My name is Vipe Desai and I'm building an Army of Gamechangers - people who will make their communities a better place because of the work they do and the brands they’re going to build.  

This episode is the first of many podcasts I'll be bringing to you every week.
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Ep 00 - Vipe Desai, Army of Gamechangers

I'm going big with our first Army of Gamechangers podcast. We’ve got Erik Logan aka E-Lo or as I like to refer to him as Executive Grom because he's one of the most stoked dudes I’ve met in a long time.

Erik got his start at a small radio station, then went on to build out and run XM satellite radio and is currently President of Oprah Winfrey Network. 

Hit play and let’s kick off Episode 1 with Erik Logan, President of Oprah Winfrey Network.
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Ep 01 - Erik Logan, President of Oprah Winfrey Network

In this episode I"m joined by my good friend Izzy Tihanyi who I’ve known for about 30 years. She and her sister, Coco, started Surf Diva to get more women surfing, and they’ve done exactly that. They honed in on a niche and went for it. And I can say the surf lineup is a better place because of what they’ve done to empower women and get them in the water. Their business has grown beyond just surf lessons and we touch on that in the show, so hit play and lets dive in…

Ep 02 - Izzy Tihanyi, Co-Founder of Surf Diva Surf School

Scott Van Vliet who up until recently was the GM for Alexa New Initiatives is my guest on this podcast. He dropped some solid career and leadership advice but also shared where he’s headed to next so buckle up, this episode is coming in hot and heavy.
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Ep 03 - Scott Van Vliet, GM, Skype & Teams Cloud at Microsoft

Winter is coming my friends! My guest on this episode is Nick Sargent, President of Snowsports Industries America. He shares about the newly combined Outdoor Retailer and SIA Trade Show along with actionable insights he's gained from his professional journey. Leadership is not easy but being a good listener and leading by example are just a couple of the thoughts that he shares on this podcast.
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Ep 04 - Nick Sargent, President of Snowsports Industries America

On this episode I have Tracy Cioffi, Chief Marketing Officer of Mod Pizza, the fastest growing fast casual restaurant chain in the U.S.. Her insights on career and leadership can be applied at every level of your professional journey. Her 2018 word of the year is "Self-Full" and the meaning behind it is something we can all learn from.
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Ep 05 - Tracy Cioffi, CMO at Mod Pizza

Surfer, environmentalist, author of Punk Rock Dad and frontman for the band Pennywise, its Jim Lindberg. In this episode we jump into the business of Pennywise and its not much different than running a small company.
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Ep 06 - Jim Lindberg, Lead Singer of Pennywise

Rodney Bullard is an Air Force veteran, former federal prosecutor, current head of Chick-Fil-A community affairs, and now an author. In addition to talking about career and leadership advice, I really enjoyed catching up with him and also talking about his new book, Heroes Wanted, Why the World Needs You to Live Your Heart Out.
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Ep 07 - Rodney Bullard, VP, Community Affairs, Chick-fil-A, Inc. and ED, Chick-fil-A Foundation

Kevin Carroll is the founder of Kevin Carroll Katalyst/LLC and the author of three highly successful books. As an author, speaker and agent for social change, it is Kevin’s “job” to inspire businesses, organizations and individuals - from CEOs and employees of Fortune 500 companies to schoolchildren - to embrace their spirit of play and creativity to maximize their human potential and sustain more meaningful business and personal growth. Hit play and learn how you can spark creativity and your curiosity.
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Ep 08 - Kevin Carroll, Author, Speaker and Agent for Social Change

Passion runs deep with Bob McKnight and in this episode he shares the the ups and downs of what he learned from selling board shorts out the back of his car into becoming the CEO of a multi-billion dollar publicly traded company that drove the growth of the global action sports industry. And he's still just as stoked today as he was when he started. 

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Ep 09 - Bob McKnight, Co-Founder of Quiksilver

On this episode I’m joined by the master of metal, Jose Mangin, the host of Sirius XM Satellites Octane channel. And boy does he have a story - not only is it inspiring but you’ll learn that he's been driven by a deep love of hard rock and heavy metal music.

He’s given the genre a platform and along the way he’s turned his passion into an empire that includes a tequila brand, apparel company, cannabis company and concert festivals. And as busy as he is, he still places family first.

But he’s also just getting started! 

There's a bonus clip at the very end too that you don't want to miss! 

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Ep 10 - Jose Mangin, Entrepreneur and Host of the Octane Channel on Sirius XM Satelite Radio

On this episode, my guest is Secretary Leon Panetta. He’s dedicated his life to public service for more than 50 years that span several different public office positions, such as Secretary of Defense, Director of the CIA, White House Chief of Staff, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and as a U.S. Representative from California. And as Director of the CIA, Secretary Panetta oversaw the hunt for terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, and played a key role in the operation in which bin Laden was killed on May 1, 2011.

For someone who has served his country well, he shared powerful insights on career and leadership and what he’s up to these days. I hope you enjoy my talk with Sec. Leon Panetta.

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Ep 11 - The Honorable Leon Panetta, Former Secretary of Defense, Former Director of the CIA

Executive Chef Rob Wilson believes that "Food is love" and with that type of outlook, it's no wonder he was named "Chef of the Year" in 2008 by Chef Magazine. His culinary path has included serving as executive chef at Montage Laguna Beach and at the Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach.

Most recently, Rob pivoted into the role of Executive Chef at Fisher & Paykel and we discussed how mentors, hard work and building a successful team led to this opportunity.

