Thirty Minute Mentors Podcast Transcript: Emmy Award Winning Producer David Collins

I recently interviewed Emmy Award-winning producer David Collins on my podcast, Thirty Minute Mentors. Here is a transcript of our interview:

Adam: Our guest today is a nine-time Emmy Award winner and is the creator of one of the most successful reality TV shows of all time. David Collins is the creator and executive producer of the reality sensation Queer Eye, which is in the middle of a new season and is about to embark on a new live tour. David, thank you for joining us.

David: Thank you for having me, Adam. Really excited to be here.

Adam: excited to have you on. You grew up in Westchester, Ohio, just outside of Cincinnati. And as a kid, you knew a lot more about farming than about film. But you ultimately went on to study film and television at Ohio University. Can you take listeners back to your early days? What early experiences and lessons shaped your worldview and shaped the trajectory of your success?

David: Oh, you're starting with the easy stuff. Or not, I don't know. I am kind of a textbook corn-fed boy from the Midwest. Truly Westchester, where I was from, which by the way, borders Middletown, which is where our new vice president grew up, J.D. Vance. His hillbilly elegy is set in Middletown, Ohio. Just to give context, of my childhood and reality. We were not a farm family, but we were in a new subdivision which was surrounded by farms. All of my friends were real farmers, and I had always wanted to be a veterinarian, so I joined FFA, Future Farmers of America, when I was a freshman and realized that I was not like all the other kids in the room who had been up since 4am milking the cows and cleaning the hay and cleaning the barn stalls. But I was there with my little preppy flipped-up collar and jeans ready to talk. And so, I became the orator of the FFA and started doing my first public speaking and competed in the national creed contest. And I lost the nationals by a fraction of a point and got second place. But it was through FFA, I wanted to be a veterinarian. In my junior year of high school, the old college counselor moment sat me down and said, David, so we need to talk about this vet dream of yours based on these grades and what you've done. We don't really see Ohio State in the future of farming because Ohio State had one of the largest veterinarian programs in the country specifically for farm animals. My high school counselor picked up a thing from Ohio University in Athens, a couple of hours east of Ohio State. And I was senior class president or junior class president at the time, but I was a cheerleading talker and just couldn't stop. And he said, hey, they have one of the top film and TV programs in the U.S. and I think you should check it out. And I will tell you that Ohio University really changed the course of my life. My four years in Athens not only kind of finding myself and my people as you do in college because that's what college is for. But our program of film and TV was absolutely cutting edge. One of the top-funded programs in the country at the time, and I got a real bug and passion for film, television, and radio kind of all at once. They called it a TECOM, telecommunications degree. I graduated from there with a hungry passion for telling stories. I graduated in June of 1989, and I had gotten a job as an editor in Chicago at Editel. But the job didn't start until the fall. Someone was like, what are you doing? You should stop by the film office. I hear there may be some films coming into Cincinnati. Maybe get interned or do something like that. I was like, oh, that's a cool idea. This is where, in these moments of mentorship and telling stories, follow those leads. Say yes is always the answer here, because here's what happened. On a rainy Tuesday afternoon, I got dressed up and put my little outfit on and got in my little old Toyota Corolla, a 1977 Corolla, and drove to the Cincinnati film office. And I had one of those moments where luck and timing meets. As I walk in to do this interview as an intern, the Cincinnati film director said, do you have a car? Can you get your car and get to the airport right now? And I was like, yeah, sure. What do you need? And he said, just go to the airport and listen, do me a favor. You're going to pick up these two women and just don't talk to them. Just drive them to the airport. Don't get in their