How Success Happens

Dan went to the New York Botanical Garden for a live taping of The Martha Stewart Podcast. He almost got to talk to Martha Stewart, but did come back with tape of her conversation with actress Jameela Jamil. In this episode, Martha shares the power of gardening, Jameela explains why Martha is her ultimate inspiration, and Dan reveals that if he were a tree, he’d be an oak, but not the sturdy kind!...

Tom Brady calls in to the show to talk about building great teams off the field, the leadership strategies that defined his career, and why he’s now in the business of making GOAT gummies. After the call, Dan is joined by friend of the show Nick “Fitzy” Stevens to break down the tape, adding some color commentary on the mindset and moves that earned Brady seven rings and made the rest of us wonder...

 In this mini-episode, Dan sits down with the People’s Shark, Daymond John, to talk about why most pitches fall flat and what separates the great ones. Daymond shares what entrepreneurs get wrong when asking for advice, and how a sharper, more thoughtful approach can open the right doors. Got a burning question for Food Network stars Robert Irvine or Guy Fieri? Email it to howsuccesshappens@entrep...

Smokin’ Ed Currie has built a career around peppers - growing them, cooking with them, and pushing the limits of heat. His creations have been featured on Hot Ones and are well known among hot sauce fans. But Ed’s mission goes beyond spice. As the man behind the world’s spiciest peppers, he’s just as focused on taking care of his family, his employees, and his customers. In this episode, he shares...

Scott Tannen wasn’t even allowed to buy the sheets for his own bed, his wife Missy handled that. When she couldn’t find the perfect set they co-founded Boll & Branch, a luxury bedding company built on comfort, sustainability, and ethical production. In this episode, Scott shares the story behind the brand, the $2 million risk that paid off, and the recurring nightmare that still haunts him - even...

Jeneva Rose, author of The Perfect Marriage and The Perfect Divorce, doesn’t start writing until she’s nailed the elevator pitch. Every part of her creative process is shaped by her background in marketing, an edge that’s helped her go from an eBook-only release with a small press to a hardcover launch in big-name stores. In this episode, Jeneva breaks down how she binge-writes her books to make t...

What’s the secret behind Barbara Corcoran’s massive success? According to her, it all started with getting up from her desk and heading to the beach. Barbara invited host Dan Bova to her All-Star Entrepreneur Retreat in New York City, and sat down to share how she turned a $1,000 loan into The Corcoran Group—and became a beloved Shark. In this candid conversation, Barbara talks about how to realis...

Soon after Katie Hunt got a cold message on LinkedIn asking her if she would be interested in founding a celebrity-backed brand, she found herself bonding with actress Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory) over their love of rescuing elderly chihuahuas. Together, they founded Oh Norman!, a dog product company guided by the core ethical principle of asking, “What would a dog do?” Katie drew on her expe...

How good is Dana Perino’s advice, really? Just ask the young woman who watched The Five, took Dana’s tips to heart, and used them to land a job at Fox News—then signed up to be mentored by her favorite host. In this episode, Dana shares career advice for Dan’s son, her take on finding love, and why we should all go easier on our scrolling thumbs. From leading a PR firm to serving as White House Pr...

Andy Richter calls this week’s guest “a bona fide weirdo with virtually no interest in satisfying anything other than his own personal obsessions.” The weirdo in question is Mike Sacks, who has written for the likes of Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Time, The New York Times, McSweeney’s and who has built something of an industry writing novelizations of movies that don’t exist and memoirs of people...

Jon Taffer is a guy who is not afraid to get in the weeds, in the grease traps and in the mouse droppings to squeeze the success out of bars and restaurants on the verge of collapse. And he’s not afraid to raise his voice while doing it. Jon is the executive producer and star of Paramount Network’s “Bar Rescue,” and he sat down with host Dan Bova to share his career journey, his advice to entrepre...

Rob Simmelkjaer is the CEO of the New York Road Runners, the organization that gathers 55,000 sadists every year to run the iconic New York City Marathon, among many other events. We (barely) caught up with Rob as he was getting ready to hop a flight to Japan to run the Tokyo Marathon to find out how he finds time to train, how newbies can get started, and what you need to do to let your feet forg...

