John Eck is an accomplished executive with a track record of leading organizations through transformation, complexity, and growth while maintaining a strong personal connection to the teams and missions he serves. He built his career at GE, NBCUniversal, and Univision, where he led pivotal initiatives including digitizing the NBC Television Network, integrating NBC and Universal, and overseeing the reverse spectrum auction at Univision that generated more than $400 million in debt reduction.
As President of the NBC Television Network and later as a senior leader at Univision, John consistently took on high-risk, ambiguous challenges and delivered results. His capstone professional experience was serving as CEO of Mattress Firm, where he guided the company from its 2018 bankruptcy to a thriving enterprise, culminating in a $5 billion sale to Somnigroup in 2025.
John is now beginning a more focused chapter of philanthropic engagement, inspired by causes important to his two children, Chris and Danielle.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
I start most days with the NYT crossword puzzle. I catch up with the NYT and the WSJ and perhaps a cable news show to get the latest perspective on what’s going on in the country and the world. I always have 2 or more books going (mostly now on Audible) and I do something physical each day, whether it is a round of golf, some rucking on the beach, 30 minutes of mobility work and weightlifting twice a week. I do have a Board role so that takes quality attention to the issues of the company I support.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Passion and storytelling with regular injections of humor. Distilling ideas to their essence is crucial.
What’s one trend that excites you?
AI and its potential impact on health and longevity
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Reviewing my goals for the month/week/day
What advice would you give your younger self?
Be vulnerable. Ask more questions.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you.
I am a bit of a contrarian. For example, I am always looking for different angles to age old problems and sometimes take the other side just to learn more.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Regular flexibility mobility and stability exercises.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Go inside and think about my purpose and find a way to get centred – quiet time is very important to me to process the world around me and my life.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Please explain how. Get into the details. Ask tons of questions. Create hypotheses for solutions. Build support for ideas. I am a quick study who believes in consensus building.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
I really struggled going to work at an acquisition in a non US location in an industry I have never been in an area I had no experience in. It was a recipe for disaster, and it almost was. Luckily, I was 29 years old and had time to recover and make good the disaster and come out with life lessons.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
I matured in the analogue business world with a digital sensibility. Nonetheless my analogue roots force me to certain tools. I like the apps Notability and Evernote as terrific digital collection points for key documents in my life including calendars, my latest hobby (eg Ukulele), thoughtful quotes, and working through issues (presentations, thoughts, journals)
Do you have a favorite book or podcast from which you’ve received much value?
My favorite book is Essential Spirituality comparing the 7 major religions of the world not for their differences but for their similarities. I love reading biographies, historical non-fiction, and learning about the foundations of civil action with for example reading about mythology. I used to listen to lots of podcasts (Malcolm Gladwell, Here’s the thing, Morning Joe, Bill Simmons, eg), but abandoned it as just snacking not learning and developing my mind.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
Most recently Severance and Pluribus. Love stories of transformation and more specifically redemption (Miracle, Groundhog Day)
Key learnings:
- John is in a new phase of life, but a few things continue to be true about him.
- He is always reaching for higher ground. Develop the mind, body and soul and reach for greater opportunity to transform or at a minimum change for the better.
- He loves a challenge. He made a career of taking on assignments that are complex, messy and often something no one else wants to do. He is the better person for it with unique perspectives as a result of the complexities of the challenges he has faced.
- His life is driven by purpose. If one has a noble purpose and pursues that purpose consistently and sincerely, positive things will happen. It is adequate to pursue discrete objectives, and a certain amount of satisfaction comes from ticking the task box. But if one pursues a noble purpose the accomplishment that comes from that will outshine a task orientation and it feeds the soul