About David Siteman Garland

Hi! I’m David Siteman Garland. I’m the Creator/Host Of The Rise To The Top, Entrepreneur, Emcee, Host, Author, Entertainer

Here are 10 fun facts about me:

1. I’m the creator/host of the Internet-based TV show, blog and resource The Rise To The Top. The show features fluff-free, uncensored, naked interviews with successful hard-to-reach people ranging from “The Millionaire Matchmaker” Patti Stanger to New York Times Best-Selling Author Tim Ferriss to fashion mogul Daymond John to the CEO of Zappos Tony Hsieh. Plus you can find video blogs where I share my advice and insights.

2. In 2008, at the age of 24, I took all of my Bar Mitzvah money I’d saved up and started a television show in St. Louis, Missouri on ABC with literally zero experience writing, producing or hosting a television show. The Rise To The Top TV show focused on entrepreneurship and aired for 36 episodes.

3. To date, I’ve interviewed well over 300 diverse, awesome people (which honestly, should be considered more “conversations” as opposed to interviews). Some of my favorites include The Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger, Two-time New York Times Best Selling Author Tim Ferriss and creator of Wine Library TV Gary Vaynerchuk. About 10,000 times a day (slight exaggeration) I get emails & messages from people who want to create and profit from their own web shows which led me to develop the most comprehensive course on the subject called Create Awesome Interviews: Learn “The Rise To The Top” System for Creating, Promoting & Profiting from Online Interviews which teaches all my secrets.

4. In 2010, Wiley Publishing approached me to write a book to help folks market and promote themselves online based on knowledge that I’d picked up while growing my show from 0-200,000 viewers, hundreds of media hits and more despite spending (pretty much) $0 on marketing…and hundreds of interviews with others who had done something similar. My book Smarter, Faster, Cheaper came out holiday time in 2010.

5. Besides the show, I love entertaining and bringing high energy to high-end events/projects. Recently, I was the emcee for Shine: The Premier Event For Women Entrepreneurs taking the stage for three days straight and keeping the crowd of over 500 female entrepreneurs energized and also traveled to Google for a full day of on camera work as a spokesperson for a new program created by Google as well as online marketing/brand building consulting. I also occasionally do one-on-one consulting sessions to help super passionate, awesome people build their business online.

6. I’m a spokesguy/fitness model for an amazing fitness & nutrition program Jet Set Body (that’s my special link). I’m extremely passionate about fitness, nutrition and health. I recently went through a massive fitness transformation where I took on a challenge to get into fitness model shape in 90 days which has been featured in all kinds of places including Bodybuilding.com.

7. I went to college at Washington University in St. Louis and majored in (brace yourself) Women’s Studies. Yes, that was my actual major and it was a blast.

8. My first “job” I was supposed to have out of college in the hockey industry was eliminated before it even started as the place I was going to work at became a parking lot two weeks before I moved out to California. Ended up being the biggest blessing-in-disguise ever.

9. From 2006-2008 I played Professional Inline Hockey (yes, hockey on wheels) and ran the league in the Midwest which included St. Louis, Chicago and Cincinnati. It was one HECK of a learning experience and led to me somehow hosting a radio show on one of the top sports stations in St. Louis (again, no experience).

10. I live in exotic St. Louis, Missouri where I was born and raised. I’m a huge Blues, Cardinals and Rams fan and love being so close to my family (family first!). My wife, Marcie, is also a St. Louis native and is the love of my life and soul-mate (awww warm fuzzy moment!).

