Finding Mastery: Conversations With Michael Gervais

This week’s conversation is with Brian Volk-Weiss, the founder and president of Comedy Dynamics.Brian stands at the forefront of comedy’s evolution in the 21st century.Since the launch of Comedy Dynamics in 2008, he has guided the award-winning brand to becoming the nation’s largest independent producer and distributor of one-hour comedy specials, while initiating innovative partnerships with Amazon, ROKU, and HULU—where it ranks as one of the platform’s top three most popular comedy channels.The company has worked with a wide range of established and emerging comedic talent including Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Jim Gaffigan, Ali Wong, David Cross, and many more.17 Comedy Dynamics releases have been Grammy-nominated (with three wins), including the unprecedented all 5 nominations in the Comedy Album category for the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.And while comedy is Brian’s passion, this conversation is about intuition and risk.It’s about having a tolerance for failure and being w

This week’s conversation is with Tyler Lockett, a football player who currently plays Wide Receiver for the Seattle Seahawks.Tyler was drafted by the Seahawks in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft, and played college football at Kansas State, where he broke multiple records.This is the first time I’ve had a current member of the Seahawks on the podcast and it was a special conversation.Both Tyler’s father, Kevin, and uncle, Tyler, were star football players at Kansas State and went on to play pro ball.Tyler shares how he dealt with the pressure of living up to their legacy and the anxiety and stress it initially caused him – even driving him to a panic attack at one point.Tyler has a strong faith based framework that allowed him to overcome these challenges and become the man he is today.Now, I realize many of you may not aspire to play professional sports and some of you may live a life separate of any faith based denomination, but this conversation is really about living with alignment.It’s about finding

This week’s conversation is with Corey Rich, a director and photographer.Corey has built a life and career around his passions for travel, adventure, and telling stories with his camera.With a background in rock climbing and photojournalism, Corey’s work spans a range of genres, from iconic still imagery for leading editorial publications, to television spots and films, to directing high-production-value commercial projects for Fortune 100 companies.Corey recently released “Stories Behind the Images,” a photo essay book about his reflections on becoming a master photographer, working with high profile subjects including Tommy Caldwell, Bear Grylls, Kelly Slater, Ashima Shiraishi, and Alex Honnold.He was the official photographer for Tommy Caldwell’s The Dawn Wall film and his image of Tommy on the cover of his Stories book was a Time Magazine cover image.This conversation though, isn’t just about what makes a great photo – it’s about Corey’s process for making the most of opportunities – and –

This week’s conversation comes from the Finding Mastery Live that we recently hosted in Seattle with Seattle Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll.In 2009, a mutual friend put Coach Carroll and I together for dinner and instantly, I knew it was right.We were talking about ancient principles, we were talking about modern science, we were talking about really collectively, how do you help people pursue their potential?It was stimulating and we knew much of the same research. We're interested in some of the ancient traditions the same way.We discussed giving back: How do we give to the next generation?At the end of the conversation he said, "Hey, why don't you come up and see what we're doing at the Seahawks?" And I thought, "Yeah, I'd love to see what you're doing."It's everything that I had hoped for.The environment was electric, people were switched on, and they were reporting on day one that it was just different than anywhere else they've ever been.Here we are, 10 years later.I've spent about eight years with t

This week’s conversation is with Apolo Anton-Ohno, an eight time Winter Olympics Medalist and a flat out legend in short track speed skating. .With two gold, two silver, and four bronze medals, Apolo is the most decorated American Olympian at the Winter Olympics.Apolo remains involved in the Olympic movement as an ambassador to the Olympic Games, the Special Olympics, and also serves as a broadcaster for NBC.In addition, he is on the 2026/2030 Winter Olympic bid committee for Salt Lake City, Utah & involved with the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.Apolo is also a New York Times best-selling author.He’s currently writing a new book on his transition from the Olympic spotlight into “real life,” covering his challenges, failures, and triumphs.And we definitely touch on transition in this conversation.Apolo is a dominant competitor and we unpack where that came from, how it played a role in his Olympic success, and how he’s had to adjust in his post-speed skating life.This is a candid conversation – I thi

