Joshua Spodek decided to major in Physics after nearly giving up his love of science and math due to bullying through high school. After earning his PhD, he felt as if the more education one received, the less career options became available. He realized the corporate lifestyle and working under someone else wasn’t for him. His first business venture was a Zoetrope-based idea for advertising in subways that started with him and a friend working out of his friend’s grandfathers garage. This success gave him an independence and freedom to realize that he could make anything happen.

With five Ivy League degrees under his belt, Spodek wanted to continue creating businesses but didn’t want to be constrained by my own lack of knowledge and experiences so he went back and received his MBA. Spodek’s awareness and self-awareness changed and he soon began speaking, writing and teaching. Among many other accomplishments, Spodek’s work has earned him high-profile recognition from the likes of Esquire Magazine’s Genius Issue, where he was named “Best and Brightest,” and NBC, which praised him as an “Astrophysicist turned new media whiz.” Both Forbes and ABC News have also acknowledged his accomplishments, praising his work as a rocket scientist.

• The importance of doing what you love
• Realizing the corporate lifestyle wasn’t for him
• Why the more education you receive, the less options you have
• How his feeling of very few options contributed to his entrepreneurial mindset
• How feeling constrained by lack of knowledge and experience led him to get his MBA
• What his contribution was in building an X-ray satellite with NASA
• Why he thought leadership couldn’t be taught
• How he teaches others based on theory
• Why experience is what defines leaders
• Different types of leadership styles and the relationships they create
• The most important traits for young people to have is humility and willingness to learn
• The impact that Ghandi had on him
• Advice for those wanting to become better leaders
• The importance of emotions involved in being a good leader
• The reason behind swimming the Hudson and the revelation he had from the accomplishment