Blog
THE LESSON LEARNED
We believe every story our guests have shared has their own touch, and their own lessons to learn from. However, it seems that there are a couple of lessons that keep coming up, and that’s why they deserve their own separate page for you to take notes on.
Matt Estrin has seen some truly wild one-star reviews—from customers complaining about cold waffles to someone reviewing his responses to other reviews without ever stepping foot in his restaurant. His conversation with Morgan Friedman explores what bad reviews really say about modern customer culture—and how turning criticism into humor, feedback, and creativity can transform a problem into an opportunity.
Richard Wilmore was fired five times in nine months—and somehow kept coming back to work. A micromanaging boss, a wall of security cameras, a store that opened without basic infrastructure, and a job that made him physically sick eventually taught him one of the most important lessons of his career: sometimes your gut knows it’s time to leave before you do.
Richard Wilmore was fired five times in nine months—and somehow kept coming back to work. A wall of security cameras, a relentlessly micromanaging boss, and a job that made him physically sick eventually taught him a lesson he could no longer ignore: sometimes your gut knows it’s time to leave before you do.
A dream home. A $400,000 starting budget. Nearly two years of work. And enough unexpected disasters to turn one remodel into a complete business case study. Jodi Koch Peterman shares how a project filled with budget surprises, vendor disasters, broken communication, and blurred boundaries ultimately led her to create a new concierge-level design process.
A dream remodel. A $26,000 mistake. Cabinets that disappeared, furniture dumped into the ocean, and a project that lasted nearly two years. Jodi Koch Peterman shares how one client horror story completely changed the way she designs—and manages—projects.
A promising new venture. A client full of big promises. Six months of unpaid work and a business struggling under the weight of its own disorganization. Paul Sweeney shares how missing contracts, unclear leadership, and uncontrolled spending created a perfect storm—and why a promise is never a substitute for a real agreement.