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon, a former university professor and researcher who now designs curriculum for Precision Nutrition.She focuses on helping people make meaningful change through the Precision Nutrition Coaching and coaching Certification programs.Krista is also the author or co-author of several books, with the latest being Why Me Want Eat: Fixing Your Food Fuckedupitude.Krista likes to think of nutrition coaching as this pathway into a larger life project of being a human being, so while her expertise may lie in nutrition, this conversation is about so much more than that.It’s about the essence of becoming… how she came to better understand herself through her own journey and why she now is focused on helping others do the same.Krista believes it all centers around the stories we tell ourselves.In her words, “The mind is a jail built out of bullshit. I’ve seen the pain that stories can cause. If you look around you and you think about the people in your life

This week’s conversation is with Dr. David Sinclair, a professor in the Department of Genetics and co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging at Harvard Medical School, where he and his colleagues study longevity, aging and how to slow its effects.More specifically, their focus is on studying sirtuins—protein-modifying enzymes that respond to changing NAD+ levels and to caloric restriction—as well as metabolism, neurodegeneration, cancer, cellular reprogramming, and more.David is the co-creator and co-chief editor of the journal Aging, has co-founded several biotechnology companies, and is an inventor on 35 patents.Among the honors and awards he’s received are his inclusion in Time Magazine’s list of the “100 Most Influential People in the World” and Time's “Top 50 in Healthcare”.In addition, David is the author of the new book, Lifespan: The Revolutionary Science of Why We Age — and Why We Don’t Have To.I wanted to speak with David because he’s pushing the boundaries of what we understa

This week’s conversation is with 2016 Olympian Katie Zaferes, the #1 ranked triathlete in the world.Katie recently captured her first ITU World Triathlon Series title.The world title is years in the making for Katie, who finished fifth in the ITU World Triathlon Series in 2015, fourth in 2016, third in 2017 and second in 2018. A native of Hampstead, Maryland, Katie began her career as a cross country and track and field athlete in high school.Katie competed in track and field and cross country at Syracuse University, where she qualified for the NCAA Division 1 Championships in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.Upon graduation in 2012, she entered USA Triathlon’s Collegiate Recruitment Program, which became the start of her professional triathlon career.In recognition of Katie’s ascent, USA Triathlon named her its 2017 and 2018 "Women's Triathlete of the Year."Katie now has her sights set on qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games.In this conversation we discuss how she’s approaching the upcoming Games different

This week’s conversation is with Tero Isokauppila, the founder of Four Sigmatic, a wellness company helping people nourish their bodies inside and out.Tero grew up in Finland working on his family’s farm.He earned a degree in Chemistry, Business, and a Certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition at Cornell.I’m stoked to be partnered with Tero and Four Sigmatic and I think you’ll see why in this podcast-- I can honestly say this was one of the more unique conversations I’ve had since we fired up Finding Mastery.I wanted to learn more about the impact mushrooms have on overall wellness but this conversation ended up being so much more than that.This conversation is about the process of self-discovery: how Tero invested countless years of his life working to better understand who he is and what he values most – and how you can apply those same lessons to your own life.Tero’s core values are: wisdom, connection, purpose, and time, but he didn’t know them right away.He did the hard work and is still working on it today.I

This week’s conversation is with Meb Keflezighi, the only runner in history to win the Boston Marathon, the New York City Marathon and an Olympic medal.Known all over the world by his first name, Meb is a four-time Olympian and history’s oldest marathoner to qualify for the US Olympic team.Meb was born in the East African nation of Eritrea, a beautiful land torn by war at the time of his birth.He arrived in Southern California at age 12 without knowing a word of English.Through running, Meb attracted national attention and earned a scholarship to UCLA, where he won four NCAA titles.The crowning moment of Meb’s career came on April 21, 2014 at the Boston Marathon.One year after bombs detonated at the finish line, Meb won the race in a stunning and unexpected fashion.His patriotic victory - the first for an American man since 1983 - sparked an avalanche of media and celebration. President Barack Obama placed a phone call to Meb hours after the race.Today, Meb is Runner’s World Magazine’s“Most Influential Person