business. Just do it. And I was like, OK, yes, ma'am. So I drove to the airport and the punchline to this long story is this. I picked up Jodie Foster and Peggy Reiske and put them in the back of my 1977 beat-up Toyota Corolla as they were coming to Cincinnati to scout for Little Man Tate, Jodie's directorial debut. Peggy Reiske was her producer. People might know Peggy. She created the Trevor Project. She shot and won the Academy Award for Trevor, the movie. And I drove these ladies from the Cincinnati airport to downtown Cincinnati. And of course, I didn't stop talking the entire time. I was da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- about how much I love Cincinnati, about growing up there, about film school, college, all the experiences. As we pull up to the hotel and I get them out and I take them in, Jodi turns me and hits me and the sign says, be here at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning. And I was like, what, me? What, really? And she's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll see you tomorrow morning. I showed up the next morning in a three-piece suit with a briefcase and a one-page resume that basically had two things on it from college and walked into a room of all women, Jodi, Peggy, Carol Cuddy, who ended up becoming Martin Scorsese's producer, three or four other women, but all women staff. And I walked into my little suit and they just burst out laughing. laughing at this silly little boy who showed up in his suit thinking he was gonna do something like, yeah, that suit's gonna do you really good while you're scrubbing the toilets in the production office. But that moment, Adam, was a moment that shifted everything. absolutely everything for me. Jodie Foster and my experience with her and Peggy, and I'm very good friends with Peggy still to this day and Jodie, but very close with Peggy, and I tell her over and over again that that moment in time for my little 21-year-old brain, right, to feel seen and wanted and knowing that I could do anything I could to help them get their movie done, really was my shift in what I knew I was going to see going forward. And there's two stories I'll tell real quickly that Jodi left me with. The first story is, Jody said to me early on, if you want to babysit parking cones out on set, please be my guest. I will put you on set. You can be a PA on set, but just so you know, you're going to stand with a parking cone for eight hours. Or you could sit at my desk. and watch the entire movie go across your desk. And I'm here to answer any questions. And so I opted to sit at the desk and stay in the production office and not go to where your natural inclination was to go, which was like, I wanna be on set. Instead, I sat and I let the movie come across my set. I tried to find ways to be useful and creative. And I would hear there's a big problem on set. There's no air conditioning. And I solved it. And in that solving of that, the production manager started saying, hey, special projects, come here. So she started nicknaming me special projects. The punchline also is this. Jodi used to say, you know, don't be a PA too long. If you get too good at it, you're not going to get past it. You're going to get stuck in there. And the truth of the matter is, Adam, I never was a PA. When that film came out, my title was Special Projects Coordinator. And she took that little moment and took that gusto, my energy, and my enthusiasm to work hard for them and gave me a leg up, a huge leg up, by giving me a credit that was not just a PA. And so that credit, Special Projects Coordinator, I parlayed into a second 2nd AD job on Olivia Newton-John's movie, A Mom for Christmas. And from that, an Assistant Location Manager job. on other films. That moment in time, when I look back at my career and all of the work that I've done over the years, I really, I get emotional still. It makes my heart realize that that moment I saw And someone saw for me and I grabbed the reins and it really did change the complete trajectory of my internal meter of who I was and what I was going to do. Cause otherwise I would have stayed and ended up in Editel and in Edit Bay in a dark room editing, which by the way, editing is everything, right? I'm passionate editor still on all of our projects. But the truth is, I think the twist, the turn, the left-hand turn instead of the right-hand turn changed everything for me.

