Episode 47 – Heading into the Roaring 20s | Zach Lohrisch

In this episode I chat with Zach Lohrisch, where he shares insights from the last decade and predictions for the next.

Listen in your favourite app

Transcript

Murray Guest  

Hey, Zach, welcome to the podcast as we’re heading into the roaring 20s, reflecting on the past decade. My friend, how you been?

Zach Lohrisch  

I’ve been really well, thanks for asking, what about you? 

Murray Guest  

Yeah, been great mate, just got back from a bit of a family trip, had some fun. And now looking forward to this next decade, and I’m loving these chats with different people about what life’s been like for them and some of those lessons that are coming out and sharing those. But I know that you’ve had a bit of a journey in the past decade as well. When you reflect on that decade, we’re going to explore that and see what that’s been like. But just recently, what have you been up to?

Look working hard. Obviously, you know, I think work is something that a lot of people sort of roll their eyes at, but it’s a really necessary thing. And I love work. So work was probably a big focus for me. I was you know, I’m also training, training hard as well. So I completed my first triathlon, very big achievement for me, not a good runner. So getting that done, as you know, was was really proud to get that done, too. So, it’s been training hard, working hard.

Murray Guest  

Well done on completing that triathlon, I think there’s not enough of celebration and recognition of each other and ourselves. So I’m glad that you’ve you bring that up, because that is a big achievement. Do you have plans for more in 2020?

I do. I do. I’ve got some leave planned in February. So I’m planning to come back and hit another one sometime after that. So just, you know, I thought I’d do one but the competitive spirit in me just comes out. Now I just want to see if I can beat that time. Yeah.

Murray Guest  

Yeah, that that, you want to get that competitive spirit, but not so much that it’s going to burn you out, where next thing you’re enrolling in like 20 triathlons next year or something.

That’s right. That’s right. But I think it’s also about how you measure yourself. And I think a healthy measurement of self and healthy competitiveness is really good. So for me, it’s just about could I do that better? If I did it, you know, twice a year or something? Could I do it a little bit better every time? I think that’s a, that’s a nice, healthy way to direct my competitiveness.

Murray Guest  

Awesome. Awesome. And now, just just to help me understand, and maybe some of our listeners, say you are a crossfitter. How did CrossFit help or hinder the whole triathlon experience?

Zach Lohrisch  

Yeah, fantastic. Well done. Well done. That is. I’m inspired, it makes me think about what could I achieve in that realm next year, swimming is far from anything I can do. So we can talk about that later. Now. Your bio… energetically collecting experiences. When you say that, what does that look like for you? And that leads us to think about what you’ve been collecting in the past 10 years?

I think having a good like foundation of general fitness, which is what CrossFit is about, constantly varied, functional movement performed at high intensity. And what that really means is it’s movements that we do every day. So can you lift, can you throw something over your shoulder? Can you you know, squat down and pick something off the ground, those functional kind of movements. So having a baseline of fitness makes it really easy to start from, but terrible runner, so I had to work really hard on getting better at run technique. And so there’s been, you know, techniques, stuff that had to sort out. But definitely a baseline of fitness makes it all a lot easier. And I was able to and just to focus on the specific technique of running and riding that I didn’t have yet.

Yeah, I think that was a really challenging thing to think about as to how to like, summarize who you are, and what you do, in three words, or so. And the reason I select the I chose to say energetically collecting experiences is one because the thing that lights up my energy is a new experience. I’m a learner, number one talent, and it’s something I know my whole life. And when you’re a learner collecting a new skill, a new experience, a new challenge, it just lights up your energy. So I think it’s one of those things that what comes first, chicken or egg, I get the energy from collecting new experiences, but it also drives my energy to go do more. And so those sorts of things, especially over the last, you know, 10 years, drives me to travel all around the world, my wife and I love to travel, and not just traveled for the sake of traveling, but travel so you can experience something totally different, totally new, and in career and otherwise, it inspires me to keep challenging myself and find different areas where I could add value, learn new new skills and different things. And that’s certainly been the case over the last couple of years in career and then in fitness and health and wellness, generally, it’s another area of my life where I can apply. So it’s the theme, energetically collecting experiences a theme that you know, transcends every day.

