7 Questions

On Today's episode of 7  Questions, I sit down with my new friend John Strand. An internationally published model and actor,John Strand was born in California, grew up in a vibrant Italian-American family, and is based in both Los Angeles and New York City. After years of developing skills and a growing resume of print, runway, television, and film work, which followed his songwriting and performing with indie rock band Celeste, he has established a strong start in the world of style and media.  • Building a compelling brand throughout the entertainment and lifestyle industries, John Strand brings a relentless work ethic, rare integrity, and a passionate and creative spirit to every endeavor. He is available for assignment locally in LA and NYC, and worldwide.  • www.JohnStrand.com

Darrius Marcellin is a working actor and entrepreneur based in Hollywood, California. Darrius has been featured in the 2019 BET movie “Always a Bridesmaid” and 2020 Blockbuster “The Swing of Things”. Darrius Podcast show 1000 Failures topped the 100 list in Arts and has been listed by Celebrity Acting Coach –Amy Lyndon as “A must have for any actor coming to LA”. Darrius has featured two Emmy Award Winning Actors on the show. Darrius founded the Girl Power Soccer Camp to empower the future generation of soccer stars to become leaders on and off the field. The camp has been featured on FOX News as the first of a kind, bringing Manchester United and Liverpool FC players to California to train and motivate the future ladies. Darrius is a co-founder of Pearl’s Caribbean Restaurant in NY, that has been featured in FOX, NBC and ABC. Darrius Marcellin spoke on the mainstage of the Money 20/20 Fintech conference alongside top CEO’s and Executives talking about “Why Unicorns aren’t built in one day”. In 2019 Darrius has been in Men’s Health, GQ, ESPN and Oprah’s Magazine Darrius was born in the Caribbean Island of Trinidad and moved to Brooklyn, NY with the immigrant story. Darrius and his mother started cleaning homes and while in college he started an events company with his high school friend that was earning him six figures in his junior year and had notable clients like Trevor Noah and Gigi Hadid. He maintained a Presidential Scholarship at St. Francis College, ran his company TTR Group LLC and was the captain of his Division 1 Soccer team. With his inspirational media company 1000 Failures, Darrius reaches thousands and his voice is meant to inspire. “To be successful one must be prepared to fail 1000 Times” For fun, Darrius likes to play soccer and had dreams to play for Manchester United as a child – now he works with them.

Mike C. Manning is an actor and producer in film and television. On screen, Manning is most known for his role in Disney's "Cloud 9," on MTV's "Teen Wolf," and in the third installment of the blockbuster series "God's Not Dead." Manning is also seen in "M.F.A." starring Francesca Eastwood and Clifton Collins Jr., which he also produced, and in the Tribeca film "Folk Hero & Funny Guy," with Wyatt Russell and Melanie Lynskey. Up next, Manning has an assortment of projects including the highly-anticipated Spike Lee and Barry Alexander Brown film "Son of the South," the WWII drama "D-Day" and the YouTube series "Hidden Springs." Additional credits include: "Hawaii Five-0" on CBS, "Major Crimes" on TNT, "Crash & Bernstein" on Disney XD, "Ice the Movie," Hallmark's "Operation Cupcake," Amazon's "Six Degrees of Separation," and Johnny Martin's "Delirium." Manning took to the stage opposite Rae Dawn Chong in Lisa Phillips Visca's screenplay "Climax" at the Santa Monica Playhouse, where his performance received raved reviews. He is also the voice of "Denver" in the English version of the worldwide hit show "La Casa de Papel" aka "Money Heist," in addition to his work on several other Netflix shows. Mike began his producing career with the documentary "Kidnapped for Christ" alongside Lance Bass and Tom DeSanto ("Transformers"). After winning several awards, it premiered on Showtime television network. Since then, Mike has been involved behind the camera on dozens of films including "Jinn" (named one of Filmmaker Magazine's "50 Most Anticipated American Films of 2018"), the Netflix Original "The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson" with Oscar-nominated director David France, and "Lost in America", featuring Halle Berry, Rosario Dawson, Jewel, and Tiffany Haddish. Having lobbied Congress in Washington, D.C. before moving to Los Angeles, CA, Mike has worked with non-profit organizations throughout the country. He's on the board of Thirst Project and an ambassador for Boo2Bullying.

