Thirty Minute Mentors Podcast Transcript: Therabody Founder Jason Wersland

I recently interviewed Morningstar CEO Therabody Founder Jason Wersland on my podcast, Thirty Minute Mentors. Here is a transcript of our interview:

Adam: Our guest today is the inventor of a highly successful technology wellness product, and is the founder of a highly successful technology wellness company. Dr. Jason Wersland is the founder of Therabody and the creator of the Theragun. Jason, thank you for joining us.

Jason: Glad to be here.

Adam: You grew up on a farm in Utah, and you played a lot of different sports growing up as a kid. You wound up pursuing a career as a chiropractor before creating the Theragun. What early experiences and lessons shaped your worldview and shaped the trajectory of your success?

Jason: Wow, good question. It's something I'm proud of. It's just the way I grew up. My dad was a first-generation American. I spend my summers on the farm being around my uncles and my family. And resourcefulness and hard work were two things that just looking back on, it makes so much sense to where I am today. Resourceful in the fact that there were a lot of times you can't run to Home Depot when you live on a farm, you have to figure it out. And I just watched them do that and my family members and then my brothers and I were always so close. And we just moved around, we've made things and it's just kind of always what we've done. And never in a million years that I think it would lead to something. Just some hobby, just something we loved. The resources for this hard work are two of the things that stand out to me when you ask that.

Adam: How did the idea for the Theragun emerge? And how did you actualize it?

Jason: Well, I was in a motorcycle accident in 2007, I was a chiropractor in Los Angeles, ironically working with my hands. And suddenly I became a patient, and my paradigm shifted. And I was in this place where I knew what I needed. But I wasn't able to provide that for myself, I had to go to somebody else to do that. And I just didn't like it. That was disempowering. I didn't feel like I could do something. And there were hours in a day when I was in pain, and my brain would just keep searching for an answer. And I kept thinking this is crazy that I can't do some of these things to myself to sort of bridge that gap between the time when I need to see a therapist because that's undeniable that you need those in certain situations, especially the one I was in. But that idea of treating the pain from a holistic naturopathic perspective, as a chiropractor, was what drove me. When I had the accident, the only available options, and still, unfortunately, today are surgery and drugs. Now the medical world is changing a little bit, but it's still if you're like I was, I didn't have insurance, I was still just finishing school, started a practice two years earlier. I was grinding it out, I didn't have extra money. So just to be able to have something that I could use on myself and not have to choose either drugs or surgery was important to me. And that sort of drove this idea. And also it was the pain. When you have nerve pain, it doesn't stop. It's not like it's nighttime, time to stop hurting. It was almost worse at night. I couldn't sleep. And so there's just this constant thinking about what can I do to fix myself. I created something in Christmas of 2008. And I slowly started using it throughout 2008 till about July, August when I was able to move and go back to practice. So I used it in these different phases from pain relief to tension relief, which is different from being able to build my muscles back and gain back my ability to move and work with my hands. So then I put it away and never thought I'd see it again. I used it myself. It was a Makita jigsaw. And then I had a patient come into my clinic who'd been in a really bad bus accident. In a head-on bus collision, he was one of the drivers and went through his windshield into the other guy and messed him up pretty well. He didn't have a ton of scars, but he had a lot of damage that was similar to mine. It was the first time that I looked at someone in my practice and thought I'd got to show this to him because there was still Makita jigsaw and just as a chiropractor bringing in and I also felt a little bit hesitant about that. But I showed it to him, he used it, we got him better, and in a short period, I watched it happen and this magic that it did to me. It did to him. At the end of his treatment, I'd been gone for a couple of days, and when like came back, I saw him and he was using it in my practice in my office. And this is probably the most profound thing for me. And my story is he looked at me and said, "Doc, you have to figure this out. It saved my life." And I remember thinking, that's exactly how I feel. Like, oh my gosh, he caught it, he drank the Kool-Aid like, this is working for him. So from 2008 to 2016, that's what I did. I figured it out. I learned the science, I learned how important ergonomics was. I learned the attachment material we made the attachments out of how that moved in your hand and how you're able to treat yourself, it's super important for me that people can work on their bodies consistently. And then it just took off, man, it was like it was crazy that eight years of research development and practical experience for myself was like a slingshot just kept pulling back further and further. And then when 2016 hit, it just took off. And we've continued to develop since then.

