089: Jon Levy | How to Throw An Influencers Dinner

How would you like to throw a dinner party at your house for about a dozen people and have that group include a ‘who’s who’ of titans of Industry, Olympic athletes, CEOs, musicians and celebrities’ That sounds pretty good. AND how about all of your guests are doing all the cooking and cleaning ‘ they’re making YOUR dinner. Sounds too good to be true, right? Actually it’s not. My guess on this podcast, Jon Levy, does exactly that. Jon started a series of dinners at his own home in New York city that he calls ‘The Influencers Dinners. It started with a small group and gained momentum. And today it’s become a bit of a phenomenon.

But get this, Jon did not start with high-level connections. He is just a regular guy who had a crazy idea. He is actually a first generation immigrant. His family came over the U.S. when he was young so he has no special connections, didn’t know any high-level CEOs or celebrities; didn’t have any hookups. Fast Company has ranked him as one of its top 15 super connectors. He’s been profiled in Forbes and NY Times. And some amazing opportunities have come his from this simple concept. He’s gotten speaking gigs, consulting contracts, and even a book deal. So how does he do it’ And more important, how can YOU take this idea and make it your own? Jon breaks down in this interview how you can throw your own Influencer experience, which could be anything. It could be gathering a group of people for a cocktail party, it could be putting on a play, it could be a cultural event with a speaker, it could be a pickup basketball game. It’s not as complicated as you might think. 

You’ll find out how in this interview:

• Jon explains the 3 key elements of organizing an influencer event and getting A-list celebrities and VIPs to yearn to attend your events
• Jon explains why the strength of a community lies in generosity, diversity and focusing on bringing people together to connect with each other (not with you)
• Why Jon says you should go out and embarrass yourself and that’s OK
• How to be a super connector, even if you don’t know anyone
• How to keep your cost down when organizing these types of events, and
• Finally the importance of creating your own secret traditions ‘ secrets which you don’t tell ANYONE about (he wouldn’t even tell me in this interview)

This episode is brought to you by my friends over at The Art of Charm podcast. The Art of Charm is an itunes Top 50 podcast overall ‘ one of the few truly independent podcasts in that top 50. And it’s no wonder why they do so well ‘ AoC is packed with wisdom from how to become more productive and professional to how to network better for business. I was honored to be a guest on the Art of Charm last year and I make sure to listen to almost every episode ‘ and it’s one of the very few podcasts I can say that for. Go to TheArtofCharm.com or find The Art of Charm in iTunes or Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app. I really enjoy this show and I think you will as well. Enjoy! Right Click here to download the MP3

Resources from this Episode:

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<p>John Corcoran: Because I do a backup recording and all right, three, two, one. All right, I'm talking with Jon Levy, and Jon, you do something crazy. So, you get influencers, VIPs, celebrities, you get athletes, they all come to your house and they cook you dinner. It sounds like a great deal to me. I'd love to have that happen. How do you make that happen' Jon Levy: It's kinda funny. You see it all started about six years ago. I was sitting in a seminar and the seminar leader brought up this really kind of obvious idea, but it never hit me that the fundamental element that defines the quality of our life is the people we surround ourselves with and the conversations that we have with them. Now, all of us know it's true, I mean it's kind of obvious, but we never live like it's true. We never say, oh, I wanna get healthier so I'm gonna grab a bunch of friends and make new friends who are fitness experts or I wanna be better with my finances so I'm gonna hang out with a bunch of accountants. We end up just kind of developing a social circle of people we really like but not intentionally; we kind of fall into it. So, I was curious, how do I bring together the most exceptional people in our culture' How do I create a great life for myself and invariably impact everybody that I can bring together but by bringing the most exceptional, intelligent, successful, thought leaders, influencers and so on in our culture' And it took me a long time to figure it out because the people who fit into those categories are just so busy, they're not gonna make time for just anything. And I developed this dining experience called The Influencers Dinner. I invite 12 people at a time, none of them know each other and when they arrive, they're not allowed to talk about what they do or even give their last name, and after we have a few cocktails, we all cook dinner together and when we sit down to eat, we finally get to guess what everybody else does. And then the person who is making guacamole gets to find out that they were cooking with the