0:00

Monica H. Kang: How hard are you willing to work for your dream and dream careers? Maybe you might not be paid enough or you might not have the full recognition, or maybe you have long hours. Does that mean it's time to quit? Well, today's guest is about to challenge your notion of when you're going to quit, if you truly want to see the table's turn and make your dream come true. Scott knew early on that hey, this whole world of Hollywood and entertainment sounds like something I want to do. But he didnt know anyone or have any connections, well, at least at the beginning. So he did everything he could to enter the space, including steps like calling the office where he might want to work every day to make sure that he had the opportunity to intern or find any job.

0:56

Monica H. Kang: And that's where he learned some few tips and insights that hey, if you really want to make it here, this is where you start, or these are skills you might need. And hey, you might want to talk to this person. But see, if he wasn't willing to do that and gave up, he's not going to be able to be where he is today. You might not have realized, but most of your favorite american shows today might have been possible because Scott approved it when he was working in media entertainment. Scott Sassa has been an executive in media and entertainment in numerous titles. So yes, from 1988 to 1996, he was at Turner Broadcasting System, finishing his tenure there as president of Turner Entertainment Group and a member of the Turner board of directors, the TBS executive committee.

1:47

Monica H. Kang: And in 1988, he was named executive vice president of Turner Network Television and was instrumental in the networks launch, the largest at that time. From 1992 to 1996, he was responsible for all operations and programming for teabious superstation, Turner Network Television, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, and Turner's international entertainment networks in Europe, Asia and Latin America. In 2008 and 2013, he's also served as the president of the Hearst Entertainment and syndication and was also on the board of ESPN board and the co chair of AETN, which included Lifetime A and e and history. And if you continue along his list, you see his role being an executive at NBC Entertainment, working with legendary leaders in Disney and many other companies like Marvel Entertainment.

2:45

Monica H. Kang: And as you go through all these chapters, one thing you quickly realize is that how Scott got to be where he is. And if your first guess was going to the right school and knowing the right people, not necessarily. Hes about to tell some stories that will inspire you, that no matter where you are right now, you can find a way if you really want to. So now he's in beauty. He's the chairman of Milk Makeup and has launched in January 2016 a new millennial brand that is inspired by Milk Studios and how we think skincare and makeup, which has hugely been successful. And I've had the pleasure of briefly working with Scott and learning from him and, man, his leadership style and his care and thoughtfulness is really inspiring and empowering.

3:34

Monica H. Kang: And so with further ado, Im super excited to have Scott here on the show to share a little bit more about his past, his journey today, and his thoughts on leadership. What can change? How can we do better, and what is it like to be asian american in media when there really wasnt much people like us back in the day? Even more so. So meet Scott.

3:58

Monica H. Kang: So very excited to have my friend Scott here on the show. We already nerded out one logistical thing, which is so cool. Given your background in media entertainment, you've been in so many different spaces. I think just before we dive into the different chapters, I mean, my big umbrella question is, where is your source of drive that gives you the power to navigate all these different chapters you've had in your career?

4:24

Scott Sassa: Yeah, I think that the main thing is I'm curious about things and I want to learn about things. That's the good news. The bad news is that has to come at a cost, and the cost is probably an attention span of doing things. I really enjoy understanding new businesses and how they work, and probably the most success I've had has been in businesses that were largely disruptive by nature. And, you know, when I say that cable networks were disruptive or the fourth network we did at Fox was disrupted, they don't seem that way now. But at the time, they were like, I can't tell you how many people told me starting TNT or the Fox network were Fool's errands that would never work. And, well, they did. And so unfortunately, the effect of how disruptive those were isn't as clear today.

5:20

Scott Sassa: But that's good, I guess, because then we made the right choice.

5:24

Monica H. Kang: Bring us back to young Scott. Where were you? Where did you grow up?

5:30

Monica H. Kang: Who did you wanted to be and. Monica H. Kang: What kind of role in Korea did you want it to have in the future?

