MENTORdna guest – Page 2

May 6, 2022May 6, 2022

Damien Hobgood – ex Pro Surfer

My husband and I met former pro surfer Damien Hobgood through a mutual friend. On a whim, Damien agreed to surprise my husband for our wedding anniversary with some friends at Amor Boutique Hotel in Sayulita MX. Damien had big dreams of surfing professionally in high school, when that wasn’t even a thing. He chased that dream and surfed on the tour for 14 years, then followed that up riding big waves in the World Surf League.

We talk about the early days of pro surfing…when no one even thought it was possible to earn a living chasing waves. Damien has deeply-held convictions about integrity and being true to yourself and your family’s beliefs. As a Christian man, he learned life’s most important lessons from his mom.

Throughout his career, he’s dealt with big brands, sponsors, and promoters, which gave him plenty of opportunities to learn about the corporate world, which he’s now taken into his career in wealth management. He continues to collaborate with brands like Salty Crew and surf-related operations like Desert Surf, an artificial wave surf park slated to open in Palm Desert in 2023.

Damien shares the many transferable lessons from sports to the corporate world. If you love surfing, are curious about what it was like growing up in that culture, or want to hear Damien’s perspective of meeting challenges head on, you’ll learn so much and more on this interesting episode of MENTOR dna!

About Damien Hobgood

Damien Hobgood is a professional surfer from Satellite Beach, FL. He and identical twin brother, CJ, started surfing at a very young age as they tried to keep up with their dad past the whitewash breaks.

Damien always dreamt of being a pro surfer, even writing about it in high school, where his teacher said “You can’t do that! There isn’t such a thing!” But in fact, the pro surfing circuit was just starting and Kelly Slater was paving the path. Upon graduating high school, Damien tried to qualify for the pro tour, missing out on a spot to CJ, but that didn’t deter Damien. In fact, he prayed and made a promise to God that if he made the tour, he’d give his life to the Lord. He kept at it and qualified for the tour the following year in an incredible competition in Brazil. As he stood on an empty beach after his win, he remembered his promise to God and committed his life to Him at that point.

Damien and CJ both surfed for Rusty and started to receive a lot of coverage in surf and mainstream media like Surfer Magazine, USA Today and Rolling Stone.

Damien won 2000 World Championship Tour rookie of the year and was also the 2004 Quiksilver Pro Fiji Winner, 2005 Santa Catarina Pro Winner, 2006 Globe Fiji Pro Winner, 2007 Billabong Pro Tahiti Winner. He’s famous in the surfing world for holding one of the highest two-wave scores in pro surfing by scoring 19.9 out of 20 in the 2004 Quiksilver pro where he defeated Andy Irons.

Damien surfed on the World Championship Tour for 14 years then went on to compete on the 2015 World Surf League’s Big Wave Tour. In 2019, in conjunction with a documentary about their lives “And Two If by Sea,” the WSL held an honorary Heritage Heat for Damien and CJ to compete against each other at the Hurley Tahiti Pro, a spot where they both still hold titles as the most winning professional surfers of all time.

Damien has since retired from surfing professionally and continues to work with lifestyle brand Salty Crew. He’s also involved with DSRT Surf, a world-class wave pool resort slated to open in Palm Desert in 2023. Damien is a doting father of three beautiful children and has now transitioned his career into wealth management with Freshwater Financial in San Diego, CA.

April 12, 2022April 13, 2022

Jeff Stotland, EVP Hudson Pacific

When I returned to Philly for my graduate work, I was a seasoned executive assistant with deep experience answering phones, sending faxes, and managing schedules for overly-busy Disney and Sony execs. Ok, so maybe I did slightly more than that, but I was at the bottom of the totem pole and had big goals of climbing my way up.

Jeff Stotland was my classmate in business school and was the only other person with Disney experience, albeit much different than mine. We became fast friends. He and I are kindred in our entrepreneurial spirit, both having run start-up like businesses within giant companies.

