Brent Freeman, Finding Joy in Business and Life – InnovaBuzz 557
Brent Freeman – Stealth Venture Labs
Our guest in this episode is Brent Freeman, the Founder & President of Stealth Venture Labs and a serial entrepreneur who’s passionate about using business to generate both profits & social impact.
In 2009, Brent founded Roozt.com, an online marketplace platform for social good consumer brands which was featured in Mashable, Forbes, Huff Post, INC, The Today Show, NBC, and ABC. He was honored by Forbes as a Name You Need to Know in 2011.
Today, Brent is an angel investor, former venture capitalist, and writes for Entrepreneur and INC on startup life. He is the Founder & President at Stealth Venture Labs, has co-founded five ecommerce brands, and is the Chairman of the Board of the Bay Area chapter of the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship that teaches entrepreneurship to inner-city kids.
In our conversation Brent talked to me about
- Finding joy in everything, even the “unenjoyable”;
- How finding joy in the small things and investing in them daily creates a compounding effect of happiness over time;
- The journey as the destination and creating from a place of “white space”.
Listen to the podcast to find out more.
Listen to the Podcast
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Show Notes from this episode with Brent Freeman, Stealth Venture Labs
Key points and takeaways from this episode include:
- Finding joy every day leads to success in other areas – make time for finding joy rather than chasing material things.
- Develop a daily habit of investing in joy. Keep a written checklist of things that bring you joy. Spend more time on those things.
- Find joy in little things and even the seemingly unenjoyable.
- People are not motivated by money – they are motivated by what money can bring – freedom.
- The journey is the destination, so enjoy the ride.
- What you focus on, you focus on creating. We are all creators.
- Hardships are the seedlings of future joy.
- Hard times and heavy emotions are like clouds in the sky – they pass by. The sun is always there.
- Develop the skill of pattern interrupt – to change path when you are stuck.
- The more you slow down, the faster your dreams will come to fruition. Build white space into every day.
- Rediscover the child like fascination with what makes you happy and brings joy. Forget other people’s expectations!
The Buzz – Our Innovation Round
Here are Brent’s answers to the questions of our innovation round. Listen to the conversation to get the full scoop.
- 1 thing to be more innovative – Slow down, build white space into your day and invest in joy.
- Best thing for new ideas – as above plus reading and travelling.
- Favourite resource – Audible and my entrepreneurial network.
- Keep project/client on track – Surround yourself with good people and have a clear vision, a strong why.
- Differentiate – Be authentically yourself. Know your superpower. Know what brings you joy.
Action
Sit down, write down what you REALLY feel joy about, things that make you think: that was fun, or that was amazing. Check that you are doing those things. Just getting back in touch and having awareness is step one. Build from there and develop the daily habit of joy.
Reach Out
You can reach out and thank Brent through his websites.
Suggested Guest
Brent suggested we have a conversation with speaker and entrepreneur, Alden Mills as well as transformational coach Finnian Kelly on a future InnovaBuzz Podcast episode.
Links
- Website – Stealth Venture Labs
- Website – Brent Freeman
- Instagram – @brent__freeman
- The Story of Nona Live
- Nona Live
Cool Things About Brent
- Brent lives in Italy 2-3 months per year where he is a co-founder in a business called Nonna Live that live streams pasta making classes with real Italian grandmothers.
- Brent was appointed a Knight (Cavaliere) and invited to become a member of the Royal House of Savoy by Prince Emanuele Filiberto of the Italian Royal Family, House of Savoy, in recognition of his 15+ year dedication to social enterprise using for profit businesses to create social impact.
- Brent has been a photographer before he could throw a baseball.
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