They fed neighbors during a storm — and ended up winning a James Beard Award. In this episode of The Way Up, Guy Raz meets Edgar Rico and Sara Mardanbigi, the couple behind Nixta Taqueria in Austin, Texas. What started with resilience in the face of disaster became a nationally acclaimed restaurant with a mission rooted in community, creativity, and cultural pride. From navigating natural disasters to rethinking the taco, Edgar and Sara share hard-earned lessons in business, leadership, and love...
Aug 13, 2025•23 min•Ep. 174
Pop-up shops, clever T-shirts, and made-up holidays — all in the name of keeping indie books alive. In this episode of The Way Up, Guy Raz sits down with Pete Mulvihill, co-owner of San Francisco’s iconic Green Apple Books. While big-box retailers dominate the market, Pete and his team have kept their independent bookstore thriving for decades by thinking way outside the box. From airports to bakeries, Pete shares the creativity, strategy, and community focus that keeps the shelves stocked and t...
Aug 06, 2025•21 min•Ep. 173
Can a family farm turn into a full-blown theme park? The Valas made it happen. In this episode of The Way Up, Guy Raz visits Vala’s Pumpkin Patch in Nebraska to meet Tim and Kelsey Vala — the father-daughter duo behind one of the country’s most beloved fall destinations. From a single patch of farmland to 50+ attractions, 25 restaurants, and 1,400 seasonal employees, Vala’s is redefining what a family business can be. Video Links: Watch the full series here Check out the episode page here Watch ...
Jul 30, 2025•23 min•Ep. 172
What happens when a soul food legend meets a business-savvy chef? A lot of diners go home happy. In this episode of The Way Up, Guy Raz sits down with Chef Charles Gabriel and Chef Quie Slobert of Charles Pan-Fried Chicken to explore how they transformed a Harlem institution into a growing restaurant group with national buzz — all while keeping the heart of home cooking at the center of it all. Video Links: Watch the full series here Check out the episode page here Watch this episode on YouTube ...
Jul 23, 2025•22 min•Ep. 171
Note: This is the second in a series of episodes of The Way Up, a new video series from Square highlighting the real stories of grit, vision, growth, and heart behind some of America’s most innovative local businesses. She opened a custom hat shop in Nashville… while eight months pregnant. In this episode of The Way Up, Guy Raz sits down with Alex Samuels, founder of Rustler Hat Co., to talk about how a disappointing shopping experience turned into a thriving business rooted in storytelling, cra...
Jul 19, 2025•17 min•Ep. 170
Note: This is the first in a series of episodes of The Way Up, a new video series from Square highlighting the real stories of grit, vision, growth, and heart behind some of America’s most innovative local businesses. What happens when you can’t find a place to watch women’s sports? You build one. Jenny Nguyen is the founder of The Sports Bra, a first-of-its-kind sports bar in Portland, Oregon, that only plays women’s sports. In Episode 1 of The Way Up, Guy sits down with Jenny to talk about tur...
Jul 10, 2025•22 min•Ep. 169
Ken Coleman, known as “America’s Career Coach,” shares his wisdom on finding meaningful work and building connections to achieve your career goals. Drawing from his own journey—spanning a decade of diverse jobs before discovering his true passion in broadcasting—Ken offers practical advice from his books, The Proximity Principle and One Question . In this encore episode, he challenges listeners with one thought-provoking question: What do you wonder about doing? This simple yet powerful question...
Jan 22, 2025•49 min•Ep. 168
As a child growing up in Ibadan, Nigeria, Dara Treseder was often reminded to keep her feet on the ground. But her mother urged her to dream big and pursue her ambitions—especially if they brought her fulfillment. That encouragement propelled Dara across the world, where she attended both Harvard and Stanford, charting a path defined by her desire to make a positive impact. Dara’s journey into marketing began after what she jokingly calls a “failed career in finance," including stints at Apple a...
Jan 15, 2025•58 min•Ep. 167
ENCORE EPISODE. Joe Keohane, a seasoned journalist and editor, believes that conversations with strangers can boost happiness, empathy, and even improve the world around us. In his book The Power of Strangers: The Benefits of Connecting in a Suspicious World , Joe dives into research with psychologists, anthropologists, and real-life encounters to uncover the profound impact of these connections. In this encore episode, Guy and Joe discuss how reviving the lost art of connecting is essential for...
Jan 08, 2025•46 min•Ep. 166
What drives lasting personal change? BJ Fogg, founder of Stanford’s Behavior Design Lab, challenges conventional wisdom with insights from his groundbreaking book Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything . Drawing from real-life experiments and research, Fogg reveals a practical system for building positive habits and breaking free from negative ones. In this episode, first aired in 2021, discover transformative lessons on designing change and celebrating progress. See Privacy Polic...
