OPRAH WINFREY

episode 5

Broadcast date: Monday 7 August 2017

The Moonshots Podcast pivots to a different place with the 'Queen of Media' - Oprah Winfrey. We break down her very intentional and spiritual approach which she used to win Academy and Emmy Awards, a Medal of Freedom, and earned a personal wealth of 3+ Billion.

Show Notes

Tesla has completed its first ever Solar Roof product installations

The Interior Of The Tesla Model 3 Is Every Minimalist's Dream

Boeing and FedEx to partner on aerospace innovation

Uber drivers game Uber's system like Uber games the entire planet

Amazon's promise of 50,000 new jobs is drawing massive crowds across America

Chad's book recommendations

Positive thinking book: As a Man me Thinketh by James Allen

Discover your personality StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath, 16Personalities.com

Chad's meditation app recommendation

Headspace

Chad's storytelling work
Stimulus

 OPRAH WINFREY

SHOW TRANSCRIPT

Mike Parsons: Hello, and welcome to the moonshots podcast. It's August four, 2017, and we have breached the almighty achievement of episode five. I'm your cohost Mike Parsons. And I'm joined by the man himself, mr. Chad Owen. 

Chad Owen: Hey there, Mike, I'm still living in the past. It's only August 3rd for me. So, uh, you're, you're quite the futurist there.

Mike Parsons: So we have some exponential singularity and futurism all happening already. And we're like one minute into, into the podcast. Um, how are you, Chad, after a well deserved, uh, vacation, are you enjoying the hot humid East coast summer? 

Chad Owen: I cannot complain. I, uh, I really, really enjoy New York summers. Um, being able to actually have seasons is, uh, is really nice.

You know, sometimes coming from a place like Texas, where I'm away, I grew up, you know, it's either really hot or kind of cold and not really anything in between. 

Mike Parsons: Yeah. That reminds me a lot of San Francisco, which was, you know, constantly, uh, you know, 70 65, 75, uh, degrees and a little bit overcast, uh, for like 90% of the year.

But if there's any city in the world that gives you extremes, uh, on, on the seasons it's New York, isn't it from snow to belting hot humidity. Well, 

Chad Owen: I would actually counter with Chicago and, um, I spent four years in school there and, uh, the winters there are quite brutal. And if you don't have an air conditioner in the summer, sometimes you, you feel like you'll, you'll melt and, um, you bring up Chicago because our, uh, our subject for today's podcast, uh, Kind of became known, uh, while she was working, uh, in Chicago.

So I'm really excited to, you know, break down a conversation that Oprah had, uh, with some students at Stanford university a couple of years ago. 

Mike Parsons: Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, we have to give a heads up to all the listeners because this is really, um, very different, uh, set of insights that we can get from Oprah compared to any of the other.

Uh, innovators that we've had, uh, focused on, on the, on the show, I would say this is quite a radical pivot to, to what we've heard from the likes of Ilan. Yeah. Jeff Bezos and so forth. Um, but it's very exciting to get such a different perspective. Um, don't you think Chad. 

Chad Owen: Oh, yeah. I love Oprah. I just eat up everything that she says.

So I'm really excited to, to share some of this with, with all listeners. 

Mike Parsons: Great. So before we jump into. A world of Oprah. Let's just check into the, uh, very high tech moonshots news tracker. And, um, let's look at some of the headlines that, um, the companies were being following, uh, have been making. And let's, let's kind of pick off a few goodies here.

I thought it was quite interesting. Uh, Elon Musk group of companies, this ever growing group of companies have been very busy. Um, the, uh, quite on a different tack to what we talked about in the Ilan show. Um, they've actually delivered, uh, his, uh, first solar roof. Uh, tiles have actually been built. And delivered to their first house.

And what's, what's so important about this is, uh, for, for the listeners who are not up, up to speed on this. Um, he's obviously, uh, through solar, uh, power, he's actually bringing together this, this incredible solution where there are these beautiful solar roof tiles, um, that do not, uh, look like those terrible.

Uh, solar panels, you have traditionally they're actually the solar power is built into, into the tile. And, um, so I actually released the first one. Uh, onto our house. So if you check out our show notes@moonshots.io, you can actually see the photo of the first house that has them. And it is so beautiful because it looks just like a very nice premium roof tile, but it's actually generating power for that, for the house.

So that was a big news in, in Ilan land. Yeah. Um, but I have to say on, I don't know if you've got a chance to see it, but they released, um, a series of epically beautiful shots of the interior of the Tesla model three. Did you have a chance 

Chad Owen: to seem, I've seen some people kind of pop up on YouTube on the YouTube always gets you, you know, with the U S you might also like clips and I'm clearly they knew that I was doing research on Ilan.

And so. You know, all of the people testing out the, uh, the model three came up there. I, I think it's a beautiful car. And I think if they can meet all the deliveries, you know, there, they were hoping to ship, I think like 500,000 cars. Um, you know, that's, that's going to be a tall order for them to be able to fulfill all of the, as those orders.

Mike Parsons: And if you, if you have a look at the link that we've got in the show notes, there is an Epic shot. Of, uh, the Dean where you see the, the dis the digital display they have, um, and what looks so Epic is it it's a 15 inch display right in the middle of the dash. So apart from the fact that the, the interior overall is incredibly minimal, actually, when you first look at it, it looks like it's missing things because it doesn't need.

The gear sticks and, and all the other things you're used to seeing in a car, it's just a huge monitor on the dash. It's pretty striking. Isn't it? Yeah. 

Chad Owen: I mean, if you're into that sort of thing, you know, it's, it's not for everyone, but if you're a minimalist yet, it's your dream car. 

Mike Parsons: Absolutely gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.

Um, now this was really interesting besides of things, um, they actually, news came out earlier this week that it appears that, uh, The drivers have actually been trying to work out. Yeah. How the algorithm works at Uber. And what they've been doing is they've all been essentially checking out the app and saying that they're not available to drive and reducing the inventory available.

