November 14, 2025 • 59 mins
Pioneering tech executive, philanthropist, bestselling author, and Chair of the National Geographic Society, Jean Case brings a rare blend of vision, optimism, and audacity to every chapter of her life. From her early leap into the startup world at AOL to her decades of social impact with The Case Foundation, leadership in business, and innovation, Jean has built a career defined by courage, curiosity, and a fearless belief in possibility.
The conversation traces Jean’s journey from modest beginnings to the helm of one of the world’s most iconic institutions. She reflects on the risks that shaped her path, the lessons learned from failure, and the importance of creating opportunity for others. Through stories of discovery, philanthropy, and self-disruption, Jean reveals what it means to live boldly — to make big bets, embrace the unknown, and use your platform for good. Whether leading at National Geographic or inspiring the next generation through her book Be Fearless, Jean reminds us that true success isn’t found in comfort — it’s found in courage.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We believe in the power of science, exploration, education and
storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world.
That's the business we're in. We're using all of these
platforms to illuminate the world, and we hope it drives
action so people care about the world and they do
something about it.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Welcome to a Life Well Lived, where we pull back
the curtain on the extraordinary lives of our remarkable members.
I'm James Henderson, CEO of Exclusive Resorts. For me, travel
has never been about the destination. It's always been about
the company you keep. Over the years, I've cross passed
with some of the world's most fascinating, well traveled individuals,
(00:53):
each bound by a singular pursuit to live not just well,
but exceptionally. Their stories aren't just worth telling, they're worth
learning from them, because in the end, it's not about
where we go, but how we choose to live. In
(01:19):
this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Gene Case,
whose career spans business, philanthropy, and social impact. With nearly
two decades in the private sector, including a senior executive
at AOL during its explosive growth, Gene went on to
co found the Case Foundation with her husband Steve in
nineteen ninety seven. Since then, she's been a pioneer in
(01:41):
impact investing, a national voice for social innovation, and a
champion of entrepreneurship and civic engagement. Today, Gene serves as
CEO of the Case Foundation and Case Impact Network, Chair
of the National Geographic Society, and sits on the boards
of the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum, and the White
House Historical Association. She's also best selling author of b Feelss,
(02:04):
a bold call to action for anyone looking to make
a difference. So welcome to our podcast, Gene Case. We're
very excited to have you.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Thanks James.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
I've really been looking forward to being here and being
with you.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Thank you. So I want to start off. You've worn
many hats in your life, philanthropist, leader, investor, even winery owner.
So when you meet someone new, how do you introduce yourself?
I say my name just like everyone else. Hi, I
am Jane, and I don't always include Case depending on
the environment, but I'll go context too.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
So I'm just fresh from a conference this weekend, and
if I have something that's kind of an agenda when
I'm meeting people, then I'll put that in context, so
I'll say, Hi, I'm Gene, I'm Chairman of National Geographic
Just just set the table of why am I here talking
to you? But if it's a more gasual environment, never
do I use titles.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
So many people know you as the chair of National
Geographic Societ. But you started your career in the early
days of tech and took a chance on at the
time was a resatively unknown starts up which became AOL.
That was a big bets you talk about, I think,
and we'll talk more about that later. But what drew
you to the tech world and that business is then.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah, you know, it's a story I particularly love to
tell young people because actually AOL was my third online
business that I had gone to. I worked for the
first online service in the world. Actually it was called
The Source. And I'd love to sit here and pretend
I was smart enough to see the vision and chowse that.
But the fact of the matter is it came out
(03:36):
of really a failure. I had been working for President Reagan.
The government went through one of those threatened government shutdowns
and then shutting down, and the funding for my position
was going to be cut off for a small period
of time, and like everyone else, I was young, I
had rent, I had a car payment, and they came
(03:57):
in and said, oh, you know, Gene, it's all good
if you just go sit tight at home for a while.
We're sure we're going to get the funding for this
position back.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I'm like, who can sit tight? I've got like bills
to pay.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
If I'm not going to get a paycheck here, I
have to go get a paycheck somewhere else. So it
just turned out again one of those weird things of life.
But often those are the moments you should pay attention to,
but we don't.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
The first online service was right down the road and
they needed some help with the national gathering they were
going to do, and so I went over as a
temporary person, thinking I'd go back to work for President Reagan,
but fell in love, saw the vision, believed totally in
the future. Then went on to ge to help them
start an online service, and then was finally, even though
it's so early and you know the arc of history now,
(04:44):
was recruited by this company that was going to become
a well small, teeny little startup.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Did you so you will talk about the be feeless
in a minute, Did you have a sense at the
time and the sort of the risk of that that
you did?
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Almost definitely, Because if I can take you back, this
was the eighties. GE was the number one company in
the world. Everyone wanted to work for GE. Think of
it today, I don't know what a similar thing would be,
Google or you know, one of the hottest companies on
the planet, most valuable company in the United States at
(05:16):
the time. And when I landed there, I just couldn't
believe it. My own background was, you know, really came
out of a middle class there's nothing looking at me
early in my life when people have said, oh, she'll
end up having a really great role at GE. So
it was a much bigger risk than it seemed on
the face of it, because you know, I had sort
(05:37):
of everything most people try to get in their career,
and I chose to leave it. And like some of
my friends were shrill when I told them I was
going to go to this little startup, which of course
was a huge risk, but I believed with all my
heart they had more of a potential to be successful
in changing the world and the way we all dreamed
than the big company that was known as G and
(06:00):
and out of course to be sure.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Absolutely the early days an't they. Yeah, did you have
any sense at the time with AOL and what it
could become and the impact.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
No question.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
By that time I already was major, major believer in
the vision of, you know, using technology to empower people,
to democratizing access to ideas and information and communication all
the things today that we experience every day, but back
then just was not an option for most people.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
So what do you think some experiences that you had
then in those early days of AOL this was shaped
the trajectory your career.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Well, I'll tell you some experiences that maybe didn't so
much shape the trajectory of my career that really made
me understand the impactful business we were building. One is
kind of a sweet, humble story. We had this thing
called the Quilters for them, and so all these mostly
(06:57):
women from all over the United States who were quilters
in these remote communities or whatever, would get together and
share patterns. It was really a very sweet thing, and
then they decided to build one quilt in collaboration with
each other from all over the nation. Today it doesn't
seem like a big deal, but that back then people
(07:18):
just weren't connected. It was really quite an innovation. So
they brought the quilt to AOL and presented it to us,
and I think for all of us, it was just
one of those moments where we realized the dream that
we would bring communities together was really happening in this
like very sweet way. So now go way over here,
a very different experience, but still pretty early. Our system
(07:42):
went down one night and it was down for several hours,
and on the news that night they reported that there
was evidence of water on Mars, which I mean, you know,
I've got a big geek side to me. It's like,
hold the phones of water on Mars, Like that is
headline news, except that was new story number two. A
(08:04):
well being down was new story number one. And I
think that's when we knew, well we are like at
a whole different level.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
That's amazing. Yeah, that's incredible.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
So that risk, that risk is really sort of a
theme in your life, and this really led you, I
think into your book we'll talk about from a moment,
the b Fearless book. So that's sort of a core
tenant of your career, going from this big organization like
ge going to risky sort of a startup, and the
book Realal is about this rallying cry for bold leadership
(08:34):
that you talk about and to stop waiting for perfect
conditions to take action. Yeah, so talk about these themes
that sort of came through from I guess early these
but also what impelled you to write the book?
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Sure, well, I'll tell you. The book was a result
of seven years of research. We have a family foundation,
the Case Foundation, which I've run since it's founding. And
as I traveled all over the world to different types
of communities, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
What I would see.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Is pretty much everyone had a dream of a better
world or things that could be different. And so we
began to go to school and this idea, this really
big question about so why do some people act on
it and some people don't? And then when some people
act on it, what's the difference between those who break
(09:23):
through and those It's kind of like, nah, good, try right,
So we literally hired a team of social scientists to
look at this issue, go across sectors, go across geographies,
go across history, and say what was present where breakthroughs
and transformational change did happen. And those principles became eminently
(09:44):
clear and that's really what the book is about. You know,
we call it Five Principles for Life of Breakthroughs and Purpose,
and it is very social science based and we had
been I don't want to say teaching it because that
sounds like we're talking to you, but share it is
probably a better way to say that around the world.
I would sit with companies, I would sit with nonprofit organizations,
(10:07):
governments even and share these principles, you know, the really
intense need for innovation in different ways of moving forward
and time and time again, they said, more people need
to get access to this message. We think it'd be
great if you do a book, and that's the reason
there's a book today.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
So totally a little about the five Principles.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Sure, well, they are very much based on risk. And
it's really funny because I speak a lot to large
audiences and whenever you talk about taking risks, you can
literally see the discomfort in the body language. You know,
it's at that point that people will start shifting in
their seats or looking down or you know, just really
(10:48):
getting uncomfortable. The principles say, they really start with make
a big bet, and you know, taking a big bet
is a risky thing, because what it asks of you
is to not think incrementally and James, you're doing that
here at exclusive resorts. It would be so easy for
you to say, we've got a good thing going, let's
(11:09):
just do more of this good thing and make it
incrementally better.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
And there are many environments in which you'd be.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Patted on the back and it's like, go, James, right,
But you want more than that. You want a transformational
difference for this business and the purpose of it, and
that's really what it's calling on. But to do that,
you have to get outside your comfort zone. So we
talk about taking risks, and you know, I think one
thing that became clear as we looked at case study
after case study is we say nothing good comes from
(11:38):
the comfort zone. I mean, you feel good, it's a
good place to spend time, but it's not going to
ever be transformational to just stay in what's comfortable. So
that's really sort of the ethos of what the principles.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
In the book are about.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
I love that. I think the one of the things
I say, look here, two young people in our organization
is is every day, if you can do something that
will push you a little bit, there you go get
self outside of your comfort zone. It's going to help
you grow. Ques grow, we expand we learn. And I
love this sort of concept of sort of like embracing
this this idea of failure as well. And you know,
(12:12):
one of the things you talk about is that being
fearless does not mean the absence of fear is kind
of pushing through.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah, And I think I'm really kind of a good
spokesperson for this because I would have never said I
was fearless, even though I took risks, I would have
never said it was fearless. I often am filled with
quite a bit of fear or insecurity going into a situation.
But I have totally learned the discipline of pushing past
(12:38):
that fear and understanding that if you can, Oh, by
the way, on the other side is really good stuff.
And you touched on failure. I mean failure is a
huge message here because it's another one of those things, James,
where when you're talking about it, if we were at
a cocktail hour right now or around a table, people
don't want to talk about their failure. In fact, they're
(13:01):
embarrassed by them. Often they're ashamed of them. But it's
actually through failure that we grow and develop and find
new pathways forward. And so when I speak on college
campuses or I'm teaching a class at a university, I
start with my failure resume, because even the first thing
we talked about, it was out of failure that my
(13:21):
whole career in tech started.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
But as I look.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
At every pivotal moment in my life, I can identify
a failure that happened probably somewhere just before that that
set up that situation. I'm talking about the really big things,
and so I think we do a disservice to everyone,
but most especially young people as they're getting started. They
(13:46):
should have failures if they're trying big things, and we
don't want them feeling like, oh.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
I failed, it's over.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
And so I'll often bring in others to talk about
their failures too, because I think if we get at
comfortable with this idea that when you're trying new, audacious things,
you don't bat a thousand percent, it just doesn't work
that way.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
I like that a lot. One of the one of
our other members who I interviewed early on in our podcast,
like well, Jimmy Matteo, and he was a top gun
fighter party and he said that at the end of
every session that they had, they would fly for maybe
an hour and they would debrief for like three and
it was all about the skipper would start off the
conversation about where he made mistakes and where he failed,
(14:28):
and that was open the conversation. And I think it
also comes with it. I think this is sort of
a sense of being comfortable being a little bit vulnerable
as well. With that.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
When you say most definitely, I mean, yeah, most definitely.
