John and Jenna discuss the evolution of Life is Good from the early days selling 12 shirts a night into a $100 million brand sold in over 4,500 stores.
Insights from John
On Grit During the Early Days:
- “We were doing what we loved and wanted that to become a tagline for our brand: Do what you love. Love what you do.“
- “It’s a powerful force for a young entrepreneur to have someone to rely on; A sibling, friend, or partner. It doesn’t have to be a full-time business partner. You always need someone to get you excited about the next stop on the map.”
- “Our mom is the number one inspiration for Life is Good. She had a powerful way of getting everyone around her to focus on something positive. Every night she would ask us: What is something good that happened today? We took her energy with us in The Enterprise. It pushed us to forge forward and find the promising part of an otherwise discouraging day.”
On the Power of Storytelling:
- On Alex and Nick’s story, two twin boys who were born prematurely. One is legally blind and the other had his leg amputated before turning 10. “It’s all about perspective and gratitude. When you hear their story, you have to ask yourself: Am I really going to complain about traffic or the weather, minor things I can’t control, when a 10-year-old can focus on nothing more than gratitude and be truly happy when he’s dealing with major challenges?”
- “Good stories lead to more good stories. Always share them.”
On Leading with Optimism:
- “We start all our meetings like our mom, by asking our team: Tell us something good that is happening in your department. If you start a meeting asking people to share what’s going wrong, they will tell you everything and your momentum will go out the door. Focusing on why something isn’t going to work immediately crushes your creativity.”
- “If you give positive thoughts a few seconds to breathe and build on them, you literally have no limits as to where you can go as a team.”
- “Positivity not only makes people happier, it makes them more productive.”
- “We start meetings with a personal connection – interests or a funny movie we’ve seen – real, human stuff. Whether its a business or personal relationship, laughter is a bridge that unifies people. Humor is a standard part of our meetings and people let their guard down because they know we aren’t there to get the biggest order we can or to make a deal. Actually take the time to get to know people. You can always get to the details later.”
Life is Good is running a Positive State campaign to highlight the good happening in every city. Here’s a special message from the team on how you can get involved. Head to the campaign page to enter and share your story.
Tell us something good you would do to #GROWtheGood in your community and you might receive $500 to make it happen. Share your moments with #GROWtheGood.