In this concise 7‑minute interview, Professor Pete Alexander talks with Kon Apostolopoulos, founder and CEO of FreshBizSolutions, a talent‑management and HR consulting firm. Kon shares his personal background, explains why he entered the industry, and emphasizes the power of helping people discover their "why" as the foundational chapter for any organization. He expands on the importance of a growth mindset and introduces the "leadership paradox"—the need for leaders of dispersed teams to balance empathy with firm boundaries, and high‑tech connectivity with high‑touch human interaction. Kon also discusses flexible, outcome‑based performance measurement in remote work, drawing on insights from his co‑authored book Seven Keys to Navigating a Crisis. The conversation concludes with a referral to Dr. Ilya Grigorys, a brief story about Kon’s first job as a teenage painter’s apprentice, and contact information (LinkedIn as "Coach Kaan" and the FreshBizSolutions website). The episode offers practical leadership advice, purpose‑driven thinking, and a glimpse into Kon’s personal journey.
Chapters
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, please tell me who you are and what you do.
My name is Kon Apostolopoulos. It's great to be here with you, Professor Pete Alexander. I am the founder and CEO of FreshBizSolutions, which is a talent management and HR consulting firm, but I'm also a performance improvement and a change leadership expert. I am an author, I'm a speaker, but I'm also a dad and a husband. That's what I'm most proud of.
Kon, it's an absolute pleasure to have you on the show. Question number 2: What's the best thing about working in your industry?
I think the best thing about working in my industry is having the opportunity to work with people either one-on-one or even in group settings and seeing the light bulb go on when they make a discovery and a realization that they know is going to change their life. Making that difference is huge.
I love that, and I can hear the passion in your voice. It is so powerful. I love it. Question number 3. I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
Ooh, I would say chapter 1, start with your why. If you don't know the purpose of why you're doing something, nothing else really matters from that. You need to really discover what is your why, why are you doing what you do? The 2 most important days in a person's life is the day you come into this world and the day you realize why. Similarly for a company and an organization or a team, you need to understand why you're doing what you're doing. That purpose will guide you through the good times, the bad times, and it'll help people join you and join your cause to get to that why.
Very wise statement there. Thank you so much. Question number 4: Other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, what advice or insight would you give to other business leaders?
I would say in the times that we're dealing with right now, and I've written about this in a book that I co-authored with a very dear friend of mine called Seven Keys to Navigating a Crisis, but it's all about embracing a growth mindset. For leaders right now, it's increasingly important to be able to embrace that growth mindset, to learn, unlearn, and then relearn, and embrace what we call the leadership paradox. And that's an important piece for any leader right now, whether it's an entrepreneur, a solopreneur, a business owner, a senior leader in a corporation.
And so do you want to give a little bit more detail on what that leadership paradox is?
Sure. It's the ability that we have to have as leaders to embrace what on the surface might seem like two conflicting ideas. So for example, if you're a business leader now and you have a dispersed workforce, You have people that are working remotely. It's important for you to be able to have empathy on one hand, to be able to understand the predicament that they're facing, the concerns that they have, the difficulties that they may have, for example, in juggling kids, other responsibilities, a limited space or facilities in their house to be able to do their job. On one hand, you have to be empathetic to that as a leader. On the other hand, you may have to show tough love and create healthy boundaries, as you would say, Professor. Recipe and allow them to be able to understand that, you know what, hey, don't burn yourself out. Don't try to do more than you can right now. Set healthy boundaries and almost become that parental figure that's going to keep them in check so they don't burn themselves out. Another thing might be, for example, the concept of we have the technology. You and I now are able to connect even though we are thousands of miles apart. On one hand, we have high-tech that allows us to connect with people, even our dispersed workforce. But on the other hand, we have to be high-touch, meaning that I don't have that 5 minutes where you and I walk from the meeting room to the break room and we have a chance to catch up a little bit, or I bump into you by the water cooler. So now I have to very purposefully schedule that, and I have to insist on having that opportunity. When we do have, it's that chance for me to kind of look at you and say, hey, What's really going on between you and I? Are you okay? Is everything all right? And those are the things now as leaders we have to embrace, that paradox, that Janusian approach to things, those two conflicting ideas that we have to merge as one.
And I think as you're saying, it's really insightful about having to be very specific about setting that time up because you can't just assume that you're going to be seeing the person in the hallway or the water cooler, as you said. But then if you're, as a leader, if you make that effort to find out how they're doing, et cetera, that builds a trust with their people. And I assume that's something that you're seeing and builds more loyalty and the performance goes up of the individuals?
Very much so. And now there are a lot of concerns about, you know, are people really working when they're not in the office? Are we looking at things differently? Well, in our book, we talk about the importance of flexibility, for example, right now. And really, rather than, than looking at people's performance right now as how many hours are you in front of the computer. It's important to look at it and say, what are you producing? Are you being effective right now? And because if you cut out all of the travel time between from one place to another, or even just from one room to another, I can get on 5 meetings through Zoom in the span of what I could do only 2 or 3 before. So I'm much more effective that way. But I also need to be flexible enough to say, you know what? I'm gonna pick up the football where you left it off because you have stopped your workday. I'm now starting, I just got the kids to bed. I'm gonna pick up the football and carry that forward for us. And then finding the time that in real time we can use the technology to get together or even safely in person to still be able to get the best out of that. There are opportunities right now for us to kind of evolve, but we have to be flexible and adaptable.
Very wise there. And I like that being a coach, I like your sports metaphor that you brought into that as well. Question number 5: What other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
Ooh, the first one that comes to mind is, like I said, my dear friend and writing partner, my co-author of The Seven Keys to Navigating a Crisis, Dr. Ilya Grigorys. He is full of wisdom, full of, full of a lot of wonderful ideas. He's also known as the Happiness Doctor. So I think that will brighten a lot of people's days just to listen to him.
Love it. Thank you for that referral. I'll reach out to him. And question number 6: Please tell me about your first job.
Oh wow, ah, my first job. My first job, I was sent off to be an apprentice to an uncle of mine who was a commercial painter. So I found myself working at a very young age, probably 12 or 13, in construction. Don't tell anybody about the lack of child labor laws in certain countries, so we won't talk about that. But I found myself learning the valuable lesson of hard work, of really being able to provide that honest hard work and the concept of really having to take a shower after work rather than before it at this point. But that also taught me the value of how I can help others to improve the quality of their life, to get the most out of it, and truly the value that ideas can bring and give me an opportunity to take care of my family and create a career this way.
Great story. I love it. Thank you for sharing that. And Kaan, thank you so much for being on the show. How can people find you?
The easiest way is either to look me up on LinkedIn under Coach Kaan with a K, and I spell that with a K on purpose because it's hard to get people to trust you when you spell it with a C. And they can also reach me through my company website, which is www.fresh bizwithazsolutions.com.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
