Fortt Knox

A car accident convinced a teenaged Diana Aviv that she had to leave home and fight for the poor and forgotten. One she caused. "As I pulled out, I hit him, and he went into the air and did somersaults and crashed to the ground," she remembers. She, a white Jewish teen, had hit a black bicyclist in apartheid South Africa in the early 1970s. "When we went to the police station, I went to the white entrance and he had to wait and go in the black entrance. And the police officer said to me, 'You tell me whatever you like, and that's what will be what happened.' And I decided I couldn't live in a society where I couldn't take the consequences of my actions, which was to get in trouble because of what I'd done. ... This was as contaminating to me as it was for him. Just, the consequences were easier for me – but they weren't, because how could I live with myself? And I decided then that I had to leave." Today, Aviv is CEO of Feeding America, the third largest charity in America by donation value, at more than $2 b

Sanjay Poonen grew up lower-middle class in India and pushed past rejection to become one of the most respected executives in Silicon Valley; he's now chief operating officer at VMware. Jay Simons' detour before law school took him playing piano across Asia – and inspired him to ditch law for tech, where today he's president at Atlassian, one of the industry's hot young companies. For most of us, the path to success isn't going to be a straight line. But those who make it learn a lot of lessons you can't capture on a résumé. So what qualities separate the best from the average? I sat down with Poonen and Simons for the latest episode of the Fortt Knox Podcast, and the two executives shared some wisdom from their journeys that should help others along the way.

Sebastian Bach is a big dude. You know how celebrities are always supposed to be smaller than you think? Jon Bon Jovi's about my height, and I'm 5'8". I met him in a restaurant in San Jose, Ca. a decade ago. Sebastian, the ex-Skid Row frontman, is huge. 6'3". We're at 30 Rock, the NBC Universal mothership in New York, where he's just popped out of shooting a segment with Access Hollywood. He's kindly agreed to meet me after, in what feels like a giant closet, because it's quiet, and you know, I'm recording a podcast. Here's a guy who joined a band in the mid-'80s, debut album went multi platinum, second album debuted at number one. He was the prettiest of the metal pretty boys, and he earned a bad-boy reputation, too. But the most remarkable thing? He changed. Skid Row broke up after Sebastian booked them as an opening act for KISS, which the other band members thought was beneath them. And of course, after Sebastian himself attracted a lot of the wrong kind of controversy with his temper and his mouth. That

Actor Bradley Whitford talks his latest project with National Geographic, healing the political divide, and what you see him in next. In Fortt Knox's Podcast Edition, CNBC's Jon Fortt talks with leaders and influencers who make things happen. For the Live Edition of the show, check out Jon Fortt's Facebook Page.

This week on the Fortt Knox podcast, I want to get a little personal. Instead of hearing from a business leader or celebrity as usual, you're going to hear from someone closer to home. My home. The United States right now is struggling with how to respond to the scourge of terrorism -- and how to relate to Muslim Americans here at home. It's something my family has a unique bit of experience with. And this being the days after the Thanksgiving holiday, and after a presidential election, it's a good time to reflect on family. And the country. The voice you heard at the beginning of this episode was my cousin on my dad's side. Omar. I'm a Christian. My faith is an important part of my life. I try to study my Bible regularly, I attend church weekly. My father is a retired pastor and chaplain. My grandfather was a pastor, too. Omar and his siblings are Muslim. His parents converted before he was born. It's fair to say religion has always been a source of tension in our family, but especially over the last 20 year

Lisa Su, AMD CEO, on how she went from engineer to the corner office. In Fortt Knox's Podcast Edition, CNBC's Jon Fortt talks with leaders and influencers who make things happen. For the Live Edition of the show, check out Jon Fortt's Facebook Page.

Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, on how he got where he is and what makes him tick. In Fortt Knox's Podcast Edition, CNBC's Jon Fortt talks with leaders and influencers who make things happen. For the Live Edition of the show (which debuts the week of 11/14), check out Jon Fortt's Facebook Page.