Maren Kate Donovan has some invaluable advice to offer as a result of her personal experience. In 2015, Maren was running her company, Zirtual, which had an $11-million run-rate and appeared to be very healthy. Due to some factors that Maren speaks about very candidly in this episode, the company suddenly came to a halt and had to let go of all its 400+ employees. How does this type of situation happen overnight? Maren will explain. She also talks about what she did next and how she got through the situation. As I’ve mentioned many times on the show, I feel strongly that entrepreneurs share their stories and lessons in order to pay them forward so other people can avoid the same mistakes. I appreciate Maren being vulnerable and doing just that.

Notes from this episode:

• How a Why Not Now? moment led to Maren starting her first company.
• Maren talks about the process of raising money and its impact on the core business daily operations.
• What it means to be "growing broke" and how to prevent the situation.
• Maren explains the three factors that brought Zirtual down.
• What Maren did to recover from the intense situation.
• Maren's new company and the very first step she took when deciding to green light her idea.
• What keeps Maren up at night.

Follow Maren: https://www.instagram.com/marenkate/

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CJ Prober is the COO of GoPro. The GoPro brand is beloved by their customers and fans. What many of us don’t know is that after going public a couple years ago, GoPro took a downward turn and they struggled on Wall Street to a point where CJ himself said they "were in crisis mode". This January, CJ took the COO helm at GoPro and he was tasked with turning the ship around. No pressure, right? Imagine that. CJ talks very honestly about this process, what caused the struggle for the company and what they did to turn their numbers around. Prior to GoPro, CJ was an executive at Electronic Arts. I asked CJ what has been the most interesting use of GoPro he’s witnessed and … it’s pretty unique! You’ll have to hear about it from him.

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• Kate talks about a Why Not Now? moment that instilled fear and how she's grateful for that feeling.
• Kate shares her experience in writing the book, What Made Maddy Run.
• After a great deal of research, Kate talks about the fact that there isn't one solo factor that caused Maddy's situation.
• Kate and I talk about the role social media plays in the overall mental health of our society.
• What keeps Kate up at night?
• Pirates or Ninjas? Who's tougher according to Kate?
• What advice would Kate tell her younger self?

Learn more about Kate: http://www.bykatefagan.com/

Follow Kate: https://www.instagram.com/katefagan3/

To learn more about monday dot com, and for a free trial, go to http://hey.monday.com/amyjomartin

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Van Jones is a CNN political contributor, NY Times best-selling author and he worked in the White House as an advisor to President Obama. He’s known for being the voice of reason for both red and blue states during the 2016 election. Van has a brand new book out called Beyond The Messy Truth. He’s a social entrepreneur, a Yale-educated attorney and he’s been deemed one of the most influential people in the world according to TIME Magazine. I’ve recently gotten to know Van and I have a strong appreciation for his ability to serve as a bridge for opposing opinions. We need a lot more of that in this world.

• Van talks about why he believes America is so divided and what we can do to begin bridging the divide.
• The unique circumstances that led Van to meeting Prince (the artist) and becoming very close friends.
• Van describes what it was like leaving the White House and what he did immediately following.
• Why Van has both Republican and Democratic Presidential Candidates endorsing his book.
• Van shares his perspective on gun laws.
• Pirates or Ninjas. Who's tougher?
• What keeps Van up at night?
• What advice would Van tell his younger self?

Learn more about Van: http://vanjones.net/

Follow Van: https://www.instagram.com/vanjones68/

To learn more about monday dot com, and for a free trial, go to http://hey.monday.com/amyjomartin

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In this episode Christian Schauf and I dissect his experience on Shark Tank to pitch his Uncharted Supply Co. From the steps he took to get on the show to his strategy for making it in front of the sharks, what it’s like to be standing behind those intimidating double doors before you walk into the tank and what the process was really like behind the scenes. Christian has been to Iraq 40x bringing music and entertainment to the troops, he started a cider company, a survival products company and he’s toured as a musician among other things. He might just be the World’s most interesting man.

• Christian shares that most of his Why Not Now? moments have been to let something go or stop doing something in order to make space for something new.
• Christian talks about the power of entrepreneurs identifying open Market Space vs. looking at a crowded Market Place.
• Christian has had a colorful journey, involved in a diverse set of industries. We talk about his zone of genius vs. zone of excellence.
• What's it like to go through the Shark Tank experience? How did Christian get on the show? What was his strategy and what was the process like?
• Christian shares a new Why Not Now? that nobody has ever talked about on the show and it has nothing to do with business.
• Pirates or Ninjas, who's tougher according to Christian?
• What advice would Christian give his younger self?

Follow Christian on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIN & Facebook and his company's website, Uncharted Supply Co.

To learn more about monday dot com, and for a free trial, go to http://hey.monday.com/amyjomartin

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