This episode's guest, Brad Petersen, is really a kid at heart. For most of his career, Brad, Founder and President of Indykko Limited, has worked in both toy distribution and tech for young audiences. Although his start was as a carnival-style salesman, he transitioned to major brands including DC Comics and Pokémon. Brad has a reputation for creating bestsellers.

As he reflects on entrepreneurial life, Brad shares insights into his experiences, lessons learned, the distinction between failing and failure and finally, that adversity in some form is inevitable. He explains how enterprises undertaken in challenging conditions often successfully manage setbacks.

Brad describes the process of how he's become a better leader. Although always an effective team captain, leading from the ice-to borrow a hockey metaphor-he had to learn how to move to the coach's corner of the bench, then up to the general manager's box.

For the longest time Brad was his company's rainmaker; he recognized, however, to grow and scale his business, he couldn't do it alone. The process, Brad explains, starts with imagining your current business on a scale far too complex to fathom. Say for example, ten times greater than it is currently, or even more. Once you begin to visualize your business on this almost incomprehensible level, you realize the need to recruit a team of experts who can make it happen.

Brad follows a consistent recruiting methodology. He starts with people already employed, then identifies potential candidates whose lives embody his company's core values. He looks for people reputable within the industry who demonstrate humility and empathy. It's not a quest for people who have all the answers, rather those with the desire to participate in finding answers. The only way to build something great is to surround yourself with people smarter than you are.

Once you have a team in place, Brad describes his three rules for leading. First, define the purpose and mission of your company to inspire people. Next, build and empower high-performance teams to fulfill that mission. Last, create a personal white space where you can explore and contemplate the big-picture and where the company should be headed.

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