And they're forcing the app, creating a false marketplace 

Chad Owen: yeah. To increase the prices, to get them back on the road. So then effectively getting themselves more money 

Mike Parsons: for each ride. And I think this is really interesting because, um, obviously the, the, the drivers are trying to gain the system and it's a huge weakness, um, in the way they've designed the algorithm.

But I think something that you brought up, um, before on, on the Ellen show was it does suggest that drivers are prepared to do anything they can to increase their earnings on Uber, because as the conversation goes right now, a lot of drivers feel that they're. They're underpaid by, by Uber. So I think it's a bit of a natural consequence, don't you?

Chad Owen: Yeah. I, you know, it's been surprising to me how long it's taking for the, for the marketplace to kind of find its equilibrium. You know, it's just, Uber has been injected with so much cash. They can walk, they think they can afford, you know, to just, uh, bleed money. But I, you know, I, my big question is, you know, If Uber can ever find that equilibrium where it, it has enough writers willing to pay enough money to keep enough cars on the road.

And I just think there's too much what there's too much cash in, in the system. There's also, you know, too much shakiness on, on everyone's 

Mike Parsons: part. Yeah. Yeah, there's a lot of gray around Uber and this would that without doubt, there is a way forward, but I think the new CEO will have a big job of finding a balance in that equally agreement.

And they have obviously have this marketplace based business model where you have drivers and riders and just like Airbnb, you have to do an incredibly. Attentive and rigorous job to keeping the marketplace in balance. And I would actually say that air B and B, uh, succeeds much better in keeping harmony between the two parts of the, of the marketplace.

So big challenges ahead, uh, for Uber and I'm sure that they were dreading all of this news coming out. I think they were just looking for a bit of a. A rest spot from, from all of the negative press. 

Chad Owen: Yeah. They're going to be a whipping boy for yeah. For some time to come. 

Mike Parsons: Yeah. Yeah. Tough, tough job to walk.

Yeah. I think it's all uphill. I think the good days that the easy days, uh, on, over, over for, for the leadership there. Uh, okay. Now another interesting thing, and I didn't actually know this partnership, but it turns out that FedEx has actually had a long historic partnership with Boeing and they're working very close to him and they announced a new stage to their partnership where they're looking to drastically reduce the carbon footprint of the FedEx jets.

Uh, so we'll have a link to that in the, in the show notes. And you can check that out. Um, really fascinating just to see the extent to which they're trying to innovate. And in this case really tackling the, the, the carbon emissions that, that jumbo jets are just so famous, uh, for, for doing. But perhaps the biggest news of the week, once again, is going to, to Amazon.

And as things are ramping up, uh, for the big, uh, back half of the year, which is for retail is where all the money gets made. Uh, Amazon has announced that they are going to hire 50,000 people to help with the seasonal retail trade. And it. Just tells you how, uh, not everything is great in the American economy, because Amazon have been overwhelmed with applicants for these new 50,000 jobs they literally have had.

Queues all around America for people coming to these job fairs that Amazon is hot. Um, Amazon is putting on and it tells you that, um, there's a lot of Americans, uh, need to actually work two or three jobs now. Cause the idea of one longterm job, uh, seems to have, uh, Gone the way of the Dodo. And now it's about all this fractional working and so forth, but the crowds, Chad for Amazon have been huge well, 

Chad Owen: and I, I think it's really, uh, insightful on their part to take advantage of people.

Like you said, moving into that fractional, uh, work model. Uh, and you know, I think, um, It will only help them reach their sales. Like, you know, neither of us would be surprised when Amazon, you know, breaks all of the e-commerce, uh, you know, numbers this, uh, this holiday season. 

Mike Parsons: Right. So, so, um, huge momentum there also a delicate job, you know, balancing a marketplace between buyers and sellers.

But, uh, lots of stuff happening in the moonshots ecosystems. So we'll have links to all of those articles that we just mentioned in the, in the show notes@moonshots.io. Alright, Chad, bring us into the world of Oprah Winfrey. Uh, why did we choose her and what makes her so special? 

Chad Owen: Well first, I'm actually a little curious, not as an native American, you know, what was your first, uh, exposure to Oprah or, you know, were you exposed to her?

Did you kind of find her a little later in your life? 

Mike Parsons: She was huge over here, just growing up and, you know, Oprah was huge. Here in Australia, just as where the San Francisco 49 is just as where the Chicago bulls. I mean, she, she hopped the Pacific ocean and she was here in full effect. Her show was incredibly popular.

Uh, and I think she's as much a known name here she is in America. 

Chad Owen: Well, I, I wanted to. To do a little bit more research on Oprah, just because I think she's so different from when most people picture, you know, innovation, moonshots, innovators, disruptors, they maybe don't think about Oprah. And I would argue that they should absolutely, uh, have Oprah, you know, as an, an epitome, as a version of an innovator and disruptor.

I mean, just her. Her story is so compelling and, uh, we can learn so much from it. You know, she, she grew up, uh, in a, in a poor family in the South and worked her way up through the ranks of, of television to then, you know, finally, uh, Discover talk and, uh, interviews and, and launch your own own show, the Oprah Winfrey show.

And it had an amazing 25 year run. I, um, I went to, as I said, I went to school in Chicago and I worked for a grip and lighting company, which, you know, rented out all kinds of film equipment to, to productions all across the Midwest. And, um, one of our mines was Harpo studios, which is Oprah's company. Um, So there were times where I got to go and make deliveries to the studio.

And, um, so that, that's kind of just a fun, little personal connection, but I think there's so much that we can learn from her. 

Mike Parsons: Yeah. And I think what what's, um, really special about her journey was she grew up in adjunct poverty. But she was reading and, and writing at a very young age. Um, you know, you know, she actually skipped classes.

So she went from the first year to the third year, and then she was so brilliant in her year three, as a young little girl, they boosted her to the fifth year. So, uh, that, that part of his story is, is really. Really special, but also the fact that she's gone from, from growing up in poverty to being worth over $3 billion and she's ranked as the most wealthiest African American, um, and has had such influence over many decades, she's won pretty much every award inherit industry.

