Name: Brian Gordon
Position: Engine Shop CEO
Age: 41
Where I'm from: Sacramento
Where I call home: Holmdel, New Jersey
Focusing on right now: Planning out a host of events during the first quarter.
 |
Gordon will help produce parties at some of the
biggest events in sports over the next six weeks |
Best advice: Be authentic. I think it took me 10 or 15 years to really figure out who I was in my professional career. Once you figure out who you are and get a comfort level with that and can really just be yourself, it's just amazing what that unlocks. Just be who you are, be authentic and you'll find your groove.
A must for a new hire: It's more and more about culture fit. It's becoming easier to find someone who has the right skill set and who's good for you on paper. I think the more important thing is to find someone whose tangible qualities fit your culture and vice versa.
Exec I most admire: Tesla CEO ELON MUSK. Figures like that -- true pioneers and innovators who are taking not only companies but society and our world to possibly different places -- there's not a lot of guys like that out there. Any time someone reminds you of a fictional character like Tony Stark from "IRON MAN" and he's a real person, you've got to admire that.
Best book I've read this year: One that I'm committed to reading -- it'll be my New Year's resolution -- is "American Sniper" by CHRIS KYLE before seeing BRADLEY COOPER's version of what happened.
First thing in the morning: I have about an hour drive. Usually I'm in the car by about 4:45, and I literally bounce from ESPN to CNN to CNBC every single morning. By the time the hour's done, I have a good mix of what's going on in business for the day, what happened in sports if I went to bed and missed something and what's going in kind of the pop-culture and mainstream-media world.
Talking tech: Everyone in our company has a MacBook Air, and even though it's a computer just like other computers, there's this feeling of freedom that it gives you. You'll see people walking around our office taking them everywhere; they take them to a coffee shop; they take them home. When I'm at home and have a sports practice to go to for one of my kids, I can just grab it and go and get things done if I'm on deadline for something.
Must have music: I'm an electronic music fan so that's first on the list for me. I love pretty much all music, but it's been amazing to see the adoption and how electronic has just gone mainstream over the course of the past couple of years.
Food for thought: I enjoy a fancy restaurant and do my fair share of them, but there's nothing like a good slice of pizza in New York City, and for that, you've got to go to Artichoke. There's four or five of them, but there's one right in Chelsea on 17th & 10th. Just go.
How I unwind: It sounds a little cliché, but I need my Sundays. They are family days and that's the time when I just get to lay low, do stuff with my kids, my wife, have a Sunday dinner and kind of catch up on anything I need to catch up on. Really just not working and having family time, which is the most important thing in the world.
Day in the life: The first quarter has so many pop-culture events that keep us really busy. So over the next six weeks, we'll be at the Super Bowl, NBA All-Star Game, Oscars, Sundance Film Festival, N.Y. Fashion Week, and the Grammys. We have teams across the country; working with Mercedes-Benz, ESPN, working with Billboard and Hollywood Reporter on a first-time Super Bowl event for them in Phoenix. It's a cool time of year for us because it really lets us be in the middle of everything that's going on.
