Grow Big Always artwork

Grow Big Always

71 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 6 years ago - ★★★★★ - 84 ratings

Meaningful growth is hard. In part, because most of us don’t have amazing people to learn from. Grow Big Always is a weekly discussion-oriented podcast where host Sam Lawrence gets to the bottom of the uncomfortable, private, often surprising journeys unusual people have taken to achieve big results. It teaches us exactly how they have created breakthrough businesses, unusual relationships or life-changing transitions. Grow Big Always is an intimate and often funny look at a wide range of people and the irregular way they created something legendary.

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Episodes

How tech is ctrl+alt deleting the middle class with MIT's Andrew McAfee

April 18, 2016 13:17 - 51 minutes - 70.8 MB

Even without hard numbers you most likely feel the economic polarization that’s been happening over the last few decades. And who needs numbers to know just how much technology has changed our lives. It’s the connection between tech and the economy that I personally find super fascinating and it’s an area of expertise for this week’s guest, MIT’s Andrew McAfee. Andrew is a principle research scientist at MIT. He’s focused on how tech is changing business, the economy and society overall. He’s...

Slowly becoming transgender with musician Sunny Haire

April 10, 2016 15:29 - 1 hour - 110 MB

No. Sunny Haire didn’t feel like he was born into the wrong body. He’s not that popularized, stereotypical trans story. His is far more fluid, organic and personal and unlike most stories, he’s not promoting a book or part of a media circuit. He’s not trying to simplify a huge community of people or put a headline on his story. He's just a friend brave enough to share a deeply personal journey of growth. I felt for Sunny in this conversation because so often, when you’re part of a differen...

How I talked hundreds of jumpers off the ledge with Sgt. Kevin Briggs

April 04, 2016 15:10 - 46 minutes - 63.8 MB

At least once a week for almost 20 years, Sgt. Kevin Briggs would stand just a few feet away from a severely depressed person who had climbed over the rail in the middle of the Golden Gate bridge and was a step away from falling to their death. While they both stood there with noisy traffic and cold, strong wind creating insane vibrations, Kevin had to find a way to do whatever he could to break through and get people to decide to climb back. In this conversation, Kevin shares the enormous c...

Fundraising with balls with Movember founder Adam Garone

March 27, 2016 15:41 - 51 minutes - 70.6 MB

When better than Easter to talk about...yes, "eggs," but also how a guy, his brother and a friend came up with the drunken idea of throwing goofy mustache parties and when they got really popular did something completely unexpected. That's what happened to Movember's Adam Garone and his unexpected move was to connect the youthful mustache-growing popularity to the crotchety world of not-for-profit causes like Prostate Cancer Research.

Growths #1 Killer? A Fixed Mindset with Professor Carol Dweck

March 24, 2016 14:00 - 52 minutes - 72.6 MB

Hard to imagine someone better to talk growth with than the person who wrote "The Growth Mindset," world-renowned professor and best-selling author, Carol Dweck. Her work has been featured in such publications as The New Yorker, Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe, and she has appeared on Today and 20/20.

From Nazi to peace advocate with ex-skinhead Christian Picciolini

March 13, 2016 18:38 - 54 minutes - 75.2 MB

As a kid of immigrants, Christian Piccholini felt marginalized, abandoned by his working parents, and bullied. In fact, one day when he was cornered by a bully, he fought back and beat the guy down. He became respected by the other boys. Soon after, he was approached by an older charismatic father-figure kid who pulled him into the skinheads where he rose through the ranks over 7 years, ultimately using hate music to recruit other young boys to fight back against the imaginary invasion of “ot...

Dismantling suburbia with author James Howard Kunstler

March 06, 2016 20:18 - 1 hour - 84.5 MB

As day-by-day goes by do you even have a sinking feeling that none of life-as-we-know it, is sustainable? There’s a fragility to the things that we’ve built in our post-WW2 civilization that seems like it could topple over at any minute. It just doesn’t make sense. Surely we know there’s not really an endless stream of resources and a well-oiled machine that backs up the world that we’ve come to expect and rely on. If you want a completely different point of view on what that means long-term,...

