How Success Happens tells the inspiring, entertaining, and unexpected journeys that influential leaders in business, the arts and sports traveled on their way to becoming household names. Hosted by Entrepreneur Media’s VP of Special Projects Dan Bova, these conversations are a must-listen for anyone looking to pave their own path to success.
When the Dining Room Is Full, Every Decision Counts: The Art of Delivering Under Pressure
When the dining room is packed and tickets are flying, there's no pausebutton. John Brandt Lee, chef-owner of Bar Avalon, knows that better than most. He's managing that pressure across not one but two locations simultaneously. In this episode, John breaks down what it really takes to engineer consistency at the highest-stakes moments in hospitality, and why getting it right isn't just good business, it's the whole point. This episode of How Success Happens is presented by AT&T Business. To learn how they can help support your business as it grows, visit https://entm.ag/ATTSMB_JBLHSH Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Snack: How Ammortal Turned Recovery Tech Into a Luxury Wellness Juggernaut
What happens when elite-athlete recovery meets startup hustle? At Entrepreneur and Athletes First’s Summit in Park City, host Dan Bova sits down with Rob Insinger, co-founder and chief revenue officer of Ammortal, to unpack the company’s futuristic wellness Chamber and the wild experience it delivers. Rob explains how Ammortal combines red/near-infrared light, pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF), molecular hydrogen, vibroacoustic sound, and breathwork into what he calls the “ultimate human recharging station.” Dan and Rob dive into how the company bootstrapped its growth through grassroots demos, athlete adoption, and word-of-mouth, and how the wellness and longevity market has shifted from “woo-woo” to mainstream. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How Romantasy Superstar Carissa Broadbent Built a Book Empire from Self-Publishing
Dan sits down with Carissa Broadbent, the #1 New York Times and USAToday bestselling author behind the wildly popular "Crowns of Nyaxia"series, to talk about her new book, *The Lion and the Deathless Dark*.Carissa shares how she went from marketing to indie publishing, whyromantasy is having such a huge moment, and the real-world habits thathelped her finally finish books instead of obsessing over chapter oneforever. She gets candid about productivity, burnout, and writingwhile eight months pregnant. Expect smart tips and tons of inspo forcreators and entrepreneurs alike. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Snack: How Go Rentals Created the Ultimate Luxury Experience on Four Wheels
Dan Bova sits down with Shawn O’Brien, Chief Operating Officer of Go Rentals, at The Summit event in Park City, Utah, for a fast-paced masterclass in turning a miserable car rental into a jaw-dropping luxury experience. You’ll hear how Go Rentals guarantees the exact make, model and even license plate of your car, tracks private flights in real time, and greets guests with pre-cooled vehicles, favorite drinks in the cup holder, and five-star-hotel-level hospitality. Shawn shares his career journey from Bain & Company partner to scaling Go Rentals nationwide, adding locations at a blistering pace while obsessing over friction-free travel. He also dives into how his Porsche racing hobby shapes his data-driven leadership style, his hard-won lessons on risk, and why protecting your mental health with non-negotiable morning workouts might be the biggest competitive advantage of all. Tune in to get inspired, take notes, and definitely rethink your next rental car. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Shark Week Host Reveals Moment That Scared the @#$! Out of Him
Dan Bova sits down with wildlife biologist, TV host, and "Shark Week" star Forrest Galante for a wild, squid-slime-soaked conversation about turning extreme animal adventures into a mission-driven media empire. Forrest shares how he went from ant researcher to building Phantasticus Pictures, now one of the largest wildlife production companies in the world. He opens up about his globe-trotting work—from India’s massive Vantara wildlife rescue center to remote corners of Africa and the Sea of Cortez—and how he uses TV, YouTube, books, and, of course, Shark Week to get millions of people to fall in love with conservation. You’ll also hear outrageous field stories (including crocodile-poop-induced emergency stops) and a preview of his new Shark Week special “Alien Sharks: Untamed America,” celebrating the mind-blowing shark life swimming around U.S. waters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Snack: Spin Master Co-founder
