Where There's Smoke

Success. Most people say they want it, and yet few know what "it" is to them. Ask most people what success means to them, and they aren't sure. In this episode, we give you a new perspective to contemplate success - by starting with "feeling". And we borrow an idea from a "President of the Internet" to help you define it. We then have a conversation with Entrepreneur and Podcaster, Brendan Hufford...

Why do we ask questions? What power do they have? And how can they help us create and shape our businesses, relationships, and lives? What would it sound like to take an exploration into the world of questions? Could we start with some famous movie quotes? Perhaps steer into historic moments? And maybe dig into: Why do we ask questions? What stops us from asking them more often? How can we strengt...

Thinking, Fast and Slow would be a great name for your mind, if it were a professional wrestling duo in the '80s. It is also the title of a 2011 best selling book by psychologist Daniel Kahneman which analyzes the dichotomy between two modes of thought – Intuition (System 1) and Reasoning (System 2). This week we use the Internet as a springboard to start a conversation about how quickly we can ju...

Love is the still the killer app. No matter how much we innovate our strategies and advance our technology, all great leaders will tell you that caring is still at the heart of success. This week, we explore powerful concepts like kindness and support, while honoring the life of Stuart Scott - a man who practiced both habits throughout his life. We also look to tombstones for some wisdom, and expl...

"Fish discover water last" is a French Proverb. It's meaning is that when we are completely immersed in something, we are oblivious it is there. It is only when are pulled of it, that we can see how immersed we were. This week we leap off a viral rant by Gary Vaynerchuk and discuss the state of criticizing, complaining, and gossiping in our workplaces, our lives, and our world. What's really going...

Welcome to the first "extrasode" of Where There's Smoke. These are quick episodes we produce between our full Tuesday episodes when we feel that we've got something to say. This week, we received an email from a listener in New Jersey commenting on our visualization episode and asking about the risks of being overly optimistic.   Leaping off a New York Times article he provided, and weaving throug...

The Breakfast Club was released into theaters 30 years ago this month. John Hughes' classic is about five teenagers who spend a Saturday in detention and realize they are more than their respective stereotypes. As with most Hughes movies, the themes and lessons are still very relevant today. So, what can we learn from The Breakfast Club that we can apply into our lives and businesses? In this epis...

Stories are built into our DNA. For thousands of years they have shaped cultures, religions, and whole civilization. And they may just be the answer to the age-old question, 'Who Am I?' In this episode of Where There's Smoke , we explore the power of stories - their ability to help you influence others and the role they play in defining you. We weave through scientific studies, TED Talks, and docu...

Imagine if you knew how something was going to end, before it started? How much more effective would you be? How much more confident?  In this episode we leap off of Malcolm Butler's post Super Bowl interview to uncover the power of preparation and visualization in life and business. How does what we think and do prior to an event dictate our success during the event? You'll find out in this episo...

Sure, we could have layed up like David Simms at the US Open for Episode 4, but we've got too much Roy McAvoy in us. So, we are charging forward and tackling one of the biggest questions of all, "What's the meaning of life?" The episode starts with a question from a 6-and-3/4-year-old boy, veers through Monty Python, Douglas Adams, and Tony Robbins and ultimately lands not a place, but a perspecti...

In this episode, we put Tom Brady forth as the main character in a show about accountability. This may ruffle the feathers of non-Patriots fans, and disengage non-sports fans; but if both can keep an open mind, we believe you will get great value. This episode will take you from Tom Brady, to comedian Mike Birbiglia, to a viral blog post by a recruiter in Australia, and through one of the best mov...

Tomorrow, January 28, is the 29th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. In this episode, Brett shares his memories of where he was when he found out, who told him, and how he felt. What it is about certain events that causes our memories to be so visceral, while others seem impossible to recall in any detail? We will weave through the words of Maya Angelou, a Boston College psychol...

We launch Where There's Smoke into the atmosphere with an exploration of one of the hardest, and most valuable, skills in life to master - listening. The episode starts with a question: "How would Einstein have fared in today's comment culture world?" From there, it veers through the chatter in our brain, Facebook HQ, Mariah Carey, and The Wizard of Oz. Lastly, we speak with Courtland Warren for g...