Vulnerability is hard for everyone, and failure and talking about
it or even just coming to terms with it as
a vulnerable thing.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
You know.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Oprah gave this great talk at the Harvard commencement and
she talked about, look, you're going to have to probably
go dig a hole in the ground for a little while,
just go wallowing that.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Because it doesn't feel good when you fail.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
But come out of that, look at what happened, see
what pieces you can pick up and go forward after that.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Do you think in today's world, like the young generation
today are so they live in such a more of
a public forum than I think certainly my generation, yes
probably did that or our generation did. And do you
think that there is more of a willingness to embrace
failure for young generations today or is it something they
really have a hard time dealing with.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
I think this whole idea of being always on, always
on camera, always right, like having to have that pathy,
you know, come back in the situation, et cetera, I
think it has made for you know, a more risk
averse generation. But I also think that there's something that
(15:47):
is creating a risk aversion that we don't appreciate as much.
We've largely taken away play from young people, play outside,
play in places that aren't quote unquot you know, sanitized
and safe. And so what we really want is our
kids having failures and taking risks while they're still in
(16:10):
the context of a family, because we can lift them up,
we can bring them to a better place, et cetera.
If the first time you're encountering that is on your
own and you don't have that sort of deep system.
But I'm talking about everything from jumping off a tree
to you know, like the things I was allowed to
do as a young person. I give thanks for every
(16:34):
single day because today it would just be considered so radical.
I was off on my own, I was out in nature,
I was doing things no one would let a kid do.
But my mom had faith in me that I was
a good kid. And you know my memory is you go, girl,
that's my memory.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Good for you.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Yeah, But today.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
We don't want our kids even to walk to school
alone for good reason. I understand the world's more dangerous place.
So this not judging anybody who thinks twice. But if
you're taking that away, then how can you replace that?
Where can you put them to fall literally, where can
you put them to challenge them, you know, with perseverance,
like outside of you guiding everything and being there every moment.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
So taking it into a sort of a corporate context,
the case foundation you did these failure for us.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
We did fail beests. We called them okay, yeah, fail fests. Yeah, failfests.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
So talk about those.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Well, I often say the important thing about them is
they were much more effective when beer and wine were
in fault because you'd find people a little more in
the spirit of talking about I don't know, things that
maybe in the cold heart of fluorescent lights in an
office you want it, But we would often put them
in kind of a cocktail hour setting. We would tee
(17:49):
up before we got in the rooms. A few people
who are willing to go first, which is really important.
And it's amazing when one person starts talking about their failure,
than others will feel to comfort to chime in. And
we always had them under the radar screen. They could
never be you know, we couldn't tweet about them.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
It wasn't like they were on the record at all.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
And honestly, James, I would say, there were some really
powerful moments in those gatherings.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Can you share a couple of those that were a
powerful moments?
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Well, then I would be violating one I just said,
but I'll share my own. I'll share my own, which
was I would tell the story and it is a
real toughie and I wrote about it in the book.
We started a huge global clean water initiative, largely targeted
at Sub Saharan Africa, where we were putting in these
that we called them play pumps. They were essentially merry
(18:42):
grounds that his kids.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Spun on them.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
It was a well that brought clean water up from
the ground, so you had all kinds of benefits going
on there. For many reasons way too complex to get
into here, it was clear it wasn't working. We had
targeted a thousand communities. The scale was not as much
the issue as some quality problems developed. The communities had
different thoughts.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
It was not working. So we had this board meeting.
I was sharing the board.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
We had a lot of high profile people on that board,
and I had to bring to the board that, look,
we have a choice to make. This is failing in
a way none of us would be comfortable with. We
put a lot of our resource and our reputations on
the line here. So we either have to decide that
you know, we're doubling down and we're going to spend
the next few years course correcting, or we're going.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
To get out, which is a hard decision to make.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Really hard decision to get out, or really hard decision
to make.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
So we have an office.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
It's comprised of glass mals, kind of like your office here.
And I was trying not to let my facial expression
show really the serious nature of it, because I really
figured anyone watching out there would.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Be nervous about what was going on in there.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
But anyway, we made the decision that rather than really
dig deep and sort of pivot one hundred percent, we
had to basically stop the initiative. And I wrote about
it and I came clean and said it was a failure,
and I was pretty sure I'd never get another partner again.
I was pretty sure all the high profile people that
(20:10):
I had reeled into it with us would never want
to work again.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
No, I really was.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
I even remember because back then, you know, they were blogs,
and I remember just my finger when I had to
hit the sind but not wanting to send it.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
Because I was really filled with fear. But the opposite happened.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I got calls from all over, including many of users,
who said, when you do big audacious things, and this
was a really big audacious thing, sometimes it's not going
to work. We believe we did everything we could. You know,
we're really saddened. It's like we're dancing because it's over.
But we hope people down the line can learn because
(20:47):
I was very specific about what we might have done better.
And many people even since have told me they looked
at that sort of playbook where I said we should
have done this or we didn't do that, and then
it mattered to them as they took forward their initiatives.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
It's a really hard thing to do when you when
you're midway through the initiative to stop and say it's
in some cases it's easy to double down and keep
going right that it is to sort of stay this
is a mistake. We're going to stop at to right.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
We need to senset a lot of things in this
world that we just keep on keeping on with long
after they've proven their effectiveness or their quality. And we
were really committed that we weren't going to we weren't
going to do that.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
But it was hard, and.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
I'm there's just not an there's not an easy way
for me to convey how hard that was.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Because an example that sets the fact that you're willing
to do that in front of your organization, your team,
and so many partners. It's a huge testament.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Well, I think it helped.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Then it opened up dialogue with some other institutions doing
some other big audacious things to say, all right, we're
having some problems too, and then behind closed doors we
could kind of help each other and whereas before they
felt like, well maybe we can't really say that.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
So, also in the book, you talk about drawing inspiration
from leaders that make big bets, and but one of
the things you advocate is this shouldn't be limited to
people in positions of paths. I think people think, well,
you know, this is really people who are in hYP
poth positions, these big decisions things. How do you bring
that down to sort of the day to day and
how can people sort of embrace this and think about
(22:23):
taking risks and challenging the status quite a little bit
more in their daily life.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Well, you and I haven't talked about this at length,
so I'll make some presumptions and it may or may
not be true. Okay, okay, But what's quite common is
if people aren't familiar with the work we did, and
most aren't right, because you try to scratch just a
service of a world when you bring a message out.
The bottom line is there is a bias that to
(22:49):
have transformational breakthroughs or really change something in a meaningful way,
you have to have money. Yep, you have to have connections.
Maybe had to go to the right school. Maybe I
had to get a certain kind of degree, Maybe had
to come from the right place.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
I could go on. Right, do all those resonate with you?
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Do you think that generally when you think about people
really breaking through, most people think that whether.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
You're doing it.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
So we tried to bust that myth here by making
it clear that the truth is talent is universal.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
It's opportunity that is not.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
That's interesting.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
And so I wrote about people you've never heard of.
I wrote about people from communities you'll never go to
or never hear of, and really tried to draw the
picture of how anyone anywhere. For the most part, I'm
not being overly naive here, but many, many people, despite
(23:48):
challenges they face, can break through. And I think I'm
a walking example of that. My mom was a single
mother raising a family four. We were you know, I
thought we were kind of okay, lower middle class, Volgan
middle class neighborhood, but I think we're actually economically even
lower than that. You know, when President Reagan offered me
(24:10):
the opportunity to come to work in Washington, I hadn't
graduated college yet.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
I don't have a college degree.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
I'm chairman of National degrad So I really try to
use my own situation to say, gosh, there were you
could look at me as a series of deficits.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
And I'm not kidding.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
They are just bing bing bing bing bing, like what
gave her that opportunity. But if you get the opportunity,
and sometimes you do you know, you grab that brass
ring and you make the most of it. But that
has been my experience as I've traveled the world. Remember
that I said I was really bothered about why do
some people break through in others don't? And it wasn't
obvious what the difference was. It really is the application
(24:51):
of these principles where you can. And whenever I say that,
I really worry that I'm sounding insensitive to the struggles
and the challenges manuments people have, and there are many
that probably simply can't overcome. But for most people in
this world, there's a way forward.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
I think the theme that I really like is that
it's as he took before. It's pushing through a little
bit of anxiety or not. But if I look at
most of the people that I work with, or even
a team here that are real high performance, most of
the ones that are really good, they have that little
bit of anxiety they do and they just push through it,
(25:29):
and I think it fuels them through.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
It does.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
It's a fuel, that's a really good way to put it.
It can be a motivator, it can ye. Yeah, you know,
it's funny though, I believe so strongly in this that
like when we have a position we're getting ready to
post for, but typically we don't require a college degree
because we don't think that necessarily tells us what we
(25:54):
were doing for, you know, curious, self starter, go getter.
Those things are, in my humble opinion, and the realms
I've dealt in really determinants of will this person be great?
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Yeah? So talking great, let's switch gears.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
National Geographic for sure, great institution, great institution.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Wise, exactly, So, the National Geographic Society was found in
eighteen eighty eight, and you made history in twenty sixteen,
was the first female chair. What did that milestone mean
to you personally? And what kind of responsibility came with it?
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Yeah, so people use that a lot. For me, it
was much less about the female thing, even though I
realized for some that's a really important milestone. That look too,
it really comprises a lot of what I just told
you about. But you know what I think is the
coolest thing in the world is we were started in
eighteen eighty eight, and if you look around in this world,
(26:55):
there aren't a lot of institutions still standing. We disrupt
ourselves constantly. We try to peek around the corner, which
is one of the principles in the book, and see
what's coming and.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
Be ready for it.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
You know, a lot of people don't realize National Geographic
was founded by thirty three individuals, all really different people.
We would call it a very diverse table of talents
and backgrounds and skills. Some of them just you know,
audacious people like John Wesley Powell, who I don't know
if you know of him, but he basically mapped the
(27:29):
Colorado River the first two through the Grand Canyon. He
was a Civil War hero with one arm when he
did that. I mean, the audacious nature of our founders
were amazing. So they believed we lived in a world
where there was this oh, what do I want to say,
just revolution of new science and exploration, and we were
(27:52):
learning new things all the time about the world, but
most people were unaware. So they created the National Geographics
Society to tell the stories of what was going on
in the world. And they used a commercial business to
do that, which was a subscription to the magazine. And
they took all those profits and they threw them over
the wall and then funded more science and exploration. So
(28:14):
it's kind of this really awesome virtuous circle of you know,
we're doing some of the we're covering and we're doing
all this really neat stuff, but then over here we're
telling those stories.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
And essentially that is very much.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Our model today where we have the parent which is
called the National Geographic Society, which has been around since
eighteen eighty eight and we fund over fifteen thousand grants
to date.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
But we're on the forefront of everything.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
That school and science and exploration and what's out there
in the world. And then we have this amazing media megaphone.
We touched two billion people.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Wow, every month.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
I haven't realized it.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Through all of our platforms, almost two billion. No one
else on the planet is doing that. So it's an
exciting time where we're able to harness technology and media
to really just drive more curiosity, more knowledge, more action
around things in our world that we think people need
to know about. But very very even though the way
(29:19):
we do it is so dramatically different than how they
did it in eighteen eighty eight, the fundamentals the DNA
is still.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
There, so the exclust results. We partnered with National Geographic Foundation
on the Around the World Jet, which we just finished.
We did nine countries in twenty one days, which is
an amazing trip. We've done that now, I think for
four years in a row, which is incredible. We also
put with Lindblad a lot as well. National Geographic has
a very unique model for the not for profit. Can
you explain more about it?
Speaker 1 (29:46):
So it kind of goes back to what I was
saying about how we were founded. We have this exciting
media travel, a number of commercial businesses that sit in
a joint venture that's all commercial businesses, and that rolls
up to our global nonprofit, which is the National Geographic Society.
So we have a partner in our joint venture, which
(30:08):
is Disney. And so if you turn on Disney Plus
today there are five tiles and you know a lot
of them, right, they're brands you know, well, one of
them is National Geographic. If you go on Global Travel,
you can go anywhere in the world with us through Limblad.
And we're very proud by the way of the partnership
we've had with Exclusive Resorts. In many ways, I feel
(30:31):
like the Exclusive Resorts members are shared DNA with people
who love National Geographic and vice versa. Right, They're curious
travelers in this world. They don't want to just pass through.
They want to know, they want to, you know, really
have a meaningful experience when they travel to other places.
And essentially that's what we've been trying to do through
(30:52):
our travel businesses for a long time.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
So you said two billion people a month, right, is
the reach of that terrific?
Speaker 3 (30:59):
So can I explain that a little bit?
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (31:02):
So if you think about our platforms, right, we are
the largest brand in social media. There's no other brand
in the world that has as many followers as we do.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
I think we're at three hundred million just on Instant's incredible.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Okaya, three hundred million on inst.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Pretty sure, that's right where we are.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
But by time you add Facebook, all the all the
different platforms, and you know, part of the reason we've
had so much success there. Of course, it's been intentional,
and it's an amazing management team that does this. But also, look,
we're all about photographs and videos and we have been
for a really long time, and so we naturally had
(31:45):
sort of the stuff that makes social media sing even
before others did where they had to sort of create
it for social media.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
It's just what we do.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Is tell powerful stories through video and through photographs, and
we have for really long time. Then we have our
cable channels, then we have Disney Plus, then we have
the magazine. We have consumer products all over the world.
We take many, many people every year onto exciting travel experiences.
So it really is one way or another. About two
(32:16):
billion people a year touch our brand.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
So how do you so with that level of reach
that you have, it's such a powerful platform for driving
away as an action. How do you link those two
things together?
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Well, you know, we say that we believe in the
power of science, exploration, education and storytelling to illuminate and
protect the wonder.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
Of our world.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
That's the business we're in. We're using all of these
platforms to illuminate the world and we hope it drives
action so people care about the world and they do
something about it.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
That's so it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Really matter how many people touch our brand if at
the end of the day something great doesn't happen. I mean,
this really is about really trying to help people care
and take it personally and do something because of it.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
I love that. I love it. We talk a lot
about the fact that you know, travel in our world
opens the mind. That it was the eyes, it was
the hot but to connect that with sort of knowledge
and awareness and action. It's an incredible thing. So how
do you honor the legacy and traditional exploration, the national
deographic and that sort of science and storytelling while all
sort of pushing into future.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
Yeah, we have a saying that we're one hundred and
thirty seven year old startup because we constantly are willing
to disrupt ourselves, to stop anything we've been doing, to
start anything new that makes sense, to take us further
to you know, strengthen the brand or the mission.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
And so I think that gives us. We just have
this fearless.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
DNA And I've often thought that the reason there's fearless
DNA in our boardroom is because how can you stand
next to these people on the front lines of the
unknown every day and then you know whither, Okay, that's
not going to happen.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
They embold in us.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
And I think every person around the board table is
so like, feels so privileged.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
To be there.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
And you know, one of the coolest things, James, when
I became chair, I think I mentioned this to you before.
The organization's board had never gone outside the United States
in over one hundred years for a board meeting. Yet
where's our work? You know, it's all over it's everywhere.
Speaker 3 (34:33):
It's in the United States, but it's all over the world.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
So I began a tradition that every other year we
do a week long board retreat. We go into the
field with our explorers. We see their work up close
and personal and sometimes a little more personal and up close,
and we're comfortable with but it's great because then we
come back under fluorescent lights and we're talking about these things,
so we have real context and real conviction around we're
(34:58):
going to keep doing this, but we do.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Need to disrupt ourselves.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
So AI right, you know that's going to mean really
big changes for national geographic Right now, we're working through.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
That with management.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
What does that look like? What are the implications. We're
not sitting on the sidelines waiting for something to be
done to us. We're going to be at the forefront
as we've always been, and that's why I think we're
still standing one hundred and thirty seven years later.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
So talk about the board a little bit. You said,
that's twenty three, twenty three, twenty three director is how
do you select those people? How do you identify them?
What is the typical.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Makeup well, we select them very carefully. It is a
table that is comprised of people from different sectors. We
have a number of global business leaders, we have a
number of global nonprofit and foundation leaders.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
We have scientists.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
And another change we've just made in recent years is
we now have an explorer representative on the board as well,
which was never a part of the board construct before.
But I talk about our board creation is quite different
than most institutions. We use what I call an algorithmic approach.
(36:14):
You know, the world brings us cycles, and any given
cycle you need different talents, different backgrounds, different skills. So
we sort of keep track of, well, who's on the
board now, what backgrounds and expertise and sort of value
do they bring, and what are we missing? And if
we go into a new cycle, it means, oh gosh,
when this one rolls off, we have to look for
(36:35):
someone from here, for instance. And that's been a really
effective way to build a board that brings full strength
in all the areas that we need. And so as
a result, you know, we've worked with a lot of
other institutions who asked for it, and we sort of
train them up on this is our approach.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
On board building and this algorithmic approach. Is this something
that was new to National Draftic? Was this part of
your tech that you b.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
Yes, it is? It is. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
I mean I don't really think of it as a
tech thing. As much as going back to the book,
be Fearless. The research couldn't be any clearer. The data
is very clear, the different perspectives in different backgrounds working
together bring better outcome.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Absolutely, So what we don't want is a table full
of just scientists, a table full of just business people,
a table full of just nonprofit leaders. This is a
mashup of all of those things, and it is truly
a beautiful thing to watch what happens as a result.
I think if you talk to any of our trustees,
they would just tell you that it's a beloved institution
(37:38):
to serve and we all get great.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Joy at it. I can imagine it might be flying
the wall of those board meetings.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
Think me very interesting come sometimes so.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Society's awarded fifteen thousand grants since it was established in
eighteen eighty eight, and last year raised one hundred and
twelve million. Can you talk about how to identify recipients
and the process of awarding grants.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Well, you know, there are very few people I've ever
met in life who didn't want to be a National
Geographic Explorer. I don't care how old they are, how
young they are, they all want to be National Geographic Explores.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
I didn't do by the way.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
I mean, I had a you know, I was definitely
a young explorer out there on my own right.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
But it's a super rigorous process.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
But you know, one of the things that I really love, James,
is that when you come into the National Geographic Family
as a grantee, we're not just going to take you
by the hand. We're going to come alongside, train you, up,
skill you up in ways.
Speaker 3 (38:38):
You know.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
It's funny there there's this thing called science telling because
so often, like a scientist will have this amazing idea
and absolutely no way to communicate it because communication isn't
their thing. Okay, So we truly train up and skill
up our explores on so many different fronts, and then
what we've seen with a number of them is they'll
come in as perhaps young explorers and then continue to
(39:01):
elevate you through kind of different levels of our work,
and some have even become what we call explorers and
residents that way, which is the highest explores a large
and explorers.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
Each explorer can get multiple grounds towards that.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Over time, as their work has proven out to be
effective and as they become leaders in their own right.
The one of the coolest things. And here you really
should come. I think we've talked about this before, but
I can't remember. We do what we call and Explorers
Festival once a year where we bring them all home,
and that happens in the summertime, so they're spending that
week getting trained up.
Speaker 3 (39:36):
Meeting each other.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
These all coming to d C, all coming to d C.
How many people come.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
To them, so I think we had the largest number
this past summer, which was around between three hundred and
fifty and four came from I mean we've had them
come from one hundred and fifty countries, so it's really
quite something. So anyway, it is really a very special moment.
So they come and they do very brief press of
(40:00):
their work, especially if they're early in the process, and
then of course as you move up that ladder, you
have more time to come and present your work, and
they're just for me. It is truly my favorite week
of the year of anything that I do, to go
and to see these amazing innovators, scientists, people out there
on the front lines doing the most remarkable things.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
And how many people get turned down for the awards
each O.
Speaker 3 (40:25):
A lot, most, is it?
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Yeah, So if you get an A ward and you're
a grantee, then you're really right.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
You should think about it a little bit, almost like
getting into a really good to college.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Yeah, I can imagine. Amazing. Yeah, so looking forward, you've
what's the next frontier.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Financial Oh gosh, I think we're you know, it's so
fun because our CEO, jil Tivent Toller, who is amazing,
she came in twenty twenty and when she came.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
She did a five year strategic point.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
So we're at the end of that and truly we
can kind of feel really good good that all that
intentional work has mostly been achieved, and even beyond we
are just now beginning the process of looking at the
next five years. And it's a perfect time because we
are in such a disrupted state. Everywhere we look, I
mean across sectors, across the globe, the pace of change,
(41:20):
the volume of change is unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (41:23):
What a great time to step back and say, okay.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
So how do we bring to it what we should
be bringing in this world now? And that's that disrupt
yourself mentality. And I'm super excited to see what we
come forward with. But it's a process that will take
about a year before ready to stand up and say,
you know, this is really the meaningful, new sort of
strategy that we're going forward with. But I'd say every
(41:49):
day something new, you know, I'll give you an example
of how the world is changing so rapidly. One of
our explores, his name is David Gruber. He's done a
tremendous amount of work with sperm whales for a long time.
And the really super exciting thing is we can say
today that sperm whales will be the first non intelligent
(42:10):
species and intelligence.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
We have to be a little careful with that term.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Whose alphabet has been decoded David and his team because
of AI today we have exported We're most of the
way there. I'm decoding the language of the sperm whirls. Now,
why does that matter? While somewhere along the way, NASA
rang up David and said, you know, kind of feels
(42:35):
like if you could make out the language of the
sperm whale. If we had some say, new species arrived
that either come to us or we go to them,
can some of these tools be applied?
Speaker 3 (42:46):
And so NASA is now a partner in that work.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
And what we found through the years is we think
we're kind of doing one thing, and it turns out
that that one thing has much broader implications then maybe
the original you know, grant proposal suggested, or even when
we gave the grant what we might have expected.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
So looking back over the last ten plus years, and
that's obviously one of things that you mean credibly proud of,
But what are the other things that you're incredibly proud
of that you that you've done through your tenure.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
You know, I would just say I'm incredibly proud of
how we've shown up in the world because I think
we continue to bring and I hope I've conveyed it
properly a humility and what we do. You know, we
have gifts and talents and resources and tools that we
can give to this world and let the world take
(43:40):
advantage of and use and then tell the stories.
Speaker 3 (43:42):
I mean, one thing I think I.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
Haven't made clear enough is we actually think our superpower
is storytelling. So I mean, we do all this amazing
stuff over here, but if that happened and nobody knew
about it, totally underleveraged. I think what National Geographic has
been known for since the beginning is the amazing storytelling capabilities,
(44:08):
whether that's visually, whether that's in written word, you know,
And I think that the way we've shown up in
the world in the last ten years, I think we've
tried to ask big questions about where we should be
and the difference we can make, and then we've worked
really hard to not only tell the stories ourselves, but
as I've tried to make clear empower many many others
(44:28):
to do so as well, and fund a lot of
that work.
Speaker 2 (44:32):
Amazing accomplishment, amazing tenure have such a level of impact.
Of course, so many people in lives as extortiny.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
I really though, there's no way I would sit here
and take credit and this is not false humility. We
just have this remarkable board, we have this amazingly talented
leadership and management team at the society. And then I
mean our partners didn't The partners we've.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
Had have also vaulted our work.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
So it's kind of been like a beautiful storm of
things that have come together.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
Very cool. I want to come to explore a week
one of these days. So moving on a little bit too,
with philanthropy and leadership with perpose. Yes, you spoken a
lot about growing up with modest means. How do you
think that has shaped your approach to philanthropy investment.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
Well, I mean there's certainly an underlying ethos of to
whom much has given, much is expected. But in my family,
even when much wasn't given, much was expected, Okay, I
mean we were always taking what little we had and
(45:45):
trying to be there for others, largely, you know, because
my mom just modeled that in every single way, hard
working single mom for waitress. I'd come home from school,
she'd go to work, because if you're a waitress, the
only time you make money is at night, right, But
still she found a way to just be there in
a material way for others, in both small and big ways.
Speaker 3 (46:06):
So I think that was just present.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
You know, I am a person of very deep faith,
and I think my faith calls me to watch after
my brother and my sister, and I've tried to do that.
But also, I mean, you know, I think that I
get really jazzed at the opportunity to bring opportunities to
others who may not otherwise have it.
Speaker 3 (46:30):
And I think that does go to you.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
I tell the story when I had the privilege of
going to a private school on full scholarship. So in
that world, that was the elite's elite.
Speaker 3 (46:42):
That's you know.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
The kids I sort of had play dates with or
became my close.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
Friends all came from extreme privilege.
Speaker 1 (46:50):
And then I'd come back to my neighborhood and a
lot of working people. A lot of people have the
same hopes and dreams for their lives and lives their children,
but they were missing opportunity. That was the big difference.
Speaker 3 (47:01):
It wasn't like.
Speaker 1 (47:02):
They were smart and harder working, and they weren't. And
I think I just get really jazzed at the opportunity.
And it goes back to what brought me to tech,
to empower others and bring opportunities to them as well.
Speaker 3 (47:15):
I was a recipient of it. I'd love to pass
it them.
Speaker 2 (47:18):
Is your Mava stolen?
Speaker 3 (47:19):
She is not. She's been gone for fourteen years.
Speaker 2 (47:21):
She's very proud of what you accomplishing, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (47:24):
Very proud of her as I'm trying to make clear.
Speaker 2 (47:26):
I'm sure, I'm sure. So what is so when you
think of philanthropy, how would you measure success in philanthropy?
Speaker 1 (47:33):
Measure success in philanthropy? Yeah, so I think there's a
soft way and a more structured way. Believe it or not,
I feel like there have been in the time that
my husband and I, since Steve and I since we
created the Foundation almost thirty years ago. Now, the tools
and the measurements and the standards are much clearer today
(47:55):
in philanthropy than they were when.
Speaker 3 (47:57):
We got started.
Speaker 1 (47:59):
And I love data, but I have a love hate
relationship with data because you know, you do sort of
owe it to understanding are you making a difference or
you're not. Are your resources being used wisely.
Speaker 2 (48:12):
Or aren't they?
Speaker 1 (48:13):
But there are sometimes when you just know it's the
right thing to do, and there's never going to be
data that makes that entirely.
Speaker 2 (48:21):
And what does that look like when you know, when
you have that sense that you know this is instinctively right?
What does that feel like?
Speaker 1 (48:27):
Well, so, you know, one of our earliest initiatives was
with the digital divide, and we saw communities across the nation,
we saw this digital tsunami happening, happening, but a lot
of people didn't have access at all to it. We
didn't have any data to tell us that if we
(48:49):
gave them access in the end, they might perform better
at school. They might do And I'm taking you back
before social media, because social media has turned all that
on it's ear. We knew it was the right thing
to do. We had no data to back it when
we went into a zero data, but we knew it
was the right thing to do, and it turned out
it actually was.
Speaker 2 (49:09):
So you're aso a winery owner changing gas again and
what inspired you to step into that world.
Speaker 1 (49:20):
So we're Virginians and we've been Virginian's for forty three years.
And I loved my home state and it became clear
that there was a burgeoning sector that could strengthen the state.
It maybe bring some amazing new wine.
Speaker 3 (49:36):
To the world in the process. And by the way, a.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
Lot of people would say California was first in wine,
that's actually not the case. Virginia was Thomas Jefferson. Thomas
Jefferson very famously, but even before Thomas Jefferson, Jamestown.
Speaker 3 (49:50):
For you to have.
Speaker 1 (49:52):
A plot of land, right, this is the first community
and what we call the United States today. You had
to commit to have a couple of grape minds to
help our.
Speaker 3 (50:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Yeah, So Virginia has a deep, rich history, but we
just became kind of believers that the promise of the
quality of Virginia and I'll say this very boldly, will
compete with the best wine regions in the world and
against the best wines in the world. And our team
is proving that every day. It's Early Mountain vineyards just
(50:23):
north of Charlottesville, and the accolades are getting, the awards,
are winning, the reviews, the scores, everything is proving it out.
Speaker 3 (50:31):
It's a long slot to.
Speaker 1 (50:32):
Be you know, coming from the wine country area yourself.
Speaker 3 (50:37):
It's farming at the end of the day, it is.
Speaker 1 (50:39):
And a lot of people think about, you know, oh
wine's so cool, or it's you know, hoity toity or whatever.
Speaker 3 (50:45):
It's farming. That's what it is to create.
Speaker 1 (50:48):
Great So that was another big bet and we're still
deep in the midst of bet.
Speaker 3 (50:53):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (50:56):
So, when you think about the next generation and you
think about philanthropy, what are the sort of opportunities that
you would look at for people who want to make
a difference Going forward in.
Speaker 3 (51:06):
The next gen.
Speaker 1 (51:06):
Yeah, yeah, I think that the way they will do
it is probably not the traditional way that it's been done.
And by the way, when we came into pilanthropy, people
thought we were disruptive, you know, because we wanted to
do things a little differently, like, for instance, there were
many times we let the public decide where our grants
would go. That was just super radical then. But I
(51:29):
think the next gen will redefine philanthropy.
Speaker 3 (51:31):
And I'm a.
Speaker 1 (51:32):
Little bothered by sort of a worldview today that philanthropy
is only institutional. I've always been a really big believer
in personal philanthropy that we can all practice. And I'll
give you an example of that. So, my mom was
a waitress.
Speaker 3 (51:51):
Right.
Speaker 1 (51:51):
She didn't believe in taking advantage of any programs that
was her decision, right. She didn't want to feel like
we were going to do that, So she worked as
a waitress. All of my siblings worked. I went to
work pretty early, and you know, I think it was
just that's what we're going to do. But I'll tell you,
on any given night, if Mom got a more generous tip,
(52:14):
it suddenly meant that maybe we could get into shoes,
maybe you know, if the washing machine hadn't been working
for three months, maybe it could top off what we
needed to buy a new washer. These are very real
things in the lives of people who struggle, and I
(52:34):
don't think it should you. Generosity doesn't just come through institutions.
It often comes person to person, and we don't realize
that in how we go about our business every single
day there might be an opportunity to be just a
little more generous. I'm not talking about busting the bank
here or whatever, but if everybody took on a little
(52:55):
bit of that, James, we probably wouldn't need all these
known part some philanthropies that we have that are trying
to fill a lot of that gap.
Speaker 2 (53:04):
Small acts of kindness have quite absolutely.
Speaker 1 (53:07):
Yeah, it's a powerful thing. I mean I witnessed it,
I lived it. I'm here largely because somebody paid for
my scholarship at that private school. I'll never know who did,
but somebody did. And I don't think that was an institution,
you know, And yet it changed.
Speaker 3 (53:22):
A life forever.
Speaker 2 (53:23):
Paying forward, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (53:24):
And in small ways, how can you make And it
isn't always money, right, It can be mentoring, it can
be any number of things. But so I think the
next gen is mostly averse to big institutions. They don't
trust them right, and in many cases, you know, some
of them have good reason for that if you think
about what their lives have taken you through. So I
(53:44):
think it's going to look different, and I think a
big good thing.
Speaker 2 (53:49):
So what is something you value now that you didn't
a decade ago?
Speaker 3 (53:54):
Spending time alone?
Speaker 1 (53:55):
Because I didn't have any time to spend alone before,
you know, in the active raising children and trying to
have a career and trying to be a loving, supportive
spouse and do all the things, you know, be there
for my friends, be there for my family. As our kids,
(54:15):
you know, launched, I began to recognize the importance of
a longe time in terms of I've always been reflective,
but I didn't necessarily associate that with spending time alone.
Speaker 2 (54:31):
And for me, it's quite valuable, I'm sure. I think
it's one of those things that we never give ourselves
enough time for. That sort of self care elements so important,
isn't it. So how do you shop on the knife
and what is a daily ritual that you protect all costs.
Speaker 1 (54:43):
I start my day with reading and prayer, and reflection.
And sometimes that's a really short period of time, maybe
ten to fifteen minutes. Sometimes that can extend out to
an hour depending on the circumstances around me. I try
to remove myself from any busy area, and I I
find that my days are much better. My spirit going
into the day is much improved if I make time
(55:06):
for that. I also just am a big believer in
ritual and routine. There's actually a lot of data coming
out of psychology now about the many, many.
Speaker 3 (55:16):
Benefits of that of routine data routine.
Speaker 1 (55:19):
That from a mental health standpoint, it has real, real
benefits to committing yourself to routine. And then lastly, I
would say, I'm crazy about the outdoors. I couldn't live
in a world that I couldn't get outside. So I
try to really discipline myself that no matter what my
day holds, and I mean literally, no matter what my
(55:39):
day holds, I will find a way to get outside.
Speaker 2 (55:43):
I think that's self care element is so important today.
I think people tend not to think about that too much.
We've did in such a busy world. But finding time
where you can just so center and have time in
your as so critical. So when you think about your
legacy and the impact you're most hopefully behind for family
and community world. What would that be?
Speaker 3 (56:01):
You know?
Speaker 1 (56:01):
So I think it'd be really great if people just
ask themselves, did I help to make it better?
Speaker 3 (56:09):
In real time? Not just waiting until they die?
Speaker 1 (56:12):
And that question comes up? And what does that mean?
It can be anything. It can be the professional relationship,
it can be the company you work for. It can
be your church, your community, your neighborhood. But I think
that it's a good life if you try to use
that as a north star.
Speaker 3 (56:31):
And so I wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (56:33):
Call it a legacy, but I certainly hope that the
purpose and intent that I've brought to my life means
that I've made it a little better in some ways.
Speaker 2 (56:44):
I think we all hope that it's a great place
to be. So last question, so as you think from
your chair in the world of National geographic what is
one place in the world that might have changed how
you've seen things, will change your perspectives that you visited.
Speaker 3 (57:03):
Can I tell you there's two?
Speaker 2 (57:05):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (57:05):
Because who has like one favorite child? Yeah, Antarctica is
definitely that It's amazing and it wasn't just the extraordinary
natural environment but even what it is that fifty countries
come together and agree on what it is and is not.
I mean, what a beautiful picture. It's kind of hard
(57:28):
to even believe exists and keeps right. What else would
fifty countries just come together as kind of co owners
of and say, all right, we all agree, this is.
Speaker 3 (57:37):
Kind of how it's going to be here we are.
Speaker 1 (57:40):
The other one is there's a place off the coast
of Cuba that, in fairness, most people won't have the
chance to go to, but I could because of my
role with National Geographic I'm a diver. And it's called
the Gardens of the Queens, and it's a really interesting
story and unintended consequences that turn out good. So Castro,
(58:01):
because he controlled people, didn't let anyone leave. You couldn't
own a boat, you couldn't go out.
Speaker 3 (58:06):
In the water, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (58:08):
It means that there's this pristine place in our oceans
sitting right off of Cuba. It's called a Pristine Sea,
and it's like you turned back the clock on our planet.
So I was able to dive there three times a
day for a week with our lead explorer that does
our Pristine Sea's work. And James, as I was swimming around,
(58:32):
the goliath grouper would come alongside longer than I am.
We were trying to do fish counts, but the counts
were so extraordinary that there's no human fish count that
can take place. We were, you know, in a school
of yellow fin tuna that had to have thousands and
thousands that went on further than we could see. So
(58:55):
it was life changing for me in the sense that
I could see, you know what, if we are a
little kinder and gentler to some of the places that
are really special on this earth, even if we're didn't
set out for the right reasons to do that, the
benefits and the things that result are really quite extraordinary.
So that truly was an unforgettable life experience.
Speaker 2 (59:18):
Lckel Well, jan Case, thank you so much for joining
us on our podcast, A Life Well Living.
Speaker 3 (59:23):
Thank you, James been read Chatting.
Speaker 2 (59:34):
Stories like this are a window into what makes the
Exclusive Resorts community unlike any other, filled with members who
live with intention and travel without compromise. With more than
four hundred private residences and curated experiences around the world,
the club continues to redefine the art of living well.
Learn more at Exclusive Resorts, dot com
We believe in the power of science, exploration, education and
storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world.
That's the business we're in. We're using all of these
platforms to illuminate the world, and we hope it drives
action so people care about the world and they do
something about it.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Welcome to a Life Well Lived, where we pull back
the curtain on the extraordinary lives of our remarkable members.
I'm James Henderson, CEO of Exclusive Resorts. For me, travel
has never been about the destination. It's always been about
the company you keep. Over the years, I've cross passed
with some of the world's most fascinating, well traveled individuals,
(00:53):
each bound by a singular pursuit to live not just well,
but exceptionally. Their stories aren't just worth telling, they're worth
learning from them, because in the end, it's not about
where we go, but how we choose to live. In
(01:19):
this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Gene Case,
whose career spans business, philanthropy, and social impact. With nearly
two decades in the private sector, including a senior executive
at AOL during its explosive growth, Gene went on to
co found the Case Foundation with her husband Steve in
nineteen ninety seven. Since then, she's been a pioneer in
(01:41):
impact investing, a national voice for social innovation, and a
champion of entrepreneurship and civic engagement. Today, Gene serves as
CEO of the Case Foundation and Case Impact Network, Chair
of the National Geographic Society, and sits on the boards
of the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum, and the White
House Historical Association. She's also best selling author of b Feelss,
(02:04):
a bold call to action for anyone looking to make
a difference. So welcome to our podcast, Gene Case. We're
very excited to have you.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Thanks James.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
I've really been looking forward to being here and being
with you.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Thank you. So I want to start off. You've worn
many hats in your life, philanthropist, leader, investor, even winery owner.
So when you meet someone new, how do you introduce yourself?
I say my name just like everyone else. Hi, I
am Jane, and I don't always include Case depending on
the environment, but I'll go context too.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
So I'm just fresh from a conference this weekend, and
if I have something that's kind of an agenda when
I'm meeting people, then I'll put that in context, so
I'll say, Hi, I'm Gene, I'm Chairman of National Geographic
Just just set the table of why am I here talking
to you? But if it's a more gasual environment, never
do I use titles.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
So many people know you as the chair of National
Geographic Societ. But you started your career in the early
days of tech and took a chance on at the
time was a resatively unknown starts up which became AOL.
That was a big bets you talk about, I think,
and we'll talk more about that later. But what drew
you to the tech world and that business is then.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah, you know, it's a story I particularly love to
tell young people because actually AOL was my third online
business that I had gone to. I worked for the
first online service in the world. Actually it was called
The Source. And I'd love to sit here and pretend
I was smart enough to see the vision and chowse that.
But the fact of the matter is it came out
(03:36):
of really a failure. I had been working for President Reagan.
The government went through one of those threatened government shutdowns
and then shutting down, and the funding for my position
was going to be cut off for a small period
of time, and like everyone else, I was young, I
had rent, I had a car payment, and they came
(03:57):
in and said, oh, you know, Gene, it's all good
if you just go sit tight at home for a while.
We're sure we're going to get the funding for this
position back.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I'm like, who can sit tight? I've got like bills
to pay.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
If I'm not going to get a paycheck here, I
have to go get a paycheck somewhere else. So it
just turned out again one of those weird things of life.
But often those are the moments you should pay attention to,
but we don't.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
The first online service was right down the road and
they needed some help with the national gathering they were
going to do, and so I went over as a
temporary person, thinking I'd go back to work for President Reagan,
but fell in love, saw the vision, believed totally in
the future. Then went on to ge to help them
start an online service, and then was finally, even though
it's so early and you know the arc of history now,
(04:44):
was recruited by this company that was going to become
a well small, teeny little startup.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Did you so you will talk about the be feeless
in a minute, Did you have a sense at the
time and the sort of the risk of that that
you did?
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Almost definitely, Because if I can take you back, this
was the eighties. GE was the number one company in
the world. Everyone wanted to work for GE. Think of
it today, I don't know what a similar thing would be,
Google or you know, one of the hottest companies on
the planet, most valuable company in the United States at
(05:16):
the time. And when I landed there, I just couldn't
believe it. My own background was, you know, really came
out of a middle class there's nothing looking at me
early in my life when people have said, oh, she'll
end up having a really great role at GE. So
it was a much bigger risk than it seemed on
the face of it, because you know, I had sort
(05:37):
of everything most people try to get in their career,
and I chose to leave it. And like some of
my friends were shrill when I told them I was
going to go to this little startup, which of course
was a huge risk, but I believed with all my
heart they had more of a potential to be successful
in changing the world and the way we all dreamed
than the big company that was known as G and
(06:00):
and out of course to be sure.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Absolutely the early days an't they. Yeah, did you have
any sense at the time with AOL and what it
could become and the impact.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
No question.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
By that time I already was major, major believer in
the vision of, you know, using technology to empower people,
to democratizing access to ideas and information and communication all
the things today that we experience every day, but back
then just was not an option for most people.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
So what do you think some experiences that you had
then in those early days of AOL this was shaped
the trajectory your career.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Well, I'll tell you some experiences that maybe didn't so
much shape the trajectory of my career that really made
me understand the impactful business we were building. One is
kind of a sweet, humble story. We had this thing
called the Quilters for them, and so all these mostly
(06:57):
women from all over the United States who were quilters
in these remote communities or whatever, would get together and
share patterns. It was really a very sweet thing, and
then they decided to build one quilt in collaboration with
each other from all over the nation. Today it doesn't
seem like a big deal, but that back then people
(07:18):
just weren't connected. It was really quite an innovation. So
they brought the quilt to AOL and presented it to us,
and I think for all of us, it was just
one of those moments where we realized the dream that
we would bring communities together was really happening in this
like very sweet way. So now go way over here,
a very different experience, but still pretty early. Our system
(07:42):
went down one night and it was down for several hours,
and on the news that night they reported that there
was evidence of water on Mars, which I mean, you know,
I've got a big geek side to me. It's like,
hold the phones of water on Mars, Like that is
headline news, except that was new story number two. A
(08:04):
well being down was new story number one. And I
think that's when we knew, well we are like at
a whole different level.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
That's amazing. Yeah, that's incredible.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
So that risk, that risk is really sort of a
theme in your life, and this really led you, I
think into your book we'll talk about from a moment,
the b Fearless book. So that's sort of a core
tenant of your career, going from this big organization like
ge going to risky sort of a startup, and the
book Realal is about this rallying cry for bold leadership
(08:34):
that you talk about and to stop waiting for perfect
conditions to take action. Yeah, so talk about these themes
that sort of came through from I guess early these
but also what impelled you to write the book?
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Sure, well, I'll tell you. The book was a result
of seven years of research. We have a family foundation,
the Case Foundation, which I've run since it's founding. And
as I traveled all over the world to different types
of communities, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
What I would see.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Is pretty much everyone had a dream of a better
world or things that could be different. And so we
began to go to school and this idea, this really
big question about so why do some people act on
it and some people don't? And then when some people
act on it, what's the difference between those who break
(09:23):
through and those It's kind of like, nah, good, try right,
So we literally hired a team of social scientists to
look at this issue, go across sectors, go across geographies,
go across history, and say what was present where breakthroughs
and transformational change did happen. And those principles became eminently
(09:44):
clear and that's really what the book is about. You know,
we call it Five Principles for Life of Breakthroughs and Purpose,
and it is very social science based and we had
been I don't want to say teaching it because that
sounds like we're talking to you, but share it is
probably a better way to say that around the world.
I would sit with companies, I would sit with nonprofit organizations,
(10:07):
governments even and share these principles, you know, the really
intense need for innovation in different ways of moving forward
and time and time again, they said, more people need
to get access to this message. We think it'd be
great if you do a book, and that's the reason
there's a book today.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
So totally a little about the five Principles.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Sure, well, they are very much based on risk. And
it's really funny because I speak a lot to large
audiences and whenever you talk about taking risks, you can
literally see the discomfort in the body language. You know,
it's at that point that people will start shifting in
their seats or looking down or you know, just really
(10:48):
getting uncomfortable. The principles say, they really start with make
a big bet, and you know, taking a big bet
is a risky thing, because what it asks of you
is to not think incrementally and James, you're doing that
here at exclusive resorts. It would be so easy for
you to say, we've got a good thing going, let's
(11:09):
just do more of this good thing and make it
incrementally better.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
And there are many environments in which you'd be.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Patted on the back and it's like, go, James, right,
But you want more than that. You want a transformational
difference for this business and the purpose of it, and
that's really what it's calling on. But to do that,
you have to get outside your comfort zone. So we
talk about taking risks, and you know, I think one
thing that became clear as we looked at case study
after case study is we say nothing good comes from
(11:38):
the comfort zone. I mean, you feel good, it's a
good place to spend time, but it's not going to
ever be transformational to just stay in what's comfortable. So
that's really sort of the ethos of what the principles.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
In the book are about.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
I love that. I think the one of the things
I say, look here, two young people in our organization
is is every day, if you can do something that
will push you a little bit, there you go get
self outside of your comfort zone. It's going to help
you grow. Ques grow, we expand we learn. And I
love this sort of concept of sort of like embracing
this this idea of failure as well. And you know,
(12:12):
one of the things you talk about is that being
fearless does not mean the absence of fear is kind
of pushing through.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah, And I think I'm really kind of a good
spokesperson for this because I would have never said I
was fearless, even though I took risks, I would have
never said it was fearless. I often am filled with
quite a bit of fear or insecurity going into a situation.
But I have totally learned the discipline of pushing past
(12:38):
that fear and understanding that if you can, Oh, by
the way, on the other side is really good stuff.
And you touched on failure. I mean failure is a
huge message here because it's another one of those things, James,
where when you're talking about it, if we were at
a cocktail hour right now or around a table, people
don't want to talk about their failure. In fact, they're
(13:01):
embarrassed by them. Often they're ashamed of them. But it's
actually through failure that we grow and develop and find
new pathways forward. And so when I speak on college
campuses or I'm teaching a class at a university, I
start with my failure resume, because even the first thing
we talked about, it was out of failure that my
(13:21):
whole career in tech started.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
But as I look.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
At every pivotal moment in my life, I can identify
a failure that happened probably somewhere just before that that
set up that situation. I'm talking about the really big things,
and so I think we do a disservice to everyone,
but most especially young people as they're getting started. They
(13:46):
should have failures if they're trying big things, and we
don't want them feeling like, oh.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
I failed, it's over.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
And so I'll often bring in others to talk about
their failures too, because I think if we get at
comfortable with this idea that when you're trying new, audacious things,
you don't bat a thousand percent, it just doesn't work
that way.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
I like that a lot. One of the one of
our other members who I interviewed early on in our podcast,
like well, Jimmy Matteo, and he was a top gun
fighter party and he said that at the end of
every session that they had, they would fly for maybe
an hour and they would debrief for like three and
it was all about the skipper would start off the
conversation about where he made mistakes and where he failed,
(14:28):
and that was open the conversation. And I think it
also comes with it. I think this is sort of
a sense of being comfortable being a little bit vulnerable
as well. With that.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
When you say most definitely, I mean, yeah, most definitely.
Vulnerability is hard for everyone, and failure and talking about
it or even just coming to terms with it as
a vulnerable thing.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
You know.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Oprah gave this great talk at the Harvard commencement and
she talked about, look, you're going to have to probably
go dig a hole in the ground for a little while,
just go wallowing that.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Because it doesn't feel good when you fail.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
But come out of that, look at what happened, see
what pieces you can pick up and go forward after that.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Do you think in today's world, like the young generation
today are so they live in such a more of
a public forum than I think certainly my generation, yes
probably did that or our generation did. And do you
think that there is more of a willingness to embrace
failure for young generations today or is it something they
really have a hard time dealing with.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
I think this whole idea of being always on, always
on camera, always right, like having to have that pathy,
you know, come back in the situation, et cetera, I
think it has made for you know, a more risk
averse generation. But I also think that there's something that
(15:47):
is creating a risk aversion that we don't appreciate as much.
We've largely taken away play from young people, play outside,
play in places that aren't quote unquot you know, sanitized
and safe. And so what we really want is our
kids having failures and taking risks while they're still in
(16:10):
the context of a family, because we can lift them up,
we can bring them to a better place, et cetera.
If the first time you're encountering that is on your
own and you don't have that sort of deep system.
But I'm talking about everything from jumping off a tree
to you know, like the things I was allowed to
do as a young person. I give thanks for every
(16:34):
single day because today it would just be considered so radical.
I was off on my own, I was out in nature,
I was doing things no one would let a kid do.
But my mom had faith in me that I was
a good kid. And you know my memory is you go, girl,
that's my memory.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Good for you.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Yeah, But today.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
We don't want our kids even to walk to school
alone for good reason. I understand the world's more dangerous place.
So this not judging anybody who thinks twice. But if
you're taking that away, then how can you replace that?
Where can you put them to fall literally, where can
you put them to challenge them, you know, with perseverance,
like outside of you guiding everything and being there every moment.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
So taking it into a sort of a corporate context,
the case foundation you did these failure for us.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
We did fail beests. We called them okay, yeah, fail fests. Yeah, failfests.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
So talk about those.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Well, I often say the important thing about them is
they were much more effective when beer and wine were
in fault because you'd find people a little more in
the spirit of talking about I don't know, things that
maybe in the cold heart of fluorescent lights in an
office you want it, But we would often put them
in kind of a cocktail hour setting. We would tee
(17:49):
up before we got in the rooms. A few people
who are willing to go first, which is really important.
And it's amazing when one person starts talking about their failure,
than others will feel to comfort to chime in. And
we always had them under the radar screen. They could
never be you know, we couldn't tweet about them.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
It wasn't like they were on the record at all.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
And honestly, James, I would say, there were some really
powerful moments in those gatherings.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Can you share a couple of those that were a
powerful moments?
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Well, then I would be violating one I just said,
but I'll share my own. I'll share my own, which
was I would tell the story and it is a
real toughie and I wrote about it in the book.
We started a huge global clean water initiative, largely targeted
at Sub Saharan Africa, where we were putting in these
that we called them play pumps. They were essentially merry
(18:42):
grounds that his kids.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Spun on them.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
It was a well that brought clean water up from
the ground, so you had all kinds of benefits going
on there. For many reasons way too complex to get
into here, it was clear it wasn't working. We had
targeted a thousand communities. The scale was not as much
the issue as some quality problems developed. The communities had
different thoughts.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
It was not working. So we had this board meeting.
I was sharing the board.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
We had a lot of high profile people on that board,
and I had to bring to the board that, look,
we have a choice to make. This is failing in
a way none of us would be comfortable with. We
put a lot of our resource and our reputations on
the line here. So we either have to decide that
you know, we're doubling down and we're going to spend
the next few years course correcting, or we're going.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
To get out, which is a hard decision to make.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Really hard decision to get out, or really hard decision
to make.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
So we have an office.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
It's comprised of glass mals, kind of like your office here.
And I was trying not to let my facial expression
show really the serious nature of it, because I really
figured anyone watching out there would.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Be nervous about what was going on in there.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
But anyway, we made the decision that rather than really
dig deep and sort of pivot one hundred percent, we
had to basically stop the initiative. And I wrote about
it and I came clean and said it was a failure,
and I was pretty sure I'd never get another partner again.
I was pretty sure all the high profile people that
(20:10):
I had reeled into it with us would never want
to work again.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
No, I really was.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
I even remember because back then, you know, they were blogs,
and I remember just my finger when I had to
hit the sind but not wanting to send it.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
Because I was really filled with fear. But the opposite happened.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I got calls from all over, including many of users,
who said, when you do big audacious things, and this
was a really big audacious thing, sometimes it's not going
to work. We believe we did everything we could. You know,
we're really saddened. It's like we're dancing because it's over.
But we hope people down the line can learn because
(20:47):
I was very specific about what we might have done better.
And many people even since have told me they looked
at that sort of playbook where I said we should
have done this or we didn't do that, and then
it mattered to them as they took forward their initiatives.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
It's a really hard thing to do when you when
you're midway through the initiative to stop and say it's
in some cases it's easy to double down and keep
going right that it is to sort of stay this
is a mistake. We're going to stop at to right.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
We need to senset a lot of things in this
world that we just keep on keeping on with long
after they've proven their effectiveness or their quality. And we
were really committed that we weren't going to we weren't
going to do that.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
But it was hard, and.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
I'm there's just not an there's not an easy way
for me to convey how hard that was.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Because an example that sets the fact that you're willing
to do that in front of your organization, your team,
and so many partners. It's a huge testament.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Well, I think it helped.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Then it opened up dialogue with some other institutions doing
some other big audacious things to say, all right, we're
having some problems too, and then behind closed doors we
could kind of help each other and whereas before they
felt like, well maybe we can't really say that.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
So, also in the book, you talk about drawing inspiration
from leaders that make big bets, and but one of
the things you advocate is this shouldn't be limited to
people in positions of paths. I think people think, well,
you know, this is really people who are in hYP
poth positions, these big decisions things. How do you bring
that down to sort of the day to day and
how can people sort of embrace this and think about
(22:23):
taking risks and challenging the status quite a little bit
more in their daily life.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Well, you and I haven't talked about this at length,
so I'll make some presumptions and it may or may
not be true. Okay, okay, But what's quite common is
if people aren't familiar with the work we did, and
most aren't right, because you try to scratch just a
service of a world when you bring a message out.
The bottom line is there is a bias that to
(22:49):
have transformational breakthroughs or really change something in a meaningful way,
you have to have money. Yep, you have to have connections.
Maybe had to go to the right school. Maybe I
had to get a certain kind of degree, Maybe had
to come from the right place.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
I could go on. Right, do all those resonate with you?
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Do you think that generally when you think about people
really breaking through, most people think that whether.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
You're doing it.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
So we tried to bust that myth here by making
it clear that the truth is talent is universal.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
It's opportunity that is not.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
That's interesting.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
And so I wrote about people you've never heard of.
I wrote about people from communities you'll never go to
or never hear of, and really tried to draw the
picture of how anyone anywhere. For the most part, I'm
not being overly naive here, but many, many people, despite
(23:48):
challenges they face, can break through. And I think I'm
a walking example of that. My mom was a single
mother raising a family four. We were you know, I
thought we were kind of okay, lower middle class, Volgan
middle class neighborhood, but I think we're actually economically even
lower than that. You know, when President Reagan offered me
(24:10):
the opportunity to come to work in Washington, I hadn't
graduated college yet.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
I don't have a college degree.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
I'm chairman of National degrad So I really try to
use my own situation to say, gosh, there were you
could look at me as a series of deficits.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
And I'm not kidding.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
They are just bing bing bing bing bing, like what
gave her that opportunity. But if you get the opportunity,
and sometimes you do you know, you grab that brass
ring and you make the most of it. But that
has been my experience as I've traveled the world. Remember
that I said I was really bothered about why do
some people break through in others don't? And it wasn't
obvious what the difference was. It really is the application
(24:51):
of these principles where you can. And whenever I say that,
I really worry that I'm sounding insensitive to the struggles
and the challenges manuments people have, and there are many
that probably simply can't overcome. But for most people in
this world, there's a way forward.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
I think the theme that I really like is that
it's as he took before. It's pushing through a little
bit of anxiety or not. But if I look at
most of the people that I work with, or even
a team here that are real high performance, most of
the ones that are really good, they have that little
bit of anxiety they do and they just push through it,
(25:29):
and I think it fuels them through.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
It does.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
It's a fuel, that's a really good way to put it.
It can be a motivator, it can ye. Yeah, you know,
it's funny though, I believe so strongly in this that
like when we have a position we're getting ready to
post for, but typically we don't require a college degree
because we don't think that necessarily tells us what we
(25:54):
were doing for, you know, curious, self starter, go getter.
Those things are, in my humble opinion, and the realms
I've dealt in really determinants of will this person be great?
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Yeah? So talking great, let's switch gears.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
National Geographic for sure, great institution, great institution.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Wise, exactly, So, the National Geographic Society was found in
eighteen eighty eight, and you made history in twenty sixteen,
was the first female chair. What did that milestone mean
to you personally? And what kind of responsibility came with it?
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Yeah, so people use that a lot. For me, it
was much less about the female thing, even though I
realized for some that's a really important milestone. That look too,
it really comprises a lot of what I just told
you about. But you know what I think is the
coolest thing in the world is we were started in
eighteen eighty eight, and if you look around in this world,
(26:55):
there aren't a lot of institutions still standing. We disrupt
ourselves constantly. We try to peek around the corner, which
is one of the principles in the book, and see
what's coming and.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
Be ready for it.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
You know, a lot of people don't realize National Geographic
was founded by thirty three individuals, all really different people.
We would call it a very diverse table of talents
and backgrounds and skills. Some of them just you know,
audacious people like John Wesley Powell, who I don't know
if you know of him, but he basically mapped the
(27:29):
Colorado River the first two through the Grand Canyon. He
was a Civil War hero with one arm when he
did that. I mean, the audacious nature of our founders
were amazing. So they believed we lived in a world
where there was this oh, what do I want to say,
just revolution of new science and exploration, and we were
(27:52):
learning new things all the time about the world, but
most people were unaware. So they created the National Geographics
Society to tell the stories of what was going on
in the world. And they used a commercial business to
do that, which was a subscription to the magazine. And
they took all those profits and they threw them over
the wall and then funded more science and exploration. So
(28:14):
it's kind of this really awesome virtuous circle of you know,
we're doing some of the we're covering and we're doing
all this really neat stuff, but then over here we're
telling those stories.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
And essentially that is very much.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Our model today where we have the parent which is
called the National Geographic Society, which has been around since
eighteen eighty eight and we fund over fifteen thousand grants
to date.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
But we're on the forefront of everything.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
That school and science and exploration and what's out there
in the world. And then we have this amazing media megaphone.
We touched two billion people.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Wow, every month.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
I haven't realized it.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Through all of our platforms, almost two billion. No one
else on the planet is doing that. So it's an
exciting time where we're able to harness technology and media
to really just drive more curiosity, more knowledge, more action
around things in our world that we think people need
to know about. But very very even though the way
(29:19):
we do it is so dramatically different than how they
did it in eighteen eighty eight, the fundamentals the DNA
is still.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
There, so the exclust results. We partnered with National Geographic Foundation
on the Around the World Jet, which we just finished.
We did nine countries in twenty one days, which is
an amazing trip. We've done that now, I think for
four years in a row, which is incredible. We also
put with Lindblad a lot as well. National Geographic has
a very unique model for the not for profit. Can
you explain more about it?
Speaker 1 (29:46):
So it kind of goes back to what I was
saying about how we were founded. We have this exciting
media travel, a number of commercial businesses that sit in
a joint venture that's all commercial businesses, and that rolls
up to our global nonprofit, which is the National Geographic Society.
So we have a partner in our joint venture, which
(30:08):
is Disney. And so if you turn on Disney Plus
today there are five tiles and you know a lot
of them, right, they're brands you know, well, one of
them is National Geographic. If you go on Global Travel,
you can go anywhere in the world with us through Limblad.
And we're very proud by the way of the partnership
we've had with Exclusive Resorts. In many ways, I feel
(30:31):
like the Exclusive Resorts members are shared DNA with people
who love National Geographic and vice versa. Right, They're curious
travelers in this world. They don't want to just pass through.
They want to know, they want to, you know, really
have a meaningful experience when they travel to other places.
And essentially that's what we've been trying to do through
(30:52):
our travel businesses for a long time.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
So you said two billion people a month, right, is
the reach of that terrific?
Speaker 3 (30:59):
So can I explain that a little bit?
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (31:02):
So if you think about our platforms, right, we are
the largest brand in social media. There's no other brand
in the world that has as many followers as we do.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
I think we're at three hundred million just on Instant's incredible.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Okaya, three hundred million on inst.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Pretty sure, that's right where we are.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
But by time you add Facebook, all the all the
different platforms, and you know, part of the reason we've
had so much success there. Of course, it's been intentional,
and it's an amazing management team that does this. But also, look,
we're all about photographs and videos and we have been
for a really long time, and so we naturally had
(31:45):
sort of the stuff that makes social media sing even
before others did where they had to sort of create
it for social media.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
It's just what we do.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Is tell powerful stories through video and through photographs, and
we have for really long time. Then we have our
cable channels, then we have Disney Plus, then we have
the magazine. We have consumer products all over the world.
We take many, many people every year onto exciting travel experiences.
So it really is one way or another. About two
(32:16):
billion people a year touch our brand.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
So how do you so with that level of reach
that you have, it's such a powerful platform for driving
away as an action. How do you link those two
things together?
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Well, you know, we say that we believe in the
power of science, exploration, education and storytelling to illuminate and
protect the wonder.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
Of our world.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
That's the business we're in. We're using all of these
platforms to illuminate the world and we hope it drives
action so people care about the world and they do
something about it.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
That's so it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Really matter how many people touch our brand if at
the end of the day something great doesn't happen. I mean,
this really is about really trying to help people care
and take it personally and do something because of it.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
I love that. I love it. We talk a lot
about the fact that you know, travel in our world
opens the mind. That it was the eyes, it was
the hot but to connect that with sort of knowledge
and awareness and action. It's an incredible thing. So how
do you honor the legacy and traditional exploration, the national
deographic and that sort of science and storytelling while all
sort of pushing into future.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
Yeah, we have a saying that we're one hundred and
thirty seven year old startup because we constantly are willing
to disrupt ourselves, to stop anything we've been doing, to
start anything new that makes sense, to take us further
to you know, strengthen the brand or the mission.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
And so I think that gives us. We just have
this fearless.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
DNA And I've often thought that the reason there's fearless
DNA in our boardroom is because how can you stand
next to these people on the front lines of the
unknown every day and then you know whither, Okay, that's
not going to happen.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
They embold in us.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
And I think every person around the board table is
so like, feels so privileged.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
To be there.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
And you know, one of the coolest things, James, when
I became chair, I think I mentioned this to you before.
The organization's board had never gone outside the United States
in over one hundred years for a board meeting. Yet
where's our work? You know, it's all over it's everywhere.
Speaker 3 (34:33):
It's in the United States, but it's all over the world.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
So I began a tradition that every other year we
do a week long board retreat. We go into the
field with our explorers. We see their work up close
and personal and sometimes a little more personal and up close,
and we're comfortable with but it's great because then we
come back under fluorescent lights and we're talking about these things,
so we have real context and real conviction around we're
(34:58):
going to keep doing this, but we do.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Need to disrupt ourselves.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
So AI right, you know that's going to mean really
big changes for national geographic Right now, we're working through.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
That with management.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
What does that look like? What are the implications. We're
not sitting on the sidelines waiting for something to be
done to us. We're going to be at the forefront
as we've always been, and that's why I think we're
still standing one hundred and thirty seven years later.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
So talk about the board a little bit. You said,
that's twenty three, twenty three, twenty three director is how
do you select those people? How do you identify them?
What is the typical.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Makeup well, we select them very carefully. It is a
table that is comprised of people from different sectors. We
have a number of global business leaders, we have a
number of global nonprofit and foundation leaders.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
We have scientists.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
And another change we've just made in recent years is
we now have an explorer representative on the board as well,
which was never a part of the board construct before.
But I talk about our board creation is quite different
than most institutions. We use what I call an algorithmic approach.
(36:14):
You know, the world brings us cycles, and any given
cycle you need different talents, different backgrounds, different skills. So
we sort of keep track of, well, who's on the
board now, what backgrounds and expertise and sort of value
do they bring, and what are we missing? And if
we go into a new cycle, it means, oh gosh,
when this one rolls off, we have to look for
(36:35):
someone from here, for instance. And that's been a really
effective way to build a board that brings full strength
in all the areas that we need. And so as
a result, you know, we've worked with a lot of
other institutions who asked for it, and we sort of
train them up on this is our approach.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
On board building and this algorithmic approach. Is this something
that was new to National Draftic? Was this part of
your tech that you b.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
Yes, it is? It is. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
I mean I don't really think of it as a
tech thing. As much as going back to the book,
be Fearless. The research couldn't be any clearer. The data
is very clear, the different perspectives in different backgrounds working
together bring better outcome.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Absolutely, So what we don't want is a table full
of just scientists, a table full of just business people,
a table full of just nonprofit leaders. This is a
mashup of all of those things, and it is truly
a beautiful thing to watch what happens as a result.
I think if you talk to any of our trustees,
they would just tell you that it's a beloved institution
(37:38):
to serve and we all get great.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Joy at it. I can imagine it might be flying
the wall of those board meetings.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
Think me very interesting come sometimes so.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Society's awarded fifteen thousand grants since it was established in
eighteen eighty eight, and last year raised one hundred and
twelve million. Can you talk about how to identify recipients
and the process of awarding grants.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Well, you know, there are very few people I've ever
met in life who didn't want to be a National
Geographic Explorer. I don't care how old they are, how
young they are, they all want to be National Geographic Explores.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
I didn't do by the way.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
I mean, I had a you know, I was definitely
a young explorer out there on my own right.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
But it's a super rigorous process.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
But you know, one of the things that I really love, James,
is that when you come into the National Geographic Family
as a grantee, we're not just going to take you
by the hand. We're going to come alongside, train you, up,
skill you up in ways.
Speaker 3 (38:38):
You know.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
It's funny there there's this thing called science telling because
so often, like a scientist will have this amazing idea
and absolutely no way to communicate it because communication isn't
their thing. Okay, So we truly train up and skill
up our explores on so many different fronts, and then
what we've seen with a number of them is they'll
come in as perhaps young explorers and then continue to
(39:01):
elevate you through kind of different levels of our work,
and some have even become what we call explorers and
residents that way, which is the highest explores a large
and explorers.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
Each explorer can get multiple grounds towards that.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Over time, as their work has proven out to be
effective and as they become leaders in their own right.
The one of the coolest things. And here you really
should come. I think we've talked about this before, but
I can't remember. We do what we call and Explorers
Festival once a year where we bring them all home,
and that happens in the summertime, so they're spending that
week getting trained up.
Speaker 3 (39:36):
Meeting each other.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
These all coming to d C, all coming to d C.
How many people come.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
To them, so I think we had the largest number
this past summer, which was around between three hundred and
fifty and four came from I mean we've had them
come from one hundred and fifty countries, so it's really
quite something. So anyway, it is really a very special moment.
So they come and they do very brief press of
(40:00):
their work, especially if they're early in the process, and
then of course as you move up that ladder, you
have more time to come and present your work, and
they're just for me. It is truly my favorite week
of the year of anything that I do, to go
and to see these amazing innovators, scientists, people out there
on the front lines doing the most remarkable things.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
And how many people get turned down for the awards
each O.
Speaker 3 (40:25):
A lot, most, is it?
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Yeah, So if you get an A ward and you're
a grantee, then you're really right.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
You should think about it a little bit, almost like
getting into a really good to college.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Yeah, I can imagine. Amazing. Yeah, so looking forward, you've
what's the next frontier.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Financial Oh gosh, I think we're you know, it's so
fun because our CEO, jil Tivent Toller, who is amazing,
she came in twenty twenty and when she came.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
She did a five year strategic point.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
So we're at the end of that and truly we
can kind of feel really good good that all that
intentional work has mostly been achieved, and even beyond we
are just now beginning the process of looking at the
next five years. And it's a perfect time because we
are in such a disrupted state. Everywhere we look, I
mean across sectors, across the globe, the pace of change,
(41:20):
the volume of change is unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (41:23):
What a great time to step back and say, okay.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
So how do we bring to it what we should
be bringing in this world now? And that's that disrupt
yourself mentality. And I'm super excited to see what we
come forward with. But it's a process that will take
about a year before ready to stand up and say,
you know, this is really the meaningful, new sort of
strategy that we're going forward with. But I'd say every
(41:49):
day something new, you know, I'll give you an example
of how the world is changing so rapidly. One of
our explores, his name is David Gruber. He's done a
tremendous amount of work with sperm whales for a long time.
And the really super exciting thing is we can say
today that sperm whales will be the first non intelligent
(42:10):
species and intelligence.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
We have to be a little careful with that term.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Whose alphabet has been decoded David and his team because
of AI today we have exported We're most of the
way there. I'm decoding the language of the sperm whirls. Now,
why does that matter? While somewhere along the way, NASA
rang up David and said, you know, kind of feels
(42:35):
like if you could make out the language of the
sperm whale. If we had some say, new species arrived
that either come to us or we go to them,
can some of these tools be applied?
Speaker 3 (42:46):
And so NASA is now a partner in that work.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
And what we found through the years is we think
we're kind of doing one thing, and it turns out
that that one thing has much broader implications then maybe
the original you know, grant proposal suggested, or even when
we gave the grant what we might have expected.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
So looking back over the last ten plus years, and
that's obviously one of things that you mean credibly proud of,
But what are the other things that you're incredibly proud
of that you that you've done through your tenure.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
You know, I would just say I'm incredibly proud of
how we've shown up in the world because I think
we continue to bring and I hope I've conveyed it
properly a humility and what we do. You know, we
have gifts and talents and resources and tools that we
can give to this world and let the world take
(43:40):
advantage of and use and then tell the stories.
Speaker 3 (43:42):
I mean, one thing I think I.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
Haven't made clear enough is we actually think our superpower
is storytelling. So I mean, we do all this amazing
stuff over here, but if that happened and nobody knew
about it, totally underleveraged. I think what National Geographic has
been known for since the beginning is the amazing storytelling capabilities,
(44:08):
whether that's visually, whether that's in written word, you know,
And I think that the way we've shown up in
the world in the last ten years, I think we've
tried to ask big questions about where we should be
and the difference we can make, and then we've worked
really hard to not only tell the stories ourselves, but
as I've tried to make clear empower many many others
(44:28):
to do so as well, and fund a lot of
that work.
Speaker 2 (44:32):
Amazing accomplishment, amazing tenure have such a level of impact.
Of course, so many people in lives as extortiny.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
I really though, there's no way I would sit here
and take credit and this is not false humility. We
just have this remarkable board, we have this amazingly talented
leadership and management team at the society. And then I
mean our partners didn't The partners we've.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
Had have also vaulted our work.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
So it's kind of been like a beautiful storm of
things that have come together.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
Very cool. I want to come to explore a week
one of these days. So moving on a little bit too,
with philanthropy and leadership with perpose. Yes, you spoken a
lot about growing up with modest means. How do you
think that has shaped your approach to philanthropy investment.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
Well, I mean there's certainly an underlying ethos of to
whom much has given, much is expected. But in my family,
even when much wasn't given, much was expected, Okay, I
mean we were always taking what little we had and
(45:45):
trying to be there for others, largely, you know, because
my mom just modeled that in every single way, hard
working single mom for waitress. I'd come home from school,
she'd go to work, because if you're a waitress, the
only time you make money is at night, right, But
still she found a way to just be there in
a material way for others, in both small and big ways.
Speaker 3 (46:06):
So I think that was just present.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
You know, I am a person of very deep faith,
and I think my faith calls me to watch after
my brother and my sister, and I've tried to do that.
But also, I mean, you know, I think that I
get really jazzed at the opportunity to bring opportunities to
others who may not otherwise have it.
Speaker 3 (46:30):
And I think that does go to you.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
I tell the story when I had the privilege of
going to a private school on full scholarship. So in
that world, that was the elite's elite.
Speaker 3 (46:42):
That's you know.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
The kids I sort of had play dates with or
became my close.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
Friends all came from extreme privilege.
Speaker 1 (46:50):
And then I'd come back to my neighborhood and a
lot of working people. A lot of people have the
same hopes and dreams for their lives and lives their children,
but they were missing opportunity. That was the big difference.
Speaker 3 (47:01):
It wasn't like.
Speaker 1 (47:02):
They were smart and harder working, and they weren't. And
I think I just get really jazzed at the opportunity.
And it goes back to what brought me to tech,
to empower others and bring opportunities to them as well.
Speaker 3 (47:15):
I was a recipient of it. I'd love to pass
it them.
Speaker 2 (47:18):
Is your Mava stolen?
Speaker 3 (47:19):
She is not. She's been gone for fourteen years.
Speaker 2 (47:21):
She's very proud of what you accomplishing, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (47:24):
Very proud of her as I'm trying to make clear.
Speaker 2 (47:26):
I'm sure, I'm sure. So what is so when you
think of philanthropy, how would you measure success in philanthropy?
Speaker 1 (47:33):
Measure success in philanthropy? Yeah, so I think there's a
soft way and a more structured way. Believe it or not,
I feel like there have been in the time that
my husband and I, since Steve and I since we
created the Foundation almost thirty years ago. Now, the tools
and the measurements and the standards are much clearer today
(47:55):
in philanthropy than they were when.
Speaker 3 (47:57):
We got started.
Speaker 1 (47:59):
And I love data, but I have a love hate
relationship with data because you know, you do sort of
owe it to understanding are you making a difference or
you're not. Are your resources being used wisely.
Speaker 2 (48:12):
Or aren't they?
Speaker 1 (48:13):
But there are sometimes when you just know it's the
right thing to do, and there's never going to be
data that makes that entirely.
Speaker 2 (48:21):
And what does that look like when you know, when
you have that sense that you know this is instinctively right?
What does that feel like?
Speaker 1 (48:27):
Well, so, you know, one of our earliest initiatives was
with the digital divide, and we saw communities across the nation,
we saw this digital tsunami happening, happening, but a lot
of people didn't have access at all to it. We
didn't have any data to tell us that if we
(48:49):
gave them access in the end, they might perform better
at school. They might do And I'm taking you back
before social media, because social media has turned all that
on it's ear. We knew it was the right thing
to do. We had no data to back it when
we went into a zero data, but we knew it
was the right thing to do, and it turned out
it actually was.
Speaker 2 (49:09):
So you're aso a winery owner changing gas again and
what inspired you to step into that world.
Speaker 1 (49:20):
So we're Virginians and we've been Virginian's for forty three years.
And I loved my home state and it became clear
that there was a burgeoning sector that could strengthen the state.
It maybe bring some amazing new wine.
Speaker 3 (49:36):
To the world in the process. And by the way, a.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
Lot of people would say California was first in wine,
that's actually not the case. Virginia was Thomas Jefferson. Thomas
Jefferson very famously, but even before Thomas Jefferson, Jamestown.
Speaker 3 (49:50):
For you to have.
Speaker 1 (49:52):
A plot of land, right, this is the first community
and what we call the United States today. You had
to commit to have a couple of grape minds to
help our.
Speaker 3 (50:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Yeah, So Virginia has a deep, rich history, but we
just became kind of believers that the promise of the
quality of Virginia and I'll say this very boldly, will
compete with the best wine regions in the world and
against the best wines in the world. And our team
is proving that every day. It's Early Mountain vineyards just
(50:23):
north of Charlottesville, and the accolades are getting, the awards,
are winning, the reviews, the scores, everything is proving it out.
Speaker 3 (50:31):
It's a long slot to.
Speaker 1 (50:32):
Be you know, coming from the wine country area yourself.
Speaker 3 (50:37):
It's farming at the end of the day, it is.
Speaker 1 (50:39):
And a lot of people think about, you know, oh
wine's so cool, or it's you know, hoity toity or whatever.
Speaker 3 (50:45):
It's farming. That's what it is to create.
Speaker 1 (50:48):
Great So that was another big bet and we're still
deep in the midst of bet.
Speaker 3 (50:53):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (50:56):
So, when you think about the next generation and you
think about philanthropy, what are the sort of opportunities that
you would look at for people who want to make
a difference Going forward in.
Speaker 3 (51:06):
The next gen.
Speaker 1 (51:06):
Yeah, yeah, I think that the way they will do
it is probably not the traditional way that it's been done.
And by the way, when we came into pilanthropy, people
thought we were disruptive, you know, because we wanted to
do things a little differently, like, for instance, there were
many times we let the public decide where our grants
would go. That was just super radical then. But I
(51:29):
think the next gen will redefine philanthropy.
Speaker 3 (51:31):
And I'm a.
Speaker 1 (51:32):
Little bothered by sort of a worldview today that philanthropy
is only institutional. I've always been a really big believer
in personal philanthropy that we can all practice. And I'll
give you an example of that. So, my mom was
a waitress.
Speaker 3 (51:51):
Right.
Speaker 1 (51:51):
She didn't believe in taking advantage of any programs that
was her decision, right. She didn't want to feel like
we were going to do that, So she worked as
a waitress. All of my siblings worked. I went to
work pretty early, and you know, I think it was
just that's what we're going to do. But I'll tell you,
on any given night, if Mom got a more generous tip,
(52:14):
it suddenly meant that maybe we could get into shoes,
maybe you know, if the washing machine hadn't been working
for three months, maybe it could top off what we
needed to buy a new washer. These are very real
things in the lives of people who struggle, and I
(52:34):
don't think it should you. Generosity doesn't just come through institutions.
It often comes person to person, and we don't realize
that in how we go about our business every single
day there might be an opportunity to be just a
little more generous. I'm not talking about busting the bank
here or whatever, but if everybody took on a little
(52:55):
bit of that, James, we probably wouldn't need all these
known part some philanthropies that we have that are trying
to fill a lot of that gap.
Speaker 2 (53:04):
Small acts of kindness have quite absolutely.
Speaker 1 (53:07):
Yeah, it's a powerful thing. I mean I witnessed it,
I lived it. I'm here largely because somebody paid for
my scholarship at that private school. I'll never know who did,
but somebody did. And I don't think that was an institution,
you know, And yet it changed.
Speaker 3 (53:22):
A life forever.
Speaker 2 (53:23):
Paying forward, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (53:24):
And in small ways, how can you make And it
isn't always money, right, It can be mentoring, it can
be any number of things. But so I think the
next gen is mostly averse to big institutions. They don't
trust them right, and in many cases, you know, some
of them have good reason for that if you think
about what their lives have taken you through. So I
(53:44):
think it's going to look different, and I think a
big good thing.
Speaker 2 (53:49):
So what is something you value now that you didn't
a decade ago?
Speaker 3 (53:54):
Spending time alone?
Speaker 1 (53:55):
Because I didn't have any time to spend alone before,
you know, in the active raising children and trying to
have a career and trying to be a loving, supportive
spouse and do all the things, you know, be there
for my friends, be there for my family. As our kids,
(54:15):
you know, launched, I began to recognize the importance of
a longe time in terms of I've always been reflective,
but I didn't necessarily associate that with spending time alone.
Speaker 2 (54:31):
And for me, it's quite valuable, I'm sure. I think
it's one of those things that we never give ourselves
enough time for. That sort of self care elements so important,
isn't it. So how do you shop on the knife
and what is a daily ritual that you protect all costs.
Speaker 1 (54:43):
I start my day with reading and prayer, and reflection.
And sometimes that's a really short period of time, maybe
ten to fifteen minutes. Sometimes that can extend out to
an hour depending on the circumstances around me. I try
to remove myself from any busy area, and I I
find that my days are much better. My spirit going
into the day is much improved if I make time
(55:06):
for that. I also just am a big believer in
ritual and routine. There's actually a lot of data coming
out of psychology now about the many, many.
Speaker 3 (55:16):
Benefits of that of routine data routine.
Speaker 1 (55:19):
That from a mental health standpoint, it has real, real
benefits to committing yourself to routine. And then lastly, I
would say, I'm crazy about the outdoors. I couldn't live
in a world that I couldn't get outside. So I
try to really discipline myself that no matter what my
day holds, and I mean literally, no matter what my
(55:39):
day holds, I will find a way to get outside.
Speaker 2 (55:43):
I think that's self care element is so important today.
I think people tend not to think about that too much.
We've did in such a busy world. But finding time
where you can just so center and have time in
your as so critical. So when you think about your
legacy and the impact you're most hopefully behind for family
and community world. What would that be?
Speaker 3 (56:01):
You know?
Speaker 1 (56:01):
So I think it'd be really great if people just
ask themselves, did I help to make it better?
Speaker 3 (56:09):
In real time? Not just waiting until they die?
Speaker 1 (56:12):
And that question comes up? And what does that mean?
It can be anything. It can be the professional relationship,
it can be the company you work for. It can
be your church, your community, your neighborhood. But I think
that it's a good life if you try to use
that as a north star.
Speaker 3 (56:31):
And so I wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (56:33):
Call it a legacy, but I certainly hope that the
purpose and intent that I've brought to my life means
that I've made it a little better in some ways.
Speaker 2 (56:44):
I think we all hope that it's a great place
to be. So last question, so as you think from
your chair in the world of National geographic what is
one place in the world that might have changed how
you've seen things, will change your perspectives that you visited.
Speaker 3 (57:03):
Can I tell you there's two?
Speaker 2 (57:05):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (57:05):
Because who has like one favorite child? Yeah, Antarctica is
definitely that It's amazing and it wasn't just the extraordinary
natural environment but even what it is that fifty countries
come together and agree on what it is and is not.
I mean, what a beautiful picture. It's kind of hard
(57:28):
to even believe exists and keeps right. What else would
fifty countries just come together as kind of co owners
of and say, all right, we all agree, this is.
Speaker 3 (57:37):
Kind of how it's going to be here we are.
Speaker 1 (57:40):
The other one is there's a place off the coast
of Cuba that, in fairness, most people won't have the
chance to go to, but I could because of my
role with National Geographic I'm a diver. And it's called
the Gardens of the Queens, and it's a really interesting
story and unintended consequences that turn out good. So Castro,
(58:01):
because he controlled people, didn't let anyone leave. You couldn't
own a boat, you couldn't go out.
Speaker 3 (58:06):
In the water, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (58:08):
It means that there's this pristine place in our oceans
sitting right off of Cuba. It's called a Pristine Sea,
and it's like you turned back the clock on our planet.
So I was able to dive there three times a
day for a week with our lead explorer that does
our Pristine Sea's work. And James, as I was swimming around,
(58:32):
the goliath grouper would come alongside longer than I am.
We were trying to do fish counts, but the counts
were so extraordinary that there's no human fish count that
can take place. We were, you know, in a school
of yellow fin tuna that had to have thousands and
thousands that went on further than we could see. So
(58:55):
it was life changing for me in the sense that
I could see, you know what, if we are a
little kinder and gentler to some of the places that
are really special on this earth, even if we're didn't
set out for the right reasons to do that, the
benefits and the things that result are really quite extraordinary.
So that truly was an unforgettable life experience.
Speaker 2 (59:18):
Lckel Well, jan Case, thank you so much for joining
us on our podcast, A Life Well Living.
Speaker 3 (59:23):
Thank you, James been read Chatting.
Speaker 2 (59:34):
Stories like this are a window into what makes the
Exclusive Resorts community unlike any other, filled with members who
live with intention and travel without compromise. With more than
four hundred private residences and curated experiences around the world,
the club continues to redefine the art of living well.
Learn more at Exclusive Resorts, dot com
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