5 Questions With Dan Schawbel

An interview with Dr. Drew Pinsky, a celebrity doctor, podcast host and board-certified internist, about how he stays relevant, what inspires him, well-being in the workplace, using technology and time management. Welcome to the eighth episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions. This episodes guest: Dr. Drew Pinsky was born in Pasadena, California. He attended Polytechnic School, majored in biology at Amherst College and earned his M.D. at the University of Southern California School of Medicine. From his residency in internal medicine at USC County Hospital, he became chief resident at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, and eventually moved into private practice. His career in the media started in 1984, one year after I was born, when he had a regular segment on KROQ-FM in LA. Then he hosted Loveline with Adam Carolla, which went national in 1995, with a TV version on MTV one year later. In 2007, Pinsky hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show Dr. Drew Live and in 2008, he starred in Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Then from 2011 to 2016, he hosted his own show, Dr. Drew On Call on HLN. He is the author of The Mirror Effect and Tracked, and is currently the host the The Dr. Drew Podcast and co-host of The Adam and Dr. Drew Show. This is the second interview I’ve had with Dr. Drew since 2014 and I’ve always enjoyed his views on psychology and mental health. The 5 questions questions I ask in this episode: How have you adjusted to the changing media landscape to stay relevant in your career? You’ve interviewed all types of people who have suffered in many ways. Who has been the most inspirational to you and why? Do you think we’ve reached a tipping point for well-being in the workplace? How can we use technology to create real human connection instead of letting it isolate us? How do you manage your time? Follow Drew’s journey: Books Facebook Instagram Twitter Website

An interview with Beth Comstock, the former Vice Chair and CMO of GE, about how she broke the glass ceiling, why fear holds us back, how she shares new ideas, stays relevant and her best career advice. Welcome to the seventh episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions. This episodes guest: Beth Comstock is the former Vice Chair and Chief Marketing Officer of GE. Beth grew up in Winchester, Virginia. Her mom was a teacher and was called the unofficial mayor of Winchester because of her outgoing nature, while her father, was a dentist and was an introvert like her. In her 27-year career at GE, she held a variety of the most senior positions in the company. In 1996, she was the SVP of Corporate Communications at NBC, then held a similar role at GE two years year. In 2002, she was named GE’s first chief marketing officer in more than 20 years. Then, in 2005, she became the President of Integrated Media at NBC Universal, where she led the TV ad sales and digital marketing team, and had a hand in the early development of HULU.com. In 2008, she became the Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer, leading GE’s growth and market-innovation initiatives, then ended her career at GE as Vice Chair in 2017. Currently, she is the author Imagine It Forward, on the board of Nike, and a trustee of The National Geographic Society. Beth been recognized as one of the of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” by both Forbes and Fortune, and one of the “Most Creative People in Business” by Fast Company. This is my second interview with Beth over the past two years. I remember when I was at her GE office here in New York City and I noticed that she didn’t have an office. Instead she sat with all the other employees. To me, this shows that she lacks ego and promotes collaboration and creativity, which is rare for an executive at her level. The 5 questions questions I ask in this episode: You were the former CMO and Vice Chair of GE, one of the largest companies in the world. How were you able to break the glass ceiling as a woman? You say that fear not ideas holds us back from achieving success. Can you explain? Where does your courage to come up with new ideas and share them come from? How do you personally stay relevant when the world is changing so fast? What are your top three pieces of career advice? Follow Beth’s journey: Books Facebook Show Instagram Twitter LinkedIn

An interview with Van Jones, the host of “The Van Jones Show” on CNN, about how we can all come together as a united America, the impact he wants to make on the world, how he overcame a struggle in his career, how he deals with critics and his best career advice. Welcome to the sixth episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions. This episodes guest: Van Jones was born in Jackson Tennessee. He studied political figures as a child, including Martin Luther King, Jr. and President John F. Kennedy. He majored in communications and political science at the University of Tennessee at Martin, while working as an intern at Jackson Sun and the Associated Press. After deciding he didn’t want to be a journalist, he attended Yale Law School and while a student, he was selected by the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights to serve as legal observers in the trial of four officers charged with attacking Rodney King. From there, he wrote his first book “The Green Collar Economy”, which led to an appointment as Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Jones eventually became the host of a series of CNN shows including “Crossfire, “The Messy Truth with Van Jones” and now, “The Van Jones Show”. Van has been recognized as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum, one of TIME Magazine’s “Most Influential People” and one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People”. The 5 questions questions I ask in this episode: What mistakes have we made as a country and how can we make positive change? What impact do you want to make at CNN? Can you discuss one struggle in your career, how you overcame it and what you learned as a result? How do you deal with your critics? What are your top three pieces of career advice? Follow Van’s journey: Books TV Show Facebook Instagram Twitter

