conversations With
mick eBeling continued
P: Do you have a particular framework,
mindset or approach for problem solving?
E: One of the things I write about in my book is just this.
We have a three-pronged approach on how we look at
problem solving. One is to look at every problem with
“beautiful, limitless naiveté.” Two is to “find your one.” And
three is to “commit and then figure it out.”
“Beautiful Limitless Naiveté” is the fact that if you’re not
inhibited by the past telling you what can and cannot be
done… you look at things from a completely unique
perspective. An unencumbered perspective. That provides a
lot of strategic advantage toward coming up with
something that is going to be a unique approach towards
solving a problem, especially a social issue.
“Find your one” is part of our principle of “help one,
help many.” We don’t believe you start by trying to solve
for many. We believe that you start [by] trying to solve for
one person. Once you’ve helped that one person, and
solved that one problem or that one absurdity, you power-
fully use that motivation to effect real change.
Lastly, to “commit and figure it out” is just our ethos.
That’s how we live, it’s how we breath. It’s how we
approach everything… it’s better for us to start than to get
all of our ducks in a row, get everything setup and go
through the whole process, and have a backdoor ‘out’ in
case none of those things line up. It’s a far more powerful
way to operate than to say, “I’m going to do it,” and then
go through the process of figuring out how to make sure
that you actually pull it off.
P: What project are you working on now
that excites you the most?
E: I just can’t choose one project over another! I think that
we’ve been incredibly blessed recently on being able to
crack the code on so many things. From a device that helps
the deaf experience music using their skin as an eardrum
(Music: Not Impossible), creating a device that is able to
help people with Parkinson’s (VibroHealth), to having
created an innovative new personal mobility vehicle (The
Kelli Chair).
Last but not least, we [are] repulsed by the absurdity of
hunger in this country […] We have a solution called
Hunger: Not Impossible that is able to feed people who live
in a food-insecure environment through the one thing that
most people on this planet have in common: a cellphone.
We use that as a device that gives them the ability to get
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food that is geo-proximate to them, much like an Uber or
Lyft. There’s just too many things that we’re working on
right now, that are too important for the planet, for us to
say “this is the one thing that we love and are working on.”
P: The spa industry is full of business
owners and entrepreneurs. Do you have any
advice for them?
E: Yeah. I think that what makes small business owners
and entrepreneurs special is that they’re just wired with
the belief that they can achieve something, or change
something, or do something that has [never] been taught
to them. It’s something that is hardwired within them.
When you harness that power, and that potential, that is a
lightning rod to creating change.
In terms of advice, continue believing that nothing is
outside your reach, that you truly do have the potential to
do anything. You just have to believe it first, and then start
executing on that belief! n
QUICK QUOTES:
his greatest role model:
“I would say... What a tough
one, man. I think it would be
my parents. Also, Erik
Weihenmayer is one of my
heroes. I’m so inspired by him.”
favorite film project he’s
worked on: “I did two Marvel
short films, which launched the
short film series for them. Since that
time, I think the Project Daniel film
we did at Not Impossible has been
one of the most exciting projects.”
ideal day off: “Snowboarding,
skating, biking, etc. Doing something
physical so that the physicality of the
day drowns out any noise of the mind!”
favorite color: “Black.”
favorite spa treatment: “Myofascial release... I’m
pretty down with that.”
most interesting place he’s visited:
“The Sudan for sure!”