Adam: At what stage in the journey, did you realize I have to start bringing in people around me to get this product to the level I want to get it to? And how did you go about doing that? How did you find the right people to bring onto your team to partner with? And what advice do you have for anyone on how to find the right people to surround themselves with?

Jason: Those eight years were as much convincing people what this was, as it was my time on the research and the science and the development of it. Because it was so crazy. People just look and be like, "What are you talking about?" I sounded like a used car salesman in the early days. There were phases, to be honest with you, Adam, in 2008, 2009, and 2010, I knew that I didn't have anything I could show anyone yet. But in my mind, I did. I knew that there was a goal that I could make. So went through this phase of just figuring things out, like, what does it look like? How do you hold it? What are the attachments? And then the next phase was, I gotta get this out there. Like, I've got to get this into the hands of people that can share this message. And in my mind, I thought who has the biggest voice? And how do we get to those people as athletes? It wasn't intentional that it went into the athlete's hands, it was working through the relationship of athletes that I'd had and worked strong for many years, that finally there was something they could use, and they just organically would post. So I realized, okay, that's what I need, I need a bigger voice. And the biggest voice we've had over the years is Ronaldo. So if you think about him as the tip of the iceberg of however many followers and impressions he has, my goal was to work to that point. And I knew I needed a business mind. I mean, I'd been an entrepreneur my whole life and worked for myself and 1099 most of my life, I didn't have the experience that I needed from the business perspective, finances, and those types of things. I went through three business partners, almost $250,000 of my own money to buy my company back because those people weren't the right people. I ended up finding Ben, who was my business partner and seed investor in 2016. And that's when it started to grow, like I said a second ago. We got the right person on the business side, we had me as the founder on the relationship side with athletes and people and it wasn't a business plan. I didn't sit down and be like, I'm going to map this out. I was just looking around and realizing it was one too many. If I'm doing it, I need many too many. And for this to grow, and people to experience this, I have to get into the hands of people that they trust, people that are respected. So I knew early on that I needed help. And I knew early on that this was way bigger than me. People may not have that understanding of my role as a founder of this company. I learned early on in 2011. I had an amazing experience by myself where I realized the magnitude of what we were going to do. And I needed help. We've been able to find some amazing people along our journey who have come in, supported, done what they did contributed some amazing things. Some of them moved on to other great, amazing jobs, and some of them are still here. So it's an applicable question because I could never do this on my own. And I knew I needed people from athletes to teams to medical professionals and influencers. I mean, there was just anyone that could get the message out. And to me, it wasn't about buying this Theragun for $599. It was more like this thing changed my life. It helped me get out of bed and changed my ability to walk. Those are the messages that resonate with people on the ice all the time. And I couldn't do this on my own. There's no way.

Adam: Having gone through the experience of being in partnership with bad business partners. And now being in partnership with a good business partner, now being around people who in your view, are the right people. People who are helping you take your business to the next level, you've seen both sides of it. How can anyone listening to this conversation avoid those pitfalls? What do you look for? What do you avoid?

Jason: Well, I think it's a couple of things. For me looking back on it, do you have to have an intuition and follow your gut, there's always some sort of red flag that comes up. And I realized in the early days, I would justify that way, thinking this person has this and this inability to help with this. And I would just excuse those things that were telling me hey, this isn't the right situation. That's one. Two is to do some really good background checks. Who are these people? Where do they come from? Are there people out there who vouch for them, if they've had business partners in the past, reach out to those people, there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes, we get a little maybe too respectful about those types of things. But looking back on it now, I wish I had dug into who these people were, what their backstories were, and what their experiences were in running a business, this is a different business, and the messaging is different. It's not something that's been out there before. And I needed to find someone that is unique. Those are things that stand out to me that sometimes you get so bogged down, and you're just so ready for help that you kind of relinquish some of that power that you have inside and know that these people aren't right. I've learned this in my life, the hardest thing and the right thing, or sometimes the same thing. And so just recognizing, do the hard thing. And the hard thing was just to figure it out without this person and find someone else down the road. But I am where I am, I learned what I learned, I experienced what I experienced, and I wouldn't change it for the world. And when you find someone that knows what they're doing, it's like someone just takes a backpack off your back, that just suddenly to feel like you're going with the current instead of upstream. And if anyone's listening to this, who started a business, they'll know what I'm talking about, you suddenly hit this synergistic motion and energy where things are moving in a way where you're not having to carry it so much, whether it's emotionally or physically, just the time and effort. I've always prided myself in my work ethic, and the fact that I would work hard. And that's another thing that I love about Ben and especially some of the people that have come on now in the last couple of years is they work hard, everyone works hard. And it's a smart card. It's getting our message out. So those are the two things. Just really do some background research on who is, and what's their intention, if you can find that out, trust your gut. And then when you find someone you just know. I mean, it's after going through what I did, you just know.