Adam: David, you shared so much there, so many great lessons.

David: I know, I'm sorry.

Adam: No, I love it. I want to unpack some of those.

David: Sure.

Adam: You started off by sharing that at a very early age, you knew you were different, but instead of shunning the fact that you were different, you embraced it. You went all in on being different. We're going to talk more about that over the course of the conversation, but diving into the story you shared about this game-changing experience working with Jodie Foster, follow those leads, say yes. You shared that so much of it is the alignment of luck and timing, but it also really comes down to being prepared for when luck and timing meet. And when you were in that car ride, you were your authentic self. You were you, you were passionate, you were real, you were raw and They liked you. They liked you for you. And that's what made it. That's what ultimately set this course of action. Talking a little bit about Jodie Foster and what we can learn from her and her role in this story, Jodie Foster as a leader, Jodie Foster as a mentor, you shared that you felt seen and felt wanted. That's what leaders do. Leaders understand the role that they can play in changing the way that the people who they lead can succeed and Jodie Foster giving you a credit, giving you a better title. That didn't cost her anything, but that gave you everything.

David: It did. It's really special to hear you say that back to me. Her leadership between her and Peggy was also so ahead of its time, Adam. All women and mainly gay men. And I loved her for it. She was so ahead of the curve of like, I want to make this movie with women, strong, producorial women. And she built this team of women who really ran the whole ship. And I happened to be on that ship, but To have that be my first experience in a professional environment and to see just the love and the respect that she created from the top down, you're 100% right. That's exactly how leaders lead and why it's Jodie Foster, right? And we all still so much love and respect for her. And look what Peggy, you know, not only has Peggy produced so many beautiful films, but to then focus that. And Trevor was based on one of the executive producers from Little Man Tate, Randy Stone, who passed away not too long after that. Trevor was built around making sure that that story and that legacy lived on forever. And Trevor is now one of the most important nonprofits in the world with regard to LGBTQIA community and the plight for awareness and suicide. in that team. So Peggy and Jody have become just absolute rocks and mentors for my entire life and my entire career.

Adam: Queer Eye has been such an enormous success, but when you started it, it was a very different landscape, very different time than we're in today. How did the idea for Queer Eye come together and how did you actualize it?

David: I was a vessel. I got to be at the right place at the right time to see something and then breathe that in and take it from there. I was in Boston, Massachusetts. It was the year after 9-11. The world was a scary different place. And our business as a company, Scout Productions at the time, we were basically a production services company. When all the shows from Hollywood would come to New York or New England, we would handle all the local production. hiring everyone, budgets and schedules and location scouting. And we were thriving. But after 9-11, boom, business came to a crashing halt. And it came to a crashing halt for obviously many reasons, but obviously people stopped coming into New England and to New York as much because of the flights and all of that. And so we hit a hard time. We had a really hard time. What are we going to do? What's the next step? How do we get back on track? We had had some successful independent feature films at the time, but nothing that had locked as much. And it was open studios in the South End. South End is kind of Boston's gay area. It's like our WeHo here in L.A. or the Village in New York. But South End was open studios. It was a Sunday afternoon. My business partner, Michael Williams of Scout Productions, who also happens to be my ex-husband and papa to my daddy with our twin daughters, he and I and our best friends went to the open art studios. And we walked up into this big loft where, you know, you would go and the artists would show their art and you would have a little glass of champagne and eat some cheese. Well, as we came up into the studio and it was a large studio with a couple hundred people in it, there was this weird hush fell over the room. And as I walk in, and we thought it was us walking into the room, and it got even quieter. And all of a sudden, in the middle of the room, everyone starts to back off a little bit. And there's a woman in the middle of the room, just berating her husband. You're a mess, your hair, your dress, your clothes, your shoes. Why can't you look like them? And she points across the room to the three most unbelievably dressed and quaffed handsome men you've ever seen, who, champagne glass in hand, come running across the room. And they grab the woman and they push her away. They're like, ma'am, please stop. And they grab this man and they just start loving on him, flexing his hair and tucking in his shirt and adjusting his belt and cuffing his shoes. But all the while talking to him and saying, sir, that's not right. Confidence breeds success. You're great. We love you. You're fabulous. And these three men just loved on him. In that moment, I turned to Michael, and without even thinking, the words came out of my mouth, and I said to him, did you see that? That was like clear eyes for the straight guy. And as those words came out, he looked at me, and he turned to our best friends. He's like, that's going to be something. And it was in that moment, Adam, that I had no clue about unscripted television or reality TV. I didn't know what a format was. I didn't understand that that's how that got put together. And I walked away, and we went home. And I had a group of friends, good buddies, who happened to be a straight guy, and I was a gay guy. And I started running this idea about a queer eye for the straight guy. This is beautiful format started to emerge where I was obsessed with Esquire magazine at the time. And Esquire magazine was broken up into five categories. Fashion, grooming, interior design, culture, food and wine. So I took those five categories. I gave them each a day of their own. And we created the fab five. I got to see that there's a bigger story to be told here. There's a bigger conversation. And it speaks to me, too, right, which is I was a gay from the 80s, which was, you know, hyper-masculine. As long as you were kind of straight-acting, it was OK. But I also my straight best friends don't care that I'm gay any more than I care. They're straight. And that conversation hadn't happened yet in America. We hadn't had a conversation where two men could just look at each other like, dude, yeah, you're gay. Yeah, you're straight. And not have that be a thing, not have that feel awkward. And so I will say what I'm most proud of out of that moment in the South then is that my partner Michael and I were struck by the opportunity to tell a much larger story and who the hell knew it was going to be through a reality TV show. And by the way our filter that's been refined over all of these years. still was true to that day, which is transformation through information, filled with comedy that has heart. And all that means, Adam, is that you and I are going to tell each other our stories. I'm going to share my story with you, and you're going to share your story with me. And if we're doing it right, we're going to see each other's humanity, and we're going to laugh a little and cry a little along the way, and hopefully be better men. out of that with each other. That's truly what I hope this life is about, is about us lifting each other up and seeing each other's stories and knowing that my story is different than yours and it's no better nor less. It just is.

