Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:15 — 79.2MB)

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Serial entrepreneur, Barry Beck, sits down with Anthony to discuss his successes and strategies as a leader and innovator. Barry, the Co-Founder and COO of Bluemercury Inc., started his first business at a young age shoveling snow in his Philadelphia neighborhood. He has an innate entrepreneurial spirit that was cultivated when his father told him that “he could be anything as long as he owns it”.

Before starting Bluemercury with his wife Marla, he had three successful previous business ventures. Bluemercury started in an online only platform and pivoted to a combination of a “clicks and bricks” business model when they felt the company was in survival mode. Bluemercury is credited with putting a dent in the cosmetic universe and disrupting mainstream retail. Macy’s has since acquired the company, and lends its resources to the innovative retailer.

Barry credits his personal board of directors – comprised of people with wisdom in different backgrounds who love him and understand him best – for challenging him to strive for more. He explains that he always had a drive to succeed and thinks his leadership and entrepreneurial qualities are a mix of both nature and nurture. During this episode of the Roots of Leadership, Barry discusses the most important characteristics of a leader, when the best business decisions are made, and also shares some advice he received from Bill Gates before starting Bluemercury.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:34 — 44.7MB)

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When he was first starting out in his career, Chris Sugden was given a piece of advice that has stuck with him. He was told to “go find work, don’t wait for work to come to you”. This advice complimented with his dad’s instructions from his youth football days to “hit or be hit” has led Chris to live and work with the consciousness that opportunities do not just show up. Now a partner and the Chair of the Investment Committee of Edison Partners, Chris seeks out opportunities to grow new ventures. The east coast-based private equity firm not only pursues partnerships with entrepreneurs, Edison Partners also thrives on developing and coaching their colleagues.

In this podcast, Chris sits down with Anthony to discuss how important mentorship and coaching is in business. Anthony poses the question that if actors, musicians, and athletes all have coaches to continuously learn and improve upon their skills, why wouldn’t there be coaches in the business world too?