Leading the Way Podcast: David Tutera, CEO Dada Media & Celebrity Lifestyle Expert

Entrepreneur, leading wedding & entertainment expert, author and television personality David Tutera shares with us how he built one of the biggest lifestyle brands in Hollywood in this episode of Leading the Way. David shares the importance of creativity in business and explains in detail the amount of research, imagination, and innovation that goes into planning each event that results in a personalized, highly unique, and ultimate customer experience.

Making his television debut on The View, his career catapulted into an immediate success simply by initially saying “yes.” Since then, he has been saying yes to many people including those he hires. David shares why he likes to hire people who he can mentor and help “sculpt their career,” those with a passion for the industry but not necessarily having industry experience.

In this entertaining podcast, you’ll hear about celebrity wedding stories, his collaboration with Kathy Ireland, and his inspiring wisdom on how making a human connection, listening to others, and constantly learning can truly develop the ability to enjoy life.

Key Soundbites

• On talent development – “Like an artist, you have to develop your skill. You can have the creativity, but you have to master it, and you have to learn, and you have to step in and be the intern, work the field, and learn the different facets of our business; the importance is learning and being patient.”  
  
• On core values – “We succeed in life by saying yes. If we say no or think about it, we’ve lost an opportunity. I built my company based upon enthusiasm, creativity, and the honesty of literally being connected to my customers emotionally. But I learned and said yes every time.”
  
• On research - “It isn’t about coming up with a great idea, show you a piece, hope to sell it, and execute it. There is an enormous, enormous amount of research and understanding about the history, culture and traditions to meet their expectations.”
  
• On customer experience – “Our team always makes sure that we are paying attention and listening to the clients’ expectations. We have to remember our customer isn’t our only customer, it might be the 500 guests that are sitting in the room or the thousands of people that are getting the experience. We understand that keeping them happy ultimately keeps our clients thrilled.”
  
• On innovation - “Innovation is a really fascinating word that’s been part of my vocabulary in the industry since I began. It is allowing ourselves to stand out amongst all the clutter, and understanding that innovation means being different. Innovative means standing out amongst all of the others in the industry. The owners of companies need to be different than everyone else.”
  

About Leading the Way

Leading the Way is a weekly radio show and podcast series that highlights influential business leaders and leading people practices from i4cp. Co-hosted by Emmy award-winning television anchor and radio host, Scott Murray, and i4cp’s Angel Carlton, the show features interviews with respected business leaders from the world of business, sports, entertainment, healthcare and philanthropy.  

The show airs live every Sunday at 4 pm CT on KLIF 570 in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, the global audience is invited to listen live on www.klif.com   and the weekly podcast debuts on iTunes  or Google Play and the i4cp website the following week.