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165: From Manila to Manhattan: How One Man Cracked Wall Street’s Inner Circle | Butch Meily
Episode 165
Have you ever wondered what it takes to succeed in a high-stakes business?
It’s not a simple life. There’s things to gain, but also things to lose. Today’s episode is an incredible cautionary tale for those of you who are building your way to success.
In today’s episode, Damon is joined by Butch Meily, former PR strategist to Reginald Lewis, a leveraged buyout dealmaker, and now humanitarian—to discuss his powerful memoir From Manila to Wall Street.
In this episode you’ll learn
- Why proximity to power can be both a blessing and a burden
- The personal cost of chasing high-level success
- What business titan Reginald Lewis taught Butch about leadership, identity, and pressure
- How Butch transitioned from PR executive to global humanitarian
- Why “ordinary lives” often lead to the deepest happiness
- And so much more.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro to Butch Meily
00:29 – The cost of attaching yourself to powerful people
01:30 – Why Butch finally wrote his memoir
02:36 – Who the book is for and how it's structured
03:50 – Butch’s first meeting with Reginald Lewis
05:17 – Reg’s early PR battle and the New York Times story
07:10 – Getting screamed at in a Bentley: Butch’s first ride with Reg
08:49 – The emotional toll of working under constant pressure
10:35 – Life regrets and the wisdom of Barbara Bush
12:10 – Can you have both success and happiness?
14:02 – Leveraged Buyouts 101 + the Beatrice takeover story
18:55 – Where Reg’s courage really came from
20:10 – Reg’s mantra: Keep going no matter what
22:18 – The role of luck and hard work
23:27 – Why America is still the land of opportunity
25:03 – Butch’s “candy cane” vision of America vs. Reg’s experience as a Black man
27:14 – The pressure of being “not a Black success—but an American success”
29:21 – The Hamptons mansion fire: real-life suspense
34:12 – Reg passes away, then Butch’s father dies days later
37:39 – Butch is fired—then brought back by an unexpected new CEO
40:12 – How Loyda Lewis led with grace, faith, and fierce business savvy
42:34 – Would Reg like the book? And why Butch wrote it now
44:36 – Butch’s new life: humanitarian work and startup mentorship
46:01 – Final lesson: why “ordinary” is extraordinary
Resources Mentioned:
- From Manila to Wall Street by Butch Meily
- Butch Meily LinkedIn
- Butch Meily’s Website
- Reginald F. Lewis Museum
About the Guest:
Butch is the author of the memoir, From Manila to Wall Street – An Immigrant’s Journey With America’s First Black Tycoon.
Butch’s current job is President of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), a private sector disaster management organization that includes the major business groups in the country. He helped found PDRF, turning it into a global role model for private sector involvement in calamities. The organization operates the world’s first national private sector Emergency Operations Center. Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT), his parent company, receiv
Published on 7 months ago