Murray Guest  

Yeah, I relate to that, you know, the inspired energy podcast is all about that energy that we get from each other. You’ve always inspired me when we catch up and we connect and you get me thinking about what am I doing? How can I do more of that? And I sort of get that internal motivation. So you certainly give that off. You’re not just collecting it, you’re sort of projecting as well. So I think that is a beautiful part of who you are. Now, when you think about those parts, you know the past decade, you know 2009 through 2019 I know you’ve done some travel, you’ve done a few things, but business, some stuff that you’d love to share that really stands out to you that just let’s celebrate. Let’s recognize right now.

Yeah, I think, yeah, lots has happened, been a massive 10 years for me. I’ve had, you know, seven different roles in a couple of different organizations, you know, probably made a ton of mistakes, but hopefully not too many of them twice in the last 10 years, like just sneaking into the edge of the last 10 years, I met my wife and we got together and got married. So that’s like, probably one of the biggest highlights of the 10 years to have and I think we’ll we’ll call it 10 years, next year, I think, or this year, next year.

Murray Guest  

So you should know that mate, just letting you know, as a person that’s also been married 11 years, you need to know that.

It’s 10 years this year, like 2009 when we first sort of met. So I guess, you know, it fits within the ambit of 10 years. Yeah. So that’s a massive thing, I think, I think a lot of the time, maybe toxic masculinity or whatever it might be, prevents us from, from celebrating maybe those things that might not be seen to be that, you know, masculine or whatever, but I’m stoked to be a husband, it’s one of the best roles that I play and the great part of my life.

Murray Guest  

I’m with you, mate. Tammy, and I’ve been married 11 years this year. And in those 10 years, our boy turned 10 this year. And it’s just honestly, you’re right, you when you pick someone and they pick you and you make that commitment to be together. It’s honestly one and I know that you and your partner, your wife, are best friends and the travel you’ve done and shared experiences as well. And that that alignment is so important.

Zach Lohrisch  

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And truly my best friend and, you know, closest companion, you know, it’s just one of the it’s just the greatest gift that life could ever give you. It’s just to have someone to share it with. So yeah, massive, massive thing for me.

Murray Guest  

So from a business sense, in a corporate sense, and some of those roles you’ve had in the past 10 years, you said seven different roles. What do you think are some of those lessons that really stood out to you, as you’ve been through that career journey?

Yeah, I think I think we’ve been seeing this trend for a while now. But it’s evident more and more, more and more recently, and that’s that whole idea that this idea of command and control management is is gone, it doesn’t work, what the people that are bringing to the workforce now, what they’re expecting of managers and organizations, especially, is very different to what we would have expected, you know, years and years ago. If you consider maybe someone like myself that grew up in a time of mostly economic prosperity, we don’t have the same risk aversion that maybe our moms and dads had. And so you know, we’re expecting other things, we’re not just in a job just to be there for 30 years and, and collect the paycheck. That’s important too, but other things like purpose, and you know, contribution, making sure that you’re working for a company is, you know, ethical, whatever that definition is for you. Yeah, those things are so much more important now than they used to be. And I think, if we see the last 10 years, there’s a real shift. And I think we can see that accelerating over the next 10 years as well.

Murray Guest  

I heard a quote a little while ago. And I’d love to get your perspective on this. I can’t remember who said it, you might know. But it was something along the lines of we’ve got table tennis tables in the lunchroom, yet, we don’t actually empower our people and actually don’t really give them constructive feedback and recognition. It’s like some of those tokens of you know, like casual Fridays, and table tennis tables and drinks on a Friday, whatever it might be. But we’re still at times missing that real people connection, which leadership is all about. And I think what I’m hearing from you is getting back into, you know, where it’s all about people.

Yeah, I 100% agree. And any, I think you’re right, any organization that’s making a lot of effort in things like casual Friday, and, and a ping pong table, whatever those things might be. They’re kind of almost like, expected these days. I mean, not that the new workforce or the workforce is entitled, it’s just that, well, every company can put a ping pong table and in every company can like, let you wear a casual shirt on a Friday. Some companies let you do that all the time. It it actually doesn’t mean a lot if the core of the role if you don’t have purpose in your role, or you can’t bring your strengths to that role. Things, I do talk a lot about flexible work. You know, it’s such a common thing to be able to do work from anywhere with the technology that we have that if as an organization you’re offering that it’s not a perk, it’s kind of a potential thing, these days so those things that we may have seen as perks or benefits in the past. And that would have meant that were, you know, on the edge of engagement or were edgy. Yeah, they kind of expected now, it’s really expectations there on the core of, you know, is this company ethical? Do I believe in their purpose? Can I buy into that? And can I contribute something soI get a sense of contribution? Am I going to get some good feedback and growth out of this? Those are the questions that our workforce are asking from us.

