Unplugged with Brandon Steiner

When opportunity knocks, open the door. Following his career as a Major League Baseball player that spanned 13 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Florida Marlins, Washington Nationals, and Houston Astros, Aaron Boone enjoyed the life of a broadcaster calling games on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball and in-studio for Baseball Tonight. But, Boone is a third-generation Major Leaguer. His grandfather Ray, father Bob and brother Bret all played in the bigs. This offseason, the itch to get closer to the game he loves, came back and Boone was hired as the manager of the New York Yankees. I sat down with Aaron during a recent private Q&A with fans at Steiner Sports to discuss his life in baseball, the 2018 Yankees, his plans as manager and the state of the game today.

Founder & CEO of The Bouqs Company (http://bouqs.com) John Tabis joins Brandon Steiner to discuss his entrepreneurial journey, from his experience as a marketing consultant, to launching his business, appearing on ABC's Shark Tank, gaining an investment from Robert Herjavec after initially being turned down, securing over $40 million in investments and selling tens of millions of flowers all over the world. About The Bouqs Company: The Bouqs Company was founded with the bold intention of bringing romance and delight back to what was once a noble exchange: the giving and receiving of flowers. Grounded in transparency, responsibility and simplicity, we create genuine moments of emotional connection for our customers, build meaningful relationships with like-minded farmers and florists while empowering them to thrive, and eliminate unnecessary waste along the way. About John Tabis: John is passionate about disruptive businesses, cool brands, and showing love to the important people in his life. The Bouqs Company is a combination of those things, and he is thrilled to bring it to you and yours. Prior to Founding The Bouqs, John worked in strategy consulting at Bain & Company, followed by marketing strategy for brands including Disney, ESPN, ABC, Marvel, ShoeDazzle and Gerber Baby. John received his BS in Finance from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA from UCLA Anderson. You can reach John with questions, comments or suggestions @JohnGTabis. But be careful, the guy can be chatty...

Steve Schirripa was born in Brooklyn, NY – a city noted more for the “mob” stereotype. But stereotypes, like a wise guy’s alibi, can be misleading. A series regular on David Chase’s acclaimed HBO drama The Sopranos, the Brooklyn College graduate’s acting odyssey began while working at a hotel on the Las Vegas strip. Once the entertainment director of The Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, Steve worked with such comedians as Drew Carey, Kevin Pollack and Bruce Baum. His cameo roles in their comedy specials led to episodic work on the big and small screen, with Steve continually appearing in more productions. This eventually led to Schirripa’s acting break in Martin Scorsese’s Casino. Schirripa is also a published writer, with the National Bestseller, A Goomba’s Guide to Life published by Clarkson Potter, his first in a series of three Goomba guidebooks. This comical book co-written by Charles Fleming, includes chapters on growing up in Brooklyn, great Goomba’s in history, and goomba’s do’s and dont’s. His second book The Goomba’s Book of Love and his third The Goomba Diet, “For Those with an Appetite for Life,” are currently in stores. With the popularity of the Goomba series, Steve was asked to write Goomba books for young adults, the first entitled Nicky Deuce: Welcome to the Family, which was followed up by Nicky Deuce: Home for the Holidays. Because of the book’s success, Nickelodeon optioned the Nicky book idea, and just completed production on transforming the book into a film. Schirripa is an Executive Producer as well as star of the project. Schirripa has also starred in the ABC Family series, The Secret Life of the American Teenager where he played a single hard working father of a teenage boy. A far cry from slightly feeble minded Soprano’s mobster Bobby ‘Bacala’. Schirripa is currently the host of Investigation Discovery’s second season of Karma’s a B*tch!, which Steve is also co-creator and executive producer. The program airs Thursday nights at 8 PM EST on Investigation Discovery. Previously, Steve was the host and executive producer of two successful seasons of the ID series, Nothing Personal. Starting in 2015, Schirripa played Det. Anthony Abetemarco, an investigator who works with assistant district attorney Erin Reagan on the CBS series Blue Bloods. In 2014, Schirripa launched a line of organic, vegan pasta sauces under the business name of Uncle Steve's Italian Specialties Group. Visit http://unclestevesny.com to shop!