Adam: I really love that and I love the story that you just shared and thinking of yourself as a vessel which really only takes place when you're a person who is focused on listening, focused on observing, focused on Taking in what's in front of you and not being afraid to go first, not being afraid to take chances, not being afraid to say, we're going to do this even if this hasn't been done before, even if this is something that I might not know anything about. But if I have conviction in this, if I believe in it, I'm going to figure out a way to make it happen.

David: Naivete is our friend early on, right? You have to be fearless and or the naiveness of what that business was for me. I didn't have any boundaries or borders that I had to live within. I just did what I thought was right. And coming all the way back to being my authentic self, I think that's probably the biggest thing that I love is to get vulnerable early with people and to share my story because I love hearing their stories. And honestly, Adam, the true blessing of Queer Eye is that my kids, I have almost 16 year old now, twins, get to see a better world, get to see a place where these conversations are important and where we continue to head into opportunities to continue to break down walls and have conversations that are very much transformative in nature.

Adam: And at the heart of Queer Eye really is transformation. What are the keys to transforming yourself personally and professionally?

David: My favorite saying is when we are aligned with our true self, when we are standing grounded in our shoes and feeling like, Oh, all right. So I'm not a bad guy. I'm a good guy, or I'm a good girl. I'm a good person. And I want to share that story. The idea of transformation. and our own self-confidence comes when we do our work first. We get to see ourselves with fresh eyes and fresh perspective. And by the way, queer back then, queer was a scary word. It was really scary. But for me, it wasn't even so much about the gay part of queer. I had looked up in Webster's dictionary and Webster just said, a unique point of view. is what queer means, a unique point of view. And so to have that fresh perspective, a unique point of view into someone else's life, every episode of Queer Eye, there's a hero and that hero has a story and five people come in and they want to hear every detail of that story. And in those five verticals, all of those pieces get torn apart. And sure, you may get some new clothes and a new living room and learn how to cook. That's all superfluous to the bigger thing, which is five people paid attention to me for a week and we had real conversation and I heard them and they heard me. Seeing each other's humanity is what builds that confidence because then I can see in you, Adam, and I can be like, dude, you're a rock star. Look at you. Look what you have going, because I can see things about you that maybe you can't see about yourself. But when you get to take five guys to come in and share that love, just like what happened on that day in the studio 22 years ago, when those three guys came across and surrounded that one man and just loved on him, despite what the world and his wife were telling him. And that confidence then gives him another way to put his shoulders back and stand tall and look forward and think, you're right. A unique perspective, a fresh way into this story and how I want to tell my story is critical.

Adam: you bring up a really interesting point and a really interesting topic. And it's a topic that I've explored with many of America's most successful leaders. I've interviewed a lot of political leaders in particular on this topic when I've asked them, how do you deal with people who you fundamentally dislike? Because that's something that just about everyone has to deal with. In corporate America, you don't get to choose who you work with. You're dealing with some people who you like and with some people who you really don't like. And in politics, that's absolutely the case. And the consistent theme that I've heard over and over again really comes down to when you're dealing with someone who you don't like, you really have to try to find what is in them that you do like. And how do you do that? By trying to find the humanity in every person that you're dealing with. And In every person around us, there are going to be things that we like, there are going to be things that we don't like. Some of us, there are going to be lots of things that we like about other people. But in every person around us, there's going to be at least something, if we look hard enough, that we're going to like. And it's really on us to find that. And bringing it back, David, to Queer Eye and to the advice that you shared, You may not necessarily be dealing with people who you don't like, but as is in the case with Queer Eye, you're dealing with people who might be different than you. And how do you deal with people who are different than you? It's that same advice. Find that commonality, find that humanity. There's something in everyone that bonds us, that can bring us together. And it's on you to take that first step, to take that initiative. And if you do, you'll make it happen.

