The Courageous Podcast with Ryan Berman

Dr. Jonah Essers fights insurance red tape with the same rigor he once brought to genetic research at Columbia and Harvard. In this conversation with Ryan, he explains how his blunt LinkedIn posts—naming pharmacy-benefit managers and citing peer-reviewed data—have forced billion-dollar payers to reverse drug denials within hours, delivering treatments that 45-day appeals would delay. He recalls the day a hospital CMO tried to silence him but, after hearing the evidence, granted full support. Ryan and Dr. Essers also unpack Walter Cronkite’s jab at America’s “healthy, caring system,” debate fairness versus justice, and explore the quiet fear doctors feel when advocacy risks their jobs.

Dr. Christopher Bader has spent a decade mapping the nation’s anxieties through the Chapman Survey of American Fears, and the picture he paints is as revealing as it is sobering. In this episode of the Courageous Podcast, Dr. Bader explains why “corrupt government officials” has topped the list since 2014, how media algorithms amplify our sense of danger, and why withdrawing from public life only makes neighborhoods less safe. He shares the survey’s most startling insight - that most Americans worry about threats they can’t control while underestimating the risks closest to home. Dr. Bader also previews the eleventh wave of the study and traces his own path from Seattle kid to Chapman professor.

Kass and Mike Lazerow run companies the way great doubles teams win tennis matches: Kass owns the baseline of operations while Mike roams the net hunting openings -- neither drifts into the other’s court. In their conversation with Ryan, they unpack their new baby of a book; Shoveling $h!t, what they describe as an entrepreneurial love story and deeply personal playbook that distills eight ventures and nearly $10 billion in exits into fifty straight-talk lessons any founder can lift. Kass shows how fixed Wednesday date nights and clearly drawn responsibilities turn raw startup chaos into durable culture. Mike retraces the pattern-recognition that carried him from a college newswire to Buddy Media and an early Liquid Death stake. Their closing charge is simple: protect your partnership, share the upside, reinvest in the world - and never be afraid to pick up a shovel when the next idea calls.

Jason Schulweis isn’t content cheering equality from the sidelines. One year into his post as Chief Commercial Officer at The Female Quotient, he’s using a revenue playbook rooted in allyship, empathy, and measurable results. In his chat with Ryan, he shares how the role allows him to model hands-on advocacy for his four-year-old daughter and two-year-old son. Jason unpacks the business engine behind The Female Quotient’s mission, demonstrating how companies across industries can drive growth while embedding inclusion, not as a side initiative but as a central strategy. His call to men is simple and urgent: learn, listen, and trade passive support for active participation.

Eric Gibson believes that the future of golf starts where a player's fingers meet the club. As CCO of Golf Pride, he is redefining the grip as 'equipment for the hands.' It's a widely-accepted shift by Tour professionals, as Golf Pride grips were used by approximately 90% of competitors at the 2025 Masters. He tells Ryan why he hires non-golfers to keep ideas fresh and why he supports innovative formats, like short courses, creator leagues, and even two-hour rounds. Eric explains his mantra of 'short steps, long vision,' which encourages leaders to prioritize lasting behavioral change over immediate data-driven highs. From partnerships with The First Tee to the ideation of a 13-hole course model, he reveals how steady hands and a patient strategy can carry a centuries-old game into its next era.

MJ DePalma sees marketing as an act of human connection, not a numbers game. As Head of Marketing with Purpose at Microsoft, she helped turn the phrase “inclusion is personalization” into a company-wide growth playbook, and a case study in countless business schools.  In her conversation with Ryan, MJ revisits the day Satya Nadella’s growth-mindset culture lured her back to Microsoft, and explains why every KPI should ladder to a single mission.  MJ also warns that a two-degree course error in AI can send brands hundreds of miles off track, and describes how quantum computing may rewrite the rules of brand empathy.

Emily Bond turns life-quakes into page-turners, turning chemo rooms into writing rooms and everyday crises into bestselling fiction. In her conversation with Ryan, Emily shares how a surprise Stage 2 breast-cancer diagnosis collided with a two-year-old at her feet, and how she finished her “magical realism rom-com” Sort of Seeing Someone between infusions. She explains the mental trick that kept her buzzing her hair with a toddler by her side, and offers blunt advice on talking to friends who are fighting for their lives. From inking a HarperCollins deal to shelving a pandemic-dated manuscript, she shows that humor, strict deadlines, and a touch of woo-woo can turn any detour into a new chapter.

Picture a weary parent stepping through a hospital door and finding a warm kitchen, a quiet bed, and a team that already knows their child’s name. Katie Fitzgerald, Global President and CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities, joins Ryan to explain how she is scaling that welcome across sixty-two countries, and sketches a clear plan for doubling the number of families RMHC can house and support worldwide.  Katie recalls hard-won lessons from guiding Feeding America through the pandemic’s first shockwaves, and also explains why psychological safety is the starting point for every bold target she sets. From slashing treatment-abandonment rates in Peru to raising seventy-six million dollars in a single four-month sprint, Katie shows how steady progress, not perfection, can change a family’s story forever.

Some people survive disruption; Patrick Leddin reverse‑engineers it for sport. Now he’s teamed with the world’s best‑selling author, James Patterson, to turn chaos into a step‑by‑step field manual.  In this episode of The Courageous Podcast, Patrick explains to Ryan how a college dropout became a Ranger, a CEO, and a Vanderbilt professor. He explains why he quit tenure to write Disrupt Everything with James Patterson, and how hundreds of interviews showed him that disruption is raw material, not bad luck. Patrick shares the four checkpoints that steer any shake‑up toward progress, plus the “game‑on” mindset that swaps anxiety for motion. From family pivots to global crises, Patrick shows how to turn the next jolt into a straighter path to purpose.

Jason Feifer has turned pattern-spotting into a super-power: on the page, on stage, and on LinkedIn’s daily feed.  In his conversation with Ryan, Jason, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur magazine, author of Build for Tomorrow, host of the million-download podcast Help Wanted, and writer of the 65-thousand-subscriber newsletter One Thing Better, breaks down how he turns vague ambitions into clear, repeatable systems. He explains the “fresh-brain” morning ritual that powers his content engine, the incremental risks that build true courage, and the rules that keep his personal brand and Entrepreneur symbiotic. From building scarcity around his own voice to teaching companies how to decode viral ads, Jason shows that the fastest route to tomorrow is mastering one thing better today.