Leading In Business Podcast

We sat down with national security expert Dr. William J. Parker III, a combat veteran, U.S. Navy Captain, and the Chief Operating Officer at the EastWest Institute. In a live conversation with IVY, Dr. Parker pinpoints five key threats to national security and sets out a comprehensive vision for addressing these threats to create both a safer United States and a more peaceful world.

Dinosaurs. Nearly 65 million years since the last t-rex or pterodactyl roamed the earth, dinosaurs continue to capture the imagination of the world over — from fans of Jurassic Park and The Land Before Time, to fossil collectors and scientists. Which is why the IVY Podcast was excited to host Dr. Kenneth Lacovara, one of the leading paleontologists of our time. Dr. Lacovara believes that by using the latest technology to study dinosaurs, we not only gain an understanding of the past — but can also can gaze into the future of humanity, and consider the promises and pitfalls that come with being the dominant species on earth.

Alec Litowitz is the renowned Founder & CEO of Magnetar Capital, a leading alternative asset management firm with more than $14 billion under management. In this episode, Litowitz offers us unfiltered knowledge and perspective on growing a successful business, and which traits are most useful in attracting success. He also talks about his work to create the Magnetar Capital UChicago Financial Education Initiative, an innovative high school-based financial education program. Since 2012, the initiative has helped over 10,000 Chicago-area students increase their financial literacy. For anyone hoping to learn more about investing, entrepreneurship, and the financial services industry, this is an incredible opportunity to do so from a leader in the hyper-competitive field.

Oliver Libby is the Chair & Co-Founder of The Resolution Project, a global nonprofit that identifies and empowers undergraduate students around the world and across the United States. Supported by The Resolution Project’s global network of resources, these students are inspired to launch new social ventures, and comprise a growing generation of leaders committed to social responsibility. Founded in 2007, The Resolution Project has empowered hundreds of young people to effect local solutions in their communities, impacting over a million people worldwide. He is also co-founding Managing Director of venture firm Hatzimemos / Libby, which gives him a cross-sector view on galvanizing entrepreneurship and building entrepreneurial ecosystems. Oliver joined the IVY Podcast to discuss his inspiration to co-found The Resolution Project, his belief in the power of collaborative social entrepreneurship, and how students can effect unprecedented amounts of change across the globe.

Within almost any industry or field, it can be easy to feel dissatisfied, trapped, or otherwise locked into the same career path — regardless of your personal goals. Which is why serial entrepreneur Jeff Hittner founded Your Project X, a social venture dedicated to helping people (re)discover their passions and build careers they love. Using his many years of experience as a consultant and changemaker — including founding IBM’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) consulting practice globally — Hittner helps young professionals break free of their old definitions of work and move in a new direction. Hittner sat down with IVY’s Thought Leadership Manager, Kay Sorin, to discuss the twists and turns of his own career path, and how to develop the skills to unleash your fundamental purpose.

Robert Battle is the third artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the NYC-based modern dance company founded in 1958. Seven years into his term, Robert is at the forefront of a company that has always been an incubator for work that focuses on social justice and social change. This is most evident in the success of Ailey’s masterwork, Revelations (1960), which was born out of the choreographer’s “blood memories” of his childhood in rural Texas and the Baptist Church. Arguably one of the purest tributes to the resilience of the human spirit, Revelations is still very much alive and relevant today. In this episode of the IVY Podcast, moderated by IVY’s Arts and Culture Director Phil Chan, we are lucky enough to hear all about it directly from Robert Battle himself.

Why does paying for things often feel like it causes physical pain? Why are we comfortable overpaying for something now just because we’ve overpaid for it before? How do our emotions shape our financial behavior? These are just a few of the many questions we asked Dan Ariely, the world-renowned behavioral economist, bestselling author, and Duke University professor. Ariely’s work has helped clarify the psychology behind financial decision making — and can help you navigate the psychological pressures of our inherently irrational behavior and spend smarter.

