Sandro Pierri had no clue what mutual funds were when he first ventured into the world of finance. Today, the boy who grew up in a small Italian village sits at the helm of BNP Paribas Asset Management, overseeing half a trillion euros. He credits people always taking a bet on him early on in his career, and he wants to pay it forward. In this episode, Pierri reflects on his career, lessons from his mistakes, and what he really thinks of the ESG “gold rush.”   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information ..read more

A legend in the tech industry, the former CISCO CEO reveals why a chat with a young girl at a work function turned out to be a pivotal moment in his professional and personal life. In this candid and informal chat, John talks about disruption, dyslexia and why he’s always motivated to do the right thing.  Today's episode is a replay from June 9, 2022. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information ..read more

At the start of the pandemic, Julia Hartz realized she might lose everything she had spent 14 years building. So the co-founder and CEO of Eventbrite activated her mamma bear. She got fierce. She moved fast. And she kept the live events platform alive. In this episode, Julia Hartz talks about how she got the publicly traded company back from the brink of shutting down, shares why working at a local cafe as a teenager was transformative, and explains why her North Star as a business leader is the often overlooked quality of consistency. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information ..read more

More than 30 years ago, a new mom, tinkered with creating lipsticks from her bedroom in a New York City suburb, found a chemist who manufactured it for her and they split the $15 earned per tube, evenly. So it began Bobbi Brown’s journey that made her a global, household name. Bobbi sold her company in 1995, and after waiting out a 25-year non-compete period, she is back for her second innings. She recently launched Jones Road, a clean beauty brand. Bobbi admits it is not for everyone. It’s for those who want to enhance their natural beauty - the no-makeup-makeup look. In this episode, Bobbi t ..read more

In the early days of her career, Marg Franklin took the formidable CFA exam. It didn’t go according to plan. An exhausted new mother, she dozed off, only to wake up two hours later. Eventually, she passed it and today, she’s the first woman to be the President & CEO of this 75-year-old institution. In this episode, Marg talks about how courage shapes leadership, what working in a bike store taught her, why she believes neither women - nor men - can have it all and what she really thinks about the CFA exam.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information ..read more

Hours after the earthquake that flattened parts of Turkey and Syria, celebrity chef and founder of World Central Kitchen, José Andrés turned up in Istanbul. Since then, he’s been driving to the worst-hit areas, collaborating with local restaurants to feed quake survivors. They are currently serving more than 260,000 meals a day. Andres talks to us from Turkey about why he rushes to the frontlines of crises, and the power of sharing a plate with a stranger. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information ..read more

Over 100 years ago, L.L. Bean combined leather with rubber to create a unique shoe that would keep his feet warm when he went fishing. The result? The Maine Hunting Shoe, a functional, innovative boot that changed footwear forever. Today, his great grandson, Shawn Gorman is the Chairman of the family owned business. Shawn talks about his role as a steward of the brand, abiding by a set of golden rules and the restorative power of the outdoors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information ..read more

Dropbox is best-known for its service that lets consumers easily sync files between computers. At least, that's how began 15 years ago. Today, it's a publicly-traded company worth more than $8 billion at the time of recording, with consumers and enterprise clients paying for cloud-storage in quantities that makes it one of the biggest competitors to Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Apple's iCloud, Box, and many more besides. Its CEO Drew Houston learned many lessons over that decade-and-a-half, some from his parents, many from the Covid-19 pandemic, and at least one from the late Steve Jobs ..read more

Marc Lore founded two e-commerce startups and sold them for $550 million and $3.3 billion before spending the last five years running Walmart’s online business. Since announcing his departure from Walmart in January, Lore has been on a tear: He bought a stake in an NBA basketball team, launched an upscale food delivery business, and started a venture capital firm that’s invested in everything from a nuclear fusion energy startup to a new “stock market” for professional athletes. But all that pales compared to his passion project: A five-million-person, from-the-ground-up city called Telosa tha ..read more

Catherine Powell draws on her tenure at Disney - and now Airbnb - to explain how vulnerability translates into courage. The head of hosting at the rental giant talks candidly about how that's shaped the way she leads and the gift of a high-powered girlfriends club. And she shares her fun fact: she’s given birth in 3 different languages. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information ..read more