Intentional Performers With Brian Levenson

Olajuwon Ajanaku, the Founder of Eastside Golf grew up in East Atlanta. He gained a golf scholarship to Morehouse College and won a National Championship alongside his co-founder, Earl Cooper. After graduating with a degree in accounting, he worked in Commercial Finance for many years. Olajuwon left the corporate world to fully embark on entrepreneurship that would support his own dream of turning pro in golf. As a result, Eastside Golf was formed. Earl Cooper is a PGA Professional and is currently ranked as one of the best young teachers in America by Golf Digest. He has worked as the first African American golf professional at Detroit Golf Club and Wilmington Country Club. He graduated from Morehouse College where him and Olajuwon played on the golf team and won a National Championship.   Olajuwon and Earl had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “I’m the type of person where I don’t step into something until I really know what’s going on” – Earl (17:10). “Tunnel visio

Marc Riccio is the CEO of USA Lacrosse, a nearly 400,000-member organization that serves as the governing body of the sport in the United States. A former collegiate lacrosse player at Hofstra, Riccio’s professional experience has led to specialties in media, fan engagement, sport and entertainment business operations, building new companies, revenue generation, executive leadership, and employee development. Prior to joining USA Lacrosse, Marc was the Chief Commercial Officer for KlarisIP, a boutique intellectual property and media consultancy. He was charged with advising major sport and esports properties on strategy, growth, revenue generation, and organizational transformation. Marc’s experiences include leading his own consultant business, MR21 Advisory where he advised global esports and gaming companies. Prior, Marc was the EVP of Commercial for Lagardère Sports (now Sportfive), a full-service global sports agency. Marc spent 17 seasons leading business operation and development for the New York Jets

Derek Thompson is an author, writer, speaker, and podcaster. He wears a lot of hats and his interests vary from economics, to the media, to politics, to sports, to business. He is someone who definitely has range when it comes to his ability to write, cover, research, and think about today’s most pressing and interesting topics. “Interesting” is the word I would use to described Derek. He’s interested in a multitude of things, he has a background in theatre, has a passion for wine, and so much more. Derek does not call himself an expert; he’s a jack-of-all-trades. But, in my opinion, Derek is an expert. He dives deep into whatever he’s focused on and whatever topic he’s writing about. He’s a regular contributor for NPR’s Here and Now, he has his own podcast with The Ringer called Plain English, and he has an amazing book called Hit Maker, which I highly recommend you check out if you’re interested at all in how to succeed in an age of distraction.   Derek had a number of amazing insights during our conversati

Owen Eastwood helps teams and organizations thrive. He really focuses on the systems and the process and how you can build an elite culture. He is someone who mixes ancient philosophies and wisdoms and is spiritual in a lot of different ways. Ultimately, he tries to help coaches and leaders and sports organizations get clear on their vision and help them create processes to make their vision a reality. Over the past decade, Owen has worked with some of the most elite teams and groups in the world, including The England National Soccer Team, The British Olympic Team, NATO, and The South African Cricket Team. All along the way, he’s coached their leaders on how to build world class culture and take performance to the highest level. Owen takes a systems approach, looking at the whole, and tries to help organizations figure out how they can function better.   Owen had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “You are one person in a line of people that goes back to our origin st

Amanda Ripley is a New York Times Bestselling Author, an investigative journalist, the host of The Slate Podcast “How To!,” and the co-founder of Good Conflict, a company that creates workshops and original content to help people get smarter about how they fight and deal with conflict. Amanda has spent her career trying to make sense of complicated human mysteries, helping people get out of dysfunctional conflicts, and helping countries to educate virtually all of their kids to think for themselves. Her most recent book is High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out. Her previous books include The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why and The Smartest Kids in the World. Throughout her work she follows people who have been through some type of transformation, including the survivors of hurricanes and plane crashes, American teenagers who have experienced high school in other countries, and politicians and gang members who were bewitched by toxic conflicts and managed to break free. A