What’s it like to work in the White House as a presidential speechwriter — at the age of 24, no less? That’s what we asked David Litt, who did just that when he entered the White House in 2011, serving as one of President Obama’s speechwriters until 2016. Described as the “comic muse for the president,” David also led the White House Correspondents’ Dinner presentations and had a hand in adding humor to many of President Obama’s speeches. In a live discussion in Chicago, David talked about what it was like working in the Obama White House, why a President’s words matter, and how he managed the enormity of crafting jokes for the Leader of the Free World. Please enjoy our conversation with David Litt, moderated by University of Chicago Senior Associate Dean, Jeremy Edwards.

Every day, YouTube garners over one billion views — and every minute, over 300 hours of video are uploaded to the platform by people across the globe. To get a better understanding of what this means for the world’s rapidly changing media industry, IVY hosted an Ideas Night with YouTube’s Chief Business Officer, Robert Kyncl. In a live conversation, Robert talks about how YouTube is changing the face of media — and what’s on the horizon for entrepreneurs and leaders in our hyper-connected world.

The travel industry is rapidly changing. Long gone are the days of guidebooks, travel agents, and the quaint bed and breakfast. These days, vast numbers of people turn to social media, celebrity influencers, and sharing economy brands like Airbnb to decide where — and how — to travel. To learn more about this space, IVY hosted an Ideas Night with three leaders in the industry: Gil Antolin, the Founder of Luxury World Traveler; Bret Lockett, a Partner at M2 Jets and former NFL safety; and Scot Barbour, a board member at Marriott–Starwood and VR Specialist. The three are at the frontlines of the dynamic future of travel — and how changes in our digital world are fueling an expanding global luxury travel market. Please enjoy our live conversation, moderated by IVY’s Director of Strategic Relationships, Sarah Zapp.

Jarron Collins is a former professional basketball player, and the current Assistant Coach with the Golden State Warriors — one of the most dominant teams in modern sports. On a daily basis, Jarron works to get larger-than-life celebrity stars like Kevin Durant and Steph Curry to bring their best to the court — and maybe even share the ball. IVY hosted an intimate Salon Discussion with Jarron to hear about his time playing with Hall of Famers Shaquille O'Neal and Carl Malone, breaking the best-regular-season record and winning a Championship with the Warriors, and how competing for the Finals applies to success in any endeavor — both on and off the court. Please enjoy our live conversation with Jarron Collins, moderated by Jarron’s high school basketball teammate and friend, Danny Karubian.

Jane Clementi co-founded the Tyler Clementi Foundation with the mission of ending online and offline bullying. Jane’s son, Tyler, was the victim of a horrible act of cyberbullying at Rutgers University in 2010. Several days after the experience, at the age of 18, Tyler took his own life. In this conversation, Jane talks about her inspiration to share Tyler’s story and the important distinction between in-person bullying and cyberbullying. According to the Foundation’s polls, an astounding 75-80% of young people knew someone who had been cyberbullied, and over 50% had self-identified that they had been the target of cyberbullying. Jane’s work shows the steps we can take to teach our youth to navigate the complex world of cyberbullying in the age of social media.

Uwe Ellinghaus is the Chief Marketing Officer of Cadillac, a position he took over at the beginning of the biggest transformation in Cadillac’s 115-year history. In a live conversation moderated by IVY’s Co-Founder Beri Meric, Uwe shares insights gained from his years at Cadillac (and previously at BMW) to inform us how to create and market world-class products — while remaining true to your roots. Uwe’s accomplishments include moving the company’s headquarters from Detroit to NYC, executing a new communications strategy, opening Cadillac House, and showcasing the next generation of innovators in fashion, film, and technology.

When someone says “Opera,” the picture that comes to mind for most is the Valkyrie singing on a grand opera house stage. Then they may think about expensive tickets, geriatric audiences, foreign languages, and the discomfort of not being completely sure what to wear. Brooklyn-based LoftOpera has turned these stereotypes on their heads — and is rejuvenating this 500-year-old art form in the process. Founded in 2016, LoftOpera brings 11,000 audience members every year into transformed warehouse spaces to experience some of opera’s greatest masterpieces. Could this be the model the artform needs to jumpstart a new generation of opera buffs? IVY’s Arts and Culture Director, Phil Chan, joined LoftOpera’s General Manager, Brianna Maury, to hear about this new model of presenting Opera.

