Bruce Levenson (AKA My Dad) on Leveraging Optimism
Today’s episode, episode #277, is a little bit different. I have interviewed 276 different people, and over that span I’ve often contemplated and though, “You know who I would love to have on here? My dad.” He’s one of the most interesting people I’ve ever been around, and I’ve had a front row seat to witness, to him questions, to observe, to notice. I was hesitant to have my dad on as a guest because I like to ask questions that other people don’t necessarily ask. And certainly, I’ve had friends on the podcast, people I care deeply about, but I knew with my dad it would be extremely personal. I wanted to ask him questions that I don’t always get to ask him. Even though there’s space for us in our relationship to ask questions, we don’t always sit for an hour and a half and learn with each other. We don’t always sit and ask what’s really on our mind and share in a vulnerable way, and we have a very healthy relationship. There was some fear for me in bringing my dad into this community, bringing my dad into my world, even though I’ve always been part of his. I’ve referenced my dad a ton in conversations with others. My dad is now 72 years old. I didn’t want to wait any longer to ask him some questions I was really curious about and to share him. He’s one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever been around. He’s one of the most intentional performers I’ve ever been around. And so, I felt inspired, obligated, and excited to go deeper with him and to be willing to share a side to him that others don’t know. We uncovered and talked about some things that we hadn’t ever talked about. Most of us don’t ask the questions that we want to ask to the people that are closest to us. For me, that was pretty jaw-dropping that there were parts of this conversation that we hadn’t discussed in detail previously. For you, as you’re listening to this conversation, I hope you take that away more than anything else. I hope this conversation inspires you. I hope it challenges you to sit down with the people that you love and just be really curious and listen without judgment.
My dad, Bruce Levenson, became more well-known when he bought into the Atlanta Hawks and the Atlanta Thrashers. Before that, he was extremely successful in the business world. He co-founded a company called United Communications Group. They acquired a lot of companies along the way, including a company called Tech Target which ended up going public and is still a publicly traded company. There was a company called Gas Buddy they acquired at one point as well. My dad and his co-founder Ed are journalists. That’s their trade, that’s what they came into the business world doing. So, they really believed in creating exceptional content. They were a business-too-business newsletter, and they would sell their content to other companies. My dad also went to law school at night as he was working extremely hard. My dad does not mind working hard, he actually enjoys it. Philanthropically, he has been extremely active for as long as I can remember. He and my mom formed the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland, which aims to educate and train the next generation of non-profit leaders and people in the social sector who are changing our world in really amazing ways.
Here are some impactful quotes from my dad from the episode:
“When you stop growing, you start dying. I have no interest in dying” (16:15).
“I’d rather bet for myself than against myself” (16:45).
“I’ll keep walking fast for as long as I can” (16:50).
“Always finding time for family, time to do things other than working, was always a priority” (18:10).
“I don’t ever remember coming home tired from work. I loved work” (22:15).
“I love to build in so many different ways… and part of the love of that is being part of a team” (23:15).
“I still take on too much” (25:15).
“I added an element of intelligent impatience” (31:50).
“I would hope they would describe me as someone who is stimulating to be at the table with” (33:30).
“The partnerships that did work all had one thing in common: there was this courtship where mutual respect and trust was built, we didn’t jump into it” (36:00).
“When you’re walking fast, sometimes you walk right past that communication” (38:50).
“For me, it was always about being my own boss” (44:00).
“Anybody who says money doesn’t buy you happiness isn’t spending their money wisely” (44:30).
“Don’t do it alone. I really believe in the power of partnerships” (45:15).
“I want to set an example for my community” (46:05).
“There’s room for error if you’re overcommunicating and being overly assertive” (50:00).
“I care that if someone meets me in passing and googles me, they may read something about me that makes them think less of me” (55:00).
“There were a lot of similarities between the sports business and my business” (1:06:30).
“The glass is always 80% full for me” (1:11:45).
“I’m not superman. I don’t have answers for everything. Depression is something very real and very debilitating, you have to work really hard to work your way out of it” (1:15:55).
“It’s hard for me to call it a failure because I tried my hardest and controlled what I could control” (1:24:05).
“I’m the luckiest guy in the world” (1:28:10).
Thank you so much to my dad for coming on the podcast!
Lastly, if you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
-Brian
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