Michele Borba, Ed.D. is an educational psychologist, former classroom teacher and Mom who has spoken to over one million parents and educators in 19 countries. She is recognized for her solution-based strategies on raising resilient kids, and recipient of the Sanford N. McDonnell Lifetime Achievement Award in Character Education. Dr. Borba has appeared over 150 times on the TODAY show and featured in outlets including New York Times, Dr. Phil, Washington Post, Time, and Dateline. She has written 24 books, translated in 20 languages, with her latest being Thrivers: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle and Others Shine.   Michele had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “It’s a different world that we’re raising our children in than in what we grew up in” (8:00). “Our kids will be faced with adversity. We can’t sugarcoat it. We can’t rescue them. We have to prepare them for life” (9:00). “The highest correlation with [adverse mental health outcomes] is how we deal

Michael Lombardi is a former NFL General Manager, a 3X Super Bowl Champion, and somebody who thinks deeply about leadership. He has a daily newsletter with George Raveling called The Daily Coach which aims to be inspiration for people around leadership. Michael is also the author of Gridiron Genius. Michael has been in the trenches with some of the best coaches of all time, specifically Bill Walsh and Bill Belichick. He also spent a lot of his career with Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders. This conversation really gets into culture and leadership, which is really what his book is about as well. More than anything, Michael cares about making people better.   Michael had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “When you have to tell people to call you something and you don’t earn it, then there’s something wrong with the way you’re working” (7:00). “Actions speak louder than titles” (7:10). “The respect you get is the respect you earn based on your level of commitment” (7:20).

Will Gadd is a professional mountain sports athlete, speaker, guide, writer and TV guy. He shares the lessons he’s learned leading teams into high-risk environments through presentations on risk, resiliency, chaos and leadership.   Will had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “I’ve made an effort throughout my career to do dangerous things, rewarding things, and important things as best I can, while recognizing the goal is always to come back [alive]” (7:15). “How do you move forward and how do you thrive with that damage?” (8:30). “I’ve always set out to do cool things… what could I do today that would be cool?” (8:45) “That is the coolest thing in life: becoming the best version of yourself, whatever it is” (12:10). “That’s who I admire in life: people who are trying to be who they are” (14:45). “One of the most important things I’ve learned in my life is that everybody has something that blows their hair back… that fires them up” (16:50). “The people that make the wo

Lesley Poole serves as the chief executive officer for The SEED Foundation (www.seedfoundation.com). She is responsible for the overall health and vitality of SEED’s network of public, college-preparatory boarding schools and SEED’s mission-critical college success programming. Lesley has been serving the students and families of the SEED community since 1998. She was one of the founding faculty at The SEED School of Washington, D.C., and held several positions during her tenure. At The SEED Foundation, Lesley’s expertise in government relations and philanthropy has been instrumental in securing the public-private partnerships necessary in Annapolis, MD; Tallahassee, FL; and Los Angeles, CA, to make The SEED School of Maryland, The SEED School of Miami, and The SEED School of Los Angeles possible. Lesley began her career in education as a mathematics instructor and later served as the service area director for the school division of San Francisco Educational Services (SFED). She holds a bachelor's degree from

Fran Fraschilla has been an ESPN college basketball analyst, the director of USA Basketball’s 3-on-3 National Team, and the head coach at St. John’s, along with other schools. Fran had lots of success in his coaching career, which he started from a very young age. Even though he’s often heard from listeners on TV, at his core he is a coach. Fran is somebody who’s become an expert when it comes to basketball, but he’s really someone who loves to learn. He thinks deeply about leadership, culture, and mindset.     Fran had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “I made a lifestyle decision to be a father full-time” (6:15). “I’m around basketball every single day of the year” (6:30). “There hasn’t been a day in my life since I was 13 that basketball hasn’t consumed some part of the day” (6:40). “If you play 5-on-5 basketball, you’re going to be a better player by playing 3-on-3 in the summer” (10:55). “Self-awareness if one of the keys to life; knowing who you are, knowing wha

