American Optimist

Troy Carter is an iconic music manager who helped launch Lady Gaga to stardom and worked with many prominent artists like Eve, John Legend, and Meghan Trainor. Carter's work ethic and obsession with hip-hop helped him rise from a tough upbringing in Philadelphia, where his mother often had to choose between paying the water or electric bill each month. He ran errands for Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (Will Smith) before interning for P. Diddy and eventually launching his own management company. He fought through adversity at each stage of his career; he reveals how long it took before a single radio station would even play one of Lady Gaga's songs. He's currently supporting independent artists through his new company Venice Music and his passion for representing the "little guy" also extends to one of the most important policy issues of our time: school choice. Wait until you hear his courageous views on teachers unions and why he's not afraid to stand up for opportunity and accountability in spite of potential backlash. 00:00 Episode Intro 02:30 Growing up in Philly 12:52 Turning Lady Gaga into a Global Superstar 18:50 Revenge of the nerds 25:45 Speaking out on school choice 34:07 Rejecting cancel culture

Eboo Patel is the Founder and President of Interfaith America and author of "We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy." Why did a Rhodes Scholar like Patel — and so many in academia — become social activists preoccupied with race and oppression? And how did a college professor jolt him out of this dogmatic ideology toward embracing pluralism and social entrepreneurship? Learn from Patel's journey and efforts to steer more Americans away from zero-sum thinking toward building better alternatives. He uses powerful vignettes from history, like the Ottoman Empire welcoming Jewish refugees in the 15th century, to remind us that our shared heritage can — and should — transcend identity politics. Check out Eboo's book: https://www.amazon.com/We-Need-Build-Diverse-Democracy/dp/0807024066 Read his inspiring NY Times op-ed: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/10/opinion/race-teaching-school.html Help us grow the American Optimist movement! Like and subscribe 🙌

Rahul Gandhi is the CEO and President of Clutter (formerly MakeSpace) – a leader in the self-storage industry. The son of Indian immigrant entrepreneurs, Rahul cut his teeth serving customers at his father’s Arby’s franchise. He saw his family succeed — and almost lose everything — in the highly-competitive restaurant business. He talks candidly about overcoming the fear of failure and making the leap from venture capital to launching MakeSpace. He learned every inch of the business, from driving the trucks to packing boxes, in order to build a software solution that could disrupt the $38 billion industry and dramatically improve the moving and storage experience for consumers. ⏩ SUPPORT THE SHOW ⏪ Like this video and subscribe to the channel ➡️ http://tinyurl.com/xfjkadd4 Don't miss our recent episode with one of Africa's greatest entrepreneurs Iyinoluwa Aboyeji: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjKqgUY5CzM

John Chambers is the former Chairman and CEO of Cisco, responsible for growing the company from nearly $2 billion in revenue to almost $50 billion during his tenure. John is a legend in Silicon Valley, and a close advisor to leaders around the world including many CEOs and heads of state. Pankaj Patel was Cisco's former Chief Development Officer and led a $38 billion portfolio with over 26,000 engineers. Together, they made Cisco a global leader. Now, they're reinventing enterprise networking with Nile, a new startup that will bring networking into the cloud and apply AI to improve the customer experience and cut tens of billions of annual cost and hassle. Learn lessons from how Chambers and Patel took Cisco to the top, and how they're transforming networking again.

NEW EPISODE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_trV3oTKF98

Sec. Mike Pompeo is a former entrepreneur, congressman, CIA Director, Secretary of State, and author of the new book, "Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love." From his early days running an aerospace company to negotiating with the world's most notorious authoritarian leaders, Pompeo discusses his leadership philosophy and how to project strength in critical moments. He details his efforts to reform Langley and Foggy Bottom, and warns against dysfunctional ideology seeping into our military and intelligence agencies. He also reveals how the Abraham Accords came to fruition, why the Trump Administration failed to ban TikTok, and how close the U.S. came to a deal with North Korea that may have changed the course of history. Order a copy of Sec. Pompeo's new book here: https://www.amazon.com/Never-Give-Inch-Fighting-America/dp/0063247445 ⏩ SUPPORT THE SHOW ⏪ Like this video and subscribe to the channel ➡️ http://tinyurl.com/xfjkadd4 NOTE: Due to some technical issues, the interview was filmed in two separate locations. Don't miss our recent episode with one of Africa's greatest entrepreneurs Iyinoluwa Aboyeji: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjKqgUY5CzM

Check out the full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2R7bfrFQ4M

Death is the one thing we all share in common, but no one wants to talk about. Check out some of Ryan's most poignant and moving lessons on Stoic philosophy. And don't miss the full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQplPF6Gtdk ⏩ SUPPORT THE SHOW ⏪ Like this video and subscribe to the channel ➡️ http://tinyurl.com/xfjkadd4 00:00 Intro 00:27 A radical perspective on death 03:13 Stoicism's impact on America's Founding 05:03 Do heroes still exist? 08:40 Flaws of the Stoics 10:36 How the Stoics challenged inequality Ryan Holiday is a college dropout turned best-selling author and publisher of the world's largest podcast and newsletter focused on Stoic philosophy: the Daily Stoic. Check out the Daily Stoic: https://www.youtube.com/c/DailyStoic Subscribe to the Daily Stoic newsletter: https://dailystoic.com/ Read Ryan's latest book: https://www.amazon.com/Discipline-Destiny-Power-Self-Control-Virtues-ebook/dp/B09PB1SB72