Mentor Buffet
Alexi Pappas
Alexi Pappas's Mentor Buffet is a podcast about mentorship: Who influenced the people who influence us? Who helped them along their journey?Alexi is an Olympian, filmmaker, actress, and bestselling author, and she's leaned on mentors to help her level up faster than she could on her own. After losing her mom to suicide when she was four, she needed to find other people to lean on. Now, it's Alexi's turn to peel back the curtain on mentorship. In each episode of Mentor Buffet Alexi sits down with people who inspire her—athletes, entrepreneurs, creatives, and beyond—to have conversations about chasing dreams and befriending pain, through the lens of those who have shaped them into who they are today.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Apr 24, 2025 • 47min
MATT WALSH: Improvise Your Life
Matt Walsh, the comedian and actor, joins host Alexi Pappas to share some of the lessons he’s learned along the way—from his high school football coach, his biology teacher, and from his peers in the Second City comedy scene in Chicago. Matt shares about the roots of the Upright Citizens Brigade, the improv comedy group he started with his friends that eventually turned into a full-fledged school. Alexi and Matt also talk about Matt’s anxiety about scheduling trips or putting anything on the calendar, and Alexi teaches him a little trick she learned from a psychologist about our worst fears being ridiculous.
Apr 10, 2025 • 33min
RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Dream Big and Have Wild Ideas
Randi Zuckerberg, an original Facebook team member and tech innovator, shares her journey in a candid conversation with Alexi Pappas. They delve into the importance of creativity in startups and the value of failure as a stepping stone to success. Randi emphasizes quick decision-making, the evolving role of women in tech, and her transition from tech to Broadway. Her anecdotes reveal how embracing risks and personal achievements can empower individuals, transforming challenges into opportunities for growth.
Apr 3, 2025 • 14min
Help Me Please 3
Alexi answers listeners' advice questions.
Mar 27, 2025 • 54min
ABBY WAMBACH: Finding Love at the Center
Abby Wambach, the all-time highest goal scorer in soccer, joins host Alexi Pappas to talk about the lessons she learned from her teammate and mentor Mia Hamm. Abby and Alexi talk about the difference between personality and True Self, and how professional sports can encourage a safety state personality to dominate our lives. Now retired for a decade, Abby can see her behavior and her adaptations from when she was competing with clarity. Abby and Alexi also talk about how athletes can predict the future, the importance of sometimes saying No, and the Disney movie Inside Out.
Mar 20, 2025 • 13min
Help Me Please 2
Alexi answers listener advice questions about fitting in, finding inspiration, and setting goals.
Mar 6, 2025 • 1h
ALEX COCO: Collaborating With Sean Baker On Oscar Best Picture-Winning Anora
Oscar Best Picture-winning producer Alex Coco joins Alexi Pappas to talk about working with director Sean Baker through his whole career, on Florida Project in 2017, Red Rocket in 2021, and now Anora, which just won five Academy Awards. Alexi’s conversation with Alex is about not having a plan. It’s the spirit he’s brought to his independent filmmaking and it’s a worldview he’s embodied, consciously or not, since he was a teenager—getting in touch with what he likes, understanding his motivation system, and deciding who to spend time around. Alex and Alexi also talk about David Lynch’s seminal masterpiece Eraserhead, how Alex stays steady among chaos, and how to honor The Film Gods.
Feb 27, 2025 • 1h 2min
IAN HARDING: You Decide Where You Belong
Ian Harding, the actor, sits down with host Alexi Pappas to talk about his lifelong mentor, his Aunt Julie, who just passed away. Ian became famous overnight when he was cast in Pretty Little Liars and his whole world changed but Aunt Julie stayed the same. She taught him to embrace challenges and how to be graceful, and she gave him her presence through the ups and downs of his acting career—and his life. On this episode of Mentor Buffet, Ian and Alexi talk about all-boys boarding school, how to deal with expectation, and Lindsay Lohan—who Ian idolized as a teen teenager and then worked with her on his latest movie, Our Little Secret, which is now streaming on Netflix.
Feb 13, 2025 • 39min
HALEY JOEL OSMENT: Invited Into The Deep End
Haley Joel Osment grew up in Hollywood, and here he shares about mentors he's had through his lifelong acting career: His dad, Robert Zemeckis, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, M Night Shymalan, The RZA, and more.
Feb 6, 2025 • 18min
Help Me Please 1
Alexi answers listeners' advice questions.
10 snips
Jan 30, 2025 • 56min
RICH ROLL: All The Answers Are In The Present
Rich Roll sits down with host Alexi Pappas and shares about some bad mentors he had when he was young. Rich habituated to not asking for help and adapted a strong sense of self reliance, which, years later, stood in his way of receiving help with his alcoholism. How he understood his greatest strength eventually proved to be a profound weakness. Rich details what it took for him to eventually receive help, how he learned to change his mind, and discusses the mentorship model in AA. He also shares about the beautiful mentorship and support he’s received from his wife Julie on the journey to understand his purpose.
