The Person Who Believed In Me

Before Vivian Tu became a multimillionaire financial educator with 6.5 million followers, two New York Times bestselling books, and a chart-topping podcast, she was a 22-year-old analyst sitting on a filing cabinet at JP Morgan while senior traders commanded the room. Then Jean Ma, her first manager and the first rich Asian woman she had ever met, told her: You deserve a seat at the table. Don't sit on a filing cabinet like you are some lackey.
In this deeply personal conversation, the creator of Your Rich BFF tells David Begnaud how Jean, who walked into the office in limited-edition Chanel and Gucci stilettos, taught her that life isn't a meritocracy and showed her at a meatpacking-district dive bar that the rules she thought she had to play by weren't the rules everyone else played by.
Vivian also gets real about the manager who reassigned her, told her she was "too girly for finance," and mocked her cardigan as a kimono — and why she's thankful he was such a jerk, because it's exactly what pushed her out of JP Morgan and into the life she has now. She talks about walking away from a $600,000 job at BuzzFeed to bet on herself full time, the $100,000 safety net she built just in case (and never had to touch), and growing up the daughter of Chinese immigrants who sacrificed everything so she could be here. She opens up about buying her parents cars and vacations, why her husband Greg is the reason she can take big career swings without fear, and closes with the story that still gives her chills: a woman at the University of Delaware who used one of Vivian's videos to talk her hospital down $5,000 on a medical bill. And yes, she'll admit it — some of her drive really is just pure spite, knowing the guy who doubted her can't walk past a bookstore today without seeing her face in the window.
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Chapters ☀️
Chapters

00:00:00 Intro: The Woman Who Gave Her a Seat at the Table
00:01:31 The First Meeting: Designer Bags and Gucci Stilettos
00:08:53 The Brass Monkey Bar: When Time Has Value
00:11:05 The Rules Rich People Play By
00:12:17 The Chaos Demon: Growing Up Outside Baltimore
00:16:16 The Last Strike: When Mom Said We Can't Keep You in America
00:20:37 The American Dream: Running the Race for Those Who Came Before
00:25:42 Raising Rich Kids: The Inheritance They Won't Get
00:29:11 The Kimono Incident: When the Racist Boss Struck
00:32:49 Don't Make Decisions Mad: The Strategic Exit
00:39:58 The Imperfect Mentor: Dogs on Credit Cards
00:42:29 When Your Mom Thanks Your Mentor
00:43:41 The Book Dedication: To Jean and That Man
00:46:21 No Apologies: I Deserve All of My Wins
00:50:07 Not Afraid to Be Embarrassed: The Pattern of Risk
00:54:51 Rich Person or Broke Person: The Rapid Fire Game
00:59:57 The 22-Year-Old Starter Pack: Building Your Financial Foundation
01:13:41 Climbing Cringe Mountain: The Villagers at the Bottom
01:20:53 The Woman Younger Me Wanted to See

ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Vivian Tu
Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse, Justin McGoldrick
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative)
Social: Kylee Anderson, Maxim Trofimenko, Gracie Pekrul
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital & David & Luana Co.
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast

Before Nirav Tolia became the CEO of Nextdoor, a billion-dollar company connecting neighbors across America, he was a 28-year-old first-time CEO running a struggling startup during the dot-com crash, three weeks away from shutting down. Then Bill Campbell, the legendary Silicon Valley coach who mentored Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and the founders of Google, walked into his office and said the words that changed everything: I don't want fancy quotes. Tell me about the business. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, one of tech's most mission-driven entrepreneurs sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the man who believed in him when he was just beginning to understand what it meant to lead.

Nirav opens up about meeting Bill Campbell at 28, a coach who called him boy, sprinkled profanity into every lesson, and taught him that his title was not CEO but coach. He talks about growing up as one of the only Indian kids in Odessa, Texas, a place where people were genuinely happy because they had each other, and how that shaped his belief in the power of community. He shares what it was like to get to Stanford and realize he wasn't prepared for the rigor, how he found his way into tech through an Ethernet connection in his dorm room and an obsession with the Dallas Cowboys, and why he joined a collegiate acapella group that led him to become a business manager instead of a doctor.

