Ryan Stana | From $600 a Week to 7 Global Offices: The RWS Story, Private Equity & Being a Gay CEO in Entertainment | #23

Ryan Stana | From $600 a Week to 7 Global Offices: The RWS Story, Private Equity & Being a Gay CEO in Entertainment | #23

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BUILD A GLOBAL LIVE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY FROM SCRATCH AT AGE 21, WITH NO INVESTORS, NO LOANS AND TWO ROOMMATES ANSWERING YOUR PHONES FOR $3 OFF THE UTILITY BILL? IN THIS EPISODE, JIM FIELDING SITS DOWN WITH RYAN STANA, FOUNDER AND CEO OF RWS GLOBAL, THE WORLD'S PREMIER ONE-STOP SHOP FOR LIVE ENTERTAINMENT, TO TELL THE FULL FOUNDER STORY FROM A LIVING ROOM IN NEW YORK CITY TO SEVEN HEADQUARTERS ACROSS THE GLOBE. Ryan produced shows for Royal Caribbean, Six Flags and Disney before most people his age had a 401k. He bootstrapped the entire business for over two decades, bought three companies during COVID, then walked into 42 private equity meetings himself with his laptop and a presentation he built from scratch. This is one of the most honest, specific and genuinely inspiring entrepreneurship conversations the show has ever had. In This Episode: * Growing up in Greensburg, Pennsylvania with two entrepreneur parents and why that wired Ryan for business * Quitting his job, setting up a phone line in his apartment and landing a $200,000 Clear Channel contract on his first pitch * Why creativity and operations have to have equal respect, and what happens when they don't * The one-stop shop model: how RWS produces original shows, costumes, casting and choreography for one check * How Ryan bought the legendary Binder Casting agency to preserve a mentor's legacy, and what that unlocked for his talent pipeline * Bootstrapping for 20 years: why he never took a loan or an outside investor and how operations funded every bit of growth * Losing himself as a leader after COVID and the moment he reclaimed his identity and culture with "my way or the door" * Why he pitched 42 private equity firms himself instead of hiring a banker, and what he learned in every room * The transition from operating CEO to executive chairman: what it feels like to hand off the baby you raised for 23 years * What leaving space in your morning schedule does to your brain when you stop filling every hour with calls * Being an out gay CEO in corporate entertainment and why holding your husband's hand in a flyover state is an act of change * Why visibility in small towns matters more than visibility in New York or LA Timestamps: 00:01 – Welcome & how Jim and Ryan met through mutual friend Rema Awad 03:05 – Ryan's background: Greensburg, PA, child performer and theme park show obsession 06:12 – Senior year of high school: "Maybe I want to produce this." 07:19 – Writing corporate shows in college as a one-stop shop for hire 09:23 – Quitting his job, setting up a fake phone operation in his apartment and launching RWS at 21 10:59 – Never burn a bridge: the email that launched everything the next morning 12:00 – Walking into Clear Channel in Times Square and winning a $200,000 contract on day one 15:28 – First hire, first office and 23 years of zero outside funding 18:22 – Bootstrapping principle: the money that comes in is the money that goes out 24:00 – The acquisition strategy: buying companies to build the full vertical 27:32 – Buying Binder Casting to save a mentor's legacy and unlocking Broadway and Radio City 29:01 – What a true one-stop shop looks like from a client's perspective 33:26 – "Every dream I had has come true. Now I want to make everyone else's dreams come true." 34:10 – How RWS not only survived COVID but came out stronger through acquisitions 35:52 – Losing himself as a leader post-COVID and reclaiming his culture 38:38 – The decision to bring in private equity and why he did it himself 40:00 – Pitching 42 PE firms solo and getting 13 interested 41:42 – Choosing minority ownership and why the right partner showed up at the last minute 43:53 – 7 global HQs and an office open somewhere in the world around the clock 50:00 – The transition from CEO to Executive Chairman: what changes and what doesn't 54:56 – "It's like being a smoker without cigarettes": the honest truth about stepping back 58:20 – Morning walks in Miami with no phone and what the brain does when you let it rest 59:38 – Control the controllable, but leave space for the possible 01:00:50 – Being an out gay CEO in corporate entertainment and the responsibility that comes with visibility 01:04:53 – Why mentorship is the bridge to the next generation's success 01:06:47 – Happy Pride and what comes next for RWS Global Mentioned in This Episode: * RWS Global (rwsglobal.com) * Binder Casting * Royal Caribbean, Six Flags, Disney * Radio City Rockettes * The Lion King, Chicago the Musical (Broadway) * Jim Fielding's book: Control the Controllable * Clear Channel Worldwide Connect with Ryan Stana: LinkedIn: Ryan Stana Website: rwsglobal.com [http://rwsglobal.com/] ✨ Follow Jim Fielding & Ask For An Answer: 💼 Instagram: Instagram: https://instagram.com/hijimfielding/ 🌐 Podcast: Ask For An Answer Website: hijimfielding.com [http://hijimfielding.com/] #RyanStana #RWSGlobal #LiveEntertainment #Entrepreneurship #FounderStory #StartupStory #BootstrapBusiness #CEO #PrivateEquity #AskForAnAnswer #JimFielding #LiveEvents #ThemePark #GayCEO #LGBTQLeadership #Pride2026 #BusinessGrowth #Leadership

