TAILGATING WITH GENIUSES

Get your groove on, Tailgaters! We're betting you've never wondered how adding a “boogie room” to your workplace can make you and your team mates more productive. Or how the timing of a woman's fertility cycle, combined with dancing, increases her attractiveness. Hoo boy! You've got a lot to learn and we've got the best teacher for the job, Dr. Peter Lovatt, who's one of the world's leading authorities on the psychology of movement, with an academic career that extends from Cambridge University to the Royal Ballet School. He'll also share how movement impacts thinking, learning, problem-solving, pro-social behavior and memory. And being liked. So how'd he end up on stage with Barack Obama and Oprah? If you sit behind a desk all day or lead people who do, you've got to hear this! Listen now! And get moving!

After Episode 19's postmortem of a particularly painful 2021, your Tolerable Hosts to kick off a new season by copping to the many imprecise projections we posited in the past year's shows and making pragmatic predictions for 2022. Meaning: We're setting ourselves up for another year of mid-course corrections and mea culpas (plus more cheap alliteration). But that's just business as usual. The return to work story will never die. Ditto supply chain issues. But cannabis, crypto and climate are even more fun to talk about. As are four-day and hybrid work-weeks. And the upcoming epic billionaire space disaster the media continues to ignore. Hear it here first.

Ooof...what a year! Our Brilliant Guests get a break and we wrap up 2020 with a show about the biggest event each host felt defined the year that was and what it means going forward. Lekan talks January 6th that includes part of his life story as an immigrant to the US: Ken talks division and how it's affecting his day to day life; and Martin talks supply chain and the Ever Given that blocked the Suez Canal and how our entire system of business was rocked. And we conclude with a year end "What Got Our Attention". 

You've been moved by Robert Tepper. His work creating the artwork we all see for the entertainment we love is burned in your consciousness. As a Creative Director working on the art for movies featuring Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump), Marlon Brando (The Freshman), Robert De Niro, Amy Schumer, Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean)  and animated features like Moana as well as The Masked Singer on Fox, Robert tells a story in a single visual that makes you stop, pay attention  spend your money. Robert shares stories about the process of this work as well as stories about a photoshoot with Brando, one with De Niro; and we take a look behind the scenes at a part of the world of entertainment most of us know nothing about. We'll also discuss the state of work and new life in the office. 

Alison Levine is an author, explorer, mountain climber and a  kick ass person. Accomplishing unbelievable feats in the elements and in business is even more bonkers given the fact she has had three heart surgeries and suffers from Raynaud's disease. From a career that includes work at pharmaceutical companies, Goldman Sachs and then as deputy finance director for Arnold Schwarzenegger in his successful bid to become Governor of California; Alison knows adversity and success. Her work  at the Thayer Leader Development Group at West Point and stories about starting out and getting noticed created great storytelling for our show.Additionally we cover the recent troubles the retail shopping world is facing and What's Got Our Attention This Week as well. 

Dave Bruckner knows what terrifies us.  And he knows the grittiness and struggle of believing in what you want to do and doing it. Starting as a kid in a backyard with a DV camera to rebooting horror icon Pinhead in Clive Barker's story and classic Hellraiser; Dave has come a long way. He talks about the psychology of fear, making things, why we love to be scared and the thinking and craft behind the movies we watch.  From his writing, co-directing to directing work on critical and fan favorite horror anthologies The Signal, V/H/S , Southbound, as well as directing Netflix's "The Ritual" and the remarkable "The Night House" starring Rebecca Hall, Dave is one of the bright lights in the world of film terror. We also discuss The Facebook Files, their potential name change, Eric Clapton and Vikings! 

Greg Schwem is an author, nationally syndicated humor columnist, TV travel host, as built a career doing so along with developing a unique perspective on the changing state business. His views on  corporate communications, marketing and the need for businesses to take themselves less serious show a need for more humor in the workplace, but with limitations. 

With an 11-year playing career in the NFL and two Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots, Don Davis knows the game. At the NFL Players Association he knows the business of the game having just lead the negotiations for the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) that will change all aspects of players financial lives in and after their time in the league. Candid, funny and blunt...Don shares insights to the changing nature of the game of football, how we now look at the game and how that will change in the next years. Don brings his personal story to the table as well and his association's work to drive financial freedom and success for all players. 

Helping firms like Coca-Cola, Nestle and 50 other firms set up their venture funds, Mark Kaiser is the go to guy in the corporate world for getting it right from the get go. Mark has been a CEO at a publicly traded firm where he bought over 30 companies and now sits as an External Advisor to Bain & Company.No one knows both sides of a deal like Mark and fewer still are as funny, candid and willing to talk about how it all works. He even discusses the red flags that show up as the game gets played. Mark shares what's really going on with all that money businesses have and talks about where he sees serious change happening. (Oh...and he wants to know why we aren't spending more time on the Pringles redesign. Damn he's good.) 