Murray Guest  

Yeah. And do you think there’s going to be more of that going forward? Or do you think there’s some different trends we might start to see in the next decade? 

I think so, we’ll see more and more of it, I think the growing trend will be directed by our consumers as well, I think a lot of the time we focus, I mean, a lot of our work especially focuses on employees, but the consumer will drive this for us. And if you think about some really great stories in that space, but you know, consumers are choosing where they’re going to put their resources. And they’re going to choose to put resources in companies they believe in, just like workers are going to choose to invest their time in companies they believe in. And I love sharing the stories, because I had the pleasure of meeting a couple of really great entrepreneurs in this area. But you know, organizations like who gives a crap, and thank you, and these companies that are pulling together social enterprise, blending the, you know, charity organization with a, you know, for profit organization and moving them together, not only to those organizations run, you know, with the operation efficiency of a corporate or a for profit company, but they’re delivering a purpose or a meaning or an outcome that people really get behind. And there’s some real power and real momentum shifts in that industry. And I think a lot of organizations, if they stick to their guns of their traditional for profit model, will be disrupted by companies like that, that have an inherent purpose that people believe in, buy into, and will be willing to commit more to just because you know that that’s the meaning piece that people are searching for.

Murray Guest  

Yeah. And I think if you look back, I can’t remember when they started, but it would have been in the last decade TOMS Shoes where you buy a pair of shoes, and then they give her shoes to someone in need. And you’re right, we’ve got companies like who gives a crap and Zambrero Mexican, where you go there and you order your Mexican burrito. And there’s the counter of the the meals that giving people in need.

I know in these industries, I think about fast food, it’s a saturated industry, there is fast food everywhere. In the traditional economic model, we would say, well, that’s gonna be a hard industry to break into. But if you think about the growth that Zambrero has been able to achieve in such a pretty short amount of time in an industry that is owned by some of the most powerful companies in the world, it’s truly impressive. And there’s so many examples. I think another one is 10 tree, an organization online that’s selling they plant trees for every you know, piece of item of clothing you buy, all ethically sourced. B Corporations like Patagonia that make sure all of their products are made in an ethical way with the right kind of recycling. And interestingly, another Australian organization gets Oscar Wiley, the glasses store, you know, donating a pair of glasses for a certain spend. And they are fully retailed organization in another very saturated very dominated market of big global conglomerates, and seemingly able to grow and disrupt in that space. But I think we’ll see this trend continue. I think that’s a really exciting trend. And I am really interested to see how that goes.

Murray Guest  

Yeah, I actually also saw an ad or a bit of a trend just earlier this week, which was all about vegan shoes. Which again, it’s around, where are we getting those materials? Where are they being sourced from? Are they sustainable? Are they better for the environment? So things like that. And I was flying Virgin last week, and in the magazine, they’re talking about cafes opening up which don’t offer takeaway cups. It’s only eat in, drink in your coffee, or you need to bring your own cup because again, how do we be more environmentally conscious as businesses, I think you’re right gonna see more of that sort of trends coming out where, and also the link to what you’re saying about employees and consumers and that they’re both aligned with the purpose of the company.

Zach Lohrisch  

That’s right. And if our companies don’t move with that demand, not only will they not struggle to get the best talent, but they’ll struggle to keep their customers and that’s a real big one for us to keep our eyes on.

Murray Guest  

Yeah, definitely. Now, I’m going to jump back a little bit. I just want to quickly check. In all your travel you’ve done in the past 10 years and some exciting photos I’ve seen. Is there somewhere that when you think about it, and if you close your eyes, it’s like wow, I just, that was a time that was a place that just was something that I’m just so glad I experienced.

There’s a couple of moments. I think, you know, I guess two probably say, I’ll be greedy two standout to me. The first one was in 2013, I, we walked the 2000 year old ruins in Sri Lanka and it’s an incredible experience if anyone ever gets the chance to do it. You know a lot, unbeknownst to most of us, it’s one of the oldest civilizations in the world. And what they were able to build in that time was incredible. The reason why it’s so memorable for me is not only it was beautiful and amazing, and the history was incredible and learning about it was awesome. But it also triggered something in me because in 2013, I was deep in the corporate world, probably enjoyed the corporate credit card and travel a little too much. And I was quite a bit bigger than what I am now. And I remember having to walk up this really steep staircase that went way up the top of this mountain so you can see this view. And my wife and I were together. My brother was there as we walked up the staircase, and it was, I nearly died. I swear I was so sick from having to walk up this staircase in, you know, 38 degree heat and humidity. That was the moment where I decided that I needed to do something about health and fitness. And when I got back from that trip is when I started and found CrossFit and a fitness community that I could be a part of and that really changed my life. That’s probably one of the standouts.