Ronny Turiaf has been blessed to have many different experiences throughout his life. There have been ups and downs, but it brought him to where he is today. Throughout his 10 years in the NBA, he has also been fortunate enough to be the President of Heart to Heart Foundation, Chairman of IVC Global, an intern at Olson Agency, Jr NBA Ambassador, and many other experiences. Since his childhood he knew he wanted to find a way to give back to the world, and he now has an opportunity to do that. Ronny’s experiences have taught him about adversity, teamwork, hard work, passion and dedication. Professionally he’s learned about marketing, advertising, social media, non-profits, strategy, measurement, client management and so much more. Most importantly, Ronny has learned about the importance of community and finding your true desire. He’s learned that tomorrow is never promised so today must be lived. Ronny’s passions continue to exist both on and off the court, as he remains committed to utilizing his NBA career to make an impact in his community and beyond. His first life took him from the Caribbean to new opportunities in Paris His second life from a heart operation to being a NBA champion Welcome to Ronny’s third life where he’s committed to following his heart.

Mario Adrion was born in Germany in a small village of 800 people in the Black Forest. When he was 15 he spent a year in Peru where he learned Spanish and realized how amazing it is to travel and embrace the unknown. He started studying psychology and business in Berlin and was discovered as a model. At 19 years old he started traveling to New York for fashion week. For the next 6 years he would travel full time between Asia, Milan, New York and Berlin. He started Youtube about 3 years ago and slowly his focus shifted from modeling to Youtube. Now he mainly does social media along with acting and standup comedy here in LA.

James Bland is the creator, showrunner and star of the Emmy winning drama series Giants which originally premiered on the Issa Rae YouTube Channel and can now be seen on Cleo TV, a new cable network from TV One. Giants has won Best Drama at the Streamys, the Indies Series Awards and the International Academy of Web and Television Awards. It was the only digital series to be honored with a 2018 Voice Award for its contribution to behavioral health understanding. With over 5 million views on Youtube, the series has earned James an Indie Series Award for Best Lead Actor and Best Writing in a Drama as well as multiple Daytime Emmy nominations for acting, writing and producing. A graduate of Florida A&M University, James began his career working under producers and creative executives at Sony Screen Gems. While navigating the studio world, he wrote and directed numerous award winning short films. He then went on to work as a digital producer for TV Land and Nickelodeon. Currently, James serves as the Founder and CEO of James Bland Productions, a full service production company focused on creating premium content for film, television and digital platforms.

Today I'm honored to have my friend DJ Skee play 7 Questions. Founder: Dash Radio & Skee Sports. Billboard & Forbes "30 Under 30," Multiple Radio DJ Of The Year Award honoree. First to play Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Post Malone, & more on radio. TV Host, Producer, DJ, Entrepreneur, & Philanthropist. Multiple Pro-Sports clients across the NFL, NBA, and MLB including the Minnesota Vikings (winners of Best Game Day Entertainment in NFL 3 years running), BIG3, UFC, and more. Launched the first marketing campaigns for Beats By Dre, the T-Mobile Sidekick, and Chrysler 300/Dodge Charger. Investor or Partner: Dash, StockX, Hotel Tonight, Liquid Death, Planet Based Foods, Lasso, Pinata Farms, M13, Thrive Market, Hoop Dream Studios. Awarded Mayoral proclamation in hometown of St. Paul, MN declaring May 26th "DJ Skee Day.” One of the biggest sneaker collectors in the world.

Honored this week to sit down with my friend Brian Henry. Imagine raving to grime tunes in London, going to a late-night Afro-Beats house party in South Africa, and finally ending up in Hollywood for the launch of your favorite artist’s new album. These experiences depict the world-wind of musical moments curated by Brian Henry. Leaving a career path in investment banking, he’s emerged as one of America’s hottest young talents. Formerly known as DJ B-Hen, he honed his skills at Los Angeles’ renowned Scratch DJ Academy. With a hustle, ambition and showmanship unlike any of his counterparty –Brian Henry is a resident DJ on ABC’s Good Morning America in New York City, and displayed extreme showmanship as a standout contestant on VH1’s premiere DJ competition show: Master of the Mix. Brian Henry has most notably performed for The President of the United States, Barack Obama and The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama. From the Swag Surf to the Tootsie Roll, the entire White House let loose to the sounds of B-Hen during a private reception for The First Lady’s closest aid. His high-profile events also include DJ sets for Beyonce, Cardi B, Pharrell, Sundance Film Festival, New York Fashion Week and Harvard Business School. While musically illustrating events is his core passion, he also devotes his talent to eradicating breast cancer. After losing his mother, Tracy, to a vicious 14-month battle with the disease, he honors survivors and those fighting the disease with Beats to Beat Breast Cancer™. The non-profit, multi-city event series utilizes the power of music to drive awareness and raise funds for breast cancer research, particularly within the African American community. Brian Henry has performed across North America, The Caribbean, Italy, South Africa, Morocco, and The United Kingdom. His cornerstone event: The B-Hen Block Party™ annually draws over 1,500 guests in Los Angeles and in 2020 the event series will travel across the U.S.

