As one of Peloton’s founding instructors, Hannah Corbin has helped millions move their bodies. But her new mission is just as bold: helping people slow down. Her new book Did You Stretch Tho makes a powerful case for rest, recovery, and treating yourself like someone worth caring for. In this episode, Hannah joins Ryan to talk about what it takes to stay soft in a world that rewards hardness. They discuss how she overcame imposter syndrome to write her first book, how an autoimmune diagnosis changed the way she leads, and what it really means to move with intention. Hannah opens up about the pressure to be “on” all the time, how she stays grounded in community, and why her biggest creative leaps often come with a quiet voice of doubt—and the courage to keep going anyway.

Smart, heart and courage. That has been the way-he-leads elevator pitch for Greg Creed who proves you don’t have to be a hard-charging tyrant to win — you can build billion-dollar brands by being human. In this episode, Greg tells Ryan how leading Taco Bell and later Yum! Brands was never about perfect plans or rigid control — it was about creating a culture where people felt safe to try things. Greg explains why he would rather see a team make a decision and adjust than freeze in place, and why vulnerability from the person at the top unlocks real trust. He shares stories from the road — taking big swings, laughing through the chaos, and refusing to let fear run the room. As you’ll soon learn, Greg’s story is proof that real leadership isn’t about control — it’s about creating the conditions for courage to thrive.

Sona Khosla thinks purpose belongs on the P&L. As Chief Impact Officer at Benevity, nicknamed the company’s “conscience”, she helps global brands turn doing good into real business momentum. After a personal loss, she pivoted from marketing and built Benevity Impact Labs, using $3.8B in annual giving data to separate noise from signal. We talk about the new era of “quiet courage,” where companies may soften the language but keep the work moving. Sona shares small actions any employee can take right now and why authentic impact keeps people longer and sharpens performance. Her bottom line: purpose and profit aren’t at odds - done right, they accelerate each other.

On the other side of the world lives Franziska Iseli. “Frankie”, as her friends call her, has built a life around chasing fear and turning it into freedom. The Swiss-born Australian entrepreneur has much in common with Ryan. She is a co-founder (Basic Bananas and Ocean Lovers), an author to a book about courage (The Courage Map) and an eternal optimist. Frankie joins Ryan to talk about what it means to live courage; not just write about it. She shares how a 12,000-kilometer motorcycle journey led to her book along with why she believes courage and curiosity belong together. She also opens up about conflict avoidance, kindness as a leadership tool, and how daily discomfort builds lasting confidence.

Bryant Brennan builds brands by shipping work that matters. Before taking the reins at Autodesk, he shaped culture at Peloton, launched products at Barnes & Noble, and explored startup grit at Fi. In this conversation with Ryan, Bryant talks about the shift from building consumer icons to leading a legacy brand that powers architects, animators, and innovators across the globe. He explains why he tells his team “we get to do this,” how AI can sharpen creative instincts instead of replacing them, and why the best leaders give people room to paint their masterpiece. For Bryant, great teams aren’t fearless alone, they’re fearless together.

Steven Bernstein has spent a career proving that risk and creativity go hand in hand. The award-winning director and cinematographer behind Decoding Annie Parker, Monster, and Like Water for Chocolate has shot nearly 50 films and written projects that have drawn actors like Rhys Ifans, John Malkovich, and Samantha Morton. In this conversation with Ryan, he shares how radical honesty drives trust on set, why character always comes before plot, and how his unorthodox process led to his latest novel-turned-film GRQ / Get Rich Quick. His message is simple: stop waiting to be ready, finish the work, and put it into the world.

Our Courage Brands Spotlight is back, and this time Ryan, Billy, and Nicole put three very different brands under the lens. Billy kicks things off with Gymshark—the billion-dollar fitness brand built on TikTok and influencers instead of ads. Billy shares how a teenager’s side hustle turned into a global movement that connects physical and mental health. Nicole brings Oreo to the table, breaking down how a century-old classic stays fresh with bold flavor experiments, scarcity plays, and collaborations that keep people reaching for the blue package. Ryan closes with Liquid Death, the canned-water disruptor that proves purpose and playfulness can go hand in hand, from Spinal Tap spoofs to a mission of “murdering plastic.” Together, the team explores what makes these brands stand out, why courage often means resisting overthinking, and how clarity and conviction separate brands that lead from those that follow.

