🛢️ From Peanut Butter M&M’s to Diesel Innovation: Brian Livingston’s Inventive Journey

In this episode of Inventive Journey, Devin Miller sits down with engineer and entrepreneur Brian Livingston to explore a career path that somehow connects Peanut Butter M&M’s, billion-dollar industrial projects, Caterpillar, and diesel fuel innovation.Yes, really.Brian shares how his childhood obsession with taking things apart eventually evolved into a chemical engineering career that spanned General Foods, M&M Mars, NutraSweet, and Caterpillar. Along the way, he discovered that while engineering fascinated him, understanding people fascinated him even more.That insight ultimately shaped his leadership style and project management approach throughout his career.The conversation dives into Brian’s early internships, corporate growth, and experiences navigating office politics, layoffs, international engineering projects, and large-scale operational leadership. One standout story involves his role helping manage a major project in France involving Japanese, American, and French stakeholders — an experience that earned him the nickname “the James Baker of project management.”And then there’s the Peanut Butter M&M’s story.Brian explains how his team helped develop the production process for one of the world’s most recognizable candy products, instantly giving him one of the most entertaining engineering claims to fame imaginable.But the episode also explores much deeper entrepreneurial lessons.After nearly two decades at Caterpillar, Brian found himself unexpectedly transitioning into entrepreneurship during the COVID-era downsizing. Instead of fully retiring, he partnered with a former colleague to pursue a diesel fuel efficiency technology business focused on catalytic fuel processing systems that improve diesel combustion efficiency.Brian explains the science behind the technology, including how catalytic reactions help break longer diesel molecules into shorter chains that burn more efficiently. The result is improved fuel economy, lower emissions, and measurable operational savings for diesel-dependent industries.However, Brian quickly discovered that technical innovation alone is not enough.One of the biggest challenges became overcoming market skepticism. Many industrial buyers have encountered exaggerated fuel-saving claims in the past, forcing Brian to spend significant time educating prospects about the chemistry and physics behind the technology.The episode also includes candid discussions about startup mistakes and lessons learned.Brian openly shares how he lost approximately $45,000 early in the business by hiring an outsourced appointment-setting service that failed to deliver meaningful results. Rather than avoiding the topic, he uses the experience to emphasize the importance of learning your market personally before outsourcing critical growth functions.Throughout the discussion, Brian advocates becoming what he calls a “chicken entrepreneur” — someone who starts cautiously, validates demand, minimizes unnecessary risk, and avoids overextending financially during the early stages of business development.The conversation highlights the emotional transition from long-term corporate professional to entrepreneur, including the challenges of adapting to uncertainty, building credibility independently, and learning entirely new business skills later in life.This episode is packed with practical insights for engineers, inventors, startup founders, corporate professionals considering entrepreneurship, and anyone navigating major career transitions.You’ll hear lessons on leadership, innovation, resilience, sales skepticism, project management, startup growth, and why curiosity may still be one of the most valuable traits in business.And yes, you’ll probably crave Peanut Butter M&M’s afterward.To chat about this one-on-one, grab a free consult at strategymeeting.com