When Everyone You Trust Says Your Best Idea is a Mistake

Most of us are taught to wait for proof before we move. Find the data, find the comparable, make sure someone has done it first. But the ideas that matter most rarely come with evidence attached. In the fall of 2021, one of the best women's soccer teams in the country was one win from a championship, and not a single bar in Seattle would show the game. The response Jen Barnes got when she called around was casual and complete: maybe after the men's football games, if there is anything left. The inequity was not hidden. It had just become so normal that most people had stopped seeing it. Jen spent more than 25 years leading other people's companies before she opened Rough & Tumble, the world's first bar built for gender equity in sports viewing, in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood in 2022. She did it with no market comparable, no proof of concept, and nearly everyone in her life telling her it would fail. Host Kim Bohr, CEO of SparkEffect, sits down with Jen for an honest conversation about moving on conviction when the data has not caught up, and what every leader owes their own judgment when the room says wait. What you'll discover: \- How Jen built a case for an idea with no market data behind it \- How to tell a gut instinct worth following from wishful thinking \- Why saying no to the industry playbook became her growth strategy \- What keeps a team together in an industry known for burning people out \- How leading changes when you stop building every decision around consensus \- The real costs putting neighborhood restaurants at risk Notable Quotes “There was no question in my mind that this was going to make it.”  - Jen Barnes “This is a conversation about what it takes to carry a room when the only evidence you have is your own belief.”  - Kim Bohr Hosted by Kim Bohr, CEO of SparkEffect, Courage to Advance brings senior HR and business leaders into honest conversation about leading people through real complexity. New episodes drop every second, third, and fourth Tuesday of each month. Subscribe at https://sparkeffect.com/sparkeffect-podcast-courage-to-advance/.