PodCrash with Matt Ebert

Shayda Frost was producing films in Los Angeles. Her father spent his career as one of the loudest voices in funeral pre-planning - and when he died suddenly at 68, he left no instructions for his own funeral, and no succession plan for the cemeteries he owned. Shayda and her husband Timothy Amoui were given two options: sell, or run it. Every single person told them to sell. Instead they moved ba...

Linda McMahon built WWE from a desk in her basement into a global company, became a self-made billionaire, and is now the 13th U.S. Secretary of Education. She sits down with Matt to talk about the investment that forced her into bankruptcy, why she tells every entrepreneur to stick to what they know, and the moment she realized a manager had hit their ceiling and no amount of coaching would fix i...

Leif Babin spent four years at the Naval Academy chasing one goal — and didn’t get selected for the SEAL program. He calls it the best thing that ever happened to him. In this conversation he walks through being handed 28 people and millions of dollars of equipment at 22 years old with no idea what he was doing, the day in Ramadi that cost him Marc Lee and Ryan Job, and why he was awarded a Silver...

Shadi Bakour had negative $400 in the bank and 15,000 unsold bottles of water collecting dust in an investor's warehouse. Eleven years later PATHWATER is in every Chanel in the US, in all 50 states, and has kept more than 750 million single-use plastic bottles out of landfills and oceans. In this episode he breaks down the parts most founders never talk about: the year he made zero dollars dr...

In December 2008, James D. White took over a public company that had almost no cash left. The previous management team had burned through $100 million, made a string of bad real estate deals, and left the market cap heading one direction. He walked into the Great Recession with a smoothie chain that didn't sell anything hot, in cities where it was winter. He told the board he needed six month...

John Paul DeJoria started John Paul Mitchell Systems with $700 while living in his car with his two-year-old son. Thirty-eight years later he sold Patrón to Bacardi in a deal valued at $5.1 billion. He tells Matt what actually happened in between: foster care at nine, on his own at eleven, homeless twice, selling encyclopedias door to door for $150 a week, and the string of jobs he says made the w...

Steven Galanis had the idea for Cameo at his grandmother's funeral. Four years later the company had gone from roughly $300,000 to $100 million in revenue with no marketing spend, was the fastest-growing consumer marketplace in the world, and hit a $1 billion valuation. Then the vaccines came out, demand dropped 60% almost overnight, and a banker sat him down in Miami with a binder he called...

Jay Abraham has consulted in over 1,000 industries and 7,124 niches, almost all of it on the front lines rather than from a stage. He got married at 18, had two kids at 20, had no education, and nobody in his family had ever made more than $25,000 a year — so the only people who'd hire him were entrepreneurs who paid on results. That's where he found the thing that made him: nobody in an...

Dr. Doug Brackmann is a psychologist who works with Navy SEALs, PGA pros and founders — and he teaches meditation by putting a rifle in your hands and asking you to hit a target a mile away. He was a high school dropout living in a car. Now he's the guy those people call when the money arrives and the emptiness doesn't go away. In this conversation he explains the genetics behind the ent...

Mick Hunt - USA Today bestselling author, host of Mick Unplugged, and founder who sold his first insurance agency for $17 million three years after starting it from scratch - sits down to talk about where emotional intelligence actually comes from. For him it wasn't a leadership seminar; it was being ten years old and learning to read his father's moods to protect his mother and sister....

Jack Raines - writer, Slow Ventures investor, and author of the new book Young Money - built his career by going viral making fun of LinkedIn, then turned it into a job helping invest over a billion dollars in startups and creators. In this episode he makes the case against "follow your passion," explains why he backpacked the world at 24 on purpose (with an exit ramp built in), and lays...

Netflix comedian Ralph Barbosa sits down for one of his most honest interviews yet.  He gets into his blue-collar roots learning auto body in his dad's Dallas shop, how wrecking his own cars pushed him into the trade, and knocking out every comedy goal he ever set.  Now he's chasing something completely different - cars, his YouTube channel Formula Bean, and starting his career over on h...

