I’ve never really been a huge podcast fan. When I have windshield time, or I am at the gym, I always prefer to talk on the phone or listen to music. While on family trips we always get in a lot of NPR ‘game show’ podcasts, but on my own the idea of a podcast never has appealed to me personally. However, there are a few subjects I’m passionate about and one of them is Entrepreneurship. As the story goes, I was stumbling through my Facebook feed and noticed a family member commented on this guy Peter’s post, who I knew vaguely from my sister’s wedding. I didn’t recall anything about him really, but I noticed he had this podcast called “Slow Hustle” and the tag line I saw was something about the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. I had to check this out.
As I dug in to my memory bank, I remembered he was also an engineer and my brother-in-law was always bragging about how smart he was. This should be relatable! I gave it a shot and I downloaded what was for me my very first podcast. I gave it a listen, and I was hooked.
Peter Awad (short a, short i sound) hosts the “Slow Hustle” and chronicles the ups and downs of entrepreneurial life. As he says, “Sometimes you are crushing it and sometimes it is crushing you.” I’m not the type of guy to ever use the term ‘crushing’, but now I have become more familiar with this expression. This is a sentiment I can relate to in my personal life and business. I could certainly connect with the content here.
Almost every episode is inspired and well produced. Some of my favorites are:
SH005 with Arel Moodie talking about the Art of Likability. Arel goes into just some of the basics of being a good person and interacting with everyday people on a more personal level.
SH021 with Amy Morin talking about being mentally strong. Amy talks about personal struggles in her life which for she creates a list of what she cannot do if she wants to remain mentally strong.
SH052 with Hal Elrod talks about how to wake up like it is Christmas morning. His concept for the ‘Miracle Morning’ is something that I’ve embraced, executed, and recommended to others.
Corey Blake talk about vulnerability is sexy. I’m fascinated with the idea and I’ve been working on implementing this in my life and work.
Jason Zook explains the Career Dungeon. Jason is an all-around great and creative guy. Fun to listen to.
Jeff Hyman is the Startup Therapist. He talks about ‘Ugly Babies’. Yes, you may have a bad idea.
Each podcast generally starts out with the back story on the guest. I think this is the most fascinating part of the podcast. Then they go into some of the struggles they have had, and how they have relaxed and recalibrated their lives. That is the “slowness part of the podcast”.
So much of entrepreneurship is a mental game with yourself. We thrive off mantras like “you only fail when you give up” or “10 years of trying will make you look like an overnight success”. It is C-R-A-Z-Y. Obviously we do not live in reality, if we did, we would go get jobs!
If you have any desire to start your own entrepreneurial venture, or are knee deep in one, I highly recommend you take a listen. It’s like AA for entrepreneurs. “Hi, my name is Gabriel, and I’m an entrepreneur.” And much like alcoholism, I fully believe there is a genetic predisposition to entrepreneurism that you will have to learn to fight or embrace.