The Sam Thompson Stroll

It didn't take long before Kyle Tannanbaum identified the driving force behind the rise and fall of NBA teams: business. With experience in the Dallas Mavericks front office, he began to see how ownership groups, contracts, CBA agreements, and other business interests dictated what was happening on the court. Today, he shares his findings and insights through an independent YouTube channel: Basketball Business. Tune in to learn about the business forces behind the NBA, how they affect what happens on the court, Kyle's journey to starting Basketball Business, and his experience living in Austin, TX.Donate to SoChabe at SoChabe.orgMuch love, one love!Topics discussed:00:00:00 - Intro00:03:31 - How this episode came to be00:06:05 - Definition of common NBA finance terms00:11:57 - New CBA impacts on the NBA00:16:41 - How business affects the NBA on-court - the death of regional streaming networks (local TV deals)00:28:32 - WNBA growth and CBA negotiations00:33:50 - Pursuig independent journalism with Basketball Business00:38:29 - Why we love the '16-'17 Celtics00:40:09 - Experience living in Austin, TX00:48:06 - Journalistic process behind basketball business00:52:22 - Variety of skills needed in multimedia creation00:57:13 - Emotional and mental challenges in starting a podcast/YouTube channel00:58:09 - Development from Basketball Business to help in future career

Music first piqued Jamis DeKay's interest when his Mom played him classic rock albums as a 6 year old. Today, Jamis is pursuing his own music full-time as a part of ifsowhatfor, an indietronic duo. He also recently toured as a bassist with Dogpark - an indie rock band - on their spring 2025 tour. Before pursuing his own music full-time, Jamis was a talent manager at Hallwood media and had released a single and EP under the name mohw. Tune in to hear about Jamis' journey in the music industry, how his experience working in talent management developed his understanding of the industry, and his outlook prior to going on tour with Dogpark in spring 2025. Much love, one love!Donate to SoChabe at SoChabe.com00:00:00 - Intro00:03:38 - Beginnings and early career in music00:14:04 - Co-founding ifsowhatfor to go all in on music and the different roles within an indietronic duo00:26:56 - Experience working in artist management00:31:50 - Improved understanding of music industry and self-managing ifsowhatfor00:37:03 - Prior experience managing Dogpark and spring 2025 tour00:46:13 - Managing volume as a performer00:48:54 - Keeping the love for music as it's a full-time career00:51:36 - Lifelong career goals from the start of music journey00:52:56 - Goal learnings from spring 2025 tour with Dogpark

Adam Liang left McKinsey as a Senior Business Analyst and joined Ropes AI as the COO. However, it was a more natural transition than you might expect. Today, Ropes is working to transform the way in which engineering talent is evaluated by delivering asynchronous assessments custom-made to the specifications of each role and the given customer's domains and tech stacks. Tune in to hear how Adam made the decision to leave McKinsey for Ropes, what the transition was like, and how Ropes hopes to transform the hiring process for engineering talent.Donate to SoChabe at SoChabe.comMuch love, one love!Topics discussed:00:00:00 - Intro00:03:21 - Analyst to COO Transition & Ropes AI00:10:58 - Balancing needs of customers and users00:20:50 - How McKinsey prepared Adam to be a COO00:29:04 - Sense of agency as a COO00:33:28 - Balance when working 9a-10p 6 days a week00:42:58 - Communicating culture in hiring process00:48:33 - Family and friends reaction when leaving McKinsey for a start-up00:52:54 - Why now? Timing of leaving McKinsey for Ropes00:56:24 - Personal development goals at Ropes

Quentin Tarantino said that the best film school is directing a feature film with no budget… Ben Klein has graduated from film school. At UW Madison, Ben co-directed Wasted, a film unapologetically depicting the post-COVID college experience in its rawest form. He also organized a one-night only premier to bring Wasted to the historic Village East by Angelika theatre in NYC. Fast forward to today, Ben currently works as the Executive Producer for the In The Slot brand at Barstool sports. Tune in to hear about Ben's experience directing and premiering Wasted, as well as his journey and experience at Barstool.Much love, one love!Donate to SoChabe at SoChabe.comTopics discussed:00:00:00 - Intro00:03:41 - Directing and premiering a feature film00:16:59 - Having your co-stars fall in love while filming00:20:56 - Preparing for and doing sex, drinking, and drug scenes professionally00:23:01 - Bringing Wasted to Village East by Angelika in NYC00:36:04 - Experience working at Barstool sports00:41:34 - How The Stroll came to be00:46:56 - Working as the executive producer for In The Slot00:57:29 - Journey from intern to executive producer00:59:45 - Measuring brand success within a large company like Barstool01:01:38 - Balancing Barstool and personal life01:12:14 - Goals for the coming years

Evan Lasseter's journey to collegiate football is truly one of a kind. Diagnosed with leukemia during a post-grad athletic year, he deferred college to undergo treatment. When chemotherapy failed - a rare outcome affecting just 5% of patients in his situation - he pivoted to immunotherapy and a bone marrow/stem cell transplant. Now, cancer free, Evan plays safety for the Wesleyan football team. He has also carried his experience with him into the professional world, working in financial operations for Northwell Health before an upcoming summer 2026 internship in investment banking. Much love, one love!Donate to SoChabe at SoChabe.com !Topics discussed:00:00:00 - Intro00:04:03 - Leukemia diagnosis and managing athletics and treatment00:12:49 - Wesleyan football experience and rebuilding muscle00:19:42 - Diagnosis story and pivoting treatment from chemo to immunotherapy and bone marrow/stem cell transplant00:33:08 - Officially beating cancer00:37:43 - Wesleyan football experience and balancing academics & football00:44:03 - Internship experiences in health care finance00:50:09 - Value based care and incentives in health care00:54:28 - Future professional plans and reflections on past experiences01:07:09 - Takeaway from beating leukemia

After four roles and four and a half years, Bea Panitz arrived on ESPN's campus with the toolkit to succeed in their public relations department. Her journey from Michigan State Swimming to ESPN was everything but conventional - tune in to hear about her career journey to ESPN, her work in public relations, and her experience pitching ESPN's presence at the Met Gala. Much love, one love!Donate to SoChabe at SoChabe.comTopics discussed:00:00:00 - Intro00:03:37 - Spartan swimming and NCAA swimming00:16:03 - Career journey to working at ESPN00:28:17 - Key learnings at ESPN and pitching the Met Gala00:32:11 - Met Gala experience00:36:53 - Impact of working in sports on personal love for sports00:39:46 - Most challenging part of working at ESPN00:43:39 - Role of storytelling in PR00:47:01 - ESPN's 50 States in 50 Days00:51:53 - Moving to Bristol, CT00:54:36 - Transition from DI swimming and current exercise routine

Michael Callahan had no doubts about enrolling in the FDNY EMS academy following his graduation from the University of Arizona in 2024. Tune in to hear about his training to become an EMT, how the events of 9/11 continue to shape the values of the FDNY, and his transition from high school to college amidst the COVID-19 pandemic (with a digression into our high school basketball team). Much love, one love!Topics discussed:0:00:00 - Intro0:01:34 - Becoming an EMT for the FDNY0:08:55 - Transition from EMT academy to working in the field0:13:58 - Sense of purpose working for FDNY and potential to transition to fire side0:18:17 - Schedule and managing night shifts as an EMT0:30:25 - Learning goals as an EMT0:31:37 - Advice for someone calling 9110:32:45 - Nutrition0:36:52 - Responding to calls as an EMT0:40:31 - Impact of 911, continued impact on FDNY, and second hand accounts0:50:55 - Impact of COVID-19 on high-school, athletics, and transition to college1:04:42 - Hobbies and inter-first responder sports1:08:14 - Goal for how NY perceive first responders

Joey Lane rolled over in his bed on January 1st and thought about taking a cross country road trip while working his tech product management job remotely: he hit the road January 3rd. Hear about Joey's experience on the road, his dedication to transcendental meditation, his experience as a product manager at capital one, and how he used his road trip to evaluate his next move. Much love, one love!Topics discussed:00:00 - Intro01:23 - Cross country road trip with remote work15:39 - Routine - road trip and NYC23:30 - Podcast listening and reading appoach & discussion30:17 - Sleep, hotels, and diet on the road trip34:31 - Day in the life of Joey Lane36:21 - Transcendental meditation40:14 - Capital one culture, advancement, and product team50:25- Most beloved aspects of NYC & excitement for next chapter

Cam Bell took an unconventional step after graduating from Yale in 2023: he decided to move down to Jacksonville, Florida to plan neonatal surgeries at KLS Martin. Cam and I - former college roommates - sit down and discuss his time at KLS, outlook on medical school, his period of self discovery living in Jacksonville, and his hobbies and health routine. Much love, one love!Donate to So Chabe at SoChabe.com !Topics discussed:00:00:00 - Introduction00:02:28 - KLS Martin & planning neonatal surgeries00:16:24 - Outlook for medical school00:25:48 - Move to and culture in Jacksonville00:30:10 - Relationship with self and new hobbies00:34:39 - Podcasting and skill development00:44:37 - Getting into the flow state00:51:14 - Routine in JacksonvilleTags: The Stroll, The Sam Thompson Stroll, The Stroll Podcast, Sam Thompson, Cam Bell, Biomedical engineering, Yale University, Yale, Cameron Bell, Jacksonville Florida, Jacksonville, surgical planning, neonatal surgery, medical school, planning for medical school, exercise, sleep, nutrition, worklife balance

Fed up with his friends complaining about the price disparities of Zyn (nicotine pouches) across NYC, Will Goldman sat down with his co-founder and did something about it. With a background in product management, programming, and entrepreneurship, they found immediate success with ZynMaps, an app that displayed stores selling Zyn and their prices in a map based format. Discontent with the values promoted by ZynMaps, Will and his co-founder decided to pivot to CityMaps, an app that displays prices and/or ratings for specific foods, drinks, and qualities across NYC restaurants and stores. Barely have had time to mention his love for poker and career in product management! Tune in to hear all about it: much love, one love!Topics discussed:00:00:00 - Introduction00:01:34 - Co-founding City-Maps00:08:12 - Building ZynMaps, entrepreneurial background, and initial growth00:14:11 - Pivot to CityMaps00:21:25 - Crowdsourcing data & incentive structures00:29:21 - Expansion plans00:35:15 - To monetize or not to monetize00:44:49 - Learnings as a PM to build CityMaps00:48:21 - Poker background & NYC poker scene01:03:23 - Transition to non-compete01:07:40 - Work-life balance in product management and career perspective01:17:49 - Life goals