Brent Ridge & Josh Kilmer-Purcell: The Beekman 1802 Boys on Building a $100M Brand From a Bar of Soap, Winning the Amazing Race & What Pride Means in 2026 | #23

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BUILD A $100 MILLION BEAUTY BRAND FROM A SINGLE BAR OF GOAT MILK SOAP ON A FARM IN UPSTATE NEW YORK? IN THIS SPECIAL PRIDE MONTH EPISODE, JIM FIELDING SITS DOWN WITH BOTH HALVES OF THE DUO BEHIND BEEKMAN 1802, BRENT RIDGE AND JOSH KILMER-PURCELL, FOR ONE OF THE MOST HONEST, JOYFUL AND WIDE-RANGING CONVERSATIONS THE SHOW HAS EVER HAD. From the 51% rule that saved their business partnership to the psychology of why LGBTQ people are wired for creativity, from winning the Amazing Race to the real difference between kindness and niceness, Brent and Josh bring equal parts wisdom, warmth and wit to every topic Jim puts in front of them. In This Episode: * How Beekman 1802 grew from goat milk soap wrapped by neighbors to a major beauty brand sold at Ulta * The 51% rule: the surprisingly simple system that ended years of business disagreements between partners * Why "being nice is a deferred payment plan" and kindness always costs you something upfront * The theory that LGBTQ creativity is really just lifelong problem solving, and why that's a superpower * How winning the Amazing Race came down to one rule: no cheerleading, no fighting, just focus * The unexpected phone call from a CBS executive at a cookbook signing that started it all * Why Brent and Josh believe the business may have actually saved their relationship * What it feels like to be a visible gay couple in the South right now and why just going to dinner is an act of activism * The "boys" problem: why even running a $100M company, language still has the power to diminish * How to use your privilege well, especially during Pride season when the community needs its elders most * What cocktail o'clock taught them about protecting their relationship from their business Timestamps: 00:00 – Welcome back, Brent. And introducing Josh 01:03 – Did the vision for Beekman 1802 ever match the reality? 02:53 – Starting with kindness: "How can we lift as many people as possible?" 06:01 – Do Brent and Josh ever disagree? (Oh, yes.) 08:40 – The 51% rule: how to make decisions as equal partners 10:11 – Why LGBT couple founders may be more successful than straight ones 13:30 – Creativity is problem solving: the LGBTQ superpower 20:09 – 80 employees, Ulta stores and what Beekman looks for in talent 23:34 – "The ultimate act of kindness is transparency" 25:31 – Kind vs. nice: why they are not the same thing 26:46 – "Being kind has an immediate cost. Nice is a deferred payment plan." 29:18 – Josh on the Amazing Race: "It was the hardest thing I've ever done." 30:16 – Why their age and Gen X doubt actually helped them win 35:16 – "The middle-aged gay couple never wins. Our job is to be everyone's friend and gracefully exit." 37:21 – Did the show Hacks owe them royalties? (The goat milking episode) 39:32 – Inside a week at the farm: cocktail o'clock and how they protect their relationship 41:08 – "The business may have saved our relationship." 44:18 – A gay Shark Tank? Jim pitches a TV idea live on air 46:47 – "What do the boys think?" Why that phrase still stings at $100M 51:46 – Safe spaces, moving to Atlanta and what it means to turn your gaydar back on 57:33 – What Jim, Brent and Josh believe it means to be elders in the community right now Mentioned in This Episode: * Beekman 1802 (beekman1802.com) * Beekman 1802 Almanac (their book) * The Amazing Race, CBS * The Fabulous Beekman Boys (Planet Green reality series) * Hacks (HBO Max) * Schitt's Creek * QVC / HSN Connect with Brent Ridge & Josh Kilmer-Purcell: Website: beekman1802.com Instagram: @beekman1802 Instagram: @josh.kilmer.purcell ✨ Follow Jim Fielding & Ask For An Answer: 💼 Instagram: Instagram: https://instagram.com/hijimfielding/ 🌐 Podcast: Ask For An Answer Website: hijimfielding.com [http://hijimfielding.com/] #BeekmanBoys #Beekman1802 #BrentRidge #JoshKilmerPurcell #LGBTQEntrepreneurs #Pride2026 #PrideMonth #GayOwned #SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #AmazingRace #Kindness #AskForAnAnswer #JimFielding #LGBTQBusiness #BeautyBrand #GayCouple #QueerJoy