David: Amen. You killed it. You killed it. That's it. All the way through. I think one of the lessons over the past few years that I love the most is that we can be this and that at the same time. We all have different sides to ourselves and different parts of ourselves. And so when we come into conversations with folks, whether it's political differences, socioeconomic, all the differences that make up us, like you just said, with this simple like, hey, where are you from? What's your story? Where'd you grow up? What's your family like? We all have a story. And when we share those stories, it's through that that I think the heart connects. And I say it all the time, but I think if you're doing that right, if you're really getting vulnerable, you're going to cry a little and laugh a lot. If you're not feeling something in here, you're not going far enough. You should feel like, ah, that was a really good experience or wow, this conversation, I feel connected with you right now. You've been just sharing this out of, and I, I love that because I want to know more about your story and I want to share mine with you and others. And hopefully that'll lift us all up and give us that little boost of confidence, right? Confidence does breed success ultimately along the way.

Adam: And you've enjoyed enormous success over the course of your career. And interestingly enough, it hasn't been a straight line. There've been highs, lows, ups, downs. Queer Eye was on the air, was really successful, but then was off the air for more than a decade before switching networks, getting a new deal. What have been the keys to reinventing Not only Queer Eye, but reinventing yourself, reinventing your brand. How can anyone successfully reinvent themselves and stay relevant regardless of whatever changes come our way?

David: I'd be a gazillion gazillionaire if I had the magic answer to all of that. But I can give you my opinion, which brings us back to where we've been this whole conversation. Staying true to ourselves. Look, with Queer Eye, the truth of the matter is we were kind of ahead of the curve, a little bit ahead of the zeitgeist. And it's fun. to be ahead of the zeitgeist and to get in there right at the right moment. But sometimes you're too far ahead of the zeitgeist. Sometimes you're behind the zeitgeist. Sometimes you hit it right at that moment. We have found and what I would say was probably our reinvention is realizing that 20 years ago, the gay guy and the straight guy, it was a pretty scary topic back then. Gay was a marginalized community. So Scout realized, oh, hey, when we hand the microphone over to other marginalized communities to help tell their story, Wow, we get to do what we do best. Transformation through information told with comedy that has art. And that filter applies to everything. So over Scout's evolution over the past 25 years, from Queer Eye on, when we rebuilt the concept and took it to Netflix, we knew that it was a modern day. And we had to have a modern spin and a new way in to tell the story of Queer Eye. And maybe it isn't just straight guys anymore. Now it's just people. Where I, along that same time, came along a show of ours called Legendary, which was set in the world of the voguing ballroom community, set African-American, mainly trans community that created this amazing celebration of this beautiful world of voguing houses. If you don't know ballroom, I invite everyone to go. Legendary used to be on HBO Max. It's no longer. It is a little bit on YouTube. Legendary was this big arcing competition series set with all kinds of amazing voguing dances and competition amongst all these houses. The heart of that show is about each of these individuals, these families that were born out of wanting to take care of one another, house mothers and house fathers. Just think of it, if you know the scripted series Pose, this is the unscripted version of that called Legendary. It was through that kind of moment where we realized how we tell stories doesn't just have to be in this transformation bucket, which is what Queer Eye in the world of Hollywood and the genre of unscripted would be considered lifestyle transformation. And we realized, oh, wait, all the verticals are open to tell these stories. Arcing competition, scripted, unscripted, game show, all of those doors are just as open. We just got to find the right stories to tell through those individual lenses. And that's the part that I think for us right now fuels our reinvention and our enthusiasm to continue telling these stories. Right now, probably the majority of our projects, our projects are like, hey, how do we feel ahead of the curve, but not too far ahead? What's the next conversation that America really needs to have that they don't know they need to have? And so we like to think like that, like this is all my heart. I'm not sure it's on everyone's heart, but maybe if we bring it to people in a way that we can couch it as entertainment and it sparks a bigger conversation. That feels like I'm doing my job right. That feels like for me as a dad, for me as a professional, for me as a friend and family member. I want to have conversations that are a little maybe uncomfortable, a little difficult, a little hard to have. Because when we have those kind of conversations, boy, it just busts the door open and we're able again, bringing us back full circle, to see each other with fresh eyes and fresh perspective.