5:34

Scott Sassa: I didn't really know. I grew up in a very middle class area called Torrance, and it was super normal. I mean, the school that I went to for high school, less than 17% of the people went to college because most people ended up working in factories and things like that. In the aerospace industry, very few people graduate from high school, it was really normal and middle of the road under a lot of standards. My favorite thing was once the superintendent of our school district said, I'm really proud that there are 20 school districts in southern California, and we rank 10th in every category. And that kind of explains my growing up. So I don't know when. At one point, when things started working out for me, my parents, my dad asked me, well, why are you doing this? And I can't tell you.

6:25

Scott Sassa: I didn't really think there was another option. So I didn't want to end up living in the same area I grew up in. I wanted to do something, so I don't really know. It just that kind of thing happens.

6:38

Monica H. Kang: Do you remember your first job and what was it like then?

6:43

Scott Sassa: Well, my first job, I was worked in a mexican restaurant. I got promoted from a busboy to be a fry cook, which meant I made the tacos. And one day I made the tacos a different way. And the manager came up to me and said, why did you make the tacos this way? I didn't cook them all the way through so they would be crispy. I made them, like, sort of half crispy, half soft. I go, well, did you try them? And he goes, yeah, they're amazing. And I go, well, then why do you worry about. He goes, Scott, we have idiots working here. It's easy for everybody to burn the taco shells. It's hard to do what you did. And it was a great lesson. He said something to me that I'll never forget.

7:24

Scott Sassa: He said, consistency is the hallmark of excellence, that providing a consistent experience for the guest is more important. And I think being in jobs, even dumb jobs like working in a mexican restaurant, you can learn things that proved to be valuable later on. When you start a cable network and things like that, it's understanding how meeting an exceeding customer expectation makes sense. Later on, I would meet this guy named Jim Robinson, who was CEO of American Express, and his line was, well, quality is setting expectation and exceeding it. And in a funny way, that's what the guy said at the mexican restaurant. But you just kind of have to pick those things up and decide how you're going to take any piece of knowledge you have and turn it into something good.

8:13

Monica H. Kang: I love that story. And it's such a powerful reminder that there is wisdom and growth everywhere. Media and broadcasting. Why were you first interested in that, in your first part of your chapter of your career? And how did you pave your path? Because, as you said, you did start from nothing.

8:31

Scott Sassa: I was not a great student in college. I actually failed out of college, but I left after four years. And while in college, I saw this article in the LA Times called baby moguls. What? Behind the ears. And it was a number of people that had, I thought, big jobs, but it turned out they had big titles and they were under 30. And my father had died when I was five. And I thought, well, you know, I don't know how long I'm going to live. I want to find a career where I can move up in. And while I was in high school, I went on a field trip to a prison and I said, well, I don't want to be there. And I went on a field trip to a movie studio and said, well, this looks pretty good.

9:06

Scott Sassa: I want to do that. So when I was starting college, my parents said to me, do not join a fraternity. So I joined a fraternity. And the second or third week of school, we was walking to a football game and it was like eleven in the morning. And the guy in front of me was so drunk he fell in the gutter. So I pulled the scab, and it turned out he was in the fraternity I was in, but four years older, so he'd already graduated. And he was a funny guy who was an entrepreneur, who started a business, which was like a newspaper that was like page six of the national Enquirer for the sororities. And it was cosmopolitan's bachelor of the month.

9:43

Scott Sassa: And he had these businesses, and he basically told me that if I wanted to start an entertainment, I needed to start up in a mailroom. I finished my four years and there was a writer's strike, actor, strike director strike. So my family didn't know anybody, so I just called around every day to try to get jobs. And I used that article as a guide of places I should go to. And there was a company called Rogers and Cowen, which was a big pr firm, and the guy who was the assistant to the president, head of movie production at Disney when he was like 29, before Eisenhower, Katzenberg. So I said, well, that must be a good place to start.

10:19

Scott Sassa: So I called Rogers and Cowan every day because there's this woman, Marilyn Marcus, who is the office manager, and she would hang up on me just to prove a point. I call every day. So one day I call up and she's really nice to me. And she says, oh, yeah, I see your resume on my desk. Can you come in? I said, sure. And I was living with my parents. I said, I'll be there in 30 minutes. So I got dressed and drove up to this meeting and I walked in and this woman walks up to me and on a scale of one to ten, she was like an eleven. And I said, you're Marilyn Marcus, the office manager. She was on a Maryland's on maternity leave. My name is Madeline Marks. I'm really a singer.