Fabrice Houdart: A Global View of LGBTQ Rights, Community Unity & What Comes Next for Pride | #22

ONLY 4% OF LGBT PEOPLE LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES. SO WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE OTHER 96%? IN THIS SPECIAL PRIDE MONTH EPISODE, JIM FIELDING SITS DOWN WITH FABRICE HOUDART, FORMER WORLD BANK AND UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICER AND ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED GLOBAL VOICES ON LGBTQ ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT, TO TAKE AN HONEST, UNFLINCHING LOOK AT WHERE THE COMMUNITY STANDS RIGHT NOW AND WHERE IT NEEDS TO GO. From the erosion of rights in Russia and Senegal to the slow but real progress in India, Fabrice brings a global lens that most conversations about LGBTQ rights simply do not have. He and Jim also get deeply personal about what it feels like to be a visible, proud gay man navigating a world that feels like it is moving backwards, and what it will take to move it forward again. In this episode: * Why 96% of LGBT people live outside the US and why that context matters right now * The gradual erosion of rights in Russia, China and Senegal and what it warns us about at home * Why the LGBTQ community has never clearly defined what success actually looks like * The case for economic liberation alongside legal rights: only 3 out Fortune 500 CEOs are out * Why community unity is fracturing and what the NIMBY mentality inside our own movement is costing us * The debt every visible LGBT person owes to those who came before them * Why corporate withdrawal from Pride may not be the crisis people think it is * How to use LGBTQ spending power, savings and investment as tools for change * Why looking backward at Stonewall and the AIDS era may be slowing down the movement today * How to protect your mental health and avoid doom scrolling when your community is under attack * Why the answer to this moment is not a single unifying leader but a coalition of economic, political and cultural voices Timestamps: 00:01 – Welcome and Fabrice's background: World Bank, UN and two nonprofits 03:28 – Coming to the US at 22 to come out and 25 years as a global citizen 05:14 – Only 4% of LGBT people live in America. What about the rest? 07:24 – Russia, China, Senegal and what global setbacks tell us about the US right now 11:19 – The LGBTQ community has never defined what success looks like 12:47 – Economic liberation: board seats, Fortune 500 CEOs and the power of our money 23:30 – NIMBY in the LGBTQ community: the Palm Springs story 29:06 – Are trans issues really dividing us or is that just an excuse? 31:04 – The debt every out LGBT person owes to those who fought before them 33:32 – Who could be the unifier for this community right now? 36:31 – Why copying the playbook from Stonewall or the AIDS era will not work today 39:39 – Digesting January 2025 and the double whammy of federal and state rollbacks 43:00 – Working on the piece you can actually influence 45:44 – Doom scrolling, occupied consciousness and keeping part of your brain on the future 48:38 – Surrogacy, global perspective and recognizing the Trojan horse tactics of opponents 51:41 – Corporate withdrawal from Pride and why reclaiming community ownership may be the answer 52:51 – Using LGBTQ savings, retirement funds and investment as tools for collective power Mentioned in This Episode: * COPPA (economic empowerment of LGBT people in the Global South) * Free and Equal (UN Human Rights LGBT campaign) * The Advocate * Harvey Milk * Larry Kramer * Brian Sims 🔗 Connect with Fabrice Houdart: LinkedIn: Fabrice Houdart ✨ Follow Jim Fielding & Ask For An Answer: 💼 Instagram: Instagram: https://instagram.com/hijimfielding/ 🌐 Podcast: Ask For An Answer Website: hijimfielding.com [http://hijimfielding.com/] #FabriceHoudart #LGBTQRights #Pride #PrideMonth #LGBTQCommunity #QueerLiberation #EconomicEmpowerment #HumanRights #AskForAnAnswer #JimFielding #LGBTQPolitics #GlobalLGBTQ #PrideHistory #LGBTQLeadership #QueerPolitics

