Fall in Love With The Problem With Craig Dubitsky
02/14/24 • 46 min
Delve into the vibrant world of Craig Dubitsky, a serial entrepreneur and professional optimist known for beautiful brands that make people smile. With a distinctive ‘Fear Of Not Trying' (FONT) mindset, Craig underscores the idea that daring to try and being open to failure are the roots of invention and innovation. Always the perpetual rookie, he shares insights from his varied career path, including the launch of his most recent venture happyTM coffee, a brand co-founded with Robert Downey Jr. Don’t miss this masterclass on engineering a joyful career by brewing up and executing on new ideas that solve real problems for real people.
Highlights From Today’s Episode:
03:33 The Path of The Professional Optimist
18:09 Invention, Innovation, Follies and Boondoggles
20:56 Embracing the Fear of Not Trying (FONT)
25:46 When Expertise Drags You Down
29:25 Trying on Coffee and Improv
40:38 Reflections & Observations
48:43 Getting Over Our FONT
About Our Guests:
Craig Dubitsky: professional optimist, obsessed with making everyday things better and more beautiful.
About happyTM’s partnership with NAMI:
Beyond delivering thoughtfully and responsibly sourced coffee, our vision is to help create a world where mental health is valued and understood, and where help is accessible to everyone — free from stigma or fear.
That's why we're proud to partner with NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization.
Subscribe to our Substack for free to receive new Smart Rookie updates in your inbox: https://smartrookie.substack.com.
Reference Materials:
Learn how we use the Acorn to Oak Tree exercise in our research on our tools page.
We want to hear from you!
We'd love to hear what you observed in this episode. What did this episode leave you wondering about? What did you observe and what was said or left unsaid? Leave us a voice memo, DM us on Instagram, or send us an email, smartrookie[at]thenucleusgroup.com.
Credits:
Chelsea Carlson, Podcast Art Designer
Ashley Bradford, Theme Music Artist
Sam Nash, Audio Engineer
Gabriela Acosta, Executive Producer
Smart Rookie is brought to you by brand and strategy collaborative, The Nucleus Group.
Please note that our show transcript is AI generated and may not be 100% accurate.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smartrookie.substack.com
Delve into the vibrant world of Craig Dubitsky, a serial entrepreneur and professional optimist known for beautiful brands that make people smile. With a distinctive ‘Fear Of Not Trying' (FONT) mindset, Craig underscores the idea that daring to try and being open to failure are the roots of invention and innovation. Always the perpetual rookie, he shares insights from his varied career path, including the launch of his most recent venture happyTM coffee, a brand co-founded with Robert Downey Jr. Don’t miss this masterclass on engineering a joyful career by brewing up and executing on new ideas that solve real problems for real people.
Highlights From Today’s Episode:
03:33 The Path of The Professional Optimist
18:09 Invention, Innovation, Follies and Boondoggles
20:56 Embracing the Fear of Not Trying (FONT)
25:46 When Expertise Drags You Down
29:25 Trying on Coffee and Improv
40:38 Reflections & Observations
48:43 Getting Over Our FONT
About Our Guests:
Craig Dubitsky: professional optimist, obsessed with making everyday things better and more beautiful.
About happyTM’s partnership with NAMI:
Beyond delivering thoughtfully and responsibly sourced coffee, our vision is to help create a world where mental health is valued and understood, and where help is accessible to everyone — free from stigma or fear.
That's why we're proud to partner with NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization.
Subscribe to our Substack for free to receive new Smart Rookie updates in your inbox: https://smartrookie.substack.com.
Reference Materials:
Learn how we use the Acorn to Oak Tree exercise in our research on our tools page.
We want to hear from you!
We'd love to hear what you observed in this episode. What did this episode leave you wondering about? What did you observe and what was said or left unsaid? Leave us a voice memo, DM us on Instagram, or send us an email, smartrookie[at]thenucleusgroup.com.
Credits:
Chelsea Carlson, Podcast Art Designer
Ashley Bradford, Theme Music Artist
Sam Nash, Audio Engineer
Gabriela Acosta, Executive Producer
Smart Rookie is brought to you by brand and strategy collaborative, The Nucleus Group.
Please note that our show transcript is AI generated and may not be 100% accurate.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smartrookie.substack.com
Previous Episode
Becoming Bourbon Curious with Boss Molly Bourbon
Co-founders of Boss Molly Bourbon, Brandy Bowles, Kate Rosante and Victoria Horn share their rookie journey into the bourbon industry with audacity and a willingness to learn. These remarkable women discuss the nuances of starting a business in an unfamiliar field, embracing the challenges, and the joy of discovery along the way. Their story serves as a beacon for aspiring entrepreneurs, especially those stepping into unknown territories.
