Intentional Performers

Cara Brookins built her own 3500 square foot house by using YouTube tutorials. The impetus for her decision to build that house with her four kids came after surviving domestic violence. When that occurred, she was faced with the stark challenge of providing for her children but with no means and no one to turn to but herself. In desperate need of a home, but without the means to buy one, she did...

Gregg Berhalter is the Head Coach for the United States Men’s National Soccer Team. Before that, Gregg was the Head Coach for the Columbus Crew in the MLS. He also worked in Europe, where he was the first American to be a Head Coach of a European soccer team. Gregg also played for the US National Team from 1994-2006, also playing with the under-20 National Team in 1993. He played professionally in...

This week Brian shares his reflections on the past year. He shares his struggles, how he's experimenting, and what he's been grateful for during the pandemic.  As we move forward, in a post-pandemic world, how can we better support ourselves and each other?  If you want to connect and chat more and share your experience feel free to reach out via Twitter or Linkedin @Brianlevenson or email Brian a...

Suneel Gupta teaches at Harvard University and is the author of BACKABLE – exploring how to get people to believe in your ideas. The book is rooted in Suneel’s journey from first-time entrepreneur to being named “The New Face of Innovation” by the New York Stock Exchange. Suneel’s ideas have been backed by firms like Greylock and Google Ventures, and he served as an Entrepreneur in Residence insid...

Kyle Korver is one of the most prolific 3-point shooters in the history of the NBA. He’s 4th most all-time in 3-point field goals made and 3rd highest on the all-time list for 3-point field goal percentage. But Kyle is so much more than a shooter. He was an all-star in 2015 and he played in the NBA for 17 seasons. Kyle also won the sportsmanship award in 2015. In this episode, we discuss misogi an...

Nik Wallenda has 11 Guinness World Records and has completed a list of never-before-seen death defying feats. He has written his name in history as the king of the highwire. Additionally, Nik has performed live in every state in the US and all over the world. He has garnered the support from tens of millions of viewers on network television specials on ABC, The Discovery Channel, and others. Nik h...

Nicole Lynn Lewis is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Generation Hope, a nonprofit organization that surrounds motivated teen parents and their children with the mentors, emotional support, and financial resources that they need to thrive in college and kindergarten, thereby driving a two-generation solution to poverty. A former teen mother herself who put herself through the College of...

Brendan Suhr is one of the most respected figures in basketball, as he has nearly 30 years of coach and executive experience in the NBA, as well as 13 seasons as a coach at the collegiate level. He has been part of some of the most historical basketball teams of all time, while winning back-to-back championships with the “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons, also working as an assistant coach on the 1992 Dre...

Lauren Johnson works as a mental performance coach. Additionally, she’s a keynote speaker, a writer, an entrepreneur, and she’s curious, obsessed, and interested with how the lessons in sports translate to the corporate world. She’s given keynotes to such notable organizations as the FBI, Johnson and Johnson, and Mass Mutual. Additionally, she’s worked for the New York Yankees as their mental cond...

Rachel Tipograph considered herself amongst the digerati since the moment she became an eBay power user at 13. Forbes listed Rachel as one of its “30 under 30 Who Are Changing The World,” Marie Claire named her one of “The 50 Most Influential Women in America,” Fast Company named her one of “The Most Creative People in Business,” AdAge named her one of “The Most Creative People of The Year,” Adwee...

Ryan Hawk is a keynote speaker, author, advisor, and the host of The Learning Leader Show, a podcast with millions of listeners in more than 150 countries. He is the author of Welcome to Management: How to Grow from Top Performer to Excellent Leader (McGraw-Hill, January 2020). A lifelong student of leadership, he rose to roles as a professional quarterback and VP of Sales at a multibillion-dollar...

Haley Skarupa is a member of the 2018 United States Women’s Olympic ice hockey Team who took home a gold medal from the Winter Olympics this past February in Pyeongchang, South Korea. She is a three-time World Champion and also a Four Nations Cup Gold Medalist for Team USA as well. Haley graduated from Boston College in 2016, majoring in psychology. While at Boston College, she was named an All-Am...