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Ep 12 - Rob Wilson, Executive Chef at Fisher & Paykel

Princeton Tigers Head Coach Courtney Banghart is my guest on this episode. She's been recognized as Coach of the Year in 2015 by the United States Basketball Writers Association and was also named by Fortune Magazine as one of the worlds 50 great leaders for taking charge of a mediocre team that had never made the NCAA Tournament while ensuring players met Princetons academic standards. 

Courtney was kind enough to share her thoughts on servant leadership and why leadership is about who you are and who you help.

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Ep 13 - Courtney Banghart, Princeton Tigers Head Coach

Today’s guest is Adrian Grenier. And if his name sounds familiar, its probably from his notable role as Vincent Chase from Entourage. But Adrian’s not just known for his acting. He’s also an environmentalist and entrepreneur. In 2015, he launched the Lonely Whale Foundation, an incubator for courageous ideas that drive impactful market-based change on behalf of our ocean.

This is how we met and I’m honored to also share that I’ve been serving on his advisory board for the past year. 

The organization has gained tremendous momentum, garnered a number of awards and along the way Adrian was appointed a UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador.

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Ep 14 - Adrian Grenier, Actor, Environmentalist, and Entrepreneur

With a career spanning more than three decades, drummer John Tempesta has built a body of work that's deservedly earned him a place among the music industries most popular and well-respected players. Perhaps best known for his tenure with Rob Zombie - both in White Zombie and with Rob's solo project,  John has worked his way up through the drumming ranks, always looking for his next challenge and never resting on past achievements.

Presently, John can be found touring the world behind the drum throne of The Cult but I got a chance to catch up with him before the band heads out on tour.

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Ep 15 - John Tempesta, Drummer for The Cult

Wing Lam and his brothers have helped fuel the action sports lifestyle. Together, they founded Wahoo's Fish Taco and now have more than 70 locations serving up tasty grinds they encountered from surf trips south of the border.

I caught up with Wing just as they were getting ready to launch their 30th year anniversary to discuss career and leadership insights he's picked up along the way in creating a successful fast-casual dining empire. We discussed some of the brands, events and also how philanthropy played key roles in his success.

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Ep 16 - Wing Lam, Co-founder of Wahoo's Fish Taco

Matt Martelli opens up about his career and leadership insights on this episode of the Army of Gamechangers podcast. From skateboard films, to producing Gymkhana--the most successful viral automotive video franchise, and now working to build one of the most exciting sports properties with The Mint 400 off road race series, Matt is one of the most creative minds I’ve ever worked with.

On this episode you’ll come to know what drives him to work so hard and the lessons learned along his journey. 

Bonus Gymkhana Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8puTChEO0rA

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Ep 17 - Matt Martelli, CEO & Creative Director at Mad Media

On this episode my guest is Megan Henderson. She's a co-anchor of “KTLA Morning News” here in Los Angeles and she shared career insights gained across her time reporting and anchoring to editing and producing. In addition, Megan is also active with a number of charities and we’re going to talk about the role that philanthropy has played in her career.

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Ep 18 - Megan Henderson, Journalist and Co-anchor of KTLA Morning News

On this episode my guest is legendary sports agent Leigh Steinberg, CEO of Steinberg Sports and Entertainment. Over the course of his career, Leigh has represented over 300 athletes, holds the NFL record for 8x 1st overall & 62x 1st round pick, secured $3 Billion in contracts & given $750M to charity. And if that’s not enough, Leigh is often credited as the real-life inspiration of the sports agent from Cameron Crowe's film Jerry Maguire.

Now you know why I wanted Leigh on this episode! He shared some inspirational messages for career and leadership management along with some exciting projects he recently launched and it’s all on this episode of the Army of Gamechangers so lets get at it.

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Ep 19 - Leigh Steinberg, CEO of Steinberg Sports & Entertainment

On this episode my guest is Jamie Parker the President and CEO of Jaybird, the pioneer in wireless headphones technology. Jamie has also held numerous leadership roles at Nike and joins me on this episode to share insights from his experience throughout Nike to his role at Jaybird.

Three key takeaways:
- Start with the consumer. 
- Connect passion with purpose.
- Do the job as well as you freaking can.

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Ep 20 - Jamie Parker, President & CEO of Jaybird

For this episode of Army of Gamechangers, I spoke with Aspiration CEO Andrei Cherny. Andrei’s resume spans industries and positions which include author, business consultant, prosecutor, Navy reserve officer, and White House aide. Clearly, Andrei hasn’t had a career, he’s had many careers.

Andrei puts this belief in practice as the CEO of Aspiration, an investment firm voted one of Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies 2018 for social good. As Andrei says, when leaders set a clear vision as well as communicate expectations, they’re setting their people up for success down the line.

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Ep 21 - Andrei Cherny, CEO of Aspiration

On this episode, I’ve got General Mark Hertling who shares lessons from his almost 40 years of service in the military.   General Hertling's experience started at the U.S. Military Academy in 1975 and since then has seen him move up the ranks with service with intergovernmental and coalition initiatives, working with the Executive and Legislative brands of the US Government and many foreign nations. He also spent over 36 months in combat and commanded at every level from platoon to field army.  His honors and recognitions are just incredible and I’m so excited for you to hear our conversation and the leadership lessons he shared on this podcast.

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Ep 22 - General Mark Hertling, Lieutenant General, US Army (retired)

Vipe Desai is an entrepreneur and philanthropist with more than 30 years of experience working with startups, non-profits and serving on corporate boards. The Army of Gamechangers podcast is a collection of conversations focused on pulling the best career and leadership advice from Vipe’s vast network of contacts to help you on your personal, professional and leadership journey.

Army of Gamechangers presented by Vipe Desai

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