Cheerios. Lucky Charms. Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Susan Pitt is a serial cerealist and seasoned Brand Experience Director who has spent just under a decade at General Mills believing none of the decisions we make as consumers are all that rational. As she puts it, “we’re all wired for story”. Susan dedicates her days to helping craft some of the world’s most iconic brands known in our culture. On this episode of the podcast, we learn of Susan’s career path starting out on the agency side. As an obs...
Aug 11, 2022•46 min•Ep. 74
There are creative gypsies among us. One of them is Romanian creative talent Mihnea Gheorghiu (Pronounced: Mee-na Gee-orge-ee-yew) who recently returned to Milan from Cannes as a fairly happy man thanks to his teams coveted work on Diesel. On this episode of the podcast, Mihnea, the Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Italia, shares his nomadic journey from Romania to the USA to Italy. We talked about the creative role in advertising: as he puts it, to, “Feel something in the shortest time possib...
Aug 04, 2022•51 min•Ep. 73
Ever wonder why your best ideas show up in mid shower? Or how you refreshingly feel different after spending the day next to an ocean on the beach? Today, we dive head first into the healing powers of water. We’re joined by the masterful J Nichols who was nicknamed “Keeper Of The Sea” by GQ Magazine. J has spent a career researching the benefits and impact water have on all of us. He is a marine biologist, PhD and author of the book “Blue Mind”. On this episode, J shares why we need to find mome...
Jul 28, 2022•49 min•Ep. 72
"Don't just look at the world differently. Do the world differently.” This week’s guest is a profound talent who does both. IN-Q is an award-winning poet, multi-platinum songwriter, and the best-selling author of Inquire Within. His ability to deconstruct society and bend those observations into words landed him on Oprah's SuperSoul 100 list of the world's most influential thought leaders. He was the first spoken word artist to perform with Cirque du Soleil, and to be featured on A&E, ESPN, ...
Jul 21, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 71
A birth. A death. An anniversary. A circled date on the calendar. A special occasion where sending flowers or chocolates can bring loved ones together; even when they're physically thousands of miles apart. Now, imagine if this memory-making moment doesn’t show up on time. This is the anxiety that comes with being Charlie Cole, the Chief Executive Officer of FTD, the modern florist collective. In this episode, Charlie and I discuss what it was like joining the company days before the lockdown in...
Jul 14, 2022•41 min•Ep. 70
Will Cady is many things. A conscious creator. An Emmy award-winning composer. A member of the 2020 AdWeek Top 50 for Tech, Media and Marketing. Like many, Will thoughtfully resides at Reddit's intersection of content, news, social media and trusted, vouched forum. On this episode, Will reveals what he believes is at the core of Reddit’s success. He expounds the importance of turning curiosity into understanding. And, above all, he shares what it means at Reddit to “remember the human”.
Jul 07, 2022•44 min•Ep. 69
South African Marc Sidelsky believes in the power of storytelling, finding your voice and following it. Marc, an award-winning commercials director, tends to create scripts that disrupt and flourish in the market including his recent brave accomplishment of going straight to a CEO with an idea (Stussy X Nike) that one year later won honors at all major advertising festivals including the Clios, One Show and D&AD. On this episode of the podcast, Marc shares where his passion for story-making ...
Jun 30, 2022•45 min•Ep. 68
Lauren Verrusio is the Head of Creators, Culture & Content Partnership Communications at YouTube. Jennifer Zudonyi is a Senior Director of Brand & Consumer Marketing at Warner Bros Discovery, leading efforts around its NHL partnership. On this episode of the podcast, we hear the story of how two power women turn themselves into a power couple. Each shares their version of what it was like meeting each other in a male dominated world of sports. When did they feel safe coming out? How does...
Jun 23, 2022•53 min•Ep. 67
Think Postpartum depression only happens with women? Think again. For our Father’s Day edition of The Courageous Podcast, we sit down for a brave conversation with pediatrician Dr. David Levine. David graduated with highest honors from NYU Medical School while completing his residency at Yale Children’s Hospital. Even with all his wisdom and accolades, life changed fast — and not all for the best — when David became a father. On this episode, David bares all and shares his fatiguing story of bei...
Jun 16, 2022•47 min•Ep. 66
Aron Ezra is a thinker, innovator and serial entrepreneur with two major exits under his belt. While his wife might wish he’d take a break, Aron is currently in the thick of his third mega business as Chairman of Plan A Technologies; an award-winning software development firm serving startups to the Fortune 500 with offices in the US, Europe, Africa and Latin America. On this episode of The Courageous Podcast, Aron and I discuss all facets of the entrepreneurial journey. Where to start? How to r...
