#153 Lesson on Community from Main Street with Pamela Slim

Pamela Slim is an award-winning author, speaker, community builder, and small business strategist. She was also the former corporate director of training and development at Barclays Global Investors. She spent her first decade as consultant to global companies like Charles Schwab, Chevron, and Hewlett-Packard, where she trained and worked with thousands of managers, executives, and employees. In 2005, she started one of the top career and business blogs online—Escape from Cubicle Nation. Through the years, she has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs start successful businesses. Her book, "Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur," was released in 2009 and was awarded by 800 CEO Read as the "Best Small Business/Entrepreneur Book." Together with author Susan Cain, she also built and launched the Quiet Revolution and the Quiet Leadership Institute. Pamela's first book, "Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur," provides readers not just with the nuts and bolts of entrepreneurship but with everything they need to know about starting a business, including the emotional issues involved in the process. Her new bestselling book "Body of Work: Finding the Thread That Ties Your Story Together," provides guidance on how to find connections, sell a story, and reinvent and relaunch a brand. In 2016, Pamela launched the Main Street Learning Lab. Located in Mesa, Arizona, Main Street Learning Lab is a community-based think tank focusing on business economic acceleration. The collaborative and innovative project supports small business owners who want to succeed, as well as the incubators, organizations, and companies who are helping them. A passionate martial artist, Pamela practiced the Afro-Brazilian Capoeira for more than a decade while in San Francisco. She also once served as executive director of the non-profit martial arts organisation Omulu Capoeira Group. Pamela received her black belt in July of 2013 and studied mixed martial arts in Arizona under Edward Kelly Fiori. This week's episode talks about the changes Pamela is seeing on Main Street, the different ways people can make sustainable businesses, and her advice to people who are not feeling inspired where they are. Pamela also shares her thoughts on the "empire" model, the importance of tuning in more, and what her community is all about. On connecting with other people, Pamela has this to say, "In so many ways, in having this really rich soup of people that come from different backgrounds and perspectives, it just really amps up your creative thinking and very specifically can lead to a lot more business opportunities."