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
May 29, 2025 • 19min
Help Me Please 5
Alexi answers listeners' questions about accountability, codependence, and when to give up.
May 22, 2025 • 53min
ANGELA TRIMBUR: Bend With The Wind
Angela Trimbur joins host Alexi Pappas on Mentor Buffet the day after Alexi attended one of Angela’s dance classes and cried. Angela and Alexi discuss the motivation behind her dance classes, and recap Alexi’s experience last night at “Balletcore”—Angela’s class where everybody cosplays as professional ballerinas. Angela shares what she’s learned from her icon Twyla Tharp and about how empowering her friendship has been with Miranda July. She also explains her life motto, “Bend With The Wind,” recommends four books, and explains why she cherishes the moment right before a surgery.
May 8, 2025 • 41min
RICH ROLL: The Spirit Of Service
Rich Roll joins Mentor Buffet host Alexi Pappas to discuss his purpose: being of service. It's a truth he's discovered in sobriety: “Your life expands in proportion to the extent to which you’re in service to other people." Orienting himself toward service has led Rich to the mentors and friends that helped him publish his book, Finding Ultra, start his podcast, and eventually launch the network, Voicing Change Media, that has fostered Mentor Buffet to life. Rich also recounts recording the first episode of The Rich Roll Podcast with his wife on a mango farm in Hawaii.
May 1, 2025 • 20min
Help Me Please 4
Alexi answers listeners' advice questions about the difference between good and bad pain, being 23, and procrastination.
Apr 24, 2025 • 46min
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 • 32min
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 • 53min
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.