In 1994, I hosted a weekly radio show on WPAT 930 AM from Herman's Sporting Goods at Union Square in New York City called, "Herman's Sports Time Live." Presented by Steiner Sports, the show was all about sports business and interviews with prominent athletes of the day. Recently I came across a box of old cassettes--literally a box--that I was able to digitize to bring you some of the best of those old shows. Today's episode of Unplugged with Brandon Steiner is one of my favorite interviews of all-time. It was July 7, 1994 and it was an episode dedicated to the legacy of Phil Rizzuto, just a few months ahead of his Hall of Fame induction in Cooperstown later that month. On the show we had Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto in-studio, along with call-ins from Whitey Ford, Moose Skowron, Hank Bauer, Jerry Coleman, Gene Woodling, Richard Sandomir of the New York Times and other guests. In this special episode are some of the best baseball stories you will ever hear. Not only that, we also talked about the Labor Strike that resulted in a shortened season in 1994 and my opinion that the Yankees needed to move to Manhattan! Boy, was I wrong!

Dr. Jen Welter is the first female to coach in the NFL. In the summer of 2015, she served as a linebackers coach for the Arizona Cardinals, a period of time defined by the bond she has formed with the players. Widely known as a trailblazer and pioneer in professional football, becoming the first woman to coach in the NFL was only her most recent first. In 2014, Welter became the first woman to play running back in a men's professional football league. In early 2015, Welter was hired as the first female coach in men’s professional football, helping coach the most successful Revolution season in franchise history. Prior to joining the world of men’s professional football, Welter had a highly decorated 14 year career in women’s professional football which included four National Championships and two gold medals as a member of Team USA in the 2010 and 2013 International Federation of American Football’s (IFAF) Women’s World Championship. She is committed to increasing access and opportunities in football. To empower women through football, Welter designed her signature program, “A Day in the Life,” Camp which debuted with the Washington Redskins women's program in 2015. She continues to create a range of camps for girls and women through her GRRRidiron Flag Football Camp, along with a number of other community initiatives like her Camp on the Corner program that brings football to youth in under-served areas. Welter has appeared as a guest NFL analyst on NBC, the NFL Network and ESPN, and in national newspapers and other publications. Welter has become a regular empowerment and sports speaker sharing the stage at events with sports and political giants like Serena Williams and Condoleeza Rice. As guest editor of Wired Magazine, Serena Williams highlighted Welter as one of her Trailblazers, 10 heroes who are showing the way forward to a better, fairer world for all. Welter was recognized at the United Nations as Sports Pioneer of the Year on Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. ESPNW named her one of the 25 most influential women in sport in 2015. Welter holds a doctorate degree in Psychology, a Master’s in Sport Psychology, and a Bachelor’s degree from Boston College.

I am joined by fitness guru and social media influencer Paige Hathaway to discuss her rise to fame, fitness philosophies, workout regimens and social media growth tactics. -- Paige Hathaway is an American fitness cover model, entrepreneur, and social media star famous for her impressive Instagram following. Right at the start of her career, she ranked second at the 2012 Ronnie Coleman Classic, the biggest NPC statewide competition in the United States. The next year, she was named the FLEX August 2013 Bikini Model Search Winner. Since then, she has graced the covers of many prestigious magazines, such as Fitness Gurls, Women's Health and Fitness, Oxygen, Inside Fitness, MOST, Livid Magazine, Muscular Development, Dakini Magazine, and many more. She has endorsed the brand Shredz for three years. She participated in the BodyPower UK Expo 2013 as part of the Gymshark team. She has her own membership program available on her website and also provides separate personalized diet and workout regimes for interested people. Through her website, she offers the "Fit in 5" challenge which claims to make the participants fit in 5 weeks. She has also released her own calendar in 2017.

