In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Commander Celeste Gleave, a veteran, philanthropist, and leader of multiple organizations. Gleave shares a concise formula for success—avoid trying to please everyone—as a warning against failure. She emphasizes the importance of finding a niche and differentiating oneself in any industry to avoid competing directly with the crowd. Offering advice to her younger self, she urges listeners to pursue work that fuels their passion and to leave environments where talent isn’t recognized. Gleave defines happiness as a balance anchored by living in alignment with one’s purpose. She notes limited time for reading, preferring documentaries for rapid learning, and cites her favorite quotes: Marilyn Monroe’s “Well‑behaved women seldom make history” and Winston Churchill’s “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; the courage to continue counts.” Finally, she provides URLs for her personal site (fyvestar.com) and her philanthropic initiatives (SheroesUnited.org, IAmASuperwomanCampaign.org). The conversation is informal, motivational, and centered on actionable personal and professional guidance.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with the support you need to finish your book. Best part is, after you finish your book, they take care of the entire publishing and marketing process 100% for you. So if you want to become a successful author, make sure to check out authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. Today I have Commander Celeste Gleave with us. She is a global changemaker, award-winning peace and ethics leader, philanthropist, veteran, and has worked with many world leaders throughout her career. Currently, she is running one nonprofit and three organizations in tandem. So welcome to the show.
Ah, thanks. Hey, how are you doing today, Tyler?
I'm doing awesome. How are you?
Um, you know what, I'm doing good. I'm trying to keep my computer from making all the funny noises, but then I realize I mute you at the same time.
So technology, I gotta love it. All good.
We haven't heard any of the noises yet, so you're doing a good job. Awesome.
So let's dive into the first one. The first one I have for you, Celeste, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Okay, well, I'm not going to give you a story, but I'll give you a formula for success. And that formula is, if you want to fail, try to please everybody. That's literally, you cannot please everybody. So if you want to fail, that's the quickest way to do it is by trying to please everybody.
I agree. And the next one is, and it could tie in maybe, but what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Well, in my industry, I actually own 3 companies. I'm running 3 companies right now, but I'll keep it generic for time constraint. You gotta find a niche and you gotta work within that to your advantage. If you're, if you're standing in line next to people that are doing the same thing you're doing, you're wasting your time. You've got to have a way to stand out with the product or yourself or whatever industry you're in. You've got to be a niche. You can't just be a— unless of course you're doing something like a corner store, a corner store salesperson, and you're that person for coffee. But in the, in the, out in the real, in the real world where you're trying to get ahead and be very successful, You've got to, you've got to have something that your competitors don't have.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
I would say don't stay where you don't feel passion. You got to be filled. You got to feel like you're fueled by your work and what you're doing. And another one is don't stay in a place where you feel like your talents and passion aren't being appreciated. It's, it's a bad thing when you, when you stay at a job and you realize you hate your job. You got so much passion to give, but you feel like you're not being seen. So I would say that to my younger self or any younger person that's starting out in work, you know, you don't feel it and you're not feeling it, then walk away from it, leave and go where you feel, where you feel that your body is stirring.
And, you know, this could tie in as well. But the next one I have for you is, in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
God, it's got to be balance. It's got to be balance. And you gotta have, for me personally, my key to happiness is being on point with my purpose. And every person on this planet has purpose, whether, some are more purpose-driven, others aren't, but I follow leads from my heart and from what the universe dishes out to me. I'm passionate, and if I'm not on point with my purpose, then I'm feeling like I'm, I'm really not living up to my, my, my best ability. So I would stay right on point on my purpose.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Well, if I had to say best book I've read, I honestly run 3 companies, don't have a lot of time to read a book, but I do. Love to sit down and watch documentaries. And so I'm going to say that documentaries are quicker and easier for me, but I'm very passionate about learning what's going on in current day documentaries. No science fiction or any of that stuff. Just not enough time.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
It's hard to pick on that one, that's for dang sure. I love the one that Marilyn Monroe did, "Well-behaved women." seldom make history. But I also know that success is not final and failure is not fatal. It's the courage to continue that counts. And that one is probably my, probably my favorite. That's a Winston Churchill quote.
Well, listen, thank you so much for coming on. The last one I have for you before we let you go is where is the best place for our audience to find and connect with you online?
Okay, that'd be great. I do have several websites. My personal website is www.fyvestar.com, and it's not the way you think, it's F-Y-V-E-S-T-A-R dot com. That's for my business, but for my philanthropy, I've got Sheroes United, and that's S-H-E-R-O-E-SUnited.org. And I've got IAmASuperwomanCampaign.org, and you guys can watch for us because we're out and about and we are making history and we are not behaving very well because we're out to make the world a better place by daring to be different and doing it with love.
Awesome. I love it. Thanks again for jumping on.
You bet. Thanks for having me. Have a great day, and it sucks to be you in Florida. So beautiful there.
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