Harvey Deutschendorf: The EI Guy on Using Emotional Intelligence to Beat Fear, Anger & Anxiety in a Divided World | #21

WHAT IF THE KEY TO SUCCESS AT WORK AND IN LIFE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HOW SMART YOU ARE? IN THIS EPISODE, JIM FIELDING SITS DOWN WITH HARVEY DEUTSCHENDORF, EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE EXPERT, SPEAKER, AND AUTHOR OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE GAME CHANGERS: 101 SIMPLE WAYS TO WIN AT WORK AND LIFE, FOR A DEEPLY PERSONAL AND POWERFULLY PRACTICAL CONVERSATION ABOUT EQ, RESILIENCE, AND WHAT IT MEANS TO LEAD WITH LOVE IN A DIVIDED WORLD. Harvey shares the single line from Daniel Goleman's landmark book that changed his life, why he went from an introverted, fear-driven child of Lithuanian refugees to one of North America's leading voices on emotional intelligence, and how anger was the surprising emotion that set him free. In this episode: * The page-four line in Goleman's Emotional Intelligence that became Harvey's life-changing aha moment * Growing up in poverty with an abusive father and how school became his escape hatch * Why IQ alone will never be enough to build the career and relationships you want * The Mankind Project: how men's emotional health circles changed Harvey's life (and why they matter more than ever) * The difference between anger as a motivator vs. anger as a trap, and how to move from one to the other * How childhood fear and trauma follow us into the workplace (and what to do about it) * Why Harvey now leads from love instead of anger, and what took 25+ years to get there * The unexpected phone call from Chris Gardner (The Pursuit of Happyness) that reminded Harvey anything is possible * Radical kindness: why Jim and Harvey both believe now is the moment the pendulum swings back * Practical tips for managing anxiety in a world that constantly seeps into your peace of mind Timestamps: 00:01 – Welcome & Harvey's background 01:02 – Emotional Intelligence Game Changers, published in 4 countries 04:40 – Harvey's family story: Lithuanian refugees, poverty & an abusive home 08:30 – The Goleman line that changed everything: "Intellect can come to naught..." 10:26 – The Mankind Project & men finally talking about feelings 11:24 – Why Harvey decided to write his own EQ book 22:54 – Jim's parallel story: masking fear, finding California, seeing in color 38:44 – What surprised Harvey most after 25 years in EQ 39:37 – Moving from anger to love as your motivator 42:28 – How the state of the world seeps into our emotional lives 45:41 – Fight or flight: using your voice and platform as an antidote to angst 47:47 – Radical kindness and why the pendulum may finally be swinging 📚 Mentioned in This Episode: * Emotional Intelligence Game Changers by Harvey Deutschendorf * The Other Kind of Smart by Harvey Deutschendorf * Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman * The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner * The Mankind Project (mankindproject.org) * Free 15-question EQ quiz (available in 120 languages): theotherkindofsmart.com 🔗 Connect with Harvey Deutschendorf: Website: theotherkindofsmart.com Email: EIGuy@shaw.ca ✨ Follow Jim Fielding & Ask For An Answer: 💼 Instagram: Instagram: https://instagram.com/hijimfielding/ 🌐 Podcast: Ask For An Answer Website: hijimfielding.com [http://hijimfielding.com/] #HarveyDeutschendorf #EmotionalIntelligence #EQ #EI #MentalHealth #Resilience #PersonalDevelopment #RadicalKindness #AskForAnAnswer #JimFielding #MindsetShift #Leadership #SelfAwareness #MensHealth #Kindness