The art of “woo hoo” with former BMW chief of design Chris Bangle

February 29, 2016 15:57 - 1 hour - 89.1 MB

If you’re a BMW or automobile lover, you may have heard of Chris Bangle. At only 35, he was the man in charge of BMW design— so all models and brands from BMW, Mini and Rolls Royce— reported up to him— and his designs shook up the automotive industry for 17 years. People still write and talk about it today. Today he has his own firm re-approaching design for all sorts of products from smartphones to alcohol bottles. We talked from his studio near Turin, Italy, about everything from self-driv...

You could be brainwashed, too with cult victim Diane Benscoter

February 22, 2016 14:40 - 44 minutes - 60.9 MB

This conversation I had with Diane Benscoter will be an important one to listen to. When she was 17, Diane found herself sucked into a cult. She was a part of the Unification Church, better known as a “Moonie,” a cult led by Rev Moon. You may have seen pictures of huge, mass weddings which are conducted by that organization. After luckily escaping, Diane became a “deprogrammer” herself trying to rescue people who had been pulled into cults. That solution involved kidnapping the cult member, ...

How twisting knickers turned into big business with Agent Provocateur's CEO Garry Hogarth

February 15, 2016 15:11 - 56 minutes - 77.6 MB

This is one of the episodes I’ve been waiting to release— it’s with Agent Provocateur CEO Garry Hogarth and it was recorded a few months ago in his hotel, just after he came back from opening a new AP store in China. But, while getting ready to finally put this episode out there, wouldn’t you know it, but I got a note from Garry that last week he parted ways with the investors behind Agent Provocateur— the company that he turned around.

Give yourself to adventure with Amazing Race winner Tyler MacNiven

February 08, 2016 15:15 - 57 minutes - 78.9 MB

There’s certain people you just can’t put a finger on. And those are perhaps my FAVORITE people. They’re uncategorizable astral projections, they’re so unique it feels like they almost have no derivative. Amazing Race winner, Tyler MacNiven is one of those people. Besides being a complete blast, he’s overflowing with life— he's so happy, so positive-- all the time— that it you wonder if he’s really like that. (He is.) He’s just a programmed happy person.

How people screw up transitions with former Jive CEO Dave Hersh

February 01, 2016 14:51 - 57 minutes - 79.7 MB

Hard to believe it, but Dave and I have worked together for over 10 years. When I joined Jive there were just 13-14 people but he had been there from day one. It was him, and two developers. We sat in the same office for most of the ride of what ended up becoming rocket ship until just before the company went public. After that, Dave gave me the confidence and coaching to launch my own company and worked with me as a Board member for 5 years. This episode will resonate with any of you who’ve ...

Fuck Pad Thai with Pok Pok's Andy Ricker

January 25, 2016 23:30 - 1 hour - 90.5 MB

If you’ve been to Portland, you’ve been to Andy Ricker's Pok Pok—or maybe you went in LA or NY—heck, it could have been visiting the kiosk in the Portland airport during a layover. Andy is obsessed with local, regional Thai food that you would never find in any Thai tourist destinations. In fact, you’d only find it after spending years in Thailand making a ton of local connections and really embedding yourself in parts of the country that most of us never get the opportunity to. Andy has mad...

Shark Tank winners open bakeries, marriage and home with Shannon and Florian Radke

January 18, 2016 15:01 - 1 hour - 83.4 MB

The last thing that Florian and Shannon Radke are afraid of is risk. They had the balls to not only start and grow an unusual business but to hustle themselves onto Shark Tank (season 5, episode 28) and win. Their strong point of view on ethical veganism -- for example-- has not only been foundational in starting their own company, but they’ve invested that same energy into PETA, into helping bring important movies to life like Cowspiracy, which had Leonardo DiCaprio as executive producer. Y...

How to be the real deal with band manager Pete Galli

January 11, 2016 14:48 - 1 hour - 114 MB

Pete manages bands and not just any bands but popular alternative bands like The Bravery, Andrew W. K, The Airborne Toxic Event, In the Valley Below. In case you haven’t heard of these performers, bands he manages have been on Conan O Brian, on Letterman, they’ve headlined at huge music festivals like Cochella, Lallapolooza, Austin City Limits— they’re Grammy Winning Artists who have opened for big acts like U2, Depeche Mode, and Green Day. The point is, Pete knows his stuff. He knows how to ...

