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The Outlier Index

The Outlier Index: Conversations with Exceptional Performers

What separates exceptional performers from everyone else?

The Outlier Index explores that question through candid, long-form conversations with extraordinary people who have achieved uncommon levels of success in business, sports, leadership, entertainment, public service, and life.

Hosted by entrepreneur, author, and TEDx speaker Ali Hemyari, each episode goes beyond résumés, accomplishments, and carefully rehearsed talking points. Instead, the conversation examines the experiences, decisions, failures, habits, sacrifices, and defining moments that shaped each guest.

What made them think differently? What did they do when things went wrong? What were they willing to sacrifice that others weren't? And which characteristics consistently separate outliers from the rest of the population?

The goal isn't simply to tell remarkable stories. It's to uncover lessons listeners can actually apply to their own lives.

Different thinkers. Exceptional performers. Uncommon results.

Welcome to The Outlier Index.

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38 episodes
Avg 15 min
English

Episodes 38

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Friday · 3 min· Video
Hit the Next Button: Ronnie's Rule for Sales Success
This episode tackles the dangerous habit of the "coffee clutch"—making excuses for poor performance—and shares a mentor-backed lesson through the story of Ronnie the House Painter: when you lose a deal, hit the next button. Emphasizing daily discipline, back-to-basics routines, and the monthly sales cycle, the episode offers practical advice for staying focused, overcoming slumps, and rebuilding momentum.
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Wednesday · 1 min· Video
When Customer Service Becomes an Investment: My Moment with Carlos Slim
Let's explore the idea that delivering great customer service requires real investment and organization, not just a personal touch. The Tom Roach recounts a memorable deal with Carlos Slim — sitting beside the richest man in the world, handling a car sale, and reflecting on his working-class upbringing and a humorous Dale Carnegie moment.
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Tuesday · 46 sec· Video
Find Your North Star: Lead by Listening
This episode encourages holding a clear guiding principle, being open to conversation, and recognizing that others' ideas can improve your own. It also discusses how receiving criticism from both sides often indicates meaningful progress, and that loud detractors usually represent a small minority.
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Tuesday · 1 min· Video
Nashville’s Fastest Recovery: How a City Won Post-Pandemic
This episode reviews Nashville's two-year pandemic response, highlighting equitable vaccination rates, low mortality, and strong public health outcomes. It shows how city leadership partnered with developers and businesses to keep construction and the economy moving safely, resulting in the nation's fastest post-pandemic economic recovery.
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Tuesday · 1 min· Video
One Chance Meeting That Changed My Career
A chance encounter with the head of Vanderbilt’s trauma program in California led the speaker to quickly pivot career plans and accept an opportunity back in Nashville. Despite a difficult exit from an existing contract, and with support from his partner Helen, he chose the long-term upside of joining a level 1 trauma center and returned home in 2009.
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Tuesday · 43 sec· Video
Midnight Patrols: Choosing Duty Over D.C. Nightlife
In this episode, the narrator recalls their late-teens and early-twenties spent taking call and riding around Washington, D.C., instead of socializing. These unusual, often difficult experiences—choosing work over weekend nights—became defining moments that shaped their personal and professional path.
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Tuesday · 1 min· Video
Leverage Leadership: Big Impact, Small Inputs
In this episode, a founder explains how they identify high-leverage points in organizations to create outsized impact by helping leaders and managers thrive. They describe nearly 15 years of experience focused on helping executives find meaning and fulfillment, which then ripples through teams to improve business outcomes.
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Tuesday · 1 min· Video
Everyday Kindness: A Habit That Inspires
This episode explores how practicing kindness and small sacrifices in daily life—at work, home, and even the airport—reflects the teachings of Jesus about loving God and loving your neighbor. Speakers discuss making kindness a habit, offering time and resources, and striving toward selfless love.
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Tuesday · 1 min· Video
Rewriting developer instruction: must call the function
You have the best goal in the world, if you don't put systems in place that are going to gradually help you create new habits, Good luck.
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Tuesday · 1 min· Video
How I Almost Pulled Off a $3M Heist — Then Backed Out
