Picking Today's Brilliant Mentor? A Look at Our Podcast Favorites

I’m a big believer in the concept that you are the five people you spend the most time with. That idea, coupled with the reality that you can receive world-class mentoring from business owners you’ve never met, puts podcasts at the top of my list of business tools.

As the devoted podcast listener of our team, I prefer business topics, however, our favorite shows cover a wide array of industries, styles, and personalities. Variety is the spice of life, and I rotate episodes depending on the topic and what’s relevant to our business that day.

You’ll notice none of the podcast choices are specific to the artisan gift business. Almost all are hosted by multi-million dollar, self-made, women (and a couple of men). These brilliant women are CEO’s of companies who share business strategies, finance, social media tactics, real-world life, and mindset issues.

Power up your devices, explore the show content, and find your own gems. This isn’t our exclusive list, but it will get you started:

@goaldiggerpodcast - Jenna Kutcher is an amazing young woman, now mother, and multi-million dollar CEO. She started as a photographer and has grown out of photography and into so much more. Her personal stories about career transition, and genuine questions during her interviews are endearing and valuable. If you research her work, you will see she’s tackled many challenges, and established herself as a bold champion of women of all shapes and sizes. She’s an impressive young CEO. Jenna has a brand sponsorship with Aerie, just one of her lucrative revenue streams.
Here’s Jenna’s interview on how to become an “influencer:” https://jennakutcherblog.com/aligrant/

@msrachelhollis – Rachel Hollis is a warrior who rose from the ashes of a difficult beginning, to mega stardom. (She built her business to the point of retiring her husband from his executive job at Disney.) Rachel is now an author, global speaker (see “RISE” events) and mother of four young kids. Recently, she launched a new line of clothing with Target. Dave Hollis is working with his impressive wife at The Hollis Company. I watch her/them on IGTV, not via podcast, although she does have one. Humor is a mainstay in both her posts/videos and their efforts together. Rachel and her husband make a compelling team, which, as a husband and wife team here at Red & Rugged, is especially interesting to us.
Here’s Rachel on IG: https://www.instagram.com/msrachelhollis/?hl=en

@amyporterfield – Amy Porterfield owns an online marketing business and is the top interviewer out of the bunch. While some of her podcasts are specific to online marketing, many are well beyond that topic and include insightful business interviews. This woman knows how to prepare and ask meaningful, detailed questions. (Her occasional podcasts with her husband, Hobie, are funny too. Even “Rugged” listens to those!)
Here’s Amy’s interview of marketing guru, Seth Godin: https://www.amyporterfield.com/2018/11/238/

@edmylett - Ed Mylett interviews a wide range of world-class personalities in business, sports and beyond. He may appear as more of a macho persona looking at his brand images of big muscles, expensive cars and private jets, however, he’s genuine in his discussions and candid in his comments. His guests are heavy-hitters too. Examples of his diverse guest list include; the US women’s national soccer team coach, a professional wrestling mega-star, and several powerful women business owners.
Here’s Ed’s interview of Olympic champion, Shaun White, one of our favorites. Shaun is just plain funny! This a great combination of business, inspiration, and perseverance.
https://podcasts.apple.com/kw/podcast/how-to-reach-your-ultimate-goal-with-shaun-white/id1181233130?i=1000437045682

@theweddingbiz - Andy Kushner's podcast might seem a bit outside our norm, however, if you look at the star-studded entertainment, event, and creative professionals Andy attracts (David Stark, Marcy Blum, as examples), it makes sense. He’s is a quality interviewer too and has the skill to keep asking the one or two extra questions that really get to the details. So, if creativity is part of your business model, give it a try.
Here’s Andy’s interview with global event planner, and business owner, Lynn Easton: https://theweddingbiz.com/lynn-easton-2-2

If you need a few more podcasts to check out, visit James Wedmores’ Mind Your Business, The Life Coach School by Brooke Castillo, and The Manifestation Babe by Kathrin Zenkina.