Our strongest currency is our thoughts.end quote

— Wayne Dyer
Read our Favorite Quotes»

Former Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons Speaks to First30Days For the First Time About Life after Time Warner in Exclusive "Change Nation" Podcast interview

Parsons interview joins web site's roster of high-profile guests

March 18, 2008, New York, NY — First30Days, a New York City-based media company focused on guiding people through large and small changes, both personal and professional, has posted an exclusive interview with former Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons as part of its weekly "Change Nation" podcast series. In the wide-ranging interview, Parsons speaks for the first time since stepping down as Time Warner CEO about the changes involved in moving from the corporate world to public life, his management of Time Warner and his plans for the future.

"Change Nation" is a weekly audio podcast series featured on First30Days.com which addresses the issue of change with a coterie of high-profile guests who have expertise in their respective fields as well as people who have gone through extraordinary changes. The candid interviews are conducted by First30Days Founder and CEO Ariane de Bonvoisin.

A few highlights from the Parsons "Change Nation" interview include:

  • Parsons' parting advice to incoming Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes: "Do what is right."
  • Parsons on AOL: "The next major challenge he [Bewkes] has is to figure out how AOL fits in the whole mix. That is something I wrestled with for six years and I'm still not sure I got it right, and so he still has a little work to do there, but he is a smarter guy than I am so I wish him luck."
  • Parsons on seeking political office: "There is this persistent rumor that I am going to run for mayor… It is not something that I want to do at this stage in my life. I mean I might have done it at an earlier stage in my life. That it is a hard job. That is one of those jobs you put into the category of 100 hours a week, it's seven days, 24/7 really, and you have to have a passion for it. You have to really derive what I call a lot of psychic income from being in that kind of position of authority, recognition, adulation, exposure, all of that stuff. None of that is seeming very attractive to me right at the moment."
  • Parsons on his defining himself and his future: "I used to say to people 'I'm a media executive,' but now I've gotten comfortable with the following: When they say 'what do you do?' I say, 'I'm a suit.' 'A suit is a business guy who isn't talent, because in the media world it's divided into two classes or species of human beings. You have suits and you have talents. The suits run the money and do the business and the talent stands in front of the camera or behind the microphone and conducts interviews or acts.'"

Parsons also weighs in on his personal plans for 2008 to "chill" and reflect on future options, ponder writing a book and teaching and pursue his other passions, including music, his vineyard and most importantly—teaching his new grandson how to crawl.

Parsons joins a roster of current and upcoming "Change Nation" guests that includes:

  • David Bach, Financial expert and Automatic Millionaire author
  • Cathie Black, President, Hearst Magazines
  • Barbara Corcoran, Founder of the Corcoran Group
  • Alan Deutschman, Author of Change or Die: The Three Keys to Change at Work and in Life
  • Wayne Dyer, "The Father of Motivation" and author of 31 books
  • Nancy Etcoff, Author of "Survival of the Prettiest" and faculty member of Harvard Medical School
  • George Foreman, two-time heavyweight boxing champion and successful businessman
  • Polly Labarre, Co-Author of "Mavericks at Work," Business and Innovation correspondent for CNN, and a member of the founding team of Fast Company
  • Dean Ornish, M.D., and best-selling author of numerous books including, The Spectrum

"Change is the one constant in life, the thing that makes us all human, despite our personal or professional choices," says de Bonvoisin "The value of a show like 'Change Nation' is to create an environment with a central theme of change—change in the workplace, in health, in education, in society, in the family dynamic and in our passion and interests. 'Change Nation' connects the First30Days community with those who have made or faced major life changes and have achieved success or expertise in their respective fields. My hope is that their stories are helpful and inspiring to others going through or considering changes in their lives," adds de Bonvoisin.

In addition to "Change Nation," First30Days which recently launched its beta web site, offers a wealth of information on a variety of changes, ranging from finding your dream job, buying a home and living healthier to getting organized, planning for retirement, going green and using Facebook. Nearly 50 changes are currently offered on the site.

Visitors to the site will also find an extensive collection of original feature articles, 30 days of email tips guiding people through their changes, updated news on each change, a directory of trusted resources, including top books, magazines, movies and music, and a community of others going through the same change. More than 200 expert interviews are already featured on the web site, including Dr. Andrew Weil, Po Bronson, John Gray and Steve Wozniak. Ariane also writes a daily blog where she features change in the news, people she meets including thought leaders, authors and other professionals who are in the midst of making changes in their personal or professional lives.

First30Days was founded by Ariane de Bonvoisin. Funding was provided by Hearst Interactive Media in a Series A financing, in addition to The New York City Investment Fund and a host of angel investors.

"Change Nation" is currently recorded in-studio at the Hearst offices in New York City. The podcasts and highlights are available on First30Days.com @ http://www.first30days.com/change-nation.html. The podcasts are posted each week to the site and are also available via iTunes.

For more information, please contact:
Andrew Palladino, apalladino@rubenstein.com, 212.843-8482
Adam Isserlis, aisserlis@rubenstein.com, 212.843-8024