Find 1% Better Improvement Podcast Here

1% Better Season One Recap – Quick Links

Find 1% Better on Spotify | Apple | Amazon | YouTube (new)
Follow 1% Better on Instagram (new)
Follow Kelcey Carlson on Twitter
Connect with Craig Thielen on LinkedIn

1% Better Season One Recap – Transcript

[00:00:04.120] – Kelcey
Well, welcome. We hope you enjoy the show. It’s a little bit different today. I’m Kelcey Carlson, and I’m going to be hosting the 1% Better Podcast. Usually, you see Craig as the host, but today we’re turning the tables a little bit, and I’m going to interview Craig instead. Craig, is this a little awkward for you? You’re used to asking the questions, and now you’re on the spot.

[00:00:25.950] – Craig
Well, I love it because first of all, I’m in good hands because you’re the pro at this, and I’m excited about it and just being able to talk about it. So thank you so much for helping out.

[00:00:38.370] – Kelcey
Well, I’m a huge fan of the show, and I love your topics and I’ve loved the subject so far. You’re only one year in, so this is still in its beginning stages and you can grow this podcast so much in the years to come. So I’m excited to see what will happen next. But let’s go back to the beginning and why Trissential began this podcast and how this all got started.

[00:01:00.480] – Craig
Yeah, it started as we were looking at… This is our 20th year in business. We said, What are some of the things that we can do? We started just going back… what’s changed and what hasn’t changed? One thing that hasn’t changed is our mission. Our mission was always from day one to make a positive impact on the life of anyone who interacts with Trissential. We started talking about different things that we could do. Of course, podcasts is a very popular channel these days, to say the least. We thought we’ve had just an amazing run and blessing that we’ve worked with hundreds and hundreds of organizations and thousands of people. We started just thinking about all these stories and we focus where our organization is an improvement company. We help organizations improve technology and business process and strategy and any people, process, technology can help them achieve their goals.

We just started thinking of all of these amazing people that we’ve interacted with and stories of improvements. We said, Well, what’s better than sharing that? That’s the best thing that we could possibly do to fulfill our mission, is to tell these stories so that people can learn. If one person learns from every show, you’re now extrapolating the benefit from that. That was the impetus of where it started.

The name of the show actually goes back to a gentleman that I worked with really closely years ago, his name is Carl Populorum. We had worked very closely together and we had accomplished a big client win, so to speak. It was quite large. It was half the size of our company. We won in one engagement. I started talking to him about, We should write a book about this because it was a David and Goliath story, right? We were up against these large multinational global consultancies, and we won this engagement. And he said, I’ve dreamt of writing a book. I go, What’s the name of this book going to be? And he goes, It’s going to be 1% Better… If we just keep doing 1% better, for some reason, that stuck with me.

And of course, the notion of continuous improvement and lean and now agile is all about continuous improvements. It’s all about how you get better and better and better at what you do. I think it applies to all walks of life, really. I mean, sports and anyone who’s doing anything competitive. To me, the first thing that came to mind was what if we could share all these great stories and if we could help everyone get 1% better one thing per week or one thing per day? We’re going to spread a lot of positivity. That’s the background, and it’s taken off more than I think we expected it to. There’s a few other shows that have that name, but hopefully it’s not copyrighted or anything like that.

[00:03:49.470] – Kelcey
Well, just the idea that you just need to keep going, right? Forward motion is really the key. There’s no big secret, but forward motion is the key for so many people. And I, like you, just find people so fascinating. I just love to hear their stories and how they… I think whether you’re 20 or 90, you’re still learning in life. You’re still trying to figure all of this out. And it’s great to hear how other people are navigating this ever-changing world that we are living in. I know you’re a technology and data guy, and the podcast really is about the human story, but you probably look at some of the success and the numbers and what have you found in the last year?

