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Still Being Molly

Business with Purpose Podcast EP 97: Travis Thomas, Founder of Live Yes And!

Business with Purpose Podcast EP 97: Travis Thomas, Founder of Live Yes And!

Some of you may or may not know this, but I am a former comedian! I performed improvisational and sketch comedy for almost 15 years and I loved it. While I’m no longer on stage a couple nights a week, I still love the art of improv comedy and used so many of the skills I gained doing improv in my everyday life: in my work, all the things. Yup, despite what you may realize, the foundational principles of improv are some of the most effective principles for doing life and business!

My guest this week is Travis Thomas, the founder of Live Yes And!, which helps businesses and athletes and people apply the cornerstone improv mindset “YES, And!” This mindset focuses on life-transforming collaboration that results in greater profits, but more importantly a more engaged creative, innovative team. This was such a fun episode for me to do and I cannot wait for you to hear it!

[click_to_tweet tweet=”“The reason improvisation can be done well is because you have created a level of trust, respect, and value amongst the people you perform with that gives you that parachute to go on stage and take risks.” @liveyesand #businesswithpurposepodcast” quote=”“The reason improvisation can be done well is because you have created a level of trust, respect, and value amongst the people you perform with that gives you that parachute to go on stage and take risks.” @liveyesand #businesswithpurposepodcast”]

THE BASICS OF LIVE YES, AND!

Travis has impacted thousands of people by teaching them improv skills that they can apply to everyday life. By working in many different areas over the years, Travis knows that it doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, it’s all about building up life and relationships to grow creativity and collaboration. Travis and I talk about experiencing empathy, passion, and collaboration in his workshops and the importance of building trust and respect.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”“We actually have a lot of power to how we respond to everything that happens to us.” @liveyesand #businesswithpurposepodcast” quote=”“We actually have a lot of power to how we respond to everything that happens to us.” @liveyesand #businesswithpurposepodcast”]

NO MISTAKES IN IMPROV

It is so easy to let what we think is a mistake determine our happiness or if we succeeded or failed. However, there are no mistakes in improv. Nothing is a mistake because you’re making up your own reality, and this can be applied to real life! Rather than looking at something as a mistake, and instead looking at something as making the best with what we have, life becomes so much better. Travis and I discuss how mistakes are just jumping off points and unexpected gifts.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”“You can’t show up and be great in a relationship if your own mental approach to life is a mess.” @liveyesand #businesswithpurposepodcast” quote=”“You can’t show up and be great in a relationship if your own mental approach to life is a mess.” @liveyesand #businesswithpurposepodcast”]

UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT

One of the best things about improv is the unconditional support you get from your teammates, and the same can be said for business as well. Once you create and build up that trust, creativity and collaboration come naturally and you can start to take risks that you didn’t feel like you could before. Travis and I talk about the importance of this support and what prevents something good from becoming something great.

About Travis Thomas, Founder of Live Yes And!:

After 20 years of performing hundreds of improv comedy shows across the country, Travis Thomas has learned that the same principles that apply to improv comedy also apply to business, mental, and leadership skills. As an author, speaker, coach, improv comedian, and the Founder of Live Yes And!, Travis has been helping businesses and athletes apply the cornerstone improv mindset – “YES And!” – to succeed in life and business for the last 10 years.

In the world of improvisation, “YES, And” means accepting whatever is being given to you, and then responding and building on that reality. Most of us live life in denial – saying “no” to reality. This leads to a life unfulfilled and lived in fear. Living “YES, And” is about accepting and embracing everything that is happening – even the bad stuff! Why? Because good or bad, the only way to move forward is by facing it and moving through it.

As a professional public speaker and coach, Travis has trained thousands of people and dozens of organizations like the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, University of Georgia Football, US Soccer, Gatorade, PepsiCo., and Under Armour on the principles of improvisation and how developing a “YES, And” mindset will help create an engaged, creative, collaborative, and healthier life and workplace.

CONNECT WITH TRAVIS:

  • Website: http://liveyesand.com
  • Instagram: @liveyesand
  • Twitter: @LiveYesAnd
  • Facebook: Live Yes, And
  • LinkedIn: Travis Thomas
  • Youtube: Travis Thomas

Special thanks to CAUSEBOX for sponsoring this week’s Business with Purpose podcast. Use coupon code MOLLY for $15 off!

Join my Purchase with Purpose Facebook group and let’s continue the conversation! https://www.facebook.com/groups/purchasewithpurpose/

Subscribe to the Business with Purpose podcast (and I’d love it if you left a review** on iTunes!)

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**Want to know how to leave a review of the Business with Purpose Podcast on iTunes from your iPhone or iPad?

    1. Launch Apple’s Podcast app.
    2. Tap the Search tab.
    3. Enter “Business with Purpose“
    4. Tap the blue Search key at the bottom right.
    5. Tap the Blue album art for the podcast.
    6. Tap the Reviews tab.
    7. Tap Write a Review at the bottom.
    8. Enter your iTunes password to login.
    9. Tap the Stars to leave a rating.
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    11. Tap Send.

 

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Help me pick a new headshot! After almost 6 years I finally got updated headshots and one gets to go on the back of my book! I’m very indecisive so help me pick, if you are so inclined.

Shoutout to the amazing @stellaandbirdiephotography for the new pics and to @kns.ellis for her makeup magic. #authorphotos #headshots

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Help me pick a new headshot! After almost 6 years I finally got updated headshots and one gets to go on the back of my book! I’m very indecisive so help me pick, if you are so inclined. 