Val Ackerman was named the fifth Commissioner of the BIG EAST Conference on June 26, 2013. She previously served as an attorney and executive at the National Basketball Association, was the founding President of the Women’s National Basketball Association, and is a past President of USA Basketball, which oversees the U.S. men’s and women’s Olympic basketball program. She also served for two terms as the U.S. representative to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). She has been inducted as a contributor into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2021) and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (2011) and has received the Billie Jean King Leadership Award from the Women’s Sports Foundation (2016). Val is a 1981 graduate of the University of Virginia, where she graduated with high honors with a B.A. in political and social thought and was a three-time captain and Academic All-American on the women’s basketball team. She received her law degree from UCLA in 1985.   Val had a number of amazing

Jess Lahey is the author of the NYT bestselling The Gift of Failure and The Addiction Inoculation. Her writing can be found at The Atlantic, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. She co-hosts the award-winning #AmWriting podcast and works as a prevention coach at Sana at Stowe, a medical detox and recovery in Stowe, VT.   Jess had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “One of the best things my parents ever did for me was [let me read whatever book I wanted]” (6:00). “My idea of heaven is a story well told that teaches me some things” (6:25). “I went for jobs I wasn’t qualified for and then learned how to do them on the go” (7:25). “The best part about being a writer is I can write about anything I want and I have to become an expert in that thing before I have any standing, any sort of authority, to write about it” (7:35). “I was a teacher for 20 years, and from my perspective my job was to not only teach the material to other people, but to anticipate their possi

Dr. Michelle Segar is an award-winning lifestyle coach and sustainable behavioral change researcher at the University of Michigan. For nearly three decades, she has pioneered methods to create sustainable healthy behavior change that are being used to boost patient health, employee well-being, and gym membership retention. She’s an advisor to leading global organizations and frequently interviewed in major media outlets like The New York Times, NPR, and The Wall Street Journal.   Michelle had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “When you’re in a culture where food is valued and you’re allowed to eat it, there isn’t a need to rebel and overeat because it’s part of the culture and how you take care of yourself and how you enjoy life” (9:00). “When you tell people they can’t eat something, all they want to do is eat it” (9:20). “The art of living is knowing how to appreciate living in the moment, but also having a respect that your choices are going to have long term impli

Mike Neighbors is the Head Women's Basketball Coach at the University of Arkansas. He is a father of four (Abby 26, Alec 20, Bowen 2, Barrett 9 months), a husband to Jayci, and a coach to 277 former players. For the last 29 years he has been paid as a Coach, but if you ask his lifelong friends and family, they will tell you he has been doing it since he was 9. So, he has really been a Coach for the last 43 years. Whether it was a neighborhood backyard game of tennis ball or the Final Four in 2016, he has approached every game as an opportunity to compete, learn, and grow. He has remained a learn-it-all/share-it-all ever since a life changing heart attack at 29. Before then, he was a know-it-all/hoard-it-all. He hopes those in our orbit learn for the experiences we share.   Mike had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “Had [I not had that heart attack at 29], I was probably heading down the wrong path… I think I was lucky” (6:45). “Those processes that I learned to survi

Vernon Davis is a ridiculously accomplished player on the football field. He’s a 2-time pro-bowler who played 14 seasons in the National Football League. He was also a 2nd Team All-Pro in 2013, led the NFL in receiving touchdowns in 2009, he was an All-American in college, and he won a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos. However, this conversation is about everything else that Vernon is involved with. He’s an entrepreneur, he’s an artist, he was on Dancing with the Stars, he’s a real estate investor, and he’s a dad. Whatever he does, he wants to be great at that thing. At his core, he believes he’s an artist. Interestingly enough, he blends artistry and creativity with discipline, helping him to be successful both on and off the football field.   Vernon had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “Without your health, you have nothing” (5:00). “Life is all about how we react to certain things” (6:40). “I started seeing a therapist from the moment I got drafted” (7:35). “Wha

