 500 company
- Live from the HIBT Summit with the co- founders of Instagram, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and their current projects after stepping down from the company
- Steve Madden and his brand story, life in prison and stint on Wall Street
If you need a bit of story motivation to breathe some life into your creative spirit then you needn’t look any further. Check out Guy Raz’s How I Built This to listen to some of the amazing stories behind the world’s game-changing companies.
