Brilliant Thoughts with Tristan Ahumada

“Our ego is our unconscious brain that is usually motivated by old past beliefs, mindsets and things that—habits that—we aren't even aware we're doing,” says Christie Garcia. Understanding this unconscious reactivity is important. The increased reactivity of today’s world, according to Garcia, is fueled by social media and news headlines meant to emotionally manipulate.  We all perceive situations...

“Do less to make more” is Amy Porterfield’s mantra, and for good reason: Her success has been gained through her focus on doing just a few things really well, and sharing that knowledge with others. But entrepreneurship hasn’t always come so easily to her. The Orange County, California,-born author and digital marketer began her journey 14 years ago, after leaving her job as content director for T...

Around eight or nine years ago, Jacqui Brassey, Ph. D., experienced a “confidence crisis” which forced her to change how she takes care of herself, and which inspired her to teach others how to do the same. While low-grade anxiety was a constant companion in her life before this point, the combination of a new job and working environment, alongside a lack of self-care, exacerbated her anxiety, put...

"I think… a concern that many of us run into is we are playing as hard as we are working and it's crushing our body,” says Olly Wood in today’s episode. His advice on the trifecta of physical, digestive and psychological health comes not only from book learning, but also from personal experience. A former motorbike track racer and personal trainer, he felt on top of the world in regard to his phys...

James Benham is no stranger to entrepreneurship—at 12 years old, when his dad wouldn’t hire him to work at his plastics company, he started a lawnmower business with a loan from his dad. At 16, he got a job bussing restaurant tables, and in the early 90s he became a consultant, teaching people how to navigate the internet. At 21, he started his next venture—his own company. In the end, not getting...

Jon Ostenson, founder, CEO and consultant at FranBridge Consulting, wasn’t always involved in the world of franchising. After years in corporate America, he set out on an entrepreneurial path—even though, at the time, he wasn’t quite sure what he wanted that path to look like. Six years ago, it brought him to ShelfGenie, a private company and national franchise, where he saw that franchising was m...

AI won’t replace your job, says Alejandro Navia, co-founder and president of nft now , rather it’s a tool for enhancing human knowledge. But there will be an identity crisis as many of us focus our identities on our jobs. Alejandro says there will be a new search for meaning and we will start to see a renaissance in human creativity and ingenuity.  Alejandro discusses how we’re still in the early...

Dan Martell, entrepreneur and highly-rated business coach, wants you to build your empire by getting unstuck, reclaiming your freedom, and buying back your time. Today, he talks about filling up your calendar with only things that add energy to your life and make you income. He explains the buyback loop, which includes auditing your calendar, transferring more low-value and energy-sucking tasks to...

When Louis Krubich founded MALKA Media 10 years ago, brands were just being introduced to social strategy and content creation was available at friendly budgets. Louis now recognizes that the industry is saturated, but he knows strategy for everyone from small businesses to large companies.  Recently, he signed Tony Hawk and has worked with celebrities, like Adam Sandler, Mike Tyson, and Lizzo, an...

When China went through its internet revolution, there was very little in the way of retail and finance infrastructure, so the internet filled in the gaps, says Brian Wong, former VP of Alibaba Group. Today, 52% of China's retail sales are done through e-commerce, compared to 19% in the USA.  Brian details his time working at Alibaba from when it was a start-up in the fastest-growing economy and i...

About 80% of people with autism are either unemployed or underemployed. Thomas D'Eri and his family knew they needed to do something to help Andrew, his brother on the autism spectrum, lead the full adult life he was capable of. So Thomas opened Rising Tide Car Wash with his father ten years ago; they now have a chain of three car washes employing more than 90 people with autism.  Today, he talks...

Most of us will put up walls the moment we realize somebody is trying to sell something to us. Colin and Garrett noticed a stigma towards salespeople, that the general perception is they are pushy and manipulative.  “But when we ask people who they think of when they hear the greatest salesperson on the planet, the top two answers are Martin Luther King Jr. and Steve Jobs,” says Colin on this week...

Our identities and lives thrive on stories. But these are stories that we adopt through our families, culture, and experiences, says Chuck Wisner, and they can be self-limiting.  This week, he talks about our stories not being our truths. Rather our stories break down into facts, emotions, and opinions. He discusses how leaders often feel like they need to have all the answers, but should make the...

