Mick Unplugged

Rickey Smiley is a nationally beloved stand-up comedian, award-winning syndicated radio host, television personality, bestselling author, and one of the most authentic voices in entertainment today. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Rickey first captured America’s attention through his legendary prank phone calls and breakout performances on BET’s Comic View before building a media empire that includes The Rickey Smiley Morning Show, heard in over 70 cities nationwide. A two-time Marconi Award winner, Rickey has starred in multiple television series and specials, including his critically acclaimed Hulu comedy special Foolish. Beyond the laughs, Rickey is a devoted father, grandfather, mentor, and man of deep faith who uses his platform to uplift communities and inspire others. His bestselling memoir, Sideshow: Living with Loss and Moving Forward with Faith, chronicles his journey through unimaginable grief—including the loss of his eldest son Brandon—and stands as a powerful testament to resilience, service, and the healing power of purpose.

Takeaways:
Give Your Kids What You Had, Not What You Didn’t: Rickey Smiley is unapologetic about raising his children and grandchildren with the same discipline, structure, and old-fashioned home training his grandparents gave him. No negotiations, no iPads as pacifiers, no coddling. In a world where everything right is being called wrong and everything wrong is being called right, Rickey stands firm—because the foundation that built him still works. If you liked who you became, give your kids the blueprint that made you, not the things you missed out on.

Men, Put Your Ego Down and Get Help: Rickey Smiley performed comedy shows while crying backstage. He went back on the radio three days after burying his son because eight million listeners needed him. But behind closed doors, he sat on the steps of his kitchen and cried for days. This conversation is a direct message to men—you cannot be too big, too proud, or too successful to grieve, to seek therapy, and to talk about what you are carrying. Rickey’s honesty about his own mental health journey, and Mick’s personal testimony about how the book Sideshow pushed him into therapy, is the kind of real talk that saves lives.

Help People, Protect Your Peace, and Pay It Forward: Rickey’s “because” is simple—he wakes up every day to serve, to bless, and to make somebody’s life better. But he also delivers a truth that every giver needs to hear: not everybody you help is going to appreciate it. Out of twenty people you pour into, maybe six or seven will say thank you. Be prepared for the disappointment, protect your peace fiercely, and keep pouring anyway—because that is the assignment. Our grandparents and teachers made personal sacrifices so we could have what we have, and the only proper response is to pay it forward.


Sound Bytes:
“I told God a long time ago, hey, if you get me out of this rut right here, I promise you, I’ll serve you to the day I die and try to make somebody life better because of the things that you bless me with.”

“You literally on stage, doing joke, doing comedy, performing while you crying on the inside.”

“I think that what my grandparents and my parents did for me, it worked for me. It was critical to my development. And if it worked for me, it should work for my kids, because it still works.”


Connect & Discover Rickey:
Instagram: @rickeysmileyofficial
Facebook: @RickeySmileyOfficial
YouTube: @RickeySmileyOfficial
TikTok: @rickeysmileydigital
Website: RickeySmiley.com
Show: The Rickey Smiley Morning Show
Book: Sideshow: Living with Loss and Moving Forward with Faith

🔥 Ready to Unleash Your Inner Game-Changer? 🔥
Mick Hunt’s BEST SELLING book, How to Be a Good Leader When You’ve Never Had One: The Blueprint for Modern Leadership, is here to light a fire under your ambition and arm you with the real-talk strategies that only Mick delivers.
👉 Grab your copy now and level up your life → Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million


FOLLOW MICK ON:
Spotify: MickUnplugged
Instagram: @mickunplugged
Facebook: @mickunplugged
YouTube: @MickUnpluggedPodcast
LinkedIn: @mickhunt
Website: MickHuntOfficial.com
Website: howtobeagoodleader.com
Website: Leadloudseries.com
Apple: MickUnplugged

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jeremy Guthrie is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who commanded the mound for over a decade with the Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, and Kansas City Royals. A Stanford graduate and former BYU standout, Jeremy was an American League Rookie of the Year candidate in 2007, represented Team USA in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, and started Games 3 and 7 of the 2014 World Series before earning a World Series ring in 2015. Off the field, Jeremy serves as an MLB Commissioner’s Ambassador, traveling to over 60 countries across six continents to grow the game globally. He is also the owner of Custom Cleats, the pioneering company that converts any sneaker into a high-performance cleat for athletes of all ages and sports. A man of deep faith, Jeremy’s two-year mission in Spain at age 19 laid the foundation for a life built on service, resilience, and redefining what success truly means.