10:59

Scott Sassa: And Madeleine was actually in People magazine that week. And show was funny because Marilyn left my resume there despite me annoying her. But she kept my resume on the desk. And I got hired assistant to the president, which at that time meant I made $150 a week in cash, no benefits. And I was basically there from some early time in the morning to some undetermined time at night. I was a slave for the president of the company, but it was a great experience to learn about how the business worked. And while I was there, the guy picked out the gutter, called me up and said, I work for this guy, Ted Turner in cable. And like, I was so ignorant, I didn't even know I was supposed to call Georgia. I couldn't, didn't know what the area code was.

11:44

Scott Sassa: I called Mississippi instead because I'd done like an area code map. And I called him up and he told me, you know, I want you to take my job. I'm getting married and moved back to LA. And I'm like, I'm sorry. Last week I picked up Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and I was doing all kinds of tasks like that. Why would I go to Atlanta? But I went to the cable show. I had no idea what cable was. It was just starting. I met Ted and said, well, this seems like something that makes sense, that people would pay to get more television and didn't know what that meant. And I ended up moving to Atlanta.

12:18

Scott Sassa: And I think that's one of the things that I've been fortunate of, is throughout my career, I ended up picking maybe not exactly the right place, but categories that ended up being pretty explosive with growth. And no matter how smart you are, you're better off having the wind behind your back to kind of succeed.

12:40

Monica H. Kang: And, you know, hindsight vision is always 2020. I wonder when you were in those moments, did it feel like, oh, man, like I should join this movement because it's about to grow? Or was it more like, hey, like, this seems like a good opportunity. Let me start. And then later on you found out it was exponentially growing.

12:57

Scott Sassa: Well, you never know. You have a hunch, right? And generally, I remember one day I came home and I had purchased a lot of bad batteries. It was in the mid nineties when everything had batteries. And I was thinking, wow, I'm paying a lot for these stupid batteries. And instead I should have bought Duracell stock, which ended up going crazy, right? And so later on you're like, well, I should see that. And you have a hunch, but you don't know. I knew that the notion of a trusted referral recommendation was way better than some random celebrity tell you to telling you to do something. So I think a lot of it comes down to basic logic. And when you're evaluating opportunities, if something becomes too complicated, it's hard to imagine because people are lazy. They don't want to learn about all these things.

13:49

Scott Sassa: But the idea of, like, okay, for the price of what it's going to cost to take your family to a movie, you can get all these channels 24/7 well, that seems to make sense. Okay. And the limiting factor at that point was not the demand, it was getting cable to people's houses because not everybody had cable at the time. And so that was it. So it took a long time because the way cable is set up is you have to get approval by each municipality and then they have to dig up the streets until that takes a while. So it wasn't like an instant thing took from 1976 was when the first satellites went up. And it wasn't until 25 years later when you got to all, everybody had a chance to have cable.

14:36

Monica H. Kang: It's a good point of knowing. Like sometimes it's a, the skill of knowing where is the right place to start having the diligence, but also sometimes the right timing. Because to your point, 20 years, sometimes we might have been waiting around and somebody might have given up. At the 19th year, you know what? I'm not seeing anything. I'm going to leave. But it was the next year that ended up being the key year where everything was changing. And I feel like we're seeing moments of that in all these industries, especially with AI and technology, it's a gradual build.

15:06

Scott Sassa: But along that build, the world changes. So in terms of running cable networks for the beginning part, from 1976 to, let's call it 1986, it was about, could you create something on the cheap that resonated with people? So things like MTV worked because it was different. ESPN didn't work because they didn't have good programming. But then after 1986, till like, let's call it 2000, you had a very conscious investment in the programming. And John Malone, who was the biggest cable operator, was really the person who doesn't get credit for it, but really tried to push to invest in cable programming in order to make cable more attractive. And without differentiated programming, you wouldn't compete against networks. And it's kind of funny how that has changed where networks don't even have good programming anymore.