Rahul Vohra is the CEO and Co-Founder of Superhuman, the fastest email experience ever made. He previously founded Rapportive, a popular Gmail plug-in that was acquired by LinkedIn. In this episode, we discuss what Rahul was like as a kid (7:15), how he began coding at the age of 8 (8:26), how his parents instilled a love of learning in Rahul and his brother (12:11), how he showed up emotionally a...

Rae Ringel is a certified executive coach and founding President of The Ringel Group. She is a faculty member at the Georgetown University Institute for Transformational Leadership and founding director of their certificate program in the Art of Facilitation and Design. She is also adjunct faculty at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business. Rae is in high demand as an innovat...

Sue Enquist is a legendary softball coach who coached the UCLA softball team for 27 years. She has won 11 National Championships, 1 as a player and 10 as a coach. However, this conversation is not about anything related to her impressive resume. Sue is much more interested in talking about her failures, what she would have done differently, coaching today, and how coaching has evolved through the...

Dee Ann Turner is a 33-year veteran of Chick-fil-A, Inc. Prior to retirement in 2018, she was Vice President, Talent and Vice President, Sustainability for Chick-fil-A, Inc. Selected as the company’s first female officer in 2001, she was instrumental in building and growing Chick-fil-A’s well-known culture and talent systems. During her long career, she worked closely with Chick-fil-A’s founder, S...

Eric Musselman is a basketball coach through and through. Today he is the University of Arkansas Head Men’s Basketball Coach, but he’s also coached in the NBA. Previously he served as the Head Coach of the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors. He also coached previously at the collegiate level for the University of Nevada, helping their program to thrive. In this conversation we dive int...

Ashley Merryman is the author of two New York Times bestsellers: NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children and Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing. In this episode we discuss why she’s a Nationals fan (5:20), the power of sports and the community it builds (7:20), why she cares so deeply about excellence and competing (10:37), “flow” (14:15), emotional agility and grit (18:53), Angela Duckw...

Dan Abrahams is a Sport Psychologist who works alongside individuals, teams, coaches, and organizations all over the world. He is known for his passion to demystify sport psychology and for creating simple to use performance techniques. Dan is a former professional golfer and holds a first-class Honors Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Sport Psychology. Dan is extremely articulate, tho...

Servant Leadership through the heart! Claude Silver is the premier resource for heart-based leadership because she has created it, executed it, taught it and lived it. She knows how to develop others with these skills so they can pull out their inner heart leadership and soar! Claude Silver is VaynerMedia's inaugural Chief Heart Officer, and she really does bring the heart to the agency by way of...

Matt Birk played in the NFL for 15 years. He came into the NFL as a 6th round pick after going to Harvard as an undergraduate. Matt played for the Baltimore Ravens, winning a Super Bowl with them, and he also played for the Minnesota Vikings for a number of years, which was his hometown football team. Matt was a 2-time All-Pro, a 6-time Pro Bowl selection, a Super Bowl winner as well. During the e...

Dan Helfrich is the Chairman and CEO of Deloitte Consulting. As CEO, he leads a $10 billion business comprised of more than 50,000 professionals who help clients solve their most complex business issues and shape their futures with confidence. Prior to this role, Dan led the Government of Public Services and advised government leaders in transforming into their most efficient and effective organiz...

Jen Baker is just the fifth Director of Athletics and Recreation at Johns Hopkins since 1950 and succeeded Alanna W. Shanahan, who served in the position since July 2016.  Baker has been an integral member of the department’s senior-leadership team since her arrival at Homewood.  She has overseen the day-to-day operation of the Department of Athletics with oversight in the planning, development an...

Chris Wirth is somebody who cares deeply about positivity, resilience, and persistence. He thinks often about the question of “What does it take to be successful?” Chris has a podcast (No Quit Living), has written a book (The Positivity Tribe), and has many speaking engagements. Chris is also somebody who is all about refusing to lose and refusing to quit. Chris and I discuss what quitting is, and...

Carmelina Moscato is a Canadian soccer player and Olympic bronze-medalist. Today, she’s a coach. She played as a Center Back in professional soccer in the US and all over the world. She is someone who thinks deeply about leadership, soccer and how you can leverage leadership in soccer. She’s incredibly thoughtful and will share her mindset on what it was like playing for the Canadian National Team...