Edition #21: Bradd Konert

Here at GCUC we are immensely fortunate to cross paths and work with so many amazing people. Through our work, we’ve cultivated a global community of people we think you should know about.

Community of Cultivators is a blog series we created to introduce you to coworking game changers and connectors. Each month, we’ll release new interviews that we hope inform and inspire you.

This week we had the pleasure of interviewing Bradd Konert, president of Isofy. Keep reading to see what he had to say. You can catch ISOFY in Seattle as they are our Camp GCUC sponsor this year!

What in your life are you most proud of cultivating or creating? Why?

I am proud that I have been able to create a company that allows for people to use their passions and talents to serve others. I never imagined that we would have a team this large where everyone can come into a place where their ideas are heard and their talents are used fully, all while genuinely helping people. Technology is a powerful tool that has so much potential, but unfortunately often goes unused or greatly underutilized, and I’m proud that we have been able to create an entity where we get to help people use technology to accomplish their goals. This is especially true in the co-working arena where technology has been responsible for much of the recent growth in the industry. We are excited and I am proud to be a part of this!

Where do you personally feel the most sense of community?

My faith and the people at my church is where I feel the most community. It’s at church that I can be with others who share a common worldview and passion for my faith. Community is most often established when people share a common vision and work together to accomplish that vision. Sometimes you find people who would otherwise not associate with one another, become the closest of friends and it is for that reason that I highly value the community I share at church.

What is one piece of advice you give everyone that works with and/or for you?

Each of us have been given a unique set of gifts/talents and we should use those talents to serve one another. Those that are most successful and enjoy their work have figured out this secret. First, understand and know your talents and then figure out how you can use them to serve and help those around you.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of becoming an entrepreneur?

Nothing that is worth it, comes easy. In fact, the more opposition you face the better the odds are that you’re achieving something great. If it was easy or was otherwise common sense, it would be something that everyone did and therefore not valuable. I think it’s difficult to remember this when facing opposition. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” – Jesus

What is the best habit you ever started? What habit do you want to start but haven’t yet?

As mentioned, faith is a big part of my life and getting up and first spending time praying and reading the Bible is a habit that I have found is instrumental to my daily joy. It is what keeps me grounded and reminds me of what’s important and what my ultimate goals are. For those that don’t share in this passion for the Bible, I would still say that taking time daily to reflect on what your goals are and making sure you are making daily steps to achieve those goals is an essential habit. We wake up to full inboxes, text messages, social media messages and notifications all commanding our attention, but if we aren’t careful, we will allow those things to establish our daily path and end up unfulfilled. It’s important start each day in charge of where you’re headed and not let the busyness of life set this for you.

As for a habit I want to start but haven’t, it would be taking just 30 minutes a day to be generous. This could be finding someone who has a financial need and then helping in whatever capacity I can, or it could be giving my time to serve during that 30 minutes. Either way, making a daily habit to set aside this time to do that. I have found the days that I am most fulfilled are the days where I am giving of my time to serve others without any personal benefit and would like to take more time to do this.

That’s all for this week. Check back next week for another community of cultivators interview.