Executive Exchange Fortune

On the latest episode of Executive Exchange, Leadership Editor Ruth Umoh sits down with legendary Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer and former CEO Randy Garutti to discuss the latter's departure, what he accomplished at the burger empire for over 2 decades, and what lies ahead for the brand.

What started out as a hotdog cart in Madison Square Park in 2001, has now transformed into a $4 billion global behemoth. Former CEO Randy Garutti talks about working alongside Danny for 24 years in the restaurant industry and the impact he's had on his career throughout their time together. Randy leaves the company that now has over 540 restaurants in 19 countries.

Danny reminisces about meeting Randy for the first time at his very first restaurant, Tabla, when he hired him to become manager of the restaurant. But once Shake Shack started to hit its stride in Madison Square Park, Randy was ready to step up to the plate and lead the team.

They also discuss the new CEO, Rob Lynch, stepping in from Papa John's to lead the team and if there's ever going to be pizza on the Shake Shack menu. Their vision for Lynch is to mold new leaders in the brand to step up into larger roles in the future, just as they had done previously with Randy at the helm.

Finally, the two discuss the latest conflicts in the Israel-Hamas conflict and the boycott that happened at the company as well as what their favorite orders are at Shake Shack. Danny is a little surprised at Randy's go to order.

On the latest episode of Executive Exchange, Mielle CEO Monique Rodriguez sits down with host Ruth Umoh to discuss how her company started with the tragedy that sparked her entrepreneurial journey, the haircare-wise acquisition by a Fortune 50 company, and her reaction to criticism over selling a black-owned brand to a non-black parent company.

After experiencing the loss of her son due to complications at birth, Monique experienced postpartum depression and no longer was invested in her full-time job as a home health nurse at the time. She had started working on a side hustle that turned into Mielle Organics. It was a risk that she knew she had to take because she didn't want to risk anyone's life working as a nurse.

On May 23, 2014, Mielle launched with one product and never turned back. Since launching, they've always made a sale. And in 2023, the company was acquired by Procter & Gamble that expanded Mielle's reach to customers. It also allowed them to scale their nonprofit, Mielle Cares, to fund additional economic opportunities for Black and Brown communities.

On the latest episode of Executive Exchange, Leadership Editor and Host Ruth Umoh sits down with cofounder and CTO of Duolingo Severin Hacker to discuss how AI can help with learning new languages, its popular owl mascot Duo, and why the company is now offering math and music lessons.

Severin talks about how he got his start in Switzerland and wanted to take the opportunity to learn in the U.S. after going to university in his native country. He took that chance as a foreign exchange student and went to study at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. When he got there, he met Luis von Ahn, who was a consulting professor in the Computer Science Department at the time, before he became cofounder and CEO of Duolingo.

Severin says that his Duolingo work was the first and only full-time job he's ever had. He's endured tough times with the company, sharing that in the first five years of the business Duolingo made no revenue. That's when they decided to launch Super, which is a freemium subscription to the platform.

Severin also talks about using AI within the company by introducing a feature called Roleplay where you can interact with a server at a restaurant in another language and learn to speak the language you're learning. He also touches on the layoffs Duolingo has had earlier in 2024, stating that all the layoffs were only done to freelance contractors because of AI's capabilities within the company.

Plus, Severin shares how Duolingo is making the jump from teaching languages to now teaching music and math to users on the platform. They believe that learning by doing will lend itself well to those subjects for people.

Finally, Severin dives into the creation of their mascot Duo, and how using the owl in their TikToks skyrocketed their popularity on the media platform to new heights.

On the latest episode of Executive Exchange, host and Leadership Editor Ruth Umoh sits down with DraftKings cofounder and CEO Jason Robins to discuss the partnership between LeBron James and how their deal came together right before Super Bowl LVIII.

Jason discusses how the NBA changed the rules to allow active NBA players to endorse betting companies and that LeBron was their top target to sign. DraftKings also recently partnered with Barstool Sports once again and talks about why it made sense to bring them back as a sponsor.

Jason also talks about the growth of the company since starting it in 2012 as a daily fantasy sports betting platform in Boston, Massachusetts. Now, DraftKings offers real time sports betting and an online casino in select states and countries around the globe and lobbying to include more states in the future such as Texas and California.

Finally, Jason touches on the 9/11-themed 'Never Forget' parlay bet that was issued last September 11th and how to deal with situations that are challenging when running a company. He gives insight on making mistakes that you can learn from and turning that into a stronger person.

Fresh off her exit from Barstool Sports, former CEO Erika Nardini sits down with Ruth Umoh, host of Executive Exchange, to discuss her nearly decade-long run as one of the most powerful woman in sports media.

Erika opens up about her decision to leave as CEO of Barstool Sports, saying that she took it from a $5 million revenue business when she joined in 2016 to a now nearly $300 million revenue business. She feels that she's accomplished everything she wanted to do there and wants to start on a new path in the near future.

Erika dials back her time at the media company and shares a few stories from when she was CEO. She says even though there have been some challenging times at the brand, she never once thought about quitting until she did it on her own terms.

Erika also talks about working alongside Dave Portnoy, who has courted controversy over the years, including sexual misconduct allegations. But through those allegations, she believes that there is opportunity to start a new venture for herself and let Portnoy take control of the "pirate ship" and steer it in the right direction.

On this episode of Executive Exchange, Hinge founder and CEO Justin McLeod sits down with host Ruth Umoh to discuss the online dating business, AI and how he transformed the company from a less than $1 million revenue business in 2017 to one that's projected to rake in a whopping $400 million by the end of 2023.

Justin reveals some useful tips for people who are using the dating app to find their ideal match as well as breaking down the philosophies of what works and what doesn't for each individual user. Compatibility and the use of AI is what Justin thinks will improve the app over time for users looking to meet their partner.

Justin also talks about the beginnings of Hinge, starting it in 2011 while he was attending Harvard Business School and slowly over time making changes to the app that now is the number three dating app worldwide.

Finally, Justin takes a look at Ruth's Hinge profile and shares his thoughts on what he likes and what she can improve on her matchmaking journey.