Jun 09, 2022•47 min•Ep. 65
Todd is the SVP, Digital Innovation & Fan Experience for the Seattle Kraken. A former hockey player turned entrepreneur, Todd is charged with redefining how Seattle fans experience the game in a city with deep hockey history, but one that hasn’t had an NHL team in almost one hundred years. On this episode, we discuss life just before the launching of the Kraken brand. We learn how it all started at a conversational breakfast where Todd joined two Leiweke brothers and famed movie maker Jerry ...
Jun 02, 2022•41 min•Ep. 64
Ever show up to a party with a 6-pack of water? If you have, you most likely haven’t been invited back. Unless that sixer was comprised of stone-cold tallboys from Liquid Death Mountain Water. In just three short years, LDMW is “murdering thirst” by disrupting a boring-than-still-water commodity category. At the center of it all is Greg Fass; recently named by Forbes as one of 50 most Entrepreneurial CMO’s of 2022. On this episode of The Courageous Podcast, we are joined by Greg who has made a n...
May 26, 2022•37 min•Ep. 63
Some would say it’s hard to lose yourself if you had yet to truly find yourself. This is the story of how one man went from city-to-city searching for his purpose while stumbling through a divorce and a soul-crushing bankruptcy only to come out the other side building a multi 7-figure empire. On this episode of The Courageous Podcast, we meet Ryan Weeden who had lost everything — not just money; but himself. Today, this “Hairpreneur”, Founder and CEO of Masters of Balayage, happily helps thousan...
May 19, 2022•51 min•Ep. 62
On this episode of The Courageous Podcast, we sit down with Bjorn Trowery who joined Meta’s Communications/PR team near the beginning of the pandemic and the tail end of the brand formerly known as Facebook. We discuss what it’s like for Bjorn to establish credibility with a new team handcuffed away from his “personal superpower”; his ability to be live, collaborating and in-person.
May 12, 2022•48 min•Ep. 61
What does an asthmatic, a Rower, the co-founder of The Perfect Pushup and a Navy SEAL-turned-Platoon Commander have in common? All of them were my guest on this weeks episode of The Courageous Podcast. Alden Mills is one of a kind. He’s on a mission to help 100 million people be unstoppable. He strives to achieve this feat by being a keynote speaker, an executive coach and the epitome of courage. What else did I learn about Alden from our 45 minute conversation? For being a Platoon Commander, he...
May 05, 2022•56 min•Ep. 60
Rhett Power is a Best-Selling Author, Executive Coach, Columnist at Forbes, and a Season 1 Cast Member of The Social Movement (TV Series). Rhett is also the Co-founder of Accountability Inc. and is host of Power Lunch Live; one of the first and most popular interview shows on LinkedIn. On this episode, we flip the script on Rhett as he’s usually the one asking thought leaders, authors, and business executives their secrets to success. We talk about Rhett’s transformation from product entrepreneu...
Apr 28, 2022•39 min•Ep. 59
Approximately 13 million adopted pets have found their way into homes over the course of the pandemic. While we’ve taken in our lovable new fur babies over the last two years, many of us are heading back into the working world leaving our pets behind (and alone) for the very first time. In dog years, that’s over a decade and a half of their life! Mental health isn’t simply something humans are dealing with; our four legged children will be coping with their own new levels of anxiety. Enter the t...
Apr 21, 2022•48 min•Ep. 58
Rihanna. Neymar. Dua Lipa. Usain Bolt. Lewis Hamilton. These are a few of our iconic favorites who set the tone across the globe in style and culture. Collaborating with these originals is one of the world’s leading brands in sports today. On this episode of The Courageous Podcast, CEO and President of PUMA North America Bob Philion shares what it’s like to steer the “Big Cat” under the “forever faster” mantra. We dive into what it has been like for Bob getting to know these larger-than-life sup...
Apr 14, 2022•52 min•Ep. 57
Peyton Manning. Drew Brees. Eli Manning. Each of these Super Bowl winning quarterbacks relied on Bennie Fowler to run routes, block or catch passes over the course of his 8-year NFL career. But as Bennie will tell you, each of the above drew him to his current passion of helping executives and organizations maximize their performance. Today, Bennie is an entrepreneur, the creator of MVP leadership (cliff hanger opportunity: the MVP doesn’t stand for what you think) and the author of the book Sil...
Apr 07, 2022•43 min•Ep. 56
“I don’t know, but I’ll figure it out”. 20 years ago, these were the words murmured by an unfilled-at-the-time Sam Zien to his wife after he quit his job as a biotech operator. It was then that he realized that something in his life didn’t feel right. One morning, now unemployed, Sam recalls watching “one of the worst cooking segments” on a local San Diego channel when the idea came to him; launch a cooking show. Only problem? Sam didn’t know how to cook. Today, Sam Zien, is known as “Sam The Co...