[00:04:29.050] – Craig
Yeah, it’s been interesting. We’re brand new to this whole podcast scene. From day one, it was never about trying to drive business or any business metrics. We just said, No, that’s not what this is about. It’s 100% about how can we get these amazing stories out to as many people as possible? It is about clicks and it is about impressions, I guess is the technical term they use. It’s about listens and things. That’s really all that we care about, is just getting that word out. We did 16 episodes in season one, which in itself was amazing because when you get into something you don’t know. Like, Who’s going to want to be on this show? Are we even going to be able to keep it going? That’s the first thing is that we just had such an amazing response of everyone that we talked to jumped at the opportunity. But we did have over a thousand listens. We’ve had over… It’s hard to totally keep track, but we’ve had over 30,000 impressions on all the different platforms they track. Do people see it with their eyeballs? And so easily over 30,000. It could be somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 because it’s hard to even track all that based on all the different platforms that we have.

We are on all the platforms, right? So the Spotify, and Amazons, and Googles, and Apple. And now during the course of the Season 1, we actually switched over to video. Again, didn’t know there’s a learning on all this stuff. How do you even put a show together? Adding the video, we think, is going to help just reach everyone has their different go-to apps and their go-to ways of consuming information. That was, I think, for us, just seeing that it’s consistently growing, not worried about hitting certain numbers, but it is reaching a lot of people. It’s been a fun ride.

[00:06:26.290] – Kelcey
That’s fun. We like to share things in this culture. It’s like, Hey, I heard this interview with this guy. He’d take a listen to this because I like what he had to say. We like to share things. This podcast, the whole world of podcasting is like that where it’s an intimate conversation and then just pass it on to somebody else too, who can use that information. What were some of the most memorable moments and guests for you?

[00:06:52.280] – Craig
Well, I guess the biggest thing I was just so thankful about each and every guest that we have. I just got so much out of and it was so impactful. So it’s hard to even talk about a few without mentioning all of them. I mean, the first show was Shane Zutz, and Shane and almost all the guests were people that I knew very well and personally. Shane’s episode surprised us in terms of just how impactful it was, how authentic it was. His story is a great story about completely shifting careers and just his innate leadership abilities. That is still today our number one most watch episode. He has a pretty big following of people that follow his leadership newsletter. That just got it off to a great start, and so very thankful for Shane. Then we jumped in with Arijit Sengupta, who’s one of the world leaders in this space called artificial intelligence, which is the biggest topic of the year. That was fun to just get him on and talk about that. That’s actually been two or three themes throughout all of the shows. That’s one of them. The impact of AI is everywhere, so that was nice.

Then we had really three just great leaders. You mentioned mentors. I would consider that all three of these mentors to me when it comes to leadership, and that’s Paul Batz, Fin Goulding, and Krishnan Kumar and Tom Goodell. They are just amazing leaders. They’ve written books and they’re just unbelievable. Krishnan is a global leader in coaching. I went through his coaching program, went to study under him in India. Tom’s a great friend and written a great book about leadership. And Paul runs a great organization, does a lot in the Twin Cities in that space. So that was really fun to deep dive in leadership. And again, that’s one of the themes throughout all of our shows is leadership. It’s a passion of mine, and it’s something that try to pull a lot of people. Kerrie Hoffman, it was fun because we started so long ago as she was a client of ours and now we’re partners. And so she always has got this energy about her that gets you excited. Then we had Keith Korsi, who, of course, is the CEO of Trissential. It’s fun to go back down memory lane… How did Trissential start in some of those early days and what’s changed and what hasn’t changed?

Then, of course, we had yours truly [Kelcey Carlson], which was just a treat to have you and your inspirational story. That was a wonderful episode. Then Evan Leybourn, who’s from Australia, and he just had this amazing story about courage, and he had a point in his life where he had to change and how he went about that was, I think, very inspirational. I think a lot of people have felt that in their careers like, I’m stuck. Am I really doing the right thing? Paulie Skaja, of course, she shared… She’s one of our consultants and shared just about how you can reinvent yourself constantly. She’s had 25 jobs, and she’s just constantly reinvented. And that was so fun to see. Then John Sweeney, just unbelievable guy as far as like innovation and how you think about never let anything get in your way. There’s always a way, there’s always a will, and just some of the things that he’s done in his life, leading the Brave New Workshop and just the notion of innovation. Then, of course, a mutual friend of ours, Jeff Munneke, just such a great guy. And just like, if you can dream something, this is literally his dream job, right?