Dan chats it up with Ronnen Harary, co-founder of global toy and entertainment company Spin Master and author of the new book, No Experience Necessary: Why Betting on Yourself in Your Twenties Is the Best Decision You’ll Ever Make. Harary shares how growing up with dysgraphia and financial instability pushed him toward entrepreneurship and ultimately led to building mega-hits like Air Hogs, Bakugan and Paw Patrol. And he also dives into conquering AI angst, embracing failure as “learning luck,” and trusting your internal compass. Oh, and also why you should avoid bringing bananas to business meetings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Lo Bosworth Says Social Media Is Eating Our Brains
Dan sits down with Lo Bosworth, former star of MTV’s "Laguna Beach" and "The Hills," who is now the founder and CEO of Love Wellness, a women’s health brand she launched in 2016 that sells millions of products across major retailers like Target, Walmart, Ulta, CVS and Amazon. Lo shares how a frustrating 18‑month search for answers about her own depression, anxiety, and women’s health issues led her to discover the “care gap” that inspired Love Wellness. Lo also opens up about life as a first-time mom, why she launched her brutally candid podcast “Tell Me I’m a Good Mom” just weeks postpartum, and her hot takes on supplements, authenticity in business and why she wishes social media would go extinct. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Red Queen Logic Founder: ‘Supercharge Productivity Without Giving Up Privacy’
This live episode of How Success Happens was recorded at The Summit, a three-day event created by Entrepreneur and Athletes First that brought together elite NFL athletes and top minds in business to connect and collaborate. Host Dan Bova sits down with Gregory A. Holifield, PhD, founder and CEO of Red Queen Logic, to talk about his mind-blowing vision for truly personal, private AI that runs on hardware that you own—not in some distant data center. In this high-energy conversation, Gregory explains how Red Queen lets entrepreneurs harness teams of AI agents to curate their news, run a virtual trading desk on their portfolios, and supercharge productivity without trading away their privacy. He also shares how his journey from infantryman and bomb tech in the U.S. Army to PhD technologist building products for Iraq and Afghanistan shaped his approach to complex systems and leadership under pressure. Along the way, Gregory and Dan dig into why owning your AI beats renting intelligence, how health and wearable data can fuel smarter daily decisions, and why he believes AI will create better humans, not replace them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Inside The Summit: NFL Greats, Top CEOs and the Truth About Success
This special episode of How Success Happens was recorded live at The Summit, a three-day event in Park City, Utah, created by Entrepreneur Media and premier NFL agency Athletes First. In this episode, you’ll hear perspectives on success from elite NFL athletes, including Drew Bledsoe, Kyle Rudolph, and Kyle Van Noy, alongside other top performers from the sports world. They are joined by founders and C-suite leaders from companies such as Red Queen Logic, Go Rentals, Ammortal, Function Health, a16z Cultural Leadership Fund, Yum! Brands, Kickstarter, Ticketmaster, and many more. Find out how they build and sustain high-performing organizations, navigate transition and reinvention, and the parallels between performing on the field and leading in the boardroom. Recorded at an invite-only event, this can’t-miss episode offers rare, candid insights that are sure to inspire you to think more strategically about achieving your goals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Snack: Ken Burns
As America marks its 250th birthday, we're revisiting highlights from conversations with America's storyteller, Ken Burns. Ken's legendary documentaries, including "The American Revolution," “The Civil War,” “Baseball,” and “Jazz,” have earned him piles of Emmys and Oscar nominations, and in this episode, we’re sharing powerful insights from an interview Dan did while Ken was promoting “The Vietnam War.” Ken discussed his creative process, the craft of storytelling, and his perspective on entrepreneurship in America. Happy Fourth, everyone! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sam Adams Founder Turned a Kitchen Recipe Into a Billion-Dollar Brand
Dan sits down with Jim Koch, the legendary founder of Samuel Adams and Boston Beer Company, for a conversation that’s equal parts business masterclass and barroom storytelling. Koch shares how he walked away from a cushy Boston Consulting Group career at 34 to bootstrap a scrappy brewery in a rough Boston neighborhood. They dive into his wild brewing experiments—from 60-proof Utopias to a Bloomingdale’s brown ale made with 40 pounds of beef heart. Koch also explains his Brewing the American Dream program, how he once saved fellow craft brewers during a hop shortage, and why he thinks AI will never replace the “wacky brains” that invent great beer. You’ll laugh, you’ll learn, and you’ll want a cold one by the end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Snack: War Game
