Episode 15: Winning at Business and Life with Peter Korbel

This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, tell me who you are and what you do.

Hey Pete, uh, very nice to meet you and, uh, thank you for having me on your show. My name is Peter Korbel, and I am the founder of a company called Stormy. We're based in New York City, and very simply, we enable on-demand luggage storage that typically happens in businesses that range from anywhere from a coffee shop to a hotel.

Neat idea. Peter, great to have you on the show. Question number 2: What's the best thing about working in your industry?

You know, there's, there's a lot of amazing things about working in this, in this kind of short-term on-demand storage space. I mean, it really is a, is a new market, which is exciting. It's always, again, exciting to be in an innovative space. I always like to say that Stormy is the, is the modern-day extension of, you know, on-demand storage that typically would happen in train stations. It's now kind of taking that service and bringing it out into neighborhoods. But, you know, no day, no day is ever dull, so it's always challenging and always very different.

Excellent. Question number 3: I hear from other business leaders that staying in a good work-life balance for them and their team members is a challenge. What is your thought?

I mean, listen, when you're entrepreneurial, you know, it can definitely be challenging just to kind of manage your schedule and find time to find that balance. For me, I love to run. So I find myself, I typically get up around 6:30 every morning and I get my exercise in and that really kind of starts my day on the right foot. No pun intended. So, yeah, I mean, you know, for me, staying athletic really is my therapy and my stress reliever.

I think that's an excellent way to reduce your stress. Question number 4: What other successful business leaders like yourself should be on my podcast?

You know, I have so many friends that are, you know, doing things in the business world. And are super entrepreneurial. So I think, I think there's a cast of characters within my network that would be well suited for this type of podcast for sure.

Perfect. All right. And question number 5, what insight or advice would you give to other business leaders?

You know, I always say, you know, you have to have passion in anything that you pursue. Uh, and you have to have endurance. Um, because, um, if, if you don't have that passion, um, ultimately you, you, you won't endure and you'll give up. Um, so, um, you know, if you're going to start off on something, um, you know, you, you better love what you're doing.

And with that passion, is it something, do you think that you just, it, is just innate or did you cultivate it? How did it work for you?

You know, for me, I've always been, you know, a very curious person who, you know, likes to ask questions, who likes to kind of, you know, prod at things and kind of get to, you know, the core of anything that I find interesting. But, Yeah, you know, being passionate is something that, you know, you have to develop and harness, and, you know, it doesn't, you know, it comes with time, it comes with just kind of putting yourself out there, trying to get as much exposure to different industries, trying to find your interests, and, you know, for me, I never thought it would be around solving a problem like Stormy is addressing in the market. But it's exciting to try and do something at the highest level, to have a service that expands into many different cities, and again, really solves a problem. So it's what wakes me up every morning.

That's awesome. And question number 6, tell me about your first job.

God, my first job, when I was younger, I was selling baseball cards and I had a lemon stand. A lemonade stand, but when I actually, when I graduated from college, I had aspirations of being an actor, which is, you know, when I kind of, when I look back and kind of look at where my career has developed, I mean, you know, a lot of the skills that I developed, you know, on stage and performing, staging an experience for an audience or for a consumer, you know, a lot of those lessons that I take into the business world. So yeah, I was running around New York City auditioning, doing commercials and plays. It was, you know, it wasn't an easy time, but it was definitely an exciting time in my life.

Yeah, I can only imagine. That's a great story. So Peter, thank you for being on the show. How can people find you?

You can definitely check out my website, which is getstoreme.com, and you'll see the service that we provide. Um, I also have an Instagram handle, which is a Peter, you know, @peter.corbell. And, uh, you know, if you probably went to Google, you could probably find a few things as well. But, um, uh, I'm out there and, uh, and I'm always looking to connect with interesting people.

Excellent. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. For more insights and ideas, please go to LinkedIn, YouTube, or Facebook and search for Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.