We recently got hooked on a podcast that's been around for a while called StartUp. It’s the story of launching Gimlet Media, an award-winning podcasting platform in Brooklyn, founded in 2014. The Startup podcast is built on the early recorded conversations of founder Alex Blumberg. He records his meetings, his pitches, the conversations with his wife. One of the recorded conversations was his pitch to tech investor Chris Sacca who you may know from Shark Tank. The pitch goes terrible, and Chris stops it with this one question…

With Thanksgiving just a day away, gratitude is on our minds. Eight years into this journey, we have so much to be thankful for…

This week’s Insights blog post is a personal story of taking the time, being authentic, and knowing it’s never too late…

A good friend of ours stopped into the office the other day. He’s one of our favorite people to be around and a past client. Why a past client, and not a current one? Life handed him some challenges – hard left turns, curveballs, and washed-out bridges. We’ve all experienced them on some level. In his story, he ended up closing his business and taking the past year to reflect and regroup. That’s why he was sitting in our office. He was ready to start again. As we sat at our conference room table, and he shared the path he was on, one statement stood out more than the rest…

Whether you’re chasing new leads for your business, trying to attract new employees, or working to connect with donors as a non-profit, the process can feel a lot like fishing. Here’s what we mean... Let’s start here. You buy a brand new fishing lure. It’s shiny, colorful, it wiggles just the right way, and the hooks are sharp. You’re ready to fish, right? It’s not quite that simple...

Purpose. The dictionary defines it as "the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists." Don't pass by that thought too fast – think about what that statement means for a moment. Based on that definition, purpose is the entire reason we exist. It's why we show up. It's what gets us out of bed in the morning and drives how we spend our waking hours. Soak that up, ponder it, and then answer these three questions..

Over the past year, has the business or organization you call home changed? The answer, without knowing anything about you, is yes. Of course it has. As businesses and professionals, we all exist in a constant state of transformation. Customer needs and wants change, the marketplace changes, our teams change, and our competitors change. Change is inevitable. So with that in mind, shouldn’t your branding be evolving with you? How do you know if it’s time for a refresh?

Yesterday we had the opportunity to spend our day with a Minnesota-based non-profit that serves individuals with disabilities. Facilitating one of our Bootcamp’s with their team, we had the chance to ask questions, then sit back and listen to their conversations. The takeaways from the day were amazing and inspiring. Here are three of them that will immediately impact your organizations and personal relationships if you put them into action today...

We are Minnesota Nice. Stereotypical or not, as Minnesotans we’ve embraced it. We hate to make a fuss, dodge the center of attention, and view understatement as something to be elevated. Yes, we are nice. Possibly the nicest people in America, depending on who you ask. It’s a badge of honor. That’s all fine and good, but here are three reasons that Minnesota Nice makes for a terrible marketing strategy...

When we launched OrangeBall, one of the first things we did was to create the Story of Bounce video. That video planted the OrangeBall flag, letting the world know what we would stand for. It brought our intent to life. We would spend our days bringing bounce and visibility to businesses and organizations that were being overshadowed and crowded out by big, Goliath competitors. It was time to even the playing field. That leads us to today...