December 2025

Lens On Leadership

We’re about to celebrate our 10th Anniversary! We’re thankful for the extraordinary leaders we've worked with since leaving Fortune to launch SellersEaston Media in 2016. We expanded our leadership storytelling in ways we never imagined—telling stories of impact for some of the world’s top companies, writing memoirs and producing films about philanthropists, civil rights leaders, a Nobel Peace Prize winner—and helping families capture legacies for the next generations. Through our work, we've made lifelong friends. Thank YOU for helping us create a phenomenal first decade… and wishing you a lovely holiday! - Pattie Sellers and Nina Easton, Co-CEOs, SellersEaston Media

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Q&A: The Legendary Peter Lynch

Three decades after he built the Fidelity Magellan Fund to be the world's largest mutual fund, Peter Lynch, 81, is still in the game. While he spends half of each day researching stocks, he carved out time to share his life story with me. Our interview sessions were lively and fun, and I was thrilled to learn later that Peter enjoyed them as much as I did. Peter's beautiful book is an everlasting gift for his three daughters and 10 grandchildren ("my best tenbagger ever")—a gift that will keep on giving for generations. - Pattie

Peter, why did you want to write a memoir?

Our grandchildren are the best part of my life. I want them to know about their grandmother. Four of them never even met Carolyn, who went to heaven in 2015.

What did you learn in doing your memoir?

I learned about my parents. My father died when I was 10 years old. My mother lived to 73, but I never asked her questions. The book has 435 pictures, and it tells and shows who they were and what life was like for them.

What do you tell your grandchildren about investing—and life?

Stand out from the crowd. Work hard. Be patient. Searching for companies to invest in is like turning over rocks. If you look at 10 companies, you'll probably find one that's interesting. If you look at 20, you'll find two. The person who turns over the most rocks wins the game.

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BETTER THAN A BOT?

I suspected I already knew the answer, but I couldn’t stop myself. “Are live events more popular in an age of AI?” I asked ChatGPT.

Answer: Concert and sports ticket sales are skyrocketing. Revivals of live theater and comedy abound. And business conferences (our world) are on a double-digit growth binge. Bring it on!

Pattie and I first experienced the power of in-person events as hosts, interviewers, and programmers for the Fortune Global Forum and Fortune Most Powerful Women. We chaired leadership events from London to Laguna, Hong Kong to D.C., leading on-stage conversations and eliciting fascinating insights and real human connection with some of the most important people in global business.

At SellersEaston we bring lively storytelling—real, personal, powerful—to the stage. From confabs in Vegas and Palm Beach to private affairs in Manhattan and San Francisco, we use the stage to go deeper and bring everyone along.

ChatGPT attributes the enduring popularity of in-person gatherings to a “scarcity effect.” Amidst digital content abundance, real, unmediated human connection is scarce—and more valuable. “Live events create community, loyalty, and emotional resonance that digital cannot,” concluded my AI pal.

Pattie and I have our own (more succinct) explanation of why people, more than ever, want to come together: Magic happens! - Nina

Visit our website for information on events, memoirs, and other offerings.

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JOURNEY, the leadership nonprofit we launched in 2022, is changing the lives of women who are changing the world. We’re accepting nominations and applications for the 2026-27 class of Fellows—and we’re asking for your help!

We’re looking for extraordinary private-sector leaders in the U.S. and Canada who:

• are visionary innovators in the U.S. or Canada private sector—CEO-founders, corporate executives, or venture capital leaders

• are tackling the world’s most pressing challenges (healthcare, energy transformation, the future of AI, education, global security, etc.)

• show the talent, grit, and resilience needed to reach the top.

Please nominate an amazing leader here. (It takes less than two minutes.) JOURNEY will invite her to apply and let her know you nominated her. Help us spread the word by sharing the link or this LinkedIn post. (Note: Deadline to apply is January 9, 2026.)

Or simply send us your nominee’s name and contact info. We’ll take it from there!

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October 2024

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Lens On Leadership

Nina Easton and I are excited to share with you a few exciting additions to our SellersEaston offerings. Our colleague Nicole Didda, who has spent decades counseling CEOs on their communications, is now a certified executive coach—available to our clients. (She’s coached us, so we know how effective she is!) Another new SellersEaston service, Life & Lens, mixes our vaunted leadership storytelling skills with the brilliance of Ben Baker, one of the world’s top portrait photographers. Nina and I know Ben from our many years at Fortune magazine, where he was the go-to photographer for stunning covers of everyone from Warren Buffett to Barack Obama to Ginni Rometty. Also below, we tell you about Journey to Lead, our phenomenal nonprofit equipping the best emerging women leaders to reach the top. After 20+ years proudly leading Fortune Most Powerful Women, Nina and I consider JOURNEY a sort of MPW Act II—and super inspiring! - Pattie Sellers

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Exec Coaching Comes to SellersEaston

Communications advisor. Change management consultant. And now Executive Coach. We’re thrilled to announce that SellersEaston Managing Director Nicole Didda has received Georgetown University’s prestigious Executive Leadership Coaching Certification, and she’s providing her services to our clients.