Nobel Laureate in Economics from 2002, and the head of marketing for Sony discovers that he's sitting down with Dr. Ruth. And so it allows people that are incredibly impressive to kind of shed everything that people already know about them and kind of be themselves and then connect with other people who are really extraordinary in an intimate way. John: So, right from the get go, there's a kind of a crazy idea. Jon Levy: Oh, yeah, it's completely wacky. John: Yeah, I mean I imagine your friends were like, 'Yeah, whatever Jon, that's a great idea.' Did you have any previous incarnations of the idea that didn't work' Jon Levy: I initially thought oh, I'll get a bunch of people together on a phone call, but I realized that why ' like I was in middle management, I was 28 at the time, why would the chief marketing officer of a multinational conglomerate ever even look at an email from me let alone dedicate time to get on a phone call' It just doesn't make any sense, and that's when I began developing a model for understanding how to interact with really influential people. John: And what did that model look like' How did you approach, particularly initially, because I think the people who are listening to this, who are interested in this idea, they probably haven't done it before. Wild guess here so they probably haven't done it before so how did you approach it from the start' Jon Levy: The first thing I had to accept was that I was gonna embarrass myself at some point because I was coming from nowhere. To put it in perspective, it's not like my family is multigenerational wealth so on and so forth. My father came from an incredibly poor neighborhood in Israel, was one of 12 children. I had no concept of social etiquettes the way that American culture functions because my parents were immigrants. And so but my father was also very street smart and socially capable and very charismatic, and I think I learned a lot of that. And I know I was just going to embarrass myself and continue to screw things up and I have to accept that, and that was my starting point. Then I looked at how these people interact with their schedules. So, really high-level business executives, celebrities, talent of any kind, trailblazers, people who are just constantly being creative and starting new industries, their time is incredibly precious to them. There're too many people making requests on them, and nobody really has a concept of the complexities of this. So, I knew that if I wanted to connect with them I had to create something that would be so outside of their normal behavior that it would give them a break from all of that. John: It's a really interesting idea. So, what about the ' so, there's the idea itself, which you framed ' Jon Levy: So, I consider that ' it has to be novel. There must be an element of extreme novelty, right' If it's the same thing everybody else is doing, they've already experienced it and done it. They get invited to a hundred different things already so invite people to something that's never occurred to them or that's being done in a new way. Everybody's eaten dinner, but have they ever cooked dinner' Maybe. Have they ever cooked dinner with a bunch of strangers and weren't allowed to talk about what they do' Definitely not. And then there's that second element. I created something exclusive, not exclusive like oh, we're in a nightclub, you're not attractive enough to get in. Right' That's kind of lame. Exclusive in the sense that you know that the other people there are from a highly curated crowd, that you would be honored to spend time with them, that somebody else has done the legwork and you're about to be delighted. That's what I mean by exclusivity. So, it has to possess novelty, exclusivity and here's the last element. Since these people are always approached for all the answers, they know how the economy is going to go or they know what the next fashion trends are going to be or the next technologies and everybody wants their opinion. I had to put them in a state where they didn't have an answer, where they didn't have a clue what was going on. I wanted to put them back in a state where it was as if they 12 years old and in awe of the world again. And that's why they can't talk about what they do. That's why they have to guess. John: Interesting. Jon Levy: Now, all of that is very unique to the experience that I build, and don't get me wrong, I'm really proud of it, but it naturally flows from my character and my passion for bringing people together and I love every moment of doing it. And people often come to me and they say, 'Jon, how do I do my own thing'' And I couldn't be more happy that other people are bringing people together and want to create something new. And so there's a really I think wonderful trend that we're seeing now that kinda like the whole Seth Godin concept of tribes that people are really taking responsibility and creating tribes or groups and communities of their own. John: And is that what it eventually becomes' What that your vision initially for them' Jon Levy: I had no clue what I was doing. The first dinner, it was like 80 something degrees in my house, the air conditioner broke, we were cooking in front