Jeff has bought and sold several companies, worked at Disney as Vice President, Strategy & Global Development, and is now Executive Vice President of Global Studios and Production Services at Hudson Pacific, a joint venture with Blackstone, the world’s largest industrial real estate owner.

He’s always been a big picture guy, moving to where the puck is headed. At Hudson Pacific, he leads a team buying up content production space which has exploded in the past several years, and we chat about the human resource crunch to produce all this content.

He and I agree that success requires taking risks and being bold, but most of the time, people are optimizing to preserve their own jobs.

Jeff’s always taken risks, yet he’s learned how to be more calculated in his bets. He learned a lot during his stint trying to privatize companies in Eastern Europe and operating a handful of companies he bought or started.

This episode covers a lot of ground…from working at start-ups in eastern Europe in the late 90s, to Disneyphiles, to the extreme competition for industrial real estate worldwide and the macroeconomic impacts of building production studios in cities around the world.

About Jeff Stotland

Jeff Stotland joined Hudson Pacific in 2021 and serves as Executive Vice President, Global Studios. He leads the growth, direction and daily operations of the company’s studio portfolio.

Prior to Hudson Pacific, Stotland served as Vice President of Strategy and Global Development at Disney with a focus on the Parks, Experiences and Products segment. In this role, he worked on a variety of new business initiatives, acquisitions, strategic planning, joint venture management and real estate development, both domestically and internationally.

Before Disney, Stotland acquired and led SEMCO Aerospace, a privately held aviation maintenance company, for more than a decade. His early career included roles at Vulcan Ventures, The Walt Disney Company and J.P. Morgan.

Stotland earned a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University.

March 15, 2022March 15, 2022

Jane Mosbacher Morris – Founder & CEO To the Market

Jane Mosbacher Morris - 2022 To the Market

Growing up, I was a tomboy through and through and spent more time with guys than girls. It wasn’t until college that I truly appreciated the importance of having a support group of women. Cut to 25 years later when I finally felt comfortable attending an all-women’s conference, where I met Jane Mosbacher Morris, author of Buy the Change You Want to See. Her story painted a picture of a young girl destined to be an entrepreneur.

Though the entrepreneurship seeds were sown, through elementary and middle school, Jane really aspired to be a professional actress. Her story as an entrepreneur continues after 9/11 during Jane’s high school years, stirring a strong passion to help others. It led her to study at Georgetown, landing an internship at the U.S. State Dept and turning that into a full time gig during her senior year. Working in Counterterrorism eventually led to Jane to find her true passion of empowering women around the world to have dignified work.

She’s since started To the Market, a digital supply chain management tool for ethically and sustainably sourced goods, matching retailers with makers around the world.

Jane is an inspirational young leader and you’re going to love our conversation on MENTOR dna.

About Jane Mosbacher Morris

Jane Mosbacher Morris is Founder and CEO of TO THE MARKET, a company that connects businesses and consumers to ethically made products from around the world. Clients include Bloomingdale’s, Dillards, and Target; and investors include Techstars and Farfetch.

Jane previously served as the Director of Humanitarian Action for the McCain Institute for International Leadership and currently serves on the Institute’s Human Trafficking Advisory Council. Prior to joining the Institute, she worked in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism and in the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues. Jane is a member of VF Corporation’s Advisory Council on Responsible Sourcing (owner of Van’s, Timberland, Wrangler, The North Face, and others). She is also a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the CARE Board of Directors.

She is the author of Penguin Random House/Tarcher Perigee book, Buy the Change You Want to See: Use Your Purchasing Power to Make the World a Better Place (January 29, 2019). The book has been featured on platforms ranging from CNN, Bloomberg, and Forbes to Marie Claire. The book was a Target Non-Fiction Best-Seller, a #1 Consumer Guide on Amazon, and a #1 New Business Ethics Release on Amazon.

In 2020, Fortune Magazine named Jane one of the 25 World’s Greatest Leaders because of her response to COVID-19. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and an MBA from Columbia Business School. She is married to fellow entrepreneur Nate Morris of Kentucky.

