We Attract What We Radiate: Interview with John Jacobs, Co-Founder of Life is Good
Several years ago, I interviewed John Jacobs, co-founder of Life is Good, in an interview originally published in Thrive Global. Here is an excerpt from our conversation:
Adam: What is something about you that would surprise people?
John: I once drank 16 glasses of milk trying to impress a girl. Highly ineffective.
Adam: How did you get here? What failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
John: The five years before starting Life is Good, when my brother Bert and I traveled and slept in an old van, selling our tees in college dorms—they had a big impact. They were full of failures, but we did our best to enjoy the ride despite year after year of pathetic sales. We learned to be less thrown by rejection, accept tough feedback, and use it to get wiser. Those road trips really solidified our belief in the power of optimism.
Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
John: Give praise, take blame, and tie ideas directly back to your mission whenever possible. Reinforce, from the heart, what binds you together and why your work matters. Empower people on your team to try, fail, persist, and innovate. You’ve got to cultivate the kind of perspective that can look beyond immediate projects to see towards building a sustainable organization.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
John: 1. Stay open to feedback—especially the negative—and churn it into a protein smoothie.
2. Try (versus analyze and debate endlessly) ideas on a small scale, with real customers or community members, because there’s no data like real-world feedback and experience.
3. Create tangible ways (through personal stories, events, and volunteer efforts) for your team and community to feel the deeper purpose of their work. This will fortify your crew with the resilience to power through difficult times together. Your mission and values won’t make an impact if they only live in your employee handbook. Infuse them often into your meetings, projects, and words; the conversation is the culture.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
John: “Let it out and let it in” from Hey Jude.
Adam: How can anyone pay it forward?
John: The cliché answer is legit: Get involved with a broad cause or a local non-profit that’s personally meaningful to you. On a daily basis, though, I think we can all focus on intentionally bringing positive energy to our interactions. We attract what we radiate, and the world needs good things to focus on and build together.
Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?
John: I want to shout out our mom, Joan, the true inspiration for Life is Good. Bert and I grew up in a loving but chaotic little house with our fair share of dysfunction. No matter what had gone on that day, our mom brought laughter and positive energy to the dinner table each night. She used to look around at each of her six kids and say, “Tell me something good.” It sounds so simple, but it always changed the energy in our house. Someone would share something positive or funny, and the conversation would take off.
Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one-on-one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.
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