Share
FreshMinds Podcast
04 - How We Found Our Genius Zone: Personal Stories of Passion, Pushback & Purpose
Ep. 4
•
How do you actually find your art? And what do you do when the world tries to shut you down?
In this episode of FreshMinds, Mitch Simon, Ronen Gafni (creator of the FreshBiz game and TEDx speaker), and Simcha Gluck (co-author of The New Entrepreneurs) get personal. They share their own stories of discovering their genius zones, the obstacles they faced along the way, and how to know when you've truly locked into your art.
From bosses threatening to shut down retreats, to lawsuits over a board game, to unlearning what "responsibility" means, this conversation reveals the real, messy journey of claiming your unique value in the world. And why, in the age of AI, owning your art is no longer optional.
In this episode:
- The two telltale signs you've found your art: passion and energy
- Why does doing your art never feel like a task, and leave you more energized than when you started
- Mitch's story: leading transformational retreats while his bosses tried to stop him
- Ronen's story: fighting all the way to the Supreme Court of Israel to protect his art
- The danger zone of passion: underpricing your work and letting others take advantage
- Simcha's radio dial analogy: scanning through static until you lock into your station
- How limiting beliefs show up right when you hit your genius zone
- Being pushed by your past vs. being pulled by your future
- Why presence is the key to hearing the voice that guides you to your art
- A sneak peek at next episode: AI agents have now played one MILLION games of FreshBiz
Whether you're stuck doing what everyone else expects or standing at the edge of something you know is yours, this episode will give you the courage to turn the dial until you find your signal.
If this episode sparked something for you, follow us and share it with someone who needs to find their signal.
More episodes
View all episodes
14. 14 - Leaders Are Living in an AI Bubble and Workers Are Paying the Price
38:24||Ep. 1473% of executives believe their organization is deploying AI in a way that puts people first. Less than half of workers agree.In this episode, Mitch Simon, Ronen Gafni, and Simcha Gluck explore the findings of the Humans at Work Barometer and ask the harder question: what would an AI rollout look like if it were designed the way a great FreshBiz workshop is designed? With everyone in the room, everyone's needs on the table, and AI as a source of inspiration rather than anxiety. One of the most relevant episodes in the FreshMinds series for anyone navigating organizational change right now.13. 13 - What Drives Us to Do This: The Real Why Behind the FreshMinds Podcast
36:08||Ep. 13What if instead of starting with mission statements and KPIs, you started with the questions that actually matter?In this episode, Mitch Simon, Ronen Gafni, and Simcha Gluck turn the lens on themselves and their own podcast, asking why they really do this, what each of them personally needs from it, and what makes it one of the best parts of their week. A warm, honest, and surprisingly strategic conversation about what a genuine collaborative quest looks like when people who care about each other build something together.12. 12 - You Cannot Hope for Collaboration. You Have to Design It.
40:33||Ep. 12Hope is not a strategy. Every time Mitch Simon, Ronen Gafni, and Simcha Gluck open the FreshBiz game and tell people to collaborate, most people do not. Not because they are selfish, but because nothing in the system is designed to make collaboration the obvious choice.In this episode, they explore what it actually looks like to design collaboration rather than simply encourage it. From captured knowledge bases to cross-departmental rituals to the Wall Street Journal's confirmation that humans are still essential, this is the most practical episode in the collaboration series.11. 11 - Why You Still Do Not Collaborate (Even Though You Know You Should)
41:21||Ep. 11Knowing that collaboration works is not enough. If the system were designed to reward individual performance, people will keep performing individually no matter what the culture deck says.In this episode, Mitch Simon, Ronen Gafni, and Simcha Gluck unpack the cultural, institutional, and psychological forces that quietly block collaboration in even the best teams. From corporate suit-and-tie identity to media-trained individualism, this is the honest conversation about what it really takes to get people working together. Built on FreshBiz principles and entrepreneurial thinking.10. 10 - Stop Winning Alone: How Smart Teams Help Each Other Win
40:13||Ep. 10Collaboration is not something humans need to be taught. It is what we are built for.In this episode, Mitch Simon, Ronen Gafni, and Simcha Gluck explore why teams default to individual performance even when collaboration would get them there faster. From the Messi assist record to Ram Dass, this conversation reframes what winning actually looks like in a world where collective intelligence outperforms individual productivity every time. Grounded in the FreshBiz philosophy and entrepreneurial thinking.9. 09 - Work Smarter Together | How Smart Teams Turn AI Time into Human Breakthroughs
29:51||Ep. 9AI is giving your team back time. But if that time just gets filled with more work, nothing has changed. You have become the machine.In this episode, Mitch Simon, Ronen Gafni, and Simcha Gluck introduce the Pause and Think practice and the powerful question: what is possible now? Drawing on FreshBiz game insights, real community-building experiments, and honest observations about how teams behave under pressure, this episode offers a practical framework for turning AI efficiency into genuine human collaboration. One of the most actionable episodes in the FreshMinds series.8. 08 - Stop Playing the Game That Got You Here | The New Rules for Work and Value in the Age of AI
40:05||Ep. 8If you are still playing the same game you played five years ago, AI is not your opportunity. It is your threat.In this one-on-one episode, Mitch Simon and Ronen Gafni explore what it means to stop clinging to the game that built your career and start designing the one that will carry it forward. They cover how companies are measuring collaboration wrong, why individual KPIs are killing collective performance, and what working smarter, not harder, actually looks like when AI is handling the labor. A sharp, honest, and highly practical episode built on FreshBiz philosophy and entrepreneurial thinking.7. 07 - Why Humans Must Gamify to Stay Relevant | Creativity, Humor, and the Skills AI Cannot Touch
48:08||Ep. 7AI cannot be funny. It cannot gamify the way a human can. And it cannot break a room full of people out of their own limiting beliefs the way a great game experience does. In this episode, Mitch Simon, Ronen Gafni, and Simcha Gluck explore why gamification and humor are two of the most powerful and uniquely human tools available to leaders today. Recorded during a period of real tension and danger for Ronen and Simcha in Israel, this conversation is also one of the most honest explorations of what entrepreneurial thinking and the FreshBiz mindset look like when life gets genuinely hard.6. 06 - How to Unleash Your Creativity | Why What Drives You Crazy Is Your Creative Gold
37:29||Ep. 6AI is great at telling you what has already been done. Creativity is about what has not been done yet, and that starts with the things that frustrate you most.In this episode, Mitch Simon, Ronen Gafni, and Simcha Gluck share how their biggest creative breakthroughs were born from friction, not inspiration. From Ronen's frustration with Monopoly to Simcha's rethinking of real estate to Mitch's rejection of classroom-only leadership, this episode gives you three sharp questions to unlock your own creative edge. Entrepreneurial thinking in action.