In this episode of The Entrepreneurial Mindset Project, we talk to Dan Thorenson, a former Navy mechanic who became an unlikely entrepreneur. Dan grew up in a small town in North Dakota and floundered in school until he discovered an auto shop program that took him from the very bottom of his class to the top. After high school, he joined the Navy, where he became an airplane mechanic, a skill that led
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In a world that seems to favor top performers, we often overlook the mindset and the methods of everyday entrepreneurs—the underdogs and the misfits who have no particular advantage in life—yet somehow manage to succeed.
Author-and-entrepreneur Gary Schoeniger has traveled the world interviewing entrepreneurs and exploring the research to expose the hidden logic that exposes opportunities, optimizes engagement, and unleashes human potential. Whether you want to start a business, engage your team, or reinvent your career, this podcast will show you how an entrepreneurial mindset can empower ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things.
Gary Schoeniger is an internationally recognized thought leader in the field of entrepreneurial mindset education. As the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative (ELI) founder and CEO, Gary’s work has influenced a broad audience – from aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners to academic and organizational leaders worldwide. These include the Kauffman Foundation, the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, the Cisco Entrepreneur Institute, Tecnolólogico de Monterrey, the European Commission, and the U.S. State Department.
Gary, along with Pulitzer nominee Clifton Taulbert, is the co-author of Who Owns the Ice House? Eight Life Lessons from an Unlikely Entrepreneur, an international bestseller described as “required reading for humanity.” He also led the Ice House Entrepreneurship Programs’ development. The Kauffman Foundation has recognized the Ice House Programs as “redefining entrepreneurship education in classrooms and communities around the world.”
In this podcast, Gary explores the entrepreneurial mindset as a cognitive framework essential for individuals and organizations to adapt and thrive in today’s rapidly changing world.
Are you an unlikely entrepreneur with a story to tell? Do you know someone who is? We’d love to hear from you!
Fill out the form on our Share Your Story page to connect with us.
Episode Blogs
Welcome to another episode of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Project. Today, I’m speaking with Doug Katz, who is an award-winning chef and an amazing entrepreneur. People open restaurants every day, and, as you probably know, the failure rate is extremely high. Yet Doug seems to have mastered the craft not only as a chef but as an entrepreneur. While he wasn’t a great student, from a very early age, Doug knew he wanted to be a
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Project Today, I’m speaking with Camillo Archuleta, an aspiring entrepreneur who stumbled into an opportunity to teach his eight-year-old daughter how to think like an entrepreneur. It all started when he challenged his daughter to raise the money she needed for a school fundraiser. Drawing on the lean startup principles he learned while earning an MBA, Camillo challenged his daughter to leverage her capabilities in
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Project. Today I’m speaking with Rodney Walker. This is truly an amazing story you won’t want to miss. Raised on the south side of Chicago, Rodney was born to parents who both struggled with addiction. At the age of five, he was cast into the foster care system, where he was separated from his parents and siblings. As he put it, he felt like
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the entrepreneurial mindset project. Today, I’m speaking with Jim Correll, an everyday entrepreneur who started an entrepreneurial mindset revolution that transformed his community. At the age of 50, Jim was hired as an outside staff instructor to teach the Successful Entrepreneur Program at a small community college in Independence, Kansas. At first, his efforts struggled to gain the attention of students who were otherwise focused on a