Brad Stulberg: The "Way of Excellence" — Why Joy, Not Suffering, Is the Secret to High Performance | #20

WHAT DOES IT ACTUALLY TAKE TO PURSUE EXCELLENCE WITHOUT BURNING OUT? IN THIS EPISODE, JIM FIELDING SITS DOWN WITH BRAD STULBERG, 3X BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND PERFORMANCE COACH, TO UNPACK THE IDEAS BEHIND HIS MOST SUCCESSFUL BOOK YET, THE WAY OF EXCELLENCE. Brad shares the exact content system he uses to go from a single idea to a social media post, a newsletter, and eventually a bestselling book. Plus, why he believes joy, not suffering, is the real secret to sustainable high performance. In this episode: * Why Brad measures success by pride in his craft, not book sales * The "mini essay" method he uses across Instagram, LinkedIn & X to test ideas at scale * How 52 newsletters a year became the backbone of his book writing process * Why intensity and joy are not opposites (and what Olympic athletes prove about this) * The danger of the "1% better every day" mindset and what to do when you hit a plateau * How to know when to leap from a side passion to a full-time career (and the research that backs it up) * Why all the interesting growth happens after you stop making obvious progress Jim and Brad also explore the realities of building a platform as a writer, tailoring the same ideas for different audiences, navigating AI and content saturation, and why excellence is ultimately a practice of self-discovery, not just performance. Timestamps 00:00 – Welcome & intro to Brad Stulberg 01:00 – Is The Way of Excellence his best book yet? 03:24 – Brad's content ecosystem: from social posts to books 05:48 – Instagram vs. LinkedIn: same ideas, different audiences 08:54 – Why joy is the most important chapter in a book about excellence 14:06 – How The Way of Excellence came to be 20:31 – Leaving McKinsey: faith vs. evidence in a career leap 47:25 – The biggest trap in the pursuit of excellence 📚 Mentioned in This Episode: * The Way of Excellence by Brad Stulberg * Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig * The Science of Happiness course (Yale / Coursera) Follow Brad Stulberg: Instagram: @bradstulberg Website: bradstulberg.com LinkedIn: Brad Stulberg ✨ Follow Jim Fielding & Ask For An Answer: 💼 Instagram: Instagram: https://instagram.com/hijimfielding/ 🌐 Podcast: Ask For An Answer Website: hijimfielding.com [http://hijimfielding.com/] #BradStulberg #TheWayOfExcellence #Excellence #HighPerformance #PersonalDevelopment #Productivity #Mindset #AuthorInterview #AskForAnAnswer #Writing #ContentCreation #Burnout #JoyAndPerformance