Dr. Vallecillos is the son of Spanish immigrants and descends from generations of mathematicians, engineers, and theologians. After completing an undergraduate education at the University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Vallecillos underwent his clinical training at St. Bartholomew’s and the Royal Medical College in London. Continuing, Dr. Vallecillos then trained in general surgery at Ann Arbor’s St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, and completed his fellowship training in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Providence & St. John’s Medical Center. Dr. Glenn Vallecillos is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon serving clients both locally and globally. As Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, with a comprehensive background in plastic and reconstructive procedures, Dr. Vallecillos has a practice emphasis in facial detailing, body contouring, and breast revision.

In this weeks episode of 7 Questions I sit down with Governor David Alexander Paterson. Governor Paterson is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer and serving out the final three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to the end of 2010. He is the first African American to hold that position and the second legally blind U.S. Governor of any state after Bob C. Riley, who was Acting Governor of Arkansas for 11 days in January 1975. Since leaving office, Paterson has been a radio talk show host on station WOR in New York City, and was in 2014 appointed chairman of the New York Democratic Party by his successor as governor, Andrew Cuomo.

This week I have the honor of sitting down and outside with Paul Vincent. Paul Vincent has been working in the fitness industry for over 15 years and has cultivated a reputation as one of the top athletic trainers in his field. Paul has a strong following of clients ranging from professional and Olympic athletes, celebrities, executives and everything in between. Paul was born in Washington DC and grew up in Portugal. He moved back to the US in 1992 to attend the last few years of high school. Paul completed his undergraduate degree at UCLA and completed his Masters degree in Exercise Science, Performance Enhancement and Human Biomechanics in 2011. Paul is constantly pushing the edge to understand human potential. Paul’s determination, dedication and motivation will forever inspire those around him. His website: http://altushealth.com/ If you like this episode please let me know by subscribing or commenting below. Thank you!

James Hester is a New York Times Bestselling author. He co-authored three books, 21 Pounds in 21 Days: The Martha's Vineyard Diet Detox, 1 Pound A Day and Out of Bounds.  He spent the first part of his career as a publicist for models: Beverly Johnson, Naomi Campbell and Beverly Peele and Wilhelmina Model Agency. Actor Kadeem Hardison and musical masterminds of C&C Music Factory, Clivilles and Cole. He ran a music publishing company and made records for Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Diana Ross, Luther Vandross,  Natalie Cole to name few. He is currently working on two books: SEVEN WOMEN and The Trainer.  He lives on Martha's Vineyard.

Shira Lazar is the Founder/CEO of the Emmy Nominated digital media brand, What's Trending.  In October 2018, she became the host of the afternoon drive show "Lets Go There" weekdays on the first national LGBTQ+ station Channel Q syndicated and on Radio.com. You can also check out her lifestyle and travel series, Adventures In Curiosity, which inspires viewers to embrace curiosity and live their lives outside the box.   Previously, Shira hosted the weekly pop culture Facebook live show, Circa Pop Live! for Circa.com and was a West Coast contributor for HLN's "The Daily Share", where she covered all things social media and digital trends for the network. As the leading broadcaster and interviewer in the digital space, Shira has been the face of the biggest live-streams on the web from awards show to red carpet premieres including, The Oscars, The Grammys, Tony Awards among many others.  Lazar is a Webby Awards Honoree, Streamy Awards and IAWTV Winner For Best Web Series Live Host. She has also been named one of Fast Company’s Most Influential Women in Technology, Huffington Post’s “Women in Tech to follow on Twitter”, honored on the Variety Women of Impact list and Cynopsis Top Women In Digital. A digital trailblazer, she speaks at conferences around the world, is a regular contributor on The Huffington Post, Inc. and Entrepreneur and appears frequently on networks like Bloomberg TV, CNN and Fox News Channel discussing Internet culture and digital trends.

