Joe Mechlinski

Joe Mechlinski is a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and social entrepreneur who believes that an engaged workforce is the key to unlocking human potential. Joe has a deep-rooted passion for helping build engaged mission-driven cultures and challenging business leaders to think strategically about how they attract, develop, and retain the best talent to grow, regardless. While earning his degree from the Johns Hopkins University, Joe founded four ventures—with varying degrees of success and failure—to pay his way through college. At 23, to transform the purpose of business and revolutionize workforce engagement, Joe founded SHIFT, a collective of businesses spanning consulting, executive membership, and venture capitalism. SHIFT has offices in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Boston. All focus on one idea: Better you. Better us. Better all. SHIFT has been recognized by the Baltimore Business Journal as one of the “Best Places to Work” for five consecutive years and by Inc. Magazine, nationally, as an “Inc. Best Workplace” for two consecutive years. Since founding the business, Joe and SHIFT have been featured on Bloomberg Radio, Forbes, Entrepreneur, and The Wall Street Journal Online. In 2014, Joe was invited to sit on the White House Small Business Council. A decade after SHIFT’s inception, Joe compiled the lessons he learned from his early life experiences, and his work with more than 600 organizations across the country, into the 2013 New York Times bestseller: Grow Regardless. Joe’s latest book, Shift the Work, shares his personal journey to find purpose, and how it influenced him to take a deeper dive into the science of human behavior. Inspired by neuroscience research about the connections between the brains in the head, heart, and gut that drive human perspectives and conduct, Joe shares how everyone can re-engage with their work and impact the world. Always embarking on new adventures, Joe launched his podcast, Shift Happens, which features inspiring guests such as New York Times bestselling author Dan Pink, and three-time New York Times bestselling author Tucker Max. Shift Happens is where disappointment meets success, frustration leads to transformation, and crossroads drive life-changing choices. Joe goes deep with trailblazers in every industry, from entrepreneurs to comedians, and they all have something in common—one great story.