There's also a raw reflection on sacrifice, purpose, and what it means to be a guardian angel. Nirav talks about leaving Nextdoor in 2019 because he felt like a shell of a man, realizing he couldn't be the best CEO and the best father at the same time, and moving his family to Italy for a sabbatical that turned into years. He opens up about being asked to come back to Nextdoor, why he said yes even though he never thought he'd be a CEO again, and how spending time away from the job gave him the space to reflect and become a better human being.

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Chapters ☀️
Chapters

00:00:00 Intro: The Coach Who Believed When the Company Almost Died
00:02:18 The First Meeting: Boy, Tell Me About Your Company
00:10:00 A Stranger in a Strange Land: Finding Community in West Texas
00:14:10 Stanford and the Struggle: When Everyone Is Smarter Than You
00:17:33 Fleet Street Singers: The Acapella Group That Led to Business
00:24:23 999 Failures Leading to One Big Success: The Entrepreneurship Story
00:28:36 Your Title Makes You a Manager, Your People Make You a Leader
00:31:12 Three Weeks of Cash Left: The Christmas That Changed Everything
00:33:46 The Hardest Thing a CEO Ever Has to Do: Laying Off Employees
00:38:15 The Kindness of Strangers: Lost Dogs, Cups of Sugar, and Natural Disasters
00:40:57 Purpose, People, Product: The Three Ps Bill Taught
00:43:00 A Shell of a Man: When Being CEO Meant Not Being a Father
00:48:26 Coming Back to Nextdoor: The Second Chance to Refound a Company
00:54:58 Moving to Dallas: Choosing Family and Community Over Silicon Valley
00:57:21 The Board Meeting in Dallas: Hearing Bill's Voice 20 Years Later
01:03:39 Happy 30th Birthday: The Voicemail That Captures Everything
01:04:59 Find a Bill or Be the Bill: The Legacy of Lifting People Up

ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question.

David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.

Host: David Begnaud

Guest: Nirav Tolia

Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse, Justin McGoldrick

Booker: Sully Bloch

Director of Photography: Foster Parks

Social: Kylee Anderson, Maxim Trofimenko, Gracie Pekrul

Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative)

Theme Music: Slipstream

Post-Production: Longwave Digital & David & Luana Co.

CONNECT WITH US:

The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast

Before Adam Lambert became a global superstar, Grammy-nominated artist, and one of the most electrifying voices in music, he was a 13-year-old theater kid from conservative North County San Diego, struggling to fit in at middle school and trying on his mother's makeup after class. Then Lynn Broyles, a voice teacher with fierce energy and impeccable taste, saw something in him that no one else had: a kid who needed a safe space to just be himself. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, the trailblazing artist sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the woman who believed in him when he was just beginning to understand who he was.
Adam opens up about meeting Lynn at 13, a voice teacher who introduced him to Sondheim, cabaret, and the gay cultural lexicon without ever calling it what it was. He talks about growing up with parents who let him wear their makeup and high heels as a toddler, spending Saturdays in a theater company that taught him discipline and teamwork, and the moment he auditioned for American Idol by quitting his job in Wicked with no guarantees. He shares what it felt like to kiss a guy on live television at the 2009 AMAs the night before his first single dropped, getting yanked off Good Morning America because ABC threatened to sue, and why that controversy made him realize his career was about something much bigger than just making music.
There's also a raw reflection on identity, fame, and what it means to finally say what you've always felt. Adam talks about starting to feel shame for being gay once he got famous, encountering homophobia for the first time in mainstream America after living in an LA bubble for 10 years, and why he started having imposter syndrome even though he believed he could win. He opens up about fronting Queen for 10 years, performing for millions at Rock in Rio and on the steps of Buckingham Palace, and why being around Brian May and Roger Taylor taught him the gravity of iconic music through osmosis. He reflects on moving to New York, doing six months on Broadway as the Emcee in Cabaret, and bringing Lynn to see the show as a full circle moment. He shares why he's finally ready to stop people pleasing, why his new self-titled album Adam feels like a return to where he started, and why after 17 years in the industry, he's done being polite about what he wants.
Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com
Chapters ☀️
Chapters