February 2, 2022February 2, 2022

Gary Addeo – Pastor, Sales Lead, AAA Pitcher

Gary Addeo is a mentor that’s poured into my life in such rich and impactful ways, that I struggle to understand how he does it for so many other people, too. He came into my life as a bible study leader when my husband and I first met and has since been such an incredible friend to our entire family, guiding us in spiritual matters, helping with parenting questions, and acting as a sound board for some of life’s biggest decisions.

Gary truly has a servant’s heart and has touched thousands of lives; church members, clients from his printing days, and homeless people he meets and shepherds. Tune in as he shares stories about his start in the minor leagues as a pitcher, having to walk away from his life’s dream to play in the MLB, to his 4th career buying land for a regional logger and developer in the Pacific North West.

About Gary Addeo

Gary Addeo started his career as a pitcher playing AAA baseball. After tearing his rotator cuff during spring training one year, he had to make a tough decision. He decided to pursue a different avenue and entered into a 36-year career in sales in the printing and typesetting industry.

After nearly four decades commuting from Orange County to all parts of Southern California, Gary’s doctors warned him that the long commutes and stress were significantly impacting his health. Gary volunteered in his local churches through his adult years and felt called to pursue ministry full time. An exciting and lifelong-dream to become a community pastor presented itself and he jumped!

Gary spent much time helping friends, family and strangers in need. He’s an incredible prayer warrior and knows the Word and exactly how to reference the right scriptures. He and his family have hosted countless people and families in their own homes, including professional surfers and skateboarders who moved in and out of the Volcom house in Newport Beach in its earliest days.

He led life groups and recovery ministries for 8 years at Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa. As leadership changed at the church, he also saw the writing on the wall. It was evident that that he was being called away from Southern California. To his friends, this seemed impossible. How could a man who grew up surfing and loving the beach so much move away!?

But family duties called. He and his wife made the move to the Pacific Northwest, where he started a new chapter working for his son-in-law in timber sales and land development. Gary’s calm demeanor immediately puts anyone at ease, and his friendly approach has served him well through all of his years in sales.

January 11, 2022February 2, 2022

Meesh Pierce – advisor, board member, podcaster

Welp, here it is. An episode where I get interviewed on my own show. Weird. Uncomfortable. Awkward. Yes, all of those things!

BUT, I was able to convince Wharton Professor Pete Fader to interview me! We chat about how I landed my first internship in the music industry, my transition into tech, and the crazy and bold things I’ve said to colleagues and bosses.

Leadership podcasts allow seasoned execs to share their stories and I hope you enjoy my journey.

About Meesh Pierce

Meesh Pierce is a former tech executive who started her career in entertainment during the heyday of grunge rock. Her early days at Disney and Sony Music introduced her to the corporate world and importance of connectedness.

She worked long hours answering phones, faxing Winnie the Pooh and Lion King toy concepts to China, and sneaking into hole-in-the-wall concerts until the wee hours. During the early internet days, Meesh bet that tech was going to materially change the entertainment world, so she headed back to Philly for her 2nd stint at Wharton.

As a freshly-minted business school grad, she stepped into product management gigs for the likes of NBC, Sony Digital Entertainment, and Ticketmaster.

A risk taker, Meesh started an early dot com custom merch company, snacki, in the late 90s. A few years later, she took an opportunity to learn commercial and residential real estate development from a seasoned investor.

She spent 15 years as a hired gun consultant stepping into difficult 1-2 year projects; those that needed someone adept at strategy, product and marketing, and comfortable navigating across divisions and up to the c-suite and board. As an independent consultant, she’s worked with Epson, Mercedes (AutoGravity), Fandango (NBC), and Amor Boutique Hotel amongst others.

Meesh now serves on boards, as advisor to several organizations, and mentor to many. She loves using her experience to make connections between people and ideas.