She can. Um, possibly when she has an Academy, daytime Emmy's primetime Emmy's Tony awards. Uh, she has she, even if I get it right, and techy even stopped making herself, uh, available for Emmy awards. Cause she just kept winning, winning all the television awards, right? 

Chad Owen: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, uh, one of my favorite Steven Spielberg movies, the color purple, you know, 

Mike Parsons: she, uh, 

Chad Owen: You know, that's, that was where her Academy nomination came from.

And, um, I think she, in terms of just like a personal connection with people, like everyone knows who Oprah is. Yeah. And I think it's because she's able to just really connect with people and I think that's her, her power, and she knew how to capitalize that and, and, and build her immediate empire. 

Mike Parsons: Yeah.

And what's interesting is that her personal, um, uh, and very, she has this incredibly high emotional intelligence. This is not only made her successful on the screen, but what's really interesting. It's made her so, so powerful, so effective and so successful behind the screen as an entrepreneur. And I think that's really, really fantastic that, that the thing that makes you so great.

In your practice is also used in, in being entrepreneurial. So, uh, we had the good fortune of finding a really great, um, interview with her, where she really laid it all out, um, at Stanford university. And, uh, she really gets into a head space of thinking about entrepreneurial-ism and innovation. From a completely different point of view to that say of Ian and Jeff Bezos.

And it really excites me to be able to share this with the audience, because there's a lot to learn in what, what she had to to share it. I think for the listeners coming out, we've got a lot of insights in how to, uh, how to soldier through when you're overwhelmed, how to avoid making bad decisions, how to take it.

Good care of yourself. Not only basically mentioned, but also emotionally. Yeah. And this is really undersold is as part of the entrepreneurial journey. It's not just mentally and physically grueling. It is emotionally fatiguing. Let me tell you that. And. What's great is there's a couple of practices that she has that really drives her success.

And I think there's a lot here for the listeners. There's a lot here for me and it compliments some of the more cerebral thinkers that we've had on the show. This is really a journey into. Into personal awakenness spirituality connecting to who you really are understanding who you are, so that you can unleash that in terms of your entrepreneurial-ism and, and what innovations you bring to the world.

So I think Chad had said, this is your, your chance to bring us into that first clip. Yeah. 

Chad Owen: Well, I'm just excited to dive right in, um, I think you're right. It's her unique perspective, her emotional and spiritual perspective on the entrepreneurial journey that, that made this, uh, this interview so interesting to me.

And, um, she's able to boil things down very simply. And, um, and just get you nodding your head along with her. And she, she talks about, um, How she's kind of discovered her own emotional intelligence and how she uses it to kind of guide her in what she's doing. And so here she is talking about that you have leaders 

Mike Parsons: who are self-actualized and understand what your contribution to change the world can be.

You can only do that if you know yourself. You cannot do it unless you take the time to actually know who you are and why you are here. There is an innate Supreme moment of destiny 

Chad Owen: for everybody, 

Mike Parsons: and you cannot fulfill it unless you have a level of self awareness. To be connected 

Chad Owen: to the, what is the inner voice or the instinct.

Mike Parsons: I call it your emotional GPS system, uh, that allows you to make the best decisions for yourself. And every decision 

Chad Owen: that has profited me 

Mike Parsons: has come from me listening to that inner voice first. And every, this, every time I've gotten into a situation where I was in trouble. It's because I didn't listen to it.

Chad Owen: I'm just amazed that she has such clarity. Uh, you know, about what her purpose and what she's doing is she calls it the Supreme moment of destiny. Don't we all want to find that 

Mike Parsons: she, she really, she really touched on a couple of things here that I thought was really good. I think there is this idea of listening to your inner voice.

Um, and it was so interesting. She used the language, the things that I have profited from. Okay. So when you think about achieving success and wealth and all that good stuff, it's all come from listening to that inner voice. And then she compared that to that she can even draw a line that when she gets into trouble, it's often because she has not been listening to that inner voice.

And I found that. Very insightful because when you're under the gun, when you're trying to get things done, sometimes that inner voice is speaking to us, but it often is yes, doing hard work or change. And we sometimes choose to ignore that because it's just too much work. And I think it's very powerful that she calls us back to listening to your inner voice.

Chad Owen: Or we're just moving too fast to be able to sit still and listen to it. I think that's another thing that she brings up in this interview is being very comfortable in knowing yourself as she says in this clip. So that, you know, when the voice is speaking to you, because we have so many things that are coming at us, um, all the time, I think.

Uh, I've always seen her as a supremely confident and empowered woman and person. And I think it's because she just, she knows herself so well that, and she's able to listen to that powerful inner voice. 

Mike Parsons: Yeah. And you really hear it in her voice. She really. Is like, she actually sounds very present. Uh, she sounds very even and warm in her voice.

Even if you, if you weren't really focusing on what she was saying, it's the, how she's saying. She obviously has that. So I wanted to share with you one of the things that I do to try and capture that, that inner voice, all of those thoughts and you know, my mind races a lot. Um, I found general writing, uh, every morning.

Well, I I'll, I'll admit that I don't get it done every morning, but most mornings I will write a journal and I have found this a really great way to get in touch with. My inner voice and, and really reflect on the days past and to then set the agenda going forward and not only saying what happened, but how I felt about it.

And that's been a really good tool for me to use journal writing. So I'm interested. What, what things do you use chat to try and connect and hear that, that inner voice? 

Chad Owen: I would like to plug my, one of my favorite, uh, apps out there right now called a Headspace. So a simple and free, you can go through a whole meditation course for free on the app, but I love taking time out.

First thing in the morning to, to just sit. Sometimes I sit for two minutes. Sometimes I can sit for 15 or 20 minutes, but I think that physical stillness, um, helps me, you know, uh, just be more in tune with myself as a, as I go through my day. And I, I definitely notice a difference, um, when I'm able to stay with the practice and when I kind of am not, you know, there's, there's definitely a shift that happens.

