The Messy Parts

Publicly listed emails

alerner@maryambnyc.com

Looking for the right person? Join Podseeker to find direct host and producer contacts and manage your podcast outreach.

Aged Out, Broke, Homeless at 50: How Ron King Became “Donkey King”

September 21, 2026

He ran Southern Living and top Time Inc. titles with no college degree — then got fired, and calls it a gift. What followed was darker: broke, aged out of media at 50, and homeless. Ron King, now known as "Donkey King," rebuilt his life running a sanctuary that rescues donkeys from slaughter — 220 of them and counting. In this episode of The Messy Parts, Ron opens up to Maryam about hitting rock bottom twice, the hustle that built (and rebuilt) his career, and the simple mindset shi...

“The Value of Your Values" — Why Jeff Jones Quit Uber & Left Millions on the Table

September 14, 2026

Jeff Jones spent his career as one of the most respected CMOs in America — Coca-Cola, Gap, Target — before making the leap to run Uber's global ride-sharing business under founder Travis Kalanick. Seven months later, at the height of Uber's pre-IPO valuation, he walked away from it all: no job lined up, no stock, no plan. On this episode of The Messy Parts, Jeff sits down with Maryam on the blue couch for his first real interview about what actually happened inside Uber during one o...

Mindy Grossman Worked for Oprah, Barry Diller & Phil Knight — and Says She's Never Been 100% Qualified

September 07, 2026

Fired at 24. Turned down her dream job at Nike, then took it anyway. Walked into HSN as the eighth CEO in ten years. Mindy Grossman built one of the least likely careers in American business, and in this episode of The Messy Parts she tells Maryam how: leaving college at 19 to move to New York with $1,800, landing her first job by admitting she couldn't take shorthand, buying 2,000 Aeron chairs to prove a broken culture was changing, and converting 30,000 Weight Watchers meetings to virt...