Like most people, we’re pretty busy here at Hill Investment Group. After dedicating ourselves to family, friends, community and career, it’s hard to find extra time for relaxing and reflecting before we find ourselves fast asleep.

Thank goodness for podcasts. They offer energizing food for thought during our morning commutes (Henry), dog walks (Matt), or while sweating it out on a jog (yours truly). We’ve each got our personal favorites, but Guy Raz’s “How I Built This”  podcast is a HIG-wide hit.

For investing, we typically encourage a steadfast – almost stodgy – buy, hold, and rebalance approach to managing the money you’ve made, emphasizing academic evidence over “lucky breaks.” But first, you’ve got to make some of that money, and sometimes that takes luck and skill alike. So we also love the edgy tales of how some of today’s best-known businesses came to be. To name a few:

Southwest Airlines: Can you believe this airline was initially a side hustle for founder Herb Kelleher?

Starbucks: Founder Howard Schultz tells an incredible story about Bill Gates, Sr. (“The” Bill Gates’ dad), and the role he played in saving Starbucks.

Patagonia: Founder Yves Chouinard became a successful businessman despite himself.

The Home Depot – Being fired may have been the best thing that ever happened to co-founder Arthur Blank.

Next time you’ve got a little downtime of your own, why not tune into “How I Built This”?