Podcast
Going Big! with Kevin Gentry
Hosted by Kevin Gentry · EN
Welcome to Going Big! — the podcast where we share the stories of people who have truly gone big in their own lives. Hosted by Kevin Gentry, Going Big! has consistently ranked as a top podcast on iTunes in its category and has earned multiple national honors, including the 2024 MarCom Gold Award for Non-Profit Podcast, the 2024 Viddy Gold Award for Non-Profit and Marketing Podcast, the 2025 Viddy Award, and the 2025 Communicator Award.
Each episode features in-depth conversations with business owners, entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, political figures, and other trailblazers who have achieved extraordinary impact in their work and communities. You’ll hear firsthand how they pursued bold ideas, took major risks, overcame challenges, and built something remarkable.
We no longer focus solely on fundraising and marketing. Instead, Going Big! explores the full spectrum of leadership, innovation, and personal drive — uncovering the lessons, values, and pivotal moments that propelled our guests to think bigger and push further.
Whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur, a nonprofit leader, a political changemaker, or simply someone inspired by real stories of ambition and achievement, Going Big! offers insights and inspiration to help you take your own next leap.
Listen on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Pandora, and YouTube. Follow us on social media and visit TenXStrategies.com for more great content and resources.
86episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
From China to Montana to Congress with Senator Steve Daines
2d ago00:59:41Summary readyIn this episode of Going Big!, Kevin Gentry sits down with Senator Steve Daines for a wide-ranging conversation about faith, risk, entrepreneurship, family, and public service. Daines reflects on the major leaps that shaped his life, from moving his young family to China with Procter & Gamble, to helping build RightNow Technologies in Bozeman, to stepping into the political arena and serving 14 years in Congress. Together, they explore what China looks like up close, what entrepreneurship taught him about leadership under pressure, why he felt called into public service, and why he says this next chapter is not about retirement but repurposing. The conversation also touches on marriage, grief, gratitude, and the kind of legacy he hopes to leave for the next generation.
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Jefferson at 250: Liberty, Legacy, and Contradiction with Dr. Jane Kamensky (Monticello)
1w ago00:59:39Summary readyIn this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry sits down with Dr. Jane Kamensky, president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, for a timely conversation about Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence, and the ideas that have shaped America for nearly 250 years. Kamensky explains why Jefferson was chosen to draft the Declaration at just 33 years old, how divided and uncertain the Continental Congress really was, and why the document’s opening vision became far more than a list of grievances. She also explores the central contradiction in Jefferson’s legacy: how the author of words about equality could also participate in slavery on a vast scale. Together, they discuss America’s approaching 250th anniversary, the meaning of reflective patriotism, and the role that Monticello plays in preserving that legacy into the future.
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Truth, Freedom, Virtue, and the American Experiment with Dr. Robert George
2w ago00:58:05Summary readyIn this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry sits down with Princeton professor Dr. Robert George for a wide-ranging conversation about truth, freedom, virtue, and the future of the American experiment. As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, Robert reflects on what Americans often misunderstand about the founders, why George Washington was indispensable, and why a republic cannot survive without moral seriousness and civic friendship. George also shares his own remarkable story, from growing up in Appalachia as the grandson of immigrant coal miners to becoming one of the country’s leading public intellectuals. Along the way, he explains why free speech is essential to truth-seeking, what his friendship with Cornel West teaches about disagreement, and why he remains hopeful about the next generation of Americans.
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Lessons from Venezuela's Collapse with Daniel Di Martino
3w ago00:46:35Summary readyIn this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry welcomes economist Daniel Di Martino back for a timely conversation about Venezuela, freedom, assimilation, and the future of America. Raised in Caracas during one of the most dramatic political and economic collapses in modern history, Daniel shares what it was like to watch shortages, inflation, and repression reshape everyday life, and how those experiences led him to come to the United States and speak out. Together, they explore what prosperous societies forget, why immigration and assimilation matter, what Daniel’s research says about family and culture, and why he remains hopeful about both Venezuela and America. This episode offers a firsthand look at the cost of collectivism and a serious conversation about freedom, opportunity, and where nations go from here.