of a hot stove, everybody was sweating and being super polite about everything because they didn't know who they were hanging out with and they didn't wanna embarrass themselves. No, I've done 50 plus dinners at this point so we've iterated and its changed a lot. I had no idea what I was creating. I just knew that I'm going to keep trying this and keep trying this and keep trying this, and something is going to come of it eventually. And eventually what happened was all of the guests started bonding so much that it created this really tightly knit community comprised of hundreds and hundreds of people. And the community now has reunions and we have additional events that they come to and we do something like 50 some odd events a year. John: Oh, wow. Jon Levy: Yeah, it's pretty extraordinary thinking that like the guy who started Comic Con, having conversations with the author of a New York Times bestseller and then the editor in chief of Men's Health and then a fashion icon like Stacy London all having cocktails together and then playing board games. John: So, let me ask you a couple questions, a couple follow ups to that. So, what about the actual reaching out process' So, there is the event that you designed in a way that as you said novelty, exclusivity and also putting them in a state where they don't have a clue what's going on. Jon Levy: Yeah, of wonder, but that's not a necessity. That's just because it's an expression of what's important to me. Like I fundamentally am committed to living a life of wonder and adventure, right' Those things are really important to me. I'm fascinated by just about every person I meet. I'm really excitable. I like to experience anything I can, and that's why it works well for me. If we were to design an experience for you to do with your community, it would probably have different values. You'd still have to respect that the most influential people in that industry have certain constraints on them, but it would need to be unique to you and what's important to you. John: So, tell me about after you've designed the experience, how did you go about reaching out to these people' Did you just come up with a master list of oh, here's a bunch of successful people that I would ' Jon Levy: I wish I even knew who people were because as I was explaining, my family's from another country. I didn't really grow up in American culture. So, I don't have a clue, like I know who Justin Bieber is and I know who Lindsay Lohan is or whatever. John: That's pretty much all you need to know about American culture, those two. Jon Levy: Yes, proud to be American. So, but if you were to say the name of a famous news anchor, there's a good chance I wouldn't know who that was or a well-known actor or a movie even. I don't go to movies really. I maybe see one or two a year. But when it came time to reach out, it started off very grassroots. I was shamelessly promoting what I was doing, and I'd talk it up in a way that was much bigger than it was. So, I kind of did one dinner, it took me six months to do the next one because I just didn't have enough people to invite yet. And I'd go to events and I'd just shamelessly promote it. And as I started collecting all these people's information, they'd often be like oh, that sounds great, I'd love to do it, I'd collect their information, I realized that there were certain patterns to email addresses and at most companies, if you can get the email address of one person, even if it's some first-year associate, then their boss is going to or the CEO is going to ' John: First initial, their first name followed by their last name of whatever. Jon Levy: Yeah, and that's how I got in touch with a lot of the executives over the years. I recently had a very senior person from an electronics company who I was really interested in meeting, and I just cold emailed him and I said, 'I'd love to talk to you about coming to this dinner. Would you have coffee with me'' And he was what a delightful human being. I can't even express his enthusiasm for his work and his joy for interacting with people. It's just such a pleasure. I think the other thing that helps is that I might be cold emailing them, but I'm cold emailing them with no intention of trying to do anything but have a great time with them. It's not like I'm looking for advice, which isn't a bad thing. These people would be more than happy to give it. It's that I'm looking to create a context where people can connect and then it's natural within that context for them to offer their services or their information or their contacts to me and the rest of the community. John: So, if someone's listening to this and they're thinking about organizing their own dinner, should they be careful to curate it in, like let's say they're a photographer or something like that, should they be curating it with people that they might wanna do work for or should they go broader than that and just anyone '' Jon Levy: I would say absolutely, but the power of communities come from their diversity. And the example I often give is imagine we're dealing with the global economic crisis and we wanna bring together a group of people so we get an economist and another economist and