Mike Parsons: Yeah. I know a lot of people that are like yourself, love Headspace. Uh, we'll put a link to that in the show notes. It's definitely something, a lot of people get a ton out of. Um, and I think also journal writing for me personally, that that is great. That's just getting it all out. That process of writing is not only about the purge, but you often, when you're forced to write something, you gain so much more clarity about.

Um, what the actual thought or idea or insight is. So two very good, uh, tips there to build on that emotional GPS that, that Oprah was talking about. So let's, let's jump into, um, sort of a very, um, a very interesting thought about, okay, how she's going about. Unlocking, not only this, this inner voice, but how she's finding her own spirituality.

She talks a lot about being awake and she has in this next clip, she, she really gets into this idea of living from the inside out. 

Chad Owen: I sit here, uh, you know, 

Mike Parsons: profitable, successful 

Chad Owen: by all the definitions of the world, but what really, 

Mike Parsons: really, really resonates 

Chad Owen: deeply with me 

Mike Parsons: is that I live, live a fantastic life.

My 

Chad Owen: inner life 

Mike Parsons: is really intact. My, I live from the inside out. And so everything that I have I have, because I let it be fueled by who I am and what I realized my contributions to the planet. Could be, and what my real contribution is, it looks like I was a talk show host. It looks like, 

Chad Owen: you know, I'm in the movies.

Mike Parsons: It looks like, you know, I have a network, but my real contribution, the reason why I'm here is to help connect people to themselves and the higher ideas of consciousness here to help raise consciousness. So my television platform was to help raise consciousness. What was interesting in this thought of living from the inside out is that she talks about connecting people to themselves and to their consciousness.

But what for me is the ultimate authenticity here is if you just listen to this interview, it eyeball that she practices what she preaches. So to me, this creates this alignment. If you find practices. If you find things that you do to live your purpose, they intrinsically feed to how you can be a. How you can have impact around you and outside of you, how you can help others, how you can make a contribution.

And frankly, when you get home on a Friday night, you can feel good about all the things that you've done in a way. And this is great advice that, Oh my gosh. If I had heard this when I was a teenager, Oh my gosh, how many ms. Tags may I, I have not made, but this living from the inside out, um, was very powerful, stunning point.

To sort of unlock your potential. What, when you heard this Quip chat, what, what really spoke out to you? I think 

Chad Owen: it was almost shocking to hear her say that her, her real contribution, uh, and what she has to add in the world is unlocking people's consciousness. Um, and, and that, and that drives everything that she does, you know?

Cause cause we, we see her as. Something different, you know, this TV personality or this actress, um, But she 

Mike Parsons: knows 

Chad Owen: that her actual true calling is to help people connect with themselves. And I think that's why her, her, her brand, her product, if you will, is just so appealing and attracted to such a wide audience and why she's, she's gotten, you know, the, the audience that she has.

Mike Parsons: Yeah. And I would argue that, um, you know, if you were to look on the, uh, Trust of meta of most trustable, um, celebrities and famous people. I think our approach is right up there because you only need to spend a little bit of time watching and listening to her to know that there's no Putin going on here.

Like it, she is practicing what she preaches and she's really getting in touch with what's happening on the inside. Um, and, and sort of unlocking so much impact on the outside. She's done. She's, you know, she started schools, she's helped impoverished families. I mean, her track record, uh, uh, philanthropy is, is amazing.

And as, as much as her track record in the media world, so living from me from the inside out was it was a big takeaway, um, from, from this bit now, um, I think. We should, we should pop over to, um, you know, some of the moments that she talks about when she Fe has faced great challenge. So, Chad, do you want to, you want to set up this next clip where we get into some, some different ideas?

Chad Owen: Yeah. I, I, I loved some of the questions that the, the Stanford GSB student was asking Oprah, you know, they, they, weren't very standard questions, which is always refreshing. Um, and. She elicited, um, you know, from Oprah, um, some things that maybe she hasn't, we don't hear her talk about very often and failure is one of them.

Um, you know, she overcame a lot of hardships in her professional career, just simply as a woman and as an African American woman, um, you know, she was a cohost of a show and she found out that her cohost was making more money than she was. And. She kind of steeled herself and, and, and talked herself into going and talking to her boss and said, you know, I want to make as much money as, as my cohost.

Cause we do the same job. And um, her boss didn't really hear her understand, you know, why she was asking for that and you know, said, well, do you have kids? Do you have a mortgage? Do you have a family? No. Well then why should I. You know, pay you as much and she didn't walk away from that discourage. She walked away from it, knowing that she wasn't meant, meant to be there.

Um, and that she was, you know, kind of destined, uh, to do something differently. So here's, here's her in her own words, kind of just talking about, um, how she's learned those lessons and how she kind of applies that going forward. 

Mike Parsons: I just want to end with this. 

Chad Owen: There are no mistakes. There is a 

Mike Parsons: Supreme moment 

Chad Owen: of destiny 

Mike Parsons: calling on your life.

Your job is to feel that the, hear that to know that. And sometimes when you're not listening, you get taken off, you get in the wrong marriage, the wrong relationship, you take the wrong job. Yeah. But it's all leading to them. Same path. There are no wrong paths. 

Chad Owen: There are 

Mike Parsons: not, there's no such thing as failure really.

Cause failure is just 

Chad Owen: that 

Mike Parsons: thing, trying to move you in another direction. 

Chad Owen: And here she is talking about how she moved in a different direction. Once she figured out kind of where her place was in television. 

Mike Parsons: And I said to the producers, we are going to change. We're going to turn this around and I'm no longer going to be used by television.

I am going to use television. What a concept I'm going to use television as a force for, for, I didn't say at the time for good. I said, you know, let's think about what we want to say to the world and how 

Chad Owen: we want to use this 

Mike Parsons: as a platform to speak to the world. How do we want to see the world change? How do we want to impact the world?

And then let all of our shows 

Chad Owen: really 

Mike Parsons: be focused and centered around that. 