Adam: David, I'm hearing a few themes from you. Firstly, it's really important to understand who you are and what you are at your very core and stay true to it. But at the same time, you have to be as adaptable and flexible as possible. And really importantly, You have to focus on your customer. You have to focus on your audience. What do they need? What do they want? What do they care about? And how can I deliver that?

David: Hands out. I think the Scout brand, which I will say I'm very proud of, aside from all the shiny Emmys and the Oscar and all of that, I'm proud about the stories that we tell and the opportunity and that we get such a blessing and a gift to be able to share those stories. So when I go to the buyers, all of the streamers and the cablers and the dress girls and have these conversations, they know who I am and they know what Scout stands for. And they know that, oh, Yeah, I want to tell more stories like that. Oh, I want to share those stories. And so at Netflix, it's been great. Our nine seasons there with Queer Eye have been amazing, and fingers crossed we're going to head into a 10th season. But this season, we have a new cast member who we adore, Jeremiah, and his story has just leveled us up even more. We're even able to tell even more emotional, heartfelt stories. There's so many opportunities right now. We're excited. Despite the business being a little shaky and a little scary out here in Hollywood, I think there's a lot of hope this year. There's a lot of knowing that the stories we need to tell are important right now and people need to hear them. And we have to put our listening ears on and we have to hear some things that may not be our normal day to day or what it is we think it should be, but all right. It can be this and that at the same time and be okay with that.

Adam: How do you get to a place where you are at your most creative and how can anyone unlock their creativity?

David: I love that question, especially for me, who's a little all over the place. I'm a whirling dervish. One of my professors used to go, you're a whirling dervish, David Collins. I don't even know what that is, but I'm a whirling dervish. But I think for me personally, I love reading, being a voracious reader and listener of podcasts and all of that and feeding myself with so much that's happening in pop culture and society. And also, I do want to come back to this idea that Think about what are the conversations that I want to have? What are those things? So when I try to put my creative cap on and get there, it's usually something I'm reading or something I've just seen. It's like, oh, that reminded me of something. The greatest gift has become a dad for me. I love just picking my kids' brains and seeing how their processes are working and what they're thinking about and obviously friends and colleagues. But to get to my creative place, it's always a team effort. We come in, no idea is a bad idea. We throw them all out on the table and you see what people spark to pretty quickly. I'd like to say probably my greatest gift over here is not being some creative genius. It's really being the guy who sees the talent in others. You were talking about that early leadership. I think Jodi and Peggy taught me early on. what it was like to be a good leader and to see others and see the talent in others and know that this is not an I show, this is a team show. And when we bring those teams together and you can all have that shared passion and that shared excitement, enthusiasm towards something, endless possibilities are born from that. And that really gets me going creatively is when I get to pull the posse together and use that as our launching point for all things creative.

Adam: David, what can anyone listening to this conversation do to become more successful personally and professionally?

David: First and foremost, I'm going to say you got to get out of your own way. You got to let go of all those expectations you put on yourself and you got to really let that go and you got to be able to look to the left and to the right. People on the left and to the right of you realize that no one is any better or worse than us. We're all here. We're all on a path. We're all trying to do our best. And when we're not doing our best, we need to help each other and lift each other up. But that question really ultimately comes down to, hey, how am I going to be a better me? And when I'm a better me, I can be so much better for everyone else. I keep reminding myself all the way back full circle that All moments are opportunities. That timing and that luck and that opportunity, they present themselves. We just got to keep our eyes open and stay aware, looking for those moments when they happen.

Adam: David, thank you for all the great advice and thank you for being a part of Thirty-Minute Mentors.

David: Adam, thank you so much. This has been great. Truly appreciate you and what you do. Really is amazing.


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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