another, and by the time you've reached your tenth economist, you haven't actually added any new knowledge or information because they've all gone to the same schools, they all have the same backgrounds, they speak the same language. But if you start adding people who are experts in marketing, in education, in public policy then you begin to add diversity to the community and a real impact and understanding of how to impact things at large. John: Right. Jon Levy: So, the strength of a community as far as I see it falls under two characteristics, or three. One is what Adam Grant would consider their generosity, how much they give. There are those who give, those who match, those who take. Make sure that you're finding givers, people who wanna be generous. The second is focus on diversity of the network so that you add as many new ideas and perspectives as possible. And with each new person, when they come from diverse backgrounds, their extended network is even more valuable. And third is don't focus on being the center of the network. Focus on bringing people together so that they can network with each other and you're part of that community because the more connections they have with your friends and your business associates, the stronger the network itself is. Now, if you really wanna create something that's unique to you, which I highly encourage, I don't really think it needs to be a dinner, I mean that's just something that kinda naturally came out of my culture and what I found works for me. But you have to really look at what's important to you, I mean John, why don't you tell me a little bit about what you're passionate about. John: Yeah, it's funny, I've thought about this. One of the things that I like doing is hiking. Jon Levy: Oh, that's wonderful. John: I live in Marin County, which is North of San Francisco and it's nothing but hiking trails here. Literally, nothing by hot tubs, chardonnay and hiking trails. Jon Levy: All three sound amazing. I don't even think I should then design anything, but now you really love hiking. Now, what do you feel like is at your core' Right' For some people, it's generosity. For other people, it's art. For other people, it is health and fitness, and there are certain things that are natural expressions because realize when you're looking at creating a community, it's not something that you do once. It's something that you foster and is a living, breathing beast and so you have to give it a lot of attention constantly. So, it has to be something that's at the core of who you are and what you're passionate about. John: Yeah, I mean for me, it would probably be intelligent conversation like we're having right now, like I really enjoy being on a hiking trail with someone who's intelligent and having a great conversation. I also enjoy doing it over a beer too, but the beer and the hiking is not a great combination. Jon Levy: So, we can look at two different ideas. One is about beer, and one is about hiking because I mean I do enjoy a good drink sometimes. So, here's one idea. What if ' and you love intelligent conversations, what if you went on a hike and you went with a group of, I don't know, five, ten people, and a subsection of that group were experts on something, whatever it is, so that when you got to the top of the hike in a place where there's an absolutely beautiful view, one, two or three of those people will present ideas for discussion or kinda like a mountaintop TED. John: Oh, that sounds great. Jon Levy: So, you have this beautiful environment, this shared experience, and as you're eating maybe lunch or having some trail mix, people are presenting ideas. And then as part of the presentation, just for example, and this is just off the cuff, each person or the speaker challenges the community of people who are there to find a solution to some kind of problem so that as you're on the second part of the hike, you're working together and discussing different concepts and approaches to dealing with an issue so that the hike is the context for bonding and then the content is a catalyst for engagement around a topic. John: I love it. That sounds great. So, all right, let me ask you a couple of questions here. So, one I wanna ask is what opportunities has this led to for you' Jon Levy: For me specifically' John: Yep. Jon Levy: It's really, really funny to me because I never went into it thinking oh, I'll get any notoriety or attention. That was never and when I was first approached by a contributor to Forbes to write an article about it, it took me eight months to agree. And then it took me something like three months plus to agree for a New York Times piece and be on the cover of the Style section. So, as more and more articles came out, I developed kind of this reputation as a super connector. I was recognized by an article in Fast Company as being one of the top super connectors in the U.S. or kind of redefining networking. It gave me enough attention that I was selected by Gotham magazine as one of the most successful bachelors in New York. John: Nice. Jon Levy: L selected me as one of the Top 41 bachelors in America. John: That's something that when you're in high school you'd pay for. Jon Levy: Yeah, oh, God, but I don't know if it's actually done me any good in terms of the bachelor stuff, but it's definitely like really novel. And like I said earlier ' John: You mean you don't actually have like a T shirt with that printed on it that you wear to bars' Jon Levy: I just try to get my friends to wear T shirts that say I'm with one of L's 41 most eligible bachelors. Yeah, whatever works. But also, I speak a lot at events, and it's part of what the ' I'm sorry, I need to rerecord that portion. John: Yeah, you can start back over again whenever you're ready. Jon Levy: Give me just two seconds because I forgot to put on Do Not Disturb on my ' John: Your Skype' Jon Levy: Yeah. Sorry, give me a sec. John: I can start the question over again too, it was about opportunities. Jon Levy: Yeah, let's do it from the beginning. John: If you want me to do that. Jon Levy: Yeah. John: Are you all set' Jon Levy: Let me just put on my Do Not Disturb. John: Okay. Jon Levy: Okay, so let's start that over if that's okay. I'm sorry, I keep interrupting the flow. John: No problem. So, what types of opportunities has it led to for you' Jon Levy: You know it's really funny. When I first started doing these dinners, I never thought that it would become some kind of big thing that gets a lot of attention. That was never my impetus for participating in this. In fact, when the contributors to Forbes reached out to me to do an article about it, it took me eight months to agree. But then we ended up not only there but on the cover of the New York Times Style section, which also took me like three months to agree to participate in and that kinda snowballed and garnet this reputation as being kind of a super connector. And in fact a few months ago, I was in, what was it, Fast Company did an article ranking me one of the Top 15 super connectors who are I guess redefining the way that people network. And so it's had this unexpected impact on the way that the outside world perceives me to the point that Gotham magazine selected me as one of the top bachelors or most successful bachelors, sorry, in New York back in 2014, and now in 2015, L just included me in their list of Top Bachelors in America. John: You know I think in my early 20s, I would have killed for either of those. Jon Levy: Yeah, it's kinda funny. It's incredibly flattering and amusing to me because of these dinners I end up meeting people who are just so much more impressive than me. The big joke is that I one day hope to accomplish something worthy of invite to my own dinner because it's so humbling. People are like yes, I won the Nobel Prize or their like oh, I have two Olympic medals in basketball, and all I can think is what am I doing here. If I didn't pay for this meal, you know, like I really wouldn't have a right to be here. John: And that's actually a good question also, which is cost, because I think some people might be concerned about this. So, what do you say to people who say, 'Oh, I'd love to do something like that, but it just seems so expensive'' Jon Levy: I think that that's a completely valid concern, and the key is to start small. So, the hike idea that we discussed for you isn't expensive at all. In fact, everybody can bring their own food. So, essentially what you're talking about is the time dedicated to getting people together and then curating some kind of speaker. If you wanted to do something else that was cheap, board game night. I have a friend, Keeahu, who hosts this board game night that's incredibly popular in LA, and that just means that it's the cost of some alcohol and drinks and snacks. So, I don't know, probably a hundred bucks. But you can create something that would actually have a zero cost like a potluck or some other kind of social activity. Nobody says that it can't also be like a sporting team, two hand touch football team or a basketball league for adults. The point is that you're bringing a context; you're creating a context for people to get together. The other element is just make sure that there's some novelty to shake things up. There's a lot of leagues out there so do something kind of wacky. Maybe it's son and daddy team where the kids play, there's no dribbling and the kids hold the ball and they have to be on their father's shoulder you know John. John: That sounds different. Jon Levy: I don't even know, but there's no reason for it not to be, anything can exist, but create it out of something that's fundamentally at your core. John: Now, I read that you've also gone to the point where some other brands and companies could either consult with you or hire you to help create influencer programs for them. So, can you share what some of those programs look like or even if it's not ones that you can talk about that you've had a hand in, you know, other types of influencer programs what they can look like, particularly for companies' Jon Levy: Absolutely, so brands ask me to consult and come in and speak to their teams or even help them design their own influencer programs, and so that's kind of a consulting gig. But the stuff that involves the community specifically is that it was kind of borne out of companies wanting to gift product. And what I do professionally, which