Adam: A lot of great lessons there that are applicable well beyond finding a business partner, that apply to hiring, that apply to making decisions that apply to leadership. The importance of trusting your gut, believing in yourself, having patience, conducting thorough background checks, doing due diligence, listening to people around you, and also listening to yourself. Something that you shared brought me back to a conversation I had recently with a friend of mine, retired general who was telling me about his experience as a cadet at West Point. He was sharing a story about his time, right as he joined the point when they taught all the new cadets the West Point cadet prayer, and he quoted a line to me, "Make us choose the harder right, instead of the easier wrong." And that stood out to me because that speaks to everything you just shared right there.

Jason: Yeah, I agree. That's a great statement. I've never heard it said that way.

Adam: What is your approach to leadership? And what can anyone do to become a better leader?

Jason: I think leadership has so many different faces. It has so many different schools of thought. And I think the way I've led is I grew up as the oldest of a big family. And I just learned at an early stage that I had to do a couple of things. And I've learned this is specific to me. It's also something I've learned over time, but my process is basically to build a relationship of trust. If I don't have a relationship of trust with a person, I can't lead them. And that's super important to me. So creating relationships with trust, and the next step is to support that person, what does it look like to support them? How do they get support? Is it time off? Is it more time with someone to train them? Whatever that is, what does it take to support that person as an athlete, for me, that was easy. Like I created a relationship of trust. I worked on these people, I was putting my hands on people. I see everyone in my life, especially at the company as a patient, like what's going on with them? What can I do to support them? I have a unique role in the company as a founder. I don't have business demands and things that are put on me. I am constantly working with different people in the company because of my role. So BRT is what I call it, building a relationship of trust, and support is the next step. And then educate. And educate is sales, educate is training, educate is understanding a little bit more about that person, like digging in a little bit and finding out, why I respond this way or that way, and being able to support that person is super helpful. So BRT, support, educate. Those are the steps that I take. And a lot of times, it's good people that just need support. It's all they need. They don't need education and sales experience, they just need support. And I wish I was better at this, to be honest with you, but check-ins, just checking in with people. How's it going? What's happening? Those are some of the things that stand out to me and just continually building that relationship of trust is always where I fall back to.

Adam: How, as a leader, can you build trust?

Jason: To me, it's several different ways, adding character is a big one. If you say something, you better do it. And to me, character is the ability to follow through with the decision after the emotion of making the decision is gone. So if I tell you I'm going to do something, and I don't see you for three weeks, and 12 other things have come on my priority list and the thing slides off, I lost some trust there. We both know that like, that's what happens. Man, like I said, he was gonna do this, and didn't do that. So as I've grown as a person personally, with the relationships that I have, I'm careful not to promise things I can't deliver on. And if I do, I'm going to so to me, that's a big one, I want to make sure that I have that relationship of trust that people can rely on me, and the being able to be there for people, even when it's hard. To me, that builds a really strong relationship.

Adam: Character, living your words, being a leader who supports others, being a leader who connects with others, being a leader who uplifts others, being present, fundamentally comes down to being a leader who is there, who shows up every day.

Jason: It's not easy all the time either.

Adam: Definitely, it isn't. Neither is growing and scaling a company, which is what you've been able to do so successfully. And I want to dive into that, can you share with listeners how you were able to grow and scale their body and how anyone listening to this conversation can grow and scale their business?

