Thirty Minute Mentors

The leader of one of the largest non-profit organizations in the world, Mary Davis is the CEO of the Special Olympics, serving more than 6 million athletes across 172 countries, with more than a million coaches and volunteers and more than 100,000 competitions a year. Mary joins Adam to share her journey and best lessons and advice. Mary and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: leading people and...

Ambassador Howard Gutman served as the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium and was recognized as the most popular ambassador in Belgium ever. Ambassador Gutman joins Adam to share his unique journey, his best advice on topics ranging from negotiations to leadership to recruiting, and his best lessons learned along the way, including lessons learned from his time around former Supreme Court Justice Potter S...

Frank Blake was the CEO of Home Depot - the largest home improvement retailer in America and one of the largest companies in the world - where he led the turnaround of the customer experience, the employee experience, and not uncoincidentally, Home Depot's stock price. Frank joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons and advice. Frank and Adam discuss leadership, management, culture, custome...

Jonathan Johnson is the CEO of Overstock, where he oversees a business that generated more than $2.7 billion last year. Jonathan joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons learned along the way. Jonathan and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: leading in times good, bad, and uncertain; reinventing yourself and your business model; building winning teams and cultures; attaining success perso...

Deb Liu is the CEO of Ancestry, the largest genealogy company in the world. Deb was previously a senior executive at Facebook, where she founded and oversaw Facebook Marketplace. Deb joins Adam to share her personal and professional journey and best lessons and advice from her experiences leading a multibillion-dollar company, creating and building a product used by more than a billion people a mo...

One of the greatest swimmers of all time, Gary Hall Jr. is a five-time Olympic gold medalist with ten Olympic medals in total. Gary competed in three Olympic Games - two after being told by doctors that his career was over - and won gold medals in each. Gary joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons learned along the way. Gary and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: reaching peak performan...

Jeh Johnson served as Secretary of Homeland Security, where he led almost a quarter of a million employees and managed a budget of nearly $65 billion. The first African-American partner at Paul, Weiss, Secretary Johnson previously served as General Counsel of the Department of Defense and GC of the Air Force. Secretary Johnson joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons on a wide range of top...

The leader of one of America's largest wireless communications companies, Laurent Therivel is the CEO of UScellular, where he oversees a business that serves more than 5 million customers and generates more than $4 billion annually. Laurent joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons learned along the way. Laurent and Adam discuss leadership and management; personal discovery and development;...

Simon Allen is the CEO of McGraw Hill, a multibillion-dollar educational publishing business that serves millions of educators and students across more than 100 countries. Simon joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons and advice. Simon and Adam discuss personal discovery, professional development, leadership, communications, hiring, building winning teams and relationships, navigating tim...

Lieutenant General Lori Reynolds was the highest-ranking woman in the Marine Corps for almost a decade. One of only three female three-star generals in Marine Corps history, General Reynolds spent more than 35 years serving and breaking barriers in the Marines. General Reynolds joins Adam to share her journey and best lessons and advice. General Reynolds and Adam discuss personal and professional...

Michael Einziger is the lead guitarist and songwriter for Incubus, which has sold more than 23 million albums around the world. Mike has also co-written, produced, and collaborated with a wide range of top artists, including Pharrell Williams, Hans Zimmer, and Avicii, and is the co-founder of two technology companies, Mixhalo and Versicolor Technologies. Mike joins Adam to share his journey and be...

The co-founder and CEO of Eventbrite, Julia Hartz built and leads a business that disrupted the world of events. Julia joins Adam to share her journey and best lessons learned along the way. Julia and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: entrepreneurship, leadership, growth and scale, hiring, self-care, gender equity in technology and male-dominated industries, the future of events, and much more.

The former CEO of Skype, Tony Bates has served in leadership roles at several of America's best-known technology companies. Now the CEO of Genesys, a multibillion-dollar customer experience software business, Tony joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons learned along the way. Tony and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: personal and professional development, leadership, mentorship, custo...

Over the course of a fifteen-year career, Shawn Green was one of the best players in baseball. Shawn is also the co-founder of Greenfly, a leader in digital media monetization. Shawn joins Adam to share his journey on and off the field and his best lessons learned along the way. Shawn and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: failure and success, leadership, teamwork, entrepreneurship, decision-mak...

Neil Blumenthal is the co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, a multibillion-dollar business that disrupted the world of eyewear. A model in social entrepreneurship, Warby Parker is a leader in the direct-to-consumer space. Neil joins Adam to discuss his entrepreneurial journey and best lessons learned along the way. Neil and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: entrepreneurship, social entreprene...

The co-founder of SoulCycle, Julie Rice built a company that reshaped the world of fitness. Julie joins Adam to share her journey and best lessons learned along the way. Julie and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: the value of a non-traditional background; how and when to pivot; the keys to creating and building a highly successful business; how to approach hiring and relationship building; and...

An NFL Hall of Famer, Jason Taylor was one of the best defensive players in football in his day. A 6-time Pro Bowler, 3-time First-team All-Pro, former NFL Defensive Player of the Year and former Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, Jason was a team leader through times good and bad. Jason joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons learned along the way. Jason and Adam discuss teamwork, leader...

A New York Times bestselling author and Senior Political Analyst for CNN, David Gergen has been an adviser to four U.S. presidents. David was White House Director of Speechwriting in the Nixon administration, White House Communications Director in the Ford and Reagan administrations, and Counselor to the President in the Clinton administration, serving presidents of both parties at the highest lev...

Marshall Goldsmith is a #1 New York Times bestselling author regularly named as the world's #1 executive coach. Marshall has worked with more than 200 major CEOs and has written or edited 43 books. Marshall joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons learned along the way. Marshall and Adam discuss personal and professional development, leadership, mentorship, relationship building, feedback,...

Susan D. Page served as the first U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan. Honored by the State Department for her leadership in crisis, Ambassador Page spent close to thirty years in the foreign service serving in leadership roles around the world. Ambassador Page joins Adam to share her journey and best lessons learned on a wide range of topics, including personal and professional development, negotiatio...

A Fortune 500 CEO and a former Fortune 500 CEO, Ravi Saligram is the CEO of Newell Brands, the parent company of some of America's best-known brands, including Rubbermaid, Sharpie, and Crockpot. Ravi was previously the CEO of OfficeMax. Ravi joins Adam to share his journey and best advice on a wide range of topics. Adam and Ravi discuss career development, leadership, branding, personal branding,...

Janet Foutty was the first female CEO of Deloitte Consulting, where she led a $10 billion business. Now the Executive Chair of Deloitte US, the largest professional services company in America, Janet joins Adam to share her journey and best lessons learned along the way. Janet and Adam discuss a wide of topics, including personal and professional discovery and development; leadership, communicatio...

Evan Goldberg is the founder of NetSuite, which was acquired by Oracle for $9.3 billion. The first cloud computing company, Oracle NetSuite currently serves more than 28,000 customers across 215 countries and territories. Evan joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons learned along the way. Evan and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership, mentorship, f...

A retired four-star general, General Joseph Votel oversaw the War on Terror and led the coalition that liberated Iraq and Syria from ISIS. Over a military career that spanned nearly four decades, General Votel served as commander of United States Central Command and as commander of the United States Special Operations Command, where he oversaw all Special Operations forces. General Votel joins Ada...

James White is the former CEO of Jamba Juice, where he led the turnaround of one of America's favorite brands. James joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons learned along the way. James and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: personal and professional development, leadership, diversity and inclusion, hiring, culture, branding, failure, and success.