If youve ever listened to a podcast, youve heard of Mailchimp.
(Mail…kimp?)
Ben reveals the email habit that ran his early hiring policy.
Im always asking why, and making sure people understand the why behind decisions and strategies.
I grew up in a small town in South Georgia.
My father was in the military, and my mother ran a hair salon out of our family kitchen.
My mother worked very hard.
I remember she kept a Rolodex with names and notes about all of her clients.
Today, I call it a CRM.
I saw firsthand how hard it is to run a small business, and how fulfilling it can be.
That still motivates me todayMailchimp exists to empower small businesses and help them grow.
Take us through a recent workday.
Every day is a little different, but heres a typical Monday.
On the personal side,Stravato track my cycling and Audible for audiobooks.
At work, I rely on GSuite and Slack.
And my favorite tool in general is theOLFA Slimline knife.
I used it in design school instead of an X-Acto knife.
I keep them at the house and in the car.
Theyre the handiest little knives!
Whats your workspace setup like?
My workspace is pretty sparse.
I have a comfortable meeting area, and on my desk theres a laptop and Post-it notes.
Whats your best shortcut or life hack?
Im very finicky about how I arrange my apps on my iPhone.
The very first home screen is optimized for my morning routine.
Medium importance apps are along the side edges, and the rest are in the middle.
At the very top row are the apps I use when I first wake up.
Then my calendar, so Im ready for meetings at work.
Then its the News app, so I know whats going on in the world.
ThenTrello, so I can keep up with strategic initiatives.
The last 2 apps are Audible and Podcasts, for my morning drive.
I never have to hunt for that app.
All my other iPhone screens are a complete mess, but that home screen is a thing of beauty.
Whats your best email hack?
Take us through an interesting, unusual, or finicky process you have in place at work.
I like the throw your hat over the wall tactic.
It comes from aJFK speechat the dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center.
Then youre committed to overcoming any challenges, climbing the wall, and getting to your hat.
My entire executive team.
They have ownership over their areas, and I rely on them every day.
I know that the teams got this.
How do you keep track of what you have to do?
Whats your favorite side project?
Mountain biking and taking care of my health.
Now I make the time to exercise, eat well, and take care of myself.
What are you currently reading, or what do you recommend?
Multipliersby Liz Wiseman is an excellent book on leadership.
I also loveHow to Read a Bookby Mortimer Adler.
Who else would you like to see answer these questions?
Shes a former CEO of Patagonia, and shes a conservationist preservingmillions(!)
of acres of nature in Chile.
You should followher Instagram.
Whats the best advice youve ever received?
My mother used to say, You become your friends.
Its trueover time, you start to reflect the people you hang around.
This has inspired me to pick really good friends who are role models for me and lift me up.
Whats a problem youre still trying to solve?
I recently read a book on this topic calledDual Transformation.
Dual transformation is the perfect way to describe our current challenge.