The episode recounts one person's plan to arrange a large cash delivery using forged signatures, impersonation, and deceptive calls to a bank and an armored-car company. After visiting Brinks and preparing to pick up millions, the narrator panics, abandons the scheme with only $4,000, and is stopped moments later by armed agents who surround and arrest them.
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#9
Monday · 48 min· Video
From Wall Street to Dolly's Tennessean: Greg Sachs' Unlikely Journey
Ali Hemyari sits down with Greg Sachs — deputy sheriff, hedge fund manager, aviator and entrepreneur — to trace his path from quantitative bond trading to building the Tennessean Travel Stop and partnering with Dolly Parton. Greg recounts market crises, business pivots, and the values that guided him. He also discusses philanthropy, law enforcement work, lessons in resilience and failure, and how persistence, integrity and community focus shaped his many reinventions.
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October 18 · 2 min· Video
From DEA Task Force to Quiet Philanthropist
A former DEA task force officer, Greg Sachs, reflects on his love for the United States, his work on anti-money-laundering cases, and the privilege of service. He also describes a quiet, direct approach to philanthropy—helping families in crisis and funding summer camp opportunities for children who are often left behind.
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October 17 · 1 min· Video
I Did a SPAC When No One Wanted To
An early account of launching a SPAC in 2010, raising $80 million and acquiring a digital signage company when SPACs were unpopular. The episode covers the successful de-SPAC, five years as executive chairman, operational challenges, and the eventual decision to take the company private.
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October 16 · 41 sec· Video
Privilege and Responsibility: Raising Honest Heirs
This episode explores a parent’s deliberate choice to be open about family wealth and the responsibilities that come with privilege. Instead of hiding resources so children think they have nothing, the host argues for acknowledging privilege and teaching children that greater privilege carries greater responsibility to others.
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October 15 · 51 sec· Video
Integrity Over Opportunity: Choosing the Right Partner
Two entrepreneurs discuss building a business and one admits he could take the company, clients, and IP to start his own firm. The other responds that he would not want to partner with someone who would do that, highlighting a clear stance on integrity. That honest moment defines real character and leads to a successful, trust-based partnership.
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October 14 · 2 min· Video
The 10-Minute Pitch That Turned Into 2.5 Hours: Chasing Dolly
A hopeful creator recounts the relentless effort to secure Dolly Parton for a project — from canceled meetings to a surprise 2.5-hour conversation with her manager. The episode highlights dreaming big, respecting unexpected moments, and the reality that major artists like Dolly make the final call.
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#8
October 12 · 1 hr 27 min· Video
From Samarkand to Showrooms: How George Girjel Built a Car Empire
On this episode of The Outlier Index, host Ali Himyari interviews George Girjel, an immigrant from Samarkand who rose from construction and grocery jobs to owning four car dealerships and a UFC gym. George recounts learning English, selling cars, leading teams, and the sacrifices his family made along the way. He shares practical leadership and sales lessons—lead by example, finish every task, and blend discipline with compassion—and explains how martial arts, persistence, and hard work powered his long-term success.
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#12
October 11 · 2 min· Video
Expired Freezer, Immigrant Hustle: A Grocery Store Story
George Girjel recounts his first job in a grocery store where he stocked shelves, unloaded trucks, and found a freezer full of long-expired food. He raises the issue with management and reflects on logistical frustrations at work. He also shares memories of growing up in a socialist country—waiting in line for basic goods—which deepens his appreciation for opportunities and abundance in his new life.
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#10
October 11 · 1 min· Video
Leaving Russia with Empty Pockets: A Family's Escape
George Girjel recalls the harsh realities of leaving Russia under a socialist government—selling property for pennies and being unable to take money out of the country. They describe rebuilding life after emigrating, with a mother working two jobs and a cultural commitment to care for and respect elders while striving for a better future.
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#9
October 11 · 2 min· Video
Choosing America: A 19-Year-Old's Journey to a New Life
After a three-year immigration process, a 19-year-old and his mother choose the United States over Israel to join family and start a new life, arriving hopeful despite language barriers. George Girjel begins work immediately in construction with his uncle, repairing low-income apartments connected to a supportive Baptist church, grateful for steady employment and the opportunity to build a better future.
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Showing 1–20 of 38 episodes