This week, Dan sits down with "Competitive Success" author Arjan Singh for a fast, fun, snack-size masterclass on how to future‑proof your business with corporate war games. Arjan explains war gaming as a “dress rehearsal” for strategy, where teams role-play competitors, regulators, and customers to stress-test big moves before they go live. You’ll hear how his sessions predicted Apple TV, learn his nine-step Competitive Success framework, and dig into a pharma case where a preplanned FDA “disaster” scenario helped save a future $5 billion product. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Bobby Moynihan Found Success as a LEGO
Bobby Moynihan, superstar SNL alum and the voice of Jedi Bob on LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy, joins Dan to talk about his newest project. The Clean Plate Club, a live improv show where in-person ticket holders can get a meal cooked on stage, and everyone else can join online starting August 12th. Bobby also reads about Dan (the sheep, not the host) from his children’s book “Not all Sheep are Boring.” He reflects on what success really means, the highlights of his career, and how to command any stage, whether it’s a comedy club, a cartoon sound booth, or a late-night sketch. Got a question or a rude comment? Email it to howsuccesshappens@entrepreneur.com and Dan just might read it on the air. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Snack: Master Class Founder and CEO David Rogier
On this snack-sized episode, MasterClass founder and CEO David Rogier shares the most surprising lessons he’s learned from sitting down with more than 200 of the world’s top performers — and how you can steal their playbook. (Pay extra attention to his advice on how you should be nice to our AI overlords.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Casual Geographic Found Success In The Curiosity Gap
Mamadou Ndiaye, the funny animal guy behind Casual Geographic, has plenty of tips for anyone trying to make better videos, build an audience, or find a justification for their hyperfixation. But the strategy talk isn't the only good stuff in this interview. Ndiaye also counts down the top three times wildlife nearly took him out, which, considering he wrote the book 100 Animals That Can F*cking End You, tracks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Snack: Jack Link’s
Did you know Jack Link of the jerky brand is a real guy? He is, and he is just as obsessed with meat as you would hope. In this episode, Dan sits down with Jack’s son Troy Link to talk about all things jerky. Plus, he shares the brand’s secret sauce. And it’s not what you’re expecting! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Paul Morris 3-Rule System for Never Losing Money in Real Estate
Paul Morris has been in the real estate game for 25 years, and in that time he's learned that the best real estate agents aren't the best at the numbers. It’s something else that makes them special. In this episode of How Success Happens, Paul breaks down his three rules for never losing money on a property. If you've ever dreamed of going into real estate, Paul's here to help. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Snack: Rob Mac
From It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, to putting Wrexham AFC on the map, Rob Mac has a habit of going big. So when Enterprise came to him with a World Cup partnership built around giving away lots of cars, he was in. To enter, fans should post #OnEveryCorner and #Sweepstakes and tag @Enterprise on X or sign up on OnEveryCorner.com from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Dan talked with Rob about the sweepstakes, soccer, and his best advice for entrepreneurs chasing their next big win. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
“The Last Kings of Hollywood” with Author Paul Fischer
Ever wonder what your filmmaking heroes were like before they became legends? We’re talking the giants: Lucas. Spielberg. Coppola. Paul Fischer literally wrote the book on it, The Last Kings of Hollywood. In this conversation with Dan, he breaks down how these icons found their voices and the fascinating mix of friendship, rivalry, and creative friction that pushed them all to greatness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Snack: Breakaway
Like many of us, Adam Lynn spent his college years partying. But unlike the rest of us, he was able to turn those parties into a viable career path. After getting his start in a frat house, Adam would go on to ring the bell at the NASDAQ when his event company Breakaway hit a nine-figure valuation. In this chat with Dan, Adam shares how he turned party planning into a legit business and some of the hard lessons he learned along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
