In this powerful episode of The Grit Mindset, Matt Rosen sits down with longtime friend, mentor, and client Richard Maranville, now CTO of Pinnacle Live, an innovative event-technology company operating in 150+ hotel properties nationwide.
Richard’s story is a masterclass in grit, adaptability, and leadership. From a humble upbringing with a single mother in Southern California to discovering coding on a vintage Tandy computer at age 13, Richard shares how early responsibility and hard work—from paper routes to McDonald's shifts—instilled the resilience that would fuel his entire career.
He walks listeners through his rapid ascent at Kinko’s (later FedEx Office), where he advanced from developer to CIO, managing a 300-person team in his mid-30s. Richard discusses the challenges of earning respect as a young leader, the importance of partnership between IT and business teams, and the lessons he learned about humility, communication, and empowering others.
Richard then opens up about his 12-year chapter at Freeman, the world’s largest event-production company. From stabilizing a broken payroll system to leading digital transformation, navigating multiple tech acquisitions, and managing through the chaos of COVID—when Freeman saw 100% of its revenue vanish almost overnight—he shares candid stories about crisis leadership, rebuilding trust, and the necessity of confronting problems head-on.
The conversation also explores his time as COO and CTO at Salad and Go, where Richard transitioned from tech into operations and supply chain—applying grit, people leadership, and decades of experience to a fast-scaling restaurant brand.
Matt and Richard dive deep into:
-What grit means in real life
-Perseverance, asking for help, leaning on your support network, and giving yourself space to think clearly.
-Lessons for young professionals
— Focus on soft skills, not just coding.
— Don’t play politics—focus on your work.
— Empower your team and take the bullets for them.
-Parenting with grit
— Teaching kids to earn what they want, handle “no,” and work in the service industry to build empathy and resilience.
-Leadership Principles
From early hustle to executive boardrooms, Richard’s journey is packed with insight, humility, and the kind of hard-earned wisdom that defines true grit.