One of my all-time favorite interviews was this sit-down I had with Phil Rizzuto. Recorded in 2007, a few months before his passing, the New York Yankees legend and Hall of Famer shared some of his best stories from his career in baseball and offered his thoughts on many great Yankees players throughout the years.

A special interview with Allan Maman, a 17-year-old serial entrepreneur. He is has been dubbed one of the reasons why fidget spinners became viral through his guerrilla tactics in running his social media/company. He founded the #1 brand and company behind the Fidget spinners known as Fidget360. This was all started with his High School’s 3d printer and he now has factories in China and Brooklyn that mass produce for him. He has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales along with being featured in CNBC, Forbes, Time, Teen Vogue, Mic, Inc and many more. ​ Allan has always been a young entrepreneur from the start. When he was in middle school, he resold items to his peers that he bought off of Alibaba. When he was 15 he developed many game servers for games such as “Minecraft” which generated him a 5 figure income. When he was 16 a forbes writer named him as a “Teen who is saving lives” through one of his apps Safe Ride. When he was 17 he build a few more companies and apps such as Nito, and now he is working full time on Fidget360 and new companies.

I'm joined by Entrepreneur Magazine Editor-In-Chief Jason Feifer to discuss the state of the magazine and the publishing industry, the makeup of the entrepreneur mentality and the future business. Jason Feifer is editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur magazine, and host of two podcasts: Pessimists Archive (iTunes, site), about the history of unfounded fears of innovation, and Problem Solvers (iTunes, Libsyn), about how entrepreneurs solve unexpected problems in their business. ​ He was previously an editor at Fast Company, Men's Health, Maxim, and Boston, and has written for New York, ESPN, Slate, GQ, New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, and others. A novel he cowrote with his wife, Mr. Nice Guy, will come out in 2018 from St. Martin's Press. Jason lives in Brooklyn, and makes viral sites such as Crossing.us, Heat Fan Sounds, Selfies at Funerals, and Bad NBA Songs.

Joe Plumeri is a leader, a catalyst for positive change, a speaker who puts audiences on their feet. Known for his ability to move thousands by his inspirational speeches and talent for transforming the way companies think and operate; Joe Plumeri is the man who can. His passion, integrity, and transparency has earned his reputation among colleagues, friends and family. In print or on stage, Joe Plumeri is a singular force. One of the world's most electrifying public speakers, Joe enters a room, impeccably tailored, and proceeds to take the measure of his audience. Are they looking to climb the next step, turn a corner or turn their life around? Whatever their aspiration, Joe delivers. He'll greet you warmly with a "how ya doin'" from his bygone days in Trenton. He'll gently remove his suit coat, knowing that he's about to go to work, and work means working up a sweat, running up and down the aisle of an auditorium, never merely staying on stage, but engaging with everyone in attendance, up close and personal. When Joe finished the commencement address at the College of William and Mary, his alma mater, in 2011, it was instantly hailed by the New York Times as one of the best speeches of the year. The legend of that speech continues to live online, taking its place as of the 300 "Best Commencement Speeches, Ever" as catalogued by National Public Radio. "You can't do passion halfway. Living your passion means you're all in. You trust your heart and trust your gut wherever that takes you." Currently, Mr. Plumeri serves as the senior advisor to KKR and vice chairman of the First Data Board of Directors. Plumeri plays a pivotal role in company infrastructure finding strategies and solutions to better serve clients. Joe is a passionate philanthropist, a baseball aficionado, is an expert world traveler, a proud father and grandfather, and resides in New York with his wife Susan, and their biewer terrier, Josie.

Swish Goswami is a 20 year old TEDx speaker, venture capitalist (at JB Fitzgerald Venture Capital founded by Brooklyn Nets PF Trevor Booker), LinkedIn Youth Editor (over 50K followers) UN Youth Ambassador and serial entrepreneur. After successfully building Technotronics Inc, a wearables startup, Swish is now the co-founder of Dunk Media, a sports media conglomerate heavily focused on social by establishing and growing a media network of over 10M followers hyper-focused on basketball. Swish has notably won Plan Canada’s Top 20 under 20, the United Nation’s Outstanding Youth Leadership award and Startup Canada’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Swish has been recognized as “one of the world’s most accomplished teenagers” by Future Sharks, “one of ten Gen Z experts to follow” by Forbes and the “Face and Future of Canadian Entrepreneurship” by UPS Canada.

