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PODCAST

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud

Who saw something in you before anyone else did? On “The Person Who Believed In Me” podcast, host David Begnaud asks artists, athletes, founders, and advocates this one powerful question. Their answers reveal the untold story behind success — the teacher, parent, or coach who changed everything for them. Often called “America’s Storyteller,” David is an award-winning journalist known for compassionate, human-first reporting. He shines a light on everyday people and quiet acts of kindness. Do Good

society & culture personal journals

All Episodes

83:59

Howie Mandel | "You Were Hysterical, Young Man"

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/10/05

Howie Mandel got expelled from high school in Toronto for calling a contractor out of the Yellow Pages and asking for a 25-foot addition to the school library. He scheduled the appointment during math, because that classroom's window looked out on the field, and then — this is the part he finds most revealing about himself — he didn't tell a single other person. He sat alone watching a man with a clipboard and a tape measure, waiting for a joke nobody else knew was happening. He was thrown out of a

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83:06

Marlee Matlin | Nobody Stood Up at the Oscars

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/09/28

Marlee Matlin was twelve, performing at a children's theater for the deaf in Chicago, when Henry Winkler accepted an invitation to stop by on his day off. She performed the whole show at him. Afterward she walked up and asked whether she could be an actor in Hollywood, like he was. Before he could answer, her mother pulled him aside and asked him to dampen his enthusiasm — tell her to go to college, get an education, dream other dreams, because Hollywood was not going to be kind to a deaf girl

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65:49

Chris Olsen | "I Think My Therapist Hates Me"

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/09/21

Chris Olsen has more than 14 million followers on TikTok. At 19 he spent close to a year in a rehab in Boca Raton — six months inpatient with three group sessions a day, then nine months of treatment while bussing tables at a restaurant next to the mall. The first assignment every new arrival got was to write down their ten most shameful secrets. He read his aloud, and the therapist turned to the room and asked whether anyone thought he'd been honest. He had to keep reading them, day after day,

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70:03

Thomasin McKenzie | Anxiety and Jojo Rabbit

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/09/14

Thomasin McKenzie grew up in a house in Wellington where everyone acted — her parents coached it, and her grandmother is one of New Zealand's most beloved actors. She'd watched her parents leave for work overseas often enough to know what the job cost, and when she graduated high school her grandmother was relieved she hadn't gone to drama school.Then at 13 she overheard her mother coaching other girls through an audition for a film called Consent, about a New Zealand woman who was raped by police

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84:43

Chelsea Handler | He Said He Was Coming Back

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/09/07

Chelsea Handler was nine when her oldest brother Chet died — July 10th, in a hiking accident — and she came back to school in the fall to a town full of people asking if she was okay. She hated it. So she told everyone she'd been cast in a movie with Goldie Hawn. Kids started asking for autographs. She doubled down. She wrote to Goldie Hawn asking for a signed photo, and Goldie Hawn sent one. The lie eventually collapsed on its own, because there was no movie, and she says the humiliation of being

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62:42

Bozoma Saint John | Always the Outsider

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/08/31

Bozoma Saint John was 12 when her family landed in Colorado Springs, where her classmates already had a picture of Africa: the child on the UNICEF magnet, flies and a distended belly, worth a penny a day. Her father held two PhDs. Her mother was a fashion designer. Nobody in that house took an American name. Bozoma was strong in math and science and Latin and was going to be a doctor — decided at 12, though she says she couldn't tell you where her parents' plan ended and her own wanting began.Then

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66:16

Tori Kelly | The Internet Made Her a Star

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/08/24

Before Tori Kelly became a three-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter with a voice that can move stadiums, she was a 12-year-old girl walking into a record label office, wondering if anyone in the music industry would ever truly understand her. She had already been told no by Star Search, lost to David Archuleta, and learned early that being able to sing wasn't always enough. Then Polly Anthony, the first woman to run a major record label, signed her to Geffen Records and gave her something no one

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90:18

Gary Vaynerchuk | What His Mom Did to Get Their...

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/08/17

Before Gary Vaynerchuk became a digital media mogul, CEO of a 2,000-person marketing empire, and one of the loudest voices on the internet, he was a three-year-old Soviet refugee living in a studio apartment in Queens with eight family members in rotation. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, the entrepreneur behind VaynerMedia sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the woman who believed in him when no one else could, and how that belief came wrapped in unconditional

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74:57

Comedy Star Opens Up About Being Taken from Her...

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/08/10

Before Atsuko Okatsuka became an internationally renowned comedian, sold-out performer, and one of the most unique voices in stand-up, she was a quiet eight-year-old girl living in a garage in Los Angeles, undocumented and confused, trying to make sense of why her grandmother had taken her from Japan and why her father never came to get her. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, the trailblazing comic sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the woman who believed in her when

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72:38

Inside the Career That Made $15 Billion at the Box...

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/08/03

Before Brian Grazer became one of Hollywood's most powerful producers — 43 Academy Award nominations, 320 Emmy nominations, more than $15 billion at the box office — he was a dyslexic kid in the San Fernando Valley getting straight F's, thought of as the boy who couldn't read. Then his grandmother, Sonja Schwartz, told him he was a genius with a gift for gab, and that not knowing an answer didn't make him dumb. It just made him more interested.In this unguarded conversation, the producer behind A

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82:07

From 'Too Girly for Finance' to Multimillionaire |...

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/07/27

Before Vivian Tu became a multimillionaire financial educator with 6.5 million followers, two New York Times bestselling books, and a chart-topping podcast, she was a 22-year-old analyst sitting on a filing cabinet at JP Morgan while senior traders commanded the room. Then Jean Ma, her first manager and the first rich Asian woman she had ever met, told her: You deserve a seat at the table. Don't sit on a filing cabinet like you are some lackey.In this deeply personal conversation, the creator of

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65:48

He Built a $1B Company and Still Felt Like a Failure...

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/07/20

Before Nirav Tolia became the CEO of Nextdoor, a billion-dollar company connecting neighbors across America, he was a 28-year-old first-time CEO running a struggling startup during the dot-com crash, three weeks away from shutting down. Then Bill Campbell, the legendary Silicon Valley coach who mentored Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and the founders of Google, walked into his office and said the words that changed everything: I don't want fancy quotes. Tell me about the business. In this deeply personal

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85:29

American Idol & Voice Of Queen On The Dark Side Of...

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/07/13

Before Adam Lambert became a global superstar, Grammy-nominated artist, and one of the most electrifying voices in music, he was a 13-year-old theater kid from conservative North County San Diego, struggling to fit in at middle school and trying on his mother's makeup after class. Then Lynn Broyles, a voice teacher with fierce energy and impeccable taste, saw something in him that no one else had: a kid who needed a safe space to just be himself. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation,

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81:43

Stop Raising Your Children With This Dangerous Lie |...

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/07/06

Before Ian Rowe became a visionary educator, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, founder of Vertex Partnership Academy, and author of the book Agency, he was a 12 year old kid from Queens standing in his family's living room, crying and pleading with his Jamaican immigrant parents to let him stay at a junior high school that was about to become all black after white families fled to a newly created annex. Then Linda Talish, his sixth grade teacher at PS 156 in Laurelton, Queens, gave

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56:26

The Hidden Trauma Behind This Comedy Star's Rise to...

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/06/29

Before Margaret Cho became a legendary comedian, Emmy-nominated actor, and one of the most influential voices in stand-up comedy, she was a 15-year-old kid who had just been expelled from one of San Francisco's most prestigious high schools for truancy and bad grades, with parents who had essentially given up on her. Then James Jackson, an English teacher with a Southern drawl, a speech impediment, and a vintage motorcycle, started writing notes in the margins of her essays that changed everything:

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56:50

The Truth About Coming Home As An Olympic Medalist At...

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/06/22

Before Tom Daley became one of the most decorated divers in British history with five Olympic medals and five Olympic Games under his belt, he was a terrified nine year old standing on the end of a diving board, crying his eyes out and refusing to jump into the pool. Then Andy Banks, the head coach at Plymouth Diving Club, walked in and said the words that almost ended everything before it started: Tom Daley will never be a diver for as long as he'll live. In this deeply personal and unguarded

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61:56

He Missed the NBA and Built a Music Empire | Grammy...

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/06/15

Before Harvey Mason Jr. became the CEO of the Recording Academy and a legendary music producer who worked with Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Michael Jackson, he was a college basketball player at the University of Arizona headed to the NBA. Then a torn ACL ended his career in one awkward landing, leaving him watching soap operas in a dorm room, depressed and driving around Tucson pitching jingles to Chinese buffets and brake shops. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, the

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61:49

7 Years as a Waiter to TOP-PAID Comedian

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/06/08

Before Sebastian Maniscalco became one of the highest paid comedians in the world — selling out five shows at Madison Square Garden and earning his own Sirius XM channel — he was a waiter at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, spending seven years serving nuts to celebrities while bombing at open mics. Then Mitzi Shore, the legendary owner of the Comedy Store, saw something in him that the rest of the industry had missed. In this deeply personal conversation, Sebastian sits down with David Begnaud to

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68:31

Sharon Stone on Abuse, Death, and Who Believed in Her

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/06/01

Before Sharon Stone became one of Hollywood's most iconic stars, she was a kid from rural Pennsylvania getting sent to the principal's office for teaching her classmates cursive and multiplication. Then her father - a blue-collar machine shop worker with the touch of kings - walked in and said: Here's what's going to happen. It's not going to stop. She's going to keep right on doing it. Are we clear?In this unguarded conversation with David Begnaud, Sharon shares the story of the man who believed

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48:53

Harvard Professor: You Won’t Be Happy Until You FIX...

The Person Who Believed In Me with David Begnaud ·

2026/05/25

Before Arthur Brooks became a Harvard professor, bestselling author, and one of the world's most influential voices on happiness and human behavior, he was a 34 year old PhD student standing in front of a room full of Nobel Prize winners, delivering what he calls a catastrophic dissertation defense. Then James Q. Wilson, the most distinguished social scientist of the 20th century, walked up and said the words that changed everything: You know, you got something special here. If I can ever help you,

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