This week’s conversation is with Emmy Award winning journalist, Jemele Hill.Jemele is the co-founder of Lodge Freeway Media and a Senior Staff writer for The Atlantic.She was previously the chief correspondent and senior columnist for The Undefeated, ESPN’s content initiative exploring the intersections of sports, race and culture.Prior to joining The Undefeated, Jemele co-anchored SportsCenter with Michael Smith.In August 2018, the National Association of Black Journalist awarded Jemele with Journalist of the Year Award and in July 2016, Jemele participated in The President and the People: A National Conversation – a one-hour town hall with President Barack Obama on race relations, justice, policing and equality.Jemele also recently debuted a new podcast on Spotify, called Jemele Hill is Unbothered.Unbothered explores the news of the day and the intersectionality between the worlds of sports, politics, music, identity and culture.In this conversation we touched on so many important topics – everything f

This week’s conversation is with inventor and entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell.In 1972 Nolan Bushnell created an industry when he founded Atari and gave the world Pong, the first blockbuster video game.Today his design credo—that games should be “easy to learn and difficult to master”—is inspiring a new generation of developers.A prolific entrepreneur, Bushnell has started more than 20 companies, including Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theater, Catalyst Technologies, the first Silicon Valley incubator, and Etak, the first in-car navigation system.In the process, he pioneered many of the workplace innovations that have made Silicon Valley a long- standing magnet for creative talent.Bushnell was the first and only person ever to hire Steve Jobs, which he details in his 2013 book, Finding the Next Steve Jobs.His latest startups are ModalVR, which offers wireless, multiplayer VR entertainment systems for turn-key commercial use, and X2 Games, an independent game publisher focused on Blockchain Technology.A true icon of

This week’s conversation is with NBA stars DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love and it’s unique.It comes from a live panel we did at Aspen Ideas Festival a few weeks back.Presented by the Aspen Institute in partnership with The Atlantic, the Aspen Ideas Festival is the nation’s premier, public gathering place for leaders from around the globe and across many disciplines to present and discuss the ideas and issues that both shape our lives and challenge our times.I was invited to host a panel on mental health in sports.Earlier this year, Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers and DeMar DeRozan of the San Antonio Spurs, each publicly discussed their challenges with mental and emotional well-being.Their honesty started a national conversation about breaking through the stigma and fear of openly discussing mental health issues in professional sports.In this very personal conversation, the superstar athletes share their experiences with anxiety, depression, and loneliness.What they reveal about mental health actually revea

This week’s conversation is with Vicki Golden, a professional freestyle motocross rider and four-time X Games gold medalist.Vicki is the first female member of the SoCal freestyle motocross team Metal Mulisha and also performs in Travis Pastrana's Nitro Circus Tour.In 2008, at age 16, she became the Loretta Lynn's AMA Women's Amateur Champion.Three years later, she earned her first gold medal at the Women's Moto X Racing in the Summer X Games and collected her second and third gold medals in 2012.In addition to becoming the first female competitor in a Moto X freestyle competition, (which resulted in a bronze medal win in the best whip category in 2012), Vicki was nominated for the ESPY's Best Female Action Sports Athlete award in 2014.In March of this year, Vicki laid it down again in Auckland, New Zealand when she landed her first ever FMX backflip off the 15-foot Next Level ramp, ranking her as the only woman who has flipped one of the largest FMX ramps in the world.I had the fortune of spea

This week’s conversation is with Jermaine Jones, a German-American soccer player who played as a defensive midfielder for most of his career.Born in Frankfurt, Germany to an American father and German mother, he came up through the German club system and represented Germany at the U21 and senior level.He later filed for a switch to the United States making his debut in 2010 and played in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.Playing in multiple countries has given Jermaine a unique perspective on what makes a great soccer player and that’s something we touch on in this conversation.What is it that makes the rest of the world more competitive than the United States when it comes to Men’s soccer?Jermaine believes it comes to down to embracing pressure and being resilient.This is one of the reason’s he recently started up Define Sports and Entertainment Agency, focused on developing American soccer talentJermaine is real, he’s got an edge, and I think that stands out in this conversation.In Jermaine’s words: “I just want to b

