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“Keep your business simple enough that stepping away doesn’t break it.” When Liz Wilcox told me she’d join me on an Alaska cruise if I ever lectured there again, I didn’t believe her. Most people say things like that but never follow through. But Liz did. She booked the trip, brought her daughter, and next…
“Sometimes the most meaningful path isn’t the one that looks right on paper. It’s the one that makes you feel most alive.” When David Bossert turned the tables and asked me three questions I didn’t expect to retrace my professional steps. But it was a lot of fun looking back at how much life has…
“Anytime somebody asked me to do something, I always said yes, and then I went to figure it out.” When I look back at my own career, it’s easy to see the moments when I treated work like a job and the moments when I treated it like an education. The difference is dramatic. I…
“If someone has taken the time to teach you, take the time to teach someone else.” When I first became a park ranger, I didn’t have the background most people expected. I came from banking. My world was numbers, spreadsheets, and interest rate risks. There was one park manager took a chance on me. His…
“Theme parks and national parks may seem different, but they are both in the people business. Each offers a chance to step away from stress and into something extraordinary.” I’ve always loved the outdoors and the wonder of storytelling. For years, I kept those two passions separate. Park ranger Jody on one side, podcast host…
“Disney leaders have an unmatched ability to balance big-picture vision with meticulous attention to the smallest details.” Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with leaders from countless industries. Time and time again the Disney leaders stand apart. They often don’t realize how special their approach is because it’s their norm. Their high…
“Confusion is the number one enemy of every business.” When Wes Gay joined me on the show, he delivered a lot of clarity. Wes has a knack for helping people articulate what they do in a way that actually means something. In a world where confusion runs rampant in business messaging, Wes makes a compelling…
“When you’re creating something new, nobody can tell you how to do it because it hasn’t been done yet.” Several years ago, Lee Cockerell surprised me when he said Ron Logan wanted to meet me. Ron, a Disney Legend who led global live entertainment for Disney, had seen my work with Lee and wanted help…