The Courageous Podcast with Ryan Berman

Ed Roberson is a conservationist, endurance athlete, and the creator of Mountain & Prairie , a podcast rooted in the stories and landscapes of the American West. But long before that, he was chasing a very different life—until a sudden health scare forced a reckoning that changed everything. In this episode, Ed and Ryan talk about discomfort as a compass, the pull of wild places, and the quiet tra...

Brent Gleeson is a Navy SEAL combat veteran, bestselling author, and business transformation expert who has built his life around high performance, in every sense of the word. As the founder of EXCELR8 and author of Embrace the Suck , Brent brings a rare blend of battlefield experience and boardroom wisdom.  In this episode, he and Ryan talk about what it means to lead with clarity, consistency, a...

Jill Schulman is a former U.S. Marine Corps officer, leadership expert, and founder of Breakthrough Leadership Group. Her new book, The Bravery Effect , offers a science-backed approach to building courage. In this episode, she and Ryan go deep on what it means to run toward hard things instead of away from them. Jill shares the story of how a Minnesota kid who looked like Elle Woods became the to...

Sterling Doak is a seasoned marketing executive with more than two decades of experience building brands at the intersection of music, culture, and lifestyle. Today, he serves as Vice President of Marketing at Gibson, where he leads with equal parts creative instinct and operational rigor inside one of the most iconic brands in the world. In this honest and often hilarious conversation, Sterling a...

In this edition of the Courage Brands Spotlight, Ryan, Billy Collins, and Kimberly Voorhis unpack three brands that turned overlooked moments into loyal movements. Ryan kicks things off with Goldbelly, the mail-order marketplace delivering regional food favorites nationwide—think deep-dish from Chicago or crab cakes from Maryland. Kimberly sings the praises of Trader Joe’s, a grocery chain that pr...

Dr. Michelle K. Johnston believes the future of leadership starts with connection. As a professor, executive coach, and co-author of The Seismic Shift in You , Michelle is on a mission to help leaders rewire how they show up—starting with energy, perspective, and a deeper sense of humanity. In this episode, she and Ryan talk about the real cost of disconnection, why great leadership isn’t about co...

With a career spanning Nike, Converse, Tom’s, and now MOOVLAB, Magnus Wedhammar is fueled by a passion for purposeful movement. In this episode of the Courageous Podcast, Magnus reflects on navigating Tom’s through the chaos of early 2020, shifting its iconic one-for-one model, and leading with transparency in a world that changed overnight. He shares what it means to build something from scratch...

Fear. Joy. Anger. Sadness. For Oscar-nominated screenwriter Meg LeFauve, these characters aren’t just creations — they’re living, breathing beings who rely on her to get their stories out of her head and onto the page. And Meg doesn’t take that responsibility lightly. In this wide-ranging conversation, the writer behind Inside Out , Inside Out 2 , The Good Dinosaur , Captain Marvel , and more shar...

Pri Narang likes to go fast. It’s no surprise, then, that she’s sprinting toward the very edge of what’s possible. While most are currently navigating an AI conversation, Pri — a Caltech-trained quantum physicist, award-winning professor, and U.S. Science Envoy — is pioneering the quantum frontier to solve humanity’s most pressing challenges. In this episode, she and Ryan unpack “quantum theory” i...

George Felix knows how to make legacy brands feel unapologetically modern. As Chief Marketing Officer at Chili’s, and former marketing leader at Pizza Hut and KFC, he’s built a career on bold ideas that spark conversation—without losing sight of what makes a brand iconic.  In this conversation with Ryan and Billy Collins, George shares how Chili’s is embracing its irreverent voice while staying ro...

As one of Peloton’s founding instructors, Hannah Corbin has helped millions move their bodies. But her new mission is just as bold: helping people slow down. Her new book Did You Stretch Tho makes a powerful case for rest, recovery, and treating yourself like someone worth caring for. In this episode, Hannah joins Ryan to talk about what it takes to stay soft in a world that rewards hardness. They...

Smart, heart and courage. That has been the way-he-leads elevator pitch for Greg Creed who proves you don’t have to be a hard-charging tyrant to win — you can build billion-dollar brands by being human. In this episode, Greg tells Ryan how leading Taco Bell and later Yum! Brands was never about perfect plans or rigid control — it was about creating a culture where people felt safe to try things. G...

