Steven Sashen is the co-founder and CEO of Xero Shoes. He is a serial entrepreneur who has never had a job he didn't create, a former professional stand up comic, an award-winning screenwriter, and to top it all off…a masters All-American sprinter (in fact he is one of the fastest men over 60 in the country). If Steven’s bio hasn’t done it already, listening to our conversation for all of 5 seconds will quickly convince you as it did me that Steven is quite possibly the most interesting man in the world (not to be confused with the Dos Equis man, of course).

You’d be hard pressed to find anyone with a more unique list of professional achievements than Steven, but what is even more interesting is the fact that if you were to ask him about the most important mindset required to be successful, his response would be, “There is none” because he attributes 90% of his success to luck, and the remaining 10% to luck as well (yeah, we talk a lot about “The L word”). If you’re interested in stepping beyond your fears and insecurities in an effort to better embrace the inevitable roadblocks and failures that you’ll encounter along your journey, you’ll find Stephen’s approaches to life, health, success, and business absolutely fascinating.

Despite today’s conversation having a good deal to do with Steven’s current mission of upending the footwear industry and exposing “Big Shoe” for the perpetuated lie that more is always better (spoiler alrt: Minimalist footwear is the way to go), one wonderful side effect of our chat is that Steven is showing us all how we can redefine success, failure, love, and life. I can’t wait for you to listen to this interview, as I have no doubt it will provide you with the tools to move more assuredly towards your own, more authentic version of success, no matter what that looks like to you.

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Here's What You'll Learn:

Why the minimalistic nature of Xero shoes both prevents and heals injury better than the most popular (and expensive) athletic shoes
Why we desperately need to redefine success and stop expecting more money to equal both more happiness and less problems
Why Steven says it’s not necessary (or even a good idea) to follow your passion
How to stop letting the fear of the unknown, failure, and losing your identity get in the way of reaching your goals
The steps you can take to advocate for yourself and gain the respect you deserve in a calm way
What makes Steven so fearless in the face of both success or failure

Useful Resources Mentioned:

Xeroshoes.com

Steven Sashen IMDb

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Guest Bio:

steven-sashen-bio Steven Sashen

Steven Sashen is a serial entrepreneur who has never had a job, a former professional stand up comic and award-winning screenwriter, and a competitive sprinter -- one of the fastest men over 55 in the country (maybe the fastest 60+ Jew in the world!). He and his wife, Lena Phoenix, co-founded the footwear company Xero Shoes, creating "a MOVEMENT movement" which has helped hundreds of thousands of people Live Life Feet First with happy, healthy, strong feet in addictively comfortable footwear. Steven and Lena also appeared on Shark Tank, where they turned down a $400,000 offer from Kevin O'Leary.

Show Credits:

This episode was edited by Curtis Fritsch, and the show notes were prepared by Debby Germino and published by Glen McNiel.

The original music in the opening and closing of the show is courtesy of Joe Trapanese (who is quite possibly one of the most talented composers on the face of the planet).

Ep197: On Authenticity, Luck, and Designing Life (and Footwear) On Your Own Terms | with Xero Shoes CEO Steven Sashen

The Zack Arnold Podcast