In years to come, the secret to building a successful business will still remain the same. Find the need and provide a solution to that need. Paul Mecca, Co-Founder of KwikBoost, had that in mind when he and his brother Joe started with their business. Their main mission is to solve the growing problem of the need for access to power in public places, specifically for mobile devices. Surely enough, the business idea has fueled itself and has resulted in what is now KwikBoost.

In this episode, we'll explore and learn more about:

• How Paul and his brother started the business
• Why he thinks attitude plays a big role in business success
• His future plans for KwikBoost
• What company he admires most and why

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode33 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

With technology at its peak, you'd probably think that there are no more opportunities left to be discovered or invented. But this witty and brilliant man, Marc Brodeur, whose passion for creating products that he couldn't find to fill a niche, has definitely found a gap in the market that has enabled him to come up with a product called Brode Electrolyte Vitamin.

So if you want to be energized, be sure to stick around and listen to the full interview as we discussed:

• Who exactly Marc Brodeur is and what made Brode so phenomenal
• How he came up with the idea and actually worked on that idea to fruition
• Why the "turnaround factor" is critical in building a business
• What you should keep in mind when thinking of getting a business partner on board

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode32 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Gender equality has been one of the hot debates in recent years. But as more and more women are taking the helm of leadership it's becoming even clearer and obvious that women are no lesser than their male counterparts. In this episode, we'll talk to Michelle Tartalio. Michelle is the Co-Founder, Research Director, and Chair of the Advisory Board at Enlight Research, LLC. We'll dig into her experience running a company that's ran mostly by women and a couple of other topics including.

• A look at one of the best things they've done as a business
• Her personal thoughts on how office layout and design drive teamwork and collaboration
• Her advice to companies who wants to attract the millenials into their firm
• How their company culture is impacted by being a mostly "female" ran company
• Why she thinks figuring out your marketplace and focusing on your revenue engine are the two critical aspects of business growth

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode31 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Can education be a hindrance for someone to make a mark and be successful? Jacob Katsof can proudly say, it isn't, and it shouldn't. He stands with what Mark Twain once said, "I wouldn't let school interfere with my education." And looking at Jacob's story, a high school dropout, he's proven that there are other places where you get "real" education for real life.

In this short chat with Jacob, I've picked up his brains and have had the privilege to get to know him and what made a simple dropout become a CEO and Co-Founder of AppCow. Stick your earbuds as we discuss:

• The story behind AppCow and how it all started
• What Jacob thinks about culture 
• His vision and future plans for AppCow
• His experience with finding investors and his advice for those who are looking at VC funding

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode30 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Dr Sherry Rankins is the Associate Vice Chancellor at University of Arkansas, Little Rock, where she currently works on Student Success, Retention and Online Extended Learning. She received her PhD in Rhetoric, Composition and Linguistics at Arizona State University.

In this interview, Dr Rankins shared her thoughts on various culture related topics and how it relates to her role. We've discussed:

• Her personal journey and how she got to where she is now
• What inspired her to pursue her studies and her career in education
• Her thoughts on culture and its impact in company morale
• Why she thinks companies and businesses need to pay more attention to their employees
• The role of millennials and why she takes a different kind of approach in engaging them

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode29 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Jason Fray is the Director of Cushman and Wakefield, a recognized leader in local and global real estate research. He grew up in Central New Jersey and after college was faced with a crossroad and a life changing question, "What do I want to do with my life?"

In this interview, we'll dig deeper on Jason's story and see how things turned out and how he eventually stepped into the corporate real estate world. In addition, Jason also shared some thoughts on:

• How an open access to information and collaborative environment worked for Cushman's advantage
• How Cushman & Wakefield built and maintained their brand
• Why "Google it" doesn't work at Cushman & Wakefield
• Why you should look for a company that is willing to invest in you
• How to attract talent by simply staying in a more desirable neighborhood

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode28 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Dean Soukeras is a co-founder and COO of HomeSwipe, the only mobile app that helps renters find their next apartment and connect with agents, by incentivizing the best listings, immediate contact through in app chat and pushing strategic, valuable notifications, so the renter is always a step ahead.

In this episode of Be Culture Radio, we've had the privilege to chat with Dean and ask him some interesting questions that will help us get a glimpse of who this man is. You'll get to know Dean's thoughts on::

• How should you take mistakes
• Why it's important to be authentic
• What Dean thinks is the best measure of a true company culture
• Why is there a need to individualize rather than generalize
• What Dean thinks is true failure

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode27 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Lloyd Rosenberg is the President and CEO of DMR Architects. He’s a well-traveled person and it’s through his travels that he’s gleaned some of the fundamentals that he’s applied to his company in terms of building an exciting and long lasting company culture.

