In Good Companies

When he opened his food distribution business back in 2006, Don Coenen started with three semi-trucks in a crowded market. Nearly 20 years later, his company Don's Cold Storage and Transportation is a multi-million dollar corporation, open for business 365 days a year. More than a profitable operation, it’s a business that has provided a livelihood for countless people in Arkansas, Missouri and beyond. 

So how do you achieve this kind of growth? What does it take to turn the dream into a reality? And is reality just as glorious as it seems? Today, our host Ari Marin sits down with Don – a loyal Cadence Bank customer – to answer these questions and hear all about his journey through the food distribution industry.

From Don’s early inspirations and mentors, to his passion for business, we’ll also learn about his goals for the future. We’ll see that Don’s Cold Storage is not just a logistics company. It’s the product of a dream, a resilient financial strategy and a culture of wellness built with intention and purpose. 

Join us in conversation to hear Don Coenen’s inspiring tale of grit, and discover a whole new world: the buzzing world of Don’s Cold Storage. 

Highlights:

• Introducing Don’s Cold Storage and Transportation (0:35)
• A typical day in Don Coenen’s life (3:28)
• Northwest Arkansas: a thriving place for business (5:15)
• Rethinking the economy of “scale” (07:08)
• Why the food sector is a resilient industry (8:31)
• The early days of Don’s Cold Storage (10:13)
• Hard earned financial lessons (13:09)
• Don’s growth mindset: don’t back down, double down (15:27)
• Challenges and opportunities during the Covid pandemic (16:52)
• Unpacking Don’s business culture (18:18)
• The benefits of promoting from within (20:21)
• The importance of self-care and employee support (21:36)
• Why Don’s Corporation is more than a workplace (24:51)
• How Don flies the company flag (26:26)
• Future goals for Don’s Cold Storage and Transportation (28:22)
• Don’s final word: “The future is coming anyway” (31:05)

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What does it take to create workplaces where people feel safe to speak up, take risks, and innovate without fear of failure? Well, the answer can be summed up in two words: psychological safety. 

Psychological safety is not just a trend or a culture that is “easy” on employees. It's a business philosophy that seeks to empower teams and boost performance. 

So in this episode of In Good Companies, we’re diving into the increased attention being paid to psychological safety in the workplace — what it is, why it matters and how to build it into your organization’s DNA. To open this important conversation, we’re bringing in a mental health advocate with 30 years experience in the field: Kathy Pike, CEO of the non-profit One Mind at Work.

With a career spanning academia and the private sector, Kathy brings a global perspective to the challenges and opportunities of workplace well-being. Together with our host Ari Marin, they break down why psychological safety should be treated as a strategic business priority, and explore practical ways to embed it into leadership and operations. They also discuss the benefits of psychological safety for attracting talent, improving team performance, and shaping the future of work.

Make room for humanity and tune in to unlock the full potential of corporate well-being for your business. 

Highlights:

• What Psychological Safety really means (1:09)
• Why we’re talking more about mental health in the workplace (3:36)
• “Mental health and well being is a strategic imperative for the future of work” (5:59)
• Psychological Safety to improve your leadership and performance (8:11)
• The Mental Health at Work Index (10:11)
• Proving the benefits of Psychological Safety (12:16)
• Examples of company initiatives that promote Psychological Safety (14:36)
• Questions leaders should ask to assess Psychological Safety (17:32)
• “Being kind means being prepared to have difficult conversations” (19:57)
• Diversity as a contributor to Psychological Safety (21:48)
• Mental health support: the challenge of remote work (23:44)
• How workplaces are evolving and what it means for social connection (26:51)

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Over the last decade, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investments have exploded; as evidenced by global market projections, which predict 40 trillion dollars in ESG assets by 2030. 

That will not only reshape our financial markets, but also our consumer choices, our recruitment prospects, the range of our suppliers, and even our leadership strategies. So how do we seize that opportunity for change? What new possibilities does ESG open up? 

We answer these questions with two of the leading voices from EY Sustainability: Marie Johnson and Brandon Sutcliffe. Every day, these two experts in Business and Financial Sustainability help companies integrate ESG goals into their core strategies and operations. From stakeholders to customers, they show leaders how to reach the next stage of their development.

Today, they bring their wisdom to In Good Companies and help us see how Environmental, Social, and Governance goals can add value to our businesses. They undo misconceptions around sustainability, share strategies to implement effective reporting, and lift the veil on what will drive the transition towards ESG practices. Spoiler alert: it involves your stakeholders, your clients, your governance, and a component of education. To round up their conversation with Ari, Brandon and Marie will also discuss the development of ESG regulations and help us prepare for the future by asking: what’s next? 

No matter where you’re coming from, sustainability is part and parcel of everyone’s business, so get ready to answer the bell. 

