The Pemberton Podcast

As a motivational speaker, executive leader, and author, Steve Pemberton ’89, H’15, MA’19, P’23 draws on deeply personal life experiences to encourage people to overcome obstacles, strive for success, and create opportunities for others. Now he’s doing this work through a new medium: podcasting.

“I wanted to create a more immediate and intimate way of sharing my story,” said Pemberton, whose The Pemberton Podcast expands on the themes of resilience, hopefulness, and gratitude he first explored through A Chance in the World, his 2012 best-selling memoir about growing up with a cruel foster family. “It feels like I’m sitting across the table from the listener, having a conversation.” For example, in one episode of the podcast, which launched over the summer, he recounts how finding connection and community at Boston College helped heal some wounds from his turbulent childhood.

Going forward, Pemberton plans to host guests with similarly evocative stories to “make the conversation richer.” And after publishing The Lighthouse Effect: How Ordinary People Can Have an Extraordinary Impact in the World in 2021, he’s also working on his next book, The Anchor Principle, about “the things that steady us in uncertain times,” he said. “My hope is always the same: that the stories I tell inspire others to reflect on their own lives and discover—and rediscover—the anchors that keep them grounded.” ◽