300 births can change your life with Doula Mollee Franklin

January 05, 2016 20:15 - 55 minutes - 76.9 MB

If we're lucky, we get to attend the magic of a birth. It might be just a couple of them and they're most likely our own kids. But if you're a doula, you attend hundreds of births. Each situation is completely different, each family is completely different. Doula Mollee Franklin stopped by to share how this reality affects the expectations she puts on life in general. How these experiences have framed the way she looks at the world.

A dominatrix smokes toad venom and loses her ego with Mistress Colette

December 28, 2015 15:34 - 1 hour - 92.5 MB

I bet if I told you I knew someone who helped people face the monsters in their closets everyday, who was personally and professionally devoted to the pursuit of intense human connections, of deep understanding, of learning, of helping others— you would think I was describing a psychologist or maybe a spiritual leader but certainly not a professional dominatrix. Last year the familial and romantic relationships in Colette's life went through a big shake up when the compartmental structure sh...

How to be strong when everything's on fire with firefighter Edwin Anderson

December 21, 2015 21:46 - 53 minutes - 73.9 MB

Edwin Anderson has spent over 30 years as a firefighter, a cop, and a paramedic. He grew up around murder, gang violence and sex crimes. Even though he's been perpetually surrounded by tragedy, Edwin continues to escape with his head held high.

Give risk the finger with pro skater and streetwear CEO HUF

December 14, 2015 16:44 - 59 minutes - 81.3 MB

Risk can be paralyzing. Less so when you live inside it everyday, which is a requirement as a pro-skateboarder. That's where Keith Hufnagel (or "HUF") started his career. You have to eat a lot of shit to get somewhere. And HUF would know. In our conversation, HUF talks about risk and what it's taken for him to stay focused and keep trying again -- even when he's fallen down a lot. You can find all notes and links to this episode at http://www.growbigalways.com/episodes/keith-hufnagel

What to do when your soul takes a stagedive with frontwoman Jenny Angelillo

December 01, 2015 14:34 - 1 hour - 97.1 MB

Jenny Angelillo spent her life on stage which, according to her, both ruined and saved her life. She's the lead singer for punk band Neighborhood Brats, and previously was a ballerina, an esthetician and a MFA creative photographer. Vice Magazine called her the female Henry Rollins. She can "rip the hair off your crotch in 15 minutes." You can read the notes for this episode at http://www.growbigalways.com/episodes/how-not-to-fill-the-hole-inside-you-with-jenny-angelillo

When your wife comes out as lesbian with physician and magician Jeremy Weiss

November 19, 2015 14:00 - 1 hour - 96.1 MB

In this very intimate conversation Jeremy shares how he's gone about re-building his life and shares the parallels between medicine, magic and fetish. Read the notes for this episode at http://www.growbigalways.com/episodes/when-your-wife-comes-out-as-lesbian

Guests

Adam Garone
1 Episode
Andrew McAfee
1 Episode
Andrew Scull
1 Episode
Andrew Solomon
1 Episode
Anne Curzan
1 Episode
Aubrey de Grey
1 Episode
Carol Dweck
1 Episode
Chris Bangle
1 Episode
Chris Ryan
1 Episode
Chris Voss
1 Episode
Chuck Klosterman
1 Episode
Dan Ariely
1 Episode
Dan Pardi
1 Episode
Diane Benscoter
1 Episode
Frans de Waal
1 Episode
Gad Saad
1 Episode
Geoff Manaugh
1 Episode
Guy Winch
1 Episode
Jenna McCarthy
1 Episode
Jenny Angelillo
1 Episode
Jimmy Nelson
1 Episode
Jordan Greenhall
1 Episode
Kevin Briggs
1 Episode
Kevin Kelly
1 Episode
Mary Roach
1 Episode
Matt Simon
1 Episode
Morgana Bailey
1 Episode
Scott McCloud
1 Episode
Stephan Guyenet
1 Episode
Wade Davis
1 Episode

Twitter Mentions

@djhersh 1 Episode
@chrisryanphd 1 Episode
@morganabailey 1 Episode
@dominacolette 1 Episode
@amcafee 1 Episode
@guywinch 1 Episode
@tylermacniven 1 Episode