Chad Owen: I think it's so interesting how once she figured out her purpose in raising people's awareness and consciousness that television, like wasn't this career that she was like fighting against like, Oh, I'm finding it against all of these hardships, you know, to become a better, uh, you know, broadcaster.

But then she was like, wait a minute, how can I use this medium? For my actual true purpose. And I, I think, I don't know when that happened for her, but I'm pretty sure it was pretty early on in her TV career. And that's really what kind of launched it into the stratosphere. 

Mike Parsons: I, I think, uh, the, the correlation between Oprah and Fred from the last show is that they had this very firm belief that failure does not exist.

It's about moving on and using it. Uh, to make better decisions going forward. And I think that, um, the, so there's a real connection here between Fred Smith of FedEx and Oprah. And I would say that the other tool that I would give to the listeners that really is the segue between, um, failure and better outcomes in the future is really asking the question, what did I learn?

And this. Concept of reflecting on failure. Um, there are many that will argue that our greatest learnings come from failure because the pain is so sharp. We're actually paying the most attention and success. Success is not as sharp. A peak as failure is like, you feel failure very directly, very immediately.

Something's broken. There's not enough money there, all that kind of thing. It's very sharp. It's very deliberate. I'm very visceral where it's, if you look at success, it can be sort of more undulating and you're not really quite sure where the peak is. Now. The interesting thing I would encourage everyone to do is look at anything, um, professionally or personally, that you feel like was not a success.

And then go through the practice of asking yourself, what did you learn? And then if you had your time again, how would you do it differently? I think that frame totally sets, um, uh, Oprah up and the fact that she can turn a TV from being something that used her to something that she was going to use. She was seeing the power of it.

She was seeing the negative effect it had on her. And she's like, well, I'm not going to walk away from this. I'm just going to change the game. I'm going to change the mental model by which he looks at it. And this is where you start to see the similarities between Oprah and say someone like Elan. She's the power of the mind to think.

Differently. And I think this really demonstrates how she wasn't prepared to take this laying down. She's going to get up, she's going to fight and she's going to turn the table on television. 

Chad Owen: Yeah. And a reintegration of her failure into her purpose. I think, um, you know how you're saying to kind of look, look at and find the learnings questions that I find really helpful, you know, Uh, at different milestones.

Yeah. Are things like what worked, what was blocking me or what, you know, what setbacks, uh, did I encounter? And then, like you said, what, what would I do differently? And I think it's, it's just really important to ask yourself those questions, because if you don't and you don't capture them, whether it's in a journal or even just asking yourself, or having a discussion with a friend or advisor, um, Those learnings will be lost and it will take you longer to get on your path.

As Oprah says 

Mike Parsons: your true path. Do you, do you feel like you can look back in, in your, uh, career Chad and can you see moments where you didn't get the outcome that you want to, and have you been able to turn those into positives? Like have you actually had the chance to practice what Oprah did. 

Chad Owen: Yeah, one specific example, not too long ago was I got really far into communications with a client.

Um, and was kind of assuming that, you know, the project was a lock, but kind of at the very last part, I found out that there was another creative firm that was also kind of in the running. It kind of blindsided me. Um, and they ended up, uh, being the one, working with the client for a number of very valid reasons.

But, um, Aye. Aye. After the kind of last phone call, I kind of, you know, I reflected on things and I was like, you know what? I really want to know why they chose the other firms. So I just sent off a quick email to my, my client contact and just said, Hey, you know, can we schedule a debrief phone call next week?

I'd like to ask you a few questions. Um, You know, and just learn more, uh, about why you, uh, you know, I made the decision that you made and he was more than amenable to do it. And we had a great, you know, 15, 20 minute conversation where I learned exactly. Why they went with the other firm, you know, part of it was geography.

They were just closer, but, um, they appreciated their approach. Uh, more than mine, you know, mine was maybe, uh, a higher level, 50,000 foot view that I was taking on the project. And the other firm kind of had like a hyper personal, uh, approach to the project. And so that was really interesting to me. And it was actually, I mean, it was really simple.

I was just sending off a quick email and asking for feedback, um, But, but I don't do that all the time, but I'm, I'm very glad that I did it in that instance, because I did learn a lot. 

Mike Parsons: I bet you felt, um, um, more at ease with the situation once you'd had that coal, because you actually got something out of it.

The perceived loss of the project is, is yeah. There's hundreds of projects in the lifetime. So, but, but the fact that you were able to turn that into something, this, this actual. Kind of a breakthrough in, in, in the, the approach. Did that kind of reframe how you felt about that whole thing? 

Chad Owen: Yeah, because without it, it's all about gathering information and the data points, um, in a vacuum I thought, Oh, well, like.

Was I priced way too high or too low. Did they just not like me is my work. Not any good. Right. You just get stuck in this, in this mental game against yourself. When all I did was, you know, ask some simple questions and got hard data points from the client was like, Oh, like, It wasn't really any of those things.

It was things that I hadn't even thought of and it, and it was of no like real shortcoming of my own. It was just that, um, the other firm was a better fit. And so I think my ultimate learning was, I, I don't want to just sell my services to anyone. Actually, what I'm trying to do is figure out who I'm best.

Paired with, you know, who am I at best fit with so that we can all do our best work. And so that was actually, I think the ultimate learning from, from that feedback expense. 

Mike Parsons: Yeah. That's really powerful. And, and that, that, that's exactly you're using the, the Oprah playbook there. Chad. So I think, um, the opportunity to, to turn any of these, uh, moments that don't go our way into positive next steps.

Is not only a theme of Oprah. If you just go back to Fred Smith and FedEx, my gosh, they faced huge challenges. They thought they'd have 3000 packages on day. Day one, they had six, um, they faced, um, gas and pets, embargoes. They have faced no end of humor, gigantic challenges. And Fred's is like, not, not taking any of that personally, just like asking myself what I'm learning, getting, getting down to that.