Highlights From Today’s Episode:
04:42 The Challenges and Triumphs of Starting a Bourbon Company
17:38 The Impact of Boss Molly on the Bourbon Industry
22:17 The Learning Curve of Being a Rookie
33:03 Boss Molly's Commitment to Sustainability
About Our Guests:
Brandi Bowles is a native Kentuckian and lifelong fan of bourbon & books. After graduating from University of Louisville in 2004 she moved to NYC to work in book publishing, and became a successful literary agent. Seeking out friends who loved bourbon led to the founding of Boss Molly, a pour that goes great with a good book! Her favorite non-whiskey spirit is Absinthe.
Kate Rosante, Vice President Marketing Production Operations @ A+E Networks. 20 years experience working in television, including award-winning campaigns for The History Channel, A&E, and Lifetime. Kate is a proud Hunter College alumnus.
Victoria Horn is a world traveler who grew up In Connecticut and has made NYC her home base. She graduated from Grinnell College and made her way into book publishing as a sales manager and business operations specialist. Her lifelong love of books and passion for bourbon led her to partners with similar tastes, and Boss Molly Bourbon was born!
About Boss Molly Bourbon: Created by three whiskey loving women, Boss Molly is a bold wheated bourbon with an adventurous spirit.Our amber liquor and spiced brandy finish lingers on your mind and your tongue long after that first sip, and that’s just how we like it. Bold and flavorful. Seductive. And utterly one of a kind. Boots down. Bottoms up.
We want to hear from you!
We'd love to hear what you observed in this episode. What did this episode leave you wondering about? What did you observe and what was said or left unsaid? Leave us a voice memo on smartrookiepodcast.com, DM us on Instagram, or send us an email, [email protected].
Credits:
Chelsea Carlson, Podcast Art Designer.
Ashley Bradford, Theme Music Artist
Sam Nash, Audio Engineer
Gabriela Acosta, Executive Producer
Smart Rookie is brought to you by brand and strategy collaborative, The Nucleus Group.
Please note that our show transcript is AI generated and may not be 100% accurate.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smartrookie.substack.com
Next Episode
The Queen of The Kitchen Table Startup With Nonie Creme
Nonie Creme shares her unconventional journey to success from a broke nail busker in London to beauty industry titan and visionary behind brands Butter London, Colour Prevails, BeautyGARDE and viral-sensation Rocket Nail Fuel. With a story that twists through failures and triumphs, Nonie candidly discusses the lessons learned from launching multiple brands from her kitchen table (including her latest wellness brand), the importance of authenticity, and the power of embracing the rookie mindset. Join us as Nonie unfolds how breaking norms and being unafraid to start from scratch has defined her remarkable path.
Highlights From Today’s Episode:
04:14 Unconventional Beginnings
12:30 The Art of Falling (And Getting Back Up)
19:14 The Power of Authenticity
29:52 Add More Pots To The Stove
33:04 Challenging Beauty Industry Norms
36:36 Reflections: Piercing Complacency
About Our Guests:
Nonie Creme is a tastemaker, brand visionary, and industry leader with three beauty brands, one wellness brand, and 25 years experience under her belt. Always breaking boundaries, Nonie was a leading force behind the explosion of the nail industry in the early 2000’s as Founding Creative Director of Butter London. After creating the color cosmetics brand Colour Prevails for the Walgreens and Boots Alliance group, Nonie launched her third beauty company, BeautyGARDE. Nonie later formulated viral-sensation Rocket Nail Fuel to strengthen nails naturally. Her latest venture into women's wellness, Find Your Fulcrum, offers plant-powered CBD remedies, and boasts cruelty-free, organic products made in the USA.
Reference:
Our Acorn to Oak Tree exercise.
Book mention: “Feel the Fear... and Do It Anyway” by Susan Jeffers
We want to hear from you!
We'd love to hear what you observed in this episode. What did this episode leave you wondering about? What did you observe and what was said or left unsaid? Leave us a voice memo, DM us on Instagram, or send us an email, smartrookie[at]thenucleusgroup.com.
Credits:
Chelsea Carlson, Podcast Art Designer
Ashley Bradford, Theme Music Artist
Sam Nash, Audio Engineer
Gabriela Acosta, Executive Producer
Smart Rookie is brought to you by brand and strategy collaborative, The Nucleus Group.
Please note that our show transcript is AI generated and may not be 100% accurate.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smartrookie.substack.com
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