This week’s conversation is with Bethany Hamilton, a professional surfer and shark attack survivor.Bethany has become a source of inspiration to millions through her story of determination, faith, and hope.At the age of 13, Bethany lost her left arm to a 14-foot tiger shark, which seemed to end her career as a rising surf star.One month after the attack, Bethany returned to the water and within two years had won her first national title.Think about that for a second. She was back in the water within a month!We all experience trauma -- some on a greater scale than others, but what's special about Bethany is her response to that trauma -- and that's why I wanted to talk to her.In 2007, Bethany realized her dream of surfing professionally and since then, her story has been told in a New York Times best selling autobiography and in the 2011 film, Soul Surfer.Bethany’s latest project, Unstoppable, a surf documentary showcasing her career is in theatres now and I highly recommend checking it out!---------

This week’s conversation is with Matthew Walker, a Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Director of the Center for Human Sleep Science.He is also the lead sleep scientist at Google.Matthew has received numerous funding awards from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, and is a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences.His research examines the impact of sleep on human health and disease.Matthew is also the author of the International Bestseller, Why We Sleep, which has sold over 1½ million copies worldwide, having been translated into 34 different languages.In this conversation, we focus specifically on Matthew’s deep body of knowledge when it comes to sleep.I wanted to dig deep and better understand the nuances of sleep… how does it impact our overall health, how can we sleep better, and what can you do if you feel like your suffering from a sleep related disease.As I’ve mentioned previously, gone are the days in profe

This week’s conversation is with Georges "Rush" St-Pierre, also known as “GSP,” a Canadian professional mixed martial artist and UFC world champion who holds black belts in both Kyokushin karate and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.Georges is recognized as one of the planet's best pound-for-pound MMA fighters and all around athlete.He retired from the sport on December 13, 2013, holding the UFC record for most wins in title bouts.Georges then returned to the octagon after a four-year layoff, on November 4, 2017 at UFC 217 in New York City, where he defeated Michael Bisping by submission in the third round to win the UFC Middleweight Championship title, becoming the fourth fighter in the history of the organization to be a multi-division champion.On December 7, 2017, after being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, Georges vacated his UFC middleweight title and officially announced his retirement from professional MMA competition on February 21, 2019.I found this conversation fascinating and I think you’ll be surprised

This week’s conversation is with Dierdre Wolownick, the mother of legendary adventure rock climber Alex Honnold.You may recognize him from this year’s Academy Award Winning film, Free Solo, where he became the first person to ever free-solo El Capitan in Yosemite.Alex was a previous guest on this podcast, episode 108.I wanted to speak with his mother Dierdre for a couple of reasons.First, Alex was one of the more challenging interviews I’ve ever had on this podcast.Everything just seemed so matter of fact to him.One thing I hope you’re noticing from listening to these conversations is how much one’s upbringing (their parenting structure and environment) dictate who they become and why they do what they do so I thought who better to have a follow up conversation with then Alex’s mother.Second of all, Dierdre’s own story is quite incredible.Inspired by her daughter, Stasia, Dierdre began long-distance running at the age of fifty-five, and she has since completed several marathons, as well as numerous half-marat

This week’s conversation is with Matthew Futterman, the deputy sports editor of The New York Times.He has previously worked for The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Star-Ledger of New Jersey, where he was a part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News in 2005.Matthew grew up in Larchmont, New York, and eventually found his way to Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.One of his deep passions in life is running for long distances.While we do discuss running, this conversation is more about how he uses his inner life to help others do the same, whether that's through his journalism at the New York Times or through his new book, Running to the Edge.At its core, the book is more about insights and strategies toward improvement as a human, than it is about running tactics.I've had the privilege of being interviewed by Matt, when he was at the Wall Street Journal and since then, I've followed his work.He was one of the rare folks who've been able to capture the