When I was a kid, I used to dread gym class. My Physical Education teacher was fond of picking two captains for opposing teams, typically the most athletic kids in the grade, and then they’d hand select their team members. I was typically picked at the bottom of the list because I just wasn’t that good at sports. It was embarrassing to always be picked last, or close to last, and it really impacted my desire to go to school. Kids can be mean, plain and simple.

My guest today, Rob Volpe, knows exactly what I mean. Our interview started off by him telling me about a painful experience he had in grammar school but, as I came to learn, everything happens for a reason and Rob learned a very valuable lesson that day, even if he didn’t realize it until decades later.

MEET ROB VOLPE

Rob Volpe is an astute observer of life and a master storyteller who brings empathy and compassion to the human experience. As CEO of Ignite 360, he leads a team of insights, strategy, and creative professionals helping the world’s leading brands across a range of industries release untapped potential.

As a thought leader in the role of empathy in marketing and the workplace, Rob frequently speaks on the topic at conferences, corporations, and college classes, and he has been quoted in Advertising Week, Mashable, Huffington Post, TheStreet.com, Gourmet Retailer, and the Chicago Tribune, among others.

In his new book, Tell Me More About That: Solving the Empathy Crisis One Conversation at a Time, Rob draws on his years conducting thousands of in-home interviews with everyday people to illustrate the 5 Steps to Empathy―the actions you can take to build a strong and reflexive empathy muscle.

Where did his interest in empathy come from? What’s the impact of empathy being in short supply these days? How can we build empathy within ourselves and others? Listen in for the answer to these questions and learn how you can be a part of solving the empathy crisis.

Tell Me More About That can be purchased at Amazon, Bookshop.org or ask for it wherever books are sold. Learn more about Rob at his website and follow him on Instagram @RMVOLPE.

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