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert and the Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard Presentations. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and has been inducted into the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement in the speaking profession. Shep works with companies and organizations who want to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees. His articles have been read in hundreds of publications, and he is the author of Moments of Magic®, The Loyal Customer, The Cult of the Customer, The Amazement Revolution and Amaze Every Customer Every Time. He is also the creator of The Customer Focus™, a customer service training program which helps clients develop a customer service culture and loyalty mindset. (Now available as an online/web-based training program!) In 1983 Shep founded Shepard Presentations and since then has worked with hundreds of clients ranging from Fortune 100 size organizations to companies with less than 50 employees. Some of his clients include American Airlines, AAA, Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, AETNA, Abbott Laboratories, American Express – and that’s just a few of the A’s! Shep Hyken’s most requested programs focus on customer service, customer loyalty, internal service, customer relations and and the customer experience. He is known for his high-energy presentations, which combine important information with entertainment (humor and magic) to create exciting programs for his audiences. Shep Hyken's latest book, "Be Amazing or Go Home: Seven Customer Service Habits That Create Confidence with Everyone" is now available wherever books are sold.

New York Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh talks about life in the National Hockey League (NHL) and what it means to play in New York at Madison Square Garden for an "Original Six" franchise.

Don Mattingly, current manager of the Miami Marlins, is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in New York Yankees history. A career .307 hitter, Mattingly was a 6x All-Star, the 1985 AL MVP, 3x Silver Slugger Award winner, the 1984 AL batting champion and a 9x Gold Glove Award winner. He served as the captain of the Yankees from 1991-1995 and his #23 is retired in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. I spoke with Don this week to discuss the state of baseball today and his upcoming charity event this winter for Mattingly Charities. We also held a live Q&A with a studio audience.

John will tell you, “how you love and treat people will open more doors than you can imagine.” In fact, one gifting experience (Brooks Brother experiment) has opened more doors than $10 Million in advertising could ever do. After applying principles of generosity learned from “Attorney Paul,” John started selling the largest deals in Cutco history out of 1.5 million other reps and distributors. Yes. 1.5 million. Not only was he gifting knives but he was being asked to speak on stages around the country to teach sales and marketing teams how to build relationships in unconventional ways. Simple but powerful things like focusing your care on the executive’s spouse, the assistant, and kids. Ruhlin Group started in 2000 and quickly broadened gifting options and strategies, but many of the original principles never changed. Knowing how and when to give gifts is just as important as what to gift. These “minor” details and expert knowledge have been tested and proven over a decade to bring a guaranteed “wow” to any industry from financial services to manufacturing widgets. Today John and his team have created gift packages for some of the largest companies and pro sports teams in the world, but their mission and heart is to serve and take relationships for mid-sized, privately owned businesses to a new level using their Proven Process. -- About "Giftology" Radical generosity is the against-the-grain secret weapon of real influencers, and it will allow you to boost referrals, retention rates, and ROI like few other strategies. But be warned, gifts with strings attached backfire. There is a right, and wrong, way to give. John Ruhlin has gifted on behalf of everyone from Forbes Magazine to the Fortune 500 and his tactics lead to appreciative responses and wide-open check books. Through poignant personal stories and data-backed evidence, Ruhlin breaks down how anyone from mail clerk to managing director can master the magic of Giftology; with these and more: Mastering reciprocity, the hidden bottom line booster Laser-targeting whom to give a gift and when to use thrift Uncovering your client s inner circle and becoming part of it Give wholeheartedly to Giftology and reap the rewards of an expanding business and fruitful relationships, professional and personal alike.