00:00:00 Intro: The Voice Teacher Who Saw the Queen in Him
00:01:23 The Instant Connection: When Humor Became the Language
00:05:22 The Loud, Verbal Kid Who Preferred Adults
00:08:52 Growing Up Different in Conservative San Diego
00:11:40 The Anger Management Lessons and Counting to Ten
00:14:05 Middle School Hell: When the Teachers Liked You Wasn't Cool Anymore
00:15:39 Metropolitan Educational Theater: Learning Discipline Through Performance
00:17:30 Lynn's Gift: Sondheim, Cabaret, and the Gay Cultural Lexicon
00:18:04 The Unspoken Understanding: I Think She Knew I Was Gay
00:26:51 The American Idol Audition: Quitting Wicked for a Shot
00:37:45 The AMA Kiss That Changed Everything
00:45:37 Coming Out on Rolling Stone: The Gay Label and Double Standards
00:35:49 Imposter Syndrome and Finding My Voice
00:53:53 Ten Years with Queen: Pinch Me Moments and Learning from Legends
01:02:29 The Five-Year Relationship: Finding Work-Life Balance
00:50:03 The New Album ADAM: Accepting All of Yourself
01:10:42 Broadway Cabaret: The Full Circle Moment with Lynn
01:14:13 The Evolution of LGBTQ Visibility: Then vs Now
01:16:50 Feel Something Foundation: Giving Back to Queer Youth
01:20:42 Give Me My Flowers: It's My Turn

ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Adam Lambert
Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative)
Social: Maxim Trofimenko, Kylee Anderson, Gracie Pekrul
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital, David & Luana Co.
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast

Before Ian Rowe became a visionary educator, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, founder of Vertex Partnership Academy, and author of the book Agency, he was a 12 year old kid from Queens standing in his family's living room, crying and pleading with his Jamaican immigrant parents to let him stay at a junior high school that was about to become all black after white families fled to a newly created annex. Then Linda Talish, his sixth grade teacher at PS 156 in Laurelton, Queens, gave him something he didn't even know he needed: the courage to challenge his parents for the very first time. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, one of education's most influential and controversial voices sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the woman who believed in him when he was just beginning to believe in himself.
Ian opens up about meeting Ms. Talish in sixth grade, a Jewish teacher who talked about her heritage with a certain reverence and pride, even in the midst of racial tension that was tearing apart their small middle class Queens neighborhood. He shares what it was like growing up as the son of parents who came to the United States in 1968, the year of Martin Luther King's assassination, with his father becoming one of the first black engineers at IBM and his mother a financial securities analyst at Manufacturer's Hanover Bank.
He reflects on the Sunday night before transfer papers were due, standing in front of his parents in their living room, begging and crying to stay at junior high school 231, and saying the words that changed everything: Just because everyone that's left is black, why does it have to be bad?.
Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com
Chapters ☀️
Chapters

00:00:00 Intro: The Teacher Who Gave Him the Courage to Say No
00:00:40 The Racial Tension in Laurelton: When the White Kids Left
00:03:54 The Play That Changed Everything: Welcome Back, Sauter
00:14:24 The Sunday Night I Challenged My Parents
00:22:42 Just Because Everyone That's Left Is Black, Why Does It Have to Be Bad?
00:27:27 From Brooklyn Tech to Cornell at 16: Working My Butt Off
00:28:10 Vertex Partnership Academy: Creating Coming of Agency Moments
00:38:51 The Four Cardinal Virtues: Courage, Justice, Temperance, and Wisdom
00:53:11 The Teachers Union Sued Us: Six Days Before We Opened
01:00:49 The Success Sequence: Education, Work, Marriage, Then Children
00:56:38 Social Capital Is the Currency of America
01:08:31 From 470 Million Dollars at Gates to Running Individual Schools
01:19:06 Have You Done Your Best? The Booker T. Washington Lecture

ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Ian Rowe
Executive Producer: Olivier Delfosse
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative)
Social: Maxim Trofimenko, Kylee Anderson, Gracie Pekrul
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital, David & Luana Co.
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast

Before Margaret Cho became a legendary comedian, Emmy-nominated actor, and one of the most influential voices in stand-up comedy, she was a 15-year-old kid who had just been expelled from one of San Francisco's most prestigious high schools for truancy and bad grades, with parents who had essentially given up on her. Then James Jackson, an English teacher with a Southern drawl, a speech impediment, and a vintage motorcycle, started writing notes in the margins of her essays that changed everything: A+, so great, brilliant, funny. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, the trailblazing comedian sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the man who believed in her when she was just trying to blend into the walls.
Margaret opens up about meeting Mr. Jackson at the School of the Arts in San Francisco, a teacher who rode a motorcycle, wore a leather jacket with cigarettes in the sleeve, and spoke like a Southern Barbara Walters. She talks about the composition book he gave her at the beginning of the year, how his handwritten encouragement in the margins reignited the excellent student she had forgotten she was, and why his gentle belief felt so tender it was almost poetic. She shares what it was like to watch him get bullied by jocks in the classroom for being gay, how that made her feel as a closeted teenager herself, and the day she and her best friend Jerry walked out of school forever after those same jocks mocked Mr. Jackson's murder. She reflects on learning decades later that Mr. Jackson had been killed by a homeless teenager he had taken in, and how court documents revealed allegations that Mr. Jackson had sexually abused the boy who killed him.
There's also a raw reflection on trauma, survival, and what it means to separate the art from the artist. Margaret talks about being sexually abused by multiple people as a young girl in the 1970s and 80s, a time when young girl sexuality was disturbingly normalized, and how her parents denied it happened and still refuse to talk about it today. She opens up about being raped in high school, headlining the first primetime ABC sitcom starring an Asian American woman in 1994, and being told by network executives that she was too fat to play herself. She shares what it felt like to lose 30 pounds in two weeks on fen-fen, urinate blood in her trailer from kidney failure, and be told not to gain the weight back even after her hair fell out. She reflects on spending a year and nine months in treatment for addiction, learning to wear sobriety like a loose garment, and why comedy is a coping mechanism that gives you hope by making you take an unexpected breath. As complicated as the story is as we present it, Margaret reflects on what she would want to say to Mr. Jackson, why his encouragement led her to encourage younger comedians the same way, and why she's really happy now after arranging her life in the right way.
Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com
Chapters ☀️
Chapters

00:00:00 Intro: The Teacher Who Wrote Notes in the Margins
00:02:34 The Composition Book: When an Adult Finally Noticed
00:07:27 A Southern Barbara Walters on a Motorcycle
00:12:39 The Murder That Changed Everything
00:19:23 Growing Up in a Gay Bookstore: Finding Safety
00:25:20 A Lot of People: The Sexual Abuse Nobody Wanted to Hear About
00:32:48 Jerry: The 40-Year Friendship That Wasn't Platonic or Romantic
00:38:20 Too Fat to Play Myself: The ABC Show That Broke Her
00:43:14 A Year and Nine Months: Institutionalized and Determined to Live
00:47:13 Comedy as a Shield and a Sword: The Social Contract
00:53:19 Purge Makes Plenty: Writing a Joke Every Morning

ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Margaret Cho
Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative)
Social: Maxim Trofimenko, Kylee Anderson, Gracie Pekrul
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital & David & Luana Co.
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast
Photo Credits:
Margaret Cho, Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts Yearbook