16:00

Scott Sassa: So then you went from there, and then in two thousands going forward, you moved from not just investing in programming, but coming up with bona fide hit programming. So you end up going through these different eras and you can't get locked into the ethos of the first era when you're moving the second era. You have to be flexible to be able to move into these different changes because, you know, these businesses are like your elementary school years are one thing, your high school years are another thing, your college years and then your postgraduate years. So you have to adapt to those things because, like people, these brands mature and you've got to, you know, meet the challenges of the growth of the company, but also that you're living in a non static environment, right?

16:44

Scott Sassa: And these factors of, like the analogy from cable is high speed data. When did high speed get pervasive? When did it become cheap? When did the devices to receive it? You know, who would have thought that you would have a phone, you know, that can do all these things? And in fact, everything that what is done on Facebook we had on our roadmap at Friendster, we just didn't have the ability to execute it. But there were two things that we didn't foresee. And those two things were more societal or environmental in that one didn't understand that you would democratize creative tools through a phone and have an input device, camera, and, you know, the Internet to export these things. And then secondly was how good mere mortal people were creating content.

17:41

Scott Sassa: You know, you watch people's stories sometimes and these people are just not funny in person, but they're hysterical. I once went to Las Vegas and there's this one woman that was with our group who was the most boring person, but every time someone took their camera out, she would pose like this and you would think she had the greatest time in Las Vegas. But that's the thing, is that people have learned how to really excel at that medium. So the point of it is that a lot of times it's not the technological change, but it's the adoption of it. And I remember the first time I knew that MySpace had something going on and we had a problem was I went on a woman's page. She was in like high school from Orange county, and she had pictures of her going shopping.

18:27

Scott Sassa: This is way before hall videos and in her bedroom trying on bikinis. And I'm like, this is not like, normal. Something's going on here. And compare that to. I had met with the head of digital@Marthastewart.com and was introduced by Martha. So I wasn't a random person. And she came in late and put her laptop down and said, you have photos. People upload photos on your site. I said, yes, it's one of our popular features. And she said, that's so irresponsible. Why would people put photos on the Internet? I said, okay. And she goes, now, another thing is, I see you have comments and blog posting, and I promise you, marthastewart.com will never have a single word of unedited text on the site.

19:07

Monica H. Kang: Wow. Scott Sassa: And I folded up my laptop, and she goes, where you going? I said, well, I don't know how to have this meeting with you if you feel that way and you feel strongly that way. That's what this is about. That's what web two is about. You know, so against that background of what corporations were thinking, you had these girls in Orange county posting about very intimate things in their lives. And that wasn't about technology. That was about societal change, generational change. And you have to get that zeitgeist moment correct.

19:38

Monica H. Kang: And you're touching upon something really key, which is the power of, it's not just the tangible skills, but mindset, the agility, as you have highlighted the adoption skills and how open are you to new technology and new changes. I'm curious, looking back at all your different chapters, you've had to learn and have different skills to be a better leader. Looking back now, what was really the key element that helped you be a good leader in all those different roles?

20:06

Scott Sassa: Well, you know, it's interesting. When you started in your career, you're dependent on people above you, making good decisions, and that a limiting factor to you. And then when you're managing people, you're dependent on people that are, you know, you're working with to do the right thing. There was a, my friend, Kevin Mayer, who was head of strategy at Disney, were doing a deal to buy out Comcast from a and e and history. So I wrote a deck, and Kevin said to me, this is great. I'm going to present it. I go, why do you get to present it? He goes, because I'm the creator. You're the creative guy, and I'm the business guy. I said, okay, well, I don't think that's fair.

20:43

Scott Sassa: But I'll tell you what I do, and then you tell me what you do all day and I'll let you decide who gets to pitch the deck. He goes, that's fair. So I said, okay, I go to work and I convince people who don't want to do things to do them. And people who do want to do these things to do them for less money, because that's what I do. I said, that's what we all do, right? And in concept, what you're doing in leadership is you are taking people and taking 810, 12 hours a day where they're away from their significant others, from their pets, from doing what they really want to do. You're having them work to get money, but they're doing something that's unnatural.

21:28

Scott Sassa: And your goal as a leader is to get these people to go higher, further, faster than they could without you or in their own devices, because if they can do it without you, they don't need you, right? And so it's pretty simple to optimize you as a resource. We need to give you clear and a clear understanding of what's happening, right? Secondly, and that is a clear understanding of what the goal is, what the expectation is, what the problem is if you don't succeed. If you do succeed, how are you going to be rewarded? Right. A very clear system of scoring and reward and punishment. So you know, what you need to do. Secondly is you don't want to be jerked around.