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A few more random fun facts:

  • My interests are always changing, but I’m a family guy (not the TV show) and husband first and a junkie for passion and excitement.
  • In 2009 to promote a unique event we were putting on, I dressed in women’s shorts and a spandex shirt to play the character “Ron Ballsiak – Professional Ball Kid Coach.” The video still haunts some people and was probably a felony in most states.
  • I’m lucky to be raised by two of the greatest parents in the history of the world and have the greatest wife ever. Not that I’m biased or anything…
  • Some of my (eclectic) favorite movies include anything by Christopher Guest (especially A Mighty Wind & Best In Show), Animal House, Scarface and Rudy.
  • Some of my favorite TV shows include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, Shark Tank, The Apprentice, Modern Family, Reno 911 and Seinfeld.
  • My mom had a live chimp at my Bar Mitzvah when I was 13.
  • I’m obsessed with anything really freakin’ funny. Example: Aziz Ansari.

In case you are into that sort of thing, here are a few of my favorites sayings & philosophies:

Money follows passion and not the other way around.

Never apologize for following your passions no matter what they might be.

There is far more to life than work. Even if you are (and you should be) doing work you are passionate about, remember to find the time for things outside of work that are important to you (friends, family, hobbies, sports, travel, reading, whatever they might be).

Never stop investing in your education and learning new things no matter your age, sex, background, etc.

Average effort produces average results.

Entrepreneurship and doing work you love is much more than “just business.” It’s a lifestyle.

Life is an epic quest if you allow it to be.

Here is my official “Press Bio”:

David Siteman Garland is the creator/host of one of the Internet’s most popular, successful and longest running web shows: The Rise To The Top. Over 250,000 passionate people (known as RISE Nation) tune in to watch/listen and learn from David’s uncensored conversations with interesting, hard-to-reach successful people ranging from The Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger to New York Times Best-Selling Author Tim Ferriss to fashion mogul Daymond John.

Instead of taking a “normal” job out college, David immediately began his hosting & broadcasting journey with a hockey startup that led to a radio show on Team 1380 AM in St. Louis, Missouri. In 2008, After falling in love with creative entrepreneurship and learning from successful and interesting people who followed their passion, David took his Bar Mitzvah money (saved up from when he was 13) and created The Rise To The Top. Originally a TV show on ABC in St. Louis, Missouri focused on interviewing successful entrepreneurs, The Rise To The Top ran for three seasons and 36 episodes and was named “Best New Show” by Alive Magazine.

After a successful run on ABC, David took The Rise To The Top to a purely digital medium with a focus entirely on candid, fluff-free conversations with successful entrepreneurs spilling the beans on how they built their businesses, insights, stories and more. Now, over 250,000 RISE enthusiasts tune in around the world on their computers, mobile phones, tablets and even traditional televisions (through partnerships with Roku and Connected TV).

Besides The Rise To The Top, David is known for bringing high energy to high-end events and creative companies. Recently, he was the emcee for Shine: The Premier Event For Women Entrepreneurs taking the stage for three days straight and keeping the crowd of over 500 female entrepreneurs energized and David also traveled to Google for a full day of on camera work as a spokesperson for a new program created by Google.

David also wrote his first book, Smarter, Faster, Cheaper: Non-Boring, Fluff-Free Strategies for Marketing and Promoting Your Business published in late 2010 by Wiley. Using humor and drawing on his own experiences, as well as those of the highly successful people he interviews, Smarter, Faster, Cheaper was written to educate, encourage and even commiserate with current and future entrepreneurs.

Besides being named one of the web’s “Top 60 influencers” by The Influencer Project, a “Living Legend” by Live Your Legend and one of “100 St. Louisans To Know” by Small Business Monthly, David has been featured on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, as well as in The Wall Street Journal, Inc., Forbes, The Dallas Morning News, and The New York Times.

In addition to entrepreneurship & online marketing, David’s passion for fitness and nutrition has led him to embark on an incredible fitness transformation featured by Bodybuilder.com where he got into fitness-model shape in 90 days. Now, David is a spokesperson and fitness model for the fitness program Jet Set Body.

David is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (with a degree in Women’s Studies) and lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his brilliant and beautiful wife Marcie. In addition to spending as much time as possible together, he enjoys sports (especially hockey), delicious food, fitness, movies and anything really funny.

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