In this episode of PodCrash, Matt Ebert sits down with legendary voice coach Roger Love for a conversation about speaking, confidence, leadership, and why your voice may be shaping your life more than you realize. Roger shares how he became a voice coach as a teenager, what he learned working with some of the biggest singers and speakers in the world, and how he helped people like Tony Robbins, To...

In this episode of PodCrash, Matt Ebert sits down with Jordan Harbinger, host of The Jordan Harbinger Show, for a conversation about podcasting, marketing, trust, relationships, and what it takes to build something that lasts. Jordan looks back on nearly 20 years in podcasting and explains why giving away real value helped him stand out long before the medium became mainstream. He talks about why...

In this episode of PodCrash, Matt Ebert sits down with entrepreneur and performance coach Matt Granados for a practical conversation about people problems, leadership, burnout, and the systems that help teams perform. Granados explains why people are often not the real problem inside a business. Instead, people have problems, and leaders need systems that help employees recognize those problems, b...

In this episode of PodCrash, Matt Ebert sits down with Spin Master co-founder Ronnen Harary, whose company is behind PAW Patrol, Bakugan, Air Hogs, and some of the biggest toy and entertainment brands of the past three decades. Ronnen shares how he started the business at 23 with a strange grass-growing toy, turned a small experiment into orders for hundreds of thousands of units, and helped build...

In this episode of PodCrash, Matt Ebert sits down with Jen Sincero, bestselling author of You Are a Badass, for a conversation about fear, money, identity, habits, and what it really takes to change your life. Jen explains why so many people stay stuck by doing the same things harder, how old thought patterns quietly shape your results, and why changing your identity matters just as much as changi...

In this episode of PodCrash, Matt Ebert sits down with AI advisor Sam Woods for a practical conversation about how businesses should actually use AI right now. Sam explains why the gap between flashy AI demos and real business value is still huge, and why companies should start with the boring but useful stuff first: admin work, repetitive tasks, documentation, spreadsheets, and processes that alr...

In this episode of PodCrash, Matt Ebert sits down with Shirin Behzadi, author of The Unexpected CEO, for a conversation about adversity, belief, leadership, and building a future before anyone else can see it. Shirin shares how leaving Iran at 17, starting over in the United States, and working as a cashier in a bulletproof gas station booth shaped the conviction that she would one day lead a majo...

In this episode of PodCrash, Matt Ebert sits down with Jason Feifer, editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur magazine, for a conversation about storytelling, change, personal branding, and how builders can make people care about what they are creating. Jason breaks down why every audience, customer, or listener is really asking the same question: “Is this for me?” He explains why great storytelling is not...

In this episode of PodCrash, Matt Ebert sits down with psychologist and bestselling author Guy Winch to talk about burnout, stress, and why working harder is not always the answer. Guy explains how overwork can quietly hurt your performance, your health, and your relationships, even when it feels like you are doing what success demands. He shares why stress follows people home, why rumination is n...

In this episode of PodCrash, Matt Ebert sits down with Kyle Thompson, CEO of I-CAR, for a conversation about the future of collision repair, skilled trades, training, and why blue-collar work is becoming more technical than ever. Kyle shares his path from working around cars and running a collision repair shop to leading I-CAR, the industry organization focused on training and standards for collis...

In this episode of PodCrash, Matt Ebert sits down with executive coach Dr. Sharon Spano for a deep conversation about leadership, self-awareness, trauma, and why success does not always lead to fulfillment. Dr. Spano explains why so many high achievers build successful careers, make money, and still end up feeling stuck, disconnected, or unsatisfied. She shares how early life experiences can shape...

In this episode of PodCrash, Matt Ebert sits down with Baiju Bhatt, co-founder of Robinhood, to talk about entrepreneurship, big ideas, and what it really takes to build something ambitious. Baiju reflects on the early days of Robinhood, hearing “no” from countless investors, and why the best founders often have an irrational belief in themselves before anyone else does. He explains why easy ideas...

In this episode of PodCrash, Matt Ebert sits down with entrepreneur and Navy officer Ryan Hogan for a conversation about failure, leadership, hiring, and what it really takes to build something that works. Ryan shares how a rough start, a blown engine, and a push from his mom led him into the Navy, where he learned the discipline and focus that later shaped his career as an entrepreneur. He talks...