Meesh is equally left and right-brained. She drives an F-150 to support her furniture painting habits as there’s rarely an abandoned roadside furniture piece she doesn’t stop to investigate. She started documenting her furniture painting techniques at imeeshu.com and learned a great deal about SEO through her personal journey as a blogger.

She’s also an avid gardener and has built her own hydroponics greenhouse with a fully-functioning set-up for tomato and lettuce farming.

Meesh loves people and mentoring. She has many mentees stretching across all walks of life; from Broadway stars, to growth-minded entrepreneurs, to people in career or life transitions.

January 4, 2022February 3, 2022

Pete Fader – Wharton Marketing Professor

I’ve always had a proclivity for marketing and curiosity for patterns. When I met marketing Professor Pete Fader, I didn’t realize what a big impact he would have on my career. At 26, he was one of the youngest professors at the Wharton School, and 10 years later had become one of the school’s favorites – teaching undergrad, MBA, and pHd students.

His research first focused on consumer products, but then shifted into the music and entertainment industry where he served as an expert testifying on behalf of Napster in the late 90s.

As a professor, he engages his students to really think about customers in a way that most people don’t – NOT every customer is the same. Some are far more profitable than others. So how do you lead your organization to truly understand and focus on customer centricity? Pete collaborated with some of his pHd students to help companies do just that.

With two successful data-driven businesses under his belt and 35 years at the finest business school in the world, we have much to learn from this humble leader who likely will never forget your phone number.

If you find numbers interesting, I highly recommend checking out Pete’s super duper old school site: coolnumbers.com

About Professor Pete Fader

Peter S. Fader’s expertise centers around the analysis of behavioral data to understand and forecast customer shopping/purchasing activities.

He works with firms from a wide range of industries, such as telecommunications, financial services, gaming/entertainment, retailing, and pharmaceuticals. Managerial applications focus on topics such as customer relationship management, lifetime value of the customer, and sales forecasting for new products. Much of his research highlights the consistent (but often surprising) behavioral patterns that exist across these industries and other seemingly different domains.

In addition to his various roles and responsibilities at Wharton, Professor Fader co-founded a predictive analytics firm (Zodiac) in 2015, which was sold to Nike in 2018. He then co-founded (and continues to run) Theta Equity Partners to commercialize his more recent work on “customer-based corporate valuation.”

Fader is the author of Customer Centricity: Focus on the Right Customers for Strategic Advantage and coauthor with Sarah E. Toms of the book The Customer Centricity Playbook. He has been quoted or featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Washington Post, and on NPR, among other media. In 2017, Professor Fader was named by Advertising Age as one of its inaugural “25 Marketing Technology Trailblazers,” and was the only academic on the list.

December 6, 2021February 3, 2022

Mark Bogh, President Bogh Engineering

During my tenure serving on the board at Mariners Christian School, we approved a $20M capital project to redesign our industrial concrete tilt-up building into a state of the art learning facility. Our goal was to provide more learning space, abundant natural light, and increased security.

When I first laid eyes on the plan, it was explained to me that the first step was to build a fire wall and elevator at a price tag that exceeded any amount ever raised in the history of the school. I wondered how we’d ever raise the money to get started, let alone finish this gargantuan project.

By the grace of God and the generosity of our family community, we were able to finish phase 1 of this project, albeit very much delayed, which didn’t significantly impact school operations, but certainly was stressful for the school team behind the scenes.

Then started the search for the right firm to build Phase 2, which was substantially more structurally intensive. And, we needed to complete the work during a single summer if possible.

2 of the 3 firms returned with 12-24 month construction timelines. We weren’t willing to put students in temporary trailers and needed a more creative solution.

Enter Mark Bogh, who came highly recommended by a member of our esteemed all-parent volunteer construction committee. Mark and his team build schools. They’ve built hundreds of schools. Mark’s values are in lock-step with our school’s mission and values. In preparation for our first meeting, he laid out a few options which clearly demonstrated that he’d studied our plans in great detail. He’d even gone so far as to talk to our neighbors about using their land for contingency purposes. One of his options was to complete the project in 6 months.

