How Success Happens

Heidi Zak founded ThirdLove in 2013 to change how women buy bras. The company pioneered half-sizes and developed an app that’s helped it aggregate more than 150 million data points from real women to ensure a better fitting bra. She’ll explain a surprising key to moving quickly and building her business that can help any leader: asking better questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Serial founders get good at knowing how to mobilize, when a big change is coming and how to push through. And if they’re lucky, they also know themselves a lot better. That’s certainly the case with Adam Braun. With his first venture, Pencils of Promise, Braun, who was in his 20s at the time it started, was able to completely focus of his nonprofit’s mission: to build schools and create educational programs for those living in developing countries. He built 450 schools across the globe. He also suffered from major burnout -- a state he’d rather not reach again. Today, Braun is a more experienced founder with a new project: MissionU, a college alternative with no upfront tuition. To learn more about how Braun prevents burnout, the principles behind MissionU and his take on being an entrepreneur, listen to the latest edition of How Success Happens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Soukup understands the frustrations the deaf community faces. He’s seen deaf children put in schools that isolate them and deaf adults struggling to get work. A third-generation member of the deaf community, he knows the unexpected roadblocks that can emerge during any task -- from placing a phone call to even applying for a loan. But Soukup also understands what’s possible -- and he’s working to make a global impact with his nonprofit Communication Service for the Deaf, an organization dedicated to supporting people with hearing loss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Stevenson is a futurologist and historian who's book We Do Things Differently took him across the globe to find people looking for unexpected solutions for the big problems we’re facing across the globe. In this podcast, he talks about what that research taught him about how laughter and tenacity power innovation -- and what anyone can learn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Antonia Dunbar has built a career developing new products to make women's lives better. She's been called a "feminist genius" for her part in designing THINX underwear, a revolutionary self-absorbing undergarment which eliminates the need for tampons or pads. Now Antonia Dunbar is stepping into the shoe industry with Antonia Saint New York, a line of high-tech heels and flats that feel like sneakers on the inside. How Success Happens host Linda Lacina spoke with the serial disrupter about her drive to provide innovative solutions for women, and how sacrifice, commitment and practice have fueled her success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Each year, thousands descend upon Austin, Texas for SXSW, a celebration of tech, movies, education and politics. They come, in part, for the more than 2,000 panels and presentations packed with thought leaders, actors, authors, astronauts and a range of buzzy personalities. Attendees have Hugh Forrest, the event’s chief programming officer, to thank for the lineup. In this podcast he’ll talk about how he’s learned to maximize the 10-12 month planning cycle that makes the festival come to life. He’ll also share the routines he puts in place not just to make that event possible, but to keep his team connected and engaged and moving projects forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Martha Stewart launched her brand more than 25 years ago and it continues to serve as a model for what’s really possible for when it comes to building a personal empire. This brand -- a third career after modeling and stockbrokering -- has expanded from books and magazines to a range of collaborations including a cooking show with rapper Snoop Dogg, and partnerships with retailers like Home Depot, Staples, Macy’s and most recently, the QVC. She’ll talk to us today about what she’s learned -- and the role of curiosity and optimism in building something that evolves and lasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daina is one of the co-founders of Health-Ade, a kombucha company, that you might have seen at Whole Foods or on the shelves of one the more than 10,000 stores it’s available at in all 50 states. But five years ago, before its first or its second plant, before the $25 million in funding, it was just a side hustle started in her apartment with some friends and $600. Today, Daina will talk about those hard early days, about quitting a corporate job and an orderly life, about getting evicted and taking conference calls in her car. She’ll talk about how she found a light to follow when the path wasn’t clear -- and what she’d like every new founder going through just these struggles to understand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices