Ep. 27 - Willie Geist: Writing a Top 10 Book and Hosting TODAY Show & Morning Joe

11/24/14 • 28 min

Nerv with Ryan Williams (Mushrooms, Mycology, and Mycellium)

In this episode I talk with Willie Geist, co-host of the TODAY Show and Morning Joe, and a multiple time NY Times best-selling author. Willie is an old friend from Vanderbilt and I enjoyed interviewing at his office in NYC a few weeks ago.

Willie chats about his book Good Talk, Dad: The Birds and The Bees...and Other Versions We Forgot to Have that he co-authored with his father Bill Geist. Good Talk, Dad became a NY times best-seller, without having any orders pre-sold through Amazon. This is a big deal, because the bulk of book orders in this modern day come from pre-ordering on Amazon’s website. Willie details why and his Dad wrote the book together, and how they marketed it to their audiences around Father's Day.

Additionally, we dive into various chapters of the book. This includes reminiscing about the famed Big Sky Basketball Tournament @ Vanderbilt University that we both played in back in college. And a funny chapter he wrote about taking his daughter to a Harvard/Columbia football game.

Willie also talks about how what it’s like crossing over to other shows like Andy Cohen’s Bravo Show, Joel McHale’s The Soup, and working with The Olympics with Brian Williams and Michelle Beadle. Andy Cohen and other friends were instrumental in helping to market “Good Talk. Dad,” helping it reach best-seller status.

Listen on iTunes Click Here:
Stream on Stitcher Click Here:
Listen on Overcast Click Here:

Buy Willie and Bill Geist’s book “Good Talk, Dad”: http://www.amazon.com/Good-Talk-Dad-Conversations-Forgot-ebook/dp/B00EXTVSMI

Follow Willie Geist on Twitter: https://twitter.com/williegeist

Watch Willie on the Today Show: http://www.today.com/

Listen on iTunes Click Here:
Stream on Stitcher Click Here:
Listen on Overcast Click Here:

Buy Willie and Bill Geist’s book “Good Talk, Dad”: http://www.amazon.com/Good-Talk-Dad-Conversations-Forgot-ebook/dp/B00EXTVSMI

Follow Willie Geist on Twitter: https://twitter.com/williegeist

Watch Willie on the Today Show: http://www.today.com/

Previous Episode

Ep. 26 - Lance Ulanoff: Social Media Branding for Writers (Mashable's Editor at Large)

Lance Ulanoff is Chief Correspondent and Editor-at-Large at Mashable. He joined the Stories From the Influencer Economy, to detail his work as a journalist, and discuss how the journalism industry is evolving in the era of social media.

We also discussed how journalists can build their personal brands on platforms like Twitter & Vine. Lance has covered Apple since his days writing PC Mag, through the current job at Mashable. He also has makes regular appearances to talk tech and products on shows like Fox News, the Today Show, and Good Morning America.

I had Lance on the show to discuss:

How journalists can market themselves, and find their POV
What type of content journalists can create to stand-out in the media world
What’s it like covering Apple event in 2014, vs. 1990

Follow Lance on Vine:

Lance on Vine: https://vine.co/LanceUlanoff
Lance on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lanceulanoff
Mashable: http://mashable.com/

What you’ll get out from this episode (Show notes):

How Lance uses Vine animations to tell stories via journalism
The importance of having a personal brand in social media
How Lance went from writing a column for PC Mag, to creating social media stories at Mashable
How social media creates real-time news at Mashable
The differences between news rooms in the late 1990’s to today
What its like covering the Apple iPhone launch events
What it was like writing 20 page features on technology compared to his work today in journalism
How he connects with Levarr Burton, William Shatner and other influencers via social media
Lance’s advice to journalism students for “how to get into writing for a living”
What’s next for Mashsable

Next Episode

Ep. 28 - Troy Carter: Finding a Passion You’d Be Willing to Die For (Atom Factory CEO)

I was excited to have Troy Carter on the podcast. He is the founder of Atom Factory, and the conversation was inspiring to say the least.

Troy and I talked about hip-hop, entrepreneurship, life, failure, success and finding passion around your work. Troy used to work with Bigee Smalls and Puff Daddy back in the day and we started talking about the paralelles of technology entrepreneurs and hip hop music artists. And the conversation turned into so much more afterwards.

A great quote from Troy: "In life in general, there are no guarantees. Failures are a part of life. As cliche as it may sound, the way I look at it as there are no rewards without taking risks. We take a risk every time we step out the door, every single day. Life is full of risks and failures, but at the same time life is full of triumphs and hapiness."