Murray Guest  

Have you thought about going back there and running up those stairs?

I’d love to yeah, I’d absolutely love that, I’ve had that thought a few times, especially as I do sometimes do a run or something. I’m running up a hill and I’m like, you know, you know, like six years ago, I would not have been able to do that. So you know, it’s a really, that’s a special place for me. And likewise, I think last year, about this time last year, I was in the northern parts of Finland, up in Lapland. And it was the middle of winter and seeing the sun go down at about 2:45, three o’clock in the afternoon in negative 22 degrees in the middle of winter outside in the snow in the woods. And Finland was just an incredible experience, that that eerie stillness, and silence of the forest with heaps of snow is just creepy but amazing experience.

Murray Guest  

Yeah, well, wow, I that that to me, just I think of being in a magical environment. Magical situation. Yeah, that sounds beautiful, as well. Absolutely. So we’re about to hit the roaring 20s. When you think about what’s coming up going forward, what do you reckon? So we covered a bit about some of the trends but what do you reckon it is going to be like going forward? What do you think some of the things that are going to be happening? Let’s put the crystal ball, what do you reckon is going to happen?

Yeah, look, I when we, I guess when people think about the future, there’s a lot of a lot of doom and gloom, right. There’s a lot of people thinking about, you know, maybe we’ve had, we’ve had a bit too much doom and gloom as things aren’t going the right ways. But I am a bit of a bit of an eternal optimist, and I think things are getting better. And maybe I can share a couple of stories. Because prior to this call, I was sort of just doing a bit of a Google around. And I was thinking about like, what, uh, Is it as bad as we think it is? And maybe in some cases it is. But I, you know, in the last 10 years, a couple of facts, and I wrote them down as I thought they’re amazing. Last 10 years, the percentage of people living in extreme poverty has fallen from 35% to about 10%, is equal to about 2 billion people. Yeah, well, I think that’s an inch. I mean, we talk about global poverty, and there’s still so much work to do, but what a trend right, and if we can continue that work and accelerate that, what a different world we’ll live in. So my optimist says, good things are coming, and they are going to continue to come. We talked about the rise of the social enterprise, and I think that will be a massive player in our business. And in our day to day lives, we’ll just see more and more opportunities to make a choice as a consumer, or something that means something more and a choice as an employee to decide where I’m going to go invest my talent. And I’ll, you know, kind of get that opportunity to make a decision about that. The other story, which I found, which I found completely fascinating, and this is me, and my learner talent just getting caught up in the in the deep web, it happens quite regularly. But the story of the monarch butterfly. Are you familiar with the monarch butterfly?

Murray Guest  

Yeah. So not as deeply as you’re about to share with me. I’m aware of it and and I’d love to know more.

So, for those listening along the monarch butterfly, maybe in post production, we could put up a photo. So it’s like that orange, it’s a North American butterfly. It’s a beautiful big orange butterfly. It has black stripes on it. It’s yeah, it’s quite, quite beautiful. You know, with the change in the way we did industry over in the States and a lot of the habitat was changed or altered because of farming. We saw tremendous decreases in the population of monarch butterflies and they play a specific role in the ecology of, of that whole ecosystem. So I won’t go into the science of it, I don’t know it well enough, but significant decline to the point we thought we were going to lose the monarch butterfly, they were going to go extinct or be extremely endangered. In the last 10 years, we’ve seen 144% increase in the monarch butterfly population, now that most of that happened in the last year, and that was due to a concerted conservation effort around how we helped the monarch butterfly move through the continent, and how they help them pollinate and populate in the right ways, some very specific actions taken to make sure we save the butterfly, and that quite 144% increase in the population is an incredible trend. And that’s, you know, for the most part, you know, in a couple of years, we’ve pulled that together.

Murray Guest  

Yeah, that’s just wonderful. Can I just say that’s just one species too, and I’m sure there’s some other good stories out there. And I love your your learner talent in those three completely different examples of some good things that have been happening.

Absolutely. I mean, there’s so much reason for us to throw our hands in the air and say, We’re done for, I can’t change anything. But if we were just to look a little deeper, I think we can find that there are so many ways that we can change, and that we can have a positive impact. And that’s why, for me, I’m looking forward to the next 10 years. Because I think about if that’s the stuff we’ve been able to do in the last 10 years, or in shorter amounts of time, think about what we could do in you know, in the next 10 years. I mean, and I keep coming back to the social enterprise, because I think it’s such a game changer. But I yeah, and I did a little bit of a Google on that if you’re interested. You know, for a company like who gives a crap, there’s a company and just reality check this, company that literally sells toilet paper online, that’s their business, right? It’s, if someone had said to me five years ago, before they’re around, you know, there’s gonna be a company that is successful selling toilet paper online, I would have been like, not a chance, right? Not a chance. But they’ve delivered over two and a half million to charity, saving trees, water in process and building toilets and sanitary products around the developing world that didn’t exist there. And they’ve done all that since 2012. It’s a very impressive resume, for a pretty young, pretty simple, pretty outrageous company. And, you know, it’s, it’s cause for optimism, for sure.

Murray Guest  

It is and I won’t take the accolades for this, I’ll pass it on to my lovely wife, we got our first delivery, only a month or so ago, right, and part of the subscription model that they have, and then it’s been delivered over the, you know, every quarter, or whatever it is. And again, they have no plastic in their packaging, as well. So there’s the other benefit that they have as part of their model where it’s not consuming plastic and impacting the environment from that angle, as well. So those stories are out there. And I think the other thing you’re highlighting to me is, you can sit down and watch the six o’clock news every night and see all the bad news stories. But if you want to invest a bit of time, there is a lot of great things happening in the world, which actually also changes the way you see the world and those people around you as well. Now I want to ask you, I’m going to give you the opportunity to have a skywriter. And this skywriter is going to put your message around the Earth and everyone will see it. And this message is something that you would love for everybody in the world to to understand. Picture of skywriter only has so much space he can write in so I don’t want a huge message but what would be a key message you would love everyone to be aware of.

Zach Lohrisch  

A Skywriter.

Murray Guest  

Yeah, well, we’re going old school technology here.

Zach Lohrisch  

A Skywriter. I think a theme or a philosophy that I think would be great to share if I had the platform too, would be around balance and finding the right balance in your life. I think that’s very needed in our society and in our just for every individual, whatever that looks like for you. Help people remind them to find balance, balance between maybe work and play, you know, fun and games and seriousness, you know, balancing your, you know, your outputs and your inputs, and that’s very central to my life and finding the right balance is really important. Not only to your well being but to your performance as well and your satisfaction. So I think balance will be you know, a big, big, would be a message that I’d want to share.

Murray Guest  

Yeah, I actually like that a lot. And I think there’s a strong link there to obviously lots of areas of health and mental health, physical health, stress and resiliency and I like the link to just so many areas of your life, like even that fun and seriousness side as well. Like I think, unfortunately for a lot of people I work with and leaders and businesses, it is serious. And someone said to me years ago, we do serious work, but we don’t need to be serious about it. Like, let’s let’s enjoy life while we go around it. So I do like that message and is different to the other conversations I’ve had in this series. So thank you, I think it is something so important.

Yeah, I had I had a manager and she might be listening. She used to say to everyone who joined our team, we take the work seriously but we don’t take ourselves that seriously. And I love that because it shows that some things are really important. But I don’t need to make myself important or feel important about doing it. It’s about, you know, enjoying the process as well.

Murray Guest  

If people want to know more about you and connect with you online, where’s the best place to do that?

Yes, so you can find me online. So you find me on LinkedIn is probably the easiest way to find me and about where I live a bit in the business world. I got a weird spelling surname. So lorish is how you say it, but you’ll publish the name up there. It’s yeah, it’s a read and write. But yep. Find me on LinkedIn. Yeah, we’ve got a couple of projects coming up in the future. So you’ll probably hear more about us and what we’re doing and in the world and through Instagram and other spaces as well. 

Murray Guest  

Awesome, mate. I just want to acknowledge your energy, your knowledge and the way you share that the impact you make in the world with the journey you’ve had in your career and all the people you’ve come into contact with and the way that you’ve helped them, see what’s possible their talents and understand themselves and your thirst for learning. And it’s been great getting to know you can’t wait to talk to you more. So thank you for showing up today and sharing a lot of the knowledge that you have. It’s been awesome.

Zach Lohrisch  

Hey, thanks for having me on. Appreciate it.

Murray Guest  

No worries mate. Thank you, chat soon. Bye.