An interview with the 66th United States Secretary of State, and first ever African-American female Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice about her decision making process, lessons learned, use of technology, view of diversity and best career advice. Welcome to the fifth episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions. This episodes guest: Condoleezza Rice was born in Birmingham, Alabama in the racially segregated south. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver, her master’s degree from the university of Notre Dame and a PhD from the University of Denver’s School of International Studies. After graduating, she worked at the State Department under the Carter administration, received a fellowship from Stanford University, where she then served as provost. From there, she served on the National Security Council under President George H.W. Bush, before eventually becoming the Secretary of State. Currently, she is the professor of Political Economy in the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a professor of Political Science at Stanford University. She’s the author of Political Risk, No Higher Honor and Democracy, and sits on the board of DropBox. More recently, she partnered with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David M. Kennedy, on American Creed, a documentary film that examines what unites Americans, and the ideals they share, that lead them to hope for the future. The 5 questions questions I ask in this episode: What goes into your decision making process? What were some of the lessons you learned as the former Secretary of State? How can technology be used effectively when trying to get a message out to others? What is your view of the power of diversity in business and politics? What are your top three pieces of career advice? Follow Condoleezza’s journey: Books Documentary Facebook LinkedIn Instagram Twitter

An interview with philanthropist, billionaire, bestselling author and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson about what motivates him, his daily routine, the importance of face-to-face, work friendships, and his best career advice. Welcome to the fourth episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions. This episodes guest: Richard Branson was born in London as the eldest of three children. Despite having dyslexia and a poor academic record in school, his parents supported him. Branson ran both Student magazine and a record business from his church. He interviewed famous people for the magazine, such as Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger and used the magazine to advertise his record business. This enabled him to start the record store that eventually launched Virgin Records. After selling the company years later, he went on to start Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Pulse, Virgin Galactic and over 400 other Virgin brands under The Virgin Group. Combined, his companies employ over 70,000 employees and generate over 25 billion in annual revenues. From 1998 to 2017, he wrote 8 books including Losing My Virginity, Screw It, Let’s Do It and Like a Virgin. Richard has had a variety of remarkable achievements, including being knighted by Prince Charles of Wales, named in BBC’s poll of 100 Greatest Britons and Forbes estimates his net worth at over 5 billion. I’ve been privileged to interview Richard three times in my career. While he may be an intimidating figure, when you meet him in person he’s very approachable and his views have become more relevant over time. Video interview from San Francisco: The 5 questions questions I ask in this episode: You have been starting, managing and advising companies since you were a teenager. What keeps you motivated to continue this entrepreneurial journey? Can you tell me about your daily routines for maintaining your health and how that impacts your productivity as a businessperson and entrepreneur? You’ve said that technology has kept you more connected, but what role do face-to-face interactions have in your success? We’re working longer hours than ever before. The average workweek is 47 hours a week. Because of this, don’t you think it’s more important now than ever before to have real friendships with the people you work with? A lot of people have learned a lot from your experiences, and everything that you’ve said over the years, but what is one piece of advice that you haven’t really told people, and you think is vital in our society today? Follow Richard’s journey: Books Facebook LinkedIn Instagram Twitter