I haven't mentioned yet, is that I'm a behavior expert. So, I take research done by neuroscientists, behavioral economists, psychologists and I apply it for companies to help them connect with their customers, change perception, path consumers down a purchase pathway. And so it kinda started when a company said, 'Oh, we make this product and we want to gift your community.' And what I know in general is that when you give somebody something out of a context, especially if it's a product that they have something comparable or better, they're not gonna care about it. They're not gonna have any emotional connection to it. So, let's say it's a watch for example. And so do you wear a watch John' John: I do. Jon Levy: Okay. Now, if I were to just give you a watch, it might be a nice watch, but if I gave it to you and it wasn't like a personal gift, it was just oh, some company gave this to me, here, you take it, do you think that you would begin wearing that watch for any reason' John: Depends on ' I'm very materialistic, so it depends on how expensive the watch is. No, I'm kidding. Jon Levy: That's completely fair. No, that's completely fair because we do know that we enjoy products more when they're expensive. John: True, true. Jon Levy: We actually know that, and that's completely fine for you to ' there's nothing wrong with enjoying things that are expensive. If you work hard and you've earned it, great. John: But if it's just given to you, your point is that people don't value it as much' Jon Levy: Precisely. So, I said, 'What if we design something that would give people a real connection to the brand'' So, I designed an experience called What Makes You Tick and here's how it works. The guests arrive and they're not allowed to talk about what they do or give their last name. They don't even know what they're attending. The entire thing is this shrouded mystery. When they arrive, they check their watch at the door with a stylist and are assigned a new watch based on their general style. Then they go have cocktails and after about a half hour, they're invited into another room. And in this room, there are three speakers. One is a theoretical astrophysicist talking about what we actually know about what time is so space time and how it gets manipulated and the effects that it has and what we understand based on Einstein's work. Then we have a neuroscientist talking about how the brain processes time, how we can trick it and play games with it. And then the third is a stylist talking about how fashion makes them tick. So, we have all three of these people, everybody's completely enthralled because they're top-notch speakers, they've probably spoken at TED and we have content that's focused on different personality types, right' So, the fashion oriented versus the service journalist oriented versus the science geek. And then we have everybody play games based on time. So, it's a race to see who can name more of something in a certain amount of time and so on. At a certain point in the evening, we thank the guests for attending and we say, 'Ladies and gentlemen, we wanna thank our sponsor.' And the sponsor comes up and says, 'My name is so and so. I'm the founder of this watch brand, and I wanna thank you all for attending and my gift to you for taking the time to be with us is the watch that you're wearing.' So, now instead of just leaving with something that was in a gift bag, they've had this entire extraordinary evening where they've played these games because the other people that they're surrounded by are community members, they're surrounded by famous actors and musicians and Tony Award winning show producers and so on so they're in this really wonderful community, this product that they've been interacting with all evening and they come out with new knowledge that's really fun and exciting for them. John: So, the point though for a brand or a company is don't just give something away, actually make an experience behind it' Jon Levy: Yes, and then connect with the brand because the person that they were interacting with when they were playing the game may have also been an employee of the company. You don't know. You're just fully integrated in having fun. And so it becomes this really wonderful experience. It's designed to connect with people on an emotional level and to be novel to the point that they actually discuss it the next day. And an experience like that doesn't necessarily have to be outrageously expensive. You just have to know who to partner with to create it. And so that's the kind of stuff I'm doing these days. I'm working with everything from jewelry brands to florists to alcohol brands to technology, and it's been wildly successful and because it's all community based, it happens within a context that's really trusted and fun. John: And I imagine you have to have that kind of level of trust like it can't just be an anonymous invitation that you get in the mail to an anonymous event that you don't know anything about, right' Jon Levy: Yeah, well, at this point, we've gotten so much attention as a brand through the Influencers Dinners and I also host something called the Salon, which is more of a cultural experience, that