Jason: Well, you have to get the right people involved, you have to have the right relationships, and you have to have the right understanding about what's expected from those relationships. Passion leads me and drives me. I have a mission, something that I heard the other day that was profound from a friend in Africa, he said, "You have to have a mission that's big enough that you never see the end of it. Otherwise, you reached your goal. And then humility is a little bit harder to have because you've attained something." So in my mind, I wanted something so big and I wanted everyone in the world, literally in the world, to have the same experience that I had with Theragun. And how did I do that? How do I get that message out? It's through as many channels as possible. So I'm not kidding, Adam, I was on an airplane, this is stuff that I do. I was on an airplane the other day, on a long flight, got up, and walked to the front of the plane, I was using my chair again on myself and happened to be on United Airlines. We have a partnership with United. So started talking to the flight attendants, and they're like, "Oh my gosh, that thing's amazing." I said, "Yeah. Have you seen one of these?" "No, we know about that, we had amenity kits inside of the airplane" This is what I do. I don't care where we are as a company. I don't. I'm going to do this. I sat there and I treated every one of those flight attendants. And they were like, "Oh, my God, I have to have one of these. Where do I get one of these? Can I use it on my feet? What about my lower back?" Suddenly, now I have an audience of four people who have a voice. They will tell someone they might tell their son or their daughter or someone in their life that's an athlete. Like that message. I want it to resonate. So I scaled what I was doing by opening my mouth and sharing it with as many people as I could. And that's just taken people in our company, whether they're in London or any part of the world, I challenged them to do that. Like we're not just a company, we're helping people who in your life need this. And that's been the message that I send to everyone. I'm sitting down with an athlete, I'll share this with you. I sat down with an athlete in the early days, and he had everything. I mean, these guys get everything given to them. They don't have any wants. And he's sitting there and I realized, I'm gonna give this guy something he already has. And I said, "Listen, are there three people in your life that we could send these to? It has an impact." And he immediately thought, "My father-in-law is a landscaper, oh, my god, he would love to have that." Done. Next, "My mom just had back surgery." Done. Next, "And my girlfriend loves yoga", or whatever. So suddenly, I had three people, I gave him the products, he took them and gave them to those people. Now suddenly, somebody else is having a passionate conversation about their experience of my product. And I don't have to be the one to do that. That's been my goal all along. I will continue to do it forever. But the goal is, to put this in your hands. And now you go and share this with someone so that they understand your story. So to me, that's how I scaled and it's different because it was a physical product. It was touching people, it affected their nervous system. So it was powerful. It wasn't like I was giving them a drink, or a t-shirt, or a watch or something. It's a different experience, which I think was key to the way we scaled as a company still to this day.

Adam: No matter what your company is, no matter what your product or services, you are your best brand ambassador. And Jason, you're living proof of that. There's no better story than the story you just shared. Being on an airplane, and using the Theragun on yourself, using the Theragun, on flight attendants. being passionate about what you're doing, living and breathing this, there is no substitute for that.

Jason: It's a responsibility. I mean that too, Adam, as I say that. It's a responsibility, I've recognized that the power of this company, the power of our mission is a responsibility. We have to educate people, we have to help them understand how it fits in their life. And that also drives our innovation. Like if this is too big and bulky, and it's too complicated, people aren't gonna buy it. So how can we scale it down, and make it simple to use? And that's the same sort of concept. We think we're out in the world, whether it's the Berlin marathon, and we have six employees standing or helping people at the Berlin marathon, telling this story over and over again. To me, that's how you scale it. You can't get too big, that you're not speaking to your communities, you can't get so big that you're not in the grass with those people, then that's something that I like. Like, in any sport, they say, if you have a problem, go back to fundamentals. Those are my fundamentals. I want to get out there and start talking to people. And that helps me craft the message and helps me understand a little bit more about where we are as a company. The flight attendants knew what it was, but they'd never experienced it. That tells me we have a lot of work to do. These are first-world Americans who live in DC and LA. How do they not know about this? Why didn't they not have one? And those are things that I'm asking myself. What's the gap? How can I fill that gap? So yeah, 100%. And people, they say, "I'm passionate." Well, this thing saved my life. It's what I live with, and if people understand it, then it'll be the same thing for them. And to me, and anyone who will tell you this in the company, I'm not doing this for the money. We need money, we have to grow, there's a whole nother conversation. But my purpose isn't financial. My purpose is that people can feel better.