An interview with Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling author Adam Grant about work life balance, networking, doing favors, creativity and his best career advice. Welcome to the third episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions. This episodes guest: Adam Grant was born in West Bloomfield, Michigan, and grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, aspiring to be a professional basketball player. While attending College, he worked as a professional magician. Upon graduation, he became an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Two years later, he was hired as an associate professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he eventually became the youngest tenured professor at age 28 and rated the best teacher by students from 2011 to 2017. Adam wrote his first book, Give and Take, back in 2013, which became a major bestseller. Then he followed up with two more books, including Originals and Option B, co-authored with Sheryl Sandberg. Today, he’s the host of the TED Original Podcast: WorkLife with Adam Grant, curator of the Next Big Idea Club, columnist at Esquire, and serves on the Lean In board and the Defense Innovation Board at the Pentagon. The 5 questions questions I ask in this episode: You’ve said that your favorite thing is being a Wharton professor. How do you balance your time between that, writing, podcasting, advising and speaking? When it comes to networking, the most common frustration people share with me is that they don’t know what to give to others. How would you respond to this? How do you personally decide whom to do favors for and whom to avoid since you’re always asked for help? Where do your most creative and best ideas come from? What is your creative process? What are your top three pieces of career advice? Follow Adam’s journey: Books Podcast Website Facebook LinkedIn Instagram Twitter

An interview with Bravo TV star, author and top New York City real estate agent Ryan Serhant about the defining moment in his life, what keeps him motivated, sales advice, how he stood out when he started his career and his core relationship principle. Welcome to the second episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions. This episodes guest: Ryan Serhant is a Bravo TV star, author and top New York City real estate agent. Ryan has born in Houston, Texas and raised outside of Boston, Massachusetts. After moving to New York City as an adult, he began his first day in the real estate business on September 15, 2008, which was the same day that Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage collapse. While the real estate market slowly recovered, Ryan transformed himself into one of the most successful real estate brokers in the world. Through his hard work and leadership, his sales team was ranked in the top 5 nationwide from 2015 to 2017 by The Wall Street Journal. Ryan is the star of Bravo TV’s Million Dollar Listing New York and Sell It Like Serhant, which is also the title of his book. The 5 questions questions I ask in this episode: Growing up you say you were overweight, awkward and broke but now you’re fit, social, a reality TV star and wealthy. What was the defining point in your life where things changed for you? What keeps you still motivated after accomplishing so much in your career? How can your sales advice apply to anyone looking for a job, advance in their career or build their business? When you were first starting out as a real estate broker in New York City, how did you stand out? What is your core relationship principle for building long term relationships in business and in life? Follow Ryan’s journey: Book Website Facebook YouTube Twitter Instagram

An interview with social media phenomenon Jay Shetty about his career transitions, sources of inspiration, technology use, time management and best advice. Welcome to the first episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions. Over the course of my career, I’ve interviewed over 2,000 people! For each interview, I ask 5 questions in about 15 minutes or less and final question has been consistent since I started: what are your top three pieces of career advice. This interview format has forced me to be thoughtful about each question I ask and also challenges the interviewees to give the best possible advice in as few words as possible. This episodes guest: Jay Shetty was born and raised in London. At the age of 18, he met a monk and after graduating from college, at 22 he went to live as a monk across India and Europe for 3 years. After moving on from monk life, he started to speak at companies, preaching some of the lessons he learned as a monk. Then, he became Accenture’s Social Media coach for executives and helped them with online branding and their digital strategy. After posting videos online, one was spotted by Arianna Huffington who invited him to be the Host of HuffPost Lifestyle in New York. Eventually, he left the Huffington Post and focused all of his energy on his own brand and content. Now with over 2 billion views, over 12 million Facebook followers, Jay is making his wisdom go viral and having the positive impact on the world that he desired many years ago. I’ve gotten to know Jay personally and I’ve never been more impressed with another human being. He’s able to give extremely deep life advice in an approachable way. The 5 questions questions I ask in this episode: You’ve made many transitions in your life, from graduating from college to living as a monk to working at Accenture to your role at the Huffington Post to being a social media influencer. How did you decide when to make these transitions in your career? What are your sources for inspiration as someone who inspires others? How have you used technology to create deeper relationships with others and not let it isolate you/make you feel lonely? How do you manage your time so you can be fulfilled in every aspect of your life? What are your top three pieces of career advice? Follow Jay’s journey: Facebook YouTube Instagram Website