when people get an invite to one of my events, they know I'm going to deliver, and I really pride myself on that. And the unspoken agreement that kind of exists there is you're going to take your time out for something that I'm inviting you to and you don't know what it is, and my aside is I'm going to take the time to plan this and design this so that it is truly exceptional for you. John: I do wanna ask actually the flipside of that. So, you're talking about people coming to the dinner and having a positive experience, but I wanna ask you about hosting your dinners and events, how to you ensure that the people that come, especially in your smaller events where you have 12 people, aren't duds' Jon Levy: So, I'll be honest, not everybody that comes is the most wonderful human being, but we have a really high percentage. And the way that that's accomplished is that almost everybody that attends is recommended by a former dinner guest. So, once I developed a core community, the key is to focus on knowing who the super connectors are with good judgment. So, there's probably about 10 percent of the community that feeds 75 percent of the guests. And those people, I learned to trust their opinions because they get it, and it's also their community so they want the right people to be part of it. So, they're not recommending, you know, their friend from childhood who, I don't know, got arrested for shoplifting a week ago, whatever it was. John: Well, that would add some spice to the dinner. Jon Levy: It would. John: One of you is a convicted criminal. One of you ' everybody watch your wallets. Jon Levy: I've had people who've played convicted criminals ' John: On TV shows' Jon Levy: Yeah, I had Andre Royo who played Bubbles in The Wire. I've never seen the show, but I think he's supposed to be like a meth head or something like that. And then I've also had some of the cast of Breaking Bad so we were going to do a talk about how to make meth at one of my events. John: That's pretty funny. Jon Levy: Just for the hell of it because it would have been funny to have ' [Crosstalk] John: Now, I want to wrap this up because we've been going for a while, and I just wanna ask a couple more questions. So, one is any additional tips for someone who's listening to this who is thinking about wow, this would be a really cool, powerful idea for me to build relationships with the influencers in my local community, anything we haven't mentioned that they should be thinking about if they like this idea' Jon Levy: Yeah. So, I think the first thing you have to, and I've mentioned this a little to some degree, is be willing to be embarrassed and just go out there and try stuff over and over and over again and keep iterating and iterating. Make sure it's something small and keep testing it and changing it a little bit over time. Each time I do a dinner and event, I change one characteristic to test the effect, and if I like it, I keep it. So, the first dinner to the 50th dinner looks completely different, and that was from what the meal was to where the materials that they needed to traditions that I created. The other is it's important to create your own traditions and invent them. One of the things that I've been very happy about is that I've kept a collection of secret traditions out of all the articles. And it's one of those things that people get excited about, knowing that they're learning something secret that they then have to keep a secret. And so it causes people to bond. And so we have like three or four secret traditions. We do them at almost every dinner, and people know to keep that as a secret of the community and not to share it. And so when you're creating whatever it is that you create, create some traditions because people love them. John: Okay, good advice there. So, another question is do you feel pressure to continue to mix it up, make it different, continue to surprise people or because you are bringing in new people, particularly to your dinners, you kinda feel like it can stay the same' Or do you feel like you have to be constantly, even for your own purposes, changing it up' Jon Levy: So, every time I've gotten a bit complacent about the structure of things, I will get an email from somebody that kind of shakes me up. And so I ' John: What do they say' Jon Levy: They'll say something really that could be perceived as insulting, but it's actually constructive. They'd say ' and it's my hugest ' it's the people who respond most vehemently in some kind of ' and it almost never happens, but it's happened like two or three times. And they'll say like, 'Oh, after dinner, it just turns into a party. Why would you bring these people together just to have them drink together'' And I thought about it and I said, 'Wow, that person's absolutely right.' So, after the dinners, I invite now a group of 60 people, and we have more of a cultural experience. We have famous speakers speak and live music performances and even dance performances, and it becomes an additional experience that I produce to the common good of sharing and perpetuating knowledge. It's called the Salon and its mission is to enlighten and to entertain. And so I feel a consistent need to iterate