Listener mail, phone calls and reviews drove us to  showcase elements of our first three shows with Mitch Lowe (founding exec) of Netflix and COO at Redbox, CEO Sarah Robb O'Hagan of EXOS and former President at Gatorade, and Dana Arnett, founding Partner and CEO at VSA Partners. Short excerpts about scaling, learning that what got you where you are won't get always get you where you (and your company) need to be, failing and how great brands think their ways to better success.

This week we discuss Leadership with Commander Kirk Lippold, USN (Ret.).We discuss what good leadership is, why it's imperative, the consequences of not having it and why he believes leaders must do better to uphold this critical skill.Commander Kirk Lippold was the Commanding Officer of the USS Cole when it came under a suicide terrorist attack by al Qaeda in the port of Aden, Yemen. During his command, he and his crew distinguished themselves by saving the American war ship from sinking. This event is widely recognized as one of the most brazen acts of terrorism by al Qaeda prior to September 11, 2001.

Tiffani Bova, Salesforce Growth and Transformation Advisor joins us to talk about the staggering gaps between what companies are doing and what needs to be done to get ahead. It is all about the customer, and companies still keep getting it wrong. However in an unexpected shift, she encourages companies to first focus on their employees. Eye opening stats, observations and perspective make Tiffani a joy to listen to and learn from. Also we talk Ford's shift to "build to order", bad customer service and what's got our attention. 

Cheryl Durst is a treasure trove of perspectives on work, place, design and how we navigate our surroundings. As CEO of the largest commercial design association with over 13,000 members in over 60 countries, Cheryl brings perspective to a practice that literally informs how we move through our world. Funny, blunt, deeply empathetic and fearless in what she'll talk about; Cheryl provided us with profound insights, laughs and hope. 

Dan Bush is a film maker, director, writer, producer and now podcast creator who has taken his ideas from independent movies to international renowned.  Most recently his 13 episode immersive sci-fi thriller "Tomorrow's Monsters" starring John Boyega and Darren Criss has become a podcast hit that's gotten the attention of both the media and Hollywood. We talk about the determination, goals, focus and the essential need of pivoting to different thinking when the opportunity presents itself. Also Reece Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson and Rhyianna are part of our discussion of platforms and the changing landscape of "IP".

Author Kevin Salwen talks about his and co-Author Kent Alexander book, "The Suspect: An Olympic Bombing, the FBI, the Media, and Richard Jewell, the Man Caught in the Middle" went from a NYT best seller to a Clint Eastwood major motion picture. Kevin's experience of over 18 years at the Wall Street Journal gave him the opportunity to perfect his craft and develop a sense of story that's apparent in his works.  We also talk about, the media, our institutions and the perilous state of truth and what we need to do to correct and build better connections. Also, Victoria's Secret, United Airlines and what stories corporations are telling us these days and if they are making an impact. 

For Chuck Runyon, CEO of Self Esteem Brands, building Anytime Fitness into one of the largest and most valuable non-food franchises in the world takes passion and resolve in equal measure. Being at the helm during the shutdown of more than 4,000 mom-and-pop franchises around the world during the pandemic was a challenge few could have weathered so successfully. Now Anytime Fitness and Self Esteem's other health, fitness and nutrition brands are roaring back to life to the delight of its legions of countless fans -- even gym fanatics in Antarctica -- who bare their Anytime tattoos with pride. He's clearly on to something you should know about.Plus we discuss marketing the Covid vaccine. 

Gabe Wing has spent 20 years at Herman Miller and is their Director of Sustainability. When Gabe talks about ethical companies and corporate behavior we listen. Herman Miller is renowned as a leader in corporate social responsibility, environmental stewardship all while making some of the most beautiful products available around the world.   We talk about what the capital markets are looking for and the value brands that present their diversity, governance, sustainability actions; and the scorecards that are being created about those companies. Additionally: We talk to Bellow.press publisher Rob Kirkbride about the return to office. (And man...Rob doesn't mince words!) 

Dana Arnett is a founding partner and CEO of VSA Partners, one of the world's largest and most successful design and marketing firms. Dana and his teams have led design, marketing, digital and interactive initiatives for multiple household-name brands, including Nike, Anheuser Busch, Google, IBM, AT&T, Harley-Davidson and Toyota.. There's a great reason CEO's of top companies want his advice on how to build their businesses: Nobody tops his wealth of experience and success. Also: Additional content shows greater tension in return to work. Additionally the hosts discuss what got their attention this week;  Foos, space and  soap

Sarah Robb O'Hagan  - CEO at EXOS, The Human Performance Company. Named among Fast Company's “Most Creative People in Business” and Forbes' "Most Powerful Women in Sports,” she led the reinvention and turnaround of Gatorade as its global president and led major marketing initiatives at Nike and Virgin Atlantic. Fearless, frank, and funny in talking about learning from failures and inspiring greatness. Also: Multiple surveys indicate massive shifts in worker expectations about how they work

Mitch Lowe - Founding Exec at Netflix, COO at Redbox and discusses retail,  growth, pivoting business models and making tough decisions. His start from a Northern California video store owner put him on a path that changed how the world watches movies and consumes content.