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Bringing D-Day Veterans Back to Normandy with Drake Springer and Meredith Danluck (Why We Dream)
May 2501:03:19Summary readyIn this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry sits down with producer Drake Springer and director Meredith Danluck to discuss Why We Dream, a documentary that follows World War II veterans returning to Normandy 80 years after D-Day. With many of the veterans now more than 100 years old, the film captures a vanishing generation’s memories of war, service, sacrifice, and the lives they built afterward. Together, they explore how to tell a World War II story in a way that feels fresh and deeply human; why the filmmakers fought to keep the veterans, not the brand, at the center; and how storytelling can preserve living memory before it disappears. The conversation also examines risk, leadership, and the hunger many people feel today for meaning, connection, and a renewed sense of duty to one another.
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Turning Pain into Purpose with Amy Looney Heffernan (Travis Manion Foundation)
May 1800:43:53Summary readyAfter losing her husband, Navy SEAL Lieutenant Brendan Looney, in Afghanistan, Amy Looney Heffernan could have stepped back from the world. Instead, she chose a harder path: building a life of service, leadership, and impact in his memory. On this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry talks with Amy, now President of the Travis Manion Foundation, about grief, resilience, Memorial Day, and how service can help turn pain into purpose. She shares the deeply personal story behind her journey, the values Brendan lived by, and how the Foundation is equipping veterans, families of the fallen, and young people to lead with character in communities across America. Learn more about The Honor Project
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Mike Pence on Reagan, Trump, and What Conservatives Believe
May 1100:51:34Summary readyIn this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry sits down with former Vice President Mike Pence for a conversation about faith, conviction, public service, and the moments that test a leader’s character. Pence reflects on his journey from a young Democrat inspired by John F. Kennedy to a Reagan conservative, the hard lessons he learned from early political defeats, and the principles that shaped his years in Congress, as governor of Indiana, and in the White House. They also discuss January 6, the constitutional duty Pence believed he was bound to uphold, and his continued work to defend traditional conservative ideas through Advancing American Freedom and his new book, What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience. For anyone interested in leadership under pressure and the future of the conservative movement, this is a conversation worth hearing.
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The Entrepreneur Who Challenged Canada's Healthcare Monopoly with Kip Woodward
May 400:59:49Summary readyIn this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry talks with Kip Woodward, a Canadian business leader, investor, and public-policy advocate whose career has spanned family enterprise, ranching, health care governance, and reform efforts around some of Canada’s most entrenched institutional challenges. Kip reflects on what it takes to lead at scale, challenge broken systems, and take risks without losing perspective. From entrepreneurial pivots to public controversy, this conversation explores curiosity, resilience, governance, and the kind of leadership required when the answers are neither simple nor popular.
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How Love and Enterprise Are Rescuing Thousands with Becca Stevens (Thistle Farms)
Apr 2700:40:31Summary readyHuman trafficking and exploitation are often hidden in plain sight. In this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry sits down with Rev. Becca Stevens, founder of Thistle Farms, to explore how one home for five women became a survivor-led movement serving around 1,500 women each year through housing, employment, and long-term support. Stevens shares what most people still misunderstand about trafficking, why punishment alone cannot heal deep wounds, and how Thistle Farms built a distinctive model of restorative justice through social enterprise, community, and love put into practice. It’s a conversation about healing, entrepreneurship, faith, and what it takes to build something big enough to help women find their way home again.
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Why Retirement Culture Has Work Backwards with David Bahnsen
Apr 2000:46:39Summary readyMost people spend their lives trying to escape work. David Bahnsen thinks that’s a tragedy — and a recipe for emptiness. In this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry sits down with David, founder and CIO of a wealth management firm overseeing more than $9 billion, to unpack a countercultural claim: human beings were made to contribute, not just consume. They talk about why the “non-essential worker” language of the COVID era still matters, why shorter work weeks and universal basic income can miss something deeper, and why “more purpose, more work, more endeavor” might actually be part of the solution to rising isolation and despair. Watch now if you're looking for practice advice for a life marked by meaning, responsibility, and contribution.
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