Shoutout to the amazing @stellaandbirdiephotography for the new pics and to @kns.ellis for her makeup magic. #authorphotos #headshots

Here are a few things I know to be true:
👉🏼 we can be having the time of our lives while also experiencing great disappointments
👉🏼 we can laugh so hard our stomachs hurt while in the depths of grief
👉🏼 we can feel confident in the work (or art) we’ve created while also fighting the battle of imposter syndrome
👉🏼 we can feel grateful for the life we are living while also lamenting that which we’ve lost
👉🏼 we can lament the life we are living while being grateful for where we’ve come from
👉🏼 we can document a really fantastic hair day and then also document the horrors of how we feel when we have the stomach bug (swipe for a real life example) 🤣

The beauty and brutality of life is in the both / and, not the either / or. And if we are blessed to live long enough, we will experience all those things and so much more.

What both / and are you sitting in today?

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Here are a few things I know to be true:
👉🏼 we can be having the time of our lives while also experiencing great disappointments
👉🏼 we can laugh so hard our stomachs hurt while in the depths of grief
👉🏼 we can feel confident in the work (or art) we’ve created while also fighting the battle of imposter syndrome
👉🏼 we can feel grateful for the life we are living while also lamenting that which we’ve lost
👉🏼 we can lament the life we are living while being grateful for where we’ve come from
👉🏼 we can document a really fantastic hair day and then also document the horrors of how we feel when we have the stomach bug (swipe for a real life example) 🤣

The beauty and brutality of life is in the both / and, not the either / or. And if we are blessed to live long enough, we will experience all those things and so much more. 

What both / and are you sitting in today?

Selah Farm Thanksgiving 2023 ✅
Carrying on the tradition my parents started so many decades ago. Love breaking bread with family, friends, strangers, international students, and more. Missing some family today, but feeling thankful. 🧡

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Selah Farm Thanksgiving 2023 ✅ 
Carrying on the tradition my parents started so many decades ago. Love breaking bread with family, friends, strangers, international students, and more. Missing some family today, but feeling thankful. 🧡

I thank God every single day that social media didn’t exist in 2003. #highschoolthenandnow

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I thank God every single day that social media didn’t exist in 2003. #highschoolthenandnow

She’s been gone 21 years, but it feels like I blinked.

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She’s been gone 21 years, but it feels like I blinked.

God is in the details.

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God is in the details.

Happy 30th Anniversary to the Vietnam Women’s Memorial! What an incredible day with incredible veteran friends. I pray that I was able to honor my mom 🇺🇸 She should have been here. ❤️

Happy Veteran’s Day to all who have so selflessly served. ❤️

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Happy 30th Anniversary to the Vietnam Women’s Memorial! What an incredible day with incredible veteran friends. I pray that I was able to honor my mom 🇺🇸 She should have been here. ❤️

Happy Veteran’s Day to all who have so selflessly served. ❤️

Today was so special. I had the privilege of representing my mom as she was posthumously honored (among six other incredible women veterans) at the Military Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery @womensmemorial. I was able to reconnect with and hug so many dear sister and brother Vietnam veterans that I hadn’t seen in a few decades. We hugged, laughed, and cried as we shared stories.

We ended the night with a candlelight ceremony at the Vietnam Veteran’s Women’s Memorial. And to answer your question, no.. I can’t get through listening to taps while I watch as a bunch of retired Veterans salute. 😭

This weekend, instead of taking advantage of mattress sales, thank a veteran for his or her service. 🇺🇸 #veteransday🇺🇸

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Today was so special. I had the privilege of representing my mom as she was posthumously honored (among six other incredible women veterans) at the Military Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery @womensmemorial. I was able to reconnect with and hug so many dear sister and brother Vietnam veterans that I hadn’t seen in a few decades. We hugged, laughed, and cried as we shared stories.

We ended the night with a candlelight ceremony at the Vietnam Veteran’s Women’s Memorial. And to answer your question, no.. I can’t get through listening to taps while I watch as a bunch of retired Veterans salute. 😭

This weekend, instead of taking advantage of mattress sales, thank a veteran for his or her service. 🇺🇸 #veteransday🇺🇸

My once in a decade “visiting where I grew up” photo dump 👉🏼

1️⃣ where I carved my name in the cement of the sidewalks I lobbied the town council for when I was 8
2️⃣ in front of my childhood home
3️⃣ on my sidewalks. Yes. They are mine. I put them there.
4️⃣ crying in front of the abandoned Tortilla Factory. May it rest in peace.
5️⃣ peering in the windows of the Tortilla Factory - the back room where the Tuesday night Folk Club met every week. Literally hasn’t changed in the 12 years it’s been closed.
6️⃣ downtown Herndon
7️⃣ at the Veteran’s memorial in downtown Herndon that my mom helped to dedicate when it was established.
8️⃣ visiting grandma
9️⃣ with my mama

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My once in a decade “visiting where I grew up” photo dump 👉🏼

1️⃣ where I carved my name in the cement of the sidewalks I lobbied the town council for when I was 8
2️⃣ in front of my childhood home
3️⃣ on my sidewalks. Yes. They are mine. I put them there. 
4️⃣ crying in front of the abandoned Tortilla Factory. May it rest in peace. 
5️⃣ peering in the windows of the Tortilla Factory - the back room where the Tuesday night Folk Club met every week. Literally hasn’t changed in the 12 years it’s been closed. 
6️⃣ downtown Herndon
7️⃣ at the Veteran’s memorial in downtown Herndon that my mom helped to dedicate when it was established. 
8️⃣ visiting grandma
9️⃣ with my mama

👇🏼SHARE IN THE COMMENTS: what or who are you grateful for? Tag them and tell them why! 🩵 #countyourblessings #countingmyblessings

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👇🏼SHARE IN THE COMMENTS: what or who are you grateful for? Tag them and tell them why! 🩵 #countyourblessings #countingmyblessings
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