The Power of Storytelling and Showing Up: Rick Allesandri, Stan Van Gundy, and Having A Seat At The Table as Capo Verde Took On The World…

As we reach the end of September, three wide ranging listens about the power of storytelling, consensus building, and being in the right place at the right time. As always you can hear all of our pods here.

Building A Career, Now About Careers: We welcomed Rick Alessandri, Managing Director of Media and Sports Technology at ZRG Turnkey, to discuss a career that spans four decades across some of the most pivotal moments in sports media history. Alessandri traces his path from running the overnight newsroom at Sports Ticker in 1982, to his role as George Bodenheimer’s first-ever chief of staff at ESPN, and his years building new business ventures inside ESPN’s enterprise development group. He shares how a call from a headhunter led him to Univision, where he spent seven years building businesses for the US Hispanic market including a pharmacy discount program that saved 2 million members over $70 million in healthcare costs despite not speaking Spanish. Alessandri covers what he has learned in eight years leading executive search, including why the two qualities he looks for above all else are curiosity and trust, and how to push back against clients who want to hire the wrong candidate. He also discusses his new children’s book Ricky Stands Tall, and why he gets joy from sharing the story with others. Click here.

Stan Stories: As we turn more and more to hoops, we were joined by Stan Van Gundy, former NBA head coach with 554 career wins who led the Orlando Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals, to discuss leadership, coachability, the state of college athletics, and his transition from the bench to the broadcast booth. Van Gundy shared why he believes college presidents, not players or coaches, are responsible for letting money overwhelm the educational mission of college sports. He also shares candid thoughts on the transfer portal, NIL, and why the best coaches in the country are walking away from college athletics because building a real program is no longer possible. The conversation shifts to the NBA, where Van Gundy argues that professional players are actually more coachable than college athletes, explains what separates the truly elite from the merely talented, and shares the story of working alongside JJ Redick long before anyone imagined he would become a head coach. He also reflects on the WNBA’s moment, praising the quality of play while also calling out the league’s failure to control its own narrative. So many lessons learned by clicking here.

Being In The Right Place, Even If It’s Off The Coast of Africa: Finally we were joined by George Moreira, partnerships & events executive at Capelli Sport, to discuss one of the most unexpected stories of the 2026 FIFA World Cup: how a New Jersey-based soccer apparel company became the kit provider for Cape Verde and found itself at the center of a global phenomenon. Moreira shares the origin of Capelli Sport and how the company landed the Cape Verde deal, then takes listeners inside what it was actually like to be embedded with the team for an entire month: managing 150 boxes of kit inventory, watching goalkeeper Vozinha’s social media following explode from 45,000 to 30 million overnight, and sitting in the technical area as Cape Verde held Spain scoreless for 90 plus minutes in their opening match. Moreira also reflects on what the Cape Verde moment has meant for Capelli Sport’s business going forward, and why relationships and personalized service remain their edge against the giants of soccer apparel. All about showing up and learning here.