Jan 01, 2025•46 min•Ep. 165
When Ken Hicks took the helm as CEO of Foot Locker in 2009, the company was on the brink: the economy was in shambles, sales had cratered by nearly a billion dollars, and the decline of indoor malls spelled further doom. But within three years, Hicks led Foot Locker to a stunning $2 billion rebound. His strategy? A renewed focus on storytelling—connecting the brand to customers in a way that transcended price tags and products. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Priva...
Dec 25, 2024•45 min•Ep. 164
Etsy was on the brink of collapse in 2017—its stock plummeting, cash reserves dwindling, and analysts predicting its demise. Enter Josh Silverman, a turnaround expert with a track record from Evite, eBay, and Skype. As Etsy’s CEO, Josh focused the team on one key metric, sparking a stunning recovery. How did he transform a failing creative marketplace into a thriving powerhouse? In this conversation from 2020, Guy and Josh dive into the success factors of the Etsy turnaround, as well as the key ...
Dec 18, 2024•43 min•Ep. 163
"How do you build a team, inspire individuals to pursue their dreams, and scale that impact beyond just one group?" Kim Scott has wrestline with, and answering that question for the majority of her career. After navigating roles from a diamond business in Moscow to Silicon Valley startups and then leadership at Google, she developed 'radical candor'—a transformative management philosophy that balances personal care with direct challenge. In this episode, we revisit a conversation originally reco...
Dec 11, 2024•53 min•Ep. 162
What makes someone excel—whether in sports, science, or life? David Epstein, author of The Sports Gene and Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, makes a compelling case for the power of breadth over early specialization. From his time as a walk-on track athlete at Columbia University to his time as a science writer and investigative reporter (at Sports Illustrated and ProPublica , among others), David has explored the hidden patterns that lead to success. In this encore episode,...
Dec 04, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 161
What does it take to rebuild a company from the brink of failure? In this conversation from 2020, Guy sits down with Peter Cuneo, the former CEO who famously guided Marvel Entertainment out of bankruptcy and onto a path that ultimately led to its $4.5 billion acquisition by Disney. They explore the career trajectory that got him, as he puts it “offically addicted to turn around challenges." And unpack some of the 32 leadership principles he has developed over the years. How Cuneo’s turnaround ph...
Nov 27, 2024•46 min•Ep. 160
In 2012, Best Buy was in deep trouble—a crisis so severe that Forbes declared, “Why Best Buy is Going Out of Business.” By March, the company reported a staggering $1.7 billion loss, and by April, its CEO had stepped down amid scandal. Enter Hubert Joly, a leader whose career had shaped him into essentially an elite relief pitcher of the business world. Armed with calm focus and a knack for navigating adversity, Joly stepped up to the plate just as the future of big-box retail hung in the balanc...
Nov 20, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 159
"You can't analyze your way into something new," says today's guest. Over the course of a career spanning four decades, Roger Martin has been a management consultant, an influential business strategy thinker and author, as well as the Dean of the Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto. He advises CEOs of global companies such as Ford, Proctor & Gamble, and Lego. He is well known for developing and exploring the concept of "integrative thinking" in management problem solving and...
Nov 13, 2024•43 min•Ep. 158
When Arnold Donald took the helm at the Carnival Corporation, a public relations crisis of multiple layers threatened its future. Donald prioritized building a diverse and dynamic leadership team, appointing new heads for seven of the company's nine cruise lines, including more women and minorities. in this 2019 conversation, Donald shares his philosophy that "diversity of thinking is a business imperative and a powerful advantage," explaining how fresh perspectives lead to innovative ideas and ...
Nov 06, 2024•51 min•Ep. 157
[A 'BEST OF' EPISODE] Combining business with social justice isn’t a path most companies choose, which is why Dan Schulman’s leadership as PayPal’s CEO captured so much attention. In 2016, he halted plans for an operations center in North Carolina in response to the state’s controversial “bathroom bill.” Schulman prioritizes an “employee-first” strategy, enhancing wages and benefits for PayPal employees. His leadership has demonstrated that activism doesn't takes anything away from the bottom li...
Oct 30, 2024•42 min•Ep. 156
[Encore release] General Stanley McChrystal was born into a military family: three generations of men in his family were officers in the armed forces. He followed the family tradition and eventually rose up the ranks to become a General in the Army. While serving as the commander of Allied Forces in Afghanistan in 2010, he was forced to resign after he was quoted making disparaging remarks about President Obama. It was in the wake of this moment that General McChrystal learned the full value of ...