Takeaways:
Redefine Success Before It Defines You: Jeremy learned on the streets of Spain what most people never figure out in a lifetime — success isn’t about the scoreboard. It’s about the effort you pour into becoming the best version of yourself. John Wooden said it, Jeremy lived it, and it carried him through a decade in the big leagues when the stats didn’t always cooperate. If you’re measuring your worth by outcomes you can’t control, you’re playing a losing game. Control your effort, your focus, your resilience — and let the results take care of themselves.

Forget Yourself and Find Your Purpose: At 19, Jeremy walked away from a professional baseball contract to spend two years serving others in Spain. No fastball. No spotlight. Just service. And what he found was the foundation of everything that followed — a deeper understanding of who he was and what he was capable of becoming. When you stop chasing what the world says you should want and start pouring into other people, that’s when the real breakthroughs happen. Lose yourself in service and watch your purpose reveal itself.

Every Day You Have a Platform, Use It: Jeremy’s teammate Kevin Millar said it best — every day you’re in the big leagues, you have a chance to touch somebody’s life. Jeremy took that to heart and ran with it across 60 countries and six continents. But here’s the thing — you don’t need a Major League roster spot to have a platform. You have one right now. The question is, are you using it? Whether it’s a kind word, a signed autograph, or showing up for your community, your platform is your opportunity to leave people better than you found them.

Sound Bytes:
“Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of the self-satisfaction that you have in making the best effort you can to become the best you’re capable of becoming.”
“Every day you’re in the big leagues, you have a chance to touch somebody’s life.”
“I learned the joy of forgetting yourself, of losing yourself, and yet finding yourself through that.”

Connect & Discover Jeremy Guthrie:
Instagram: @therealjguts
Custom Cleats Instagram: @customcleats
Facebook: @TheRealJGuts
X: @TheRealJGuts
Website: customcleats.com

🔥 Ready to Lead Different & Win Bigger? 🔥
How to Be a Good Leader When You’ve Never Had One by Mick Hunt isn’t just a book - it’s your blueprint to set up, stand out, and lead with confidence (even if no one ever showed you how).
Straight talk. Real Strategy. No fluff. Just the tools you need to elevate your leadership and life.
👉 Get your copy now and start leading on your terms → Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million

FOLLOW MICK ON:
Spotify: MickUnplugged
Instagram: @mickunplugged
Facebook: @mickunplugged
YouTube: @MickUnpluggedPodcast
LinkedIn: @mickhunt
Website: MickHuntOfficial.com
Website: howtobeagoodleader.com
Website: Leadloudseries.com
Apple: MickUnplugged

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Aneesh Raman is LinkedIn’s Chief Economic Opportunity Officer, where he works with leaders across societies and sectors to shape the global response to the historic changes hitting work. A former CNN war correspondent and presidential speechwriter for Barack Obama, Aneesh has spent his career at the intersection of storytelling, economic policy, and human potential. He previously served as Senior Advisor on economic strategy to the State of California and led economic impact initiatives at Facebook. Alongside LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, Aneesh co-authored the groundbreaking book “Open to Work: How to Get Ahead in the Age of AI,” a practical guide that draws on LinkedIn’s global data to help individuals and companies thrive in the rapidly evolving world of work.

Takeaways:
AI Won’t Replace You — Unless You Let It: The fear is real, but the fatalism is a choice. 70% of job skills will change by 2030, and for the first time ever, workers — not executives — get to decide how. Your boss doesn’t know what you do all day better than you do. Stop waiting for a playbook and start writing your own.
The Three Buckets That Redefine Your Job: Aneesh breaks your weekly tasks into three buckets: what AI can do for you, what you’re building with AI, and what’s pure you — critical thinking, ethical judgment, human connection. As you shift work across those buckets, you stop being replaceable and start becoming indispensable. CEO or newest hire, start now.
Nobody Beats You at Being You: The industrial age told us to be machine-like. Now a machine can out-machine us — and people are terrified. But Aneesh flips it: for the first time in human history, work is about to index on human capabilities. Your curiosity, creativity, and ability to build real partnerships — that’s your competitive edge. Bet on yourself, because the systems of work are finally shifting to reward what makes you uniquely you.