In this interview, we dove deep into the many secrets of how he’s built his company to be world class and well respected. Some of the topics we’ve discussed include:

• How his journey of Architecture and design molded him into who he is right now
• How traveling to different countries influenced his company’s culture
• We’ll also get to know which project he’s most proud of
• Why he thinks empowering the people in your team is key to building a successful company culture

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode26 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Katie Kimball is the Operations Manager of Chartbeat, a company focused on unusual behavior happening across the social web and how that affects constantly changing content. In this interview, Katie and I talked about:

• How she got her job as Operations Manager at Chartbeat
• What she thinks of dogs in the workplace
• The reason behind Chartbeat's floor plan change every six weeks
• What company she admires as it relates to culture
• Future plans and updates coming to Chartbeat

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode25 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

The challenge of building a great company culture cannot be solved by a single bullet. There is no silver bullet to do that. It's a consolidated and collaborative effort.

In today's episode, we'll see how interior design helps in achieving that innovative company culture. Our guest is Billy Hallisky, an architect and a project manager for Interior Architects.

In this interview, Billy shares with us:

• A brief intro on who Billy is and what he does
• His personal experience working with companies in transforming their interior design
• What's his idea of an effective office design that compliments company culture
• How budget plays in the scene when designing for clients
• Why he thinks culture should not be defined, but should be responded to

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode24 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Competition is a reality that every company needs to either face as a challenge or succumb to it and stagnate. These days, it's either you think of ways to innovate or you'll end up closing your doors with more resilient and better coping companies taking over your market. That's what makes company culture very important. The kind of culture you build, is the kind of future you'll get.

In today's episode of BE Culture, we're glad to bring to you, Mr Innovation Insurgent himself - Jorge Barba. In this interview Jorge and I had the pleasure of discussing:

• His early years in the business and how he got to where he is now
• What these rules are that he coined "Stupid Rules"
• Why reasons are important
• The importance of breaking down and minimizing
• Why he thinks culture is behavioral

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode23 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Mobile apps are the greatest craze in today's generation. Whether you're looking for games, productivity tools, fitness, travel, and yes, even if you are trying to build a thriving company culture, well, there's an app for that! Today's guest is Taylor Wallace, co-founder of WeVue and creator of the Culture app. In this interview, Taylor and I had a really great exchange of thoughts on culture and how their app can do wonders in building a company's culture. Some of the topics we've covered include:

• The story behind the Culture App and how it all started
• How an app can actually empower a company's culture
• What makes the Culture App different from other social networking apps like Facebook
• The cost to companies for not caring about their culture
• Why they focus on achievements as a collective effort and not as individual output

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode22 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Andrew Romans is the author of THE ENTREPRENEURIAL BIBLE TO VENTURE CAPITAL: Inside Secrets from the Leaders in the Startup Game, which Huffington Post calls "The most important book to be written for entrepreneurs since the Eric Ries classic, The Lean Startup."

He is also the founder of Rubicon Venture Capital, a venture capital fund that invests in technology startups.

In today's interview with Andrew, we've sliced and diced through the intricate world of VC funding. We've also talked about:

• His entrepreneurial journey and 'aha' moment that brought him to where he is right now
• His criteria in choosing a business venture to invest in
• Andrew's most challenging experience
• The two key ingredients of an ideal culture
• What inspired Andrew to write the book "The Entrepreneurial Bible to Venture Capital"

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode21 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Your company is only as good as the people who you bring to your team. So today, we'll help you level up your recruitment process and help you ensure that you get the best people, the best fit talent, to your team.

Today's guest is Jim Kim. Jim works for Cangrade, a revolutionary tool that lets you use data to make the right hire and match the culture you want to create with the candidate you have in front of you. Some of the topics we've covered in this interview include:

• How he got into a variety of experiences, hobbies and activities
• What Cangrade is and how it works
• What the common mistakesare  in the old school hiring process
• Why he admires Hubspot as a company
• And a whole lot more...

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode20 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

A lot of things in life that we do are in some ways preparation for things to come. Though it may not always be obvious, in the end you'll find that the experience and the skills that we develop will serve us again in a variety of ways. Ken Dunn fits exactly that scenario. Ken served in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for 14 years as an investigative officer, interrogating, working on undercover assignments buying and selling drugs. And when he came to a crossroad in life and left the police force, he soon found himself putting up a mortgage business and starting a network marketing company, using the same skills he has perfected in this policing career.

Be sure to listen to the whole interview as it's packed with great insights where we discussed:

• What PDCA means
• How he transitioned from being a police officer to being an entrepreneur
• What he thinks you should be focusing on if you want to become a successful entrepreneur
• How he became an author
• Ken's personal recommendations for startup entrepreneurs
• How he got into the network marketing business and why he says "it works"

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode19 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Getting a college education is important, but any person of character, dedication, perseverance and integrity has an equal opportunity to be a great leader. In today's episode, our guest, Tim Stevens' will share with us his story, how having no college degree was never a hindrance for him to serve and to lead, and even to write a book. Be sure to listen to the whole conversation as this is surely an insightful chat. To give you a brief overview, we've talked about:

• How he was able to compile over 30 years of leadership learning ideas
• How he became an author
• His thoughts on leadership and why many fail at it
• What he things about startup founders

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode18 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

For many years, Jeff Davis has worked for multi-national companies and has traveled to different parts of the world. He has held key positions and managed teams. But his experiences weren't without times of failures and disappointments. In this interview, we'll get to know the impact of his experiences in the corporate world and how it has helped him in building his own company.

