Ian Sohn is a global client lead at Wunderman Thompson Central, overseeing an integrated agency team across continents and operating companies. He is a strong advocate for work/life balance, employee satisfaction and compassionate leadership and has led award-winning career and agencies doing so. I connected with Ian after his article imploring his team to stop apologizing for having lives went viral. It went from the New York Times to the GMA’s to CNBC and more. Ian walks the walk. It’s true, he does not want to know when you for your kid’s soccer game. Ian has led an award-winning career, as well as, agencies. Today we will break down why company culture and a healthy organization are the result of his leadership style and how it allows his teams to do great things in their industry. We also believe it’ll be a blueprint for other companies.

Today we sit down with Ryan Choura, Founder and CEO of Choura Events. Upon opening his new business he was immediately faced with the recession of 2007, so he is no stranger to challenge. When COVID19 brought with it the meeting recession of 2020, he was grounded with a healthy company culture and agile enough to pivot overnight. According to a recent Forbes article, the travel and event industry warns of $910 billion in losses. Choura Events was facing monumental losses with a 100% cancellation rate within 5 days of all of their shows, like Coachella, Acura Grand Prix and the Golden Globes. They are the Top 100 Fastest Growing Private Company and the largest tenting company in the Western US. Let’s dig deeper with Ryan and see if we can provide a blueprint for other companies right now.