And I'm moving on and, and Oprah is the, is the same. So yeah. I think this is a theme that you'll find across many great innovators and entrepreneurs that they are just getting on with it. They're getting the learnings and. Just keep on trucking and don't give up. And there's a lot of, of that, uh, coming up in the second half of the show, um, a bit of, a bit of a heads up on what you can expect coming up.

We've got this, um, some fantastic, uh, thoughts from Oprah around how she really draws upon her motivations. Uh, which I know is, is, you know, really fascinating to me, um, how you can unlock your motivation because, you know, personally, I think if you want to lock your motivation, if you can create that drive and that appetite, um, it's just so essential to, to create momentum in any pursuit.

And in life and she actually, we're going to wrap the show with, with her, her probably have one of her bigger thoughts from this interview, which is really how you unlock, um, your, your destiny, how you actually find your calling. And she gives us a little bit of a formula for that. And I think that's a really powerful, um, powerful thought that we'll come to, um, But before we get to that, we're going to, uh, we can, um, do something a little different here.

Usually we'd have, uh, Chad giving us, uh, one of these famous book reviews, but he was on vacation. Yeah. He didn't quite get, um, to a thrilling Oprah biography, but I'm sure 

Chad Owen: Alice, I have some on my list that I'm going to go back to and read eventually. 

Mike Parsons: Okay. Okay. So you can give us a, uh, a report. In one of the other shows if you do get to those.

But, um, I thought it would be really great. Um, just to spend a moment, we often refer to the work that you do, um, producing, uh, these wonderful films that really, uh, are stories of entrepreneurs and innovators and, and how they, they create the magic. So I wanted to take a moment, uh, Chad, and ask you a little bit about.

This practice of storytelling and filmmaking. And, um, I wanted to know where, where did, where did all it all begin for you? This, this craft of film and storytelling? Well, 

Chad Owen: I don't know how far you want me to go back, but, um, I was very much a science and math kid, uh, growing up in my father's doctor. And, uh, you know, I was just fascinated by, uh, Carl Sagans, uh, writings and, um, Stephen Hawking, you know, and, you know, lapped up everything I could at the time understand about Einstein.

Um, and I think the shift for me was in, in college when, um, I was, I became so overwhelmed at the power of story that it showed me that, you know, we're all kind of self authoring beings, you know, creating our own story of our lives. And I was like, wow. And then, uh, so then all I wanted to do was use that power to help others.

And it was really just conveyed through, um, a mentor that I had in college that just exposed me to some amazing films and filmmakers, um, that just. In documentary that just had such an impact on me. Um, and it moved me so much. It took me from this, you know, science and math kid, uh, in calculus, chemistry and physics in college to then being enrolled in, uh, ethnography and film composition, shin, and, um, a political documentary, you know, and that shift took about, I think, six weeks.

Oh my gosh. 

Mike Parsons: I'm like, 

Chad Owen: okay. It was, again, it was such a dramatic shift for me. I really understood that that storytelling, um, was gonna become my new, uh, my new guiding light or kind of North star for, for the foreseeable future. I've just kinda been running with it ever since. 

Mike Parsons: So give us, give us a sense of the kind of stories that you've been telling of recent times.

Like give us a sense of what story you tell and, and how, how that gets made. W 

Chad Owen: what I love doing is telling documentary stories about disruptors and innovators. Um, it's usually a kind of band of renegades somewhere out in, uh, in the world, um, inside of an organization that are doing things differently, kind of with some opposition and, um, the things that they're trying and experimenting, uh, with.

Are teaching them, you know, a better way of working a better way of building products in delivering their services. And so that's, um, that's what I love doing is just seeking out those, those teams and those organizations that are doing that kind of work and really just helping, uh, showcase what they're doing so that.

You know, the change that they're looking for in the world, what did Oprah call it? Their, uh, their, their Supreme moment of destiny. It can be shared, you know, with everyone. 

Mike Parsons: That's amazing. And I think it's also important to mention to our listeners that, um, I know together when we've worked on projects, you've, um, you've been telling the stories.

These disruptive stories, uh, with companies and brands like Virgin and Nike. Um, what other kinds of companies do you, do you work? Do you do do lots of startups, lots of science guys. Like what's the spectrum that you like to play with you? Uh, 

Chad Owen: it's really just about the teams, uh, you know, more so than the overall organizations, but you know, other companies like Intuit, um, Cisco, uh, IDEO and ideo.org.

You know, even a CPG company like Proctor and gamble, um, they all have. You know, they all have people that are really trying to change the status quo within them. And those are the people that I like to seek out and, uh, and share their stories. 

Mike Parsons: And one last question. Um, how are you, the things that you're learning as we do the show together, are there any moonshot, learnings that you're finding that are making their way back into your work, into your practice?

Oh, I don't 

Chad Owen: know. I think I shared one of them just previously about the feedback from the client about why it didn't get the job. Um, for me, it's interesting, uh, that we're profiling Oprah just because I'd spent the first part of this year, really going deep. Um, With myself and what I wanted to do with this company and, you know, the kind of work that I wanted to do.

And since doing that, it's just made everything else this year so much easier, you know, lots more opportunities, lots of better work with clients. Um, so it's kind of funny to have it reinforced, um, with the amazing advice, you know, that, that we'd played earlier. Yeah. 

Mike Parsons: Yeah. I find myself, uh, Now using, uh, quotes and ideas from Fred and Ilan, when I'm working with clients and partners, I I'm often dropping some Fred Smith wisdom on them, um, which seems to catch everyone.

But, um, that's great. Now, where, where did, where can everyone find out more about, uh, Chad? Oh, and, and, and you'll work. 

Chad Owen: I am@stimulus.io and you can see, um, Kind of some, uh, photographic previews of some of the work that I've done. Um, and I actually just put kind of a, I don't know, I call it a manifesto, but, um, you can check out the homepage and see, uh, See what you think.

I'm always curious to see, you know, who else I can not find or discover, uh, to tell their stories. 