Highlights:

• Introducing EY Sustainability, with Marie and Brandon (1:47)
• What does ESG look like for day-to-day business? (3:41)
• A home-based approach for small businesses (7:07)
• Middle market considerations: balancing sustainability and growth (8:37)
• How large corporations focus on capital deployment (10:05)
• Who or what can drive the transition towards ESG? (12:16)
• ESG as a strategy for long-term value (14:20)
• Do’s and dont’s of ESG reporting (16:06)
• Breaking out of the “sustainability silo” (18:34)
• How to turn ESG practices into business as usual (19:57)
• Reframing perceptions around sustainability: a “bottomline” argument (21:56)
• A tour around the world of ESG legislation (24:06)
• Why public-private partnerships could change everything (25:42)
• 10 years ahead, what’s next for ESG? (27:55) 
• Embracing sustainability as a business opportunity (29:01)

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How much better would the world be if everyone loved going to work? How much more engaged would we be? How much more efficient? That’s the vision of Mohammad Anwar and Chris Pitre (Softway Solutions and Culture+), two co-authors of the Wall Street Journal-bestseller Love as a Business Strategy. They want to revolutionize the way companies do business, by putting people at the center of every decision. But this idea didn’t come out of nowhere. It was born from the real life transformation of their company, Softway Solutions. 
 
While we're taking a well-deserved Thanksgiving break, we’re telling that story: how a leader learned to appreciate his team and, in doing so, transformed his company and himself. This episode is a "best of" re-run from Season 3 and is worth every minute!

Mohammad founded Softway Solutions when he was 20 years old, and he’d grown the business to over 300 employees since its inception. But by 2015, the company had developed a toxic culture, and Mohammad was known for his unprofessional outbursts. With the business struggling, morale was low. Two weeks after Chris was hired, Softway Solutions laid off a third of its workforce by gathering them in a conference room and telling them all at once. Mohammad didn’t know if the business would last another month.

But then he had a realization, and together he and Chris went on a journey to institute a “culture of love.” Through slow, quiet work, Mohammad changed his behaviors and made Softway Solutions a place that employees loved. Success soon followed. Now, they help other businesses change their own cultures. On this episode, we’ll explore the leader’s role in a culture of love: their responsibilities, behaviors and how they stand to benefit.

So, join us, as we answer the question: “What’s love got to do with it?”

Highlights:

• Meet Mohammad Anwar & Chris Pitre (1:12)
• What is “love as a business strategy”? (2:22)
• The origins of Softway (3:23)
• The infamous “Dirty fridge” email (5:44)
• Softway’s darkest day  (9:39)
• Why it’s hard to be a leader (12:02)
• Mohammad’s epiphany (15:07)
• Misconceptions about the culture of love (17:21)
• Perks are not culture (20:21)
• Culture eats strategy for breakfast, but behaviors eat culture for lunch (21:29)
• Redefining leadership (23:11)
• Changing behavior (26:30)
• Trickle-down culture (28:21)
• The role of forgiveness (30:15)
• Softway’s turnaround (31:35)
• No excuses (35:54)
• Seneca Leaders (38:28)

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Artificial Intelligence is the technology on everyone’s minds. Whether it’s using Chat GPT for content creation, or bringing in new tools to process our data differently. We have all started interacting with AI and we all stand to gain from it. Contrary to popular belief, a recent survey by McKinsey shows that AI would not threaten but create millions of new jobs. So how do we integrate this technology into our companies? 

Answering this question on In Good Companies is Bob Trotter, executive partner at Gartner, and self-labeled “Fintech Evangelist.” Bob is someone who believes in the power of new tools to improve people’s lives. Over the last 25 years, he has developed his IT expertise with companies like EY or ThyssenKrupp. At Gartner, he works with CIOs and CTOs for banking and financial institutions, helping them with their strategy and tech modernization and leveraging emerging technology like artificial intelligence.

In this episode, Bob joins our host Ari Marin to discuss everything AI: from backend tasks, to product personalisation and planned integration. We find out how to use this new technology, and address the big questions that are permeating the business world. Why Artificial Intelligence? What does it mean for the future of business? And how can we start using it to our advantage, now? 

Join Bob and Ari today, and get ready to hack the AI business mindset.

Highlights:

• Why should we be paying attention to AI? (2:55)
• How the launch of Chat GPT changed access to Artificial Intelligence (4:15)
• AI’s talents: customization and authorship at scale (5:42)
• Companies should define their AI “ambitions” (7:00)
• The importance of identifying good data (8:20)
• AI to enhance customer facing and operation services (9:54)
• Addressing fears around data security (12:52)
• Breaking the myth of AI replacement (14:46)
• AI will change our business models (17:17)
• Tips to make AI technology accessible for your teams (20:03)
• What is the current legal framework around AI? (22:42)
• “We are still at the beginning of a tremendous journey” (25:00)

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