Thirty Minute Mentors

Mike Armstrong was the leader of one of the largest companies in the world as CEO of AT&T. Mike was previously the CEO of Hughes Electronics, where he led the launch of DirecTV. A three-time cancer survivor, Mike joins Adam to share his biggest takeaways and best advice from the ups and downs of his personal and professional journeys.

Over the course of a coaching career that spanned more than fifty years, Romeo Crennel won five Super Bowls - two with the New York Giants and three with the New England Patriots - and was the head coach of three different NFL teams. Romeo joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons and advice. Romeo and Adam discuss leadership, motivation, mentorship, building winning teams and cultures, building winning relationships, lessons from Bill Belichick, Bill Parcells, and Tom Brady, and much more.

A member of the Boxing Hall of Fame, Laila Ali is one of the greatest female boxers of all time, going undefeated over the course of her career. Laila joins Adam to share her unique journey and best lessons learned along the way, including the best lessons she learned from her father, Muhammad Ali. Laila and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: overcoming failures, setbacks and challenges, personal discovery and development, leadership, motivation, mindset, and much more.

The leader of one of the largest non-profit organizations in the world, Mary Davis is the CEO of the Special Olympics, serving more than 6 million athletes across 172 countries, with more than a million coaches and volunteers and more than 100,000 competitions a year. Mary joins Adam to share her journey and best lessons and advice. Mary and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: leading people and organizations; building winning relationships; what anyone can learn from Special Olympians; and much more.

Ambassador Howard Gutman served as the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium and was recognized as the most popular ambassador in Belgium ever. Ambassador Gutman joins Adam to share his unique journey, his best advice on topics ranging from negotiations to leadership to recruiting, and his best lessons learned along the way, including lessons learned from his time around former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, Studio 54 Co-Founder Steve Rubell, President Barack Obama, George Clooney, and Kevin Bacon.

Frank Blake was the CEO of Home Depot - the largest home improvement retailer in America and one of the largest companies in the world - where he led the turnaround of the customer experience, the employee experience, and not uncoincidentally, Home Depot’s stock price. Frank joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons and advice. Frank and Adam discuss leadership, management, culture, customer-centricity, career development, takeaways from Jack Welch, George H.W. Bush, and Bernie Marcus, and more.

Jonathan Johnson is the CEO of Overstock, where he oversees a business that generated more than $2.7 billion last year. Jonathan joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons learned along the way. Jonathan and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: leading in times good, bad, and uncertain; reinventing yourself and your business model; building winning teams and cultures; attaining success personally and professionally; and much more.

Deb Liu is the CEO of Ancestry, the largest genealogy company in the world. Deb was previously a senior executive at Facebook, where she founded and oversaw Facebook Marketplace. Deb joins Adam to share her personal and professional journey and best lessons and advice from her experiences leading a multibillion-dollar company, creating and building a product used by more than a billion people a month, and developing the skills, relationships, and mindset required to rise to the top.

One of the greatest swimmers of all time, Gary Hall Jr. is a five-time Olympic gold medalist with ten Olympic medals in total. Gary competed in three Olympic Games - two after being told by doctors that his career was over - and won gold medals in each. Gary joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons learned along the way. Gary and Adam discuss a wide range of topics: reaching peak performance, managing pressure and expectations, overcoming obstacles, motivation, mentorship, mindset, and more.

Jeh Johnson served as Secretary of Homeland Security, where he led almost a quarter of a million employees and managed a budget of nearly $65 billion. The first African-American partner at Paul, Weiss, Secretary Johnson previously served as General Counsel of the Department of Defense and GC of the Air Force. Secretary Johnson joins Adam to share his journey and best lessons on a wide range of topics, including leadership, personal and professional development, decision-making, managing pressure, and more.