We recently connected with John Steinberg and have shared our conversation below.
Hi John, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
It is difficult to pinpiont exactly where I get it from, but my biggest influcences in life come from some awesome people, including my mom and dad, my grandpa, and lot of coaches/mentors over the years. I was an athlete my entire youth and into college so to accomplish that level of atheltics, I had to outwork everybody. Even today, I am a competitive rower with the spare time that I have.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am one of the co-founders of a Chicago based company called Liina along with my busiess partner Cameron Patrick. Our mission is to make spirulina taste good. Spirulina is an incredible superfood & one of the most sustainable protein sources on earth! Our mission is to integrate this food into our life to improve the quality of nutrition we consume and help minimize our carbon footprints.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
To me, there are skills that you are born with and skills that you can develop. I tend to focus on skills that you can develop as these are all things we can learn to master: 1. Perserverance – the ability to be gritty and stick through tough times. My personal strategy is focus as much as I can on the present, outline a small win I can achieve in that time period, and go after it. Sooner or later, the small wins get you out of the tough times.
2. The right amount of detailed-oriented – too many details and you don’t make any progress, too few details and you aren’t giving yourself a chance to do well. Figure out what it takes to get to 70% there on decisions and go for it.
3. Punctuality & Communication – this is the easiest one to master and potentially one of the biggest in terms of impact. You would be surprised to know how few people do this. Overcommunicate and do everything in your power to never be late. Treat others time with the ultimate respect and you will see major dividends down the line.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
They made me work for everything, no hand outs. Kids don’t know any better, one way or another. They did a great job teaching me how to outwork everybody and even today, that is my greatest superpower.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.liveliina.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liveliina/