Sound Bytes:
“AI is not going to replace you unless you let it. It all starts with the agency we have as individuals and the strengths we start with.”

“Nobody beats you at being you. Figuring out not just what makes you unique as a human, but what makes you unique as this human, is going to become your biggest competitive edge.”

“Bet on yourself for every person who couldn’t do that, even though they desperately wanted to. Bet on yourself.”

Connect & Discover Aneesh Raman:
LinkedIn: Aneesh Raman
Book — Open to Work: How to Get Ahead in the Age of AI
Amazon: Open to Work
Barnes & Noble: Open to Work

🔥 Ready to Lead Different & Win Bigger? 🔥
Leadership isn’t about a title — it’s about what you do when no one gave you a blueprint. In his book, How to Be a Good Leader When You’ve Never Had One, Mick Hunt delivers the raw, real leadership playbook for the rest of us. Whether you’re building a team, growing a business, or just trying to lead yourself better — this book is for you.
Straight talk. Real strategy. No fluff.
👉 Get your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Books A Million.

FOLLOW MICK ON:
Spotify: MickUnplugged
Instagram: @mickunplugged
Facebook: @mickunplugged
YouTube: @MickUnpluggedPodcast
LinkedIn: @mickhunt
Website: MickHuntOfficial.com
Website: howtobeagoodleader.com
Website: Leadloudseries.com
Apple: MickUnplugged

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Jason Wild is a globally recognized innovation strategist and co-author of the groundbreaking book “Genius at Scale: How Great Leaders Drive Innovation,” written alongside Dr. Linda A. Hill of Harvard Business School and Emily Tedards. A former child actor turned business leader, Jason has shaped innovation strategy for some of the world’s most iconic brands—including Microsoft, Salesforce, and IBM—while advising CEOs across six continents. As the former Global Vice President of CEO Co-Innovation and Customer Engagement at Microsoft, Jason brings a rare blend of practitioner experience and thought leadership to the art and science of scaling breakthrough ideas.

Takeaways:
Stop Falling in Love with Ideas and Start Falling in Love with Problems: Most companies pour millions into brainstorming and ideation—and then wonder why nothing actually changes. Jason nails it: innovation isn’t about getting to the top of the mountain, it’s about making it back down alive. More initiatives die in execution than in conception. The Waldorf Astoria didn’t have a slow elevator problem—they had a boring wait problem. An intern with a mirror solved what a million-dollar algorithm couldn’t. Leaders, stop rewarding ideas and start rewarding impact. Pick the right problem and the solution will follow.
Innovation Is a Social Process—You Can’t Mandate It, Delegate It, or Dictate It: Jason has spent 25 years in tech and he’ll tell you straight: it’s more about people than technology. The most innovative companies don’t obsess over the “what” of innovation—they master the “how.” They build communities where the best ideas rise organically, not because someone with the biggest title pounds the table. Creative abrasion, psychological safety, and diverse perspectives aren’t corporate buzzwords—they’re the operating system of every company that’s actually scaling something that matters. AI isn’t going to replace you. But a clueless leader who thinks AI can do your job? That’s the real threat.
Wayfinding Is the New Leadership—Forget the Five-Year Plan: The old playbook of pathfinding—point A to point B, remove barriers, minimize turbulence—is dead. AI, quantum, blockchain—the ground is literally shifting under our feet every week. Jason and his co-authors call it wayfinding: figuring out the destination while you’re already on the way there. It’s uncomfortable. It demands humility. And it’s the only leadership approach that actually works when you’re leading in fog. Stop pouring new technology on old thinking and start building the framework to navigate what’s next.

Sound Bytes:
“The most innovative companies don’t focus on the what, they focus on how. And they focus on creating a community where organically innovation happens and the best ideas thrive.”