Dax Dasilva is the creative mind behind Canadian tech company Lightspeed, cultural centre Never Apart, and new book out now, Age of Union. Founded in 2005, Lightspeed develops a cloud commerce platform used by independent retail and restaurant customers in over a hundred countries, employs over 750 staff located in eight cities, and has raised $292M USD from investors. The company went public in March 2019 on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol LSPD, becoming one of Canada’s top 10 technology IPOs. In 2015, Dasilva also founded Never Apart, housed in Lightspeed’s former offices, and is a cultural non-profit determined to bring about positive social change and unity through original programming with global reach and impact; cultivating a diverse following and welcoming thousands into its 12,000-square-foot space. Helping entrepreneurs become leaders in their communities through Lightspeed’s technology and elevating artists through his work at Never Apart are fundamental to Dasilva’s philosophy—fostering cultures of innovation, promoting diverse leadership, and valuing different viewpoints.  With his new book, Age of Union, Dasilva brings leadership, spirituality and environmental guardianship together with themes of identity, diversity, cultural expression, and individual empowerment to ignite the impactful changemakers that the world needs now.

Judith Regan is an American editor, producer, book publisher, and television and radio talk show host. She is the founder of Regan Arts, has been called, “the smartest executive in book publishing”, by Vanity Fair, and is often referred to as, “the Queen Of All Media”. Judith has published books with authors such as Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern, Michael Moore, Sean Hannity, Jenna Jameson, Neil Strauss, including legendary titles such as Gregory Maguire's 'Wicked', which later became a musical, Dr Barry Sears' 'The Zone', Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Godfather Notebook', and, 'The Audacity Of Inez Burns', by Stephen Bloom. In 2006, Judith interviewed OJ Simpson for Fox Network, where he “confessed” to the murder in a controversial special entitled, “O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession:”, which led to the publishing of the book, “If I Did It”.

Honored to have Gareb on this weeks episode of 7 Questions. Gareb Shamus, CEO of ACE Universe is building the largest community of Superhero fans around the world. Gareb is a world-renowned authority on Superheroes and started and produced the largest Comic Con tour for over twenty years. He started and published many of the leading award-winning magazines, including Wizard and ToyFare, about Superheroes across movies, TV, toys, games, animation and comic books, selling over 100 million copies in 75 countries, in dozens of languages. Gareb is credited with leading the charge to help make the Geeks and Nerds into the “Cool” people. Gareb Shamus is a professional contemporary artist, whose paintings are currently on display in galleries in Los Angeles, Toronto and New York City. His paintings are noted for breaking the ‘3rd wall’ with their three-dimensional textures and use of a proprietary painting technique designed to provoke conversation by reaching out to the viewer.

Honored to have my friend Tammy on today's episode! Tammy Tibbetts drives the fundraising and communications strategy of She's the First (STF), a nonprofit that fights gender inequality by educating girls and training students. To date, she’s led STF through nine years of positive financial growth and manages more than $1M+ in assets annually. She’s known for building remarkable teams and creating compelling ways for supporters to get involved in the mission at all levels. Tammy is a frequent keynote speaker and panelist and has done three TEDx talks.  Over the years, her work has been shortlisted in Marie Claire's 20 Women Changing the World, in Forbes' 30 Under 30, TIME's 30 Under 30 World-Changers, and in Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business. Currently, she’s working on a book project with her co-founder, Christen Brandt, to help individuals craft their own personal impact plans, using the frameworks and philosophies that have made She's the First successful. Tammy is a proud first-generation college graduate who attended The College of New Jersey, earning a B.A. in journalism, summa cum laude. Although voted “Most Shy” in her high school yearbook, she is anything but that today, whether she’s speaking on stage or being a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (yes, really). She started her career at Hearst Magazines, where she launched three profitable digital properties and became Seventeen’s inaugural, award-winning social media editor.