22:14

Scott Sassa: You don't want to go to work and do a bunch of work and then find out that somebody else was doing it and you didn't need to do that, or they told you to do a project and now they don't need it. All that stuff pisses you off, right? And that's really what we're doing, is we're getting people to optimize their workflow. And then that falls out of having a good longer term strategy. So people know what the North Star is, and then on a granular basis, being able to say, well, this is, this project, it fits into our goal. Here's what you need to do. Here's why it's important. And so people feel like they've gone to work and not wasted their time doing stupid things.

22:51

Scott Sassa: You know, you want that emotional benefit of feeling like you made a contribution and the contribution actually moved the ball forward. Nobody wants to come home from work and say, well, I spun around in circles and did a bunch of things, but none of them mattered, you know, and so it's giving people that sense of pride around the company. And so when they go home for Thanksgiving and their aunt says, what do you do? They can say something, and they go, I know that company. That's great. I'm so proud of you for being there. That's kind of what I think is the thing that motivates people is that making sure that they feel that they had the right experience every day, and then that better performance, when you aggregate that together, creates more momentum, more progress than other companies.

23:37

Monica H. Kang: Yes. And to dive deeper, all of that, I feel, is often easier said than done. How do you, as a leader, hone those skills to really, truly build such a workplace and empower your team from all different levels?

23:53

Scott Sassa: Well, I don't know that there's one thing, and I think some of the stuff can't be learned. You can teach somebody how to make a budget, you can teach somebody how to do technical tasks, but you can't teach people how to be curious, how to be courteous, how to, you know, manage people. That's something that you either have or you don't. And so the ability to inspire confidence in people, and there are some people that, for whatever reason, may not have the physical attributes that people are necessarily gonna lead, so they have to. It's not that you can't, but you have to understand what the limitation is, and then how are you gonna modify your behavior against that limitation?

24:39

Scott Sassa: So when I started working in the eighties, there weren't a lot of asian people in the workplace in America, and they were all, like, super polite, hardworking, and quiet. So I made a strategic decision to be super outgoing and, you know, probably noisier and tried to be funny, and that was not what people expected. And so if you can manipulate that perception. I knew I didn't have a problem with people thinking that I was numerically driven, because that's a stereotype about Asians or I was a hard worker or any of that. Nobody like people. When people found out I failed out of college, they're like, you what? They assumed I had great grades. Right? So you kind of modify things to get there, and then at a certain point, you've done enough stuff. So the meme is kind of takes over.

25:37

Scott Sassa: But there's that point where you have to sort of establish what you're doing. And, look, I think that the way you did that in the eighties and nineties is way different than how you do it today. I don't know that anything. I'm loath to give advice because anything I did back then would probably end up with me getting fired today. So I don't know that I would.

26:01

Monica H. Kang: Well, how is it different today? Because as we celebrate Asian American Pacific island Heritage Month in celebration of this conversation, we do want to honor and thinking about how can other, whether AAPI leaders who's listening to think about, geez, like, I still feel like a minority to step up and figure out how to find their voice or others who's tuning in to say, I want to be a better ally to aapIs. And I don't know how.

26:24

Scott Sassa: Well, I don't know that I ever thought consciously one way or another about whether my ethnicity was self limiting. And I think when you project that you think you should be there, then it sort of is an intangible that people don't question you. But if you're timid and you feel like you've been with people that are uncomfortable situation, you're like, but people act like they're at home wherever they are, that makes you feel better. I'm amazed that, like, Irving Azoff is probably one of the most successful people in the music business. And I never forget the first time I met him, he called me up. I've never met him. And he called me up. He goes, hey, Scooty, how have you been? I'm thinking Scooty. Why is he calling me Scooty? I don't know this guy. And how have I been?