Jay Van Bavel is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at New York University. Prior to joining NYU, Jay completed his PhD at the University of Toronto and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Ohio State University. From neurons to social networks, Jay’s research examines how collective concerns of identities, moral values, and political beliefs shape the mind, brain, and behavior. His work addresses issues of group identity, social motivation, cooperation, moral judgment, decision making, and social media. He’s a researcher at his core who’s highly curious, looking up the newest and best ways to gather great science and great data and great information. He’s published over 100 academic publications and co-authors a mentoring column. His work has appeared in academic papers in the US Supreme Court and the Senate. His research has been featured in a TedTalk, a TedEd, and a TedX. He’s consulted with the White House, United Nations, European Union, and the World Health Organization on issues related

Sam Walker is the author of The Captain Class, a profile of the captains of the 17 greatest dynasties in sports history. He is a columnist, keynote speaker and teambuilding consultant for corporations, military units, nonprofits and professional and Olympic sports teams. Over two decades at The Wall Street Journal, Walker served as sports columnist, sports editor, deputy page-one editor and leadership columnist. He attended the University of Michigan. He lives in New York with his wife and two children.   Sam had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “I’ve been blessed and cursed at the same time by being easily bored” (4:55). “When you walk in a door that you’ve never been through before, you see that people are dealing with a lot of the same things, the same issues, the same stresses” (8:35). “The book is really about what are the real qualities of effective leadership” (15:30). “The big threat to great leadership and sustained excellence is rarely a lack of ability, it

D’Qwell Jackson was a superstar at the University of Maryland. He had an amazing and illustrious career, winning all kinds of awards. He really out-kicked expectations that were placed on him when he arrived in College Park, Maryland. He did such a good job there that he ended up being a second-round pick in the NFL Draft. He went on to have a 10+ year career in the NFL starting at linebacker. This conversation is going to be about a lot more than just executing as a football player. D’Qwell is open and honest about some of the challenges he faced over his NFL career around his identity, his mindset, his belief in himself, and overcoming adversity and injuries.   D’Qwell had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “Trevor [Moawad] was a godsend for me” (5:45). “I’m a planner. When I wake up in the morning, I need to know exactly what I’m doing every moment, every hour, of the day” (9:00). “We mapped out everything. Monday through Sunday everything was planned” (10:40). “If

All along the way Buzz has had tremendous success on the basketball coBuzz Williams is the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Texas A&M University. Buzz has had quite an experience in his coaching journey. He was a head coach from a very young age. I first learned about him as the head coach at Marquette, then he went over to Virginia Tech, where I first met him in person, and now he’s at Texas A&M. What’s caught my attention and what really blew me away when I met him is his presence. He is somebody who really cares about culture, leadership, character building, life skills, you name it. And, he’s a competitor. Make no mistake, he’s an emotional guy that cares deeply about winning, but he also cares about learning and growing. He’s one of the most curious people I’ve been around, and we actually connected after he read my book and he reached out and gave me some amazing compliments, which really blew me away. Buzz is someone who is constantly learning, constantly looking to grow, and then trying to pour

Johanna Faries is currently the General Manager of Call of Duty. She is highly involved, especially with their Esport league, where she is head of the league. She was also the commissioner of Call of Duty Esports before transitioning to this role. Prior to that, she worked at the National Football League where she was Vice President, she was involved in business development and marketing strategy and fan development, and she was on a pathway to continue to rise up that corporate “ladder.” She’s also a musician. When she graduated from Harvard, she moved to California and started writing songs and making music. I think what makes Johanna really unique is that she’s got multiple sides to her. She is a complex person. She’s highly driven, she’s highly ambitious, but she also has a lightness to her that is really likable and is really refreshing. She’s clearly very smart and very bright, but she’s also someone who seems to be trying to be grounded.     Johanna had a number of amazing insights during our conversat