This Is Working with Daniel Roth

Dean Erika James is a first among firsts: the first woman and the first person of color to serve as dean of the US’s first collegiate business school. Now she’s leading during the first pandemic of our generation. She talks with LinkedIn Editor-in-Chief Dan Roth about how her experience and this climate are changing higher education and her students and faculty.

Reed Hastings created Netflix as an online DVD rental store, then transformed it into a dominant part of the entertainment industry — trouncing much bigger competitors. In this episode, Reed talks with LinkedIn Editor in Chief Dan Roth about his new book, No Rules Rules, and how his philosophy “on the edge of chaos” enabled Netflix to thrive.

Misty Copeland is arguably the world’s most famous ballet dancer. In this episode, she talks with LinkedIn Editor in Chief Daniel Roth about how she thinks ballet can come back, how it needs to do so as a more diverse and inclusive industry, and how she keeps her skills up in tough times like these.

When Covid-19 hit GM’s radar in early 2020, GM’s CEO Mary Barra knew she had to move. Over the course of a few months, she closed plants, instituted austerity measures and, incredibly, changed from making cars to making ventilators. As an “action-oriented” leader, she’s always moved fast. But this was different. And when George Floyd’s death sparked a movement, Barra put GM on the forefront, setting a goal of making GM “the most inclusive company in the world.” She talks to Daniel Roth, LinkedIn’s Editor in Chief, about how GM made the changes and how she holds herself accountable. 

Derrick Jones — better known as DJ D-Nice — has become famous (again) for his Instagram Live “parties.” Standing in his living room, he spins feel-good music that has attracted hundreds of thousands, from Rhianna to Mark Zuckerberg. None of this happened by accident. Since starting in hip-hop with legendary group Boogie Down Productions, D-Nice has pivoted his way through career after career: DJ, producer, web designer, photographer — and now back to DJ. He has an amazing attitude about skill development: he can do it. Just shy of 50, D-Nice is back in the spotlight. He talks here about how he grabbed it — and how others can do the same.

Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario has always embraced her activist voice, focused mostly on climate change. During the covid-19 pandemic, she’s expanded her calls to action, demanding that we build a true social safety net, particularly for working families. In this rare interview with Rose, she talks about the tough calls she’s had to make at Patagonia, like closures and furloughs, and the not so tough ones, like continuing to pay Patagonia’s "1% for the Planet."

Retired astronaut Scott Kelly set the record for the most time spent in space on a single mission by an American astronaut - nearly a year. Over his career, he logged four long missions totaling 520 days. In this episode of This is Working, he offers tips and guidance on how to tackle burnout during the long “mission” of quarantine, and shares his thoughts on building resilience.

Sara Blakely, the founder and CEO of Spanx, is the definition of “self-made.” She took $5,000, which she’d earned selling fax machines door to door, and parlayed it into a company that women around the world now depend on. It made her a billionaire. Sara and her family are riding out the pandemic in an RV. They pulled over “somewhere in Florida” so she could chat with LinkedIn Editor in Chief Daniel Roth on This is Working. They discussed Spanx’s origins, how Sara is pivoting the company to respond to the current crisis, and why she is personally investing $5M to help women entrepreneurs hurt by the pandemic. 

Airbnb was born in a recession, but it has never experienced a crisis like this. The short-term rental site saw its business dry up in mid-March when the pandemic froze worldwide travel. That’s bad for Airbnb — it’s disastrous for the economy it invented: Hosts have earned $100 billion through rentals and more than 50% of them rely on that cash to pay mortgages or avoid evictions. Co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky joins LinkedIn Editor in Chief Daniel Roth for a frank conversation about the state of the industry, the state of Airbnb and the future of post-pandemic travel.

In 1975, Ray Dalio founded Bridgewater Associates. Today, it’s the world’s largest hedge fund firm with more than $150bn in assets under management. Dalio is also the NYT #1 Bestselling author of Principles, and the forthcoming The Changing World Order. Lately, he’s been training his sights on our turbulent times. In this episode, Ray Dalio joins This is Working host and LinkedIn Editor-in-Chief Daniel Roth to put perspective around what’s happening now and how it mirrors what the world has experienced before. He also shares his optimistic vision of what’s to come.