669: Oz Pearlman (Oz The Mentalist) - Overcoming Rejection, Getting the Reps, Always Following Up, Living with Gratitude, America's Got Talent, The Curiosity of Steven Spielberg, and Making Others Feel Seen

Ryan Hawk· Host0:00

[upbeat music] Welcome to The Learning Leader Show. I am your host, Ryan Hawk. Thank you so much for being here. Go to learningleader.com for show notes of this and all podcast episodes, go to learningleader.com. Now, on to tonight's featured leader. We had to go big to start out 2026 right. It's Oz Pearlman, the world's leading mentalist. After leaving Wall Street to pursue his craft full-time, Oz has been on America's Got Talent, he performed for Steven Spielberg's family, and he's been with many professional sports teams, which you've probably seen clips of online. He's got five kids, 250 performances a year. Oz has mastered the art of reading people and understanding what separates the good from the great. During our conversation, we discuss why intelligent people are the easiest to fool, and what that reveals about how high performers think. Super interesting. Then Oz talks about the 25-minute conversation he had with Steven Spielberg that taught him the secret to being the most interesting person in any room. And then he shares how someone who makes a living reading others almost missed reading himself when deciding to leave his day job. And note, I flew to New York City to