and improve. And every time I lose track of that, eventually somebody says something that wakes me up. John: Okay, all right, good. And then the final question that I love asking everyone. So, this is your Oscar speech. You've just been awarded an Academy Award, Lifetime Achievement or Best Director, Best Actor, whatever it is. Tell me about the people that you thank, not just the family members but also the relationships that have been instrumental in your success up to this point in your career so mentors, friends, colleagues, business partners, all those sorts of things, those sorts of people who you would thank. Jon Levy: So, I would absolutely without a doubt obviously thank my family. A lot of the inspiration I think in some way that caused the creation of the dinners and the salons were because my parents would host big dinners. My father's an artist and my mom's a musician and so they have a very creative attitude towards engaging with people. And so I feel like I've made an official more organized version of what I saw growing up and didn't understand, and my family's always been really supportive. But if I were to start thanking people, there was a ' I grew up dyslexic and so I'd start by saying thank you to Linda Messing, who was a math teacher who realized that just because I was dyslexic I wasn't stupid, and so she put me in the normal math class and that led me eventually down the path to what I studied, computer science, math and economics. In high school, I had this awful incident where there was a gang fight in my apartment during a party and somebody pulled out a gun and I thought I was gonna die. And so I went into school and I started getting trained by the head of the Phys Ed Department, and it turned out that he was an Olympic medalist in Judo. And so he would run these crazy training programs that by today's standards would be illegal, like he would walk around with this big stick and curse in Yugoslavian, was that what it was, and ' John: And he's teaching kids in high school moves' Okay. Jon Levy: Yeah, oh, he trained people who were featured in Sports Illustrated and people heading towards the Olympic teams and so on. He was like a serious trainer, and he led our Phys Ed program and also physiology classes and his name is Ratamere Cavachavitch and just a huge inspiration to me and really trained me to learn how to have will and move forward. Then my martial arts master, because I studied then for years martial arts, and then from there on, there's just been a myriad of ' I used to work as a salesman at Cutco, and I got a job from this guy, Joe Genelli, and that's where I learned sales skills and kind of social interactions at the higher level. I then had the pleasure over the years of ' I was cast as a before and after fitness model at one point for a late-night video infomercial, which then led to a job at Rodale, which owned Men's Health, Women's Health, Runners World, all those, I mean there's just been so ' John: I'm believing about 50 percent of this right now. Jon Levy: Yeah, I really didn't have this ' [Crosstalk] John: You just kinda crazy ' crazy experiences. Jon Levy: Yeah, I mean I'd also wanna thank, if you wanna talk crazy experiences, the doctor who treated me after I was hit by a bull in Pamplona, [inaudible][00:39:05] running of the bulls, and there's like a lot of people who I very well might not be here right now if it wasn't for their help, right' And so it's too numerous. The problem is that I'm so blessed as to have just extraordinary people in my life that I love dearly and I have a person who became a close friend after ' his name is Seth Porges. He wrote the Forbes article. I barely knew him at the time, but since then, we've become incredible friends and the introductions and friendships that I've made because of him I really cherish. And because of the network effect and what we know about how people connect with each other, I wish I could thank everybody and remember them by name right now, but know that if you've come in contact with me and spent any time with me, you've probably impacted my life in some way that's really positive. So, thank you. John: Okay, good, well done, well done. Thank you, very much Jon. Where can people learn more about you' Jon Levy: I have a website, jonlevytlb.com, J ' O ' N ' L ' E ' V as in Victor ' Y as in yellow and then T ' L ' B, T as in Thomas, L in lion, B as in boy, dot com. The reason that it's jonlevytlb is that I have the most common name probably in New York, and so you can get in touch with me there. There's also an email form if you wanna find out more or get in touch for business purposes. I'm jonlevytlb on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, and then there're a bunch of articles I guess that if you Google me, they'll probably pop up, and I'm really flattered every time somebody reads one so if you wanna flatter me. John: There are. There're a number of longer profiles out there, the New York Times being one of them, and all the other ones listing you as an eligible bachelor if people ' [Crosstalk] Jon Levy: Apparently, yes. John: Jon, thank you so much for taking the time. Jon Levy: It was an absolute pleasure. Thank you, John.</p>