Steve Shenbaum
A classically trained actor/comedian, Steve is the Founder & President of Game On Nation. For over 27 years, he and his team have worked with some of the most recognizable athletes, colleges/professional teams, corporations, government, and military leaders. He is considered an industry expert in presentation/public speaking, team building, and communication skills training. Steve has developed a unique curriculum fueled by a concept called MILE (Mystery, Incentive, Laughter, Empowerment), and he also created a presentation skills system called SPOT (Set-Up, Present, Observe, Tie-Back). All of the Game On programs utilize these frameworks, while incorporating improvisation and game-based learning to help organizations and teams improve connectivity while embracing the power of honesty, humility, and positive humor.
Shenbaum has worked with TWELVE #1 overall draft picks and over 50 1st round draft picks, as well as numerous Fortune 50 companies, Department of Defense, US House of Representatives, and college and professional teams, including: NASCAR, LA Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Pittsburgh Pirates, NY Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, FSU Football, U. of Alabama Football, U. of Kentucky Basketball and U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, and all branches of the US military.
In his past career as an actor, he was featured in “American Pie 2”, “EDTV”, “Space Jam”, “The Third Wheel” (with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck), “Will & Grace”, “Married with Children”, “Beverly Hills 90210”, and more than one-hundred national commercials. Steve graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Performance Studies and also trained at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England. He lives in Bradenton, Florida with his wife and two daughters and can be reached via LinkedIn.
Photo courtesy of Game On Nation
Had you always wanted to be in the performing arts, and what was your first professional role?
Yes. My mom is an abstract artist, and she taught every summer at Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts (ISOMATA) outside of Los Angeles, so I was introduced to the arts and theater at a very young age. My first professional role was years later, right after I graduated college. I was cast as “Coach Steve” for a show called “Energy Express” filmed at WGN in Chicago.
You’ve had roles in some major productions. Did you suffer a lot of rejection before you landed these?
I did have my fair share of rejection. Thankfully, I had early success in Chicago with industrials and commercials but once I moved from Chicago back to LA in 1997 and started going out for prime-time sitcoms and features, and as the amount of auditions increased, so did the amount of rejections.
Where did you get the confidence to stay in it and keep auditioning?
I never made acting my identity which limited me when I came to totally committing. But that mindset also protected me because when I experienced rejection, I did not connect it to who I was as a person.
What were some of the major challenges you tackled when you were in the business and how did you overcome them?
The main challenge I faced was the more chaotic and unhealthy I behaved, the more work I got. In essence, my negative behavior was being positively reinforced, and I had to make a decision to either sacrifice my emotional and mental well-being to continue to be “interesting” in auditions, or get my act together and find another profession. I eventually chose the latter.
Where did the idea for Game On Nation come from? What did you think was missing from the team building/communications/leadership space?
I started Game On because Pete Sampras, who was dating a friend of mine at the time, asked me to help him “be less boring.” I created an interactive, engaging curriculum for Pete to try to match the engagement he was accustomed to while training as an athlete. From there, his agent Bob Kain at IMG saw Pete’s growth and offered me a partnership at IMG Academy to not only teach “media training” but also offer social skills, life skills, and overall communication training to all the “young Petes” on campus. What I think was missing in teambuilding was purpose. The trainings back in the day were either lectures or forced engagement. There weren’t many firms offering interactivity and if they were, the interaction was seen as a silly “warm up” or an “icebreaker” rather than a gateway for meaningful discovery and tangible take-aways.
Was it a difficult choice to leave Hollywood behind to pursue this career?
Per my answer to #4, it actually was not that challenging. I needed a change, and I was so excited to be valued for my mind, my skills, my talents, and what I could offer vs. waiting for someone to approve me, which is the jam in Hollywood. As an actor, there was very little I could control. As the Founder and President of my own company, I was able to fill that void and have some say in the direction I wanted my career to go. Lastly, I soon realized I loved focusing on others and helping them find their voice and their unique talents much more than focusing on myself each and every day.
What were some of the risks involved in building your business?
The biggest risk for me was once I brought on staff and I realized my decision making, health, and clarity of mind was crucial because if I make a poor decision it not only affects me now, but it affects my staff, their salaries, their insurance, their families and their employment, etc. In short, the stakes are way higher when other people and their families are dependent on your personal and professional development.
What was your biggest learning as you built your business?
My biggest learning lesson was 1. Define the culture of my company first, including what we do, how we do it, why we do and the overall purpose. 2. Then select talent for that culture. 3. Then provide that talent with the necessary tools so they can properly develop. 4. And finally allow that talent to go out and do their thing with support, but without micromanaging them. When this process is honored, it’s a beautiful thing. When this process gets out of order, it’s painful for all involved. I’ve done it both in order and out of order!
As a nascent company in the late 90s, how did you go about building your team?
See answer to #9. And I’ll add, at that time, it was all about relationships and people who believed in me and the Game On concept, and people I trusted.
What is the throughline in acting and your work with Game On Nation, and what skills from your acting career helped you build your Game On Nation business?
The throughline in acting and Game On is “connection.” As an actor, we’re taught to connect with the role and connect with the audience. For teams and organizations, this connection thread can play out when it is positioned as, 1. Connection to self, 2. Connection to others, 3. Connection to purpose.
The biggest skills alignment is improvisation. This is something I fell in love with in college and as an actor in Chicago. I quickly realized basic improv concepts could transfer really well to athletes, teams, and companies and organizations because high performing people respond well to positive humor, curiosity, intellect, puzzle solving, authentic engagement, pushing themselves, doing hard things together, and discovery. And all of these dynamics are in play in our Game On curriculum.
What inspires you to continue your work?
My Faith inspires me to continue this work… and the desire to offer a sound, a message, a curriculum, and a concept that is rooted in basic, trusted, universal truths as opposed to focusing on fear and what divides us. There’s enough divisiveness out there, and I’m interested in simplifying the connection process and showing people, empowering them, igniting them to see we have so much more in common, while also giving space so we can also celebrate, cherish, and value our differences.