Creating legendary products and bringing them to market takes expert design conception, extensive research, thoughtful branding, and strong relationships. It's a complex process indeed, yet the innovative, husband-and-wife co-founders of Brooklinen, Rich and Vicki Fulop, seem to have it down pat. Since the company’s founding three years ago, Brooklinen has grown into the leading direct-to-consumer bedding brand. Rich and Vicki join The IVY Podcast to share the story of their success, teaching us how we all can turn our ideas into actual products by combining tenacity, elbow grease, and a lot of passion to propel dreams into big-time business wins — while prioritizing and scaling along the way.

Real estate holdings are often your largest asset and investment, which means real estate brokers play a strikingly important role in the lives of countless people worldwide — comprising an immensely diverse community of some two million active agents in the U.S. alone. Robert Reffkin, the Founder and CEO of the real estate startup Compass, is on a mission to empower this massive workforce — and is disrupting the multi-trillion dollar real estate industry in the process. Running on a purpose-driven mission "to help everyone find their place in the world,” the company has raised over $250 million at $1 billion valuation since their launch in 2013. Reffkin joins The IVY Podcast to discuss his journey to found Compass, drawing on a work background spanning the White House and Wall Street. He also cues us in on the evolution of the industry, how to run a people-focused venture, and the keys to Compass’ growth. Reffkin is joined by Compass agents Howard Spiegelman and Laura Hirschman, experts from the Spiegelman

Educational technology — commonly referred to as “EdTech” — is an increasingly dynamic space that fosters innovation in schools and provides solutions to some of today’s most pressing issues. To learn more about this space and the role venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and investors can play in shaping the future of education, IVY co-CEO Beri Meric sat down with Amit Patel, an education expert and Partner at Owl Ventures. An ed tech-focused venture capital firm, Owl Ventures invests in the world’s leading technology companies, backing entrepreneurs with solutions that meaningfully drive improvement in student achievement. Amit offered his insights on the importance of education and the challenges that educators face today. He believes the private sector plays a critical role in offering students cutting-edge tools and strategies to improve educational achievement across the board — from early learning and K-12 all the way up to higher education and lifelong learning for our nation’s workforce.

“Politics is about doing what your constituents want.” According to CIA consultant, political scientist, and NYU Professor Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, that’s just how politics works. Bueno de Mesquita has built complex political algorithms based on this principle — developing mathematical analyses that draw on the logic of self-interest to predict civil wars, coup d'etats, purges, and political reforms. His upcoming book, co-authored with Alastair Smith, offers a new theory on why revolutions happen, and why politicians act the way they do. He joins The IVY Podcast to provide clarity on the Trump administration’s current actions, and why a U.S. President may have no real political incentive to act in interest of all Americans. He also offers a solution to improving governance that would use computer programs to eliminate gerrymandering.

“Be the hero of your own adventure.” That’s the motto that digital business entrepreneur and “Chief Dreamer” Samira Sohail lives by, and so far it’s working in her favor. Born and bred in London, Samira had already embarked on successful careers in two industries — as a financial analyst at J.P. Morgan Cazenove, and then a strategy manager for the BBC — when she became frustrated with the traditional career trajectory she was headed down. So she booked a one-way ticket to Bali, taking a nine-month sabbatical to discover the unexplored areas of her life and take a spiritual break. The results have been encouraging. Since her time in Bali, Samira has launched the now-popular podcast “Samira Stalks” — an interview series with “reckless dreamers” who tell their personal stories of entrepreneurship and impact. Samira joins The IVY Podcast to tell us why taking a sabbatical can be the unexpected key to advancing your career, and provides tips on how exactly to plan a successful sabbatical. She also shares advice

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said his country’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program puts the United States in striking range. The provocation has sent shock waves around the world, drawing fiery rhetoric and doomsday warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump. What is behind Kim Jong-un’s actions, and why is he fanning the flames of hostility now? Atul Singh, the Founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief of Fair Observer, joins The IVY Podcast to shed light on the tense internal struggle playing out behind the scenes in North Korea, and to attempt to answer the question — why now? He also discusses the efficacy of Trumpian foreign policy in Asia and what’s at stake for China in the region.