Mike Parsons: Okay. So we'll have a link, uh, to all things, Chad Owen, uh, in the, uh, in the show notes. And, um, thanks for sharing a little bit more about yourself. Um, it was, it was great to get to know and to share some of your work with, with the listeners.

Of 

Chad Owen: course, and we'll get to you, uh, shortly. 

Mike Parsons: Okay. I thought I could sneak through there. Um, but I'm getting back to, to some of our clips and the wonderful Oprah Winfrey. I think it's fair to say. We've had a bit of an update from her and a connection with consciousness self-awareness living. From the inside out and really how we can turn challenge and failure into a powerful force to move things forward.

So I feel like that's what we got from her in the first half of the show, we got two more clips to come and, um, I want to play a very short clip, um, of her talking about where she draws her motivation from. And to give you some context here, you can imagine as an African American woman and, you know, to mention the, the episode that she had when she had to confront her boss about the unequal pay, this is a topic of the moment here in 2017, she was referring to a situation 30 years ago, back in Chicago.

So it's. Gives you a sense of what a pioneer she is, but also how courageous she really is. And in this clip, she talks about where she draws her motivation from. 

Chad Owen: I will literally sit and I will call on that 10,000. 

Mike Parsons: I will call on the ancestors. I will call on 

Chad Owen: those people. Who've come before me. I will 

Mike Parsons: call on the women who forged a path that 

Chad Owen: I might be able to sit 

Mike Parsons: in the room with all of those white men and love it 

Chad Owen: so much.

Mike Parsons: I call on, I call on that. So there you hear her. I'm tapping into this idea of the power of Minnie. She's obviously been at the forefront of fighting for so many different things as a woman, as an African American, coming from an impoverished neighborhood, um, she's overcome more in her lifetime than, than what thousands of others would would, would have.

Chad Owen: And she's so confident you can just really hear it in her voice. 

Mike Parsons: To me in her voice, I heard that she's just like, Bring it on. She's like so ready. And she is so, so up for, uh, the courage and, but it doesn't come across in a, uh, in a, in an aggressive, uh, way it comes across. Like, I know why I'm here. I know what I'm fighting for and I'm ready to go.

Chad Owen: Yeah. And it's, it's a fine line because I think it could cross into arrogance if you take it too far. But, um, Oprah has like, just enough of it to really, I think, be, be able to navigate that world and be very successful in and teach us the white guys in the room. Um, The way the world actually is not the way that we think it is.

Right. 

Mike Parsons: And, and to, to me, the tool that she's using here is she's, she's identifying with the bigger, the bigger movement. But I think she's also tapping into the source of the battles that she has had. And then she has one and she's using that to achieve new things. And I really like, um, I like this as a way.

Uh, to unlock your motivations and, um, a tip for, for the listeners that I think, um, I have found very powerful and in getting into the motivations that drive me is, is to write affirmations, short, positive statements about outcomes, things that I want to happen in the future. And I love, uh, devoting my mental powers to, to focusing on these affirmations and there's right book, very old.

Cool. As a man, me thinker, which was one of the original. Writings that talks about the power of the mind, the power of positive thought and how you have plate and total control of your thought, which unlocks your motivation. And you can see how Oprah is using her thoughts. She, she refers to, she thinks of all the people come before her.

The power of, of, of those that are face, challenge, and path. She prefers to the women that have had to overcome challenge. She uses this as almost her affirmation. Uh, to move forward. And I think this is a great tool for unlocking, um, motivation and, and getting a positive view of, of what's to come, uh, in the future.

Chad Owen: Yeah. I love the idea of affirmations. One thing that I've done usually once a year, um, is write a two page kind of front and back of a sheet of paper letter to my. To my future self and then write a date on it and says, you know, do not open until this date, um, and open it then. And I'm always surprised at, you know, sometimes I put these big audacious goals in there and I meet them in some of the smaller ones I kind of forget about, or, you know, I've decided to try something differently.

And so that that's been an interesting practice along those lines about, um, You know how to, how to give myself the motivation, um, know to do the things that I want to 

Mike Parsons: do. Yeah. Yeah. Well, um, the we've got this one final clip, uh, which is the perfect adjunct to this concept of motivation and powerful thought.

Do you want to, do you want to set up this last, uh, Oprah words of wisdom? 

Chad Owen: Uh, I kind of just want to, to let her, uh, let her speak for herself. 

Mike Parsons: When you align your personality with what your soul came to, can everybody, has it align your personality with your purpose and nobody can touch you and you wake up every day and you are fired up.

Chad Owen: You just he's like, 

Mike Parsons: Oh my God, another day. It's so great because everybody has a purpose. So your whole thing is to figure out what that is. 

Chad Owen: Your real job is to figure 

Mike Parsons: out why you're really here and then get about the business of doing that. Okay. That's it, 

Chad Owen: to me, it's a kind of the encapsulation of everything that she said, the intersection of your personality and your purpose and.

Like the real work is finding that because once you do, then everything else becomes easy. I think that's what she's saying here. 

Mike Parsons: Yeah. And I totally, uh, relate to, to this because when I was living in London, Around 2008, 2009, it would have been, um, I was given a book called strengths finder and it was the first time it's sort of pre, uh, Myers-Briggs kind of, uh, time.

And when I did this book, it really took me on a journey of. You, you, you learn different behaviors that people have particularly in their workplace. And then it gives you this quiz. You do the quiz and it tells you your work personality. And, um, it was, um, our real aha moment for me because. I became, uh, I was confronted with, with how I am and how I behave in the workplace and how I'm driven and how I operate, which, um, It really moved out of subconscious to conscious.

And I became aware of the good and the bad of all of the, the energy and, and, um, all of that, the, the things that really drove it, me and manifested in the way that I worked and the way that I lead people. And this was a huge jump for me when, when I got to connect with. With my, my, if you will, my work behaviors and personality, and I can only encourage the listeners to try this book called strengths finder 2.0, the, the there's another free tool on the web, um, called 16 personalities.

And their argument is that basically everyone fits into one of 16 personalities. You can do a free quiz and I'll tell you which one you are. This too is a very powerful way to sort of get connected to the first half of her, her equation, which is knowing your personality. 

