Thirty Minute Mentors

Rajiv Shah led one of the largest agencies in the U.S. government and leads one of the largest foundations in the world. The president of the Rockefeller Foundation, Raj previously served as USAID Administrator, where he oversaw 10,000 people and a $20 billion budget. Raj joins Adam to share his journey and his best lessons and advice. Raj and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: navigating your career, leading major initiatives, leading in crisis, relationship building, innovation, data, culture, and more.

The highest-ranking woman in American sports, Sarah Hirshland is CEO of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, where she leads the organization responsible for fielding the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams and overseeing the Olympic and Paralympic movements in the U.S. Sarah joins Adam to share her journey and her best lessons learned along the way. Sarah and Adam discuss leadership, career development, working in sports, navigating crises and failure, lessons from Olympians, and much more.

John Simon is the co-founder of General Catalyst Partners, one of America's leading venture capital firms. John is also a managing director at Sigma Prime Ventures and the co-founder of the nonprofit GreenLight Fund. John joins Adam to share his journey and his best lessons and advice. John and Adam discuss entrepreneurship, leadership, career development, building winning teams and cultures, applying business lessons to nonprofit management, and much more.

A star Major League Baseball player and New York Yankees legend, Bernie Williams was a five-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner, and four-time World Series Champion. Bernie is also a professional musician and has been nominated for a Latin Grammy. Bernie joins Adam to share his journey and his best lessons learned along the way. Bernie and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: teamwork, leadership, attaining greatness, performing under pressure, paying it forward, and much more.

Lieutenant General Robert Caslen spent more than three decades serving in a variety of leadership roles in the Army and has led two major institutions of higher learning, serving as Superintendent of the United States Military Academy and as President of the University of South Carolina. LTG Caslen joins Adam to share his journey and his best lessons and advice. LTG Caslen and Adam discuss leadership, building winning teams and cultures, building trust, motivation, learning from failure, and much more.

Julie Wainwright is the founder of The RealReal, where she developed a new fashion category from concept to roughly $1.5 billion in gross merchandise value. Julie launched The RealReal when she was in her early 50s and The RealReal has catered to more than 33 million shoppers. Julie joins Adam to share her journey and her best lessons learned along the way. Julie and Adam discuss entrepreneurship, career development, hiring, growth and scale, overcoming adversity, workplace equity, and much more.

Chuck Templeton is the co-founder of OpenTable, a business that changed the way millions of people make restaurant reservations and currently seats more than a billion diners each year. Chuck is also a successful venture capitalist, as he co-founded and is a senior managing director of S2G Ventures. Chuck joins Adam to share his journey and his best lessons and advice. Chuck and Adam discuss entrepreneurship, leadership, sales, raising and investing capital, culture, customer centricity, and much more.

Bob Muglia played a key role in building two of America's leading technology companies. Bob was the CEO of Snowflake, valued today at more than $50 billion, and previously ran a $17 billion division of Microsoft. Bob joins Adam to share his journey and his best lessons and advice. Bob and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: leading people and teams, hiring and motivating talent, what leaders should understand about AI and big data, lessons learned from Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, and much more.

The leader of one of the largest private companies in America, Alex Taylor is the CEO of Cox Enterprises, a conglomerate that generated $22 billion in annual revenue and includes a number of prominent media, communications, and automotive businesses, including Cox Communications, Kelley Blue Book, and Autotrader. Alex joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons and advice. Alex and Adam discuss leadership, impact, trust, building winning teams and cultures, success and failure, and much more.

Heidi Heitkamp is the first woman to be elected to the United States Senate from North Dakota and a Democrat who was elected in a deeply Republican state. Senator Heitkamp joins Adam to share her journey and her best lessons learned along the way. Senator Heitkamp and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: leadership; risk-taking; re-examining failure; decision-making; building relationships and consensus; the power of fun; dealing with difficult people; and much more.