Sona Khosla thinks purpose belongs on the P&L. As Chief Impact Officer at Benevity, nicknamed the company’s “conscience”, she helps global brands turn doing good into real business momentum. After a personal loss, she pivoted from marketing and built Benevity Impact Labs, using $3.8B in annual giving data to separate noise from signal. We talk about the new era of “quiet courage,” where companies...

On the other side of the world lives Franziska Iseli. “Frankie”, as her friends call her, has built a life around chasing fear and turning it into freedom. The Swiss-born Australian entrepreneur has much in common with Ryan. She is a co-founder (Basic Bananas and Ocean Lovers), an author to a book about courage (The Courage Map) and an eternal optimist. Frankie joins Ryan to talk about what it mea...

Bryant Brennan builds brands by shipping work that matters. Before taking the reins at Autodesk, he shaped culture at Peloton, launched products at Barnes & Noble, and explored startup grit at Fi. In this conversation with Ryan, Bryant talks about the shift from building consumer icons to leading a legacy brand that powers architects, animators, and innovators across the globe. He explains why he...

Steven Bernstein has spent a career proving that risk and creativity go hand in hand. The award-winning director and cinematographer behind Decoding Annie Parker , Monster , and Like Water for Chocolate has shot nearly 50 films and written projects that have drawn actors like Rhys Ifans, John Malkovich, and Samantha Morton. In this conversation with Ryan, he shares how radical honesty drives trust...

Our Courage Brands Spotlight is back, and this time Ryan, Billy, and Nicole put three very different brands under the lens. Billy kicks things off with Gymshark—the billion-dollar fitness brand built on TikTok and influencers instead of ads.  Billy shares how a teenager’s side hustle turned into a global movement that connects physical and mental health. Nicole brings Oreo to the table, breaking d...

Ranjay Gulati believes courage isn’t about being fearless — it’s about taking action when fear shows up. As the Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor at Harvard Business School and author of Deep Purpose and How to Be Bold , he studies how leaders and organizations confront uncertainty and turn it into fuel for growth. In this conversation with Ryan, Ranjay shares his fear equation, explore...

At Uber, Danielle Trivisonno Hawley turns bold ideas into work the world can’t ignore. As Global Executive Creative Director, she’s behind campaigns like “Tonight I’ll Be Eating,” Uber Don’t Eats, and #KeepUkraineMoving, while leading launches for products like Uber Reserve, Uber Teens, and Uber Trains. In this conversation with Ryan, Danielle shares the framework behind Uber’s creative voice—bold...

The things we say to ourselves we’d rarely say to another person. Our self-talk, when we let it run rampant, can spiral us, slow us down and shrink our self-confidence. On this episode of The Courageous Podcast, Ryan teams up with his co-authors Rhett Power and Suzy Burke, PhD to preview their new book Headamentals (out Oct 28), a book born from six years of research, rewrites, and real-life coach...

David van der Sanden turns Patagonia’s purpose into something employees can live, not just understand. As Head of Internal Communications & Engagement, he focuses on translating the company’s mission to save our home planet into stories, actions, and experiences that connect people to the work and to one another. In this conversation with Ryan, David shares how Patagonia’s “business-unusual” cultu...

Bob Philion spent 20 years wearing the cat on his chest—first as employee #1 launching Puma Golf, then as the architect behind Cobra Puma Golf, and ultimately as the leader of Puma North America. In this conversation with Ryan, Bob retraces three distinct “chapters”: moving from Europe back to Boston to start a category from scratch, building Cobra Puma Golf into a global disruptor out of Carlsbad...

Courage Brands Win.  This week, we hit pause on the usual interview format for a fast, fun “Courage Brands Spotlight” discussion featuring Ryan and his partners Nicole Miller and Billy Collins. Nicole kicks things off with The Female Quotient —an unapologetic, action-oriented force that meets leaders where they already gather (CES, Cannes) with Equality Lounges and hard conversations everyone’s in...

Knight Campbell turns mountains into meeting rooms. A former Navy helicopter pilot and Naval Academy leadership instructor, he now takes executive teams off-grid—rock climbing, rafting, and trekking—to work on the real “crux” of how they lead. Phones go away. Titles fade. Trust and honest talk show up. In his conversation with Ryan, Knight recalls a Joshua Tree client who lost service and then cho...

Bree Groff thinks it’s an emergency that half of us feel dread at work every week, and that we’re trading five‑sevenths of our lives just to reach Friday. In this conversation with Ryan, the former NOBL CEO and current SYPartners advisor traces how losing her mom to cancer and caring for a dad with Alzheimer’s jolted her from helping leaders execute their vision to stating her own. She introduces...