TAILGATING WITH GENIUSES

Customer Experience: how to do it, how to make it real and how to make it matter. Geoff DeVito of Explora Journeys shares his background, TED talk content and the basics of creating REAL/high value customer experiences. His employer Explora is a cruise ship unlike any other on the seas, they're creating deep experience for both passengers and crew.  We discuss hospitality and the thinking beh...

Author and professor Scott Habegger shares stories about positioning and how companies can do it better. Scott talks about the need for a shift in focus to what he calls "small data". We all know "big data" but it's the small data that colors what people think and say about your company. Scott shares stories related to banking, retail and Harley's.  We discuss Bed Bat...

We throw out a run of show in favor of a discussion about a practical and unexpected application of A.I. that Lekan demonstrated. We discuss what happened and welcome the remarkable Amanda Schneider, President and Founder of ThinkLab.  With Amanda we discuss the ideas about where work is going and the notion that it's process and not any product that will inform the next wave of how work gets...

We welcome Portuguese entrepreneur and founder Antonio Cuco of Sharish gin to the show this week. A literal start from nothing 10 years ago, to becoming the #1 gin maker in Portugal, Antonio tells a story everyone needs to hear.  Tolerable Host Lekan Bashua had to answer his version of the Bat Signal leaving Ken and Martin to go "duo".  We discuss storytelling and highlight its value thr...

After 14 months, we're back with Season 2! Rumors of Ken starting a perineum sunning center were proven to be false. Lekan's move from the northwest to the southeast proved to be true. And Martin's perpetual reading of arduous and mostly boring content is a constant. We discuss everything from the new show structure, A.I. changing the world, Ken's frustration with Hallmark card...

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 author...

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 ret...

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 blocke...

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 Fo...

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 succe...

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 b...

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

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 share...

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 wi...

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 (...

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. Durin...

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...

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 w...

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 determi...

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 th...

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&...

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...

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 wa...

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 inspir...

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.