Permission To Shine

Jeffrey Deskovic is a lawyer dedicated to freeing wrongly convicted inmates.  At 17, Jeffrey was wrongly convicted of murder and rape.  He spent 16 years in maximum security prison before DNA evidence proved his innocence.  After prison, Jeffrey started the Deskovic Foundation, where they have freed 14 wrongly convicted people and counting.  Jeffrey is 1 of 3,200 exonerations since 1989.  He discu...

Jimmy Yeager owned and operated Aspen, CO local restaurant Jimmy's for 25 years, resulting in a successful sell out.  We sat down for a conversation during Aspen Food & Wine Festival.  Jimmy's was a place for billionaires and scrap workers alike to bond.  It was an institution built through hard work and intention.  Jimmy discusses: -How he built a strong culture resulting in very low turnover...

Aliia Roza joins the show this week to share what she learned during her time as a Russian Spy, specifically trained on seduction.  She was recruited by the Russian government and turned into an agent as her father and grandfather were top generals in the KGB.  The government trained her to be a weapon -- Aliia would use seduction tactics to get inside information from top criminals for the Russia...

Victor Vescovo is one of the most accomplished humans alive. He is a former naval intelligence officer where he retired as Commander. He co-founded Insight Equity Holdings, a prominent investment fund. He is a Seven Summits Climber by climbing the tallest peak on all seven continents, deep sea diver (went to the bottom of all 5 oceans), outer space visitor, and pilot. In 2019, Victor Vescovo was r...

Joey is the global CEO of Barry's Bootcamp, which has 88 high end fitness studios across 14 countries. Barry's was started in 1998 when the founder needed a place to go and have fun without drinking. So how did Joey Gonzalez go from Barry's client to CEO? We unpack it all. We discuss: -How to balance a demanding professional and personal life -Building and maintaining a top tier brand -Organizing...

Karenna Gore is Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Earth Ethics, an organization started in 2015 to focus on the intersection of ecology, ethics, and faith. It's no easy task!  Karenna started this organization after convening 200 of the top religious leaders in 2014 to discuss climate change during the Religions for the Earth conference. She realized a centralized system was needed....

Erik Weihenmayer is an extreme athlete, author, and founder of the No Barriers movement. Going blind at a young age only further propelled his motivation to leave an extraordinary impact.  Eric has climbed the seven summits, kayaked 277 miles through the Grand Canyon, written several books including Touch The Top of The World and No Barriers.  He was the first blind person to summit Mt. Everest in...

Ken Hersh has served as CEO and President of the George W. Bush Presidential Center since 2016, where he oversees the Bush Institute, Library, and Museum.  In 1988 Ken co-founded and became CEO of the legendary private equity fund Natural Gas Partners, an energy focused fund, who went on to earn a 27 year annualized 30% rate of return, making it one of the nation's leading private equity firms.  H...

Jose Pereira was serving as CEO of CITGO (energy company) in 2017 when he was on his way to complete one last business trip before retiring after a 35 year career.  During his trip to Venezuela, local officials captured and arrested Jose and his 5 colleagues falsely accusing them of being American spies. Jose was held hostage in brutal conditions for 5 years as a political pawn, while Venezuela an...

Victor Boutros is Founding Director & CEO of the Human Trafficking Institute, where they are strategically decimating human trafficking around the globe. Victor previously served as a federal prosecutor on human trafficking cases of national significance on behalf of the United States Department of Justice’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit. He is co-author of  The Locust Effect: Why the End...

Episode 32 is live with retail and fashion executive, Paul Price!  Paul is Chief Merchandising Officer at Burberry and former CEO of TopShop and James Perse. He’s worked with the biggest retail legends — Chairman of Bloomingdales, Mastermind behind Gap, Head of Retail at Apple.  He was kind to share the lessons he’s learned.  We discuss:  -His light bulb moment on the most effective way to deliver...

Robin Thurston has done it all.  When he was 12 years old, he was training in Colorado to become a professional cyclist.  He made that dream come true.  Robin went on to Co-Found MapMyFitness which was sold to Under Armour, where he became Chief Digital Officer for 3 years.  He served as CEO at Helix, a genomics company.  Robin is Founder and CEO of Outside Interactive Inc. - the 38 brand conglome...

