This one was a bit of a gamble. It was a new show that went undercover into organizations to find out the good and the not-so-good in the people and practices of well-known companies. The producer told me that their real goal was find the amazing stories of employees. But they needed the CEO of the company to be the one who witnessed those stories first-hand. And they needed us to trust them that it wasn't going to be an expose or a hatchet job.

"Hey, Joe DePinto. Would you like to take a week off of work to cloak your identity, travel around the country, complete tasks throughout the system, and talk to complete strangers about their thoughts on your organization? Oh, all the while, cameras will be running and you'll ultimately have no control over what they decide to air on national TV."

That was ultimately the ask.

Fortunately, 7-Eleven has tens of thousands of amazing stories about its employees. And fortunately, 7-Eleven has a visionary CEO that was gutsy and took the chance to experience the front lines of the organization in a very unique way. And fortunately, it all worked out great.

7-Eleven became the second episode of the series, which has gone on to be a huge success. The episode was a great representation of some unique and genuine employees of 7-Eleven, and showed how the brand represented so much opportunity in individuals' lives.

As icing on the cake, Oprah was moved by the episode and asked Joe and 7-Eleven delivery driver, Igor, to appear on an episode of her show. During the Oprah show, Igor was awarded his own 7-Eleven franchise store.

Tears were shed, and I was finally able to breathe - knowing that the agency wasn't going to get fired for the risky idea.