In this first release of 2026, Ryan Watts sits down with Steven Puri…former Hollywood studio executive, startup founder, and creator of The Sukha Company…for a wide ranging conversation about story, success, failure, and the human drive to reclaim what matters most.

Steven has spent decades inside some of the most influential creative environments in the world, working across major studios, blockbuster films, venture backed startups, and high pressure executive roles. In this episode, he pulls back the curtain on what actually makes great stories work…and why those same organizing principles quietly shape our personal and professional lives.

This is not a surface level Hollywood conversation.

Together, Ryan and Steven explore how films like Die Hard, Taken, Star Trek, and Transformers all share a deeper organizing principle rooted in family, belonging, loss, and reconciliation. Steven explains why spectacle never carries a story on its own…and how meaning emerges when human truth sits at the center.

The conversation also moves into Steven’s personal journey…early success, major opportunities, painful failures, and the humbling lessons that forced him to slow down, listen, and rethink how he approached leadership, creativity, and work.

This episode is about more than movies.
It’s about recognizing the invisible structures shaping your life…and deciding whether you want to live them consciously.

In this episode, you’ll hear

• Why the greatest movies are really about family and belonging
• How story structure mirrors human growth and identity
• Steven’s journey from early success to failure and humility
• Lessons from Hollywood about leadership, pressure, and meaning
• Why luck only matters if you’re willing to rise to meet it
• How failure became the doorway to deeper wisdom

Part One sets the foundation.

In Part Two, the conversation turns toward focus, flow, distraction, remote work, AI, and how Steven’s work eventually led to the creation of The Sukha Company …a platform designed to help people do their best work in a distracted world. Check it out at TheSukha.co 

🎧 Watch the full conversation on YouTube
👉 youtube.com/@thepersonalsuccesspodcast