After collecting your thoughtful questions over the past few months, the time has finally come for our long-awaited AMA episodes. In this, the first in a two-part series, I talk about how I go about leading my businesses, hiring and developing employees, and continue to set goals that motivate me.

You know about the art, the meditation, and the development projects. And conversations with coaches of mine, Chet Scott and Dan Sullivan, surely lead you in the right direction in terms of what my priorities and passions are. But after eclipsing the one-hundred episode mark, it’s as good a time as any to take listeners a little deeper into what makes the host of this show tick. 

An AMA takes our conversation to the next level, opening up honest two-sided communication – just like we do in interview episodes – so that we may all learn and grow from shared experiences. 

I’m excited and proud to be opening this door and hope you enjoy it or learn something new about me in the process. Please, feel free to drop new or future questions on my AMA-themed social posts or send an email to brett@brett-kaufman.com.

Questions Brett answers:

• [1:37] Talk about your entrepreneurial milestones. 
• [3:17] What were the toughest periods of growth?
• [4:09] Anything unique you can share about your hiring practices?
• [7:24] Advice on taking funding and keeping your vision on track?
• [11:08] How do you evaluate whether you’re going to take on a project?
• [13:51] Can you teach entrepreneurship to K through 12 students to adults, to anyone?
• [17:30] What keeps you motivated?
• [20:11] Any long-term goals yet unreached?

Lessons for intentional living:

• When building a team, we look to place people in roles where they can lean into their unique ability. Unique ability is defined by the thing that you actually love to do, and you’re excellent at. If you can build a  company full of people who love what they do and are great at it, then, you can have a self-managed company.
• Determining when to say no doesn’t have to be a woo-woo energy thing, but it is. If a project doesn’t light me up, if I don’t want to go visit the site or sit in on a meeting, then it’s an easy decision for me. That voice in our gut is loud, and it’s usually right.

Resources:

• www.brett-kaufman.com