27:15

Scott Sassa: I've never talked to him, but it was like a great trick, right? Because it made me feel familiar and comfortable with him. And that's one of the reasons he's a good manager. He initially makes you feel comfortable with him. And he's got a reputation for being a snake. But when he comes off and being so, hey, how are you, Monica? You know, so you have to figure it out, you know? And look, when I was younger, I looked really young. And when I was 25, I started the first cable network. I was going to get Ted to let me do that. And then when I was 27 or 28, I came back to start TNT. And the people remembered me when I was 22 and I was really young. And there were two people in particular that were shit talking me behind my back.

28:01

Scott Sassa: And so I took him into a room and I said, you know, don't even argue with me on this. I know you don't think I should have this job. I know you think I'm unqualified, and I know you're doing everything to discredit me and don't even argue that. But just remember, I have this job, and if I can get this job, I can make you vanish. So whatever you want to do, play it however you want. Now, you can't do that today. Then I can do it. Right. But there's probably a modification that's right for today. Right. And the point is that don't be afraid to confront people and think that it's just going to go away. You know, everything is an action and a reaction, right? And if you let people talk shit about you, it's just going to become a thing.

28:57

Scott Sassa: But if you becomes clear that there's a penalty or possible danger for doing that, they'll stop. Right. And so I just say, always, you know, stand up for yourself. And it always cracks me up. I was at a company and the CEO decided something. And I said, I'm not so sure. I think we should do this. And he stopped. He goes, okay. He sat back down, goes, what do you want to do? I said, I want to do this. He goes, okay, that's reasonable. We'll do it. And I remember people when I was walking out, had been at the company, said, wow, you just corrected the CEO. I said, I didn't correct anybody. I offered a suggestion, I didn't correct him. And what are you guys doing that you don't offer your opinion, you just validate what he said.

29:45

Scott Sassa: How is that being of service to that person? I think people get in this thing where they think that they're afraid to lose their jobs and going along is the right way to do it. Now, you don't want to be argumentative in somebody that people hate to have in meetings, but I do think you should provide positive options. Otherwise, what are you doing?

30:05

Monica H. Kang: No, it's a very important skill, how to get comfortable speaking up and speaking with people with different opinions, at times with conflict and disagreement, and appreciate the different ways of how you've engaged or also spoken in those situations, which I think is a really good perspective. I do want to make sure we explore about the skincare world that you are also currently in. How was that pivot? Why did you decide to leave the media world and broadcasting that you were part of for a while into skincare?

30:35

Scott Sassa: Well, you know, programming. Anything you time out, because there was a sketch on Saturday Night Live called the Bird people. It was like in 2000, and it was, Will Ferrell is in a Connecticut dining room with a sweater vest and a tie, and Molly Shannon's his wife, and she's got pearls on in the sweater, and Chris Purnell's their son. And he brings his girlfriend home from college, and Molly Shannon says, so you live in the same dorm. And will starts cutting food in the background and eating and cutting and eating. And then he walks over to Molly, and she says, so you're in the same dorm. And she leans her head back, and will spits food in her mouth, and nobody's laughing. And I walked up behind Lorne. I said, lorne, what the fuck is going on here?

31:27

Scott Sassa: And he put his finger up like this, didn't turn around, talk to me. And then will walked back, and, like, when they pitched it and in run through and in dress rehearsal, everybody went crazy because they figured out he was a bird feeding his family. And Lauren turned around and looked at me and said, this is 20 years ago. Over 20 years ago. He said, just remember, we're old and we don't get it, so just go along for the ride. And I think the taste is a hard thing to figure out. And as you get kids and as your life changes, you're not the same person as you were. And also, all of us get kind of frozen in amber in certain. Certain eras, right?

32:08

Scott Sassa: And I know that the things I knew how to do in terms of programming, linear television was way different. And also broadcast television, where you're going for the biggest audience and you're going into programming streaming service. It's not about the broadest audience. It's about the most engaged, the widest audience of truly engaged people that are going to subscribe to a channel because they want that. That's a different, little different twist, right? And so I didn't know how good I was at doing that, but I knew. I knew how to tell stories. And I helped a friend with his makeup company raise money. And then once we got investors in, it was clear to me that they were going to fix the business by doing things that were probably not consistent with the challenger brand that wanted to be disruptive.