Some of the key points we've discussed include:

• The key attributes of attitude
• What Jeff's 'aha' moment was
• Jeff's thoughts on what company culture is and should be
• Why Jeff admires Google's company culture
• What book changed his life
• And more...

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode17 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

In the wake of the 2009 financial crisis, many entrepreneurs had gone bankrupt, but a few have emerged and turned this downturn in the economy into their own advantage.

Today's guest, Brad Raney, author and CEO of Personal Performance Partnerships, shares with us his experience with the financial meltdown and how it impacted his career. Some of the topics we've covered in this interview include:

• His journey and how he was able to write and publish two books
• The seven habitual characteristics
• The turning point in his life that took him to his coaching career
• What Brad thinks are the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make
• What is "management by walking around"
• And more..

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode16 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Think about artificial intelligence building your website for you. While that is something we don't have right now, our guest, Oliver Christie is taking to the forefront to make it possible in the very near future.

In fact, they're trying that on their own website. Oliver Christie is a co-founder and CEO of XLABS. He leads an international team that builds enterprise software using artificial intelligence (AI). That's just the tip of the iceberg. In this interview, you'll also learn:

• Oliver's passion for numbers and how he uses it to solve real world problems
• How he started XLABS
• Their new discovery on how they compress data down by as much as 99.92%
• How his wife keeps his balance between people and profit
• His future plan for XLABS and how they will change the world
• And a whole lot more, so be sure to listen and subscribe...

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode15 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Did it ever cross your mind what you would do if your business suddenly went bankrupt? Would you stop being an entrepreneur and just go back to a 9-5 job?

Today's guest, Marc Mawhinney will share with us exactly how his business closed out and how he managed to get back stronger and more successful. In this episode you will learn:

• Marc's story on how he transitioned from managing a 100 employee, real estate business to become a business coach with a virtual team
• Why you should get a coach even if you have a successful business
• How haters and critics became his fuel to strive more
• What coactive coaching is and why it's important
• Why you ought to hire slow but fire fast
• What his secret formula is for success

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode14 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Today's episode is not just any ordinary episode. I had the great opportunity to speak with the award-winning commercial real estate guru, Hal Stein, who was the recipient of CoStar Power Broker in 2012 and 2013. Hal is the current Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. In this brief 20 minute interview we've discussed:

• How Hal started with real estate business
• How family and being an only child shaped him
• What he thinks about culture
• How he felt being recognized as a writing star in Real State Weekly's 50th anniversary issue
• Hal's advice to young and budding brokers

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode13 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

If you are an HR professional, let me tell you that this is the episode you shouldn't miss. Today's guest is James Scholes. He's an author, HR and labor relations professional and part of the BOLD Book Tour 2015. James has a fascinating story that is inspiring and will really make you think about how you're making your daily interactions a real and not just an automatic engagement.

In this interview we will discuss:

• The defining moment in Jim's life
• The little things that make a difference in the life of others
• Why bankruptcy is not a hindrance to success
• The difference between administrative HR versus strategic HR
• Why walking the talk is all that matters in building a great culture

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode12 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Every organization has a leader who doesn't dress like the CEO or walk like the president, because the truth is, you don't need to carry a badge or a title to be one. In this episode, we'll discover and reveal who these hidden leaders are and how can you identify them. To help us out, we have Scott Edinger, the author and founder of Edinger Consulting Group, to share with us his wisdom.

Some of the topics we've covered in this 34 minute interview include:

• His personal, entrepreneurial journey
• His thoughts on whether consultants really have a skin in the game
• What inspired Scott to write his books
• Why entrepreneurs are afraid of change
• Why Scott thinks that culture is about beliefs and mindsets
• And plenty of other insights

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode11 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Chris Edmonds is the founder and CEO of the Purposeful Culture Group. He is the author of the book "The Culture Engine" and is an accomplished consultant for various companies and has also served as a senior consultant with the Ken Blanchard Companies. In plain and simple words, Chris knows what it means to have, and what it takes to build, a thriving company culture.

In this interview you'll learn about:

• The inspiration behind his book "Culture Engine"
• The four elements of organizational constitution
• Why it's important to have clarity in performance standards
• How employees are held accountable for their performance outcomes
• Chris's thoughts on employee retention and attraction
• And a whole lot more...

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode10 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Melissa is a two-time international best selling author and award-winning entrepreneur. She has worked as a factory worker on minimum wage, as a district manager, and got fired as the youngest manager ever. Even with all that she's been through, Melissa emerged to be successful. 

In this interview you'll learn about:

• Melissa's "aha" moment
• Her transition story from working as a factory worker on minimum wage to becoming an entrepreneur
• How she became a best selling author
• Her insights on the dynamics of culture
• What kind of personality great managers have
• And a load of other golden nuggets

To get the full show notes, transcripts on this episode check us out at www.befurniture.com/episode9 

You can also connect with us on Twitter @BeFurniture or personally to me, @BEJohnGardner

Click the links to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.