Jeni Britton

Okay, I wanna open this episode with a story.

So if you go back to 1996, a 22-year-old art student dropout by the name of Jeni Britton opened this stand in a public market.

She's in Columbus, Ohio, and she started making what some have now called the best ice cream in America.

She used grass-fed milk way before anyone even knew what that meant.

People like, uh, I can't name everybody, but here are just some off the top of my head.

James Clear, uh, author of Atomic Habits, Howard Behar, the former president of Starbucks, two-time NBA champion Shane Battier, founder of Jeni's Ice Cream, Jeni Britton, uh, founder of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, Cameron Mitchell, founder of the social enterprise unicorn Kiva.org, Jessica Jackley, researcher on meaningful work cultures, Tamara Miles, uh, NBA number one draft pick Greg Oden, amazing speaker and friend Chris Singleton, and last year, The Coffee Bean himself, Damon West, and many, many more, way more than, uh, have been a part of it the last ten years than I can even share.

But just so many great people and just a powerful spirit in the room and amazing, amazing events that we've had leading up to this year.

So on today's episode, we'll be previewing this year's Thermostat Cultures Live event that is set for Friday, November 6th, 2026.

Whitney Wolfe Herd from Bumble, she had to deal with that public and painful legal battle with Tinder.

And Jeni Britton Bauer from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, she fought through a Listeria outbreak that nearly destroyed her brand.

It's not just about strategy, it's about mental fortitude.

So what's the most important skill then? It's not coding or marketing or finance.