Hello everyone! Welcome to Seasons 5 of The Ronan Levy Podcast.

Today we're back with a fascinating conversation with Stephen J. Cloobeck. Stephen is running for Governor of the great state of California. Although Stephen is best known for his work founding and operating Diamond Resorts, he also has political experience having been the Chairman of Brand USA (a a public-private partnership tasked with promoting tourism in the United States) and Chairman of the Nevada Athletic Commission. The combination of experiences, he believes, gives him the skills necessary to lead the State of California into a new golden age.

I'm not sure why his people asked me, a Canadian, have Stephen on the podcast but I was delighted to take the opportunity to ask questions as an impartial interviewer. I kind of like what I heard.

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When it comes to being successful in the business of managing musicians, there is one piece of advice that trumps them all: do your best to keep them on the straight and narrow.

So it's no surprise that Brandon Reid, whose clients include The National, Big Red Machine, Broken Social Scene, Georgia Harmer and Aaron Dessner (co-author of Folklore by Taylor Swift, for all the Swifties out there) chose the name Straight x Narrow Management for his business.

Whether that's actually the impetus for the name of his company or not, I don't know. But it sounds like a good story. And this conversation is full of good stories.

Like the one off the top about Ed Sheeran, Aaron Dessner and a giant stuffed animal.

Enjoy the conversation.

Dr. Jared Pelo is the Chief Medical Officer at Bionic Health, a pioneering health startup that integrates biomarker testing, AI, and advanced technology to deliver personalized, precision, and preventative medical care. With a background as an emergency medicine physician, Dr. Pelo has also co-founded and led successful health tech startups, bringing a blend of clinical expertise and entrepreneurial innovation to the medical field. Known for his thoughtful and balanced approach, Dr. Pelo focuses on making advanced healthcare accessible and promoting well-being through holistic, evidence-based strategies.

00:00:00 - Intro: Ronan shares the podcast’s evolving focus and introduces Dr. Jared Pelo.

00:01:10 - Journey into Medicine: Dr. Pelo’s path to medicine and early life experiences.

00:02:42 - Medical Training Challenges: The tough realities of medical school and their personal impacts.

00:04:18 - Therapy and Self-Reflection: Seeking therapy and learning self-forgiveness.

00:07:09 - Psychedelic Therapy: First experiences with ketamine therapy and its subtle benefits.

00:10:22 - Struggles with Self-Worth: Discussing self-worth, upbringing, and societal pressures.

00:13:07 - Impact of Therapy: How ketamine therapy helped dissolve self-loathing.

00:18:25 - Entrepreneurial Shift: Transitioning from ER doctor to startup founder.

00:25:39 - Mind-Body Connection: Ronan’s personal story on stress and IBS.

00:27:07 - Bionic Health Overview: Dr. Pelo explains Bionic Health’s mission in precision medicine.

00:33:09 - AI in Healthcare: Role and future of AI in personalized patient care.

00:43:08 - Longevity Considerations: Spiritual and emotional implications of living longer.

00:50:20 - Community and Connection: Importance of combating loneliness for better health.

00:53:29 - Challenges in Modern Medicine: Addressing late-stage treatment and systemic issues.

01:01:50 - Supplement Recommendations: Dr. Pelo’s take on supplements for health.

01:07:54 - Cancer Screening Tips: Early detection strategies and full-body MRI insights.

01:12:31 - Closing Thoughts: Ronan’s thanks and reflections on the conversation.

After my efforts to convince Scott Galloway to start a podcast with me failed, I decided to go for the next best thing and started a podcast with Ben "Doc" Askins.

And so we'd like to introduce you to The Know Nothing Podcast, a podcast dedicated to nothing. Think of it as Seinfeld meets The Big Lebowski for the podcast generation by two below average talent podcast hosts.

If you like what you hear, or just want to take pity on us, please subscribe to The Know Nothing Podcast on Apple or Spotify.

After disrupting the hospitality industry twice, first as the founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the second-largest operator of boutique hotels in the U.S., and then as Airbnb’s Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy, leading a worldwide revolution in travel, Chip Conley co-founded MEA (Modern Elder Academy) in January 2018.

Inspired by his experience of intergenerational mentoring as a ‘modern elder’ at Airbnb, where his guidance was instrumental to the company’s extraordinary transformation from a fast-growing start-up to the world’s most valuable hospitality brand, MEA is the world's first ‘midlife wisdom school.’ A New York Times bestselling author, Conley's 7th book “Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age” is about rebranding midlife to help people understand the upside of this often-misunderstood life stage.

In this conversation we talk about identity, purpose, wisdom, life and death and more. It's a good one.

To learn more about Chip, visit chipconley.com and to learn more about The Modern Elder Academcy, visit meawisdom.com.

After the death of a close friend at seventeen, Tom Turcich resolved to make the most out of life; to travel and be forced into adventure; to experience and understand the world. On April 2nd, 2015, he set out to see it all—one step at a time.

The World Walk is the emotional and exhilarating story of the tenth person and first dog to walk around the world. Together, Turcich and his dog, Savannah, covered twenty-eight thousand miles over the course of seven years. Through deserts, jungles, cities, and mountains, Turcich meditated on what’s important in life and took lessons from cultures around the globe.

After reading Tom’s book I wanted to have him on the podcast to ask him some of the deeper, personal questions other interviewers might not bring up about what he’s learned from his travels.

Jayson Gaignard is the Founder and Head Curator of MMT (MastermindTalks), one of the world’s most exclusive communities for entrepreneurs.

The invite-only MMT community has a lower acceptance rate than Harvard University and brings together brilliant minds from various industries for networking, targeted troubleshooting, and community building.

Jayson’s work has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Forbes, Life Hacker, Business Insider, and as part of Tim Ferriss' New York Times bestseller Tools of Titans but I really brought him on to have an excuse to go deeper with my close friend and learn more about his origin story and values.

What makes for a great event? How do we find our tribe? What does it all mean in the big scheme of things anyway?

I finally got in all the questions I’ve always wanted to ask and remembered that Jayson is one of my favorite people on the planet and my life is infinitely richer for his presence in it.

Whether you are a big hockey fan or not at all, I thought the beginning of the NHL season was a good excuse to invite strength & conditioning coach Andy O’Brien on the show.

He’s worked with some of the world’s biggest athletes and I wanted to ask him about how sports are changing and what lessons us non-athletes can take away from hockey players around team building and resilience.

For more than 25 years the athletes have turned to Andy for sports nutrition, rehabilitation, injury management, and the unique mental health struggles they face.

This year we started working together on Cwench Hydration where he is the Chief Performance Officer.

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Our first product is Cwench Hydration which has been formulated to be the world’s healthiest and best made hydration drink.

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