Now, if you’ve ever been through the bid process, which I have, you know that these types of promises are totally suspect and usually off-base. But there’s something about Mark and his team that immediately set you at ease. He knows his stuff, he’s laid out contingencies, he has his own team, he knows the city.

Covid worked in our favor as our kids went to remote learning on March 13, 2020, and within 2 weeks, it was clear that we weren’t headed back anytime soon. The board agreed and we moved quickly to take advantage of the unexpected windfall of time. Mark’s team went to work, shifting all materials sourcing from China to Mexico and Canada. The teams predicted that China’s shutdown would become a long-term problem; they were right.

Mark led his team through the typical ups and downs of a large construction project and wad undeterred by the Covid impacts. Overall, the project was 3 weeks delayed mainly because the city’s inspectors

About Mark Bogh

Mark Bogh is President of Bogh Engineering, a construction and engineering company focused on public works projects, particularly in educational facilities. He started his career at the City of Redlands, then to IWA Engineers, an firm that worked on a multitude of projects for Universal Studios and Knott’s Berry Farm. He quickly rose the ranks to become President of IWA, but felt a different calling.

Mark decided to go back to his roots and build schools with his dad, so he joined Bogh Engineering, growing the firm from $1M in gross revenues to $60M over 20 years. The firm’s key distinction is most of its key tradespeople are full-time employees. This allows them to quickly shift gears and place people where needed in order to finish school construction projects that are inherently designed around very tight deadlines.

Mark remains very involved with his community church and ministries throughout Southern California.

October 26, 2021October 26, 2021

Courtney Reed, Broadway Lead Actress

I met Courtney through our mutual friend and her former Aladdin Broadway cast mate, Rodney Ingram. Courtney’s a gem inside and out, truly exuding a calm and friendly confidence that’s welcoming and warm.

It’s hard not to like Courtney with all that charm, but what I’ve come to really love about her is that she’s a strong business woman with spot-on sensibilities about marketing and finding moments that resonate with her audience and fans.

I look forward to watching her next chapter unfold as she lives her bucket list dreams of playing Satine in Moulin Rouge’s US tour AND touring the world with Disney Princess the Concert. Amazing!!!

About Courtney Reed

Courtney Reed was last seen in Lauren Yee’s award-winning play Cambodian Rock Band at The Signature Theatre. She had the honor of originating the role of ‘Princess Jasmine’ in Disney’s smash hit, Aladdin on Broadway, directed by Casey Nicholaw for which she received a Grammy nomination, a role she reprised for 4 months in London’s West End production. Prior to Aladdin, she had the privilege of being a part of the closing company of the Tony Award Winning musical In the Heights written by Lin Manuel Miranda, in which she played ‘Carla,’ understudying ‘Nina’ and ‘Vanessa.’ She made her Broadway debut in Mama Mia! just a few months after graduating from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

Over the past several years, she has appeared on such television shows as: Liza On Demand, Search Party, The Affair, Law & Order: SVU, White Collar, NYC 22, and CSI: NY, and her favorite, web series Submissions Only.

In 2018, Courtney debuted her first solo concert Confessions of a Broadway Princess at Feinstein’s/54 Below in New York City. She is also the founder of her all-female-run company Gagged Chokers, which has received praise in such magazines as People, People’s Style Watch, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Allure, Refinery 29, More, and Yahoo.

Since 2018, Courtney has partnered with other Broadway royalty to develop and produce what is now called Disney Princess the Concert. The show recently launched its world premiere in Saudi Arabia and plans to kick off the US tour in 2022.

Simultaneously, Courtney will also star as Satine in the US touring company of multi-Tony winning Moulin Rouge.

Twitter/Instagram/Snapchat: @RhodesReed @GaggedChokers

October 19, 2021October 25, 2021

Susan Natland, Sr. Partner Knobbe Martens

Susan and I met each other through our husbands. We played a round of golf way back when and have since connected around social settings and discussions about our businesses and careers.

