Disruption Lab

Thank you for your support! We will see you next month for season three of Disruption Lab.

Who decided the rules you live by are actually the rules? Patrick sits down with Cate Hall, author of the forthcoming book You Can Just Do Things: How High-Agency People Get What They Want Out of Life, for a conversation about agency, reinvention, resilience, and challenging invisible limits. Cate’s story is anything but conventional. She went from attorney to world-class poker player to battling...

What if the life you want isn't built through hustle, but through intentional design? In this episode of Disrupt Everything, Patrick sits down with entrepreneur, bestselling author, and performance coach Craig Ballantyne to explore why discipline isn't about restriction. It's about freedom. Known by many as "The World's Most Disciplined Man," Craig has helped hundreds of business leaders and entre...

What would happen if you stopped waiting for permission and simply started tackling big problems? Patrick talks with Tommy Pennington, a Vanderbilt graduate and rising innovator, about what it means to think boldly at any age. Tommy has explored everything from fusion-powered technology to traffic flow systems to helping nonprofits gain access to large-scale donated goods through his work at SIMPL...

What happens when you step away from the spotlight and choose to lead in an entirely new way? Patrick sits down with internationally acclaimed opera performer Keri Alkema to discuss reinvention, leadership, creativity, and the future of the arts. After a celebrated career performing on some of the world’s biggest stages, Keri is stepping into a new role as the future director of the Nashville Oper...

How do you find your voice and stay steady when the world feels chaotic? Patrick sits down with Lydia Hu, attorney turned journalist and familiar face on Fox Business, for a conversation about career pivots, high-pressure moments, and navigating disruption in real time. The two first connected while appearing together on Varney & Company during the height of Patrick and James Patterson’s media...

Most people see waste, excess, or leftover materials as a problem. David Mendelson sees opportunity. Patrick talks with David Mendelson, leader of multi-generation family-owned company DONCO, about creativity, problem solving, and operating in a world where every phone call brings a new challenge. David and his team help organizations rethink industrial byproducts, excess inventory, and unused mat...

What does it take to reinvent yourself in a world shaped by layoffs, AI, uncertainty, and constant change? In this episode, Patrick sits down with career and leadership expert Kathy Caprino, Forbes columnist, executive coach, educator, and host of the Finding Brave podcast. The two first met at the World Business Forum in New York City, where Kathy’s thoughtful questions and genuine care for peopl...

What does it really mean to find your voice?  In this episode of Disruption Lab, Patrick sits down with Megan Piphus to explore how voice is not just something you have. It is something you develop, refine, and sometimes fight to uncover.  Megan’s journey is anything but typical. She started as a self-taught ventriloquist at a young age, went on to appear on America's Got Talent, built a career th...

What if success doesn’t follow a single path?  In this episode of Disruption Lab, Patrick sits down with Colleen Brown and her son Pierce Brown for a conversation that highlights two very different journeys, both pursued with clarity and intention.  Colleen has led at the highest levels as a CEO and board member. Pierce has built a global following as the author of the Red Rising series. Their car...

What if the stress you’re feeling isn’t something to manage but something to rethink entirely?  In this episode of Disruption Lab, Patrick sits down with Amy Leneker to explore how our relationship with stress shapes the way we show up at work and in life. Too often, we treat stress as the enemy and joy as something we will get to later. Amy challenges that thinking and offers a more practical app...

In this conversation, Patrick sits down with Jim, a former professional athlete and a sought-after coach at the highest levels of sport and beyond, to explore the ideas behind his earlier work Inner Excellence and his newly released book The Best Possible Life. Together, they dig into the hidden barriers that often get in our way when we are striving for something meaningful. Along the way, Patric...

Lucy Westlake is the youngest North American woman to summit Mount Everest. But this episode isn’t just about climbing mountains. It’s about what happens when a father-daughter relationship evolves from guide and follower to peers… and eventually to independence. We talk about Denali, Kilimanjaro, and summiting every U.S. high point together. But more importantly, we explore what it means to choos...

In this episode of Disruption Lab, I sit down with James Patterson, one of the world’s most prolific and widely read authors, to talk about the ideas behind our New York Times bestselling book Disrupt Everything and Win. This conversation is less of an interview and more of a back-and-forth dialogue. We discuss why we took on this project, what we discovered along the way, and why disruption is no...

“What if leadership isn’t about driving results, but about caring for people? On this episode of The Disruption Lab, Patrick Leddin sits down with Bob Chapman, Chairman and former CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, to explore a radically different approach to leading people and building organizations. Bob has spent decades transforming a $3.6 billion global company by embracing what he calls “Truly Human Lea...

The way people behave at work does not stay at work. The way we are treated by our boss, our colleagues, and the people we lead changes how we show up everywhere else. It shapes our mood, our confidence, and the way we interact with the people we care about most. In other words, behavior at work creates ripple effects far beyond the office. In this episode of Disruption Lab, Patrick Leddin sits do...

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In this episode of the Disruption Lab podcast, Patrick Leddin sits down with Serena Ainslie, founder of Girl Math Capital, to explore how she’s rewriting the rules of investing and entrepreneurship. Serena shares her unconventional path into the world of venture capital and the mission behind Girl Math Capital—empowering women to confidently step into the financial arena and build companies that d...

In this episode of the Disruption Lab podcast, Patrick Leddin sits down with Jim Murphy, author of Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life . Jim shares his remarkable journey—from professional baseball and FedEx, to years of solitude in the desert, to coaching world-class athletes and leaders. They discuss what true success really means, why purpo...

What would you do if every decision you made had to be right, and you had less than a second to make it? In this episode of The Disruption Lab , Patrick Leddin sits down with Professional Racing Driver & Entrepreneur Phiroze Bilimoria to explore what it takes to perform when the pace is relentless and the pressure is high. Phiroze shares how he manages split-second decisions, works seamlessly...

What if lasting change was closer—and more possible—than you think? In this episode of Disruption Lab , host Patrick Leddin sits down with neuroscientist Dr. Josh Davis and entrepreneur Greg Prosmushkin, co-authors of The Difference That Makes the Difference: NLP and the Science of Positive Change. They explore how Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)—once considered niche or esoteric—can be a power...

What if you’ve been measuring the wrong things all along? In this episode of Disruption Lab , host Patrick Leddin sits down with Karen Dillon—former editor of Harvard Business Review and New York Times best-selling co-author of How Will You Measure Your Life? with Clayton Christensen They dig into the pivotal “disruptive conversation” that changed Karen’s direction, leading her to co-create a book...

What if real leadership isn’t just about driving results—but also about protecting your energy, staying grounded, and living a life that matters? In this episode of Disruption Lab , host Patrick Leddin sits down with Klaus Kleinfeld—former CEO of Siemens and Alcoa, advisor to global leaders, and author of Leading to Thrive . Drawing on decades of experience across industries and continents, Klaus...

What can 100 strangers and 1,000 everyday objects teach us about ourselves—and each other? In this episode of Disruption Lab , artist and storyteller Imran Nuri joins us to talk about what happens when you slow down, ask good questions, and truly see the world around you. Imran is the creator of Advice from America , a powerful photojournalism project where he traveled to all of the 48 lower state...

Feeling stuck in your career? You’re not alone—and you’re not without options. In this episode of Disruption Lab , career coach and author Lori Béen shares her wisdom from over 25 years of helping people break out of ruts, shift careers, and pursue work that actually aligns with their purpose. From working with college students to coaching seasoned professionals through reinvention, Lori has seen...