Adam: And as a leader, you want to get as many people aboard the train who feel the same way. When you're hiring people. It's great to hire people who have worked for great companies, have gone to great schools, and have done all kinds of great things. But at the end of the day, what matters? You want people on your team who are in alignment with your mission, who are passionate about your mission, who live and breathe, what you do the same way that you live and breathe what you do.

Jason: Yeah, we were lucky to find some good people. We have a science team, we have an innovation team. That's the machine that keeps this big monster moving and is constantly researching. I have an innovation team that works hand in hand. I get to work with them as much as I possibly can. I love these people. These guys are like brothers to me. And we have a purpose. We have a goal. And there's always like, what if we did that? What if we did this? And what if we added that? And why this? Is there science that backs this up? In our lab, that's what goes on. And it's our goal. And our purpose is to change people's lives to put this into more hands so that can help people and it's really hard to get bored with that, to be honest.

Adam: How as a leader, can you foster a culture of innovation and how do you as a creator, get to a place where you are at your most innovative?

Jason: I take the time, Adam. I make time to think of iterations to think of solutions. It's usually two or three mornings a week, when I just sit down and think about, whether am I missing anything. So that's one thing I make time for it. The other thing is having a great team, I mean, I'm going to keep going back to just having a great team that has the same purpose and reminding each of us together what that is. There have been times in our Therabody world when we had an idea that was just quantified. It was like, then we could do this and that and that. And we had to hang on a second pullback. What's this doing? Is it a product? Does it look cool? Is it effective? Is it efficient? So those are the things we're constantly working on. It's like you said, it's finding the right people who buy in, understand the purpose, and know that this isn't money-driven. We need money, like I said, but it's not what our focus is. It's to get this into the hands of people. And that's dictated our products, that's dictated a little bit of our pricing. It's dictated colors. It's dictated the sleekness of certain things so that it just fits in my mom's hands who is 75 years old and still loves to ride her bike to an athlete, my 17-year-old niece who plays soccer, and how do we fit it in those worlds? So, man, I keep going back to the same thing. I have great people, an amazing legal team that can protect us, and is super helpful as well as your scale. I remember someone told me a long time ago, that you're gonna have to deal with returns. And I started listing off all these things that happen when you grow as a company that are bad. And I was like, oh, my God, I've wished for that. And we've been able to grow as a company and have amazing people in different roles, key roles. We have an in-house legal team that's constantly helping us protecting us, protecting me, and making sure that we can grow as a company and that our assets and our IP are protected. No matter who you are, what you're doing, if you're selling a product, you have to have someone close by whether they're on payroll, or you have a relationship with someone legal. Because of that stuff, it's not something that I'm good at. And I wanted to make sure I had someone who could watch my back when it came to those things. And there was a time when I had to bite the bullet and bring someone on before the company was the company now. But now as we've grown, having that be one of our pillars that sort of protects our education, our science, our marketing, and things like that.

Adam: One of the things that you shared that stood out to me, not focusing on immediate monetary returns, but focusing on bringing in the best people you can, and allowing them the room to go out and create the best products that they can create. Don't worry about whether this product is going to bring in money tomorrow. If you create something that you know is going to be a great product, as a leader, I have confidence in you that this product will be a big success for our company, having confidence in your people, instilling confidence in your people, and giving them room to do their thing.