“I don’t think people should be necessarily worried about the conversation of AI taking your job. But I think you should be more worried about some leader who is clueless, thinking that AI can do your job.”

“Get in the right mindset and you surround yourself with the right people that are willing and able to innovate and seemingly impossible is not.”

Connect & Discover Jason Wild:
LinkedIn: Jason Wild
Book — Genius at Scale: How Great Leaders Drive Innovation
Amazon: Genius at Scale
Website: GeniusatScale.com

🔥 Ready to Lead Different & Win Bigger? 🔥
Leadership isn’t about a title — it’s about what you do when no one gave you a blueprint. In his book, How to Be a Good Leader When You’ve Never Had One, Mick Hunt delivers the raw, real leadership playbook for the rest of us. Whether you’re building a team, growing a business, or just trying to lead yourself better — this book is for you.
Straight talk. Real strategy. No fluff.
👉 Get your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Books A Million.

FOLLOW MICK ON:
Spotify: MickUnplugged
Instagram: @mickunplugged
Facebook: @mickunplugged
YouTube: @MickUnpluggedPodcast
LinkedIn: @mickhunt
Website: MickHuntOfficial.com
Website: howtobeagoodleader.com
Website: Leadloudseries.com
Apple: MickUnplugged

EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/mickunplugged Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alanna Taylor is a visionary leader and strategic architect who has spent three decades transforming bold ideas into fundable realities. With a staggering 60% plus grant win rate and over a million dollars raised annually for her clients, she is a nationally respected expert in program design, funding, and sustainable growth for mission-driven organizations. As the founder of Granted Success, Inc., Alanna specializes in grant writing, fractional executive director services, and her signature Grant-Ready Elevation Audit—a powerful diagnostic tool that evaluates a nonprofit’s win-ability across internal operations, messaging, digital footprint, and fundraising strategy. Her work is deeply rooted in empowering Black women executive directors and the Black-centered nonprofit organizations they lead.

Takeaways:
Founders, Stop Making Yourself the Executive Director: Alanna reveals a critical pattern in the nonprofit space—Black women founders who position themselves as the executive director are inadvertently creating their own boss through the board. Her advice: position yourself as the board chair, build a strong and diverse board, and consider launching a consulting business alongside your mission. If you can create a nonprofit, you can create a business.
Win Rate Is About Discipline, Not Just Writing: A 60% plus win rate does not come from fancy proposals—it comes from the discipline to say no. Alanna carefully evaluates every RFP, reviews the terms and conditions at the end that most people skip, and declines clients whose programs do not align with a funder’s priority areas. Funders now want quantitative outcomes, not wordy narratives, and Alanna delivers exactly that.
Sustainability Means Multiple Revenue Streams: Grants alone will not sustain a nonprofit. Alanna pushes her clients to create fee-for-service offerings, technical assistance programs, merchandise, published books, and private donor bases. Unlike restricted grant funding, these revenue streams give organizations the unrestricted capital they need to truly grow and thrive on their own terms.

Sound Bytes:
“My because is really meeting the needs of Black women who are in the nonprofit space.”
“You’re allowed to make money as a nonprofit. You are allowed to generate revenue. You are allowed to create a service and charge for it.”
“Look, I’m a great writer, but I am not Jesus. I cannot make this work.”

Connect & Discover Alanna:
LinkedIn: @alannataylor
Website: grantedsuccess.org
Website: grantreadynow.com
Email: [email protected]

🔥 Ready to Lead Different & Win Bigger? 🔥
How to Be a Good Leader When You’ve Never Had One by Mick Hunt isn’t just a book - it’s your blueprint to set up, stand out, and lead with confidence (even if no one ever showed you how).
Straight talk. Real Strategy. No fluff. Just the tools you need to elevate your leadership and life.
👉 Get your copy now and start leading on your terms → Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million


FOLLOW MICK ON:
Spotify: MickUnplugged
Instagram: @mickunplugged
Facebook: @mickunplugged
YouTube: @MickUnpluggedPodcast
LinkedIn: @mickhunt
Website: MickHuntOfficial.com
Website: howtobeagoodleader.com
Website: Leadloudseries.com
Apple: MickUnplugged

EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/mickunplugged Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.