Office Hour

Bahram Akradi is the founder and CEO of Life Time, the Minnesota-based chain of upscale “athletic country clubs” – these are gyms you want to hang out all day in, basically. Akradi has always seen — and marketed — Life Time as more than a gym: a kind of lifestyle hub that brings together training, recovery, sport, wellness, food, work, and socializing. You can even get your GLP-1s there, if you’d rather lose weight the new-fashioned way. Life Time has been in rapid expansion mode of late, with around 200 locations nationwide. Its financial performance has been strong, with Q2 revenue up 14 percent year over year, to $866 million, even as its member numbers remain relatively flat. The company is trying to get more money out of each member – we talk a lot about how. In 2025, when we named Life Time a Most Innovative Company, told Fast Company it could fill new clubs with practically no traditional marketing, often drawing waitlists as soon as a location was announced. In this conversation, we’ll ask whether that demand remains as strong—and explore the company’s expansion ambitions, its deliberately premium economics, its quality standards, and what it takes to scale a high-touch experience without diluting it. We’ll also discuss Life Time’s pandemic-era reset, its ambitions in longevity, and whether a business built around sweating in immediate proximity to other humans is truly AI-proof. Fast Company is the world's leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, leadership, and design. Follow us on: https://www.facebook.com/FastCompany/ https://twitter.com/FastCompany https://www.instagram.com/fastcompany/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/fast-company/

Nick Law and Brendan Vaughan delve deep into a big new study Accenture Song's team just published on why so many companies struggle to actually turn their creativity into revenue. In other words, how to apply these ideas in a systemic way, not just have them in a bolt of creative lighting, only to see them fizzle and go nowhere in practice. The number that stopped me in my tracks: 81% of executives say their companies can come up with creative ideas, but only 16% say they consistently turn those ideas into actual growth. Nick unpacks the secrets of that 16%. He also gets into why he thinks most companies have built cultures that are exactly wrong for the AI moment we're in. Oh, and at one point, Nick calculates what a certain Beatles song would be worth in today's dollars — spoiler, it's a lot, for three minutes of work. Even if your colleagues aren’t quite as creative as Paul and John, there’s a lesson in here.

Astro Teller has a legitimate claim to the title of  the “coolest job in tech.” He’s the “captain of moonshots” at X, the Moonshot Factory, which is Alphabet’s in-house incubator for radical technologies aimed at huge global problems. He’s kind of the Willy Wonka of Google. Since 2010, Teller—whose grandfather was the famed physicist Edward Teller—has been turning sci‑fi ideas into projects like self‑driving cars (Waymo), delivery drones (Wing), and many more.  In this episode of Office Hour, we get into how Teller actually runs the Moonshot Factory day-to-day—how his team decides which wild ideas to back, how quickly they kill the ones that don’t work, and how they actually go about trying to turn the survivors into the next Waymo.

If you’ve followed the rise of soccer in the United States – America’s sport of the future since 1971 – you know his voice, you know his humor, you know his unrivaled passion. He is Roger Bennett, the co-founder of the Men in Blazers Media Network. By the way I stole the line about the sport of the future from Rog, who likes to say some version of that at the beginning of his podcasts. We are speaking to Rog at a truly monumental moment for his beloved sport. The World Cup is finally here, running in 16 cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico – but mostly the United States Rog insists here, now, finally, with the world’s eyes on America’s stewardship of the most glorious sporting event on earth – this will be the moment it officially becomes the sport of the now. Not just during the World Cup, but after it. In this episode, we trace the incredible journey of Men in Blazers—from a “janky” (his words) podcast that paid him $250 an episode to a sprawling independent media empire with TV shows, live tours, and a recent Series A venture round of $15 million to expand ahead of this World Cup – the first time Men in Blazers has taken outside funding. Rog opens up about the business of modern sports media, how major blue-chip brands like Budweiser and Bank of America became characters in his ecosystem, and the fascinating, controversial "Americanization" of the global game.

Four months ago, John Furner took the helm as CEO of Walmart Inc. after a lifetime at the company. Today, he’s steering a “people-led, tech-powered” transformation of the world’s largest retailer, which employs more than 2 million people worldwide. Furner has already centralized Walmart’s historically fragmented tech and product divisions under unified leadership in an attempt to supercharge enterprise-wide products and services—especially AI capabilities. As thousands of Walmart employees descend on Arkansas for the company’s annual Associates Week, Furner sat down for his first in-depth conversation in his new role. He discussed everything from leading through a moment of massive change to turning forklift operators and developers alike into AI builders.

Hollywood talent agencies have evolved far beyond the Michael Ovitz era, Ari from Entourage, and the whole mailroom-to-boardroom archetype. Today they're billion-dollar cultural powerhouses navigating AI transformation, creator economies, and the convergence of entertainment, sports, and corporate strategy. David Kramer embodies this evolution—he started in UTA's mailroom in 1992 when it was a 50-person literary agency and has spent 34 years at the company. He’s about to celebrate his one-year anniversary as CEO. Under Kramer's leadership, UTA has radically diversified beyond traditional film and television representation, which he says now comprises just 40% of the business, compared to 95% fifteen years ago. The agency's portfolio spans pop-music giants like Bad Bunny and John Legend, LeBron James and other athletes via its Klutch Sports, digital-native creators like Alex Cooper and Mr. Beast, and corporate advisory for Coca-Cola, Google and other brands. This transformation reflects a broader industry shift where creators want traditional entertainment opportunities and legacy talent seeks digital platforms. Basically, everybody wants a piece of what everyone else is doing. It’s a complex convergence, and Kramer is right at the middle of it.