So honored to have my friend Dan on this week's episode. Dan Fuchs is the founding Publisher and Chief Revenue Officer of HGTVMagazine, a Hearst/Scripps joint venture publication. Under Fuchs’s leadership, HGTV Magazine was named AdAge’s “Launch of the Year” in 2012 and since then has earned numerous industry accolades and is frequently recognized as one of Hearst’s most profitable print properties. Dan has worked at Hearst for fifteen years, starting as the Associate Publisher of startup Lifetime Magazine, and then moving to O, The Oprah Magazine as Associate Publisher/Advertising, where he helped lead the ad sales team to record profitability. Dan came to Hearst after a decade at Condé Nast where he held sales and management positions at Bon Appétit and SELF magazines. He started his career in the media planning department at J. Walter Thompson after graduating from Princeton University in 1991. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and their two daughters.

With over 20 years in the music business as an executive at some of the most prestigious major record labels in the world, it is no wonder why this tastemaker has been sought after by the music industry's elite. Big Billy Clark started out his career at Def Jam Recordings in 1994 when then CEO Russell Simmons recruited him into their west coast office. Clark hustled his way from intern to Senior Director of A&R/West Coast Office Manager. Clark was given the responsibility of running the west coast offices daily operations on top of being a creative executive that could sign and work in various capacities with some of the labels biggest artists which included Ja Rule, Ludacris, Jay-Z, DMX, Method Man, Redman, Mariah Carey, Hoobastank, Christina Milian, Bon Jovi, LL Cool J, Slick Rick, Sisqo, and Fefe Dobson.
 After 9 years at his post at Island Def Jam, Clark ventured out and started Tour Managing. He traveled around the world to Japan, Germany & France for 2 years w/ Hoobastank and Christina Milian before he was brought into Atlantic Records as A&R by the labels President Craig Kallman. In 2006 Clark was offered an executive A&R position at Sony Music where he developed and signed new artists. He also jumped on board to run a production company for The Black Eyed Peas' Printz Board called Beets & Produce, where he was able to develop singers, producers & songwriters. Clark shortly after accepted the post of GM at The Writing Camp, which housed songwriters and producers responsible for hit songs such as Beyonce's "Halo" and Rihanna's "SOS". Clark was also is a producer on the The Hub's hit TV show Majors & Minors.
 Currently Clark is the EVP / A&R at Hitmakers Entertainment in Los Angeles working with mega producer Mark Feist, signing, developing and breaking artists worldwide.

Today's guest is my friend Nick Melvoin. Nick has spent his career fighting for our city’s schoolchildren. He believes that together, with the right leadership, we can ensure that every student in Los Angeles has the opportunity to succeed. Born and raised on the Westside of LA, Nick served as a seventh and eighth grade English teacher at Markham Middle School, an LAUSD campus in Watts, where he coached soccer and baseball and helped his students launch a school newspaper. At Markham, he saw firsthand how LAUSD failed to support schools and neglected the needs of our city’s most vulnerable students. When he and two-thirds of Markham’s teachers lost their jobs due to budget cuts, he fought to be re-hired and worked to end the indiscriminate, seniority-based teacher layoffs that harm so many LA families. As a teacher, Nick joined the ACLU, Mayors Riordan and Villaraigosa, and others to bring a ground-breaking civil rights lawsuit which argued that LA’s layoffs violated the rights of students. They won. Nick holds a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a Masters in Urban Education from Loyola Marymount University (LMU), and a law degree from the New York University School of Law, where he was a Root-Tilden-Kern Scholar. In addition to serving as a teacher, Nick has worked in the Obama White House with the Domestic Policy Council and the US Attorney’s office where he took part in various civil rights investigations as a legal clerk. Today, Nick leads and facilitates efforts by students, parents, teachers, and community members to rethink and shape the future of our city’s schools. He is also an adjunct professor at LMU where he teaches teachers how to improve their own advocacy in the classroom. In working for nonprofits such as Teach Plus and Educators 4 Excellence, Nick helps to improve the support teachers across the state receive before and during their time in the classroom, as well as amplify teacher voice in policy-making. Nick serves on the boards of the Los Angeles County Young Democrats, Brentwood Community Council, Teach For America Associates, University Synagogue's Social Justice Committee, and United in Harmony. He is a graduate of the Jewish Federation’s New Leaders Project and the New Leaders Council and chairs the Jewish Federation’s Educators’ Network. Nick is also proud to serve as a director of Camp Harmony, a camp for homeless and underserved children. His commitment to solving educational inequity was first sparked as a volunteer at Camp Harmony more than fifteen years ago.