Actor Anthony Michael Hall has been in some of the most iconic movies and shows ever, and the man just keeps on iconic-ing year after year. You know him from “Sixteen Candles,” “Weird Science,” “Saturday Night Live,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “The Dead Zone” and jumping ahead to right now, a starring role in the new season of “Reacher.” Listen to the funny and philosophical man as he discusses how he...

Douglas Keene is the award-winning chef and co-owner of the Michelin-starred restaurant Cyrus in California. He’s got a new memoir out, “Culinary Leverage: A Journey Through The Heat,” and on this episode, we to talk about the life stories that define his cooking career journey, his crazy notion that people who work in restaurants need to have livable wages, and find out just what the heck a Miche...

Gabrielle Judge coined the term “Lazy Girl Jobs” on social media, and is challenging the way people approach work and how they think about success. The message seems to be resonating, at the time of this recording, she has over 300K followers on Instagram and 220K on TikTok. Listen in as the self-anointed “Anti-Work Girlboss” shares strategies to make gains in your career and personal happiness. L...

I spoke with Leigh Whannell, the director and co-writer of the new movie “Wolf Man.” The movie stars ​​Christopher Abbott ("Poor Things") and Julia Garner ("Ozark" and "Inventing Anna.") I won’t give anything away, but I’ll just say that they take a trip to a house in the middle of the woods and not-great things happen. Film/slasher fans know Leigh as the co-creator of "Saw" and fun party guy Jigs...

From winning NBA Championship rings to bringing new businesses to life, there's no goal that's too big for The Big Aristotle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The absolute GOAT NFL sideline reporter popped in and shared insights about her thriving apparel business WEAR by Erin Andrews, explained what it’s like to experience the Taylor Swift effect firsthand, shared her tips for beating nerves in stressful situations, and gave us her Super Bowl prediction! (Sort of.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hilarious actor Chris Diamantopoulos has appeared in so many fantastic shows and movies, these show notes could be a book. You know him from “Red Notice,” “Silicon Valley,” “The Boys in the Boat” and now he can be seen in the brand-new comedy heist show “The Sticky” on Amazon. If you want a pep talk from Mickey Mouse, you’ve come to the right podcast episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

Our host Dan Bova has been lucky enough to interview Ken Burns several times over the past few years. Burns, as you know, is quite the filmmaker, whose documentaries like “The Civil War,” “Baseball,” and “The Vietnam War” have earned him five Emmys and two Oscar nominations. He just premiered his latest work, the four-hour film “Leonardo da Vinci” — which he co-directed with his daughter, Sarah Bu...

The election might be over, but chances are the tension we've all been feeling is not. That;'s why we invited Sarah Knight, best-selling author of the profanely perfect self-help guides “The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck” and “Calm the F*ck Down,” to come on the show to share much-needed advice for silencing the crazy talk in our heads and to help us catch our collective breath. For mor...

This being Halloween season, we thought it was the perfect time to speak with the business brains behind one of the most successful and goriest franchises of all time, “The Walking Dead.” David Alpert is the co-founder and CEO of Skybound, the home of “The Walking Dead” and many other titles including “Invincible.” He built the company with legendary comic book creator Robert Kirkman, who began TW...

Bonnie Mauldin has been hustling since she was a kid. At eight years old, she was knocking on doors offering to shovel driveways. After graduation, she entered the medical field, but quickly discovered it was not for her. Now, Bonnie owns two successful businesses, The Mauldin Group and Mauldin Production Company. Having learned a lot along the way, Bonnie shares her tips on changing careers, side...

He’s a Grammy-winning musician, an Academy Award-winning filmmaker, a DJ, a teacher, author of multiple books, a podcaster, host of the web series “Quest for Craft” and oh yeah, the co-frontman for a little band you may have seen on “The Tonight Show” called The Roots. In this conversation, the very busy Questlove talks about being crazy productive without going crazy, re-capturing your creative j...

Joe De Sena (CEO of Spartan Race), Ben Askren (Co-Founder of AWA) and clinical psychologist David Sacks discuss their new book, “Extreme Balance: Paradoxical Principles That Make You a Champion.” In the world of elite sports, the authors say that victory is often attributed to physical and athletic prowess, but argue that the real key to unlocking our full potential lies in our mindset. During thi...