115. Ambition, Resilience, and Leadership with Barrett Brooks

The Knowledge with David Elikwu

David speaks with Barrett Brooks, a writer and executive coach specialising in guiding mission-driven founders and creators through emotional and strategic barriers to business growth. His writing focuses on leaders and companies tackling critical societal issues such as climate change, biodiversity, education, food systems, healthcare, and circular products. Previously, he was the managing editor of The Carbon Almanac (a bestselling book on climate change led by Seth Godin), COO at Good Coffee, and COO at ConvertKit.

They talked about:

🧩 How past experiences cause startup misalignment

⚠️ The negative side of self-imposed challenges

⚖️ The tension between achievement and fulfilment

🥊 The inner battle behind our external pursuits

🧳 The burden of generational trauma

🌱 The transformative power of mentorship

This is just one part of a longer conversation, and it's the third part. You can listen to the earlier episode here:

Part 1: 🎙️ Purpose, Passion, and Perseverance with Barrett Brooks (Episode 109)

Part 2: 🎙️ The Diary of a $30M COO with Barrett Brooks (Episode 112)

📜 Full transcript:

theknowledge.io/barrettbrooks-3/

📹 Watch on Youtube:

https://youtu.be/uqkMUcxFA8M

🗣 Mentioned in the show:

ConvertKit | https://bit.ly/convertkit-de

Nathan Barry | https://nathanbarry.com/

Google | https://about.google/our-story/

SpiderMan | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man

Peter Parker | https://www.marvel.com/characters/spider-man-peter-parker

It Didn't Start With You | https://amzn.to/3WU7iJe

Mark Wolynn | https://markwolynn.com/

The Wild Edge of Sorrow | https://amzn.to/3YCJWJI

Francis Weller | https://www.francisweller.net/

Andy Crissinger | https://www.reboot.io/team/andy-crissinger/

Reboot | https://www.reboot.org/

Seth Godin | https://theknowledge.io/freestyle/

👤 Connect with Barrett:

Website: https://barrettbrooks.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarrettABrooks

Good Work with Barrett Brooks: https://www.goodworkshow.com/

👨🏾‍💻 About David Elikwu:

David Elikwu FRSA is a serial entrepreneur, strategist, and writer. David is the founder of The Knowledge, a platform helping people think deeper and work smarter.

🐣 Twitter: @Delikwu / @itstheknowledge

🌐 Website: https://www.davidelikwu.com

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🎙️ Podcast: http://plnk.to/theknowledge

📖 Free Book: https://pro.theknowledge.io/frames

My Online Course

🖥️ Decision Hacker: http://www.decisionhacker.io/

Decision Hacker will help you hack your default patterns and become an intentional architect of your life. You’ll learn everything you need to transform your decisions, your habits, and your outcomes.

The Knowledge

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The Knowledge is a weekly newsletter for people who want to get more out of life. It's full of insights from psychology, philosophy, productivity, and business, all designed to make you more productive, creative, and decisive.

My Favorite Tools

🎞️ Descript: https://bit.ly/descript-de

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💹 Nutmeg: http://bit.ly/nutmegde

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