What happens when the narrative is dead, and the press isn’t? In this episode of Due To My Role, Johnny Hilbrant (PE Guy) sits down with Anna Delvey for a conversation most interviews refuse to have—not about the past everyone already litigated, but about control, silence, and why refusing to perform remorse can actually be leverage. Anna breaks down what it’s like to exist as a public figure, people think they understand, while deliberately giving them nothing. Unpacking reputation versus reality, why most “journalism” is humiliation disguised as accountability, how editing power shapes narratives, and why flying under the radar is often the most strategic move in a click-driven economy.

There’s PE Guy energy throughout—satirical, dismissive, and intentional—before Johnny takes over for a real conversation about identity, leverage, and what it actually means to outlive your scandal in this substantial interview with the one and only, Anna Delvey.

This isn’t a redemption arc. It’s a case study in not needing one. Subscribe for substantial founders, comedians, and interesting people on the internet with decent stories and substantial exits.

Johnny Hilbrant (aka PE Guy) sits down with Heather McMahan for a conversation that starts funny, gets real fast, and ends somewhere most business or comedy interviews never go.

What begins as a conversation about comedy quickly becomes a look at how Heather actually runs her career — treating stand-up, touring, podcasting, and specials as a real operating system, not just creative output. She talks candidly about building multiple income streams in an oversaturated creator economy, why she chooses to self-produce her specials before selling them to platforms like Netflix and Hulu, and how owning your audience gives you leverage that no algorithm ever will.

But the heart of the episode is the part you can’t plan for. Heather opens up about losing her father and how sharing grief publicly — before it was “content” — reshaped both her life and her relationship with fans. Johnny shares his own experience losing his sister, and the two unpack how loss rewires ambition, sharpens empathy, and changes what success actually means when you’ve been through something that big.

Along the way, PE Guy still shows up — real estate plays, spending many coins at the Masters merch tent, red carpet moments with E!, and the tension between money, ego, and freedom when creative work starts to scale.

This episode is for anyone building something unconventional — creators, founders, operators — who want the truth about turning personality into product, pain into perspective, and momentum into something that actually lasts.

Subscribe for substantial founders, comedians, and interesting people on the internet with real stories, real leverage, and real exits.

In Episode 005 of Due To My Role, Johnny Hilbrant (aka PE Guy) sits down with Joe Fenti — Boston comedian and former consulting / M&A guy — to talk about the reality of leaving a “serious” corporate career to build a comedy business from scratch.

Joe breaks down what it actually looks like to go full-time comedy: writing every day, turning jokes into sketches, touring the country (35 cities), and self-funding a 60-minute stand-up special with real production (multiple cameras, audio, lighting) — then deciding whether to sell it to a platform or bet on YouTube to build long-term leverage.

They get into the operator side of being a comedian today — how Joe turns internet noise into real demand, protects his material while still feeding the content machine, and runs the entire business behind the scenes (booking, contracts, invoicing, brand) while keeping the creative output consistent.

If you’re into creator economy, stand-up comedy, or the operator side of building an audience-led business, this episode is the truth behind it.

Subscribe for substantial founders, comedians, and the most interesting people on the internet with real stories and substantial exits.

Johnny Hilbrant (aka PE Guy) sits down with Jim Acosta, former CNN Chief White House Correspondent, to unpack what power actually looks like when permission is no longer required.

Jim reflects on his career inside legacy media, covering two presidential administrations, and the moment that put press freedom, access, and authority at the center of the national conversation. From there, the discussion turns to what’s happening behind the scenes in journalism today — the decline of corporate media, the rise of independent platforms like podcasts, Substack, and YouTube, and why audience ownership has become the new leverage.

The episode contrasts the worlds of private equity and legacy media, examines the PE Guy persona as a commentary on power and excess, and explores how journalists, creators, and operators are navigating a system where gatekeepers matter less than direct relationships. It’s a candid conversation about relevance, independence, and building a second act when the old rules stop working.

Subscribe for substantial founders, comedians, and the most interesting people on the internet with real stories and substantial exits.

In Episode 003 of Due To My Role, Johnny Hilbrant (aka PE Guy) sits down with former professional tennis players John Isner and Sam Querrey to talk about what actually happens after elite sports — when the career ends, the prime earning window closes, and identity has to be rebuilt from scratch.

They break down John’s historic 11-hour Wimbledon match that changed the rules of tennis forever, Sam’s blunt take on being priced out of the US Open as a spectator, and how corporate money and influencer culture have reshaped live sports. It’s a candid look at the truth behind money, lifestyle, and what happens when an athletic career ends sooner than most people expect.

This episode dives into retirement shock, staying relevant after the spotlight fades, and the second act through broadcasting, podcasting, and new ventures. If you’re interested in competition, ego, reinvention, and the reality behind high-performance careers — this one hits.

Subscribe for substantial founders, comedians, and the most interesting people on the internet with real stories and substantial exits.

In Episode 2 of Due To My Role, Johnny Hilbrant (aka PE Guy) sits down with Brady Perrigo, CEO and designer of Del Toro Shoes, to break down how he took a struggling luxury footwear brand and rebuilt it into an 8-figure business worn by NBA players, Wall Street operators, and celebrities — without paying for placements.

Brady walks through how a decade in banking and private equity prepared him for the turnaround, why Del Toro’s move into loafers was a total accident that paid off, and how the brand’s signature red stripe quietly became a status symbol at black-tie events around the world. They also get into organic celebrity adoption (including Jon Hamm on SNL), expanding product lines, and what it really takes to run a consumer brand 24/7.

This episode is a deep dive into luxury, brand, capital, and taste — from Miami to New York to Florence — and into what happens when a founder actually operates rather than postures.

Subscribe for substantial founders, comedians, and the most interesting people on the internet with real stories and substantial exits.

Johnny Hilbrant (aka PE Guy) sits down with Mark Sisson, founder of Primal Kitchen, to unpack one of the most influential exits in the natural food space. From elite endurance athlete to bestselling author to building a clean-ingredient brand that sold to Kraft Heinz for nearly $200M, Mark breaks down the real story behind the brand, the exit, and what it takes to scale a mission-driven business.

They dive into entrepreneurship, private equity, longevity, metabolic health, and the mindset behind building companies that reshape entire industries. This episode is a masterclass in discipline, reinvention, and long-term thinking — both in business and in life.

Subscribe for substantial founders, comedians, and interesting people on the internet with decent stories and substantial exits.