A 2019 Interview with Beth Bond Madsen

Who is your favorite Disney character?
Fairy Godmother.
What is your favorite Disney movie?
Marry Poppins.
What is your favorite food?
Crab with anything, Tomatoes.
What is your favorite animal?
Dolphins.
What is your favorite color?
Green.
What is your favorite drink?
Grapefruit, Green Apple Juice
What is your favorite tv show?
Cooking Shows, the Office.
What’s your top three favorite places you’ve ever traveled?
Monterey Bay, New York, Aruba.
If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
Chicago.
What does your average day look like?
Wake up at 7, feed J, check email, cup of coffee, stretch, conference calls, mtgs and computer work until 230, work on youth program, be home at 3 to stay with J while Lee picks Mady up, computer work, go on walk with Mady and J, make dinner, watch a show with lee, work up in the work space or go to gym with mady. Start bedtime around 9 oclock. Work on phone until J falls asleep - watch a show as I fall asleep. Wake up with J every 40-90 minutes until 7am.
What do you spend a ridiculous amount of money on?
Food.
If you only had two extra hours per day outside of work, what would you spend it on?
Family time.
What has become more important for you in the last few years?
Mapping out my day/week/month on paper- goal setting.
What has become less important for you in the last few years?
Feeling like I need to prove my worth to others.
What would you do/have/be if you had $10 million dollars?
I would continue to do the things I do now and take a few more trips each year.
What can you do that will be remembered in 200-400 years?
Shift how education is delivered to youth.
What assets do you have (not financial)?
Children, Art, 501(c) 3, LLC, 2 Trademarks, Web/Mobile App.
When you think of the word successful, who comes to mind?
Feeling confident about your ability to make a difference in the lives of others via intellectual, social, human, financial and in-kind capital.
What is something you believe that other people think is insane?
Lifeforms that did not originate earth are not only real but human evolution has relied on extra-terrestrial races pushing forward life on this planet. They (we) always have been, are now and will continue to develop this planet :).
What is the book (or books) that you’ve gifted and/or discussed/referenced the most?
“Enders Game”, “The Little Prince.”
What is your favorite documentary or movie?
Guilty pleasure movie- “The Devil Wears Prada.”
What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last couple years?
Can it please be $150? If so, subscription-based clothing. Rent the Runway unlimited has legitimately changed my life.
What are your morning rituals? What do the first 60minutes of your day look like?
Email. Coffee. Breathing. Hugging babies.
What obsessions do you explore on the evenings or weekends?
Community Building events, meeting people working to build coalitions for good.
What topic would you speak about if you were asked to give a ted talk on something outside your main area of expertise?
The Art of Cooking.
Do you have a quote you live your life by or think about often?
“Do good, Ho’Oponopono.”
What is the worst advice you see or hear being dispensed in the world?
“This is my year of NO" - fuck those people.
If you could have one gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it, what would it say?
#goodidea create a better world than the one you see
What is something weird or unsettling that happens to you on a regular basis?
Numbers follow me. 95% of my purchases have repeating numbers and/or palindromes.
What have you changed your mind about in the last few years, why?
World peace is possible. I do not believe that humans can live peacefully amongst themselves and as a species on this planet.
What do you believe is true, even though you can’t prove it?
There is a supernatural world of energy all around us with ghosts, apparitions, poltergeists...
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? or, do you have a favorite failure of yours?
ForGoods.
What advice would you give to your 20-, 25-, or 30-year-old self? and please place where you were at the time, and what you were doing?
20/25/30 - When someone shows you who they are - believe them.
What is the best or most worthwhile investment you’ve made? could be an investment of money, time, energy, or other resource. How did you decide to make the investment?
ForGoods.
If you were teaching a ninth grade class, what would you teach?
I do and it's Idea Design for Real World Problems (Design Thinking)
What do you think financially successful people who are generally unhappy in common?
Their focus on their wealth instead of how it is energy that should be contributed back to the world.
If you had to choose three herbs or spices to cook with for the next year, what would they be?
No answer given.
Do you meditate?
In waves. Lee and I do breathing exercises with his apple watch when it reminds us a few times a day.
What is the best or most worthwhile investment you’ve made?
My relationship with Lee.
Who are three people or sources you’ve learned from- or followed closely- in the last year?
Robert Bosch, Elon Musk.
What is the worst advice you see or hear given in your tradE?
Focus on your brand.
If you were a billionaire and you could give 2-3 books to every graduating high schooler, what would they be?
If I were a billionaire I believe I would give every gradutating high schooler a subscription to blinksy
What are some of the choices you’ve made that made you who you are?
To move to LA. To move to Chicago.
What’s the best lessons your father ever taught you?
It's going to take longer than you think. Just start now.
What’s the best lessons your mother ever taught you?
To whom much is given, much is required.
What are you waiting for?
Nothing.
If you were fired from your job today, what would you do to get things together financially?
Everything I’m currently doing.
What do you owe your community?
To develop and contribute the unique talents and experiences I've been gifted and help others to do the same.
Is there anything you would die for?
My children.
What is your idea of happiness?
Happiness is living in a state of flow - in concert with the timelines and life forces around you, where you can see purpose in and connection to everything.
What is your idea of wealthy?
I am wealthy - heartily working is a form of wealth to me. The traditional idea of wealth - Relaxing on a beach with a corona looks like hell to me - honestly, If I had 10M more dollars than I have now, the only difference I'd make is not flying commercial and paying my studio instructors/GMs more.
How do you ideally see yourself at the age of 75?
I don't know that I've ever seen myself as 75.
What do you always have with you when you leave the house?
Phone.
If you could automatically learn another language or two, what would they be?
German, Spanish.