Founders/CEOs. Visionaries. Industry Leaders. Changemakers.
"Meet 4 new people a day and ask them what they do for a living. You will have a much better understanding of the world, and be far less frustrated when things aren’t working the way you want them to."
TIMOTHY DRAPER
Founder of Draper Associates & DFJ Venture Capital
"Connect with others; you never know where it may lead. Focus on how you do things more so than what you do. That is, understand what types of environments inspire the best in you."
We all have a voice - anative, inherent voice that tells our story.
*native: (of a quality) belonging to a person's character.
The Natfluence community consists of Disruptors, Go-Getters, and Readers - all bound by a common interest in personal and professional growth, and driving positive change.
We're here to Feature the Rock Stars of the World and Share their Stories.
Meet some of our top industry leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers.
Featured Disruptors
"I motivate my team by empowering them to be disruptors. Great ideas come from diverse people and backgrounds. I listen, communicate, and value all team members, no matter their role or experience.'"
"Motivating others can be hard – it varies a lot from person to person. It’s important to try and understand what drives each individual. I ask myself, ‘what makes this person get up in the morning?'"
"You have to believe in yourself and go for it. Who would have believed a body suit and a wrap skirt would have revolutionized the way women dressed? There was no precedent for it. I don’t consider anything a mistake. You learn from everything you do, the good and the bad."
"Don’t waste too much time on a prior thinking. Just get started. Fail faster, which means: do small low-cost low-risk experiments to test your ideas and be ready to change quickly."
"Making mistakes is part of any job (and in life, for that matter). One learns from mistakes and hopefully you don’t repeat the same mistake. The point is to think about what happened and why; admit it was an error and don’t try to cover the mistake up as it will just get bigger and cause more anxiety or problems."
"It’s as simple as disrupt or get disrupted. If you aren’t willing to change and evolve with the larger shifts taking place, you will get left in the dust. The key, no matter the industry, is the CEO, who has to own the transformation."
"If you’re going to bring up problems to your boss, try to also have solutions to recommend, at least as a jumping off point. And be nice to everyone, because...everyone knows everyone else and you will very likely end up working with some of these people repeatedly in different contexts throughout your career."
"Seek out something that you love. If you believe in what you are doing you will be driven beyond belief and great success will come. Also, be sure to take care of yourself by not polluting your body with junk, a clean body is an efficient and smart one."
"Our biggest failure was probably our biggest success. When we signed our first lease on our first location, we were told we would have exterior signage. Sadly, that was not the case. Without exterior signage, it was incredibly hard for customers to find us...literally, riders would call us outside 72nd street asking where we were located."
"Every work day is about winning, getting ahead and continuing to adapt because if you sit still, someone is going to eat your lunch. Be ferocious about optimizing each day and each meeting so you can accomplish your goals and keep moving forward."
"The truth is that there is still a lot of stigma around mental health, suicide and addiction. But that is rapidly changing as celebrities are speaking out about their own suffering of depression, anxiety and addiction. So that is changing. What isn’t widely discussed is how important lifestyle is to the health of the mind.."
"Successful business ideas often come from simple observation of human behavior. Limited Edition footwear at Nike came from someone pulling up beside me in my used black Porsche 924 in a shiny new yellow Sebring Edition 924 Porsche and me wondering if the concept of Limited Edition would work in athletic footwear. It worked."
"Greatest success was the initial opening of The Kitchen in Boulder. After doing software, everyone thought I was crazy to open a restaurant. Proving that I could do it was one my proudest life achievements."
"I have believed in the importance of democracy and being civically engaged since my childhood when my parents would take me with them to vote. I found my civic voice as a pregnant teen when I launched my first advocacy campaign advocating for my ability to remain in my high school instead of transferring to an alternative high school for pregnant girls."
New York City Executive Director, Generation Citizen
"As marketers, we are responsible for putting images and messages into the world which promote inclusion and love. The content we make should provoke positive conversations, redefine what families look like, promote underdogs as heroes and ensure that we establish people of all races, beliefs, genders and sexualities into meaningful roles."
"It’s cliché to say lead by example, but people forget how contagious genuine optimism and enthusiasm can be. You can’t expect someone to be excited by something if it doesn’t excite you first."
"...[M]any of us often tend to rely on external forces, such as a partner, a job or a company for our financial stability, now and future. However, we have to remember that partners, jobs and corporations can come and go, for all kinds of reasons. As such, you have to be poised to take care of yourself..."
"Failing. It’s the nature of the game when it comes to startups but it still stings...Ultimately, bouncing back and realizing that the failure is usually not a reflection of your work but a reflection of several factors – many of which are not under your control – timing, capital, market, etc. allows you to live to fight another day..."
"My upbringing shaped my life by making me aware and grateful. Aware of my privileges and grateful enough to work really hard when I was given an opportunity...All of my experiences led me to where I am now—working to end hunger for millions of families as CEO of Feeding America."
"I can’t stress it enough, but sometimes life works out in ways that you least expect and that’s important to always remind yourself. Your first, second or maybe even third job might not be your dream job and that’s ok!"
"The influx of social platforms present great opportunities for emerging musicians to be discovered, but on the flip side, it can also be challenging to get your voice heard in a crowded space. Up and coming musicians need to be strategic to get their name out there..."
"My greatest success thus far has been learning that I don’t always have to know everything and I don’t always have to know the right answer. Because there’s usually no right answer."
"Talk is key because it is how humanity relates. Progress is premised on talk. Love, companionship, collaboration, civil and civic exchange, reconciliation, resolution, revelation, reclamation and revolution, are rooted in talking."
Top industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and changemakers.
Disruptor-level Contributors are invited to share content based on their ability to drive change and positively influence the community in a manner that is consistent with our mission.
Our hand-selected Disruptors are referred to as "AdVice" and "AdVantage" Contributors.
There is No Cost for Disruptors.
Motivated and career-focused movers and shakers that have demonstrated their dedication and determination to personal and professional growth by completing the Go-Getter Admission Process.
Go-Getter-Level Contributors who have applied and been approved are referred to as "AdVert" Contributors.
The benefits of being a Go-Getter-Level Contributor are described here.
Anyone interested in meaningful career insights, personal growth tips, and quality thought leadership can explore the complete database of contributor content at any time by visiting the website.