Singing in front of a busy restaurant was the first challenge to kick off Scott Simon’s year of doing one thing daily to test his courage. He had been afraid to sing in public for 35 years but says this changed his life – he felt powerful and free.  A Facebook post about it went viral and kicked off the Scare Your Soul movement of people challenging themselves and others to push through their fear...

Michael Valdes was #3 at the largest real estate company in the world when he took a leap of faith. As senior VP for Realogy brands, including Century 21, Coldwell Banker, and Sotheby’s, he lead expansion to a total of 113 countries. Then he took a new job at the start of the pandemic at a new kind of company.  eXp Global is a virtual, cloud-based real estate company, which Michael says is multili...

In the pursuit of getting rich, people can be consumed with the acquisition of money. Author and keynote speaker Hamza Khan believes the current evolution of leadership is rooted very much in fear and scarcity of resources, maximizing gains for oneself while neglecting others.  He wants leadership to be reinvented by maximizing human-centric traits, centered around empathy, servitude, diversity, a...

Dr. Elisa Hallerman’s inner saboteur is named Trixie. Trixie is impulsive, she can be inappropriate – loud, sloppy, manipulative, and dishonest. At her lowest, Elisa thought she was Trixie. “I started to realize that Trixie was not only a mask that I could take off, but more importantly was a part of me that I could personify and give autonomy, that she could become my greatest ally and a teacher....

“I’ve generated almost 88 billion views on YouTube. A billion of them was just dumb luck, but the rest was using the formula that I teach,” says Derral Eves. He’s worked with companies like Nintendo, Red Bull, Google, and Adobe and mentors MrBeast, now the highest-earning YouTuber in the world. Derral talks with Tristan about his formula for success, as well as the YouTube AI, his obsession with l...

Entrepreneurship has a longer history than you may think. Derek Lidow, a Princeton University professor, has found evidence of entrepreneurship from 9,000 years ago – a mini workshop used by hunter-gatherers to produce beads and pendants for trade. In 4000 BC, there was a Silicon Valley-like village that produced copper tools.  This week, he discusses the fascinating history of entrepreneurship, a...

Bill Murphy didn’t believe he was worthy of a PTSD diagnosis, because "that's a warrior’s diagnosis, that's a soldier. I'm not on the battlefield.” He was an overachieving workaholic, running marathons, and doing extreme sports and triathlons. But he hadn’t recovered from his abusive childhood and that started to affect him, leading to him checking into psychiatric care after finishing an Ironman...

What happened? What did you learn? What do you want them to do? Robert Hartwell is passionate about telling stories when you're on a mountaintop, as well as when you're in a valley. He chats with Tristan about how he used storytelling, honesty and relationships to further his career. He is teaming up with OWN, HGTV, and Scott Brothers Entertainment to chronicle his home renovation for Discovery+,...

What do you do when the goals no longer align with the effort? You change direction! Mike Evans, the founder of GrubHub, did just that. After years of running one of the most renowned food delivery services, Mike left the company, took a bike ride across the country and pivoted in an entirely new direction. He tells Tristan why we shouldn't be ashamed to pivot and how to define what success means...

In the age of social media influencers, how are we actively and positively influencing others? Author and founder of Genius Network, Joe Polish, believes that the core of our work should be focused on the value we're contributing to others. He shares his favorite acronym for helping others and alleviating their suffering, and tells Tristan how to we can make marketing more about connection than sa...

Our greatest breakthroughs often lie on the other side of risk. Author, former president of Reebok Brands and former president of HBO Video Frank O'Connell joins Tristan to share the importance of putting yourself in uncomfortable positions, being bold, and taking a risk. Frank also discusses his own strategic moves throughout his career and how you can maximize yourself to live life to the fulles...

The brain is an incredibly complex organ—and one we must nurture and protect to stave off everything from minor memory loss to medical conditions like dementia. Dr. Marc Milstein joins Tristan on this week's episode to reveal the biggest factors that affect memory loss and the small steps we can take now to keep our brain sharp and healthy as we age. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...