Ranjay Gulati believes courage isn’t about being fearless — it’s about taking action when fear shows up. As the Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor at Harvard Business School and author of Deep Purpose and How to Be Bold, he studies how leaders and organizations confront uncertainty and turn it into fuel for growth. In this conversation with Ryan, Ranjay shares his fear equation, explores why risk-averse cultures fall into the “success trap,” and explains why purpose-driven conviction unlocks bold action. Along the way, he shares the family stories that shaped his lens and why feels Tom Cruise’s “I don’t mind being scared” mantra is a teachable skill, not something that he was born with.

At Uber, Danielle Trivisonno Hawley turns bold ideas into work the world can’t ignore. As Global Executive Creative Director, she’s behind campaigns like “Tonight I’ll Be Eating,” Uber Don’t Eats, and #KeepUkraineMoving, while leading launches for products like Uber Reserve, Uber Teens, and Uber Trains. In this conversation with Ryan, Danielle shares the framework behind Uber’s creative voice—bold, direct, and rooted in heart—and how her team balances speed with clarity in a company that pivots overnight. They dig into staying brave in an autonomous, AI-driven future, the quiet rigor behind “making it look easy,” and why great advertising works when everyone feels included in the joke.

The things we say to ourselves we’d rarely say to another person. Our self-talk, when we let it run rampant, can spiral us, slow us down and shrink our self-confidence. On this episode of The Courageous Podcast, Ryan teams up with his co-authors Rhett Power and Suzy Burke, PhD to preview their new book Headamentals (out Oct 28), a book born from six years of research, rewrites, and real-life coaching. Together, they explore how to wrangle that inner critic and what it takes to ensure that self-talk doesn’t impact team-talk. Headamentals is part science, part story, part book and part workbook—and this conversation is your sneak peek into how to crack those self-narratives so that you can lead yourself and others.

David van der Sanden turns Patagonia’s purpose into something employees can live, not just understand. As Head of Internal Communications & Engagement, he focuses on translating the company’s mission to save our home planet into stories, actions, and experiences that connect people to the work and to one another. In this conversation with Ryan, David shares how Patagonia’s “business-unusual” culture shows up behind the scenes, like pairing clarity with action through activism hours, repair programs, and Worn Wear initiatives. He reflects on leading with radical honesty, why curiosity beats confrontation in divided times, and how staying grounded in purpose keeps teams inspired and engaged.

Bob Philion spent 20 years wearing the cat on his chest—first as employee #1 launching Puma Golf, then as the architect behind Cobra Puma Golf, and ultimately as the leader of Puma North America. In this conversation with Ryan, Bob retraces three distinct “chapters”: moving from Europe back to Boston to start a category from scratch, building Cobra Puma Golf into a global disruptor out of Carlsbad, and then steering Puma’s North American engine across basketball, running, soccer, Formula One, and beyond. He shares what courage looked like inside the brand—betting on golf, doubling down with Cobra, and re-entering basketball. Now on sabbatical and writing a book, Bob distills three decades in sports into lessons on growth, mentorship, and vision—because, as he puts it, “growth is fun, growth is good, and it’s always worth chasing.”

Courage Brands Win. This week, we hit pause on the usual interview format for a fast, fun “Courage Brands Spotlight” discussion featuring Ryan and his partners Nicole Miller and Billy Collins. Nicole kicks things off with The Female Quotient—an unapologetic, action-oriented force that meets leaders where they already gather (CES, Cannes) with Equality Lounges and hard conversations everyone’s invited to join. Billy spotlights the Savannah Bananas, who are on a mission to rewire baseball for sheer fun; two-hour games, innings ending when someone scores, and fans recording an out by catching a foul ball. Ryan closes with BeatBox Beverages—the party-ready, wine-based cocktail that started on Shark Tank and is now riding a wave of success with Shaq.

