Big Questions with Cal Fussman

While doing a storytelling workshop, Cal meets Shirzad Chamine, the chairman of CTI, the largest coach and training company in the world. CTI has trained execs and managers at most of the Fortune 500 companies, as well as faculty at Yale and Stanford Business Schools. Cal is immediately enthralled with the way Shirzad uses positive energy to lift the workshop. He inquires and learns that Shirzad h...

Cal sees a report that the President has just joined the live-streaming video platform Twitch and senses that it's time to air the podcast he did with a man who advised him to jump into the future of video games. Scott Novis, formerly Vice President and General Manager of Disney Interactive, founded a company called GameTruck to bring video game parties to millions of kids. Scott tells Cal he shou...

Cal heard about the growth hacker who's worked with Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Michael Strahan, and also built a 7-figure social media following for himself in one month. And he figured it might be a good thing to get a glimpse of this world. But this podcast didn't turn out quite like Cal figured, as Brendan posed questions that made Cal think about what he actually wanted to do with those followe...

Cal heard about the growth hacker who's worked with Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Michael Strahan, and also built a 7-figure social media following for himself in one month. And he figured it might be a good thing to get a glimpse of this world. But this podcast didn't turn out quite like Cal figured, as Brendan posed questions that made Cal think about what he actually wanted to do with those followe...

Cal learns what can be accomplished when the right two people come together as he gets to the essence of his sponsor: Sportiqe. Matt Altman and Jason Franklin, two guys who grew up thousands of miles apart, trace the backstory of their clothing company with moments that touch back on Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z, the great Chicago Bulls teams with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson, and much m...

Tim Campos doubled productivity for Facebook while he was Chief Information Officer between 2010 and 2016. Now, Tim tries to do the same for Cal by introducing him to his latest project: Woven. Woven is a state-of-the-art digital calendar that we can all use to get the most out of our time while studying the analytics behind how we're using our most precious resource. Tim's company in the testing...

The CEO of CatalystCreativ was the spark for a huge change in Cal's business and life — and this conversation gets to finding the essence in yourself and using it to be your best. It also applies to companies. Amanda has worked on projects with WeWork, Coca Cola, The Raiders and The Nature Conservancy, and designed a strategy that transforms businesses through meaningful engagement with customers...

Cal learns he can be way more persuasive than he ever thought when he sits at The Big Table in the office of Jason Harris, the CEO of Mekanism. Jason's company has been named the small agency of the year by Ad Age. It has famously linked up with the White House under President Obama to create the "It's On Us" campaign to raise awareness of sexual assault on college campuses. And Jason's got a book...

The lead singer of O.A.R. clues Cal in to the business philosophies that have kept Of A Revolution thriving for nearly a quarter of a century. Any stereotype of dreamy artists is swiftly put to rest as Marc explains the constant vigilance all the band members throw into their work to keep the seats filled and their loyal fans coming back year after year after year. These lessons are applicable not...

Cal gets tips on getting all those dings, notifications and technological distractions out of his life from a man who has spent much of his career making people yearn for more technology. Many takeaways in this conversation with the author of the upcoming book, Indistractable , are about controlling your attention and leading a clearer and more focused life. It's just the advice Cal needs now that...

Cal poses the question after hearing the wondrous story of Dr. Sabrina Kay – who came to the U.S. from South Korea while in college without speaking English, started out as a janitor and began an entrepreneurial journey that took her to the cover of Fortune Magazine.   By the time she'd reached her 30s, Sabrina had amassed enough wealth so that neither she – nor any of her family members – ever ne...

Cal looks back on the most amazing thing he's ever seen in his life, August 7, 1974, when a French street performer named Philippe Petit secretly rigged a wire between the twin towers of the World Trade Center and walked on it 1,300 feet above the ground. There are many lessons to be learned from Philippe's feat, which took place 45 years ago, and Cal has mined for them through at least a dozen vi...

That's right, Matt Pohlson. Cal sits with the founder of Omaze, a company that has helped raise $130 million for roughly 350 charities through donations made by people looking for a chance to win once in a lifetime experiences with the people they dream of meeting. Drink wine with Jennifer Lawrence. Get in a tank with Arnold Schwarzenegger and go crush things. Go on a double date with George and A...

