Stacey is about living in a place that he loves.  He has found the place for him in Austin and the chances of him ever living somewhere else long term are pretty slim.  He knows a ton of people and loves the lifestyle where he lives; so to him quality of life is making sure he does what he needs to do to stay in Austin.  For Stacey it’s also about the life satisfaction that comes from creating things, namely businesses.  The latest venture he founded is UnWired Nation.

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Mike Krzyzewski grew up in a tight knit family in Chicago. He spent most of his summers at his grandparents’ place in western Pennsylvania which was an important part of his growing up. He attended West Point where he played basketball for Bob Knight and served as captain of the team his senior year. Mike went on to serve in the Army for five years and eventually coached there. In 1980, he was hired as Duke’s basketball coach and the rest is history. He went on to become one of the most successful coaches in any sport on any level. But as hard as it is to believe, Mike is probably more respected today for his role as a leadership expert, a motivational speaker and a philanthropist. Krzyzewski runs the Emily K Center (named after his late mother) whose mission is to inspire economically disadvantaged students to dream big, act with character and purpose, strive for academic excellence, and reach their highest potential as future citizen leaders. He is also an active supporter of Duke’s Children Hospital, Children’s Miracle Network and the The Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research. Mike Krzyzewski is married to Carol “Mickie” Marsh, originally from Alexandria, VA.  Coach K has written several books including his latest, The Gold Standard.

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Ariane’s independent approach to life is truly inspiring. She lives like an explorer constantly finding new and interesting experiences to enrich her life. And her path through life is a great indicator. She grew up living in six countries, was an internationally competitive swimmer and graduated London School of Economics at 19 and Stanford Business School at 24. She went on to leadership positions in the venture capital world, at one time overseeing Time Warner’s venture fund. But she felt out of synch and saw how her personal life was suffering through by not being in tune with her true inner voice. She was always a spiritual person but felt she needed to regroup. Ariane ended up taking a new path. In 2005, she decided to become a media entrepreneur, which led to her best selling book on change First 30 Days and the launching of www.first30days.com, a site which boasts 60 life changes and a newsletter that reaches 500,000 subscribers daily. Ariane calls New York home but will always be most comfortable as a traveler.

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For 25 years, Mark McKinnon has been helping solve complex strategic challenges for causes, companies and candidates, including President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Congressman Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong and Bono.  According to Broadcasting and Cable magazine, McKinnon is one of "a handful of players behind every big decision, consensus or roadblock in Washington...putting a unique, sometimes hidden stamp on the outcome of today’s debates."  Mark has lived an eclectic and interesting life, also having spent several years in Nashville working as a song-writer with Kris Kristofferson. McKinnon has finished the Ironman twice.  His quality of life is exceptionally enhanced by the enduring love and patience of his wife, Annie (whom he met before he could drive), and his daughters, Brita, 23 and Kendall, 20.

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Gary Vaynerchuk is a gutsy, charismatic, hard working, gifted entrepreneur who owns the wine category online through his site WineLibrary.TV.  He is best known as one of the world’s experts in social media.  However, as he continues to draw audiences, he is now just as appreciated by his talent as a motivational speaker.  Don’t miss this interview, you’ll love the line about how "not being yourself is exhausting." 

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Jacqueline is one of the most innovative and interesting philanthropists around today. Her non profit Acumen Fund has taken on the world’s poverty problem by directly investing capital in developing world businesses that have the potential to deliver critical goods and services like health, water, housing and energy.  More than anything, Jacqueline is a very likable person. She’s funny and light and her self-deprecation is genuine not a gesture.  One of my favorite parts of our interview is this perspective of hers on being open to others. 

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Tony embodies the term “quiet confidence.”  He’s also one of the best examples out there of the progressive CEO, in which results are best achieved through humility over arrogance, persuasion over brow beating and the understanding that leadership is about serving the needs of those that work for you.   While at Zappos, he has created a company culture that is one of the world’s best case studies for customer service.  During Tony’s tenure, sales at Zappos.com have grown from $1.6 million to over $1 billion.  My favorite part of this video is Tony’s take on friendships. 

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Harold Ford, Jr. is one of the most thoughtful and moderate political leaders in the United States today.  He’s extremely grounded and is a genuinely cool guy.  Harold currently works as Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council and serves as a political analyst for MSNBC. Harold grew up in Memphis and from 1997-2007 served in the U.S. House of Representatives for the 9th district of Tennessee.  He and his wife Emily currently live in Nashville. 

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Alexis is one of those people that can work really hard but also manage to have a great personal life.  She's independent, she's motivated and she makes things happen for herself. She grew up in Miami and later attended Georgetown Law School, where she graduated first in her class. After law school, she made it out to Los Angeles where she started her own firm, eventually becoming one of the most recognized family wealth planning legal experts in the country. She is also a renowned blogger (Intrepid Mompreneur) and Internet marketing expert. She lives in Manhattan Beach, CA and just completed a road trip in a camper to Burning Man with her two kids.