What’s interesting to me is that I didn’t realize what a powerhouse she was in the world of IP law until about 10 years ago. She’s confident and humble, but it was her husband who told me about the roles she had landed as “side hustles.” You know…teaching at UCLA Law School, serving our country on the USPTO Trademark Trademark Public Advisory Committee as Vice Chair. NOT small potatoes kind of gigs!

Another common thread that I’ve gleaned from my leadership podcast guests is that many of them include a solid workout in their daily routines. I often see Susan at yoga and pilates and she’s energized and ready to start her day!

On this episode of MENTOR dna, we discuss the importance of being true to yourself and advocating for what you feel you deserve. She also tells a story about her first Chinese factory raid to shut down illegal hand bag manufacturing. Fascinating!

About Susan Natland

Susan Natland is a senior partner in the Orange County office of Knobbe Martens and has been practicing IP law for over 20 years. As Co-Chair of the firm’s Brand Protection Group and Chair of the firm’s Data Privacy and Security Group, Susan had led a career advising start-ups to Fortune 100 companies on all aspects of domestic and international brand protection, advertising law, copyright law, and data privacy and security matters. Her passion is mentoring others and building strong teams who share her business approach to the law in providing clear, concise and practical advice and success in achieving results for her clients. Her clients view her as a true trusted business partner and have honoured her for many years with the “Client Choice” award. Susan has also taught advanced Trademark Law at her alma mater UCLA Law, and was seconded as trademark counsel for one of the biggest technology and e-commerce companies in the world for several years, helping guide business decisions and policy. Susan has served on her firm’s Executive Committee and Diversity Committee and was recently appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to serve as Vice-Chair of the USPTO Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC).

October 13, 2021October 14, 2021

Whitney Gomez

Whitney and I were in the same class in business school and reconnected when she and her husband moved within 3 miles of us fifteen years ago. Coincidentally, I went to college with her husband and our families have since spent much time together through sports and family fun.

Whitney has a deep passion for current affairs and international business. She’s a voracious reader and has successfully parlayed her experience at Morgan Stanley and PAAMCO into every project she touches. She’s very intentional about the projects she takes on, always stretching herself and learning something new.

She’s an inspiration to me and I really treasure her sense of confidence in everything she does. She shares her philosophy that you can have it all, just not at the same time. It’s taken me years to finally come to grips with this after a lifetime of hearing “You can be anything and have it all!!” Pragmatic thinking and careful planning have led Whitney to the successes she’s experienced in the corporate and non-profit worlds. I know that you’ll love this episode!

About Whitney Gomez

Whitney Kane Gomez has twenty years experience in investment research and fund marketing, and currently serves in both working and advisory capacities on a number of non-profit boards in education and healthcare.

Whitney was a Director in PAAMCO Prisma’s Investment Strategies Group from 2008 – 2019. As a member of the leadership team, she was involved in client service, marketing and regulatory compliance. Whitney also oversaw the firm’s analyst program, media relations and external publications efforts.

Prior to joining PAAMCO in 2008, Whitney was an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley and spent ten years as an emerging markets strategist in the Fixed Income Department in New York. She covered a number of Latin American countries and was responsible for global strategy as the head of Morgan Stanley’s Fixed Income Emerging Markets Strategy team. Whitney’s research was recognized by Institutional Investor, Euromoney and LatinFinance magazines, and has been broadly quoted in publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

Whitney started her career at the US Department of State in the Nuclear Risk Reduction Center and later in the Office of Newly Independent States. She undertook short-term assignments for the State Department at the American embassies in Kiev, Ukraine; Chişinău, Moldova; and Yerevan, Armenia. Whitney received the U.S. Department of State Superior Honor Award for her service.

Whitney graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Richmond with a BA in Global Studies with a concentration in International Economics. She received an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Whitney resides in Newport Beach with her husband and three children. She enjoys off-the-beaten-trail travel, reading non-fiction, and the family’s Australian Shepherd.