Knight Campbell turns mountains into meeting rooms. A former Navy helicopter pilot and Naval Academy leadership instructor, he now takes executive teams off-grid—rock climbing, rafting, and trekking—to work on the real “crux” of how they lead. Phones go away. Titles fade. Trust and honest talk show up. In his conversation with Ryan, Knight recalls a Joshua Tree client who lost service and then chose to keep her phone off until Monday, proving that awe and accountability open conversations no boardroom can. He shares a core lesson from the alpine: sometimes speed is safety, but great leaders fight the real enemy—hurry—by practicing presence.

Bree Groff thinks it’s an emergency that half of us feel dread at work every week, and that we’re trading five‑sevenths of our lives just to reach Friday. In this conversation with Ryan, the former NOBL CEO and current SYPartners advisor traces how losing her mom to cancer and caring for a dad with Alzheimer’s jolted her from helping leaders execute their vision to stating her own. She introduces a few characters and themes from her latest book, Today Was Fun, including Bob the Alien, who decides Google Calendar secretly runs Earth. Bree’s metric is simple: curl into bed most nights and honestly say, today was fun. If not, rewrite the rules—you made them up anyway.

Bart Berkey believes in doing what most people don’t—remembering names, anticipating needs, and showing up with contagious positivity. A former global exec in luxury hospitality (Ritz-Carlton, Hyatt), Bart took three decades of service experience and turned it into a movement. In this episode, Ryan and Bart talk about the power of “active remembering,” why being kind beats being right, and how the phrase Most People Don’t. But You Do. became a calling card for courageous leadership. Bart shares lessons from the stage, his podcast, and the frontlines of hospitality, offering practical ways to notice more, include others, and overdeliver. His belief? The smallest gestures often have the biggest impact—and our job as leaders is to help others feel seen.

Todd Kaplan believes legacy brands should feel as fresh as a track that just dropped. In his first ten months as CMO of Kraft Heinz North America, the former Pepsi disruptor has already launched DJ Mustard’s limited-edition condiment, staged the Oscar Mayer “Wienie 500,” and watched each sell out or go viral in minutes. In this episode of The Courageous Podcast, Todd tells Ryan how his “collaborativity” sessions collapse client-agency walls so ideas can sprint from a cafeteria napkin to Grammy broadcast almost overnight. He explains why marketers must “play to win,” and how short steps plus a long vision keep 70 household staples evolving without losing their soul. From Nike’s Kool-Aid sneakers to reviving 150-year-old pantry icons, Todd shows that speed, fun, and strategic risk are now table stakes for brands.

Alexi Lalas. Naomi Girma. Tim Howard. Landon Donovan. Richard Motzkin has been there representing each of them throughout their careers as their Sports Agent. In this conversation with Ryan, Rich recalls his journey of quitting big-firm law to become U.S. Soccer’s first in-house counsel, and how that leap led to his own agency which began before Major League Soccer even had a name. He explains how the early days of MLS felt like a startup, complete with fax machines and jersey swaps that exposed just how far U.S. soccer still had to go. Now a top executive at Wasserman, Richard reflects on what’s changed, what still holds the sport back, and why chasing happiness, not just trophies, remains his north star.

Dr. Jonah Essers fights insurance red tape with the same rigor he once brought to genetic research at Columbia and Harvard. In this conversation with Ryan, he explains how his blunt LinkedIn posts—naming pharmacy-benefit managers and citing peer-reviewed data—have forced billion-dollar payers to reverse drug denials within hours, delivering treatments that 45-day appeals would delay. He recalls the day a hospital CMO tried to silence him but, after hearing the evidence, granted full support. Ryan and Dr. Essers also unpack Walter Cronkite’s jab at America’s “healthy, caring system,” debate fairness versus justice, and explore the quiet fear doctors feel when advocacy risks their jobs.

Dr. Christopher Bader has spent a decade mapping the nation’s anxieties through the Chapman Survey of American Fears, and the picture he paints is as revealing as it is sobering. In this episode of the Courageous Podcast, Dr. Bader explains why “corrupt government officials” has topped the list since 2014, how media algorithms amplify our sense of danger, and why withdrawing from public life only makes neighborhoods less safe. He shares the survey’s most startling insight - that most Americans worry about threats they can’t control while underestimating the risks closest to home. Dr. Bader also previews the eleventh wave of the study and traces his own path from Seattle kid to Chapman professor.