Episode 30 takes us to Sao Paulo, Brazil for a deep dive into the mind of yoga master, Francisco Kaiut.  After being shot at a young age, Francisco went around the globe looking for remedies to cure his pain.  He couldn't find 1 specific practice that helped, so he decided to branch out and start his own series of poses that helped his body get back to normal.  Fast forward 30 years, The Kaiut Met...

Wally Green is Co-Founder @ SPiN New York and a professional ping pong player.  Wally's professional athlete journey took him as far as North Korea, where 5,000 North Koreans cheered strongly against him at the arena -- a moment we dive deep into.  We discuss overcoming adversity, the power of being yourself, how the concept for SPiN started as house parties with ping pong, having Susan Sarandon a...

Episode 28 brings us Tahmid Khan who was held hostage after 5 guys stormed a cafe armed with AK-47’s and changed his life instantly.  Tahmid is an intellectual, he attended Columbia and the University of Toronto. He’s had a career in public health, founded a non-profit, and produces music on the side. To say the least, he’s extremely thoughtful and his breakdown of what happened is heartbreaking a...

Wende Valentine serves as Executive Director of the dZi Foundation, an NGO dedicated to ensuring basic needs, catalyzing inclusive economic growth, and creating an environment for lasting impact in the most rural parts of Nepal. Think schools, farms, and new businesses created by locals, as a result of training and resources provided by dZi.  Wende has an incredible history of non profit leadershi...

NJ Falk is Managing Partner at Athletic Propulsion Labs (APL).  NJ Co-Founded and serves as Chief Mentorpreneur™ ( a term she trademarked) of The Forward Female.  She's founder of the Webby Award winning blog, The Blonde and The Brunette.  She previously help leadership roles at American Express, Universal Studios and MGM.  She holds a BFA in Film/Television/Journalism and an MBA from NYU.  We dis...

Mandy Ginsberg is a force. She served as CEO of Match Group (owner of 45 brands including Match.com, Tinder, Hinge) when it was a $25B company, currently serves on the board of directors at Uber, former board member at JC Penney's, and current director at thredUP.  Mandy famously served as the first female CEO to conduct a pay audit amongst her entire organization, exposing the pay gap between gen...

After being given up at birth, and rotating through 22 different foster care homes, Dr. Loren Michaels Harris went on to win the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in giving back to others.  He is an entrepreneur, author, and professional speaker.  Dr. Loren serves as CEO of Trajectory TV Network, Executive Producer and Talk Show Host of e360tv, and the Founder @ Power of We Symp...

Dan & Chris Powers took a leap of faith when they moved across the country to Los Angeles 10 years ago to pursue their dream in the entertainment business.  Since then, it's paid off. They run the famous Empty Netters Podcast (an Almost Friday Media/Friday Beers affiliate) and have made a name for themselves as screenwriters.  It didn't come without a few "kicks to the teeth" -- being rejected...

Janice is the CEO of Ellig Group, where she was named one of the world's most influential headhunters by Bloomberg Business Week.  She has a specific focus on improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace by placing women and underrepresented executives onto boards and into C-suites.  Janice is a philanthropic titan having chaired the University of Iowa Center for Advancement board,...

Dr. Austin Chiang is a world-renowned expert on gut health. He attended Duke, Colombia, Harvard (and more!) to obtain his MD and beyond.  Dr. Austin Chiang serves as Chief Medical Officer of the Endoscopy business at Medtronic, the worlds largest medical device company.  He's created an immense social media following where he spreads accurate health information to his 570,000 followers.  He is aut...

Robert Jordan served as the 25th U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the 9/11 attacks. Having served as President George Bush's personal attorney, and close friend, Robert was tapped to lead Saudi relations in a tumultuous time.  Tune in to hear stories from the Oval Office, Saudi Palaces, and advice on improving the Israel/Palestinian conflict.  Robert was a partner in the international law fi...

Enjoy this fascinating conversation with Almost Friday Media President, Andrew Kenward.  Conversation starts at time stamp 3:30.  Andrew landed his first job in entertainment with C3 Presents, hosting Austin City Limits. From ACL, he went on to become an Agent in Hollywood at William Morris Endeavor for 8 years before joining the rocket ship Almost Friday Media as their President.  Almost Friday M...

Andy Warren is an accomplished business leader with experience in film and entertainment, investment banking, insurance, and several entrepreneurial endeavors (like owning 22 pubs!).  Andy gives advice on the art of relationship building, decisive thinking, and risk taking. "Don't break rules, bend them!"  We recorded this episode at a vineyard in Napa -- please visit our YouTube page to watch the...