“I set up Oyster as a software platform to enable any company in the world to tap into the global talent pool without setting up entities, hiring lawyers, accountants, payroll providers, benefit providers. I established it as a mission-driven company, first and foremost, because what I realized was if I align what I do with what I believe in, I feel more fulfilled. I feel happier in my life,” shares Tony Jamous, the CEO and co-founder of Oyster, a company that’s shaping the future of work by embracing borderless, flexible, and human-centered principles.

In this episode, Tony joins Alex Raymond to talk about the challenges and opportunities of building culture in a distributed workforce. How does one lead with trust in a world where connection often feels distant? Tony’s journey to creating a $1.2 billion company during the pandemic highlights how belonging and empathy can transform workplace culture.

With a team spanning 80 countries, Oyster proves that diversity and flexibility can fuel both fulfillment and productivity. Tony shares how his personal experiences, including overcoming PTSD, shaped his leadership approach and commitment to creating workplaces where people truly thrive.

This episode will challenge how you think about leadership and belonging in a post-pandemic world. Can culture evolve to meet the needs of a global workforce? Tony’s story suggests it must.

Quotes

• “We are a talent magnet. We have diversity that is unheard of. We achieve a level of engagement and fulfillment for our employees that leads into productivity that is unheard of, because people feel cared for. They feel that we are designing a work model for them that makes them successful no matter where they live.” (05:36 | Tony Jamous)
• “We believe that democratizing access to global job opportunities has a massive potential in creating more equal worlds. The reason why emerging economies remain emerging is because they lose their best talent to the West, and they don’t come back.” (06:58 | Tony Jamous)
• “It’s really about having a clear and strong vision and strategy, and then assembling and empowering the best team to deliver on it. That’s been my formula.” (15:32 | Tony Jamous)
• “Leaders at the very top of their game have to learn how to recognize themselves and not expect recognition from the outside. You can even push it to the extreme and say they can thrive on neglect. They are here to build the systems on which a business can thrive in a healthy way, including fostering a healthy culture. That’s what I believe leaders should be striving toward.” (16:57 | Tony Jamous)
• “The reason we’re not moving as fast as we need to toward a better future is because leaders are caught in a cycle of meeting quotas and delivering results, such as hitting numbers. There’s immense pressure, and the ability to handle stress and pressure is diminishing as stress levels rapidly increase for leaders.” (18:21 | Tony Jamous)

Links

Connect with Tony Jamous:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teljamou/

Connect with Alex Raymond:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/

Website: https://amplifyam.com/

HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“How do we get organizations where everyone has the opportunity and the support to contribute to their fullest?” For Michele Zanini, the co-author of “Humanocracy: Creating Organizations as Amazing as the People Inside Them” with Gary Hamel, the answer lies in rethinking the way companies operate.

In this episode, Michele explains how organizations can move beyond rigid bureaucratic systems to create environments that thrive on creativity, resilience, and accountability. He points out the power of a clear, shared purpose to align teams and the importance of nurturing small, autonomous groups that stay agile and entrepreneurial as companies grow. Michele also redefines leadership as a tool to multiply individual potential rather than manage from above, and challenges outdated performance systems by advocating for peer-driven accountability.

Join Alex Raymond and Michele Zanini as they explore how leaders can rethink traditional approaches to organizational design and create workplaces that genuinely empower their people.

Quotes

• “The idea of humanocracy is really about how to create organizations that are as capable as the people inside them, that are as daring, as courageous as people can be when they’re at their best. They’re as resilient, they’re able to bounce back from a crisis as we often are in our personal lives. As creative as millions of people who are on YouTube, sharing content that sometimes gets millions of people to engage with it. And are as passionate as we can be.” (02:54 | Michele Zanini)
• “People will still be part of organizations, but what if, instead of organizations viewing people as tools, we saw the organization as the instrument to better our lives and the lives of those we serve? The organization becomes the platform for impact.” (05:37 | Michele Zanini)
• “The other thing that a mission really does is that it provides a lot of motivation and alignment. So in a way, the mission is your boss. If everybody’s united by a particular purpose that is shared, you don’t need a lot of supervision.” (15:43 | Michele Zanini)
• “How do I give everyone in the team or the organization maximum autonomy and maximum accountability? And then how do I enable that? How do I create an organizational environment where that is encouraged and flourishes? You can specify some of that by wiring the organization in a particular way, but there are also things you need to do. For instance, how do you give everyone the competence to make the right decision for the business?” (47:39 | Michele Zanini)

Links

Connect with Michele Zanini:

Website: https://www.michelezanini.com/

Humanocracy: https://www.humanocracy.com/course/BMI

Connect with Alex Raymond:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/

Website: https://consciousentrepreneur.us/

HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Success on paper can hide a mountain of stress, as Andrew (Andy) Johns reveals in this episode how a seemingly perfect startup career left him barely holding it together, and what he learned about reclaiming resilience through nervous system mastery.

Why do so many entrepreneurs push themselves to the brink without realizing the cost? Andy, a Silicon Valley veteran, joins Alex Raymond to open up about the burnout that forced him to reevaluate everything and shares the tools that helped him recover. From the power of breathwork as the “remote control to your nervous system” to the impact of routines, sunlight, and even thermogenesis, he explores practical ways to protect your body and mind.

How can you create habits that prevent stress from becoming burnout? Andy’s insights offer simple yet transformative steps to help entrepreneurs build resilience, thrive under pressure, and take control of their well-being.

Quotes

• “When the body activates those superpowers because part of the nervous system perceives a threat, it floods the body with stress hormones, like adrenaline. These hormones are meant to be temporary, helping us respond to immediate danger before the body returns to a rest-and-digest mode. But the body wasn’t designed to sustain that heightened state of activation. Increasingly, research shows a direct link between sustained psychological stress and chronic illness, both mental and physical.” (13:12 | Andrew Johns)
• “It’s not just that we might be eating unhealthy food—we are. And it’s not just that we’re less physically active than we used to be—we are. It’s also that we’re living under constant psychological stress.” (14:43 | Andrew Johns)
• “We need to be wise in understanding the complicated and nuanced nature of the pros and cons of the environment we’ve crafted for ourselves.” (16:48 | Andrew Johns)
• “Okay, your career is in tech. You may be asking yourself, well, is this good for me in the long run? Maybe, maybe not. Everyone’s different. Certain people have different resilience characteristics. I know some folks where, myself included, are very, very sensitive to the environment around me. And so, I would absorb all of these psychological stressors and the moods of my employees around me. Other people I know, they’re not like this, but to the question of like, what do we do about it?” (17:04 | Andrew Johns)
• “You have the mechanisms built into you to feel calm and clear and in a state of peace. Your body has evolved those mechanisms, and you may just need to experiment to find your way back to those things. You don’t need to spend thousands and thousands of dollars to search and discover the tools or the techniques or the experts. It’s the inherent wisdom of the vitality of the human body, and that’s really all we're encouraging. If you tap into its inherent vitality, your resilience will be remarkable.” (46:03 | Andrew Johns)

Links

Connect with Andrew Johns:

Website: https://cluesdotlife.substack.com/

Connect with Alex Raymond:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/

Website: https://amplifyam.com/

HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm