Podcast
Founder's Mentality: The CEO Sessions
Founder's Mentality: The CEO Sessions
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Curiosity. Empathy. Humility.
A new award-winning podcast exploring lessons of scale, simplicity and soul from global CEOs and surprising guest voices. We speak with multi-faceted leaders about their never-ending pursuit of scale and growth—in business, and in life.
Recent Episodes
About the Show
About the Show
What does it take to lead—and live—when the world won’t sit still?
Hosted by executive advisor and bestselling author James Allen, Founder’s Mentality: The CEO Sessions is a leadership development podcast that goes beyond the boardroom.
Each episode features a conversation with a prominent CEO—from the likes of Audible, Walmart, and AWS—who reflects on the lessons that reshaped their business and their personal growth. But you won’t just hear from business leaders. Jimmy brings in artists, musicians, comedians, and other unconventional thinkers who explore the same lessons through a completely different lens.
These conversations surface aha moments from some of the world’s most influential leaders and thinkers. Intensely curious and open to new experiences and perspectives, they seek inspiration in unexpected places as they constantly reinvent their businesses and themselves.
In turn, you’ll walk away with a fresh take on how we all grow as individuals, what we are capable of building, and the legacy we leave behind.
So, whether you’re a CEO, a rising executive, or simply passionate about leadership, influence, and business at scale, this podcast will challenge and inspire you—one story at a time.
Season 1 Guests
Aaron Powell CEO, Pizza Hut
Christina Zhu President and CEO, Walmart China
Don Katz Founder and Former CEO of Audible
Marcos Galperin CEO of MercadoLibre
Stuart Gent Partner and Co-Head Europe Private Equity at Bain Capital
Nirav Tolia Co-founder and CEO of Nextdoor
Pedro Arnt CEO of dLocal
Archie Henderson Singer/ Songwriter
David Fleck Founder and Managing Partner, Freeflow Ventures
Iona Gaskell Head of Artist Identity Development, Partnerships & Outreach at Abubilla Music
Kavita Chaudhary Design Director, Jaipur Rugs
Mark Buckle Musician and Founder of Level Crossing Records
About the Host
About the Host
James Allen is an Advisory Partner at Bain & Company with over 35 years’ experience advising leading organizations. He’s the author of multiple best-selling books on growth and leadership and the host and founder of Bain’s Global CEO Community Forum. James is a regular speaker at global business events, including the World Economic Forum, and serves on the Botswana Economic Advisory Council. Outside of consulting, James started his own record label (Abubilla Music) in 2008 and supports Singing Wells, a project dedicated to preserving Kenyan village music.
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Recognition
Recognition
Founder's Mentality: The CEO Sessions was recognized with the Platinum 2026 AVA Digital Award for Outstanding Host.
Beyond the Pod: More on Founder's Mentality
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