Entrepreneur and Business Podcasts: Valuable for Design Professionals

I hate to admit it, but I am a bit late in embracing podcasts. I had always heard younger people at work talk about what they were following, but as a child of parents who were constantly listening to talk radio, I had no desire to tune in to podcasts. That changed, though, last year when I found it was becoming harder to hold a book during my daily commute on increasingly crowded trains, and I was also driving more frequently to clients all over the Bay Area. I initially asked for podcast recommendations, but none of my designer friends had a running list of business-related shows.

As a lover of data, I conducted my own study with multiple lists of business podcasts published by leading magazines before settling in on a few shows that consistently produce quality content. Here are my recommended podcasts for designers who want to learn successful business techniques while on the go.

EntrepreneurOnFire (EOFire), hosted by John Lee Dumas
EOFire is one of the more popular and well-known entrepreneurship podcasts, delivering new content every day in 15- to 30-minute increments. The podcast features inspiring entrepreneurs from a wide variety of market sectors, has more than 1,500 episodes to date, and was included on Apple’s Best of iTunes list in 2013. Each episode includes the stories of successful entrepreneurs, often with the lessons learned along the way, the stumbling blocks they faced, and the turning points when their ideas became the businesses they had always dreamed of.

Mixergy, hosted by Andrew Warner
If you are interested in in-depth interviews with world-renowned entrepreneurs and founders of well-known companies—including Pixar Animation Studios, LinkedIn, and Y Combinator—then you’ll probably enjoy this podcast, which is usually 60 to 90 minutes in length. Warner is great at eliciting stories from those he interviews, and you’ll inevitably learn a handful of lessons to apply to your business. I thoroughly recommend a recent episode with Bushra Azhar, founder of the Persuasion Revolution, who describes the persuasion techniques that she teaches her clients who are seeking to become better businesspeople.

Eventual Millionaire, hosted by Jaime Masters
Masters interviews businesspeople who have reached the millionaire mark and provides sound business advice on anything from firing an employee to creating a company’s core values. Interviews tend to run 30 to 60 minutes long, while the targeted lessons usually appear in 15- to 30- minute increments. I also appreciate the articles on Masters’s website that collate the statistics from her millionaire interviews into meaningful business practices on a wide array of topics, including professional development, sales, vision, and finance.

HBR Ideacast, hosted by Sarah Green Carmichael
Carmichael, senior editor of the Harvard Business Review (HBR), delivers 30-minute episodes with the type of research findings that the HBR is known for. With HBR Ideacast, you will be more educated on the subjects that every businessperson should be aware of, including the reasons behind corporate inequality, business leadership in the current political climate, and why reorganization efforts are so incredibly emotional.

This is Your Life, hosted by Michael Hyatt
Hyatt’s series focuses on winning at work and succeeding in life. This podcast—as much about personal development as it is about business development—has helped me prioritize the aspects of my life that leave me happy with my professional efforts without the guilt of having my personal and family life suffer. Now that I am pregnant with my second child, I find Hyatt’s insights on leading in the face of criticism particularly helpful as I continue to advance my career while simultaneously growing my family. Hyatt is in the process of launching a new podcast. You may also be interested in his recent book, Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want.

I hope you enjoy listening to these podcasts. Let me know if there are other podcasts that you find valuable.

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This article was originally published in Contract Magazine.