Personable

Send a text While others pursued Wall Street, Ladi Balogun built Nigeria’s 7th largest bank - unpacking how he scaled to 15M customers, navigated CEO term limits, and built a $5B institution by betting on Africa’s financial future. Ladi Balogun is the Group Chief Executive Officer of FCMB Group Plc, a leading Nigerian financial services holding company operating in banking, asset management, pensi...

Send a text Former Morgan Stanley MD turned startup CFO explains why the rise of AI marks a once-in-a-generation shift—and how it’s forcing Wall Street and Silicon Valley to collide like never before. Ted Tobiason is CFO of Vimo and former CFO of electric scooter pioneer Lime. A Wall Street veteran, he served as MD at Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank leading their Tech ECM divisions, following ear...

Send a text Two 22-year-old founders reveal how they’re risking everything to build Scran, the TikTok-inspired app revolutionizing London’s dining scene before Big Tech takes over. Maisie Roberts and Bertie Kinnings, UX Design graduates from Loughborough University, co-founded Scran, a Gen Z restaurant app combining TikTok-style discovery with booking. Maisie’s AI design expertise (Itsu, Orgueil C...

Send a text Riya Jain who turned her childhood health struggles into a movement reveals how to transform personal pain into purpose and build a business that changes lives Riya Jain is the founder and CEO of The Land of Can, a children's media company she launched in seventh grade to create empowering books and resources about health topics like food allergies, anxiety, and ADHD. Her company...

Send a text From NFL sidelines to global stages, Nathan Whitaker, bestselling author and ex-NFL insider, unleashes lessons on why character outshines athleticism, how Super Bowl legends like Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden forged winning cultures, and why embracing your role—on the field or in the boardroom—sparks unstoppable resilience and success. Nathan Whitaker, #1 New York Times bestselling author...

Send a text Seth Radwell exposes the lie behind America’s political divide - and the urgent fix before it’s too late. Seth David Radwell is the Harvard-trained CEO (Proactiv, Scholastic) who revealed how America's founding clashes created today's crisis. His award-winning book the American Schism dismantles political myths. Now he works with leaders worldwide to combat polarization befor...

Send a text Today marks two years since my mother passed away from cancer  In this video I talk about grief, the lessons she taught me & how my family and I have progressed since then  In this episode, Harvey reveals: ◽️ What grief really feels like two years after losing a parent ◽️ How his family turned heartbreak into growth — from Saracens to Goldman Sachs ◽️ The two lessons his mum liv...

Send a text A Duke Professor & Wall Street Billion-Dollar Dealmaker Reveals the truth about About Billion-Dollar Pitches, Startup Survival, and What Investors Really Want Ed Tiryakian stands at the unique intersection of high finance, professional sports, and academia. As a former Managing Director at both Paine Webber/UBS and head of his private equity firm Argentum Group, he's orchestra...

Send a text Omnicom’s Asia President Exposes the Lies About Creativity, Brand Building, and What Really Wins in Advertising Today Sean Donovan is the disruptive force behind Asia’s largest creative collective as President of Omnicom Advertising Group, where he leads 4,000 innovators across TBWA, BBDO and DDB. The former architect-turned-consultant (40+ African banks) reinvented advertising leaders...

Send a text Dr. Aria is a clinical psychologist who works with some of the world’s highest performers — from Oscar-winning actors and global entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 CEOs. In this conversation, we break down what true resilience means, the hidden struggles of success, and how fear can silently drive ambition. Dr. Aria opens up about grief, heartbreak, and the importance of inner peace, sharing...

Send a text In this episode of Personable, Harvey Bracken-Smith sits down with Laurent Morali, CEO of Kushner — a firm managing over 22,000 apartments and 13 million square feet of commercial space across the U.S. From his roots in France to his rise through global banking and now leading one of the most prominent privately held real estate firms in the country, Laurent shares how he built trust,...

Send a text Nina Bull Jørgensen is a seasoned journalist and communications specialist with experience spanning Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK), the United Nations, and Norad. Her reporting has taken her across the Nordic region, Afghanistan, Mozambique, and beyond — with a focus on women’s rights, freedom of speech, religion, poverty, and global development. In this episode, she unpacks the challeng...