On today’s episode, we’re doing something a little different. We’re just home from Austin, Texas, where we popped up the Fast Company Grill at SXSW. We spoke with a nonstop parade of great speakers at the Grill, and for today’s episode we’re featuring highlights from the leaders who took the stage in Austin. That includes Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe, Kim Vaccarella, founder and CEO, Bogg, the lifestyle brand known for its durable, washable beach totes; Jen Zeszut, Cofounder and CEO of Goodles, which makes a healthier mac and cheese, and Stack Overlow CEO Prashanth Chandrasekar.

On today’s episode Brendan Vaughan interviews Anjali Sud, the CEO of fox-owned streaming service Tubi. What’s unique about Tubi is that they don’t have a subscription model like just about every other major streamer. Instead they employ an ad-supported model, which gives every viewer free access to its library of 3000,000 movies and TV episodes, from syndicated ’70s sitcoms to art-house mainstays. That’s helped the service rocket from 51 million monthly active users in 2022 to over 100 million active users today. Brendan talks to Anjali about the company’s revenue model, staying competitive in a crowded market, and how it listens to its audience to create fan-driven content.

On today’s episode Brendan Vaughan talks to Kevin Ryan. Kevin is the founder and CEO of AlleyCorp, the VC firm behind companies like Business Insider, Gilt Groupe, Zola and Mongo DB. But, you might remember Kevin as the CEO of Double Click, one of the first internet ad tech companies during the original dot com boom back in the late 90s and early 2000s. The company was eventually acquired by Google for $3.1 billion. Double click was notable for being part of Silicon Alley, which was the term coined for the tech startup scene in New York. Despite being the epicenter of finance and media, New York was not considered a destination for tech companies in the 90s…certainly not on par with Palo Alto or Boston. That was until Kevin and his contemporaries worked to change that perception.

On today’s episode, Brendan Vaughan talks to ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro. For the summer issue of Fast Company Magazine, Jimmy talked to Fast Company about what was then the upcoming launch of ESPN’s first-ever direct-to-consumer offering. That service launched in August. We wanted to catch up with him about how that rollout has been going, but also to discuss ESPN’s sports betting partnerships in light of recent scandals in the NBA and MLB. PLUS we had to ask him about his chances of succeeding Bob Iger as CEO of Disney, ESPN’s parent company.

On this episode, Brendan Vaughan talks to Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. This past summer, Cloudflare released a tool for websites to block unwanted AI data scraping. They discuss what that means for media companies, content creators and anyone who depends on discoverability to make money online.

On today’s episode Brendan Vaughan talks with Amy Howe, CEO of FanDuel. If you’ve watched just about any sporting event, or listened to a podcast from the Ringer, you’ve heard about FanDuel. They are one half of the duopoly at the top of the booming world of sports betting. (Draft Kings is the other.) Ever since the 2018 supreme court decision that struck down a federal law prohibiting sports gambling, the industry has been on a steady rise. It’s legal in 40 states now, with the notable exception of California. The industry’s revenue has grown exponentially year over year with nearly 14 billion in total revenue in 2024 according to the American Gaming association. The vast majority of that revenue came from online betting on platforms like FanDuel. But, while the economic gains are impressive, there are downsides to combat…like problem gambling and the specter of match fixing.

Today’s episode is coming to you from the Fast Company Innovation Festival that took place in New York last week. I interviewed author and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt on the state of technology’s effect on our children. A conversation that is more important now than it’s ever been. Jonathan’s book, The A nxious Generation, came out last year and ignited a national debate about childhood in the age of smartphones and social media. Since then, more than half of U.S. states have moved to limit phone use in schools, Australia has announced plans to restrict social media for kids under 16, and the EU is weighing similar measures. Haidt’s argument has become a rallying point in a broader movement to protect children’s mental health as new tech risks emerge

In this bonus episode, executive director of editorial programming, Kc Ifeanyi, chats with editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan about Fast Company's Innovation Festival 2025. They discuss the latest panels, and Fast Tracks, or what Brendan likes to call "field trips for grown-ups." This is where attendees visit the companies that FC reports on. Later, Brendan asks Kc about a moment at the innovation festival that "keeps him up at night." Fast Company's 11th annual Innovation Festival hits New York City this September 15-18. There's an incredible lineup of speakers, activations, workshops, dinners, and much more. It's going to be a packed week full of insights, networking, and, of course, innovation. Head to events.fastcompany.com to get the most up-to-date lineup of speakers and sessions. And use code "create20" for 20% off a Select Innovation Festival pass. See you there!

Pixar's chief creative officer Pete Doctor discusses risk-taking and AI on the job.

On today’s episode, host Brendan Vaughan talks to David Miliband. If you are familiar with British politics, you might remember Miliband from his time as the UK’s Foreign Secretary and as a member of parliament for the labor party. But, in 2013 he left politics to become the President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, which is a global humanitarian aid organization. Brendan and David talk about how the Trump Administration has upended humanitarian aid as well as the ongoing work the IRC is doing in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan. They also discuss how the IRC is using AI to better anticipate humanitarian crises.

In an exclusive interview with Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan, the U.S. labor leader also discusses DOGE, Musk, and AI.

What does it take to lead in a world that never stops changing? Join ‘Fast Company’ editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan as he sits down with the world’s top leaders in business, government, and culture to explore the trends shaping our world right now. From groundbreaking innovations to shifting workplace dynamics, each episode dives deep into the forces driving change—and the leadership principles that guide today’s most influential minds. Whether you're a forward-thinking executive, an entrepreneur, or just curious about what’s next, ‘Office Hour’ delivers bold ideas and candid conversations that will help you navigate the future.