Oct 23, 2024•53 min•Ep. 155
An encore episode, exploring the unconventional leadership journey of Carl Bass, a self-described renegade and reluctant executive who took the reins at Autodesk during turbulent times. Facing the global economic crisis of 2008, Bass led with conviction, balancing bold decision-making with the uncertainty of an evolving market. At one point, convinced the company might fail, he risked his own money to introduce a groundbreaking new business model. How Bass's steady hand and innovative thinking n...
Oct 16, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 154
[Encore episode] In the 1980s, Stephen R. Covey revolutionized leadership thinking with The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People , introducing a leadership style centered on empathy, listening, and collaboration—far from the traditional table-pounding, charismatic approach. In this episode, Guy sits down with Stephen M.R. Covey, Covey’s son, who has not only been instrumental in spreading his father’s influential teachings globally but has also become a respected leadership expert in his own righ...
Oct 09, 2024•32 min•Ep. 153
Author, and business executive Beth Comstock says to Guy Raz in this classic 2021 interview "I'm about change." In college, she wanted to be a doctor, but organic chemistry wasn’t her strong suit, so she shifted to journalism. When journalism didn’t work out, she started working in publicity. So, when GE bought NBC in 1986 right as Beth was starting her career in advertising, she was ready to adapt again. She worked her way to becoming CMO of GE, helping grow revenue, devise a successful green e...
Oct 02, 2024•43 min•Ep. 152
General David Petraeus is one of those leaders who rose through the ranks to become one of the most well-known military figures of our time. Growing up in the shadow of West Point, General Petraeus defied the odds in a career where becoming a four-star general is nearly as unlikely as being struck by lightning. Petraeus’s rise to prominence began in 2003, but it was in 2007, as the commander of Multi-National Forces in Iraq, where he made his mark by leading the controversial but pivotal “surge....
Sep 25, 2024•35 min•Ep. 151
Terry Lundgren, former CEO of Neiman Marcus and Macy’s, has been instrumental in shaping the American retail landscape. His believes leadership lies dormant in many until an event challenges you to grow. He also believes playing it safe is the biggest risk of all. Despite an entire career in retail, including taking on the role of president of a local department store when he was 35--succeeding a 67-year-old, the road he took to bringing two notoriously competitive retail giants together wasn’t ...
Sep 18, 2024•41 min•Ep. 150
Jim Collins is one of the most influential business thinkers and writers of our time. Yet, Collins considers himself more of a researcher than an author.He has made a career of extracting the data embedded in the narrative arcs of companies and drawing lessons from them. With bestsellers like Good to Great , Built to Last , and BE 2.0 , each of his books represents years of meticulous analysis, all before he even begins to write. What sets Collins apart aren't just his groundbreaking ideas but t...
Sep 11, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 149
Can ancient philosophy be the key to modern success? Ryan Holiday, a leading thinker of his generation, believes so. From NFL quarterbacks to corporate CEOs, many credit Holiday's work with introducing them to the transformative power of Stoic philosophy. In this episode, Ryan talks to Guy about the teachings of the Stoics through the lens of Holiday's influential books, including The Obstacle Is The Way , Ego Is The Enemy , Stillness Is The Key, and, most recently Right Thing, Right Now . These...
Sep 04, 2024•49 min•Ep. 148
In a world where scale is, for many, their north star, Graeter's Ice Cream stands out by doing things the old-fashioned way. Richard Graeter, the fourth-generation leader of this iconic family business, talks to Guy about the century-old process that makes their ice cream so special—and why they refuse to give it up. Unlike the huge companies that share their Cincinnati roots (i.e. Kroger and Proctor & Gamble), Graeter’s has chosen to stay small, valuing quality and sustainability over rapid...
Aug 28, 2024•34 min•Ep. 147
What does it take to create a winning culture in the workplace? For Ajay Banga, who transformed Mastercard, success is built on more than intelligence and emotional awareness. For him, it's the "Decency Quotient" that is an essential factor in fostering an environment where people feel supported, respected, and empowered to succeed. And, as he tells Guy in this 2019 conversation, it's not only about being kind. How Ajay Banga ran one of the worlds largest companies with an unusual leadership phi...
Aug 21, 2024•40 min•Ep. 146
In today's fast-paced corporate world, the pressure to specialize is immense. But what if focusing on one expertise isn't the key to success? Cliff Hudson, author of Master of None , challenges this very notion, arguing that versatility, not specialization, is the real path to leadership. Hudson's own life story is a testament to this belief. Growing up amidst the instability caused by his father's failed roofing business, Cliff was determined to find a secure career. He began his professional j...
Aug 14, 2024•39 min•Ep. 145