Not long ago, the New Orleans Pelicans won the National Basketball Association's draft lottery and selected one of the most unique young talents in the league's history: Zion Williamson. As we see in this week's episode, the executive in charge of putting together that team, David Griffin, has created a life out of being around the right people. How else would an intern in a media relations depart...

Jeff Civillico has a superpower that makes people pay attention within three seconds. That's why he's got a show on The Strip at Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and has been named Entertainer of the Year by Vegas Inc. Cal learned precisely how important Jeff's superpower is last week when Tim Staples laid out the secrets to going viral on the Internet. Jeff is a juggler, but more than that, he...

On any given day, the odds of making it to the front page of YouTube are one in 2 million. Tim, and his company, Shareability, have done this 35 times. When the student is ready, the master appears. So Cal sets off on his journey into social media with Tim as his guide alongside the launch of Tim's book: Break Through The Noise, The 9 Rules to Capture Global Attention. Tim has created viral videos...

Cal catches up with his old pal, and author of the Barbecue Bible. Roughly 20 years ago, Cal sought out Steven to learn how to grill and smoke in order to write a story for Esquire Magazine. With one day of training and a lot of subsequent practice, Cal went on to compete in the Jack Daniel's World Barbecue Championship in Lynchburg, Tennessee, where judge (and author) Clive Cussler declared that...

Cal is on the lookout for an Aha! Moment when he sits with the high-performance psychologist – Dr. Michael Gervais. That's because whenever Cal talks with Michael, a life-changing moment seems to materialize. A couple of years ago, Cal was invited on Michael's Finding Mastery podcast to discuss how he interviewed the icons who'd shaped the last half century of world history for Esquire Magazine. D...

Cal thanks Tim Ferriss for pushing him to start his podcast by helping two young guys who recently took leave from Harvard to get their tech start-up going. Sam Rukeyser and Dave Lu have come up with a platform that allows podcast listeners to save the snippets they like in podcasts and even send them to friends and family through all manner of social media. Their company is called Airr, the techn...

Cal has a transformative moment in a conversation with a recent inductee in the Advertising Hall of Fame – Michael Kassan. The talk goes back to the days when Cal was educated in journalism school never to go to the other side of The Wall that separated editorial and sales. This education kept Cal from publicizing himself and associating with advertisers even as the Internet changed the landscape...

In our mean-spirited times, Cal steps into a conversation about kindness and receives a most thoughtful gift. Dete Meserve, the CEO of Wind Dancer Films and author of the books Good Sam and Random Acts of Kindness, shows Cal how the same skills and talents he used as a writer for decades can also serve him as a CEO. The epiphany comes at just the right time, as Cal sprinted toward his goal as CEO...

Cal touches on the story of two brothers from Needham, Massachusetts, Bert and Johnny Jacobs, who converted their eternal optimism into a t-shirt business that is now a burgeoning company which provides assistance to a million children every year. It wasn't easy at the start. The brothers spent five years driving around the country in a van trying to sell their t-shirts -- with little success. Aft...

Cal meets his polar opposite: The Boss in Heals. Heather Monahan. Whereas Cal was told as a writer in Journalism School never to sell, Heather came up on the sales side being told not to think of herself as a creative talent. She rose up the corporate ladder to become Chief Revenue Officer of the Beasley Media Group with 500 people working for her and was named one of the most influential women in...

Cal looks at how John Rampton made millions by becoming one of the top online influencers in the world – tracing Rampton's ascent back to an accident in college that left John bedridden in a hospital for months. John learned to master social media in that hospital bed, and he shows Cal how "giving away the farm" on the Internet is a gift that just keeps on giving through success and hard times. Th...

Cal sits with Muhammad's daughter, Hana, almost three years after his passing to talk about her dad. Hana has just written a book called At Home With Muhammad Ali, and this conversation looks at what life was like in the moments when the cameras weren't around. There are happy moments – seeing her dad stuffing his mouth with bubble gum as if he were a big kid. There are beautiful moments – the way...