He’s been living at this whole life. It’s just so fun to see someone that just it and is living it. He’s so good at it. Of course, it’s fun to see that the Timberwolvess have such great success on the court this year. But off the court, they’ve been having a lot of success for a long time due to Jeff.

Then we finished up the season with just a heartbreaking story about someone who went through something that anyone who’s a parent can’t even imagine. Then how she went through a child committing suicide and how she [Thayre Faust] turned into something positive and how she’s living her life and impacting other people. Just an amazing, wide range of people and topics. Again, just every episode, I would record it and just go, Wow, that was amazing. I got so much personally, and then I relistened to it later when we published it, and I got even more out of it that I didn’t really start to pick up the first time. I just love the guests and just so thankful that everyone shared their story with us and our whole audience.

[00:11:24.540] – Kelcey
It’s such a strong reminder too, just how much we need each other, how much we feed off of each other and learn from one another. The old-fashioned having a conversation is so important in our world, but that will never go out of style. Were there any big surprises for you? I know you were diving into this whole world for the first time, so I don’t know if you really knew what to expect, but what were some of the surprises?

[00:11:47.480] – Craig
I think the biggest surprise was how much I personally got out of every conversation. Again, many of the guests on the show are people I’ve known for a long time, professionally, most of them. But just to sit down and have… I mean, this was a 30-40-minute conversation. I learned something about every one of them that I didn’t know before because we just focused on having a conversation. It wasn’t about business or it wasn’t about a certain topic or a certain event. It was just asking them about their background, how they think about things, how they reflect on their lives. It’s really an amazing experience to do that because it’s not common. I think it used to be generations ago probably that you would sit down and maybe do that with your grandma and grandpa or friends because you just had so much time. In today’s world, we’re all so busy and focused that we don’t really have a chance to just have a real conversation like this. I was just surprised at the end of each one of these how much I learned personally. Then it was a lot of fun for me to hear from so many people that said, Hey, I go for a walk every morning.

I listen to your podcast, and here’s what I got out of this one. I’m like, Wow, I didn’t even think of that.
It is having an impact on other people, and it’s fun to hear that impact. The other surprise is just what a response. Everybody that we’ve asked to be on has jumped at it and I thought, Well, it’s going to be hard to get people on. They’re busy. And everyone is just so open to this format and so open to sharing about themselves and their life. It has just been really great to have such a warm reception of the people that I know well and just the people that we reach out to on it.

[00:13:34.660] – Kelcey
Well, I think that speaks a lot to your personality, too. People feel comfortable around you, Craig. And so people feel safe with their story and what they’re going to share because you’re just a very genuine person and you’re very easy to talk to. I have to say that, too. It’s just very easy to have a conversation with you. There was a CBS reporter, he’s still with CBS, I think, Steve Hartman. A long, long time ago, he did this series called Everybody Has a Story. Okay. And he would look up strangers in the phone book before cell phones. And whoever he could convince to sit down and do an interview with him, he would just find their story. Because everybody does have a unique story and something to share. And I think it’s just so important for us to continue to make that happen. And so the 1% Better podcast will enter Season 2 in the new year. And what are your plans for the new year and how do you see this podcast evolving? And have you really thought about the entire year? Or are you going to see how it goes?

[00:14:38.690] – Craig
We are so excited for year two. We’re taking the month of January off just to resettle and get into the new year. But we’ve already recorded, I think, three episodes for season two. And one of the observations I’ve had is I was looking for a certain type of a person I thought would have broad appeal and would be interesting to people. What I’ve learned is every single person, as you just said, every person has a story. I think anyone could be on the show and we could learn from them and their life and their challenges and their accomplishments and trials and tribulations, blood, sweat and tears. I think there’s something to be learned from everyone. I think we’re going to continue to just look for people that have an interesting story and want to be on the show and go where that goes, go where the guests go and their background, not try to drive it. At first, I had this idea. Well, it’s about leadership and it’s about business improvement. But I think the more we got off of those topics, we covered a lot of different types of people, and we’ve covered people that were going through career transition and personal trauma and overcome those challenges.