Chad Owen: And I'm curious, Mike, if there's anything that you've given us so many great resources, um, about how to drive towards, or, or find, or uncover our purpose, because I think for me, um, it kind of just blindsided me.

And, uh, I guess I was lucky in that way. Um, but for you kind of in your journey of working with empowering teams to kind of create this innovation capability, you can't really, you know, H how, how did that come about for you? 

Mike Parsons: Hmm, well, the, the, the purpose part there. Putting aside, um, the, the personality piece, the purpose part there is how much I thrive on the creative process of creating brand new things.

Uh, this is really something that I really love doing, but I would really employ a model that we've used. Um, Well, we've mentioned on the show before, which is Simon cynics. Y so, you know, I really love creating, uh, new things. I love pioneering. I love the uncertainty of doing radically different things that just is naturally where I'm happiest.

I'm not, I'm not a manager, I'm not a bureaucrat that totally bores me managing the status, grades all about, you know, Plowing new land pioneering to, to new things. And, um, I love doing it together with people and I love, um, I love playing very much a role of facilitating and mentoring and helping others, um, you know, really get their, uh, get their best.

And, um, the reason that I love. That's the water in the house. So I love innovation. I love doing it together and collaboratively and very much in a, in a sharing and mentoring way. And the reason is I think these other richest shared experiences you can have professionally when you've done something amazing with a great team of people.

And I think that that's, um, the formula for having great impact. So when you, when you work with say Nike and you create an app that literally millions of young people use every day to organize soccer games all around the world, um, in that's impact. And that's, that's the model that I use just to clarify, and to reaffirm for myself, you know, why I work and what I love so much about what I do.

Chad Owen: Using innovation to drive huge impact. 

Mike Parsons: Yeah. Because you, and the way you do it as, as a team collaboratively together. And I think that when you've, when you're doing those things in that way, the outcomes are so positive. The outcomes are meaningful. They're things that you can look back on and genuinely you want to share.

With your friends, with your family. You want to, I want to share it with my, my son who's 11 and I'm, I'm proud of that. I feel good. It's meaningful. Um, and, and Hmm, to me, that's when I feel best, which is indeed wide purpose wise. Uh, after spending over a decade in advertising and marketing, I've moved much more towards product design and innovation because I, it serves my purpose better.

Chad Owen: Well, thanks for, for sharing Mike. I, I am just really glad that we've kind of taken this left turn, uh, into some overlooked, um, You know, things, uh, in, in the world of entrepreneurship. Um, I think we often don't take the time to understand our own needs, you know, our own personal needs. Um, which is interesting.

Oprah's in some way, like very selfish in that way. She's like, no, like, let me turn inwards and look at yourself first, but, um, I think she clearly draws that connection too, by being. Confident in where you are just allows you to have such a greater impact in what you're doing. 

Mike Parsons: I would argue the big takeout for me is, you know, you can't, uh, know the world until you know yourself.

You can't create positive change in the world until you've put yourself in a positive frame. And I, I look at people that you, you, that you mean and run into who are obviously lost, and it is so obvious, you know, they they're distracted. They're not doing the things that they should be doing. They have almost this or.

Disconnection. And it contrasts so much where people like Oprah when you meet people like that. I remember when I met a will Smith, very similar to Oprah, he is so connected, uh, from the inside out. He knows why he exists on this planet. And that's why he has achieved so much. To me. This is what inspires me about meeting people like that.

Is it it's the big take hat is no you're. If you want to know the world and know who you are now, what you want to be, so you can make that positive contribution to the universe. Um, and you can't get that job done if you don't know where you're at, if you not breathing and just aware of who and way you, uh, 

Chad Owen: Hmm.

Well, I'm really excited like that. We're staying on this alternative, uh, profile track. Um, so who've we decided to profile next. 

Mike Parsons: Yes. So we want to keep going, uh, on a slightly, a tangent or. A direction. So the next show we're going to do, um, is going to be, uh, focusing on Martha Stewart. So also a media celebrity, a, uh, very successful, uh, television personality with an enormous empire.

Um, I actually haven't done the shootout on, on personal wealth, but I'm assuming mother, no pro are going toe to toe there. But interestingly, with Martha, as everyone will probably know, she's had a lot of challenge in her life and a lot of misstep as well, but she's come back and she's firing on all the cylinders again.

So I think she makes for a, for a really exciting, uh, show, uh, for, for next week. 

Chad Owen: And we're always looking for more suggestions for perspectives and personalities that you would like us to deconstruct here on the podcast. So please, uh, Go to moonshots.io and leave your feedback. You can sign up for our newsletter, uh, and share and listen to all of our previous shows.

Um, I'd also like to just give a shout out to all of our listeners. Um, thank you so much. We are doing this or you like Mike and I are, we're going to keep doing this and, you know, as long as we keep having fun, but like really we're doing it for you guys. Um, and so we, you know, we'd love to get your feedback and, uh, And just, you know, learn who you want us to profile and what kinds of, uh, topics you're interested in.

Mike Parsons: Absolutely. And we've had feedback from all over the world from, from London, from Amsterdam, uh, from the U S from, from Australia. I feel like we need some more. Feedback from Romania, Romania. We need feedback from, from friends in a, in, in Asia. I feel like that's the continent that's underrepresented. So please send us your, your, your thoughts and ideas and remember that, um, you'll find everything you need at moonshot, uh, dot IO.

That's the clearing house for all good things for the, for the moon shots. Podcast. Well, that, that sort of gets us to a wrap. Um, I think Chad and I are going to go and finally tune our emotional GPS says we're going to, uh, embody our best Oprah is for the day. Uh, we want to thank you all for listening and Chad, it's been great.

Thank you ever so 

Chad Owen: much, Mike. It's always a pleasure. Thank you. 

Mike Parsons: Okay. Thanks Chad. And thanks to all the listeners. We'll catch you on the next episode. Of the moonshots podcast.