“I’ve spent my career working with executives to problem solve, and coaching flexes the flip side of that muscle,” says Nicole, who has spent 30 years helping CEOs and senior leaders navigate and communicate through complex change and crises. “I listen, ask, challenge, and inspire leaders to overcome limiting beliefs, reframe issues, and find solutions from within.”

Nicole continues to wear many hats at SellersEaston—providing presentation training, advising our corporate clients to strengthen their communications, and directing our corporate board readiness programs.

Learn more about our Executive Coaching here

or contact Nicole at nicole@sellerseaston.com.

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Life & Lens

We’re excited to announce a new SellersEaston offering: Life & Lens, in partnership with Ben Baker, one of the world's top portrait photographers. Life & Lens is an artful version of our Life Story books, which are biographies and memoirs that we write, design, and custom publish for individuals to pass on their stories and life lessons to children and grandchildren. We bring our same world-class writing and interview skills to Life & Lens projects. Pictures are priceless, and Ben has a gift for capturing the humanity of world leaders, CEOs, renowned philanthropists, and others, as you see here. We supplement Ben’s images with archival photos (that you provide) and our writing. In a few months, you’ll have a beautiful book to inspire your next generations.

Visit our website for information on Life & Lens and other Life Story offerings

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Changing The Lives of Women Who are Changing the World

Nina and I co-founded Journey to Lead in 2022 after decades working with women leaders via Fortune Most Powerful Women and Vital Voices (where Nina is on the board). JOURNEY’s mission is to advance visionary women leaders to the top—and yes, we are changing the lives of women who are changing the world. Our success is grounded in a unique model built around prominent women already at the top, our 50 Champions, guiding JOURNEY Fellows—diverse annual classes of extraordinary startup CEOs and executives in large companies. Prominent men play key roles as supporters, partners, and coaches. This lifelong network of support for exceptional women leaders will soon number more than 150! As we continue to grow, we welcome your nominations for our 4th annual class of Fellows.

Click here to nominate an emerging star leader—or apply yourself!

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July 2024

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LENS ON LEADERSHIP

Not long ago, a friend asked me:

“What exactly are you and Pattie Sellers doing in your post-Fortune lives?” That prompted both of us to recall all too many other times when it was clear that friends or colleagues had only a blurry understanding of SellersEaston Media.

Our fault, of course, and a reminder that as professional storytellers, we need to do less telling and more showing of our multimedia work producing life and leadership stories—from the C-suite to the boardroom to the living room. We’re enormously proud of the films we’ve produced. Gumbo Coalition chronicles the lives of two courageous civil rights leaders (watch it here on MAX); Port of Destiny: Peace (here on Amazon) tells the story of a Nobel Peace Prize winner; and this hour-long biopic captures the epic life and impact of philanthropist Eli Broad.

Our leadership stories take other forms, too. So we’re launching this newsletter to provide a glimpse into some of our latest work. Thank you, dear friends, for being our inaugural audience. Feel free to opine, unsubscribe, or drop a note to Pattie at pattie@sellerseaston.com or me, nina@sellerseaston.com.

HAVE A HAPPY, HEALTHY SUMMER! -NINA

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LIFE STORY BOOKS

        Just the idea of crafting a memoir to share with family, friends, colleagues, and possibly the public is overwhelming—let alone actually making it happen. So when I opened the acknowledgements page of legendary investor Peter Lynch’s new autobiography, I was so proud to see the accolades for Pattie:

“Pattie is an amazing individual… thorough, patient, creative, upbeat, efficient, great understanding of finance… and fun!”

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MODERN FAMILY PORTRAIT

The brilliant Michael Apted 7Up movie series inspired us to create the Modern Family Portrait. With a nimble camera crew, we capture a day or two of family life each year—talking with children as dreams get bigger, parents as their own lives evolve, grandparents as they share their personal histories and wisdom. The annual short films we deliver become, over time, a multi-year series—a priceless chronicle of moments, voices, and stories you would never want to miss.

Learn more about the Modern Family Portrait here.

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‍TRUSTED CEO ADVISER

  When I first met Wall Street Journal veteran Eben Shapiro, I was intrigued by a series of insightful CEO interviews, titled The Leadership Brief, that he had created as TIME Deputy Editor. He is now SellersEaston’s Executive Editor and resident CEO Whisperer, working with prominent chief executives to shine as thoughtful leaders on transformative technologies like AI and other emerging issues.

I recently asked Eben: With such sharp yet nuanced interview skills (and down-to-earth charm to boot), what have you learned it takes to be a great leader in this uncertain global economy? “Humanity and inspiring communications distinguish today’s superstar CEOs,” he says.

Eben is right. At the end of the day, what drives great leadership is showing your humanity and never forgetting that people want to be inspired.

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