32:57

Scott Sassa: So I stayed, and I realized that, well, I had a bunch of bad habits in media because I was kind of rooted in the eighties and nineties. I had no bad habits in beauty because I didn't know anything about those things. I only knew what was happening now. So the ability to understand where your skills can be most leveraged was important. And I knew that storytelling was the new marketing in this and that would work. But look, also, because at a young age, I ended up running so many different businesses. I don't necessarily have what's called the factory floor skills on doing stuff, but I know how to manage creative process or manage a process, so it makes it easier to go from one place to another.

33:43

Scott Sassa: You know, at Turner I started cable networks, I made movies, I made theatrical movies, I did, I ran animation company, did a book publishing company. So there are all these businesses. So the breadth of opportunity didn't scare me and it was just kind of moving into an adjacent field. And it's surprising how many things are the same. The same rules generally apply for branding and things like that. You know, the rules of like, consistency is the hallmark of excellence, applies to beauty.

34:13

Monica H. Kang: That's really inspiring and a powerful reminder for folks who's listening to know that their skills can be transferable into different industries and spaces. Are there other industries that you're hoping to tap into in the future?

34:26

Scott Sassa: Well, let's go back to that, though. The analogy of the idea can be used in other business, but you can't just one for one, move it over. You have to understand how to adapt it because there are different people, there are different values, there are different processes. So you can't just say like, oh, I'm going to do this and this.

34:50

Monica H. Kang: Manipulate it a little bit, a little homework in between. Thank you for that reminder on it. Very important point.

34:57

Scott Sassa: I mean, look, I can't talk about some of the stuff I'm doing, but right now my goal is to start a number of businesses that are consumer based, that are based upon either ideas I have with younger founders I can bring in, or younger founders and help them. I think I'm good at understanding how to find a market fit that's scalable and broadly accepted in a consumer base. And so without going into what I'm doing, I have four things I'm doing just a function of trying to make sure that we can find the right elements to get it going. But I don't want to personally run any businesses, but I want to be involved. I'm not a good coach, I'm a better player coach, and I like to be doing things.

35:46

Scott Sassa: And I did try the investment side and I didn't like not being involved. So I like being more closely involved on that. I mean, I could probably make more money doing investing, but I actually enjoy being involved with the team and getting stuff done.

36:04

Monica H. Kang: Do you have any favorite way of how you stay creative or practice your creativity?

36:10

Scott Sassa: I don't think I'm a truly creative person. I've watched people who are really amazing at it. When Amy Pascal, who ran Sony, you know, she worked with me, I hired her at Turner and I watched her do things and it was, humbling, I was like, well, this person's definitely playing above the rim, dunking the ball, and I'm trying to throw layups up. And, yeah, I may be able to pull them off, but that's not. I'm not as good as her, you know? So you have to kind of understand where you fit in the constellation of things. Yeah, I love music, and I'd like to think I could produce an album, but I don't think I can, so.

36:51

Monica H. Kang: And I can't believe how fast time has flown by. As we wrap up, a few final questions I have is, as we celebrate asian American Pacific island heritage month for API, I've asked all my guests to help educate us how we can be informed of other leaders who happen to be asian american. So if you had to shout out at least three innovators out there that we should learn from, who happens to be an asian American, they don't have to be in the media industry, any industry that you know of, who are three people that we should learn from.

37:22

Scott Sassa: One is Tony Ko, who started Nyx cosmetics. And she's incubating other things. She's really a, you know, came from an immigrant family and built a business that was sold for a ton of money to L'Oreal. The other person is my friend William Wang, who just sold physio to Walmart. And what people don't see is he saw the television business becoming commoditized and being the lowest priced provider, and he pivoted and ended up creating a network of users and data around these people and what they watched. And different than a cable box, he saw everything you watched, whether it was through your roku or your Apple TV or your Xbox. And so he can tell not only, like, after you watched House of cards, did you play a video game, did you watch a YouTube video? Did you do this?

38:12

Scott Sassa: And that's why Walmart bought them, for data. And I think that's a great example of having foresight to understand, like, where you needed to go and then landing the plane. There weren't, like, a ton of buyers, and you found the right buyer. So I think that kind of perseverance. And the other thing about William is William came to these non obvious answers on his own. You know, he kind of worked on his own to figure out what to do. So I have a ton of respect for him.