Sometimes I think just letting it go where the guests go and who they are is probably the best guide for us. Clearly, we want to continue to get a bigger audience, number of views because that’s why we’re doing it. We want these amazing stories to get out to as many people as possible. Love the idea that we can do podcasts and get people the choice of just audio and video because everyone learns differently. Some people have it on when they’re going for walks and can’t look at it. Some people can only want to see people. We’re excited we already have, I think we’re booked through April or something like that and just go where it naturally goes and just try to keep growing it. So keep it simple. The feedback is the time frame is about right, somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes. It’s not too much of a huge commitment, but it does allow you to get into some real conversations rather than just the headlines. I know in your world, it’s like you only have so much time and you can only get maybe the headlines and one thing below, and we have the luxury in this format to go deeper.Actually, sometimes there is no script, and it’s just wherever the conversation go, it goes. I think we’re going to keep following that approach.

[00:17:14.470] – Kelcey
Good. Yeah, podcasts are great for a car ride for me. The commute, so I think 30 minutes is a great amount of time because that’s typical. Or if you have a shorter commute, you can listen in two car rides. I think it’s a great company to have in the car as you’re headed to work or just heading out to get some errands, it’s just nice to have that. It’s literally like having company in the car when you’re driving by yourself, so I love that. Well, you have this last question that you ask all of your guests, so we will ask you this too. Looking back at your long life and career, what is the best 1% better advice you would give you a younger version of yourself and your grandchildren, Craig?

[00:17:54.710] – Craig
Yeah, well, thank you. Every time I ask that question, I always think, How would I answer it? I’m always surprised by the answers that I get. It’s been a wide variety of answers that I’ve gotten from all the guests. It is, most people, their first reaction is even though I give them a little bit of a warning about it, they go, Wow! That’s a big question. I feel like that right now. But when I look back, we all have life lessons.

The first one for me is just stay true to yourself. Don’t try to be someone else. Don’t try to follow someone else’s plan or what society says is right or wrong or good or bad. Just stay true to yourself and your own values. That’s number one. Two is what we’ve been talking about today is just the incredible power of conversations. You can go up to a stranger… You can go up to… I travel a lot, go up to someone at an airport, and it’s incredible. Just meeting somebody, you can learn from everybody and the connections that you can make. You never know what one conversation can lead to. It’s quite incredible.

A lot of these episodes are about… It boils down to I had a conversation here once and it led to this, and I had a conversation with this person. Even these conversations have led me to other opportunities with these folks. The power of conversation is amazing. This is my favorite saying in life is you get more on what you focus on. Whatever it is you want, if you focus on it more, you will get more of that. So if you focus on your dreams, positive things, relationships, you’re going to get more of those things. If you focus on negative, what I don’t have, what I can have, what I want, you’re going to get more of that. I think that’s a powerful idea. And then the last thing I would say is just never stop learning. To the day I die, and I want to live to be 115 because there’s so much I want to learn about this world and this universe. So never stop learning and never stop giving because when you give, you always get more in return.

[00:19:57.390] – Kelcey
So true. I know the power of conversation, like you said, I’ve had so many interesting conversations with people that I just said hello to on an airplane, just sat down next to me. Oh, hey, it’s been a long day. And then the next thing you know, it’s like something evolves out of that conversation. And… Yeah, people are… We live in a technology-driven world now, but the foundation of just human behavior and human conversation is so vital for existing. So we cannot stop doing this. You can’t stop doing this podcast. You have to keep inspiring others.

[00:20:34.990] – Craig
We’ll keep going. We got season two. We’ll keep going as long as we can. Thank you, Kelcey, for first of all, being on the show and doing this. It’s been a lot of fun, and I love working with you. And thank you.

[00:20:48.060] – Kelcey
Well, thank you for having me. It was great being a guest host today.