Life can change in an instant. One day you’re shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue, and the next you’re sitting in your car with everything you own, and everyone you love, wondering what happens now.

Joan Howard grew up in Beverly Hills with every advantage until a series of crises left her homeless and living in her car with her mother and three dogs. What helped her rebuild wasn't luck or charity. It was kindness, consistency, and one simple weekly practice of being in service to others.

Today, Joan is a long-time volunteer for Food on Foot, the very organization that helped her decades ago. Food on Foot is more than a meal line—it’s a community built on dignity, kindness, and practical support for people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles. Their model helps people find work, save money, build confidence, and move forward with independence.

In this episode, we talk about what homelessness actually looks like, why service can be transformative, and how organizations like Food on Foot help people not just get back on their feet, but build a future.

This is A Bit of Optimism.

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To learn more about Food on Foot, visit their website!

https://www.foodonfoot.org/

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What if a great business was built like a handmade mixtape? A lovingly crafted experience that is as much a love letter from its founder as it is custom-tailored to its audience.

Before Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams became a household name, Jeni Britton was a 22-year-old art school dropout scooping her ice cream creations at a farmers market in Ohio. She didn’t have investors, connections, or a playbook. What she did have was a vision - not just for ice cream, but for connection.

Jeni believed her bold ice cream could be a conduit for something bigger: a place where people feel seen, conversations happen naturally, and strangers become community. Over the next two decades, she bootstrapped her way from a small counter to a nationally recognized brand by doing everything the slow, hard, old-fashioned way — one customer, one flavor, and one act of service at a time.

She refused shortcuts. She prioritized people. And she built her company like a handmade mixtape — crafted with intention, risk, rebellion, and love.

In this conversation, Jeni explains what true entrepreneurship really is: not hype, not hyper-growth, and not chasing venture capital, but the courage to follow a vision long enough for it to start leading you. We talk about the creative process, the power of service, the lessons learned from young employees, the myth of “scalable ideas,” and how walking in the woods helped Jeni discover her next chapter - Floura.

Jeni’s story is a reminder that the best things in life - and in business - take time, heart, and a willingness to make something beautiful even when no one is watching.

This is A Bit of Optimism.

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This episode is brought to you by the Porsche USA Macan

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Visit Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams:

https://jenis.com/

Check out Jeni’s newest venture — Floura:

https://www.floura.com/

Who would’ve guessed that one of the world’s best company cultures was hiding behind a can of WD-40? Of all the places to find a leadership masterclass, the blue-and-yellow can in your garage probably wasn’t on your list - but it’s time to put it there.

Garry Ridge - an Australian who brought his charm and curiosity across the Pacific - joined WD-40 Company in the late ’80s and rose through the ranks, eventually serving as CEO for 25 years. But he didn’t start out as the culture-building expert he’s known as today. Early in his career, he lived by the old mantra: “be brilliant, be brief, be gone.” He had to unlearn that mindset and rebuild himself into a leader who centers people, learning, and belonging - an evolution that reshaped WD-40 from the inside out. His new book, Any Dumb Ass Can Do It, captures that journey.

In this episode, we break down how Garry built a company where people genuinely love coming to work - even through recessions, pandemics, and all the external chaos leaders can’t control. We dig into the systems and behaviors that fueled WD-40’s rise, from psychological safety to accountability to building internal consistency no matter what the market is doing.

Garry and I both believe that people deserve to love their work - even if they don’t like it every single day. People want to feel seen, heard, and valued. And Garry is one of the rare leaders who knows exactly how to make that happen.

This is A Bit of Optimism.

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This episode is brought to you by the Porsche USA Macan

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Check out Garry’s new book.

https://thelearningmoment.net/any-dumb-ass-can-do-it/

And his coaching work with The Learning Movement.

https://thelearningmoment.net/