38:44

Monica H. Kang: Very cool. Well, thank you for sharing on the spot. We like to be able to. And if you can, if you remember anyone else later, please let me know. For folks tuning in, they know the drill. We do a shout out for them so that way they can continue to learn and we empower ourselves learning from other leaders. Two other final question is one, what is your final piece of wisdom and advice you want to share with all our listeners? You've shared so many different insights, but if there's one more thing you want to add, what would it be?

39:11

Scott Sassa: Don't do podcasts. Monica H. Kang: No, I don't know how to take that.

39:21

Scott Sassa: I think the main thing is you need to decide whether you're comfortable being part of a team or you want to do something that's non conforming. That doesn't necessarily mean you're not going to be part of a team. But the notion of being an entrepreneur is that I have to look at you and say, monica, the sky's pink, and we're going to sell pink sky, and you're like, it's blue. I don't get what you're talking about, but if we're selling blue sky, it's already being sold. Or if it's not being sold, somebody who's bigger than you will do it because it's obvious, right? So doing entrepreneurial things starts with doing something that's non obvious. And you have to have a conviction to want to do that.

40:12

Scott Sassa: And, you know, you can listen to, like, Howard Schultz did this great thing where he was failing in trying to start his coffee business. And at one point, he was a lawyer, and his father in law took him on a walk and put his arm around him and said, howard, I know this coffee thing means a lot to you, but it's just not happening. Why don't you just go back to being a lawyer? And he, like, had to think about that. And clearly, I think he made a good decision to persevere and create Starbucks. So, you know, there's all these stories of people that were told they couldn't get their business working. There's.

40:48

Scott Sassa: I don't know if it's apocryphal, but a story that the initial investors in Google, when Google wouldn't put paid ad certs on, they wanted to get their money back and thank God they didn't get their money back, but, you know, so you just have to have that balanced against. Sometimes ideas are just bad and they're not going to work. And you need to kind of know when to fail and when to call today. So it's a balance between tenacity and stupidity. Okay.

41:18

Monica H. Kang: All right. Monica H. Kang: Thank you for sharing that. And last but not least, what is the best way folks can stay in touch with you.

41:25

Scott Sassa: Email monica. Monica H. Kang: And folks do know my email. I've told you infoinnoheitersbox.com.

41:33

Scott Sassa: Yeah, my email is not that hard to figure out. If you can figure it out, you can easily get ahold of me. But that's probably the best way.

41:41

Monica H. Kang: Well, Scott, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you all again for tuning into another story. We'll be back again with another season and conversation next week. Thank you.

41:51

Scott Sassa: Thanks. Bye bye. Monica H. Kang: Thank you, Scott, for your honest insight and deep reflection into your past, present, future. We so appreciate you coming here and sharing your wisdom with us and our humble reminder that hey, there might be another level of how hard we can work and remembering that your voice matters. Speak up, show up and you might be surprised. That might be the very thing that leads you to disrupting industries and innovation, just like how Scott has done consistently in all these different industries that he has stepped in. So as we continue to celebrate AAPI month in May 2024, we're so grateful to learn from leaders like Scott and continue on the journey next week with more stories of asian american leaders on how they're navigating challenges and opportunities in different industries. So come back again for another story.

42:48

Monica H. Kang: This is your host, Monica Kang at Curious Monica and thank you again for tuning in.

42:59

Speaker 4: Thanks so much for tuning into today's episode.

43:02

Monica H. Kang: Your support means the world to us. Speaker 4: So we're so glad you're here. I want to do a little shout out for those in the team who made this possible. Thank you to everyone at Innovators Box Studios. Audio engineering and production is done by Sam Lehmart, Audio Engineering assistants by Ravi Lad, website and Marketing Support by Kree Pandey, Graphic Support by Lea Orsini Christine Eribal. Original music by InnovatorsBox Studios and executive producing, directing, writing, researching and hosting by me Monica Kang, Founder and CEO of InnovatorsBox. Thank you for continuing on the journey of how to build a better workplace and thrive with creativity. Visit us at innovatorsbox.com and get some free resources at innovatorsbox.com/free. We look forward to seeing you at the next episode. Thank you and have a wonderful day.