Send a text I made a podcast with two of my best friends. In this episode of Personable, I sit down with Gabe Cooper and Jayden Lewis—two of the closest people in my life here at Duke. We talk about what college is really like: from imposter syndrome and roommate stories to club rejections, late-night convos, and how we’re all just trying to figure life out. Whether you're applying to Duke, a...

Send a text Ashley Aufderheide is an actress on Netflix’s That '90s Show. She’s starred in films like Infinitely Polar Bear alongside Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana, and played Morgan Freeman’s granddaughter in Going in Style.  In this episode, Ashley shares how she was scouted as a toddler, her journey growing up on sets, and the realities of navigating Hollywood as a child actor. We talk abou...

Send a text Meet Ismail Radwan — a globally respected economist who has spent over two decades shaping economies from the ground up. A graduate of Oxford and UPenn, Ismail served as Lead Economist at the World Bank for 22 years, helping rebuild post-war nations, transform healthcare systems, and guide economic policy across more than 80 countries. Now, as Senior Director of Economics and Investmen...

Send a text Katie Xu is not your average college student. She’s the President of Creator Lab at Duke University, an Investment Partner at Dorm Room Fund, and an online creator with over 100,000 followers on TikTok — all before graduating. But it wasn’t until she decided to go all in that everything started to change. In this episode of Personable, Katie sits down with Harvey Bracken-Smith to share...

Send a text Vijay Chattha is the Founder and General Partner of VSC Ventures, a venture capital firm born from a decade of storytelling excellence and deep-rooted relationships in Silicon Valley. Before launching the fund, Vijay built VSC, an award-winning PR and strategic communications agency that helped over 500 startups break through the noise — leading to 3 IPOs, 22 unicorns, and 46 exits. Wi...

Send a text Lucy Baldwin is a Managing Director and Global Head of Research at Citi. Lucy is responsible for managing Citi’s global independent research across all asset classes. Lucy joined Citigroup in April 2021 from Credit Suisse, where she was Global Head of Equity Sales. Prior to Credit Suisse Lucy was at Bank of America as Head of European Equity Sales (2015-2019), and at Goldman Sachs as a...

Send a text Tim Throsby is the Former CEO of Barclays Bank Plc and President of Barclays International, whose extraordinary career has seen him hold leadership positions at some of the most prestigious financial institutions in the world. At Goldman Sachs, he served as Managing Director and Co-Head of Equity Derivatives for Asia. At Lehman Brothers, he was Managing Director and Head of Asia and Ja...

Send a text Olu Brown is the Founder and Lead Pastor of Impact United Methodist Church and a candidate for Governor of Georgia in 2026. With experience in leadership, community engagement, and organizational development, he has worked in various capacities to support local initiatives. His campaign, Listening to Georgians, focuses on gathering input from residents to shape policies on education, h...

Send a text Dr. Aaron Dinin is a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke University, where he teaches entrepreneurship with a focus on social marketing and personal brand building. With a PhD in English and 400K+ followers across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Medium, Dr. Dinin blends academic insights with real-world experience. He’s the co-founder and lead developer of Rocketbolt, a published aut...

Send a text Teddy Solomon is the Co-Founder and CEO of Fizz an anonymous posting app that is transforming the way college communities connect, engage and sell online. The app is operating on 240 college campuses and the team has expanded to 30 full-time staff and 4,000 volunteer moderators across schools. Fizz has raised $41.5 million across multiple funding rounds and is worth more than $100 mill...

Send a text Michael Gorman is a seasoned venture capitalist and entrepreneur, the former Managing Director of St. Paul Venture Capital, and the founder of Split Rock Partners, an investment firm focused on technology and healthcare. He is also the co-founder of Cascade Reading, an innovative company revolutionizing text comprehension through advanced visual cues and dynamic formatting. With decade...

Send a text Keith Gill is the Commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference, Vice Chair of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee for the 2024-25 season and Chair of the group for the 2025-26 campaign. Personable is a podcast dedicated to helping listeners become the best they can be by learning from the world’s best in their respective fields. This mission is inspired by my mother, Louise, who...

Send a text Tulio Sasaya, a senior at Duke University, has built an impressive social media presence, amassing 630k followers on Instagram and 690k on TikTok. Since his sophomore year, he has dedicated himself to content creation, using his platforms to explore themes of authenticity, mental health, and personal growth.  Tulio’s journey began as a way to connect with others and share his life expe...