Jason: I have two kids, and there have been times as my kids have been growing, that they have seen something for the first time, I've seen it a dozen times. And I tell them to walk through this path. And you'll have that experience of success on the other side. As a leader, I have to have done that and look at that person right in the eyes with commitment and be truthful about the fact I just went through this. So when we have people in our company in Germany that are walking into a tennis store, and they've never been there before, they need to have confidence. You have to bet on yourself. You got to. You have to bet on yourself. But when you do and you come out on the other side, that feeling that you have you can't replace that. I had to do that over and over and over again to believe in the law. And then I'm sharing this with the people in the company, whatever role they're in if it relates to them. So to me, that's also a way of leading having people see that you bet on yourself and you want and you're going to continue doubling down and that it takes a little hard work, guts, gumption, tenacity, and patience. I mean, I could come up with so many things. Consistency, persistence, and delusion are the three things I say that got me through what I was doing. Being super consistent every morning no matter what. Being persistent never taking no. And being delusional. People look at you, people who are closest to you in your life are probably going to look at you and tell you you're crazy. That's one of the checkboxes that you know you're on the right way. You've got to follow your passion and bet on yourself and know that there's gonna be the people in your community that are probably the most critical. And that's not a bad thing. And I think in life sometimes as you're growing a company, you start thinking, what am I doing because you're hearing these voices from the outside? You're inside voice has to be just as strong, it's got to push you through those things. And I think that's one of the things no matter what you're doing in life, if it's hard, and you have to sacrifice, sacrifice is giving up something good for something better, when you have to sacrifice in life over and over again, and the people in your life seeing you doing that, they don't want you to get hurt, they don't want you to feel pain, they're not trying to hurt you. They're just trying to protect you. But understanding that that's part of the thing you have to do, yes, having your finger in the door a few times, you got to get through that pain and understand what's on the other side. And that is betting on yourself. And I feel like that's also part of leadership quality because it is what it is. Like you did do it. It's a fact. But being humble about it, and working hard and showing the path just like I mentioned with my kids, look, if you go through this pathway, and you get to this part, it's gonna be hard, man, I'm gonna tell you, it's gonna pay off. As a leader, also, with our companies we're growing. That's also a message to whoever they are, wherever they are in our company, open your mouth on a train, in an Uber, at your family functions, just start talking to people, and you'll see how that experience, it's like, contagious. You want more of it. That's what gets me passionate, too.

Adam: I love it. Jason, so much of your focus, so much of your energy is spent on wellness. What is your daily routine? What is your approach to health and wellness? And what are your best tips for anyone listening on the topics of health and wellness?

Jason: Health is one thing. And wellness in my opinion is part of it. But it's also another thing. Health is where you are in that state for that day. Wellness is a habit. Wellness is a consistent habit. So in my life, I did this many years ago, but a perfect day to me looks like 'What'. What time do I wake up? When do I exercise? What do I eat? What's my impact on the world? And who are the people close to me? And I try to live my perfect day. And man, I'm telling you, as you know, there are a lot of times where you can't, if you woke up late, you got an airplane like there were so many distractions in your life. But for me, wellness is a habit. Wellness is a process. Wellness is something that I have to do every day. The health that I have, checking with my doctor, checking my heart rate, blood pressure, all those things. That's a health check. Where are you, I spend time every day stretching, I use my Theragun, I work out at least every day for 10 minutes, whatever it is. Diet is super important. And it's so hard to get some times in the US the right... that's another podcast. And then practicing what I preach. But it's not about practicing what I preach, it's about practicing these things, and being able to experience the benefits of them. I did a cold plunge this morning, I worked out hard today I had a really good breakfast, those types of things set you off in the right direction. So for me, if I'm not doing those things, if I'm not trying to live my perfect day, then I get off track. The next day, I woke up and tried and do it again. We talked about this a lot in the company. I wish you were in some of our meetings where we're trying to define wellness. And to me, it's just simple. It's like it's something you're doing every day for yourself, mind and body, not just physical.

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

Jason: Oh, wow. That's a loaded question.

Adam: That's why I ask it.

Jason: Yeah, do the hard thing. Do the hard thing. It will always pay off. If you invest in yourself. It always pays off in dividends. And that, to me is a success. It takes time. I just watched this thing the other day about Tyler Perry and his upbringing. And I mean, his story is incredible. And he said over and over again, "This didn't come overnight. It came from many failures." It came from his mom telling him you can't do this, the closest person to him. I related on so many levels to the story. For people to be successful, just know that it's not easy. It rarely happens overnight. Rarely. And I feel like the more you invest in something with the right purpose and passion, it always comes back. Always. May not when you want it to. It may not be in 30 years, but it always comes back. I mean, I'm 54 years old. I didn't experience the level of this success until I was in my late 40s. So it takes a while. You said it earlier, success is the impact you have on life. Success is the mission being bigger than yours. And having as big an impact as you can while you're here. For me, success is like being proud. Every night I lay down thinking that I did my very best. And I know it sounds cliche, but it's true.

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

Jason: Thank you. I appreciate it.


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.

Follow Adam on Instagram and Twitter at @adammendler and on LinkedIn and listen and subscribe to Thirty Minute Mentors on your favorite podcasting app.