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Veronica is a self admitted homebody who is best known as a technology media host.  She grew up back east and now lives in San Francisco.  She knew that the technology medium was her thing ever since she studied radio and media at Emerson College.  Today, she is one of the most respected technology journalists in the U.S.  She made her initial mark as a producer and host for CNET.  Today she hosts Qore (a monthly interactive magazine about the PS3 for Sony) as well as Tekzilla (a weekly tech help and how-to show on Revision3.com). 

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Drew is one of those people that lives life on his terms, is mainly concerned with having fun and truly couldn't care less what other people think.  For someone that owns a business that receives 60 million to 70 million webpage views per month (comedy news site FARK.com), you’d think he’d give off a little attitude.  But you won’t find a speck.; at least I couldn’t.  Drew is also known for his book It’s Not News, It's Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass of Crap as News, which is widely respected if not completely acknowledged in elite journalistic circles.  In this video, I like how he talks about what he gets out of playing soccer; not over intellectualizing, just saying it’s something he enjoys. 

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Tim is successful at life.  He is accomplished but grounded.  He is socially conscious but doesn’t take himself seriously.  More than anything, you can tell that he really enjoys life.  Tim spends most of his time on El Banco, a residential development he created in Punta Mita, Mexico.  He was chairman and CEO of Yahoo! From 1995 to 2001 and was twice named Top 25 Executive of the Year by Business Week.  He and his partner and wife Pam live in the northern California as well as San Miguel de Allende and Punta Mita, Mexico.  I love this part of our interview in which Tim talks about the benefit of being good natured. 

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Jonathan marches to his own beat and inspires others to do the same.  Hedge fund lawyer turned yoga studio owner turned author, his focus is helping people work for themselves and providing them the most practical frameworks and tools you could imagine.  But Jonathan is about more than that.  His writings are also about living life to the fullest and experiencing all the richness that surrounds us.  He is the author of Career Renegade and also writes at www.jonathanfields.com.  The highlight of this interview I think is Jonathan’s philosophy and practice of giving before you get. 

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Chris Brogan is one of the most respected authorities on blogging and social media.  More than that, he’s just a thoughtful guy who makes you feel like you can trust everything he says, within thirty seconds of talking to him.  He runs a top 100 blog at www.chrisbrogan.com and is the co-author of soon-to-be released Trust Agents (Aug-2009).

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Guy Kawasaki is one of the key players in the world of start ups, from companies he’s started, to venture funds he runs, to books he’s written, to overall thought leadership.  People respect his wit, wisdom and directness, but it is his down-to-earth and unpretentious demeanor that draws people in.  Ever since he wrote about the “mensch” factor several years back, we knew we had to interview him.  His latest ventures are Garage Technology Ventures, Alltop, blog.guykawasaki.com and his book Reality Check.  My favorite part of this video is Guy’s take on spending time with family. 

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Liz is real.  She’s got that Midwestern, salt-of-the-earth, no BS quality that makes her special.  She’s also a gifted entrepreneur and publishing maven.  Bloggers and social media experts around the world rely on her website www.successful-blog.com to stay ahead of the curve.  Liz is incredibly generous with her time whether helping aspiring entrepreneurs, guest lecturing at Oxford University, or doing this interview with us.  My favorite part of this video is Liz’s take on managing ego. 

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Gary is best known as being one of the greatest golfers in the history of the game (he is the only player to have won a Grand Slam on both the PGA and Senior’s tours.). He’s 73 years old and has more energy and strength today than 99% of us.  He’s been married to his wife Vivienne for over fifty years and together they have six children and 20 grandchildren. More than anything, Gary epitomizes what it means to be a successful human being.  He does it all.  He is a great family man.  He is an accomplished entrepreneur.  He is a successful philanthropist.  He is a kind man who walks the earth with an open, grateful heart.  He literally touches someone every day. I really like this interview excerpt in which Gary talks about love.

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Merlin is an independent writer, speaker, and broadcaster who’s based in San Francisco.  He is the creator of 43 Folders, which is a hugely successful blog focused on helping others be productive so they can do their most creative work.  He’s a high integrity guy who has a solid grip on living his life the way he wants to live it.  He also co-hosts You Look Nice Today, speaks at conferences and with executives about attention and creative work, and occasionally has things to say on Kung Fu Grippe.   My favorite part of this interview is his emphasis on the need for people to be tougher on themselves when it comes to how they use and divide their time, particularly when it comes to email.   

*Photo by Graham Ballantyne on Flickr

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