Disruptive Influence: The Business Storytelling & Brand Communication Podcast · Jeff Abracen

Why Growth is All About Mind, Body, and Business with Mike Fata

·1 hr 3 min·3 clips

The best landlord showed the window view before discussing lease.

Jeff Abrason opens the conversation by introducing Mike Fata as the co-founder of Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and the CEO of Fata and Associates. Fata goes straight to the point that founders need a sharp, short pitch. He says people should be able to explain the problem, the solution, and the impact in 25 words or less. He ties that habit to getting attention quickly in a noisy world. The conversation keeps returning to storytelling as a practical business skill. Fata treats it as something founders can use to make their work easier to understand. He also talks about the other side of performance: staying healthy enough to do the work well. He says he is not busy in the way people usually mean it. Instead, he describes himself as efficient, rested, and ready to run hard when needed. Deep work, for him, happens in two or three focused hours rather than long, drained stretches. He sees that as a better path to output than sitting tired at a desk all day. Sleep comes up as part of that system. He says the simplest answer is going to bed early. He describes a routine of sleeping around 10 or 10:30 and waking up around 6 or 6:30. He contrasts that with the older version of himself who stayed up late and kept grinding on too little rest. The conversation also turns personal when Fata talks about wealth and lifestyle. He says he could stop working because he lives modestly. He is not interested in the Lamborghini, private jet, or private island version of success. He grew up with a poor single mom, and that background still shapes how he thinks about money. He says what matters most to him is a paid-off house and a simple, comfortable life. One of the most emotional moments comes from the story about his mom retiring. He says he helped retire her after the business sale, and she died 21 days later. That experience sharpened his belief that people cannot treat purpose like something to postpone. He says life should be lived in service of purpose every day. The conversation then widens back out to mindset. Fata says he is disciplined rather than constantly motivated. He treats discipline as the thing that carries you through the days when you do not feel inspired. He also encourages people to keep doing the work through hard stretches. His view is that challenges do not last forever, even when they feel endless in the moment. Jeff Abrason closes by reflecting on that distinction between motivation and discipline. The exchange ends with a clear sense that success is not just about scale. It is also about pace, health, language, and how a founder decides to live after the exit.

As heard by us

A grounded founder conversation about clarity, discipline, and building with purpose.

Mike Fata turns a founder conversation into a lesson on purpose, discipline, and plain-spoken storytelling. It moves from a rule about keeping a quick pitch to 25 words or less into the habits that support deep work, sleep, and a modest lifestyle.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Want a founder story that teaches you how to pitch, work, and stay grounded?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Disruptive Influence: The Business Storytelling & Brand Communication Podcast