Mar 31, 2022•52 min•Ep. 55
There are presently 171,476 words making up our English Dictionary. And with all those choices, you can see how many leaders fumble their way through picking the very right words to help motivate their people, navigate hard conversations, or galvanize a consumer base. Enter Molly Tschang who is a problem solver extraordinaire, lexicon rock star, and the Host of the radio show Say It Skillfully®. Molly envisions a world where people speak without fear and feel heard. She's passionate about each o...
Mar 24, 2022•44 min•Ep. 54
In the 90th minute on a beautiful California day, in front of 25,000 raving fans, the day got instantaneously more sunny for today’s guest when Javier Hernandez (“Chicharito”) went on to score the lone goal in a 1-0 opening day LA Galaxy win against MLS champions NYCFC. On this episode of The Courageous Podcast, we are joined by the President of the LA Galaxy Chris Klein. As the leader of a club with the most MLS Championships in history, the expectation to compete and win remains at an all-time...
Mar 17, 2022•40 min•Ep. 53
Emily Musil Church, Ph.D. specializes in tech for good, entrepreneurship, and prize competitions. She spent a half dozen years at the XPRIZE Foundation and served as Executive Director of the human equity domain. Today, she continues her good work running world-changing, “crowdsourced" prize competitions at Milken Institute. On this episode of The Courageous Podcast, we discuss where her philanthropic gene came from, the potential outcomes of a prize that can change the world and her recently an...
Mar 10, 2022•39 min•Ep. 52
Today, there’s a video camera in everyone's pocket. But long before we coined the term influencers there were just people with influence. Back in 2010, HBO decided to take a chance on two of them: The Neistat Brothers. Van and Casey Neistat once described their series that was picked up by HBO as "a handmade home movie TV show”. While the democratization of content is here and now, eclectic Van Neistat remains a master storyteller, talented artist and DIY movie maker. From my lens, he truly rank...
Mar 03, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 51
Nice gets a bad wrap. But Adam Morgan is one of the true nice guys who has successfully navigated the creative business space. On this episode of The Courageous Podcast, we are joined by the affable Adam Morgan who is Adobe's Executive Creative Director. We discuss a panoply of topics including how C-Suites can better understand the impact creativity has on its bottom line as well as Adam’s challenge to creatives; to “reach across the silo” and better understand the nuances of marketing and busi...
Feb 24, 2022•48 min•Ep. 50
She’s not only back from Beijing, but she has returned to the States with the ultimate mantlepiece. Aerial Mogulist and freshly minted Olympic Silver Medal winner Jaelin Kauf shares her whirlwind two weeks from navigating a Covid Olympics from the other side of the world to her mother surprising her “live” on The Today Show during her media tour in New York City. Jaelin relives her run, discusses “if she feels different” and confides where she hopes her picture will NOT go when they add it to th...
Feb 17, 2022•56 min•Ep. 49
Walter Geer isn’t simply a talented black creative — he’s a talented creative (period, full stop). Walt takes great pride sitting at the intersection of design, data, innovation and storytelling. On this episode of The Courageous Podcast, we zip around discussing his work as a leader in the digital advertising space as well as his monumental work as a DEI advocate. We dive deep to address race, fairness, talent and if he’s seen any real progress in diversification of the board room. Walt also sh...
Feb 10, 2022•42 min•Ep. 48
Whatever it takes. Say “yes and”. Keep it real. These are just a few of the concepts the affable Erin Levzow knows all too well. She shares her “just keep figuring out” journey with us on this new episode of The Courageous Podcast. If you ever wanted to learn how someone can go from studying theatre in school to making it in Las Vegas to masterfully building an art Mecca in a hotel to finally, “selling tacos on the internet” (her words, not mine), then buckle in for a genuine conversation with T...
Feb 03, 2022•41 min•Ep. 47
Chris Kneeland is the tell-it-like-it-is co-founder of The Gathering which is, as the name suggests, a gathering that takes place in Banff’s Canadian Rockies by a consortium of world-class brand makers who wish to study, honor and celebrate the world’s best brands. On this episode of The Courageous Podcast, Chris and I discuss what goes into making this event as well as how his “day job” as the CEO of proactive creative agency “Cult" has evolved over the last decade. This includes a passionate b...
Jan 27, 2022•48 min•Ep. 46
If you are like the majority, then you have an hourly rate. This severely bothered this weeks guest who couldn’t logically accept “hourly rate" payment terms for his talent. In fact, if Jonathan Stark was capable of cracking your problem in a shorter period of time, shouldn’t he be paid more? On this episode of The Courageous Podcast we are joined by a former software developer who is now on a mission to rid the world of hourly billing. Jonathan is the author of Hourly Billing Is Nuts, the host ...
Jan 20, 2022•51 min•Ep. 45
